Sunset

This evening was just about perfect. We made dinner, saw Daddy off to work, then the kids and I went for a walk. I pulled out the big stroller, for the boys, and Elena borrowed a scooter from the neighbor. We set out to find letters--on signs, cars, houses, anywhere we could find them. It's a favorite game when we're in the car, but it was nice to be able to slow down and give Joseph more time to spot things. Plus, the weather was perfect. Blue sky, no clouds, a light breeze, not too hot and not too cold. We managed to get up to Q before we lost a bit of drive. The rarer letters can be pretty tricky. The school was on the way home so we stopped in at the playground for some play time. The kids ran ahead, but I held back, wanting to take it all in. I wanted to savor what may be our last trip there together. I took a seat on a swing--I always seem to gravitate there--and James came over for a ride. I watched lacy branches arch over us, lightly flocked with delicate bunches of new leaves, as James and I floated back and forth, laughter and the children's voices washing over me. Elena joined us and I told her all about the summer we first moved here and I would sit on those very swings, waiting for her to join us in our family. Playtime beckoned, though. A game of hide and seek began and we all took turns counting to fifteen then looking for the others. Even James played. "Wun, dwo, fee, fou, fie, 'leven... come!" He chased Elena up the playscape and down the twirly slide. He caught her as she tried to climb back up. I hid behind trees because I'm too tall to properly hide in the tunnels, the way Elena and Joseph do, and too old to run pell mell across the tanbark. In one last game, we all ran up the steps and across the bridge to the tallest slide and went down, one after the other, over and over again, until we were breathless and giggling. As we made our way home I watched the sun slide below the horizon, marking the end of another day. Elena returned the scooter and thanked the neighbor. And then she threw a massive fit because she hadn't realized she was missing Wipeout. I sent her to bed. So close. Good enough, though.

Morning After

My new phone has a camera, but I don't get the chance to get the pictures off of it very often. Here's a few shots of the day after the snow, at the park and enjoying the sunshine.

The drinking fountain had a tiny forest of ice stalagmites underneath it. I've never seen anything like that before.


The kids had a great time on the slides and hiding in the eggs.






Hmm... I somehow missed getting a shot of Joseph. Next time, I guess.

Pirates of the Duck Pond

Yes, I know the party was three weeks ago. My computer annoys me, and that's where I'm going to leave it. Also, there's a ton of pictures here. You have been warned.

I've been wanting to do a pirate party for Joseph for months. I think I'd started pondering such things in February or March. He loves The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, Peter Pan, Penelope and the Pirates, The Pirates of Penzance (and really, any three-year-old who knows and loves a 19th century operetta ought to be rewarded, somehow) and any sort of pirate themed toy or activity. They use coat hangers as hooks and boxes as ships, fighting monsters or hunting treasure all through the house. How could I not?


We were a bit worried about the weather, which alternately threatened baking heat or torrential downpours, but the big day dawn cool, slightly cloudy, and perfect for a morning in the park.

We had lots of things to do and would be earning pirate gear as we went. First we made parrots from green TP rolls and bright feathers,


and read a story while munching cheddar whales and pretzel squares.


We headed over to Pirate Cove to do battle with a fearsome ship, to earn bandannas. We even raised our foe from it's watery grave so we could sink it again. The geese wandered over as the ship first dropped anchor and watched what we were doing.




Everyone who would stay put got to play Pin The Eyepatch on The Pirate (and earned an eyepatch in return). James had his own patch to play with but was far more interested in everyone else's.


Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the treasure hunt. Jonathan was hiding clues, and I was trying to catch the intrepid band of small pirates. Jack's dad managed to catch some shots, so maybe I'll be able to prevail upon then, once they've unpacked their things in KY. In any case, we drew up picture clues for the kids to follow all around the park, leading them to a great red X that had a "treasure box" full of popsicles beneath it.

