6.12.21 - Joy status: Friends to help us move

We are almost done loading the truck and we are almost ready to depart for Missouri and we wouldn't have been as ready as we are now if it wasn't for a whole lot of help from our dear friends. People have helped pack over the last week or two, and then today load the truck itself, grab food and water for everyone, keep the kids busy, pack (tons of) last minute things, dismantle and move heavy furniture, make donation runs, scrub walls, and basically anything else I could think of to ask. Thank you, thank you! We have so many good friends.

10.31.19 - joy statuses

 

7.4.19 - Sacramento 4th of July

Today was excellent.

Day started off rough as I was bummed that we had no specific plans. We spend too many days when the girls are home just hanging around the apartment and I think Clara is more than old enough now to get excited about holidays. There were no kids events at the local park that often has holiday stuff (e.g. they had an Easter egg hunt in April). We weren't sure if fireworks would work out as they don't start until 9:30pm and the girls are usually asleep by 8:30 at the latest. We had invited some friends to visit but it fell through. Etc.

But then I decided if nothing else we could at least do our own family picnic. Both Jack and I were off work, which is rare. So I ran to Safeway and got gluten free Kettle chips, hot dogs, and nectarines. We already had gluten free strawberry ice cream at home. We got the girls dressed (in red and blue, of course) and went to the rose garden in McKinley park.

Jane kept asking me to fix her sunglasses and then immediately pulling them back down.

We got there before 11am, meaning it was not even hot out yet, actually quite nice. We sat in the shade of one of the giant palm trees and enjoyed the food. I even bought $1 plates and napkins with American flags on them.

When the girls were done eating, they started running around the garden chasing each other or Jack or having him chase them. There was almost no one else there except, we later learned, the all-volunteer gardeners who keep the roses blooming. So there was plenty of space for the girls to run around, and Jack was good sport keeping up with them. In my 8th month of pregnancy, I'm not doing a lot of running. I was happy to just watch over our picnic supplies.

L: watching trash truck; R: back to eating ice cream cone with a spoon

We took the girls home and Jane went down for a nap pretty easily. I took the opportunity to nap too while Jack half dozed on the couch and Clara watched DinoTrucks (or something) on Netflix. Once I woke up (not long after Jane), Jack took a turn taking a real nap and I hung out with the girls while we watched Super Simple Songs and ate more of the picnic food. We also danced a bit, per Jane's request, which was pretty sweet. Actually I kind of stood in one spot snapping my fingers and the girls ran excitedly in circles around me. But that works.

After Jack woke up he went out and bought gluten free popcorn and seasoning, came home and made a huge paper shopping bag full of popcorn. Meanwhile we watched the Incredibles in the background, which is such a great movie. Jack and I were enjoying it probably at least as much as the girls.

Then we headed out again, this time to CalExpo because apparently admission is free to see their fireworks. We parked a bit away, next to a Hobby Lobby, and put the girls in the stroller to walk over to the Expo. We actually got surprisingly good spots: the fireworks are shot from a race track and while the stands were pretty fully, the actual dirt race track had more room, presumably because most people don't want to sit in the dirt. But we'd brought a blanket so it was fine. We spread out, ate our popcorn, listened to live music, and waited for the show to start.

This wait was one of the best parts of the day as Jane and Clara were so excited. I don't think they were even totally sure what they were excited about, especially not Jane, but there were so many people around and the music was so lively and everyone seemed in a good mood, so they were just dancing and stomping and, best of all, every now and then Clara would stop, pump both her fists in the air, and yell "YEEESSSS!" I started letting her know when there was less than 15 minutes until fireworks and updated her every few minutes, and her excitement only mounted.

I was pretty tired and it's increasingly difficult staying comfortable as the pregnancy winds down, but Jack sat behind me and let me lean against him and that was nice too. I also enjoyed seeing all the festive outfits of the people around us, especially the kids too little to even know what's happening, along for the ride.

By the time the fireworks actually started, Jane was pretty tired, and she laid peacefully against me in my lap for the entire fireworks show. Clara was dazzled by the fireworks, and kept pointing them out to Jack as if he might not otherwise notice.

