multi-tasking isn't (always) my friend

With 3.5 little people and only one me, I generally wind up doing more than one thing at a time. I mediate arguments from the shower. I direct children towards shoes and sweaters and the potty while packing a diaper bag. I fold laundry while "supervising" workbook fun. I'm almost always engaged in at least two conversations (usually about why someone should do something and why someone else shouldn't do something else). Most times that works out reasonably well. Or at least passably well. But sometimes, well, sometimes it doesn't work well at all.

For example, it is not advisable for me to attempt to schedule Madeline's doctors' appointments during breakfast. Apparently paying attention to the receptionists and the calendar meant I failed to notice that John David could actually reach the bowl of Greek yogurt that I'd planned to feed him.

On the other hand, maybe it worked out just fine.  After all, while he added bathtime to the morning to-do list, he did just feed himself while I dealt with medical bureaucracy.

Right?

Picnic in the Park: thank goodness for geese

As I've probably mentioned here (once or twenty times), we have a Friday night ritual: pizza-movie-picnic night.  The girls and I make up a batch of pizza dough, top it with some tasty cheese (sometimes veggies, when I can get away with it), throw it in the oven, and then sit on a blanket on the living room floor to watch a family movie and eat our homemade pizza.  Daddy joins us when he can.  And though John David's a little small to be much help in the kitchen, he certainly eats pizza with as much gusto as his sisters do.

Pizza-movie-picnic night is a beloved tradition, but we've decided to trade it in for the summer.  It'll return when the days get shorter and cooler.  For now we've been capitalizing on the longer, sunny days and have made Friday nights picnic in the park nights.  Rest assured: no one's missing the television.

For our inaugural picnic in the park (two weeks ago now -- I'm running a bit behind, blogwise), we headed to a nearby park that has a lake and borders the bay.  We'd intended to test out the remote-controlled helicopter Auntie Caroline and Uncle Craig gave Daddy for his birthday, but the gusty wind made that impossible.  Our girls were mightily disappointed at first, but recovered when they saw...

geese.

No kidding.  The geese saved the day.

The one most enamored of the geese, though, was clearly John David.  He was completely fascinated.  He loved wandering about after them and would have followed them anywhere.  In fact, he very nearly followed them into the little lake.  Fortunately, Daddy's been working on his speed drills.  Jim managed to snatch our boy moments before he'd have been swimming (unsuccessfully) with the geese.

Given our success with teaching John David to sign "fish" at the aquarium, he gaggle of geese seemed like the perfect opportunity to work on the sign for "bird."  John David caught on immediately!  His sign isn't exactly right (he doesn't hold his hand at all near his mouth), but it's still reasonably comprehensible and pretty darn cute.  He uses the sign all the time now, birds being a more common sight in these parts than, well, fish.  It's not his favorite sign (that would still be "eat" or maybe "fan"), but it's close.

Eventually we tired of trying to prevent our boisterous boy from swimming with the geese and decided some distraction was in order.  We moved our crew to the park's play structure, which is cleverly designed to look like a sailing ship.  The distraction proved successful.  John David loved being able to climb around like the big kids.

And Madeline didn't mind hanging around, either.

Kathleen, of course, was the ship's captain.  She used the spyglass to chart the ship's course.  It was bound for Hawaii, she told us.  (If only!)

After the ship had arrived in Hawaii and then set off for a variety of other destinations (including Illinois -- we clearly haven't worked on geography yet), we packed up our things, bade the geese farewell, and headed home, tired, dirty, and very happy.

We love this summer tradition already...

fish and friends!

Once Daddy had finished up the quarter, we suddenly found ourselves free for a bit of fun.  So, late one night the grown-ups decided that the next day would be for adventuring.  And to the children's delight, we settled on one of our collective favorites:  the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

We informed the children when they woke that morning that we were off to the aquarium.  The girls were beside themselves with anticipation.  They'd been asking to go for ages.  John David was, of course, oblivious -- since he had no context for the word aquarium or even fish, really.

That is no longer the case!

We were barely in the aquarium's doors before the girls were looking and touching and learning all about sea creatures.  (Well, to be fair, Madeline wasn't much interested in touching.  She came around eventually, but it took about half an hour.  We were on the other side of the aquarium by then.)

John David condescended to be wheeled around the aquarium in the jogger for a while.  He watched the fish while his sisters checked out the tidepools.  We introduced the sign for fish and he caught on quite quickly.  The only other sign he's learned with that much enthusiasm is "fan."

But he really got excited when we turned him loose in the children's exhibit!

One of his favorite things was toddler-sized tunnel with aquarium "windows" inside it.  John David could not be convinced to leave.  You can hardly tell, but he's got his face pressed up against some fish in this photo:

It's amazing how much is just the right height for a toddler!

Just before we left home we made a call to our good friends the Starlings, who happen to live in Monterey.  We said, "Sorry we're the anti-planners and give you absolutely no notice, but as it turns out, we're headed your way!  We're going to be at the aquarium this morning, and we'd love to see you if you've got time."  Because she's a champion, Joni said, "Sure!" and squeezed us in between shopping for a crib tent to contain her little climber.  (It's clear our children were born to be friends, is it not?)