After eating popsicles and watching the ducks for a few minutes, we headed back to harbor for a pinata, made by Jonathan. Joseph has made a complete 180, in regards to pinatas, in the last year, from a sort of shy fear to total enthusiasm. All the kids had a great time laying into it, getting in some seriously good whacks. Daddy may have done his work a little too well, though, and he had the honor of finalizing the destruction his work.






Finally, it was cake time. I know, there's been a lot of ships, but you have to admit it's a cool shape. We simply could not get the candles to light, though, because the breeze was just a bit too brisk.



The cloud cover broke up as we were wrapping things up, and we simply couldn't clean up fast enough in an effort to beat the start of the heat. Joseph had so much fun with his friends, and while we wish more of his cousins could have made it we know that it's tough when we're all scattered. Happy birthday, Joseph!

A Day at the Park

We have found a new favorite park--Mueller's Lake Park. We've been there the last two Saturdays and loved every moment we spent there. The playground is possibly the best I've ever seen, and that includes fond memories from childhood. The "lake" (large duck pond) has ducks, coots, at least one heron, and a small flock of parrots nearby. We've flown kites and watched minnows. There are lots of people to see and kids to make instant friends with. Plus, everything is so perfectly lovely and begging for the most beautiful pictures to be taken.

I love how they show off their natural tendencies, here--she picking flowers, he hitting the bushes with a stick.

We'll be back soon, I'm sure. It has an almost irresistible draw.

So Unfair

I've been trying to keep up with Marin's 10 lbs in 6 weeks Challenge, but I'm having a hard time pushing myself to exercise (don't we all?). I don't belong to a gym, or even the YMCA. There are very few places within walking distance that don't involve shopping or wouldn't bore the kids to tears. It's painfully difficult to hold Proud Warrior or Wide-Legged Downward Dog when there are small children literally climbing all over you. So, today we went for a walk. All those who had the coordination carried themselves. It was a leisurely 30-40 minute trip out to the Rec Center. We played on the playground for a little while, but not so long that Joseph would collapse on the way home. James was asleep in the sling, so he and I stayed mostly in the shade. Walking home took longer, as energy was finally flagging, so we paused every other block to check out interesting sticks. After being out for nearly two hours, we arrive back home and I pass around water to everyone and make snacks. Shortly thereafter, Jonathan gets home from work and tells me I have a sunburn. My husband doesn't get sunburns. It drives me crazy because I burn pretty easily. I grumble a bit, feeling stupid that I'd forgotten the sunblock, but check the kids to see what the damage is. Joseph has rosy cheeks. That's it. All four of us got the same sun exposure, and who ends up looking like a lobster? That'd be me. Even the baby still has perfect porcelain skin.

Don't Let This Be a Sign

Joseph, Today:
split forehead open on drawer
1 face-plant & 3 rear-plants off swing at park
self-guided tour of staff-only area of library
climbed to top of bookshelf at library
"chomping" (jumping) through parking lot and off wall overlooking creek
started colored-pencil sword fight
washed coating of toothpaste out of hair

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Previously, on Joseph:
"Rawr, rawr, rawr!" all day long.
Finally, "Are you a dinosaur?"
"No!" he rawred.
"Are you a monster?"
"No!" he rawred.
"Are you a hippo?"
"No!" he rawred.
"Are you a elephant?"
"No!" he rawred.
"Are you a bear?"
"No!" he rawred.
"Are you a lion?"
"No!" he rawred.
"Well, what are you?"
Still rawring: "I'm two!"

Picnic Party

The Elder's Quorum finally got around to having a social and getting my husband to tell me about it. Since it's been pretty quiet in the post-Easter lull, he even got to take off from work and join us. Yippee! I brought the camera, but it never left the diaper bag, so sorry for the lack of pictures.

We had hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, sliced fruit, and juice boxes. The invite said to bring a salad, so I made potato salad. Adults chatted while the kids played on the playground. The EQ presidency brought kites, as well, and while the kite-eating tree ate two of them, Jonathan kept his up and away from danger. I sunscreened everyone while it was still cloudy, so I didn't have to worry when the sun finally came out. All in all, 3 1/2 hours, lots of food, good company, worn out kiddos, no sunburns or abrasions (or fractures, despite Joseph's best attempts)--it was a great day.

