I do say no.

Miranda wanted to foster this little one today. I said no. It's legs were twisted like a pretzel so it had to scoot around.  Good times.

Parker left for camp today

Unlike the calm orderly procession of scared and little kids onto the bus that we had when the girls went to camp, today was a mad dash to get the best seats and there was no time for hugs or goodbyes.  This is all I got.

Then he was on the bus with his buddies heading to sleep away camp for a week.  He was pretty excited and I was happy for him.

What I learned at camp

"I learned that garbage is actually really useful." - Miranda

No ADHD

Michael and I met with the doctor today about Parker. Doesn't have ADHD but told us to watch a few things in the coming years. I was dreading the appt but it was actually good and helped me understand some things about Parker and how his brain works. And explained a bit about why his third grade teacher was a bad fit.  The only bad thing was that during a 90 minute appt, he probably looked at me for about 4 of them and addressed Michael for the other 86 minutes. It was very strange. But it was nice to have some closure on all that.

Java

An offer came across my Facebook feed the other day for a java programming class for minecraft. So obviously, I had to get it.  It's online and Parker is loving it.  

Leo

Elizabeth was fitted for her team leotard today. Which made her very happy. Too bad it costs $140.

Never eat anything bigger than your head.

Elizabeth's first rated chess tournament.

She's the only girl playing. She refuses be bound by your gender stereotypes.

Woof!

I went to the party store the other day to get bags for the twins club garage sale and there were signs that the store was closing and everything was on sale.  I took a look around and picked up something for each kid. A doorway streamer hanging thing for Elizabeth.  A Parker Rd sign for Parker. And a Dalmation outfit for Miranda. It was missing the nose, but the ears and tails are sufficient for her and she hasn't taken them off much since. She wore them to school, but got embarrassed at the last minute and had me take it home.  It's a pretty good tail too. It sticks up nicely.

Zeke can't find a way out.

She's a weird sleeper.

Survivor Minecraft Camp

When we were looking at summer camps for the kids, there was a minecraft one. It looked great, but it was over $700 which is just crazy for any day camp.  But since Parker had his mind set on a minecraft camp, we told him we would create one for him. As soon as we said that, he basically created it himself with a Survivor theme.

The camp is this week, daily from 2-5 and the kids are quite happy.  They each have to create a challenge and then the others will run the challenges on the last day of camp. I don't understand enough about minecraft to explain the challenge, but essentially it requires building things, traps, levers, etc.  Each kid (there are 3 plus Parker) got a program explaining what needs to be in the challenge.  I hope it continues to go well.

Nevada City

We took off for Nevada City on Friday around noon. Our plan was to head up there, hang at the hotel, visit the old timey town, and then go to a swimming hole on Saturday before getting the girls at camp at 1pm. And it all pretty much worked out like that.  It was nice to spend time with just Parker but even he, alone, can be a bit annoying.   We let him pick dinner (Fred's Chinese Food that was surprisingly good) and dessert at the local Chocolate Store.  The town was about 4 blocks total and there were more bars than anything else.

Parker at the freezing cold hotel pool.

Michael chillin'

Our room. All the rooms were themed, but the Tour of Nevada City room had a poster of a bike race and that was it.

Playing Carcassan in the morning. Not easy on the bed.  We played scrabble the night before where, again surprisingly, I won.

Walking to breakfast.

Latte and hot chocolate.

Found the swimming hole.  Our shoe choices were less than ideal, but we managed.

Parker jumping in.

Michael thinking about jumping in.

And then diving. It was deep.

Parker's cannon ball.

And his dive.

Parker and Michael on the big rock.

Michael diving in.

Points deducted for big splash.

Climbing back to our side.

Camp August Mini Camp

The girls took off for Camp August Mini Camp today at 2. Well, more like 2:30 as the door to the bus wouldn't close and they had to work on it for 30 minutes.  Elizabeth was definitely nervous about the whole thing but that all went away when we arrived for the bus and she saw some friends. I think they will have a grew time.  Parker, Michael and I drive up tomorrow to Nevada City. We are staying in a quaint old timey hotel and then picking them up at the camp on Saturday afternoon.  It should be a fun little trip.

