I Lost Track

Well, I've lost track of what day of summer we're on...and I didn't do such a good job with keeping up with it daily. There were some pretty great events that have been missed, but I was too busy having fun with those days!

Anyway, we're at our final week of the summer. Next Tuesday, Tyler starts preschool in a new location. It's still the same school, but they're moving to a new building. Vincent starts kindergarten next Wednesday. Crazy!

For now, we are winding down our summer. Today, Vincent bid farewell to Nicole and Ashley, the childcare providers at ProSports Club. He spent a lot of time there this summer with Tyler, but he won't be going back until there's a school day off or something. Tyler will continue there 2 days a week. Let's face it, I need my exercise!

We mostly just hung around the house this afternoon. At 4:30pm, I decided that it was too nice outside to be inside. I cut up a loaf of crusty bread that had been in our fridge for a couple of weeks, and the kids and I walked to the arboretum to feed the ducks. 

Boy, were we in for a treat! At first, we could just hear the ducks. It sounded like one or two. But, as we came up to the water, we saw them. About 50 ducks, excited to see us, waddling up, ready for a treat.

In less than 5 minutes, all the bread was gone. Those ducks surrounded us. I had to grab a couple handfuls and toss them far from us to move them away. Very eager.

For dinner, I made fish tacos. Grilled them up on our old trusty table-top grill. David purchased a new grill last night, and we're so excited to fire it up this weekend. We'll hang on to this little one for small cookouts.

To Pull, Or Not To Pull?

That's has been the big question for a few months now. Possibly even a few years. 

Vincent has been having issues with a front tooth that he keeps bonking. First time was when Tyler was still in my belly, on Super Bowl Sunday. The second time was just back in March, the day we were flying out to L.A. for a wedding, when Tyler knocked it loose with his head. That was the worst one. The last time he bonked it was a couple weeks ago at school. Apparently, it wasn't too bad, since he didn't make a big deal of it, and I even forgot that he casually mentioned it to me. 

Unfortunately, the latest hit, though minor, was enough to trigger concern from his dentist when we went in today to have it checked out. The x-ray showed some bone loss, and dark patches, or something like that. Plus, his tooth is discolored, again. *Sigh*

We scrambled around making phone calls to various oral surgeons recommended by our dentist, and landed him an appointment at 2:45pm.

Thankfully, Dr. Hart took a look a the x-ray and Vincent, and decided that extraction is not necessary. Woohoo! Um, for now...

Dance Fight

Tonight, Vincent challenged David to a "dance fight" in our backyard. It's just a dance-off, but that's what he called it. He saw this in the movie "Puss In Boots." I was to be the judge. I gave them 5 rounds to show off their stuff. 

Round 1, Vincent was clearly the winner with some pretty awesome moves. David had some strange slow moves in this round, but he soon got it together. In the next round, David had some aggressive, chest smacking moves that blew Vincent out of the water. 

In the 5th and final round, Vincent pulled out some very impressive footwork, and ended with a stunning pose that won him the title of "WINNER!"

Ripe

Summer Edition, Day 58

Another busy day for Vincent: Discovery Bay at the gym in the morning, then a whirlwind trip to Costco, home for a short break, then, soccer camp.

Today, we walked to camp. In total, Tyler and I made that trip, back and forth, 4 times! At one point, Tyler said, "My legs feel tired." Lots of little hills. My legs felt tired, too! 

So far, Vincent has been walking very slow on our way back from camp. I feel like he's tired, but when we get home, he's ready to play, play, play some more!

The red strawberries (gosh, I can't remember the name of the variety) in our front yard are finally ripening! Yesterday, they were pinkish, and the boys wanted to pick them. I said we should wait one more day. It's tricky, though. We can't wait too long or they get eaten by pests. This was our harvest today.

And, this is the boy that goes crazy for berries of all kinds.

 My sweet baby. He's getting so big. No longer a baby, but still so hug-able.

Soccer Camp

Summer Edition, Day 57

Vincent started soccer camp this afternoon. It was a long day for him, but he seemed to hold up very well. 

We started our day at the gym, where the boys were happy to see Sam, an older boy from last summer who brings an iPad to the childcare center. 

Next stop was speech therapy for Vincent. He is progressing well, but still struggling a little with a couple of the harder sounds: "th", "r", and "l". Getting close, but I think he'll have to continue a little after the summer is over. No biggie, though. He quite enjoys it.