Kites

Richard and Chrissie were in town for Christmas, so we met them at the park for a picnic, duck feeding and kite flying. Jonathan's dragon kite flew like a dream, soaring into the air with the slightest toss. It was so easy to handle that we let Elena do it all by herself. Joseph liked to run free through the grass, finding other people's soccer balls and kicking them. He's got some serious dribbling skills for a 1 1/2 year old.






Bonus video of the dragon kite. It flaps!

Misanthropic Malignancy

I just got back from the elementary school playground, and there are no words to properly express my rage. There were two of us: mothers, each with two children, each with one who was well under the age of two. That wasn't the problem, though. The problem was the pack (for lack of a better word) of 14-16 year-old kids (pretty evenly divided guy/girl) running around the open space next to the playscape, playing some variation on tag. As Joseph and I moved off toward the swings, the teens converged on the playscape climbing over, under and on top of the equipment. Elena was still playing in the rocks beneath them, until their play started to get rough and she came to join us. Then they started throwing rocks. These were not soft lobs, either. I saw at least four of them throwing handfuls of rocks, full force, in all directions. Handfuls of rocks are like buckshot, though--you're bound to hit something. And, indeed, the ricochets kept getting closer and closer to the six of us who had taken refuge at the swings. I was livid. "All of you!" (yes, I shouted, but it's the same shout the police use to quell riots) "No more rocks!" Did this stop them? No. They had the nerve to move to the other side of the play scape and continue on, as if the extra five feet would buffer us from their stupidity. We were trapped on the swings, and Joseph was wiggling to get down. We couldn't even leave because they were between me and the stroller. And thus, I snapped. I didn't threaten, because I had no real authority over them, but I so wanted to use their cell phones to call every one of their mothers and ask why they had lost the basic social manners that my 4-6 year-old nieces and nephews can handle just fine. One of them protested that it was a public park so I couldn't kick them out. Since when has "public" meant "I can do whatever I want and you can't do anything about it," though? And what about me? All I wanted was to let my children play without being scared for their safety. I tolerated the rough play and climbing on top of things, but I draw the line at projectiles. Furious and unable to let my children play anywhere near them, I left. And then the ringleader told me to have a nice day. Please, tell me we're raising our children to be better than this! I do my best, but it's hard not to feel defeated when faced with this sort of thing.

And, As Life Slows Down...

After a month of a record number of posts, we have this one. Trust me, we've had plenty going on, I just haven't posted it. Here's some of the highlights, though.

We've gotten to visit Zilker several times, this month, and Joseph loves running around the playscape and going on all the slides. Elena waves to the train and likes to watch the ducks down at the creek. She even got to see a heron, one time.


Elena's stick figures are starting to get more recognizable. The figure on the far left (now labeled as Cynthia) started off as the "other Elena." I don't know where that came from, but it was a bit unnerving.


The cat, Simon, showed off his hunting prowess by catching one of the lizards that keep sneaking into the house. It was not fun to head to the computer and find this blocking my path. (for the squeamish, skip past this one)


Trunk-or-Treat was Saturday night. There was the annual chili competition, a carnival for the primary kids (put on by the YM & YW, so the parents could sit and socialize), and of course the candy. Elena was Dora, so of course Joseph was Boots. She wanted me to be Swiper, but I didn't have enough time to pull that together, and Daddy was coming straight from work so I think I expanded his all-black theme quite nicely, for him. I love the picture of the four of us.



That's most of it. We had to get milk, first thing this morning, so we grabbed a huge pumpkin while we were at HEB. Elena's already drawn the face for it, and we're going to carve it this afternoon.

