4.27.19 - Pleasant Saturday

This morning Jane asked me "Baby wawa?" which apparently mean she wanted to lie across my lap and have me hold her like a baby. So I cradled her and sang "Hush little baby" and she loved it. Then Clara wanted a turn. Then Jane wanted me to do it twice more. After that I told her no more until she cleaned up all the magnets, so she hurriedly put them all back on the fridge and came back to have me hold her and sing "Hush little baby" again. Very very sweet.

We decided to take the girls for a walk around the complex while it was still nice out, because lately it's been getting pretty hot in the afternoons. The complex pool is technically still not open, which is nice for us because it means no one is swimming in it. We took the girls down there and let them stick their feet in the water. Jane splashed rigorously and I had to take off her shorts because even sitting outside the pool she was getting them soaked. Clara wanted to walk along the "train track" (the lined concrete engraving outlining the pool) so Jack walked around and around with her while Jane and I sat at the edge of the shallow end. Eventually Jane realized her feet could reach the top step and she started very tentatively standing for about 0.5 second at a time. She also insisted on "fixing" her tiny little sunglasses such that she was wearing them upside down, but she seemed fine with it. We didn't stay too long because we will all get sunburned pretty easily, but it was nice while it lasted.

Then this afternoon I drove to Erin's to have a craft day. I chatted with Kale the whole hour trip there, which was really enjoyable and makes the trip seem like nothing at all. We talked about how peer review is not nearly as rigorous as people think. I like talking about anything science-related with Kale as it makes me feel still at least a little bit in the loop.

Erin's was really pleasant too, of course. She made us bruschetta and she worked on her scrapbook from Argentina. I worked on the hundreds of files Henry sent from our amateur maternity shoot last week, picking my favorite screen caps. Even as I write this I'm still not done but it's coming along. We talked about all sorts of things and later split a brownie with strawberries. I was there for probably over 4 hours and the time flew.

On the way home I chatted with Jill and told her about how great Clara's progress has been at school, so that was nice too.

7.10.18 - Favorite parts of the Field Day trip

Dad: the balloon fight and karaoke with Julie

Sola: Egg toss and three-legged race.

(Because she crushed it.)

Jill: My favorite part of Field Day was Harrison singing.

(I don't have a pic of Harrison singing but here he is playing hot potato.)

Everett: Henry telling me he's going to give me his super awesome phone come October because he's going to get a new one then.

Henry: water balloon fight

Henry cleans his glasses while Dad takes the fight up a notch with the hose.

Me: Everett singing Led Zeppelin

Neil: I'd say it's tie between the Betrayal game with Ellen where Dad became stupid Ox and bringing Clara in from the car while she was passed out. Beating Everett in chess is a close second. Clara being excited about the plane taking off was also great.

Bryan: My ultimate victory in Munchkin.

Me: I love how much Clara enjoyed the bubble machines and four wheeler and everyone singing karaoke.

Ellen: Dad being dumb Ox was soooo funny. I also really enjoyed day 2 of just hanging around talking.

Julie: Not in any particular order: driving the jeep at the ranch, karaoke, watching my kids run around the ranch, meeting Emily, the five united.

10.3.17 - Life is not bad right now.

The last couple days Clara has been watching videos from the Youtube channel "Super Simple Songs." She really loves them, and she dances and sings along and it just melts my heart.

Jane goes through brief phases of cooing and making noises to herself for 10 minutes or so. As I type this she is laying in her crib in the dark just cooing and cooing. I'm hoping she goes straight from that to sleep and skips any crying in between, but we'll see.

I'm totally beat because I stayed up too late last night trying to help Dad finish a PowerPoint presentation for a teach-in he's doing tomorrow. We couldn't get it done but luckily we had more time today. I'm grateful for so many billable hours and I'm happy he seems to like my work. Compliments are pretty rare from him so when he gives them they mean more (and he thanked me more than once today), plus I spoke on the phone earlier with Jill and she mentioned he's been talking about what a good job I'm doing. So that's pretty encouraging.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Yesterday was Jack's birthday but I just worked all day and it was kind of sucky, but tomorrow we are actually going out. We've managed only about one date a month since Jane was born, so dates are more precious anyway, plus we are going to the movies! I love movie theaters, especially the one closest to us that has the big reclining seats. And I'm not calorie counting, so you better believe there will be buttery popcorn. Can't wait.

This is a great time of year in general. The weather is finally cooling down (i.e. highs in the low 80s. Oh, Sacramento.) People are starting to prep for Halloween. In fact Beth and I are planning a pumpkin patch outing for the kiddos, and both her parents and Don & Merlene will be in town to go with us, so that should be fun.

I'd like to write more but I'm too exhausted. Suffice to say life is not bad right now.

7.12.17 - CO July Trip - the rest of the visit

(Written 7/22/17)

I'm glad we decided to stay a full week for our CO visit. Between the length of the trip and all of Kristin's help, we had enough time to do most of the things we'd talked about before getting there. Jill had wanted to play Paper Game (so did I), Everett really wanted to watch Interstellar with me, and I really wanted to play Quiplash with everyone. We hoped to play Tichu too, although we were skeptical it would happen, as it usually doesn't.

