Meanwhile, Elizabeth makes jewelry

The Jungle Book

Miranda performed in an after school enrichment production of Disney's The Jungle Book through the Bay Area Children's Theatre, which was really great. She got cast in the role of Baby Elephant, which has a couple of lines, and she got to sing a duet as well.  Her performance was great, and she really hammed it up. Many of the kids sort of move through the thing in a monotone, but Miranda and a few of the other kids seemed to really understand that they are performing a character. 

She's been doing theatre for a while now, and I think she's starting to get some comfort and confidence in herself, and what performing really means. It's a perfect fit for her personality and creativity. I think once she gets into a functioning improv group, it will all be over.

Pirates of Penzance

Parker's 4th grade classes got to work with a professional theatre company this year on a production of Prirates of Penzance that was extremely well-done, and well-enjoyed. Parker wanted the part of the Major General very badly, and was very excited to be cast. 

Each class had their own production, and his pal Miles was the Major General in the other class, so leading up to the play we would find them singing with eachother over skype, which was awfully sweet.

Parker was nervous but did a fantastic job, and seemed to have a really great time. 

Yes, yes, I am a Major General!

And then following the school performance, the company asked several of the kids to come perform at their annual fundraiser, which Parker was happy to do. They actually did a custom bit with Parker that was really funny, where the Adult Major General comes out at the same time that Parker does in the play, with both of them announcing, "Yes, Yes, I am a Major General!" after which they notice eachother, stare eachother down, and proceed to have a Major General battle. Parker did his part of the song, and the adult did the extended verses, and they finished together in triumph. It was extremely well done.

I took bad pictures of the quick rehearsal.

Overall it was a really positive experience, and it wouldn't surprise me if Parker did more theatre. And that surprises me, and also delights me. He worked really hard and was a great Major General.

Terrible photography, but good shots of Parker enjoying himself.

Ski trip

Hot tubbing

Pre-500 time with mom

Ski bunnies

Sleeping in car

Family Medical Practice

A horrible bug has been traveling through our family. First Elizabeth got sick, writing with a fever and an ear ache, and was out of school all last week. Then Rachel got feverishly sick right in time for her first business trip. Then I got sick over the weekend, and spent 36 hours in bed when I wasn't barfing. And then Parker got sick and has been out of school all this week, fevered, and barfing, and miserable. And now, of course, Miranda has it now, so both she and Parker are home.

Since we just started the new routine, and Rachel shouldn't really take a bunch of sick time her first month, I've been working from home for the last couple of weeks, and it's been very challenging. But if we can make it work in the face of this, the regular routine will be a walk in the park moving forward.

 

Promo Pic From New Job

Take five

Parker has been working on Take for for a couple of months now, and he's got it down pretty well. He messes with the tempo quite a bit, which is always the last part of him learning a song. He always want to play things as fast as he can, so he ends up speeding up and slowing down quite a bit.



I have to bribe him into letting me make these videos these days, for some reason, but in order to get my money's worth, I asked him to transpose it.




This sort of thing really knocks me out.

The new scene

So starting this week, Rachel is working full time at Guide Dogs for the Blind, and I am working east coast hours so that I can take care of the kids after school. This is something I've been thinking about for a while now, and when Rachel decided to go back to work, it was the perfect opportunity.

It's been fun so far this week, although disorienting, and I missed one of Parker's practices because I was confused. It's nice to get to the office to several hours of quiet work, and it's nice to leave in the middle of the afternoon. And then so far it's been fun to be the dad at school, and say hi to all the moms, and greet the kids on their stomping ground. They've got a complex after school schedule, and I had to develop a new format of visual display to keep ahead of the details. Today as an example, Parker and Miranda have Groove Lab from 3-4:10 at the school, Elizabeth has Gymnastics from 4:30-7:30 on the other end of Oakland, and Parker has swimming from 4:30-6:00 at the pool. And just as important as all of that: I've got to make meatballs for dinner!

I am looking forward to being more involved in the kids lives, and helping them with their homework, and all of that. I created a new rule yesterday that if you didn't finish your lunch and your snack at school, you don't get any food before dinnertime, other than finishing your lunch and snack. Miranda wasn't wild about that rule yesterday, but she ate her apple.

I hope that the early starts won't take too big a toll on my, but I think as long as I get to bed early enough I'll be fine. I learned this lesson my senior year in college, when I ran the early morning support lines for the Oakland Tribune, and was getting up at 4:14 to catch my 4:45 bus. I haven't been thankful for having a car for a long time, but suddenly I am thankful.

Anyway, so far so good.

Parker's Swim Meet in San Ramon

Last fall as Elizabeth's and Parker's sports were heating up, Rachel and I agreed to divide ourselves between them, and Rachel would do swimming and I would do gymnastics. Both kinds of meets are tedious affairs marked by short periods of interest, so it's pretty even there, although swim meets are much longer. In any case, I have not been able to go to many meets, so I was glad this weekend that I got the chance to take Parker and spend the day with him in San Ramon.

Swim meets are chaotic affairs, but he knows the drill, and didn't need my help to get where he needed to be. Most of the meets the whole team goes to, but just two of the team were here, and no coaches, so it was a slightly different scene.

Parker is working hard on his swimming, and this meet was an opportunity for him to show some progress. He has already qualified for six events at the Zone Two Championships, and was trying for a 7th, which he didn't quite make. But he's also trying to get a Junior Olympics score on one of his events, and he shaved over a second off his personal best at this meet, so he is on his way to achieving it over the next few meets if he keeps on pace.

I also brought my fancy new camera with the telephoto lens, and it was nice to be able to get some great pictures of the man in action.

Here's a backstroke start:

And here's a start from the blocks:


Here are some butterfly strokes, which continue to amaze me.

Overall it was a really fun day.