Celebrating big and little things

Disclaimer: I have lots of pictures for this post, but after fighting with Blogger for nearly an hour, I'm going to concede defeat. I'll try again later).

The end of July always brings several milestones to our family.

For one thing, eleven years ago, this happened. 

Marrying Dan remains to date my best decision ever. He's a great friend, a fantastic dad, and one of the best things in my life.

Our anniversary also happens to be his birthday, so we spent much of this week celebrating.

On Tuesday, after an unexpected meeting with the Provost and several other campus big-wigs (they want me to help with some PR about a campus initiative), we went to our favorite local Japanese restaurant. It was their sushi hour, so Dan and Andrew between them devoured three sushi rolls. I'm proud of Andrew, whose tastes are definitely evolving. He *wanted* his own sushi roll this time. Evelyn and Oliver also did us proud. Since there wasn't room in the traditional eating area, they seated us in the hibachi room, which meant we got to *see* some of the hibachi show without paying hibachi prices (I call it a win), and the servers apparently felt sorry for us so they gave us free tempura ice cream (it tasted a bit like ice cream wrapped in angel food cake and then fried. Probably not worth ordering separately). Oliver liked it.

Wednesday night, Dan and I took advantage of a "family and friends" discount and saw Sense and Sensibility at the Shakespeare Festival. It was just as good the second time--maybe better, because I knew what to savor.

And Thursday, of course, was pioneer day. Instead of sweltering in the pioneer day parade (or in the audience), we ditched town entirely and drove to Bryce Canyon, where we had a lovely hike (Navajo Loop) with the kids. It was our first time taking them down into the hoodoos, and while both of the older kids had lots of energy on the way into the canyon, they complained during the mid-section.

Andrew, in fact, told me, "I have all kinds of energy," and then kept trying to stop half a mile later. But when we reached the end of the loop (a spectacular slot canyon known as "Wall Street") all complaints miraculously ceased. We had two dirty but entertained children at the end.

We had lunch just outside the park and then went back for one more torture hike. This time, in what I can only assume was a burst of insanity, we decided to let Oliver try walking.

Two-year-olds are not known for their ability to follow directions. Or trails. So it didn't take very long before we curtailed Oliver's freedom. Since we'd left the carrier in the car, I wound up with him on my shoulders for most of the hike. Sometimes he let Andrew carry him on his back. And for a little while he consented to walk, but only if we did "one-two-three" and swung him up in the air. (And if we didn't swing him on three, he'd simply drop, a dead weight, and get dragged for a step or two until we figured out what he was doing).

Still, we had a lovely day. (And I promise there are lovely pictures too, when I can post them. What? I'm not bitter. Not at all.)

Friday was Dan's actual birthday, so of course he had to work. (And give his students a test, which they probably enjoyed even less than he did). But we did manage to make some of his favorites for dinner: mashed potatoes, fried chicken (okay, the Colonel made this), and a fancy salad.

For dessert, I made German chocolate brownies--which were almost too rich. Even for me. Oliver helped me make them, and then cried when I took the frosting away to put it on the cake. (I think he wanted to eat it straight out of the bowl. That, or he thought because he'd helped stir it, the whole thing was his. Hard to tell with toddlers).

Saturday was Andrew's final swim meet. He's made a lot of progress--he only tried to watch his competition in one of the races this time (back stroke) instead of all of them. He also competed in the butterfly, which he's only just learned but did quite well with. Not sure yet if we want to repeat all this again next year, though. The meets are intense.

We went swimming when the meet was over. Oliver loved the slides. (LOVED them). He got suck a kick out of flying down and landing in the water. Even when he got a face full of water.

I'm sure there are other things I'm missing, but these are the highlights.

Hopefully there will be pictures soon.

The play's the thing

This has been a week for drama--both the formal in-theater kind and the less formal kind created by our kids. (Unfortunately).

Early in the week, I took my kids to a Greenshow performance. The theme was Scotland, but I think my kids were more interested in their tarts--and Evelyn was mo re interested in dancing around with the small mob of girls who were present.

 

My mom came down on Tuesday so we could go to Tuacahn's performance of the Little Mermaid. We went three years ago when they did it last--Evelyn was so little she scarcely remembers it--and thought it was just as good, if not better, than last time. The costuming was spectacular. And the plot is a little less reprehensible than the original (Ariel does a better job reconciling with her father and saving herself), if still a little thin (a common problem of musicals).

I realized we don't let our kids out often enough when Evelyn, after watching the fireworks at the end of the performance, turned to me and said, quite loudly, "Mommy, now I know how fireworks are made!" I don't know if she'd ever seen some before.

