October 2019
DISNEYLAND!
OK, so: As I mentioned in last month’s entry: On the day we arrived, we did a recon mission to Star Wars land and took our first flight on the Millennium Falcon — it was AMAZING! Not just the ride, but the Land — every detail, so perfect that the regular ol’ park guests looked super out of place. I swear I teared up when the Falcon first came into view, it was that magical. In the course of the trip, we: discovered that Lukas is still scared of Guardians (which really just means extra rides on it for Annika), had drinks in Oga's Cantina, aka a wretched hive of scum and villainy (that was really cool to be in), made it so early that we were first to the gate two of our four early-access mornings, tried the new Lamplight Lounge (which is on the site of the former Ariel’s Grotto and had such cool decor, great food and hilarious drinks — there’s video of me trying to drink one that was smoking with dry ice), finished up with Blue Bayou and Fantasmic! on the last night, and recorded one-day walking distances of 8, 12, 12, 14, and 16 miles. Another truly awesome family vacation (which the kids say they prefer even to Hawaii! who the hell raised these children …). And THEN, the day after we got home, R. and I went to Mountain Winery to see Calexico & Iron & Wine, booked ages ago and absolutely worth the fatigue we had to swim through to get there, heh.
OK, so: As I mentioned in last month’s entry: On the day we arrived, we did a recon mission to Star Wars land and took our first flight on the Millennium Falcon — it was AMAZING! Not just the ride, but the Land — every detail, so perfect that the regular ol’ park guests looked super out of place. I swear I teared up when the Falcon first came into view, it was that magical. In the course of the trip, we: discovered that Lukas is still scared of Guardians (which really just means extra rides on it for Annika), had drinks in Oga's Cantina, aka a wretched hive of scum and villainy (that was really cool to be in), made it so early that we were first to the gate two of our four early-access mornings, tried the new Lamplight Lounge (which is on the site of the former Ariel’s Grotto and had such cool decor, great food and hilarious drinks — there’s video of me trying to drink one that was smoking with dry ice), finished up with Blue Bayou and Fantasmic! on the last night, and recorded one-day walking distances of 8, 12, 12, 14, and 16 miles. Another truly awesome family vacation (which the kids say they prefer even to Hawaii! who the hell raised these children …). And THEN, the day after we got home, R. and I went to Mountain Winery to see Calexico & Iron & Wine, booked ages ago and absolutely worth the fatigue we had to swim through to get there, heh.
Annika's birthday!!!
Twelve is a pretty big deal, y’all — our girl is about to age out of kids’ menus and into a bunch of cool stuff! The actual day was on a Wednesday; her place was decorated at breakfast (by the birthday fairy, aka me), and that evening we had her favorite cake, her current favorite meal (creamy chicken italiano), and a bunch of presents (including the marquee item, a monogrammed robe from the Grand Californian Hotel — which I had to use Max Stealth to get, since you can only buy them AT the GCH and then I had to smuggle it home!). Her party was that Saturday; same guest list as last year (Raina, Alana, Niamh, and Grace), and same highlights: night swimming, a movie, and an epic game of Hello Neighbor (but this time with all the game’s “objects” on hand, e.g. a plastic apple spray-painted gold, a set of old-timey keys, a plastic costume crowbar, etc., and featuring an app-controlled lighting scheme throughout the house, with different colors for each room). It was a great time with a great group of girls, and she was so happy and so thankful for all the work we had put in.
Twelve is a pretty big deal, y’all — our girl is about to age out of kids’ menus and into a bunch of cool stuff! The actual day was on a Wednesday; her place was decorated at breakfast (by the birthday fairy, aka me), and that evening we had her favorite cake, her current favorite meal (creamy chicken italiano), and a bunch of presents (including the marquee item, a monogrammed robe from the Grand Californian Hotel — which I had to use Max Stealth to get, since you can only buy them AT the GCH and then I had to smuggle it home!). Her party was that Saturday; same guest list as last year (Raina, Alana, Niamh, and Grace), and same highlights: night swimming, a movie, and an epic game of Hello Neighbor (but this time with all the game’s “objects” on hand, e.g. a plastic apple spray-painted gold, a set of old-timey keys, a plastic costume crowbar, etc., and featuring an app-controlled lighting scheme throughout the house, with different colors for each room). It was a great time with a great group of girls, and she was so happy and so thankful for all the work we had put in.
Big Days
—Dandy Day: Another day of decent weather, not too hot and not raining, found all of us there and R. and I both doing a volunteer shift (guilted into it at last, lol). Annika’s alumni status was pretty fun; she helped out at a booth with some of her friends, but mostly just cruised around doing her own thing. Lukas did a personal-best number of laps, so he was pretty happy with that even though he didn’t quite get to his goal (which was something crazy like 125 laps, heh).
