Beauty and the Beast

Miranda and I went to see Beauty and the Beast last night in SF.  We took BART and had a good time. I snuck sandwiches in that we ate at intermission. The show was fun and we both really enjoyed it!

Stilts!

More six flags

Took the kids to six flags today. They each brought a friend and other families met us there. Parker went off with a few boys and a dad to ride the scary rides and I stayed with the girls.  With the exception of a long wait on the last ride which caused Elizabeth, who wasn't doing the ride, to be alone for too long, it was a good day.  

All the girls way too high up.

Miranda and Sutton getting on Cobra. Miranda was the only one repeatedly measured to make sure she was 48 inches. Yup. Still 48 inches.

She was excited and scared when we did the Boomerang, her first upside down coaster. I would never ride it with Parker but she needed me next to her. She explains afterward, "First I screamed, then I cried, then I smiled, and then I laughed!"

Sutton and Audrey waiting in the long, long line.  First time for both on a big, wooden coaster.

Lovely sunset as we walked back to the car.

Presents!

Elizabeth and Saige.

Furby 

Parker asked for these last year but they didn't arrive in time.

Everyone likes a silly straw.

"I've always wanted these!"

Tiny Legos.

Zeke enjoying his new cat bed.

Xmas eve jammies

We followed Michaels family tradition of opening up new jammies and one present on Xmas eve (Parker doesn't wear pjs so he got sweat pants.) Parker opened a giant basketball from us, Elizabeth opened a head massager from Miranda and Miranda opened two stuffed animals from Elizabeth. Then we all opened Survivor season one that the kids had never seen.

Had and gone within the week

Furby

Last Christmas and this year for her birthday, Miranda asked for a Furby. I looked it up since I had no idea what it was and decided there was no way in hell I would get her a talking, furry, little, rodent robot. I can't remember what I told her if anything, but she didn't get them either time. So this Christmas, we told the kids Santa would only bring one or two presents each because they have a lot of stuff and we wanted him to spend his time and presents on kids who had less.  So, she wrote her letter and once again, a Furby is the only thing she asked for. A couple clicks later on Amazon, her wish was my command. I hope it breaks quickly.

What happens when you turn 9.

I've always prided myself on the fact that Parker didn't seem require the parental controls on the computer that all my friends proactively put on theirs. Time limits, blocked sites, etc.  He's had access to a computer since he was about 4 and hasn't really had a problem either in playing too much or going to places he shouldn't.  Also, he isn't really into what other boys his age are (bad words, fart jokes, talking about girls) so I didn't think he cared about some of that stuff on the computer either.  (One time I caught him googling Mine craft bathrooms and thought, Here we go....someone is going to post a picture of something disgusting that I'm going to need to explain, but sure enough it was just a bathroom designed like a min ecraft world.)

So the other day when I went down to tell him and our neighbor kids to shut down the mine craft and come up for dinner, I was surprised that I saw the word, "FUCKKKKKKKKK" on the memo line.  I guess in mine craft, you can write messages to other players.  The neighbor kid appeared to be trying to hide it, but Parker seemed more interested in stopping him from teleporting (whatever that means).  I immediately thought this neighbor kid was a bad influence and my innocent Parker wouldn't have any part in that.

So I discussed with Michael and then we asked Parker about it. He said that he was trying to stop him from teleporting, but yes, they were using swear words. "Both of you???"  "Yes," he said.  "Why?" we asked.  Parker said, "Because it was funny."

So...we tell him that was not ok and he shouldn't be writing swear words on the computer.  He said, "ok," as if I had asked him to put a jacket on.  Then we moved all the computers (still set up for multi player mine craft) into the dining room for better supervision.   Fuck.

Custom thank you cards

A little saturday morning project for Parker, with a bit of print production support from Dad. I took the opportunity to teach him how to copy and paste, along with the basics of cutting with an exacto knife.

Last Spring

http://youtu.be/o6JB-L9StKs

Piano recital

Because Parker's weekend wasn't busy enough, he went to a little informal recital at his teachers house. Apparently the main point was for the others to hear him play. He did four pieces and did really well. Everyone was quite impressed.

Bday Party Fun

Parker's Bday party was a success all around.  First we took the kids to Beach School for some Survivor challenges. There was a running one where the kids had to flip over certain plates placed far apart at the same time. It's hard to explain and I was worried the kids wouldn't get it. But they did and had fun.

