Zeke watches tv with me at night.

Court of awards

While Parker and I were at his swim awards, Jessie took the girls to the Girl Scout award ceremony. I've avoided them all year and plan to continue...

Miranda and Waffles

Swim team award

Parker and I went to his swim team awards banquet tonight. He's been for two years and never won anything but tonight he got the coaches award for being a hard working swimmer, improving, helping others and being generally awesome. He was very, very happy. It was all quite sweet.

New Leotard

Kids' Day

Kids' day (a day we decreed as "the kids make the rules") was about as you would have imagined.

Parker was up before 6am and ran downstairs to play video games.  He pretty much stayed there until it was time to go to bed, coming up to use the bathroom and eat. I think it was about 14 hours of straight minecraft.  He had ice cream for breakfast. And lots of pop tarts.

Miranda woke at 6am and came in to our room to say she was ready for breakfast in bed. We both got up and started on that. But Miranda, unclear about the breakfast in bed situation, decided that after being up for a while, she'd have breakfast in the playroom. Chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and sausage.

Elizabeth actually stayed in bed for breakfast.

Then they all spent much of the day playing video games.  Miranda took some time out to snuggle with kittens and watch a movie.  

 Elizabeth took some time off to fall asleep in the playroom.

Then around dinner time, Elizabeth and I went to Old Navy with me and then got some Sushi for her for dinner.  

We all watched an old survivor at night and had strawberry shortcake and more ice cream (and more pop tarts).  Michael and I went to bed and the kids stayed up late.  Miranda came up first around 9ish and the others just after her about 9:30.

They were all happy with the outcome and are already looking forward to when we do it again.

Russian River Sunday

Bay Island Gymnastics Team Newest Member

Well...it looks like Elizabeth is on a gymnastics team.  She will be in level 3 where 10 is the highest. I'm still conflicted about it, but I think it will ultimately be good for her.  She'll work out three days a week for 2 hours each day for about a month. Then when summer kicks in the workouts go to 3 hours a day. While it sounds completely cruel and unusual to work a 7 year old that much, it's really just normal for the gymnastics world.

When we went on Tuesday, they said she would need special work on the bars since she is behind. But today, another coach said, "she'll be fine and we won't start scheduling any special work yet. If she is struggling in a month or so, we can do it then. But I think she'll be fine."  The competition season is September through November. It's unclear if she will be ready by then, but that's the goal.

Elizabeth seems pretty dang happy (as happy as Elizabeth gets which is like a small, sly smile out of the corner of her mouth) about it all. Today after workout she said, I think I need to work out my cartwheels. She really wants me to land in a lunge.

Now, I have to tell Matt, her current teacher. This will be the second time we are leaving him to join a competitive program. I know he'll understand, but its bitter sweet nonetheless.

Not sure how I am going to manage all the driving to classes and such after school, but I'm confident I'll figure it out. I always do.

Quad Win!

Parker won a quad tournament this past weekend. He played three kids in his "quad" and won each game. His rating jumped over 200 points after that since all the players were rated slightly higher than him. He was pretty happy both with the win and with the rating jump!

2nd injection

I got another back injection two weeks ago on Thursday. It wasn't the same kind of injection so didn't hurt as much.  The lidocaine hurt like a bitch but the injection wasn't too bad.  It didn't take away all the pain like it did last time, but it did take it down quite a bit. I was hopeful that it kept lasting after a week (which was one day longer than the last injection lasted) and even more hopeful when it was still good almost two weeks later, but then today, I think it started to wear off. I did a fair bit of sitting at the gymnastics studio on a hard bench so I'm not 100% sure yet.  But just thinking about it wearing off already is heartbreaking.

Ugh.

A few weeks ago, Elizabeth asked to join a gymnastics team (specifically she said, "Mom, is there a way I can earn ribbons by doing gymnastics?).  I ignored it for a bit but when she brought it up a few more times, I asked Jenna, who works at a local gym what they offered.  She suggested I bring her in for evaluation so we did today.  At first they said she could join the team at a level 3 but then they saw her on bars (which she hasn't done since she was 5) and said she needed work on that which she could do one on one with a coach. She did the pre-team class today for 2 hours.  Elizabeth appears to understand how much work it will be and how much time she will need to commit (3 hours 3 times a week), but she is going to do another trial class on Thursday. It's a good gym. Between Head of Heels which was too crazy and structured and Matt's class which is too laid back.

The whole thing makes me a little bit (actually a lot) anxious.  I'm worried about how she does. I'm worried about the time it will take. I'm worried about how tired she will be.  I'm worried about how it will affect family life at night. I'm worried about her whining.

But...I know if she does it and works hard, she will love it and it will be her thing. I can just see her at meets with her pals. I see it.

This and that.

Not much new around here these days. Parker was sick Monday and stayed home. Nothing major...just run down.