Well the day after Field Day (Sunday), we got the girls ready and drove down to Tejon for the afternoon and evening. Kristin watched the girls and we were able to play Quiplash for a couple hours, and it was as funny as I'd hoped. At one point Everett named his character "Ed's goatee" so I named mine "Ev's goatee," and whenever we voted the same way on a question we made a big deal about it. At another point the room code was MOME, so someone named their character that, I named mine "MO' MONEY" and Everett named his "MO' PROBLEMS" and Eric the DJ (who had come by) named his "E MO MONEY," so again we all joked that we were teams.

There were definitely parts when I was crying laughing, although sadly I can't remember most of them now. I know Neil won a round by saying that Willy Wonka's bank statements included an entry for "Billy Bonka's Vanilla Factory." Everett won a round saying the Bible should be renamed to "The Life of Jeezy Creezy." During one game, Bryon named himself "Last Place," and his answer to the final round question was "Don't vote for this! I want to lose!" He won, of course. Jill played too and, as I hoped, she really enjoyed it. Even Dad stayed and watched for a long time and laughed along. There's something very appealing about a game where you can just sit on the couch as you play.

The leisure of Quiplash.

We played Quiplash again I think both the next day and the day after. Eventually Sola got in on it and even Rocket (with his Aunt Jennifer's help) played some too. So I'd say it was a hit!

Anyway, after a lot of Quiplash that Sunday, Neil, Everett, Henry and I played Tichu, but Neil and Henry completely stomped us.

But Everett keeps a positive attitude.

Then Dad took Neil and Emily to the airport to go back home. Everyone wished they'd be in town longer but it was still great to see them. Side note: that was the first time everyone had met Emily, and she was a hit! Friendly, easy to talk to, and she laughs so easily, which I love. So that went well.

When we went home that night the girls fell asleep pretty easily and slept in the next morning. It was a huge relief. Amazing how much better the entire day is when you get enough sleep.

The next day, Monday, we stayed at the ranch. Kristin came up to help out and eventually the rest of the family joined to hang out. The weather was spotty with rain off and on frequently enough that it was hard to get out and do things. Even so, Sola, Henry, and Jack all got some time with four wheelers and dirt bikes, and later Henry and Jack did some trap shooting while Everett and I watched and commentated from the truck.

Everett telling Jack he's supposed to shoot the clay pigeons.

Everett decided to stay the night at the ranch with us so we could play Tichu one more time before Henry left the next day. Jane cooperated and slept in her swing for almost the entire game, and Kristin was putting Clara to bed for a lot of it too, so we played nearly uninterrupted. We drank Diet Coke and ate Hershey's bars (from the ranch s'mores supplies in the upstairs kitchen), and Henry also warmed up a bunch of leftover ribs. Dinner of champions.

Everett trying to keep Jack from looking at Henry and non-verbally communicating their strategy.

Jack not at all sure he should've called Tichu.

Everett and I were winning by quite a bit, but we didn't quite finish the game before Jane woke up -- we were over 900. If I had just remembered to call Tichu on my very first completely overpowering hand (the 1 and a huge straight and the dragon!!) we would've already won. Alas.

The next day (Tuesday), Henry headed back home. We all went to Tejon and for a little while Clara enjoyed the backyard, particularly climbing up the slide and then sliding back down by herself as well as watching Sola on the trampoline.

I love this photo.

But the girls, who had slept terribly the night before, wouldn't really go down for naps either. I was getting pretty frustrated but the day was saved when Kristin took the two of them for a very long walk and I was able to sit on the porch swing with Everett and chat with him, Jill, Dad, and Ellen and have a glass or two of wine. The weather was great too - not raining, but overcast so it wasn't too hot. That porch swing is one of my favorite places to be.

Eventually my friend Jen and her incredibly smiley 6-month-old James joined us. Jen even brought lemon cheesecake (which was excellent) because she'd been practicing different recipes to make a great cake for her mom's upcoming birthday. We drank and ate on the back porch and then moved inside to play paper game, also with Sola and Jennifer (Jill's sister). James was surprisingly cooperative while we played, and Jen is a pretty good artist, which makes it more fun. Jennifer is also fun to play with because she compliments almost every single drawing she receives as well done. She's just such a cheerful laid back person.

Jen and incredibly smiley James.

Finally, on Wednesday we somehow managed to watch the nearly 3 hour movie Interstellar all the way through. Everett had been pushing me to watch it for months but it was enjoyable to watch with him. It was a pretty thought-provoking movie and I was glad to watch it on a (bigger than my laptop) screen with decent sound.

That day I also did the annual kid interviews, which were fun. Sola's interview was kind of through-provoking too, because she's about to start high school and I can still remember pretty clearly the summer before I started high school. Not long after the interviews I went on a long walk with Jill and the dogs and we talked about it, and we both think Sola seems pretty well equipped (in terms of friends and her own maturity) to deal with whatever comes up. Guess we'll see.

On a final note, I think staying at the ranch this trip worked out really well. It gave us time in the morning to get up and get going without things being too crazy, and it gave everyone else a break from the chaos of little kids around all the time. I didn't mind the drives back and forth either, because mostly the girls fell asleep and Jack and I had a chance to talk with each other one-on-one. Plus it's a very pretty drive. And staying at the ranch gave us a bit more control over feeding Clara with a bit less worry about cross contamination or other issues. Spot on, good choice. I expect next time we're all out we'll stay there again.