Finally, soccer camp. I tried to make sure he had plenty to eat and drink ahead of time. When we got there, it was still the lunch break for the all-day kids. We went into the gym so that the boys can play, but neither of them wanted to. They sat on the side and watched the bigger kids. Vincent is technically too young for this camp. They made an exception for him, since he's taken so many activities through this particular community center. 

While we waited for the coach, Avery, a boy from Vincent's karate class, spotted Vincent and got him to play with him. The passed him this rolling thing for him to sit on, then, they did a little tug of war with another boy and a long rope.

When the coach called for the soccer kids to join him, it was obvious Vincent is the smallest of them all.

Nonetheless, it sounds like he held his own, and seemed to have enjoyed it.

I scrounged a little for dinner tonight. I'm pretty pleased with what I came up with. This was Vincent's plate:

(Left to right) Hard boiled egg with sea salt, dried cranberries, crackers with Mt. Townsend Cirrus cheese, Oxbow Farm baby carrot sticks, Trader Joe's spiced pecans, Oxbow Farm lettuce with aged balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, 'pigs in a blanket'. He ate the whole thing.

Height of Summer

Summer Edition, Day 56

I've always said that it's not summer until the Blue Angels fly above Seattle. Well, well, well, guess what?

It all started on Thursday morning, when they had their first practice. This weekend is the Seafair hydroplane races and airshow, better known as "Seafair Weekend." Vincent has been asking when we'll take them to see the Blue Angels fly. Today was the day. Unfortunately, I had to work, but David was a trooper and took them down to Madrona Beach to play and watch.

It sounds like the kids were so into the water and sand, they barely noticed the planes.

Down at the market, at Mt. Townsend Creamery, there was a woman who had walked up to the counter, just as one of the Blue Angels flew past. It was so loud, and unexpected, she kind of freaked out. Hehehe. I explained to her what it was, but it was pretty funny to see her reaction.

Back to Work

Summer Edition, Day 55

We really took it easy this morning. The kids got up and we turned on the television for them, and fell back to sleep. When we did finally get up, we just hung around. Finally, around 11am, we got ourselves ready to go get lunch. Yup, we didn't even make lunch at home.

Lunch was at Boom Noodle in U Village. Tyler had his usual chicken ramen, and Vincent had a bento box with potstickers. They both did well eating their lunch, but Tyler takes the cake.

I had my first day back to work at Lark this evening. There were so many of us there, and it was not very busy. I was sent home around 9pm, which was nice. 

While I was at work, David took the boys to the park to launch their R/C yacht that A-ma (my mom) gave them months ago. They were pretty excited, but I guess Tyler was nervous about controlling it because he didn't want to lose it. David had to wade into the water once to retrieve it from getting stuck.

 

Four Bus Rides

My inlaws wanted to go for a hike this morning. They were looking into renting a car for one day, then driving themselves to the airport tonight. Unfortunately, it's not cheap. My suggestion to them was to just take our car, and the boys and I will travel by bus. 

 

So, this morning, we piled into the car, and dropped Vincent off at camp. Then, Don and Alice dropped Tyler and I off at the gym. 

 

When Tyler and I finished up at camp, we made our way to the first bus stop, where we barely caught the #8. We rode that up to Capitol Hill, and down to Madison Valley, where we got off. Next bus was 10 minutes away. Just enough time to stop into the bakery and get cookies.

 

We caught the #11, and went down to Madison Park. It dropped us off across the street from Vincent's camp. We had another 10 minutes to catch the next bus, which was actually the same one we just got off of, but in a different location. That bus loops around the back of the neighborhood, and returns to the main road. We hurried Vincent out of camp, and waited at the bus stop.

 

Next stop, 23rd and Madison. We walked a block over to John St. to catch our 4th and final bus, either number 48 or 43, whichever comes first.

 

Finally, we made it 24th and McGraw, got off, and walked 2 blocks home. It took a total of 1.5 hours, but was great. Both kids were super good sports about it, and earned themselves bonus stickers for good behavior.

Behind (July 22-August 1)

So much for my "summer edition". I've done a terrible job of staying on top of it. I'm now so behind, it's hard to catch up. I'm going to do my best, though, and do it all on one post! Very ambitious.

