New and Blue!

Mark took M and M to Cedar Rapids to test for their blue belts over the weekend while I was at the Iowa City Yoga Conference. They did well and were awarded their blue belts last night! So grateful for this school and our teacher. I am continually impressed by Mr. Gibson. (Official way of addressing your teacher...even if you were in high school when he was born!) He always has such good things to say to them at the belt ceremony...and by good, I don't mean he just tells them how great they are. He tells them things like how important it is to learn to accept constructive criticism; that no one is perfect; he applauds their hard work. He really is an excellent teacher. We are lucky.

 

P.S.  Yes, M4's hair is in a ponytail.  Which opened up a whole new can of worms, but that is a story for another day.

Party 2!!

Pizza eating:
The scene backstage:
Old bridesmaid dresses:
A random tiger in the mix:
The crew posing:

Party!!

So we let M3 have a big party this year. After all, she was 11 on the 11th in 2011. I was trying to think of something fun to do, and painting pottery just didn't seem like it. So I asked my fellow yogi, Jenny, owner of Studio Z and Zink Photography, if she could do a photo shoot with M and some of her friends. We took over the studio; I hauled a bunch of dress-up clothes there; the girls brought some of their own; pizza was consumed; we cranked the tunes (no Bieber, thank you very much); and it was a hit!! It was really a fun night!! The girls had a blast, and they got out their ya-yas before we headed back home for a slumber party.

These aren't Jenny's pics; just some I snapped throughout the evening. I can't wait to see Jenny's!! M4 was there early in the evening for a few pics...a tiger in a bomber jacket...go figure:

There was dancing:

And Mark worked his usual magic in the cake department:

I took a few videos, too. I'll try to get some posted.

Northern CA

I realized I never finished my California series! We had such a very, very good time visiting our old friends and drinking in the beauty of Northern California. As luck would have it, all our friends live in amazing spots, and I begin to understand how someone would brave the ridiculous cost of living to make their home amidst all that natural beauty. And did I mention how much I miss our friends? Of course, it gives us the opportunity to visit these amazing places, but it means we are too far away from each other. Drat. This applies to East Coast friends, too. :-)

Not far from Scott and Charis's at Muir Beach overlook...spectacular!! We hung out at the beach, and we all had a blast playing in the sand and climbing rocks. Scott and I went photo crazy, I think...I have the most pics from there.

With Scott and Charis and the kids (who all got along famously) in front of their favorite breakfast place in Fairfax. Scott and Charis live tucked away in a hill. We went to the top and had views for miles!
At the Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastopol with Tina and Adam's oldest. Tina and Adam live on a lovely little farm with chickens and gardens...including grapes, which is only fitting since they are in Sonoma County, I think!

At Steve and Lucy's, the twins and M and M put on a whole play in very short order, called "How to be a Nerd." This was the bow. Steve and Lucy live on top of a hill with spectacular views. They have put in a tremendous amount of work to make their house beautiful! And they have a pool! The kids were in heaven. By the way, Steve and Lucy look exactly the same...not fair!

One thing that was so lovely to me on this portion of our trip was how well all the kids got along. At home where the kids have lived their whole lives, they have certain established dynamics with their friends. On vacation, there is none of that. There are no preconceived notions...they all just had a fantastic time with each other. We all need to be free of our usual roles once in a while, no?

Chicago

Three weekends ago now (sheesh!), we went to Chicago for Mark's 20th college reunion. 20th!! We stayed with the fabulous Navarro clan. Yes, Mark's fraternity brother was Dave Navarro. Just kidding!!! Not THAT Dave Navarro. A much better one! So here are the collective kids in the cool stone bench circle on campus. It echoes your voice back at you if you stand in the right spot. We also went to the Museum of Science and Industry, which so rocks!! The highlight of our trip was the German U-boat tour, but there is so much to see. It would take a few days to really fully experience everything. Sadly, I forgot my camera. But that didn't keep us from having lots of fun.