Elizabeth is taking chess in an after school class and is doing well. She plays with Michael a lot.

Parker did another meet on Saturday. He swam well and got a new B time on his 50 back. He is really enjoying it these days. I am training to be a swim meet official which is the role that make sure the kids are doing legal strokes. So I was at the meet for 8 hours. Oy.

We are fostering some kittens. We had four little ones, but Miranda's teacher is adopting two of them so they are gone.  We also have Waffles back. He is the kitten that escaped his carrier, was lost for a month living in the garden center of the rite aid in pleasant hill.  He's getting adopted at the end of the month.

I'm taking the girls camping on Saturday for our girl scout troop. I'm in charge and slightly dreading it. but it's only one day and I figure I can do anything for one day.

We've decreed May 24th Kids' Day.  I got the idea from my friend Monika who does it with her kids every year.  They get to make the rules all day.  The kids worked together about what rules they wanted and are very excited about it. I predict lots of minecraft and ice cream. It should be fun.

The kids are out of school in one month. They are pretty excited about that too.

Michael's Bday

Michael turned 46 on Monday. We had sushi and then lemon cake. The kids got him presents via me. Elizabeth gave him a little desk thing that says, "I love that you are my Dad." Miranda got him an Oakland Magnet (he collect magnets) and Parker got him a puzzle of vintage cereal boxes.

I got him HBO. He's been talking about it for a while so when Susan told me we could get it without getting cable, I did some digging. That wasn't quite true, but we were able to get super basic cable (only local stations) with HBO and HBO GO so that he could watch all the old episodes of Games of Thrones, True Detective, Deadwood, Band of Brothers and much more. We discussed it so it wasn't really a present since he's actually paying for it too, but whatever. It got installed today and he is happy as a clam. The best part is that we got cable internet with it and the whole thing costs $5 more than we are currently paying for just internet. And the internet is much faster. I'm sure the price will jump in a year, so I told him this present may have an expiration date.

Until then, he will be a happy guy.

More foster kitties

We got some 6-week old foster kitties a few days ago and Miranda's teacher (my friend) took two of them today to adopt.  She was quite excited.

Here are two with waffles. He's a boy cat, but they try to nurse off him. He is very tolerant. He is getting adopted in 2 weeks.  The grey and black ones below went to her teacher.  They look surprised, but I swear that is their normal look. It's strange.

No tooth fairy

The girls "found" their teeth in my bedside drawer and Miranda told me about it.  She said she knew there was no tooth fairy, but she was glad she now had proof. I gave them their teeth back and told them not to discuss it at school since some kids still believed. I told them they could talk about it in 4th grade.   They asked if Parker knew and I said I didn't know and we should let him believe it if he wanted to.  They seemed ok with that.   Then they said that Lola's mom told her there was no tooth fairy and that Lola was mean to them.  Nice transition huh?

Miranda Mouse Goes to School

Piedmont relays

Piedmont puts on a track and field event for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade kids. It was today. Parker did a relay race, 50 meter sprint, long jump, and javelin. He got in the finals of all three. He tied for first in 50. Came in second in javelin. And 5th or 6th is long jump. (He fell back on his final jump.). Considering there were over 100 3rd graders, that's pretty damn good. Might have done better if it hadn't been 90 degrees.

Swim meet weekend

Parker had a two day swim meet this weekend. He competed in 8 events and did well in all of them. One of his pals from the team was there and did all the same events, in mostly the same heats so they had a great time.  I was training to be a swim meet official so it was the first meet where Parker was on his own having to get to his events by himself. He didn't miss a single one and was even wearing his goggles in all of them. I was very impressed. Many parents say their kids aren't able to be that independent until they are 12 or 13 so I told him many times how proud I was that he not only did well in his races, but navigated the day so well too.  He got 6 ribbons for various places and got three B times. This was his first long course (50 meter pool) so it was a bit tougher than the short course events where he can push off the wall again at 25 meters.  But he did great, even on the 100 meter breaststroke. And didn't get disqualified for anything.  I stood on the side of the pool for 4-5 hours each day watching kids swim and learning all the rules. It was tiring and my back killed but it made the time go faster than just waiting for Parker.

They played catch in between events.

Each day when he got home, he organized his trophies and medals. He labeled them all and put them in some strange order.  He's already looking forward to the next swim meet on May 10th.

Spring Break

While Michael was enjoying (or actually working in) London, the kids and I went on a southern california road trip. First stop was Amy's house where we hung out, went on a slack line, ate homemade tempura and posed for couch shots. (See previous blog post.)  Since it was going to be my last night of peace, I slept at my mom's house while the kids stayed with Amy and Eran.  The next day, after some more Marcus merriment, the kids joined me at 12th street and we hung out, played basketball, chess, and hangman. We also watched some golf with my dad, who is pretty much back to normal except for the big piece of machinery sticking out of his chest and the the many pills he takes. It's rather astonishing considering the condition he was in less than 9 months ago.