Clara has plenty of legroom on one of the drives from the ranch to Tejon.

7.8.17 - CO July Trip - Field Day

The girls didn't sleep well the first night, and all of us were exhausted by the next day, but that just made me all the more glad we decided to stay at the ranch. Otherwise we would have had to get everyone up and ready to go and then trek to the ranch for field day. Instead we were already there!

Dad et al started arriving around 10 am to get setup and soon the ranch house was bustling. There were a lot of balloons to be filled with helium and tied. Dad used them as markers for the front gate and the road to the house, so people who hadn't been there before would know they were going the right way. Jill and Dad had (wisely) chosen not to cook everything themselves this year. Instead Jill bought a bunch of Costco rotisserie chickens and sandwich trays (both tortilla wraps and croissant sandwiches, **yum**), potato salad, lots of chips, and other fun delicious summery food. And of course there was tons of Diet Coke.

At some point while everyone was getting ready, we transferred Jane to the baby swing Jill bought, and Jane loved it. In fact the entire trip she probably spent hours in that swing every day. So helpful.

Chillaxin'

Miss Kristin also came up to help with the kids. She was very attentive to my concerns and instructions about what specifically Clara can eat, and she even cleaned out a kitchen cabinet to store all of Clara's food, and brought me duct tape to mark the cabinet "Clara's cabinet, please stay out." I really appreciated how seriously Kristin took the celiac issue.

While everyone was enjoying a very delicious lunch, Kristin ran into the nearest town to pick up a few more things (like whole milk and frozen fruit for smoothies). In the time she was gone, almost everyone went down to the corral for the beginning of field day games. Jack took Clara (in her lovely sunhat), and I stayed at the ranch house with Jane. I was pretty happy to sit in a totally quiet, cozy living room while Jane slept in her swing. My only regret was being unable to videotape the games, but Everett happily took on that job (and did great). So I was later able to watch video of sack races, 3 legged race, relay race, and balloon toss.

Franklin's parents help him with balloon toss as Dad oversees his good works.

When Kristin came back, I fed Jane one more time and then walked by myself down to the corral. I got there in time to see the end of little kid hot potato and all of older kid hot potato. Not too long after I arrived, Jack took Clara back up to the house so Kristin could watch her while he took a much needed nap.

Clara was also pretty tired.

I stayed at the corral and got to give a try at balloon stomp (which I was terrible at) and play RPS (which made me laugh pretty hard). Before balloon stomp Dad actually drove up to the house to see if Jack wanted to participate, since Jack now has a history of coming in 2nd place (both SSROs plus 2016 field day). But Dad said Jack looked so exhausted Dad didn't want to wake him. Instead Dad made himself a rum and Diet Coke and then came back down to continue.

The little kids just don't really get RPS.

Matt won adult RPS.

Typical Colorado, in the middle of what had been warm weather it started to rain, so we took a break. A bunch of people piled into the back of the pickup and Dad ferried them up to the ranch house. For a little while Ellen, Bryon, a few others, and I stayed in the barn and chatted and watched the rain. Eventually Matt came back in the pickup to get us. We got back to the ranch and got to enjoy a bit more food during the rain break.

We went back to the corral and watched the kids (and some adults, including Dad) have a water balloon fight and a color fight. The color fight was genius - not too hard to clean up, much less gross and more fun to watch than a food fight, but the same overall principle (try to keep your white tshirt as white as possible). In both fights, Everett got on the bullhorn (at my urging) and told everyone to attack Dad, who every easily outran a pack of children, but it was fun to watch.

Dad demonstrates stylish water balloon throwing.

Franklin doesn't care what happens, he's just glad to be here.

After that the kids were going to do a water gun fight, but by then I was so exhausted I decided to walk back up to the ranch house and take a nap myself. Normally I have a hard time napping when there's so much going on and so much visiting to do, but I made myself so that I would have energy for karaoke later. I was glad I did. Jack was still sleeping in the king bed when I got up there, and rather than disturb him I decided to wind down on Clara's mattress on the floor (which itself was very comfortable too). I passed out and I am pretty sure I was out for over two hours, no problem. Man, it was great to know someone else was taking care of our kids so Jack and I could both catch up on sleep. Now that's a vacation.

By the time I woke up people were getting into dinner (the rotisserie chicken, a whole lot of ribs, and similar food from lunch). Various guys were dirt biking and going trap shooting. Jack was up by then and off happily zooming around on the big dirt bike (forget what it's called). Some kids were playing on the gigantic swing Dad had rigged up, and others were playing giant Jenga (which I later found out was a homemade set) on the patio. Clara was happy to hang out on the (now very baby proofed) balcony. Jane kept baby swinging away.

This is a double reflection shot and shadow photo!

Side note: love the balcony now. Last year the railing was far enough apart Clara could slip through it, so I was always nervously watching her and trying to keep the balcony door shut. This year they had fixed it and there was no way she could get out, so I could let her go in and out of the house without a problem, and she could be outside without anyone having to follow her around. I hope someday we have a house with a balcony like that.