Kathleen and Madeline were super-excited to meet up with their friends Sammie and Reese.  We're excited that they were excited, because Sammie and Reese will show up at West Point at the same time we do.  Friends that travel on the same timeline.  Talk about a blessing!

The highpoint of the morning (other than the friend reunion, obviously) was the new (to us) sea turtle exhibit.  It made me a bit homesick for Hawaii, where we used to watch sea turtles on the beach.  It was so much fun to see them again!  And the children loved it.  It was as though sea turtles were swimming right next to them!

Indy, Reese, and Sammie.

I love this photo.  What cute little guys!

More turtle love.

I managed to snap just one more photo -- of the girls clowning with a statue of a penguin (they loved the penguins, too!) -- before my camera's battery died.

Not long after that, our children's batteries started wearing down, too.  Joni and her girls took off toward home and naps.  We left in search of a yummy lunch, which we found.  And then we headed home, the children dozing (Madeline and John David) or reading (Kathleen) as we drove.  It was the perfect circus adventure!  Thanks for meeting up, Starlings!  We can't wait to do it again soon.

Show Week

This post is late because I've spent the last week wrestling with blogger and various internet browsers, trying to convince my blog to load video like it used to (directly through blogger, without having to use youtube or some other video hosting site). I have utterly failed. I finally remembered that I could do this through flickr, which isn't ideal, but will work. What follows is nothing less than an assault on your eyeballs and your patience. Forgive us, but we couldn't help but want to share all of it with the grandparents, at least!

The girls finished up their dance and gymnastic classes with Show Week, in which each got the chance to share their new skills with the whole family. Show Week was a pretty big deal around here. Kathleen and Madeline counted down the days and continually reminded us about the show. On the day of the show they each needed their hair in a bun, then performed beautifully and celebrated after class with a special lunch of their own choosing (pizza out for Kathleen, macaroni and cheese at home for Madeline).

Kathleen's Big Show was the first. It's amazing how much she's grown since the last Big Show -- and how much her dancing has improved! We were so proud of the way she participated in the ballet and tap numbers.

Lined up for their ballet number. Although Kathleen's lots taller, she's not actually older than most of the girls, though they do range from 3 through 4.

The show began with the girls' tap dancing, followed by ballet, and then some creative movement (which wasn't as creative as last big show, because there just wasn't as much room for them to move around).

Then we moved from the dance room to the gym. The girls demonstrated some of their favorite skills on the floor mats, bars, and beam.

Then they had a bit of free time where our whole family could wander around the gym while Kathleen showed off.

Clearly an important discussion, since it couldn't wait until they were both upright.

Fortunately neither of the girls have inherited my balance issues!

Even Indy got in on the fun. He was nearly impossible to contain. He loved that gym. (Incidentally, in the videos -- particularly the gymnastics one -- you can totally hear him screeching in the background. Nice.)

At the end of the session, they awarded each girl with a "medal" for her participation. They were quite proud (if a bit red-eyed from a dozen or so simultaneous camera flashes).

A great big tah-dah!

The pride continued even after the "awards ceremony" ended. We're so glad we've stuck with dance class for Kathleen. It was a challenge at first for her to maintain her focus for an entire hour, but she really enjoys it now. She feels like quite a big girl.

A few days later, we returned for Madeline's Big Show. Since Madeline's class is a parent-and-child class, there wasn't a formal presentation. But Madeline loved the chance to have the whole family with her to show off.

Can't wait to get started!

Madeline loves this class! She took to it immediately and seems to enjoy every moment she's there. It doesn't hurt that she's practically part monkey... She dominates those bars and beams! Because most of the session was a chance for the students to simply explore the gym, even Kathleen and John David got to join in the fun, swinging on the bars (Kathleen) and forward-rolling down the incline mats (John David!). There were, though, several opportunities for Madeline to shine.

Some more fun photos I couldn't resist sharing...

I'll admit to being a tiny bit panicked as I took that first photo of Madeline. I was holding John David in one arm and photographing with the other and I was afraid that Maddie would let go and land on her head. I shouldn't have worried. She must be part cat, too. And that last photo is of Madeline demonstrating her own version of an arabesque, a skill she learned from her big sister!

At the end of class, there was yet another awards ceremony. Madeline and her classmates received ribbons for their hard work. It's hard to believe, but in the fall Madeline will be old enough to go to her own class without Mom or Dad. (She'll love it -- she has already said she wants to be in dance class like her sissy -- but we're a bit sad to see this stage go...)

Our sweet little super-star!

The girls are taking a bit of a break from dancing and gymnastics this summer to make room for some traveling (watch out Illinois, we're headed your way in a month or so!) and some swimming lessons... We're sure we'll be just as proud of what they accomplish in these next adventures!

baby to big boy

Last week we finally took our baby boy for his very first haircut. (He'd had a quick trim of his bangs just before Easter, but he hadn't had a real cut.)  We've known we needed to for some time, but we kept putting it off.  When I look at the photograph, though, I know -- he really needed a haircut.

We took him to a sweet little kids' haircutting place.  They weren't actually open that day, but when we called to inquire, they said they'd come in just for us.  Talk about service!