By the way, M3 wants to live in Chicago when she grows up. She also wants to go to Grinnell, U of Wisconsin, or U of Chicago. Guess we're brain-washing her right!! But, um, I think only the first choice is affordable. And that's only cuz we get a MAJOR break. She and M4 were having a big discussion in the car yesterday, because she thinks she is a city girl and M4 thinks he is a country boy, and M4 couldn't understand why M3 wouldn't want to live on a farm with animals?! It was settled that she would be OK living on an "animal farm" but not a "crop farm." Wait 'til she meets George Orwell.

Storm of the century?

At least that's what "they" are saying. It's pretty early in the century, so I guess that's why. It's brutally cold out today, so I'm glad the kids got out in the snow for the past two days...
Unfortunately, I have to get to get out and shovel if we ever want to be able to use the car again!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Oh yes, it snowed yesterday! Enough to break us in gently for the shoveling season. I was in Des Moines Christmas shopping all day yesterday with some of my buddies, and I was the designated driver for the trip home. Not so much because of the boozing (although if you need a place to eat in Des Moines, check out Django. So delicious and the Parisian Sidecars...oh my!!), but because I am the one who will drive in the snow. Many years in Wisconsin with a rear-wheel drive Toyota van made me an expert. (Oh, how fondly I think back on all those sand bags I used to pile in the back...and the patented Rock N Roll technique to dislodge your car when you're stuck.)

At any rate, it was not fun. I-80 in the snow...try not to do that. On a positive note, we only saw one car off the road.

In my absence, Mark and the kiddles put up the tree and decorated much of it. I was sorry not to be there, but between M3's swim meet taking up most of Saturday and the aforementioned shopping trip, I was hardly home this weekend! We will decorate more tonight. Yay!

Swim meet update: M3 had a good meet. She tried the 100m Individual Medley for the first time and did great! The IM is cool because they do a lap of all four strokes. It's so neat to see those little ones out there doing the butterfly! If I tried that, I would surely drown.

Lunch

The kids are taking their lunch to school more often these days, which is just fine with me. M3's favorite sandwich: cheese and lettuce. M4's: formerly PB & honey, now PB & J.

On the subject of food, I read about yet another E. coli illness outbreak from hamburger, and I'm just grateful that we can easily buy beef from a local farmer. Particularly with hamburger, I feel better knowing it all came from just one cow, and I know where that cow lived (and died, thank you kind cow). Plus one of our local CSAs, Grinnell Heritage Farm, is having a winter share for the first time! Yippee!! I don't think I'm a food Nazi, but I feel better if I'm attempting to keep some of the crap out of my family's diet, uh...E. coli in particular.

Zombies are sweeping the nation!

Originally, they were supposed to be simply a gypsy and a pirate. Somewhere along the way they became a zombie gypsy and a zombie pirate.


We had an absolute blast Friday night putting on a haunted house in our basement. Without Grandma and Grandpa's expertise and labor for the setup, it would not have been nearly as good. We had the requisite brains (spaghetti) and eyeballs (peeled grapes) in bowls and a real strobe light! Mark was a headless knife-wielder; Grandma a witch; Grandpa emerged from a dark lump on the floor and made scary faces in a flashlight; Max was a silent hooded figure holding a skull, and I was the freaky pumpkin-faced usher. I think we were successful in our scaring! I did hear a report from one of M4's friends that it was "totally awesome!" And the kids wanted to walk through repeatedly. That is success to me. We're just going to have to do it again!

Pumpkins!

No October would be complete without a visit to our local pumpkin farm. We go despite my irritation that the owner is a right-wing politician who has used questionable campaign tactics in the past. Not to mention the brochure mentions that all they do is for the glory of God. Really? Charging families $7 a head? And extra for the corn cannon?? (I'm having deja vu...did I complain about this last year??!) That's getting steep for a family of four for about an hour's worth of fun.