On Wednesday, we went to a matinee performance of Sense and Sensibility which was wonderful. I love Jane Austen, and this performance was so well done. (I might have a tiny crush on Edward Ferrars). The costuming, pacing, acting was all lovely. It made me remember that shows don't have to put on big spectacles to be riviting.

And on Thursday, gearing up for Dan's birthday (this Friday!), Trisha graciously watched our kids while I took Dan down to SG for a performance of Spamalot. Although not quite Broadway calibre, we both laughed a lot. Anyone familiar with (and fond of) Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail would probably have done the same. 

Friday, Andrew was supposed to have a swim meet but backed out of it, and we let him (not especially wanting to spend the afternoon in the SG heat). Instead, I had a lovely chat with my friend Sally from high school (they're in town for a family reunion).

Saturday, I had a mini writer's retreat with my critique group--now I actually have a plot for my next novel! And Andrew did what he's been begging to do for weeks: he and his friends had a lemonade stand. They also sold Texas sheet cake (thanks to Dan) and otter pops (courtesy of his friend). Thanks largely to the generosity of strangers (someone gave them a $20 and told them to keep the change), they made a lot more money than I expected--something in the neighborhood of $60. Of course, by the time they paid their helpers and split the remains three ways, they made about $16 a piece. Not bad, for a homemade effort.

Unfortunately, now they want to do it again.

As for the other drama--well, perhaps infected by the day's success and with money burning a hole in his pocket, Andrew took off for campus to find something to spend his money on and neglected to tell us where he was going--which meant he was 45 minutes late getting home and Dan had to go out and search for him. (Which also meant his second grounding in a week).

The other drama incident also involved Andrew. On Thursday, I told him he couldn't ride his bike to Main Street with his friends (who are older and have looser restrictions). He fumed for a minute and then wanted me to drive him there immediately--I couldn't, because Oliver was asleep. Still, Andrew obediently did not follow his friends, so I told him we could go when Oliver woke up. But then, on our way there, Andrew spotted one of his friends riding his bike down the street and wanted to stay with them. I obligingly dropped him off (reminding him that the house was going to be locked and he'd have to wait for us to come back if he came home early) and took Evelyn and Oliver for the promised treat (snow cones). 

I was horrified, fifteen minutes later, to find a sweaty and distressed Andrew by my side in the snow cone line. His friend, as it turned out, hadn't stayed home and Andrew got "freaked out" and so rode his bike to catch us (way out of his regular limits, I might add). I felt bad for him--he was clearly scared--and I was grateful nothing had happened to him on his way. But he did get grounded from his bike for two days.

 

 These last are a couple of videos of Oliver: practicing his budding jumping skills and animal noises.

 

Family Fun

This week, all of Dan's family has been in town, which has meant basically lots of food, lots of games, and lots of fun (interspersed by some tantrums).

We've gone swimming, had barbeques, hung out, jumped rope, taken family pictures (though of course I haven't taken any myself), played Ticket to Ride Europe (apparently Matt is not a fan) and taught the cousins to play the original Ticket to Ride, celebrated Will's first birthday with pizza and cupcakes, and generally enjoyed getting to hang out with family.

July Fourth

After my overly long post last week, this week's will be short and sweet.

(I hope. Brevity isn't always my strong suit in writing. Just ask Dan, who's been laughing at me as I triumphantly recount each new 1,000 words I cut from the book I'm writing. I'm *almost* down to a respectable number).

To be honest, I don't remember much from the first part of the week. The kids played with friends and rode bikes, Evelyn and Andrew both had swimming in the morning, Oliver napped in the afternoon (except for the one day that friends came over during nap time--not sure that will be repeated anytime soon).

Dan started teaching summer classes, which always keeps him busy. And I tried to catch up on laundry before we headed up north again. Only a short trip this time, to spend the 4th with Sarah and her family.

We had a pretty low-key Fourth of July.

We watched a neighborhood parade.

We had drinks and waffle fries at Chik-Fil-A (one of the few places open with good ice, as Sarah put it) and got to meet the cow.

This is Oliver's face when the waitress brought out balloons for the kids. Apparently he likes them.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out in Sarah's back yard and then enjoying a terrific dinner: Chinese salad, grilled corn, grilled chicken, dutch-oven potatoes, watermelon, and more.

My kind of Fourth--good food, family, and not too much fuss. Of course, we might be the only curmudgeonly parents left in America who don't let our kids stay up late for fireworks. But then, Evelyn and Oliver both fell asleep on the drive back to my parents' house (at about 6:30 p.m.) and Andrew forfeited his opportunity because of a few too many tantrums during the day.

Maybe next year.