Backyard Camping

This Saturday marked a first-ever event: Backyard camping! Will set up our tent behind the patio (aka the 'concrete slab'). [Ignore the lack of space between the text and picture.]Will also filed up our charcoal grill to grill some burgers. Annika watched from the safety inside the living room window. However, this is an improvement over her complete fear of fire - she willl watch from inside!

Inside of the tent, with our sleeping bags:

Annika LOVED the tent. So much so that she went inside from the moment the grill stopped and wouldn't even come out to eat supper.

The best part of any cookout - food!

Will and Annika reading books in the tent, at night. They both slept the whole night out there. I don't think either one of them slept incredibly well, though - Will said he barely got any sleep and Annika actually fell asleep in the car this afternoon.

This afternoon, Annika went over to a playdate at her friend's house - she was in her class at Creative School last year, but is going to a different school this year. It was great for the girls to get a chance to play - they squealed in delight when they saw each other again. While Annika played, Will and I went to lunch with Daniel. Here they are, before Daniel grabbed Will's water and spilled it everwhere.

The Best Book (and Parent) Ever

Last night, I started reading the best parenting book ever written about Annika. I'd forgotten I'd ordered this from the library until it showed up. (In unparalleled customer service, our county library deliverers all books on hold to your doorstep. For free.) Unlike most other parenting books, this one described Annika. (Kids that stop crying after you ignore them for 3 minutes? Um. Yeah.) And, it nailed the whole TV-watching-makes-me-crazy problem, which has me sold.

Per the Very Scientific Quiz in the book, Annika is a "Spirited Introvert." It also had a whole chapter in the beginning about understanding how you are as a parent. Will is a "Cool Parent." I am a "Spirited Parent." I am shocked, shocked I say!

Continuing on the string of bests, I am on my way to becoming a Best Parent Ever, but the Best Parent Ever is still Better than me. Are you?

http://bestparentever.com/best-parent-ever-quiz-find-your-bpe-score.htm

Do You Like Root Beer?

Inspired by Green Eggs and Ham, Annika wrote her first book today.

[The Title Page - Will wrote the words and Annika drew the picture.]

[No, I do not like root beer.]

[But I do like Coke.]

Happy Birthday Balloons

We had a nice weekend, spent bouncing around between different activities. On Saturday morning, we all woke up bright and early to be at our church by 7:30 a.m. for IHN (Interfaith Hospitality Network). This is a program sponsored by local churches where they each take turns sponsoring homeless families with food and shelter for a week. Since our shift was so early, most of the families were still asleep or in their rooms most of the time.

That afternoon, Annika had a friend from Creative School over for a playdate. They were in different classes both last year and this year but have bonded over recess time.

[Enjoying some of our various "riding implements."]

[No playdate for "The D," but he can sit up in his carrier!]

Today, we went to a birthday party for the son of a friend of mine from school. He was turning 2 years old. My friend also has a new baby, born in the end of May, so she is busy busy. We had a great time.

[The Birthday Boy]

[Daniel, enjoying himself]



[Annika and her newfound friend]

[Oooh - facepainting of a Unicorn Princess, a flower balloon bracelet, and a flower balloon hat!]

Following Will's lead from the last entry, I've tried making all of the pictures posted here the "large" size. For those of you reading, what do you prefer?

Soccer!

Yes, soccer has begun. I (Will) finally have my chance to brainwash Annika into liking the sport of my choice. Things did not begin well when we picked up our soccer uniform a few weeks back and Annika had a meltdown over their appearance. (They were not GIRL uniforms and she only wanted them to be LIGHT black... not DARK black). Thankfully she has been swayed into thinking they're cool now. We changed uniforms at Creative School and drove out to the soccer fields where I managed to get this picture:

[Soccer Annika]

We're in a special Soccer Skills Training (SST) program where the kids go from station to station playing games and leaning skills. I volunteered to be an instructor and got training and a spiffy blue shirt out of the deal. Today I was put in charge of running the scrimmage station where the kids got to run around and try to score goals by knocking over a wedge of cones placed at each end of the field. It was a pretty wild time, with the older kids going all out trying to score, and the little kids having no clue what was happening and running in circles or playing with the grass.