Well, the kids don't care about that stuff, y'know. And I try to behave in a bi-partisan fashion. I'll keep my mouth shut about the complicating factors until they're older. Especially because there is this really cool gigantic jumpy pillow thingy this year!! And the pumpkin catapult is still cool. I mean, pumpkin trebuchet (thanks for enlightening me, P and P!).


Children of the corn. (I had to make that joke.)
The cool jumpy thing.

Chicago!

We had a great long weekend in Chicago! We visited the Bean (obviously a favorite...honestly, we could have taken pictures there all day...it just makes everyone happy! What an amazing piece of art!), Shedd Aquarium (where the kids were picked to pet a penguin), and the Field Museum. We had beautiful weather. We ate good food (although I won't wait in line for Eleven City Diner again...back to Dunkin Donuts next time! But Zapatista's...yum!). We got to stay at the Hilton Chicago (where Prez Obama spent election night and where there are two bathrooms in the rooms!). We only got to stay at the swanky Hilton because the official reason for the trip was Mark's Society for Neuroscience meeting. He did get to come to the aquarium and spend a reasonable amount of time with us, though.

As a bonus, we got to see Mark's college chum, Dave, and his awesome family twice; the kids and I spent a whole afternoon and evening with Steph from London; and the kids and I visited my great Aunt Doris on the way home. Even a short vacation is hard to come down from! Chicago rocks!

The Bean...where everyone is happy. I'm not even kidding!

Bean fun.
More Bean fun.
M and M silhouetted against part of the Crown Fountain.

Sue!! And M4's general feeling about the trip, I think.

The Travelers...

They were playing "travelers." For some reason, this picture both cracks me up and makes me sad. I think it's because the poses are funny, but they also make M and M look a lot older for some reason. M4 also used the tricorn hat to play "President." It was hilarious!! He had his whole room set up; M3 made an "Oval Office" sign for his door; he also held "court." I was summoned for driving too fast, but there wasn't any clear punishment. Phew!

This week they are both participating in Mad Science camp and having a great time. M4 did not make himself almost throw up on the first day, which was a great relief.

Slip 'N' Slide!!

So yesterday I rediscovered a gift long sitting idle in the garage...the Slip N Slide!! (Thanks, Grandpa!!) M and M had mucho fun. Here are some action shots of all the trick sliding that took place:

Somehow M4 manage a sliding somersault...I never did catch it perfectly, though!

On the knees:
Backward!
Everybody's gone surfin'!!

Foam fun...

Once a year, the local fire department tests out their foam equipment by spraying it in the park so the kids can play in it:
The fire chief doesn't seem to mind getting all dirty and foamy.
The kids had a blast of course!

Zombie alert!!!But the foam does get a little gross after a bit. Small price to pay for big fun!

Art Camp Finale

Well, the two weeks of morning art camp came to an end last Friday with a performance/art viewing. After a wicked afternoon storm, the skies cleared, and it turned into a beautiful night to visit the art farm. M4 insisted on wearing his tie for this special occasion:You can sort of see the lovely setting from this pic of M3 in the middle of the India-inspired dance she learned (it was a global theme). Yes, she's dancing next to a silo:
M4 decided against the tie after a while. Here he is singing a song in Spanish:
Here they are in front of a wall of masks that the campers made. The variety of masks made from the same materials is really quite amazing! They made a whole lot of really cool stuff!
When I asked M4 afterward if he would be interested in doing art camp again next summer, he took a VERY long pause before finally answering that he would. One small step for some kids, one giant leap for M4.

First Days of Summer

School will be over on Friday! The past few days have been quite warm, so we broke out the sprinkler for the first time!
M3's friend B was over. I know this is blurry, but I just liked it because M3 is airborne.

Round and round they go! I love our new yard. And I also love my clothes line! Go figure...

More spring break pics...

All aboard!!

Peekaboo! Hello, 80 degrees at Loose Park!

Signs of spring...hallelujah!

On top of the Liberty Memorial on a beautiful, clear day.

I've already seen this look too many times in my life.