After dinner Eric the DJ got karaoke going. The first hour or two was mostly the kids. In fact the very first song was Julian's, and he chose "Paint it Black"! Unexpected. Then there was the Pokemon theme song and lots of kids' movie songs, especially Moana. At one point 5-6 kids were singing "How Far I'll Go" from Moana, and I actually found it really moving. It's partly because I find that song moving anyway, and it's partly because Sola was singing it pretty passionately and I was thinking about one time over four years ago when Sola and I were driving down the highway with the windows down belting "Let It Go" from Frozen. Something about the connection there, and Sola's sweetness and how fast she's growing up and how much I like the song they're singing made it a Moment for me. I even felt a bit misty eyed. Anyway it was sweet.

Rocket karaoke's in his pajamas.

The kids dominated karaoke for a couple hours and then (at my request, actually), Dad told Eric there would be no more kids' songs, and the adults took over. Everett, Emily, Neil, and I sang "Jumper" with Ellen to start. Then there was some song where I gave my mic to Neil and Emily and tried to share with Everett instead, but he wouldn't, and we started wrestling around for it, and Dad joined in, and all the while all three of us were still singing (through laughter). We were very out of breath by the end.

I had to stop to go feed Jane, but that worked out well for me because despite my nap I was still a bit tired. I sat alone with her in the upstairs kids room and she fed while I finished the last episode of Turn Season 3 (which was epic). Jane took quite a while, but I was so into the episode it was fine.

buh buh BUM

Then I got to hand Jane back off to Kristin (who had miraculously gotten Clara to sleep in her own bed despite the loud karaoke music), and I went back downstairs and enjoyed s'mores and many more karaoke songs before bed. And I didn't need to worry about videotaping any of it because Henry had that covered most of the night.

Ellen is amazed/disgusted by Eric the DJ's incredible singing voice.

AND, when it was all finished, I didn't have to haul back down into town before bed. Instead my kids were already asleep and Jack and I were able to just go upstairs, change, and pass out.

It was an exhausting but wonderful day.

7.7.17 - CO July Trip - Arrival

(Written 7/16/17)

Early this year, Dad suggested we come out to visit on or near the 4th of July. I was hesitant because I knew I'd be traveling with a two-year-old and a baby less than two months old. But when I learned that Jack really wanted to go, and when Dad suggested we stay at the ranch house (plenty of space, less issue with the girls being loud in the night) and that Miss Kristin help watch them, it seemed more doable.

The girls were really as cooperative as I could expect on the trip out. Our Uber driver was cheerful and had a big car with lots of trunk space (thank goodness). This was also our first real test of the double stroller Dad and Jill got me for my birthday, and it was fantastic. So much easier knowing Clara can't run off, plus it's large enough to carry several of our smaller bags.

Clara was her cheerful, inquisitive self at the airport. Jane started fussing as we were walking to the gate, but I was able to sit off on my own and feed her without much trouble, which was nice. Jack and I enjoyed our homemade gluten free bacon egg muffins as a late breakfast.

Jane slept almost the entire flight, and when she did wake up she just fed and then relaxed. Couldn't have asked for an easier time with her.

Clara did well too. She fussed a bit when she had to wear her seat belt, but the Kindle got her through. I had gone ahead and splurged the night before on the Pango Playground app (a whopping $3, but it's the first time I've paid for an app), and it was well worth it because basically everything she touches in that app does something. Keeps her busy quite a while. Plus the app has pleasant background music. Nothing too grating, like so many kids apps. Yes, we are big fans of Pango Playground.

Behold!

Neil picked us up, which was nice because he was only going to be in CO through Sunday, so we got a decent amount of time visiting with him on the drive back. Plus we hit some bad traffic, and I have to sit in bad traffic I'm glad the driver is Neil, who is both more patient than most and more humorous in his impatience. The girls slept most of the way, but at one point Jane did wake up and need to eat, so we just pulled over and I fed her while we all visited some more.

Sleeping most of the way.

When we finally got back to Tejon, Henry, Jill Rocket, Sola, and Harrison all came out to greet us and help us move our bags inside. Miss Kristin was there and ready to watch the girls, but I wanted to give Clara a little time to acclimate before we took off for dinner. She seemed to fit in pretty quickly and happily, and to my delight all those home videos of the family seemed to help, as she knew Everett, Neil, Papi, etc.

So all the adults left for dinner at The Warehouse. I enjoyed talking mostly with Dad, Jill, Neil, and Emily, but also with Neil and Jack. Ellen and Everett were at the far end of the table from me, and while I didn't get to talk to them as much, I enjoyed watching them quote things like Tommy Boy in unison. I was roamer, which almost always ends up being the right decision as I get to try all the food and we usually still have food leftover anyway.

Grungy outside, pleasant inside.

Then Jack and I (and Henry in his own car) drove the 40 minutes or so to the ranch, where we were staying. Jill had very thoughtfully already bought a pack'n'play, a baby swing, and a whollle bunch of gluten free food for us and had it sent up there. We set up a mattress with soft pillows and blankets in one corner of the master bedroom, and we put the pack'n'play next to the king-sized master bed, and there was still plenty of space because the room is so large. I let Clara watch the beginning of 101 Dalmatians while Jack and Henry unloaded the cars (which were filled with supplies for field day the next day, mostly chicken and ribs). They kept an eye out for bears.