 Bright and early the next morning, we drove off to Disneyland. We got there pretty fast despite the traffic.

We were staying offsite this time so we took the tram from the parking lot to the main entrance.  We immediately got in line for a fast pass for Space Mountain and then went on Matterhorn, star tours and thunder mountain without much wait at all. As the day progressed, the lines got longer. But, we kept busy and the kids did very well despite the heat and massive crowds. (Note to self, never go on any school break again.)

Here they are on Tom's Sawyer's island where they more fun than they should have.

Some of the food at disneyland is surprising good. I had a caprese sandwich and the kids had soup and sandwiches.

The sunscreen wasn't cutting it, so I got them all Disneyland hats that I'm sure they will never wear again.

They were ready to retire to the hotel about 2 so we drove the 3 big blocks to it. It was a pretty lame-ass hotel, but I was ready for it. I wasn't ready for the ice machine and elevator right outside our door, so on day two I changed rooms, something I should have done immediately.  The pool was tiny, but the kids didn't care.

 This shot makes the pool look much larger than it was.

Then it was back to Disneyland with matching dresses and matching stupid mickey necklaces.

And ears.

They wanted to go on space mountain again, so before we went to the hotel, we got another fast pass that allowed us to  basically walk right on.  Parker and I got the front seat and I wanted to puke the entire time. I kept my eyes closed, as noted below.  It is now their favorite ride there.

We got back to the hotel using the shuttle service and everyone (but me) was asleep by 9.  The next morning, we were back at the maingate by 8am but went immediately to California Adventure where we first got fast passes for the Cars ride.  With two hours to kill, Miranda and Parker did the giant roller coaster while Elizabeth and I did the Toy Story ride.  They tried to get me on the ferris wheel (which Michael did last time and said was pure evil) but luckily it broke.

They did the swing ride and a couple other small rides and then it was time for us to head back to Radiator Springs where the Cars ride did not disappoint.

David joined up with us around lunch time at Disneyland and we got more fast passes and did more lines. Before we rode the Pirates of the Carribean, we ate at the Blue Bayou inside the ride. It was massively overpriced and not that great, but the kids got glow in the dark ice cubes in their "lemonade" and were very happy. David and I...not so much.  Then on to more rides like Haunted House and Space Mountain again with David. I sat that one out.

We went back to the hotel to swim and nap and then headed back to the park. There was some fecal issues that I will leave out but that left me in a not so nice mood.  We did a couple more rides and then grabbed some corn dogs and a place to sit to watch the fireworks.  It was 9:30 at this point and Elizabeth was falling asleep.  Then they made an announcement the fireworks would be delayed. Kids were upset and starting to lose it.

But we waited and waited and then finally started.  The kids were thrilled as this was the first time they had seen real fireworks.  They didn't even care that it ended early due to a technical delay.

We said goodbye to David and then went to wait in the line for the shuttle with the 15 thousand other people. The kids were super cranky at this point and Parker kept saying we should walk. After waiting about 20 minutes, I agreed and made an announcement to the crowd (that we had grown close to by then) that we were sacrificing ourselves for the good of all because I knew once we walked away the bus would come.  They all laughed, but then hugged us when just three steps away, it turned the corner. Three cheers for the three kids. One man even held the door open for us to ensure we got on the bus despite the huge, and now angry, mob.

We left around 10 and arrived at a La Jolla beach at noon to meet up with Ashley and Quinn who moved there last year.  It was cold and windy but sunny so the kids had fun digging and burying.

Parker likes to dig holes.

Susan and her family joined us a few hours later and then we all head to the hotel. She stopped for Tacos for all which was delightful.

The next day we explore a playground....

And then went to this crazy Mormon Historic site that was all about Jesus Christ but so well done the kids loved it (I guess that is the point). Susan and I kept rolling our eyes.

Free old timey photo.

Panning for "gold"

Parker got some too.  He also bashed his eye in at the pool earlier the day before and it was black and blue for a while.

After a rough time finding a good lunch place earlier in the day, we had a great dinner at the Italian joint. I had Risotto (of course) and caprese salad.

On our last day, we went to Balboa park where the kids climbed on art, trees, and in fountains. It was all very lovely.

In the afternoon, we met up with Ashley and Quinn again, first at the hotel pool and then later at the beach where the kite was a big hit with everyone as it went up immediately and didn't crash. Even little Annabelle could do it.  There was more digging and building and frolicking.

This was some kind of sea plant. Ick.

After this lovely day, we had a great dinner at this milk shake/burger joint.  It was just the ticket!

The next morning we took off early for Magic Mountain on Parker's insistence, but after only three rides, the kids all agreed they were tired and just wanted to go home. Luckily due to our season pass, it was all free so I said, "sure" and we drove all the way back home arriving by 8pm. They were all happy to see Michael as was I.