Took the kids to Lawrence Hall of Science on Sunday.
I built a tall Kapla tower. It fell over shortly after the second picture.
Kids saw lots of animals in a room that is only open on weekends so we never see it.
Parker kept saying, "Come look at this! It's cool!"
Parker was so excited about kindergarten starting today that when i got home from bootcamp at 6:45am he was already dressed and ready to go. After breakfast, I asked him to help make his lunch. I think I'm gonna do that every day. I prepared the snacks for the class (I signed up the first week to get it over with and I figured expectations would be low.)
We walked Parker over around 8 and it was very sweet to see all the neighborhood kids walking to school. He and the girls played on the playground for a bit and then lined up. We walked him into his classroom and were quite disappointed that the room was a mess. The teacher who missed orientation last week "due to a death in the family" had apparently not really done anything to prep the room. The cubbies still had last year's names, her desk was not visible through the mess, the paint was all dried up and unusable, and everything was chaotic.
We kissed him goodbye and took off (the first parents to do).
We came to pick him up at 1:10 and they were all waiting to be excused on the rug. The teacher said he did fabulous and was quite motivated. They made crowns and Parker put shapes, odd and even numbers, as well as other related things on it. He seemed really happy about the whole day and told us in detail what happened when. Except for the totally unready classroom, it was a good day.
Took the kids to Crown Beach the other day in Alameda since it was so hot. The weather was just perfect, but everyone was still tired from our calistoga adventure so they were cranky and it was pretty awful, for me at least. Everyone took a nap when we got for 2 hours.
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It's pretty hot up here right now. I told the kids that they should sleep without covers. This was only acceptable to Elizabeth. Miranda said she would be cold (It's like 90 degrees in the house.) And Parker just came out of his room and whispered:
"Mom, if I don't sleep with my covers it won't be very cozy."
Since we didn't really have a summer here (it never got hot), I wanted to cram as much into this last week as possible since it was hot. So on Sunday night, I decided to go to Calistoga again with the kids. I talked Susan and Ebba into joining me. Turns out our friend Monika and her twins were there too. Despite the ridiculous number of kids, we all had a great time. We went up Monday, spent the night and came back Tuesday afternoon.
We thought about cooking dinner in, but decided on mexican food since Susan, Ebba and I have been there before and loved it. We got to bed late, but everyone (except me) slept well. Next day, more swimming, picnic at lovely park and easy drive home. Just perfect.
The hot pool.
Dinner.
Waiting at Candy Store. Sign said back in 30 minutes, but we didn't wait.
Guy on duty came over to Elizabeth and me to tell us to put some clothes on her. He thought she was naked in this suit.
Happy Kids.
A couple of the kids really gained some confidence while we were there.
A swim after dinner is just delightful.
No, it hasn't happened yet. Won't until next week. But it seems like everyone else is starting this week, so facebook is full of pics of kids on their first day, standing in front of their school or at their house with the backpack and all that. Parents are nervous, crying, etc.
I just don't get it. I'm not sure if that is the case because of who I am (the lady who had no wedding and barely brushes her hair on a daily basis) or because of who Parker is, but I just don't see what all the fuss is. Parker will do fine. He's ready. He might be spacey and obnoxious from time to time, but won't the other kids too? He might start spouting nonsense about some random game he made up in his head, but is that really worse than 5 year olds talking about the pros and cons of Luke Skywalker? I think not. Will he make friends? Sure. Will he make his reading and math skills known? I doubt it.
Will he have fun? I guarantee it.
Rachel took the kids up for an overnight stay in Calistoga last night, along with Susan and her kids, so that everyone could get in some more quality pool time. Which left me alone on a Monday night.
I was home by 5:30pm, uncusscessfully attempted to make fish tacos, cleaned the kitchen, watched Sunday night's Mad Men, was in bed by 8pm, and was asleep by 8:15pm.
That's bachelor living.
Went to a pre-preschool morning picnic yesterday for the girls' preschool. It was at a park that we had not been to before in Alameda and all three had a great time. They didn't really talk to any kids, but I did introduce them to their teachers, who they call by their first names Margaret and Renee. The teachers had obviously done their homework. The whole thing left me with more good feelings about this year.
Took the kids for professional photos the other day. I have been thinking about doing it for a while and went for it when a friend who does this for a living had a promotion. The pictures were cute, but not too natural so they didn't really look like themselves. There was one that isn't here where they are all kinda cracking up and I think it is the best one. I think my friend was slightly horrified I didn't even brush their hair. I was slightly horrified at Parker's smile. Oh My Lord.
This week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the kids and I walked a friend's dog. The friend is from bootcamp and she has a 2 year old daughter who was recently diagnosed with stage IV cancer. The little girl Leila has gone through 3 rounds of chemo (which went well), is scheduled for surgery for tumor removals and has regular blood transfusions. You wouldn't know it meeting her. She is a bundle of joy (literally) and friendly beyond belief.
It's not the most convenient thing for me to take the kids to do this at 8am, but I thought being a little inconvenienced was just fine in this case. The first day we took bikes which wasn't great for the hilly neighborhood. The second time, scooters. Still...not so great. But just walking is fine as the kids stop as much as Cody does.
Cody is super nice. A big yellow lab mix, like Pete and Maddie. He pees on everything and sniffs even more. But he's super mellow so even Miranda can walk him. She goes back and forth between loving him and being super scared of him. Today we took him to a local park and we threw sticks for him to fetch. While Miranda was getting ready to throw one, he took it from her and she became hysterical.
They all say they enjoy it and look forward to walking him. We'll do it again next week and until school starts when the timing will become challenging at best.
Send good thoughts for little Leila and her mom Rachel and dad Josh. I can't even imagine what they are going through.