After awhile she seemed to notice the considerable number of people taking pics and videos of the fireworks with their phones, and she asked if she could hold my phone too. I opened the camera and even though she doesn't really know how to take pictures on it, she held it up and viewed the fireworks both live and in the camera and seemed very happy about it.

Watching her and Jane, but especially Clara, get so into it was actually quite moving. She was so happy I almost felt like tearing up. In any case it was great to share the show with my family. When it was done and everyone cheered and applauded, both girls also clapped enthusiastically.

We walked out of CalExpo with the mass exodus of spectators. Jane seemed repeatedly concerned about where I was if she couldn't see me from the stroller, so after a while I just held her hand as I walked alongside them and she was fine. She and Clara pointed out dogs and tiny personal fireworks along the route, and actually just as we got to a fire station it opened up and a fire truck exited, so they got front row seats to that show, which was kind of cool. They ate more popcorn in the car as we listened to "Gloria" and waited to get out of a packed parking log, and of course they both passed out during the relatively short ride home, and stayed passed out when we put them straight to bed.

3.3.19 - Clara's 4th birthday

I went to wake up the kids at about 7:45a because I hope to get Jane down for an early nap before the train museum. When I walked in I told Clara it was her birthday and said "Happy Birthday!" and she sat up and said "Cake!" and pretended to eat some cake.

By some miracle I managed to get a lot of cleaning done in the morning while Jack was at work and I was home with both girls. They really enjoyed it because I moved some furniture around to vacuum and that was apparently SO EXCITING. I didn't even bother to put the coffee table back because they were having such a fantastic time running in circles around it and giggling. I even finished making Clara's cake on time.

Even though they got up later than they do during the week (closer to 8am than 7am), Jane still went down peacefully for a nap early enough that she was awake again before it was time to leave for the train museum. Just as we were getting ready to put the girls in the car, Henry arrived at our apartment with a whole bunch of red and purple balloons, which was also very exciting for them. Clara wanted Henry to drive with us to the museum but was mollified when we told her he'd meet us there.

Also joining us at the museum were Erin, and also Beth and Hunter! Clara and Jane seemed slightly confused but pleased to see those two outside of Beth's house, haha. The kids had a great time. In contrast with last year, Jane does *not* want to be held at all and wants to walk/run every where herself, which overall is actually a lot easier (she is a high density child). Seemed to me Jane loved how much space there was to explore and Clara loved the trains themselves. I love the older gentleman who (I think) volunteer there and have tons of knowledge about all the trains. They remind me of Grandpa. <3 Same with the elaborate model train set on the 3rd floor. It's pretty fantastic. We lingered there awhile and really the girls, especially Clara, could have probably sat and watched it a lot longer, but I moved us along because Jack and I are both pretty tired these days.

After the museum we went back home and the girls played intensely with all the balloons while Erin ran and got ice cream and Henry ran and got everyone In & Out for lunch (even Clara, since she can have their gluten free fries). After lunch we busted out the chocolate cake with sprinkles, gave Clara 4 candles, and sang her Happy Birthday (she sang along). She and Jane made a delighted mess (especially Jane) of their cake, and then they were both more interested in the balloons than the presents for quite awhile.

Eventually we did open presents though. Clara has gotten really good at it all by herself. She got a whole new set of play food and a pretend birthday cake complete with candles (which is perfect since she pretends everything is cake and ice cream anyway). She also got a Magna doodle (which was a huge hit with Jane) and a model Golden Gate Bridge for the Brio train set. Jack set up a pretty beautiful train track incorporating the bridge and Clara played with it for quite awhile. Then she made what looked kind of like a thrown of balloons to sit Jingle Bear on and continually fed him the fake birthday cake for a long time.

Throughout the day she also got to video chat with Aaron, Katie, Josiah, and Naomi, later Mimi, and later Jama.

And while most of this was happening (during the time we were back at the apartment) I got to catch up with Henry and Erin, which was nice in itself.

And then the girls went to bed basically peacefully (probably totally wiped out).

Overall it was just a wonderful day.

1.31.19 - Joy statuses

10.28.18 - The Pumpkin Farm

Halloween is on a Wednesday this year and it's also going to be Clara's third day at her new preschool. We might take her and Jane trick-or-treating briefly in Beth's neighborhood if they and Hunter all feel up to it, but I expect at least Clara will be too tired so we'll see. That said, today may serve as our Halloween celebration of the year and, if so, that works just fine, because today was great.