I got the girls ready for bed: put Clara in PJs and a night time diaper and we brushed teeth. Put Jane in PJs too. Despite warm days it was actually a little chilly at night; I was glad I'd brought footie pajamas for Jane. I got Clara to sit in her new bed with her animals (Bobo, Owl, and Elmo). I then turned out the lights and sat on the master bed to give Jane her last feeding.

In the darkness I could just make out Clara very silently coming up to the foot of the master bed and putting her Marauder's map blanket and animals on the bed. Jack told her no, she needed to stay in her own bed, and she went back without much fuss. When I finished feeding Jane, I moved the laptop I'd been watching so I could put Jane in her pack'n'play, and there was Clara, standing again at the foot of the bed, in the dark, silently staring at us, with her blanket and animals back on our bed. It was creepy and also kind of adorable. We decided to let her share the bed with us for the first night (since it's king sized it's not difficult to share with a toddler). She mostly seemed to want to sprawl across Jack (lucky me). And so ended the first day of our trip.

This pic is actually from the next morning, showing our cozy sleeping arrangements.

10.31.16 - Halloween at Dad's

I never had time to actually write up all the details of our very fun Halloween at Dad's, so I am copying and pasting the FB status I made about it:

This morning Clara and I went with Dad and Jill to watch Rocket's elementary school Halloween parade, which was adorable. In particular, Rocket looked so pleased yet shy that we were all on the sidelines to cheer him on in his Mario costume.

Then from about 2pm onward the house was consumed with prepping for actual Halloween. We had maybe 10 people agree to be zombies (including Jennifer) and Dad had already ordered liquid latex and all sorts of other makeup to create the effect. Meanwhile Ellen, Sola, and I took turns watching Clara while getting everything non-zombie setup (scary music, fog machines, jack-o-lanterns lit, candy in the cauldron, etc).

During the earliest part of trick-or-treating, when it's all the really little kids, we didn't have the fog going or zombies in the yard. But once it got dark we had a whole huge production, including a 7ft tall Death (a guy in costume actually looming around) and a very creepy homemade dude covered in spider webs hanging from a tree telling people to stay away. We had enough zombies that there were several limping around the yard, some hanging over the wall snatching at people, some lying across the sidewalk, and even one hiding under our truck.

Sola, dressed as a trick or treater and not a zombie, would hang out near the street and then slip in with a big group of kids entering the yard. Then the zombies would attack her and carry her away as she screamed bloody murder. It was pretty effective. (We only did this when the kids were older, not when it was a crowd of little kids.)

The whole production was intimidating enough that Ellen, who was not dressed up so she would be un-intimidating, had to keep encouraging people to come get candy from her.

At some point I took Clara on a stroller ride to see all the other houses over the next few blocks. There were a lot of impressive houses, including one entirely decked out as the Forbidden Forest complete with Harry Potter soundtrack blasting. But Dad's house was--easily--the scariest. Easily.

When we got back I was pretty tired so I hung out with Clara in the family room watching cheerful videos, punctuated by Sola's occasional screams outside, which Clara took no notice of at all. Anyway, I'm too tired to go through it all tonight but I hope to have a lot of photos and even some video up over the next few days. A+ Halloween, would do again.

EDIT: I also have really enjoyed both Saturday and today seeing all the FB pictures of everyone's clever costumes and decorations. You guys are so creative!

10.29.16 - Carving pumpkins

Clara slept very long - she went to bed sometime before 10pm but didn't get up until after 8pm, which is long for her. Jill was going to Walmart and I thought it would be nice for Clara and me to get out of the house for a bit, but by the time we had driven to Walmart, even though Clara had only been awake about two hours so far, she had fallen asleep! I am not sure what's going on with that but in case she was getting sick or something, I decided to just leave her sleeping and let her get as much rest as possible. She slept in her carseat in the shopping cart almost the entire time we were at Walmart.

Jill bought a few more Halloween items, amazingly enough, and a birthday gift for Harrison (who is almost 15, wow). I have somehow managed to not pack a single long-sleeved shirt for Clara for this trip, so I picked out a red sweatshirt for her that says "Sweetheart" as well as a long-sleeved black tshirt with orange and white stripes that will look good under her jack-o-lantern tshirt if it's chilly out on Halloween. I also found a pretty cute jack-o-lantern tshirt that fits me. Jill was kind enough to buy all of it alongside her own supplies.

Clara woke up while we were checking out and so of course was wide awake during what would be her normal nap time, which means I didn't have a chance to take a nap myself. But later that afternoon Dad offered to watch her so I could sleep a bit before my friend Jen came over for pumpkin carving.

Jen arrived around 2pm. I can't really carve pumpkins and watch Clara. At first I tried putting on one of her playlists and putting up a baby gate in the door to the backyard, but it didn't really work. She kept hanging out at the baby gate wanting to come outside and see what we were doing. But then Ms. Kristen kindly offered to take Clara on a stroller walk, which was really helpful. They were gone a long time and I made some great pumpkin progress alongside Dad, Jill, Jen, and sort of Rocket.

