June 29, 2012
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I came right back from our Disney cruise vacation to a full work week, with all-day meetings and team builders: Aquatic Center, swim party at Steve’s house, and dinner at Land Ocean, where dip for a coconut shrimp appetizer was spilled on my head! I finally had to call mercy mid-week, and skip the late night karaoke bar, as I was missing my family too much.
That weekend, we went to see Madagascar 3 with Alex and Nicole. In the evening, Zachary celebrated Brian’s birthday at a local bowling alley – Happy 8th Birthday Brian!
And James and Calie attended a “Cupcake Ball”, their first father/daughter dance. I heard it was crowded, but the food was good, and Calie enjoyed dancing and the 1:1 time with James.
For Father’s Day, James and Zach hiked Loch Levin Lakes trail, in Tahoe. What a gorgeous view! James has always loved hiking and unfortunately, I’m not a huge fan – so I’m glad he has a son who shares his interest. Hiking, and also smashing pennies on railroads. (Why oh why?)
During their hike (it was bascially a full day trip), I took Calie to get her 2nd haircut ever. We visited Maribou again, as they are open 9am on Sunday (earlier than most places) and they weren’t much more expensive than the bargain salons. Then it was off to spend a few hours at the local Children’s Museum to beat the heat. Calie was reminded by one of the staff members that a section of the museum was reserved for 3-years and under … but she’s really just 3!
Friday, I had a work celebration at Marine World - I was given a season pass for 4 people, free parking, and a barbecue lunch. It was nice seeing so many coworkers show up, as it was a well deserved celebration for all our recent (and on-going) efforts. Go team!
The morning was miserably cold, but it warmed up after lunch. We met with Marissa’s family, and Calie had a blast running around with Courtney and Aubrey. Zach was a great sport – and I think he might have secretly liked the kiddie rides alittle too. We did all the rides in the Looney Tunes area at least once before heading over to Tava’s Jungleland for more rides and animals. At the end of the day, James, Zach (x2), and I went on Roar, the wooden roller coaster. We stayed from 5 minutes after they opened until they closed! It was a fun day, but I’ve got to admit Disney has spoiled us. Put it this way, I was glad both my kids have had their tetnus shots.
Saturday … Zachary has been playing Wii Sports tennis recently (too hot to go out – yes, I am a weather whimp), and requested that we play real tennis. Fortunately, Alex and Nicole were able to join us on short notice. We played tennis at the park, followed by dinner at our house. We stretched our minds with pattern games, and our bellies with Coldstone ice cream and Magnum bars. Hey, we had salad and grilled steak with veggies for dinner … that justifies dessert, right?
Sunday, we celebrated Evelyn’s birthday with a swim party. We were on time, not knowing it was “Asian time”, which meant we were the first ones there. The kids had so much fun swimming and the Strawberry Shortcake themed cake, made by Evie’s grandmother, was super awesome. There was also a nail polish station, and a very popular ice cream sundae bar. Chigme and Tabitha throw great parties - Happy 3rd Birthday Evie!
Our question on what to make for dinner that night was answered with a call from Sam. Herb crusted beef tenderloin with red wine sauce (my favorite!), homemade mashed potatoes, and green beans. Dessert was berries with whipped cream – I need to get the recipe, because I don’t think I could ever go back to the spray can garbage. John and his girlfriend Stephanie joined us for dinner. The kids played so well, I don’t really remember what they played - I think it was Kinect Golf.
Tuesday was “Kid To Work Day”, where kids ages 7+ could partake in hands-on science experiments, scavenger hunts, and 1-hour classes/labs. Zach hung out in the morning with Sam (Bev’s 10-year-old son), and took a Play-Doh chip design lab before lunch. He also attended his first LAN party and decided he didn’t like it. Too much shooting he says, but I suspect it’s because the other kids were so much better. Not fun to lose. Of course, what KTWD would be complete without distracting adults from doing real work – hi Karen!
Calie has been taking Saturday morning dance classes with a few friends, and their dance recital was this week. Now of course, the Saturday class (usually picked by parents who work Monday through Friday), should have their rehearsal Monday at 1pm and their recital on Tuesday at 3pm, right? Not the after work time slots because that would be too convenient? Two afternoons, I skipped out of work to make it happen. And I don’t mind skipping for a good/real recital, but they barely practiced in class, so the kids just watched the teacher and followed her moves. I wondered if my expectations were too high, but after talking to a few other parents, I don’t think they were. So while the kids were SUPER cute, I was not impressed with the production and the logistics. We (as well as every other parent we talked to) dropped the classes, and are now looking for a new place that will actually teach dance and accommodate our schedule!
Post recital, we had dinner at Bistro 33 with Calie’s friends (and fellow dancers) Hayden and Hannah. The weather could not have been more perfect.
On top of our weekend shindigs, Zach’s having lots of fun at summer school … so far, a week of soccer, a week of flag football, and fields trips to the local aquatic center, roller skating rink, Sky High trampoline place, and a Sacramento Underground tour. I think we may have over scheduled him! Especially since he has water inflatables at his school Tuesdays and Thursdays … and he also comes along for swimming during Calie’s private lessons Monday through Thursday after work. With no more dance class or swim lessons (classes for the next session were filled before we signed up), hopefully we’ll get some downtime to just simply enjoy the summer instead of running from one activity to the next!