—A Very Interesting Day: On Thursday, 10/24, we had (sadly) scheduled a tree service to come and take down that very big, verrrrry dead oak tree in the front yard. The kids were mad at me for it, but the tree guy said we were not a moment too soon — it was about to crumble, and could take out the roof or fall on someone. That morning, Lukas had a fever, so I kept him home from school; I hated to do it, because it was school picture day, and while we could do his photos on the makeup day, this meant he wouldn’t be in the class photo — but I asked Mrs. Merrell if we could show up *just* for the picture, and she said yes, so I was prepared to do that in the early afternoon, per her text. HOWEVER, just as the tree guys’ chainsaws were getting going, I got a call from Castillero: Annika had fainted in P.E., scraping up her knee and elbow and kicking off quite the ruckus. The EMTs were called, and had taken her into the school office in a wheelchair. So I dashed outside, told the tree guys I had to go (and why) and that I’d pay them later, grabbed Lukas, and drove to Castillero. Poor kid was still in the wheelchair, pale as a ghost and trying really hard to hang onto her composure. They weren’t sure what had caused it, so we took her to urgent care and R. met us there. She got a full workup (blood drawn, concussion protocol, EKG to check her heart rhythm, etc.), and the eventual conclusion was heat, exertion, and possibly dehydration. She was mostly embarrassed at having so much attention on her, and BIG MAD that we kept her home the next day, but she was OK overall and now understands the need for hydration … whew.
—Halloween: Here we are in the middle years for Kid Halloween. Both of them picked their own costumes: Annika was a fox (she even found the thing online herself, and I found some ugg boots for her that worked as the footwear), and Lukas was Rodrick from Diary of a Wimpy Kid (eyeliner, black wig, Loded Diper shirt, army jacket, black jeans, black high-top Cons, drumsticks). She was worried that nobody would wear costumes at school (almost everyone did, and she was glad she had), and he was worried nobody would recognize what he was, but within seconds of arrival, a girl in his class spied him and yelled, “Rodrick Heffley!”, so it worked out on both counts. The parade at the elementary school was absolutely the best, as always — honestly a highlight of the school year, for us grown folk. And that evening, per tradition, we went to the Marshalls’ (me as Joan Jett in a Runaways shirt I had custom-made online, R. as Magnum P.I., with every detail perfect down to the Navy ring and the boat shoes, LOL!) and kicked off trick-or-treating from there. We expected there to be a lot of people out — it was a Thursday, after all — but foot traffic was light so the kids got an amaaaazing amount of candy. Which I let them divvy up and eat immediately because I am not a monster who ships it all off “for the troops.” Heh.
—Dandy Day: Another day of decent weather, not too hot and not raining, found all of us there and R. and I both doing a volunteer shift (guilted into it at last, lol). Annika’s alumni status was pretty fun; she helped out at a booth with some of her friends, but mostly just cruised around doing her own thing. Lukas did a personal-best number of laps, so he was pretty happy with that even though he didn’t quite get to his goal (which was something crazy like 125 laps, heh).
—A Very Interesting Day: On Thursday, 10/24, we had (sadly) scheduled a tree service to come and take down that very big, verrrrry dead oak tree in the front yard. The kids were mad at me for it, but the tree guy said we were not a moment too soon — it was about to crumble, and could take out the roof or fall on someone. That morning, Lukas had a fever, so I kept him home from school; I hated to do it, because it was school picture day, and while we could do his photos on the makeup day, this meant he wouldn’t be in the class photo — but I asked Mrs. Merrell if we could show up *just* for the picture, and she said yes, so I was prepared to do that in the early afternoon, per her text. HOWEVER, just as the tree guys’ chainsaws were getting going, I got a call from Castillero: Annika had fainted in P.E., scraping up her knee and elbow and kicking off quite the ruckus. The EMTs were called, and had taken her into the school office in a wheelchair. So I dashed outside, told the tree guys I had to go (and why) and that I’d pay them later, grabbed Lukas, and drove to Castillero. Poor kid was still in the wheelchair, pale as a ghost and trying really hard to hang onto her composure. They weren’t sure what had caused it, so we took her to urgent care and R. met us there. She got a full workup (blood drawn, concussion protocol, EKG to check her heart rhythm, etc.), and the eventual conclusion was heat, exertion, and possibly dehydration. She was mostly embarrassed at having so much attention on her, and BIG MAD that we kept her home the next day, but she was OK overall and now understands the need for hydration … whew.
—Halloween: Here we are in the middle years for Kid Halloween. Both of them picked their own costumes: Annika was a fox (she even found the thing online herself, and I found some ugg boots for her that worked as the footwear), and Lukas was Rodrick from Diary of a Wimpy Kid (eyeliner, black wig, Loded Diper shirt, army jacket, black jeans, black high-top Cons, drumsticks). She was worried that nobody would wear costumes at school (almost everyone did, and she was glad she had), and he was worried nobody would recognize what he was, but within seconds of arrival, a girl in his class spied him and yelled, “Rodrick Heffley!”, so it worked out on both counts. The parade at the elementary school was absolutely the best, as always — honestly a highlight of the school year, for us grown folk. And that evening, per tradition, we went to the Marshalls’ (me as Joan Jett in a Runaways shirt I had custom-made online, R. as Magnum P.I., with every detail perfect down to the Navy ring and the boat shoes, LOL!) and kicked off trick-or-treating from there. We expected there to be a lot of people out — it was a Thursday, after all — but foot traffic was light so the kids got an amaaaazing amount of candy. Which I let them divvy up and eat immediately because I am not a monster who ships it all off “for the troops.” Heh.
Quotable
"I am fit. And when I'm 116 years old, I'll still be in the NBA.” —Lukas, with a large measure of confidence and/or delusion
"I am fit. And when I'm 116 years old, I'll still be in the NBA.” —Lukas, with a large measure of confidence and/or delusion
posted by One of the Grownups @ 12:12 PM
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