Soccer! (and fossils)

Today marked the start of another season of Lil' Kickers and sporting a jersey for the first time was Eileen. 

We knew she was ready.  She started commandeering Linus' soccer apparel.  Linus is still wearing the uniform he got when he was 20 months old.  It's a little shocking to see how much he has grown in two years.

Linus' first soccer class, 20 months old and rocking a binky.

Eileen, 21 months, in Linus' soccer clothes. I hope she doesn't mind that they no longer give out shorts with the jerseys.

We don't do soccer year round.  One, it's too expensive, and two, I don't want a preschool burnout.  I try to limit their extracurricular activities to one per season.  Day one was a success.  Linus worked hard and was dripping sweat by the end of class.  Eileen and I did the Bunnies class.  She was a little clingy at first, but warmed up by the end of things.  I think it helped that she had Coach Kat, who Linus has now had as a coach twice.  As we left for the car, Eileen said, "Soccer class had fun."

She pretty much refused to put down the water bottle and carried it for most of the class.

After soccer, we decided to have fun with one of Linus' new interests, fossils.  Linus recently started collecting and now has a special chest to hold them.  He currently only has three.  The coolest is a 15 million year old shark tooth given to him by my chiropractor.  We headed over to the Burke Museum at UW to see some fossils. It's first Thursday of the month, which means free admission to almost all the museums.

Please touch tables with fossils, native art, and pictures for coloring.

Dinosaur fun in the education area

Linus was so excited to see everything he ran through the museum.  I tried to get him to slow down a little and check out all the cool stuff in the education area--dinosaurs, puzzles, books, please touch fossils and rocks, you know, things he loves. Linus compromised and played for ten minutes before insisting on moving forward.  We only got to spend a little time downstairs with the People of the Pacific exhibit.  Eileen was getting melty so we had to head home.

It was a fun morning and I enjoyed the three hour nap Linus took as a result.  Good times.  My goal is to try to take advantage of the first Thursday of the month at least three times this year.  We'll see what happens.

First Day of School

Today was Linus' first day of preschool at his new school.  We loved his old preschool, but I knew that maybe he needed a little bit more academically.  I think it's too bad that they don't do uniforms in preschool.  Not only would it be cheaper, but I can't help but think how cute he would look.

Linus was very excited for school when he woke up this morning.  He was practically bouncing off the walls.  Eileen really wanted to go with him, but she got to spend the morning with Grandma.  The first day is more like an open house so I got to go too.

First, we had to take pictures.  I was a bit surprised when Eileen ran to be in the pictures.  That is until I remembered that Eileen wants to be a part of anything that Linus does.

After preschool, Linus and I picked up Grandma and Eileen, and we all went out for coffee on Ballard Avenue.  We then strolled through some of the boutiques.  Eileen has got strolling down pat.

I'm really excited for the start of the school year.  I wasn't able to put Eileen in a preschool program this year.  Instead I am hoping to do some "school" at home with Eileen one morning a week while Linus is at school.  She and I will also do Nurturing Pathways one day a week.  Hopefully, this will sustain her until next year. 

From the Mouths of Babes in August

Eileen:  Whoopsy Daisy!

Linus:  So here's what I'm thinking.  I will have all the power.

Eileen: Mmm. Beer.  (Eileen after trying root beer)

Linus:  My baby Lucy (a doll) is allergic to mama milk.  She likes regular milk, apple juice, and beer.

Eileen:  Scooby Doo! Scooby Doo! (translation: I want Linus' scuba gear!)

**Despite the way it may appear, Dave and I do not spend our days drinking tons of beer.**

Blackberries on Bainbridge

Linus starts preschool next week.  Now that we are back from vacation, I feel a need to cram in every last little bit of fun and cross a few things off my summer to do list.  Growing up, the week of the August 20s meant two things, my Aunt Mary Fran's birthday and the requisite trip to Bainbridge Island to pick blackberries.  I was eager to share the prickly experience with my children.

Dressed in our farmer best, jeans and long sleeved shirts, the kids and I took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island. Linus wore his cowboy hat, just like a real farmer, although I don't think most farmers' hats have a sheriff sticker on them...

I navigated my way across Bainbridge Island by feel to my Aunt Eileen's house.  I haven't driven on the island regularly in 12 years and never really knew street names to begin with.  I got a little confused by all the new housing developments by Fort Ward.  It used to be wetlands and somewhat paved roads, but I managed to eventually find my aunt and uncle's house.  I love it there.  It very old school island with lots of yard, garden, an enormous gnome collection, tons of blackberries.  The whole property just has a great vibe.

After some coffee, my aunt, Eileen, cousin, Emily, the kids, and I headed out across the street to the massive amounts of blackberry bushes.

Eileen preferred to eat the blackberries she picked.

She found it more effective to steal from my bucket and put them in her own.