With pal Greta.

With pal Sabrina

Elizabeth checking in.

Miranda checking in.

You can't see it, but the girls are waving to us.

The bus still sitting there after it should have been long gone.

Parker's last day of school

Parker's class had a writing celebration today. Parker read a story about a boy named Nick who swam a race and won a trophy. (Sound familiar?) It was very long with many unnecessary facts, but actually not too bad.  The photo below is of his teacher.

Elizabeth's teacher is retiring this year so there was a little party for her last night where Elizabeth said a few words quite well.

Miranda's teacher is my friend so we didn't have any big good byes. In fact, she is going to take Miranda to sushi this summer sometime. She was a great teacher for Miranda.

Diving Board

The kids and I went to visit Val today in Davis.  We went to a local swimming pool where the kids had a great time.

First...Elizabeth flips.

Then Parker dives.

Then Miranda jumps.

Yup, that is about right.

Piedmont Chess Tournament

Parker and Elizabeth played in a Piedmont chess tournament today. Parker came in 1st in the 3rd to 5th grade division and Elizabeth did great too with one loss, one win and one draw. Wildwood came in 2nd and everyone had a good time.

Girls

Old Plantation

Roller blading and Garbage Men

Elizabeth asked if she could roller blade to school today. I initially said no for a variety of reasons including she hadn't walked to school alone, she wasn't very good on the roller blades, she hadn't done it in a while, she didn't have good wrist protection and I had to get to my cat thing.  So she asked if she could scooter. I said she could if Parker went with her. He said, "no dice."  She was pretty sad about all that, but not in a rude tantrum way, so I told her she could do it but that I would follow her in my car. She was happy and put on her blades and started practicing out front. Before that she had some trouble with the buckle and laces but I wouldn't help her since I figured if she could go to school alone, she should be able to figure out the blades. Which she did.

We left at the same time as the other kids, but I followed behind her in the car like a crazy stalker. She fell a few times and wasn't really gliding, but otherwise did ok. When we got to the place where there are no more streets to cross and the school is right there, I yelled out, Bye! and turned up the street to go my way. There was a garbage truck in the way and I couldn't pass so I turned around saw her again and took off.

After school, I asked her how it went the rest of the way. She said fine except she couldn't get her blades off. I asked her how she managed to do it...did she get help or figure it out? She said she got help. I asked who helped her.  She said, "This man who does the garbage."  WHAT?!?!?!  I said, "You asked the garbage man to help you with your rollerblades?"  No, she replied. He came up to her and asked if she needed help. And she said yes and then talked to him while he helped her with the boot.

Oh my god. I freaked out and told her that was the complete opposite of what she should have done. Haven't we talked about not talking to men that you don't know their first name? Haven't we talked about asking moms we know for help? Wasn't there anyone else to ask? Didn't Miranda walk right by? What the hell made you think that asking this strange man for help was the right thing to do? She said she was going to be late to school if he didn't help. I told her she could miss a whole day of school rather than talk to the man stranger alone.

Yeah, sure, I scared the crap out of her and made her cry, but that was my intent. I was so pissed (mostly at myself) that she did the wrong thing. That of all my kids I think of her as the responsible one who would know what to do in these situations. Who would never talk to a stranger.  And boy I was wrong. Completely.

This is a picture that ANOTHER MOM sent me in the morning saying how great it was that I let her rollerblade to school. This was literally at the base of the school where I told her to take off her blades because the hill was too steep to go up in them. Why they didn't help her, I do not understand.

Miranda's newest cat

Miranda started walking around petting an invisible cat. She would say, "do you like my cat?". If anyone asked where she got the cat from she would point to her head and say "from my imagination."

Ballet Recital

How can something so completely horrible be so cute?  They are all so bad it hurts. Especially the older girls. It's like no one ever told them to point their toes or turn out. Ouch.

Antioch water park

Took the family (and Parker pal Alex) to the Antioch water park today. It's always a lovely time. Ebba and her girls joined us. We all did the slides today and it was actually quite fun. Think we'll head back here one day when Julia and Oliver are with us.