Look at those focused artists.

Dad scooped a lot of pumpkins so that the rest of us didn't have to, which I love. I am not into scooping pumpkins and it's pretty nice to get to carve multiple of them without the work of scooping. It's like always getting to ride the wagon downhill without having to pull it back up. Dad also scooped a few pumpkins for Rocket, and then I'd sketch some classic jack-o-lantern faces on those and do some of the big cuts so Rocket could focus on the tiny ones, then he'd finish the jack-o-lanterns off. He really enjoyed it and was very proud to show Jill and Dad each time he finished a part of the face.

At some point Dad went and got his grinder so we could try removing a thin layer of pumpkin to get a multi-layered jack-o-lantern. It was fun to try and in the daylight it looked pretty awesome.

After Ms. Kristen got back with Clara, Dad improvised some outdoor baby gates so Clara could go in and out of the family room to the backyard, but stay confined to the back porch with us and not run around to the front. That made things pretty simple. For the most part she was content to wander around and just be near us as we carved. Ms. Kristen helped with some carving too.

In the end we carved about 25 pumpkins. We separted them into "faces" and "scenes." We had all been doing mostly faces in the beginning and switched to scenes in the end (e.g. the grim reaper, bats over the moon, etc). Overall I liked the scenes more but it was all fun. By then it had gotten dark, so we added candles to everything, turned out the porch lights, and looked at our "trial run." Dad added more candles to the dimmer pumpkins and also carved some of them a little wider so the light could get through. The whole thing looked excellent and we were all pretty pleased with our work. It was a really enjoyable Halloween-themed creative outlet!

Afterward Jen had to go home because she was dog sitting, but Ms. Kristen watched Rocket and Clara so Dad, Jill, and I could get dinner at The Keg. I was very tired by then and the idea of just sitting still with no kids while someone brings me food was awesome. We sat at the bar and I got a big Caesar salad, which was what I just happened to be craving. Because I'm pregnant of course I didn't order any alcohol, but I'm also getting a little tired of milk, water, and Diet Coke all the time (yeah I said it) so I got a Shirley Temple, which was pretty delicious.

There were a lot of people dressed up in the bar. In fact the whole town was pretty decked out because apparently earlier that night they had "coffin races" which are a Halloween-themed derby.

Costumed patrons getting way into singing along.

And since I was the only one not drinking I drove us home, nice and safe, even though Dad is an amazingly bad backseat driver. He chided me to make sure I wasn't too close behind a car when I was going less than 25 mph. I think he's just not used to being a passenger.

When we got home Clara and Rocket were nearly ready for bed. Dad goofed around with Clara a lot, and she thinks he's hilarious. She was being so cuddly and playful with him that he ended up trying to leave to go to bed 2-3x but coming back and playing some more because she was so cute. It was endearing.

Overall it was a wonderful Halloween-themed day.

8.20.16 - Work trip pleasantries

It was nice actually having an office to work in. Dad's office is on the 6th floor and has a pretty great view of the rest of downtown and the mountains beyond it. Most days while I was in town he'd work there in the morning and then leave to get work done at the ranch, so I'd have this whole big office to myself. Sometimes there would be warm winds as thunderstorms rolled in, which was awesome. Rather than close the windows, I'd just put heavy objects on all the stacks of paper so I could keep feeling that breeze.

Every morning there was already coffee made (by Sarah) and we usually got breakfast, usually some kind of croissant sandwiches. We also got lunch most days, including two different sushi days, which was delicious. So another perk.

And I just liked being able to spread out and focus in silence without having to have headphones in the whole time. My stamina was much better. If I got sleepy I could get up and walk around and I even planked at one point--not something I would do at Starbucks.

Most evenings I snagged a ride home with someone or other (Ellen, Jack, Jill, even Sarah at one point) but one time Ellen and Jack weren't available, Sarah had gone home already, and I didn't want to bother Jill, so I just walked home while chatting with Neil on the phone. It was really pleasant. It's about the same distance as my apartment in Berkeley was from my classes, only less hills.

Also, I just love that front porch with the porch swing and the big trees all around. One evening Jill and Jennifer and I sat on the porch sipping wine and chatting, and it was really fun. Another time I got home from work and no one was there so I just sat on the porch swing in silence (still sipping wine) and worked on my Joy Inventory (Jared's joys). In fact it was kind of a stressful day so that was a great way to unwind.

The backyard is pretty great too, especially for the kids. Clara is getting more comfortable with the trampoline and ran up to it more than once to be let in. Then she bounces around on her knees for awhile in her own little world. She also likes to climb up the slide, which I think is pretty impressive given her size. She does a victory dance every time she gets to the top. She's not quite prepared to slide back down, however, at least not on her bottom. Maybe on her tummy, with assistance.

The last night I was in town (last night) was actually one of the most fun parts of the trip. It was only Dad, Jill, Rocket, and me, which right away is unusual. And not too chaotic. Dad made steaks and sliced potato packets and corn on the cob. For awhile we were sitting outside as he did that, listening to a country playlist that was pretty good. But it started raining, so we moved everything inside.