[Kick the ball THAT way!]

Annika had a great time and I got a pretty good workout chasing the kids around, so it was a pretty successful outing. Here are some more pictures:

[playing bulldozers and cranes]

[Dribbling the ball]

[Water Break]

[Daniel enjoying himself]

The One with the Photos

We are now able to download pictures off of my spiffy new phone and have remembered to bring our camera along.

We celebrated Will's birthday on Friday. Annika and I made a cake from a Betty Crocker mix. Annika wanted Will to have a "Powercat" cake (the indoctrination begins early) and Will figured out how to make a Powercat design with sprinkles.

I got Will a watch, while Annika wanted to get him a game. Specifically, a "game that I can play." Hmmm. In the spirit of the generosity, here is Annika playing with Hungry, Hungry Hippos (which belongs to Will). They have made the game much cheaper than when we were kids.

On Saturday morning, Annika had her first-ever swim lesson. It went really well. She is on the left-hand side of the kids sitting up along the wall (Daniel and I were chilling in the shade).

Daniel still can't roll over, but he can sit up! He can pretty much sit unsupported, and does quite well if he can have a hand for support. Here is he in his oh-so-clean room.

Just because Daniel can sit up doesn't mean that he doesn't still enjoy being held by Mommy....

or Daddy.

Today, we went to Sea World with our friends. It was a perfect day to go - the crowds have completely died out, and until we started heading out, the sun wasn't too hot. Here are the girls playing in the Splash Pad area in "Shamu's Happy Harbor."

Annika loves riding the "Sea Carousel." All of the "horses" are shaped like sea creatures, and they play a lot of Beatles music as redone for kids (including "Octopus' Garden").

In honor of Charlie, here are some more Shamu pix!

The girls were happy to cool off on our way out under a mist sprayer. Annika's mood perked up right away. "I'm cold! I'm cold!"

STILL no pictures

Sheesh. Still haven't figured out how to use the camera phone. Still haven't downloaded the pictures we took with the camera. But thought I would post a quick entry while I was on a break.
4 Fun Facts about the 4 of Us....

DANIEL
1. We think he takes after Will, who rolled over at 7 months.
2. The boy's appetite knows no end.
3. We need to videotape him in the morning - he has the happiest squeals of delight ever coming in on the monitor.
4. Is solidly wearing 12-month clothing now.

ANNIKA
1. Has her "meet the teacher" curriculum night at school tonight. The instructions specify ADULTS ONLY.
2. Is disappopined that her soccer uniform is black. "I wanted a girls uniform. Because I only like light black."
3. Is so, so much less grumpy on weekends with no TV. Yeah, correlation isn't causation, but it's almost a 1-to-1 correspondence. Why does a half-hour show make her a grump for the rest of the day?!
4. Loves the tap-dance part of her dance class.

WILL
1. Is turning 32 on Friday.
2. Volunteered to be one of the instructors for Annika's soccer (it is skills-training soccer, not a team).
3. Is working on taking data to submit to a conference
4. Might get a new bike from Annika for his birthday. Or even better, "A new bed. With a new pillow."

ME
1. Awaiting hard drive recovery estimates from Place #2
2. Got my hair cut on Monday. Pretty drastic. Most people liked it better before (commenting "You got your hair cut" rather than "I like your hair.") Annika is more direct. "Mommy, I don't like your short hair."
3. Have my own fridge in my office now.
4. Should get back to work.

EDITED - WAIT - a picture! Okay, I just stole this from my friend's blog. This Sunday, we went over to the house of our friends from church for a cookout lunch....yum! Annika and her buddy had a great time playing in their backyard together.