Even though they could have slept in, the girls woke up around 7:30 am. That gave us plenty of time to eat breakfast and get dressed in Halloween-related outfits before Henry arrived--he drove up from the bay area just to do pumpkin patch day with us, which was great. We packed the girls into their car seats and gave them each Halloween books to read: Halloween ABCs for Clara and Five Little Pumpkins for Jane. Then we caravaned over to The Pumpkin Farm in Carmichael and parked just in time to see Beth, Jake, and Hunter taking their pumpkins to the car (they weren't leaving yet, they just didn't want to carry the pumpkins around). Clara was really excited when she saw Beth and Hunter from her window! She and Hunter sort of ran up to each other and Hunter showed her his miniature pumpkin. Such good buds. <3

We all went back in and Beth bought some popcorn and suckers for the big kids (I googled quickly and Charm Blow Pops are gluten free!) Clara was excited about but also didn't really understand her sucker and just kind of held it and reveled in its existence, so for the time being I took it back lest she drop it in the dirt.

We went and checked out the goats and pigs and sheep. Clara made all their correct noises. We walked past an empty chicken coup only to see the chickens leaving through a hole in the fence, which was kind of funny. No one seemed too concerned about it. At that point we saw the "train" coming round the bend and Clara was psyched. She waved to everyone as they went by and of course many of them waved back. Then we walked over to the big field of medium pumpkins and she and Jane examined many but touched very few. We also saw a hay ride go by and more waving ensued. Clara was just very excited about everything, it was great.

Waving at the hay ride.

Beth et al had to get going at that point but we stayed. I got train ride tickets for everyone except Henry, who opted out, and MAN Clara was excited about the train. Last year she had been a little unsure about boarding it but this year she was ready to go. In fact I'm almost positive we sat in the same cart. When the conductor came by to shut our door Clara giggled excitedly and he clearly got a kick out of that. And when the train actually started she couldn't stop laughing and stimming, it was so sweet. We rode past Henry and she waved enthusiastically. Later she started singing her own rendition of Wheels On The Bus that was instead about trains. And then we past Henry again! Haha.

Jane, on the other hand, was very stoic. Not fussy but clearly zone-y and tired and unsure. To be fair if Jane were the oldest we wouldn't have bothered with any of this because she's not old enough to really get it or enjoy it. She just gets dragged along because Clara's old enough to be excited. So it goes.

Once the train ride was over Clara didn't want to leave, and I thought she might start throwing a fit, but actually she handled it very well. She fussed slightly but was soon ready to look at other things. We went over to the much larger pumpkins and picked one out to actually carve. Jack got a wagon for the pumpkin and Jane, and soon we added Clara to the mix and she seemed happy to ride in it.

We also got them two $1 miniature pumpkins to hold onto. Again Clara was excited and Jane was nonplussed. After buying our pumpkins we stopped by the big "Pumpkin Farm" sign and Henry took some great family pics of us (with his significantly superior phone camera).

Of course Jane fell asleep on the ride home but Clara was awake and cheerful. I had put the big pumpkin between their car seats and she kept touching it and asking for help, so instead I put it in her lap. She kept calling it the "momma pumpkin" to her "baby pumpkin" and played with both a lot (although she kept dropping the baby pumpkin). She was really interested in the bigger pumpkin and held it the whole way home.

Once we were back, Jane went down for a real nap and Clara played with the three pumpkins. She was just strong enough to carry the larger pumpkin around the apartment, and she kept moving it to different spots (desk, coffee table, kitchen table) and then examining it. Eventually she brought out the blanket from my room and "tucked in" the three pumpkins and said they were sleeping. Then she put them all under the desk and stuffed the blanket over them. Etc. She was very busy for a long time.

Meanwhile Henry and I visited and I made some bacon spinach pasta for lunch. The adults all enjoyed it but Clara wasn't interested. I eventually got her to eat 6-8 bites in exchange for that sucker she hadn't had earlier, and once she got the sucker, no joke, it took her about an hour to eat that whole thing. she was busy with it for a long time and her lips and around her lips got all red, it was pretty cute. Eventually Jane woke up from her nap and sat disgruntedly in my lap while she ate the rest of Clara's pasta. So that worked out.