As we ate dinner I asked Rocket a bunch of either/or questions (caramel or chocolate, Christmas or Halloween, Wii or a million dollars--he picked the latter in every case). After dinner Rocket played the Wii while Dad half watched him and half skimmed through some of my funny FB photos. After awhile Jill joined us. I so enjoy skimming those photos with her because we always end up laughing pretty hard. They even let Rocket play longer than he was supposed to so they could keep looking.

Once Rocket was in bed, Jill, Dad, and I watched the pilot episode of Stranger Things, and Dad clearly didn't hate it so that's a victory itself. For the first 15 minutes or so Jill was still looking at funny pics because she'd already seen that much of the episode anyway. That put us in a laughing mood to where we were kind of making fun of the show even though it's mostly a serious show. But they still liked it enough that they watched the 2nd episode later, although I went to bed.

I do have a lot of fun going out for drinks or dinner or whatever, but some of my favorite memories are just relaxing around the house.

8.14.16 - random ranch day

Jack, Clara, and I are in COS because Jack was babysitting Rocket a week ago and I'm here to do writing training for Charter. But Dad decided to take Sunday (today) off from Charter to work on ranch stuff, so we all went with him (including Jill and the kids).

It was actually ver pleasant. Contributing factors:

• The weather was beautiful. Not too warm, not chilly.
• Jill bought two baby gates for the ranch house, which makes watching Clara much less stressful since we can block both the stairs and the doorway to the balcony.
• It's the first time I've been up there without a whole big group of people and it made it less chaotic.

Clara fell asleep on the way up, so when we first got there Jack stayed with her in the house and I went down to see what everyone was up to at the barn (?) around the back of the hill. Harrison was happily riding the new four wheeler. Rocket was on the littlest dirt bike (wearing a huge helmet, haha). Sola was lounging in the Highlander with the back open and Jet (the new puppy) was sleeping there next to her. 

(She's been very absorbed in the Harry Potter books this entire trip, which is kind of cool. I remember being that absorbed, to where everything else was just a distraction until you could get back to HP.)

Dad and two of his worker guys were getting the larger dirt bikes going. Apparently you need to turn them on every so often or they fall into disrepair. So Dad reminded me how to turn on the medium sized bike and I took it for a ride.

It's the 2nd time I've ridden it (the first being July 5, which I never got around to writing about in this Joy Inventory). Both times were awesome. This time I didn't wear any protective gear which, while admittedly risky, was also more fun. I could keep my sunglasses on (because the helmet didn't preven tme from wearing them) so there were no bugs or dirt flying in my eyes, and I had bear arms which felt great in the warm breeze. I rode to the back of the property and back again, and it was so peaceful. When I got back I passed Rocket and Harrison again riding on their respective machines. It is just very idyllic.

I went back up to the house to take over with Clara so Jack could go for a ride, and from the balcony I could see him happily riding around out in the field. It was fun to watch; he's like a big kid, he loves those bikes.

Meanwhile Clara was great. Just exploring everything, playing with decks of cards and large puzzle pieces and the little kid chairs and the yoyo. She's so easily entertained. We are so lucky.

After awhile Jill and Sola came back to the house and Jill agreed to watch Clara for awhile so I could videotape Jack learning to use the back hoe. I watched him with Rocket and we editorialized. It actually looks pretty hard, but he seemed to like it. I didn't stay much longer so I could relieve Jill of the toddler, but Jack told me later that he got way better at it. He seemed to be having a great time, which makes me happy too (especially since he also kept checking in with me in case I wanted a break from Clara).

At some point I ended up showing Sola some of the pictures I've made for my Joy Inventory FB page, and she looked at them all with a lot of interest, which I love. I love sharing that stuff with people who are genuinely into it. She even looked at some of my unfinished pictures, including a folder marked "Family" that I forgot had several pictures related to Sola herself from a few years ago. So it's kinda cool she got to see those.

We came back to town (Clara slept on the ride back as well) and Dad, Jill, Jack, and I spent some time in my favorite part of the house: the front porch. We sipped wine and ate sauteed greens with bacon and then small ice cream sundaes and watchd the kids run around the yard and enjoyed the bug-less warm summer evening. Eventually Clara woke up and joined us and she cuddled Dad for a long time, actually, it was really sweet.

After awhile we let her off the porch and I followed her as she toddled to the backyard to check out the trampoline. When we were here in February she was very unsure about the trampoline and stayed cuddled in my lap as I sat in the middle of it. She's better now--she crawled onto it herself (as long as I held the net open) and then bounced around mostly on her knees and even a little legs by herself. 

While she did that I watched Rocket playing with Jet. At one point he pretended to shoot Jet with some fake gun, and Sola--who was up at the front yard--saw him and reprimanded him. "Rocket! Do not shoot Jet with the gun!" Rocket, clearly annoyed, "Okay!" Then he turned and pretended to shoot Sola instead. She had both hands on her hips and gave him such a fierce glare, even from that distance. I don't know, I just enjoyed watching the entire sibling interaction.

Then Rocket showed me how he can ride his bike and how he can run up the slide and how he can slide down it on a water gun. He told me about shooting his BB gun and how he could probably kill zombies in the zombie apocalypse (which I had brought up). It was a nice little visit.