In addition to devouring massive amounts of blackberries, Eileen kept adding gravel to the buckets.  I am hoping she didn't swallow too many rocks.  Linus discovered that if you jump with an open bucket of blackberries, the berries will scatter all over the ground.  Luckily, he solved his own problem and just picked some more.

Great Grand Eileen (as Linus calls her) and Emily were kind enough to give us the blackberries they picked along side us.  My uncle, Duane, meanwhile picked a large bucket of strawberries from their garden for us.  Done berry picking, we headed to the backyard to eat lunch.  Not surprisingly, Eileen was too full from berries to eat much.

farmer lunch break (thanks Linus for the photo)

playing on the swing set with Uncle Duane (head not shown)

More than picking blackberries, the kids loved playing at my aunt and uncles' house.  There was a real tractor to ride, a dog to play with, a swing set with an incredibly fast slide to play on, a horse made of tires, and a sand box to dig in.  By the time we were ready to leave, those kids were dirty. I enjoyed the adult conversation.   

My aunt is a very talented lady and gifted wood worker.  I am in awe of her abilities, especially since I can't use a screw driver and can barely wield a hammer.  As a parting gift, she loaned the kids two horses she had made Emily when she was young.  The kids are pretty excited.

The kids played hard today and were both asleep by 7:15 pm. The berries are washed.  I put some in the freezer.  I plan to make good use of my mini pie maker.  My aunt also gifted me with a large zucchini.  It will be made into muffins tomorrow.  

I had so much fun.  After a day on Bainbridge with my family, my heart is singing.  Nothing makes me happier than simple days and sharing the best parts of my childhood with my kids.

San Diego

We just got back from a week in San Diego.  This post will serve as a hi-tech old-fashioned slide show of our trip.  So go ahead and pretend you are sitting in our house, a large sheet has been hung, and we are just getting the projector going....I'll warn you, the teacher in my never goes away so this will also read like a travel guide.

When we go on vacation, Dave and I like to go some place warm, ideally with a beach.  After telling Linus we weren't "those people" who go to Hawaii every year and our plan to rent a beach house on the Washington coast fell through, we thought San Diego sounded like the perfect solution.

Using VRBO.com, I found a great condo in Mission Beach across the street from the beach.

The view from our condo.  The best part of waking up and going to bed every day.

The condo was a few minutes from SeaWorld so we were treated to a fireworks show every night.  We were in a more residential area, about a half mile from the more touristy strip.  It was a pretty great condo.  It was totally set up for toddlers, had lots of books, movies, and games, a washer/dryer, and pool.  It was not only across the street from the beach, but a playground as well.  The downside--no A/C, only fans.  It probably wouldn't have been a big deal, but San Diego was experiencing an unusual wave of humidity.  We spent a lot of time with limited clothing.

The kids, especially Eileen, battled heat rash.  We tried to keep them shirtless as much as possible.

Day 1
The trip down wasn't bad, but I would give a major thumbs down to Dollar Rent a Car.  I don't think I will ever willing use them again.  We had a couple hours to kill before we could check in to the condo, so we went to Old Town.  Old Town is very touristy and reminiscent of Sedona.  There was a really great artisan fair going on that day and we found ourselves having to use restraint not to buy everything.  We came away with two t-shirts, a print, and a glow in the dark spider bracelet.  I'd also like to give a shout out to the staff of Cold Stone.  We didn't have enough cash and they gave us the ice cream anyway.  Of course we went back later, thanked them again, and left a massive tip.

Days 2 and 7  San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is HUGE.  Despite spending two days there, we didn't come close to seeing everything.  It's also built in a canyon, so the hills are tremendous.  There are moving walkways in a few parts, but it was still a serious hike around the zoo.  I wouldn't be surprised if they forgot about certain animals.  We would find exhibits we had somehow missed walking back through.  The humidity was hard and we found ourselves willing spending $10 for a lemonade (it did have free refills).  The pandas were cool.  Linus is convinced he saw a baby panda (he didn't, it was behind the scenes with its mom).

Linus was very excited about the bug zoo.  The reptile walk was also a big hit.  I saw a large bird eating tarantula and ran out of the building.

baby cheetah stalking its prey

baby cheetah is ready to enjoy the kill

play area by the elephants.  We spent a lot of time there because it was shady and had a place to sit.

photo by Linus

hitching a ride on a giant tortoise

After going to the San Diego Zoo, Linus decided he was going to be a safari guide.  Good thing I brought a button shirt to wear!  He begged us to buy him an official safari outfit and pith helmet at the gift shop.

The zoo also has a safari park further away but we decided to leave that for a future trip. The zoo is inside Balboa Park which has tons of museums.  With only a week in San Diego, we only had time to drive through Balboa Park.

Day 3  La Jolla

This was probably Dave's and my favorite day.  We drove up to La Jolla Cove, about 15 minutes away.  We saw lots of sea lions and pelicans.  Dave and Linus went snorkeling. Linus LOVES snorkeling.  The swim lessons have really paid off and given him more confidence in the water. We had him wear water wings while snorkeling to just make it a little easier to stay afloat while snorkeling. The kids and I played on the beach.