When lunch was over Jack stood at the dining room table and scooped out the big pumpkin; Clara was very interested in the whole process and basically narrated what was happening and kept trying to fit the lid (I think at one point she called it the "head") back on properly. Once Jack finished scooping I carved the most classic Jack-o-lantern face, and she watched most of that too. Then we put a candle in and she was amazed, just as I hoped she'd be. At that point Jane was also pretty interested, although she seemed more fascinated by the match I used to light the candle. Still, definitely got her attention.

Jack went through all the goop and got the pumpkin seeds, washed and dried them, added some seasoning, and baked them. The apartment smelled wonderful. When the seeds were done Jane was actually a bit suspicious but Clara really liked them, which is great because apparently they are nutrient dense and high fat.

The rest of the afternoon Henry and I visited while he half played with the kids. Eventually he ran to Costco to get rotisserie chicken and potatoes and grapes, and while he was gone I let the kids watch a bunch of Super Simple Songs Halloween renditions. When he returned I made mashed potatoes and we had those with the chicken, and even Clara ate most of her share. Incidentally by now Jane was fully awake and not fussy or perhaps the first time all day, so that was pretty nice.

Jack left to get Clara's lunch box for her first day of preschool tomorrow, and Henry did most of the post-dinner cleaning while I just hung out with the girls, which was really nice. When Jack came back we visited some more but Henry headed out around 6:30pm so we could give the girls a bath before bed. While Jack bathed them I made Clara's lunch for tomorrow: tortillas, grapes, and more pumpkin seeds. And I somewhat marveled at how I'm already making one of my children lunch for school (of sorts). Jane finished her bath first, which I figured out when she wandered into the kitchen buck naked. I got her dressed and then read to her while she rested against my chest for a long time. Clara dawdled in the bath tub (supervised by Jack).

When they were done we got them ready for bed but before actually turning in for the night, we turned off all the lights and lit up the Jack-o-lantern again. Clara just sat at the table and stared at it.

Not long after that we put them to bed and I decided to memorialize such a sweet day.

Pumpkin Farm 2017 & 2018

5.31.18 - Evgeny Lushpin paintings

Montmartre Spring

Rooftop Hideout

Seven Sisters

5.26.18 - Sam Horne's with Beth

Beth and I haven't hung out in months (busy semester) but we finally scheduled time to go to lunch. I got up really early for a Saturday and was clocked in at Starbucks by 7:30 a.m. Beth and I were originally going to meet at noon but she asked to push it to 1 p.m. because of an appointment for their puppy, Max, and that schedule change worked out well for me because I got a more solid work session in. I enjoyed my freebie venti java chip frappuccino (nonfat milk, light whipped cream) and processed construction hours, tracked utilities for all of Dad's properties, and started putting together a PowerPoint animation training module I'm already pretty happy with. Then I went home to feed Jane before heading to Folsom.

I enjoyed the drive there with no kids in the car, just listening to my music and daydreaming. I missed the Sutter Street exit but that turned out to be kind of nice because I crossed American River and backtracked by turning around and crossing Rainbow Bridge. Rainbow Bridge is a landmark from my childhood in Folsom. Once I even had a vivid dream about crossing the bridge in a car with on driver. Anyway I haven't seen it much less been over it since we moved away in 1995 (when I was just a kid), so it was a pleasant and nostalgic surprise to be driving across it myself on the way back to Sutter Street.

I found parking without too much trouble because I have no problem walking a meager two blocks (and not even huge city blocks) to get to the restaurant. I walked down Sutter Street in perfect weather (the heat is coming but it's not here yet). Beth was already there. I had mac'n'cheese with bacon and we split some soft pretzels and had really good conversations about her family, Clara's developments, where we want to settle, etc. We visited for probably about an hour and a half and it was a really nice time.

A Yelp picture of the exact booth we were sitting in.

Then on the drive home I got to talk to Julie for about half the way and enjoy my music the rest. Nice quick Saturday outing.

5.12.18 - California loves