John David seemed reasonably excited about the little tractor he got to ride.

But once the stylist started touching his hair, he didn't want any part of it.  He was mad!  The stylist did a remarkable job, staying calm, speaking sweetly to him, reassuring him that it wouldn't be much longer, wiping his tears (and nose!), and quickly trimming lots of hair.

And then, in less than five minutes, it was over.  And though he was unhappy, our baby was suddenly a little boy.  Honestly, I'm not sure I've seen one of our children grow up so much in such a short time.  I might have cried, but poor John David had the monopoly on tears that day.

I guess it's a good thing that there's a baby boy on the way.  John David is a big boy!

donut sunday

Last week there were dozens and dozens of donuts at the fellowship time after church service.  I know that for some churches, this is no big deal.  But we normally have bagels and muffins and fruit, so the donuts made a really big impression on the kids.

(I feel like the donuts are making a more regular special appearance lately.  I haven't mentioned it to the kids.  I have no doubt that if there is a schedule, the girls will figure it out in no time.)

As I collected the girls from their classes, I mentioned that I'd noticed that there were donuts.  They cheered, "Donut Sunday!" and raced toward the fellowship area.  They carefully made their selections.  Kathleen picked a cake donut with chocolate frosting.  Madeline picked a frosted yeast donut nearly as big as her head.  With sprinkles.  I had to capture their glee:

Not all of us ate donuts.  I abstained, opting for another cup of decaf coffee instead.  Jim missed the whole thing, slaving away at school.  And poor Indy didn't get a donut, either.

Sorry, big guy.  Maybe when you're two...  (Or, more likely, the next time there are donuts, when you're not strapped down in a stroller and you swipe one off the table when your father and I are not looking. )

watermelon man

Aside from all the outdoor fun, the other aspect of summer we've been loving is the fresh produce. Fresh corn and tomatoes spice up otherwise standard dinners of grilled chicken or fish. Peaches, plums, and strawberries have become a mainstay in our diet. (We drove by the fields and fields of strawberries near Watsonville the other day and I thought, "We eat more than our fair share of those! But maybe we can get some more anyway?") And one of our favorite side dishes/snacks/desserts is watermelon.

No one loves watermelon more than our little guy. In the beginning, we very conscientiously chopped up the watermelon into bite-sized pieces, perfect for Indy's little fingers. One night, though, he swiped a slice off his sister's dinner plate. We realized then that we'd been making extra work for ourselves. He does just fine with a slice!

(That third photo is really just for me, so I remember.  My little people change so much, so quickly.  I just know that if I don't write it down, I'll forget their cute little idiosyncrasies.  That back-of-the-hand to the mouth is Indy's interpretation of the sign for eat.  He uses it constantly.  It's one of the first things he does in the morning -- sign eat.  Surprised?  No, probably not.  I suppose that's why he's so big!)

outdoor fun

After a long rainy season (long by California standards, anyway), summer has finally arrived!  One day it was still slightly chilly, and then the next we were hitting Target for a new fan for the girls' room.

Our circus has been loving the warm, sunny days.  Not surprisingly, we've been spending a lot of time outdoors in the fresh air.  (And why not?  It makes everyone happy. And it makes everyone sleep well.  Win-win.)

Here are some recent snapshots of our outdoor fun:

We've been taking a lot of walk/stroll/bike rides lately.  If that designation doesn't make a whole lot of sense to you, let me break it down for you.  Kathleen rides her bicycle:

Madeline strolls in the jogger.  She'd like to ride her tricycle, but she's still not all that consistent about actually pedaling, which is a bit of a complication.  And she can't quite walk fast enough to keep up with her sister on a two-wheeler.  So, she doesn't love it, but she hangs out in the jogger.

And Indy and I walk.  Well, I walk.  Indy rides.  People always laugh when they see us.  And they nearly always say, "Wow!  You've got your hands full."  I suppose that's true.  But we're happy!

What to do after a long bike/stroll/walk or a good, long play at the park?  Cool off, of course, in the wading pool!  People here get pretty excited about the chance to play with the hose.

Obviously, some people get more excited about that than others.  (Madeline likes the pool, but not the hose, really.  Unless she's aiming it at someone else.  She's a smart kid.)

And, if you haven't guessed from the sheer volume of wading pool photos, we spend a TON of time in the pool.  Here's how John David is supposed to look when he plays in the pool:

Frequently, though, he manages to wiggle past me (as I'm slathering sunscreen on sisters or whatnot) before he's ready I think he's ready.  (Yup, he's just wearing his clothes!)

And then he winds up in just a diaper cover.  As you can see, he doesn't mind at all.

When we decide that the lawn needs a break from the weight of the pool, we bust out the sprinkler.  Kathleen begs for it.

Madeline's not so interested in the sprinkler.  But that's not the case with John David!  The first time it was turned on, he raced right over to it and inspected it.  Up close!

We've also resurrected an old favorite from the depths of the garage...  the tunnel!

And I think that Madeline looks a lot better on that (now slightly-deflated) exercise ball than I do!

More fun will follow.  That we can promise!