7.4.16 - Mini Olympics!

Since I was a kid I’ve really enjoyed dressing up and seeing other people dress up for holidays, and now that I have Clara I can re-live that a little bit (even though she doesn’t yet know what’s going on). Jack and I had picked out a super cute 4th of July themed skirt for her over a month in advance, and the day had finally come for her to wear it! My own outfit was not so patriotic as I prioritized staying cool over color schemes, but I did have some blue in there. Jack wore a tshirt with Chuck Norris in front of an American flag, so he more than made up for both of us.

We headed to Dad’s (by quickly crossing the street, haha) and everyone figured out cars and packed the extensive supplies needed for the ranch. I helped by chopping boiled potatoes and eggs for a massive amount of potato salad. We also had basically a vat of fudgey brownies and racks of ribs and who knows what else. The point is: massive amounts of delicious food, in keeping with the theme of the trip.

Neil, Jack, Clara, and I rode in Ellen’s car, and on the way we stopped at a strip mall that had both a Walmart (for Neil to pick up something to try to get the DOOM computers working) and a Starbucks (for all of us to get some frappuccinos). The Starbucks also sold wine and beer, which I’ve never seen before. Ellen took a picture.

Not long after we got to the ranch other guests arrived—friends of Dad’s and Jill’s who had two daughters. The mom was dressed in a referee uniform which seemed…strange, until Dad announced it: a mini-Olympics for the day. The friend was to be our referee!

It was basically the Field Day event of the real Olympics.

We didn’t end up doing the ad-hoc cheer but managed to fit in everything else which, frankly, is amazing. It looks simple as a nice little list here but it requires prep and coordination between a bunch of kids and adults and, above all, energy. But the adrenaline from competition (and especially victory) kept us going all day.

Most of the events were separated such that the kids competed in one version and the adults in another. There were cash prizes for 1st and 2nd place for almost everything (and I think 3rd place for the kids’ competitions too). Dad also cleverly offered a dollar to each kid each time he or she was a good loser. Since the kids are young enough that the difference between the “good loser” dollar and the winning $20 isn’t even that big of a deal to them, this worked out incredibly well. Kids were shaking each other’s hands and giving each other hugs and saying “good job,” haha. The “good loser” dollars greatly decreased any chances of meltdowns.

Team Kid!

I participated in some events and filmed others, and Jack participated in most of them. Jill’s sister Jennifer was kind enough to keep an eye on Clara during most of the time I did this. In fact she even set up a wheelbarrow lined with towels for Clara to take a nap in the shade of the barn while we kept competing.

I had so much fun both watching and competing in the competitions. The egg toss and balloon stomp were fun but my favorite is definitely hot potato (we used a motorcycle helmet instead of a potato). It’s just so intense and hilarious. Such a simple competition. It kind of reminds me of slap jack, which I also love. And I made it all the way to 2nd place! So that was awesome. Jack made it to 2nd place in the balloon stomp, making it the third time that he’s just missed out on first (it happened during both of the Olympics as well). Everyone, including Jack, got a kick out of that actually. He lost it to Everett this time. He also lost the RPS competition to Neil. So close!

Jack's moment of defeat in Balloon Stomp.

Kid sack race--photo finish!

After all the games we went back up to the main ranch house for food. Clara happily played with a yoyo. After some time some of the adults meandered into the field in front of the house to start the archery competition. I gave it a shot (get it??) but was terrible, haha. It was still fun. Then I spent a long time in the house watching Clara and hanging out with Julie and Zoey and Malcolm while Jack dirt biked with some of the others. At this point it had started to kind of sprinkle which was actually a welcome relief from the heat.

There was one moment in particular where I was standing on the upstairs porch deck holding Clara and watching everyone. Immediately below me were some of the kids had hoodies on (because of the sprinkling) and were playing with those little firecrackers that pop when you throw them on the ground (Wikpedia claims they are called “Bang Snaps”). And some parents were milling around having a beer or a rib or whatever and chatting. Beyond that, into the field, Ellen, Bryon, Everett, and others were continuing the archery competition. Beyond that, on the trails around the ranch, I could see Neil, Jack, and others dirt biking back and forth in the distance. The three layers of activity and the sweet summer rain and the happiness of having everyone enjoying themselves together was kind of touching. I tried to get it on camera but squirm butt (aka Clara) made that very difficult. Still a great moment though.

By now I was exhausted and apparently so was Jill. So we packed up some stuff and then Clara and I hitched a ride with her, Harrison, Sola, and Rocket back to the house. I was glad I did, too, because we got there and the house was clean and quiet and the kids went out to the hot tub and Jill went to (I think) take a bath, and I had the whole big cozy living room to myself (with Clara). She had spilled something on her July 4th top so I changed her into her “Awesome” sweatshirt, got her a bottle, and sat her back on the oversized couch to watch her Pentatonix video, which (thanks to Mike) we can play on the big screen through Roku.

And while Clara did that I started working through all the photos I took for the day. (I took so many videos it was overwhelming to think about starting to work through them yet, haha.) I had some great pics and I got to relax in relative quiet and take time choosing favorites and uploading. Later Jill watched Clara so I could also take a shower. It was a really good winding down part of the day.