Linus snorkeling.

After lunch in town, we were getting ready to leave the restaurant when we noticed Eileen had a blow out.  It was bad.  Very bad.  We ended up hurrying back to the car.  As we walked, poop dropped out of Eileen's shorts and onto the sidewalk. It smelled like horse manure.  I pray nobody wrote down our license plate number.  We wiped her down in front of a lawyer's office (insert joke here).

Days 4 and 6  LEGOLAND!

I was so excited for Legoland that I could barely sleep the night before.  It's not quite as magical as Disneyland and it is definitely pales in comparison restaurant-wise.  Nonetheless, we had a great time.  We all loved the water park.  We did a full day the first day.  The second day was actually better because we had a better sense of the park.  Linus loved roller coasters and water slides.  He went on almost every ride that he was tall enough.  I think he recently had a growth spurt because Dave and I were both surprised that he made it on ride requiring you to be 40 inches.  Eileen was too short for most rides, but she was tall enough for this one airplane ride and rode it more than ten times.

helicopter ride

Eileen liked riding the boat at Fairy Brook.

She takes boating and fairy tales seriously.

Eileen passed out in the stroller both days at Legoland which was great.  We sent Linus on rides she would want to go on but was too short while she slept.  She never knew.

fraternizing with another tourist

meeting a lego guy

unimpressed by the Diving Beetle ride

Eileen climbed this cargo net with no help.

Star Wars Miniland is pretty darn cool even if you hate Episodes 1-3.  Don't worry, there is no Jar Jar Binks.

Little bit of love on the Duploland train.

Being in Legoland, we felt obligated to buy Legos.  Eileen got a duplo set to add to our collection (no pink legos here).  Linus got his first little Legos, Batman and the Joker. 

If you want to go to Legoland, here's what you should know:

• it's not as much fun if you are under 34 inches.  Lots of rides require you to be 36 inches, some even taller.  
• lines are much shorter after 5 pm
• they have lego play areas for kids to play with while parents wait in line
• one kid kit from a restaurant/food stand will feed two kids although you might add an extra drink.
• there are lots of opportunities to get wet even if you don't go to the water park.  We found it way easier the second day when we just came with our bathing suits already on.  There are large family dryers.
• they allow a parent swap on rides, ie. I could go on a ride with Linus, and then Dave could go on the same ride without waiting in line again. Pretty sweet.
• the sweet spot for kids going to Legoland is probaby ages 4-9.

Day 5 

I planned day 5 to be a rest day, secretly hoping we might make it to SeaWorld.  Eileen puked all over herself in the car.  It was a day of rest, vomiting, heat rash, and legos.

I love being on the beach with my family.  We all got really into road building. Our condo provided beach toys, beach blankets, umbrella, kick boards, and chairs.  We were set.

Eating in San Diego

Eating in San Diego was sometimes a little tricky.  By staying in a condo, we saved a lot of money making our own food.  Of course, we had to go to a few restaurants.  It was vacation after all.  It was tricky because Linus hates Mexican food and it proliferates throughout San Diego.  

A few of our favorite places were: Fred's Mexican Cafe (I LOVED their San Diego salad), Porkyland (cheap, delicious, large portion Mexican food), Mission Coffee Cup in La Jolla, and Mission in Mission Bay.  I really enjoyed the San Diego influence on food--black beans, brown rice, avocado, steamed broccoli.  It was soooooo good.  We went out to The Counter one night even though it was a bit of a drive.  I still mourn the loss of the Ballard location.  It was worth driving to Del Mar.

Eileen

Eileen did great on the trip.  She really went with the flow despite having us mess with naps.  She was a real trooper despite having a horrible heat rash the entire time.  Even puking and crazy poop didn't seem to shake her too much.  Her vocabulary exploded while we were there. Not knowing local radio stations, we didn't bother to turn on the radio in the car.  Eileen used the opportunity to provide the music.  Her top 5 songs:  Hush Hush Mommy Charlotte (her take on the old song, hush hush sweet charlotte), Twinkle Twinkle, Lullaby and Goodnight, Butterfly Driving a Truck, and Sailor Nonsense.

Final Thoughts

It was a fun trip and really relaxing. Linus threw a few tantrums, but it was significantly less than last year's trip to Hawaii.  Is this what happens as you near age four?  I can no longer go on vacation without the assistance of Google maps on my smartphone.  I like San Diego, but I don't think I want to live there.  I would miss the evergreen trees and mountains.  Linus didn't want to leave, but seems relieved to be home.  I'm glad we were fortunate enough to be able to go on vacation.  I feel renewed and ready to greet fall.  If you're wondering where all the cute family shots are, they just didn't happen.  Instead, we did find the time to have some fun in the photobooth at the San Diego Zoo. I think they turned out pretty well :)