Then they did an endurance one where they had to just hang there.  Owen K and Parker were the final hold outs and Parker one.  

Then there was an obstacle course where they had to grab puzzle pieces in bags. Then they had to do the puzzle. Six of them.  Then they had to spell out a word.

The last one was a memory game.  Parker thought he would ace that won, but Jack ZN, his fiercest competition in most things, won.

I made simply cakes this year, but did 2 for the non chocolate lovers.

Then we had a magician come. He was OLD SCHOOL.  But the kids loved him and his crazy banter and showy tricks. When he actually pulled a rabbit out of a hat at the end, they freaked out.  He did it like a show/workshop and all the kids got to take home a bag of tricks. They were in heaven.

It was a sleepover so after the magic show they retired to the playroom where Michael had set up a bunch of minecraft stations.  They played for hours, woke up early and played for hours more.

It was a party full of Parker's favorite things and he loved it.

Chess tournament a success!

The chess tournament was a big success. I had 56 kids there and almost all left happy. Parker only won one game but since Wildwood got first place and everyone sang happy bday to him, he was happy too!

Wildwood kids!

Like Christmas Morning

It's 4:45 and poor Parker has been up for a while already. He is so excited about his VIP day at school today and his birthday tomorrow, he just can't sleep.  He's bringing in pictures, artifacts, and other stuff to school today to teach everyone about Parker.  He's also going to do some magic tricks and play the piano.  We also found a funny video of him from long ago when he was counting with fridge magnets that he is going to show:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldhl5B6-MmQ 

More Pictures later on the weekend's activities....

Rachel's Little Chess Tournament

Because we didn't have enough going on during the month of December, I thought it would be fun to plan a little chess tournament for the kids in Piedmont.  With the help of Parker's chess teacher and our Principal, it's happening this Saturday, December 14th. Yes, that's the same day as Parker's bday and his slumber party, but for all your chezlong readers, you know I always say, "We can fit in one more thing! Go big or go home."

I told Michael I would be happy if 20 kids signed up and thrilled if 30 did.  As of today, there are 47 kids registered.  It's almost as big as a regular Berkeley Chess School Tournament.  I'm pretty pleased with myself and hope the morning goes smoothly so I can focus my attention on the afternoon's bday activities.

Makin' Magic

The girls had their final performance for their theatre class yesterday. It was a simple little musical about an evil doctor who makes bunnies, mice and fairies make magic rather than being free.  Miranda was one of the doctor's minions called "Square" (she wore a tshirt with a square on it) and Elizabeth was a bunny.  It was all incredibly sweet and lame all at the same time.  Miranda, who couldn't help but giggle and smile throughout most of it, but one of the best up there. She had a little part where she sang on her own and boy, can she sing.  Her teacher, my friend, was watching and in them middle of it, she texted me, "Man, can she sing!"  Other parents told me as well.  Elizabeth looked annoyed and grumpy through most of it and she forgot a few lines. Afterwards, Miranda said, "I loved being on stage! It was so fun! I can't wait to do it again."  Elizabeth said, "Blah."  Pictures are bad, but maybe Michael has some better ones.

Boot camp party

At her request, I took Elizabeth to my boot camp holiday party.  She seemed to enjoy it especially when she picked her white elephant present which was a super creepy doll.

Kym and Eli

Nightly kitten cuddle Fest

Linked In

Since I got a linkedin profile, I needed a somewhat professional looking photo. This was the best I could do. Oy.

Felines

This picture just cracked me up.

Elizabeth

Grant's Party

Parker was invited to Grant's bday party the other day. Grant is in Miranda's class, but he and Parker are pals. In fact, Parker has several 2nd grade buddies.  He was the only 3rd grader there and at first was a little shy.  But when they got to the trampoline place, he was fine. They had a great time.  The bday boy, Grant, wanted to sit next to Parker. So sweet.

Reno

We did a short trip to Reno on thanksgiving. It was good to see everyone, eat yummy food, have more victims for Parker's insatiable desire to do magic tricks and catch up with Dave and Betsy. We saw new baby Indiana, new mom Amber and got to know Jazmin and Nick a little more. After a good breakfast Friday and some more hanging out, we drove home. Easy and fun for all.

Kitten cuddling