One Enchanted Evening

Well, today was my first day with my student. I'm giving lessons in Practical Domesticity (knitting, crochet, and sewing) to one of the girls in my ward, and she in turn babysits my kids when we actually get a date night. We started with crochet, it being the most forgiving to novices at handwork. She was getting pretty good by the end of the session, but will need a lot of practice to get the stitches even (don't we all?). I told her they need to be like a well-fitting t-shirt--tight enough to show your curves, but not so tight as to show your flaws.

Anyway, Elena had been asking to go to the park, all day, so as soon as Macy was out the door we grabbed water, shoes, and the stroller and headed for the school around the corner. It was well after the kids had gone home, so we could actually go on the grounds, and cool enough to be pleasant, especially with the breeze flowing through the trees above us. Elena and Joseph ran (well, Joseph crawled) all up and down the stairs and through the tunnel, slid down the slide, and watched the birds fly by. Joseph loved the slide. I showed him how to sit down at the top and scoot forward, and hold on to the sides so he didn't go too fast. He giggled all the way down, over and over again. Each time he slid down, I picked him up and put him back up on the platform, and he did it all over again. When we went to the swings, we took turns pushing each other. Elena loved pushing us (Joseph on my lap), and Joseph thought it was hilarious when he helped me push Elena. We even saw fireflies on the way home, just as the sun dipped below the apartments across the street.

It was late, and while the kids had had a hefty snack at 4, they still needed something to tide them over for the night, so I got them some pasta. The shape of the night was shells. Normally we have big elbows, and Elena puts them on the ends of her fingers. Since you can't put the little shells on the ends of your fingers, she did the next best thing. She stuck one up her nose. This freaked her out, a bit, since she couldn't get it back out, but once I figured out what was going on I fixed it. Now she thinks it's silly, but I don't think she's going to try it again any time soon.

In other news, this is my 100th post! Yipee!

Out On The Town

We decided to get out and enjoy what the city has to offer, today. We went to The Domain, just to see what it looked like. All the stores are terribly expensive, but the ambiance is great. There are two little open areas between the stores, one with an armadillo to climb on and a fireplace, the other with a giant whooping crane and a fountain kids can run through. We ate lunch by the fountain and Elena ran back and forth, "feeling the water" and drinking her juice. Joseph took a little longer to warm up to the water, but once he did he liked to trail his fingers through the spurts.



Afterward, we went downtown to see the new children's hospital. We got to tour the inside and see a magic show, play with the lobby's Rube-Goldburg-esque ball contraption that's more than twice the size of my car, and play in the hospital toy room while we were inside. There was also a concert with Rick Trevino next to the food tents on the main drive. We finally decided that Elena would be OK in one of the sock hops by herself--I was a bit nervous because the only other time she'd been in one, she was with her cousins--when who should arrive, almost on cue, but those same cousins.



They wrapped up the night with fireworks (Joseph's first!) and both kids watched with rapt attention.


It was a very fun day, and we're glad we got to share some with our family.

At The Park

Our AC is broken again (well, it chills, it just leaks water through our dining room ceiling and managment has painted the ceiling each summer instead of actually fixing the unit) so we went to the elementary school around the corner to get some fresh air and breezes.

A Day in the Park

The sky was blue, the breeze was blowing, it wasn't yet blazing hot, so we decided to go to the park. And if you're going to spend half the day at the park, you *have to* go to the big one. Here we are at Zilker, down by the creek, just below the pool. Normally, there's ducks, but half the city apparently had the same idea about enjoying the sunshine, so the ducks played least-in-sight. There were tons of dogs, though, and Elena was very brave and went wading in the creek. She even dunked herself. I guess she thought swimming looked so easy when everyone else was doing it.


After a quick costume change (I knew we were going down by the ducks and planned ahead) we headed up to the playground. Elena ran all over the playscape, up ladders and steps, then down each and every one of the slides. Here, she's stuffing rocks through the holes in the sides of the platforms.


Joseph chilled in the stroller with a bottle and watched the clouds and birds.


There was a clown next to the playground making balloon animals, and Elena asked for a frog.


She'd also asked to bring her tricycle with us, and she rode it from the car to the playground and back again when we were ready to go home.


It was a great day!