Highlights of July 22 - August 3

July 22 - At the last minute, I decided I wanted an ice cream social at our house. From 4pm-6pm, friends arrived in our backyard and we hung out and ate ice cream and some various snacks. Nice work spoiling everyone's appetites, right?

July 23 - There was still a bit of birthday cake left, so we had cake for breakfast. One of my favorite breakfasts, as is Vincent's.

Vincent is wearing this windbreaker, fully zipped and hooded for two reasons: 1)he was cold, 2)it makes him look like a ninja.

At karate, Mr. Ness made the kids a fun obstacle course to practice jumping over stuff.

 

July 24 - I took a red-eye flight to Boston, leaving at 10:30pm. I drove myself to the airport, left the car with Master Park, letting them know that someone else will be picking up the car in a few hours, and took a shuttle to the terminal. David's parents arrived in Seattle at 11:30pm, picked up our car, and drove themselves to our house.

 

July 25 - I arrived in Boston around 9:45am. I met Quinn Reeder for the first time.

Back at home, the boys went to Mandarin preschool. David showed PopPop and Nana where to take them, and then they dropped him off at work. Tyler skipped him nap. At about 5pm, he fell asleep on the sofa while Nana read him a book.

 

July 26 - Went with Lucy and Quinn to see the doctor today. He seemed to have gained a little bit of weight, but not as much as they would like him to. I continue to get to know Quinn and help out where I can.

Vincent had a piano lesson this evening.

July 27 - The boys went to Mandarin preschool this morning, again. I got to eat homemade pirogi for lunch. More baby-goodness.

July 28 - Quinn was a little fussy this morning. When he was passed to me so everyone else can get themselves ready, I put him down for a little playmat time. He did really well!

 

My cousin came over to Bob and Lucy's this morning, and we all piled into two cars and drove into Boston for the Food Truck Festival. I had these really yummy fried cauliflower with aioli.

Back at home, the Hunts went out to Remlinger Farm. The boys got to go on a bunch of rides, and even ride ponies!

For dinner, they went to MOD Pizza, where the boys each had two pizzas. They even went up to the counter by themselves, each with $5, and order themselves their second pizzas.

July 29 - I picked up my friend, Joseph, at the Liberty Hotel in Boston, and we drove to Gloucester for dinner. We ate at The Market Restaurant, which was very delicious, and on such a lovely little spot on the water. 

During dinner, I decided that I want to "summer" in New England. I had already started feeling this way yesterday, when we were at a wading pool/spray park before the food trucks. We met up with other friends and their little girls were playing in the water. I loved how it was 10:30am, and they were swimming, unlike Seattle.

At home, apparently, there was some swimming.

July 30 - Lucy, Halina, Quinn and I met up with Ali for lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the river in Waltham. We sat on the patio and enjoyed the sunshine. Quinn slept through the whole thing.

At home, Tyler started cooking camp this morning, while Vincent went back to his summer camp at the bath house. Turns out Tyler loved cooking camp.

July 31 - Time to head home to Seattle. First, Lucy and I took Quinn to another doctor's appointment. So, the story is that he lost a lot of weight after he was born. They want to weigh him every few days to make sure he's gaining weight. And, he did! Not as much as we were hoping, but he is moving in the right direction.

After the appointment, we ate at Sweet Cheeks Q for lunch. Oh my goodness it was good. I got the pork belly. YUM.

My flight back to the west coast was long. It was delayed, but I would still make my connection in SFO. The plane was at capacity, so they wanted those seated in Group 7 (me) to check our bags. Sure, why not? 

Though that leg was long, it wasn't too bad, as I was still somewhat functional. The next leg, the short one, was rough. It was delayed, then we had to wait a long time to take off. The night just seemed to drag on. Just as we were about to take off, someone was not in their seat, and the flight attendants, and even the pilots, kept asking for everyone to take their seat. Frustrating. He finally sat down. Apparently, he didn't feel so good.

Once we got to SeaTac, there was more waiting. The train that takes us to baggage claim was running funny. One train passed us. The second stopped, but then the doors wouldn't close, so we just sat there waiting. Finally, we make it, and there was David, waiting for me at the top of the escalator. My hero.

August 1 - Home. Vincent was the first to wake in the morning. He was happy to see me, and gave me good hugs and kisses. I gave him his gift, a Mega Man comic book. I got up and read him a few pages, then Tyler woke up. I was actually first to wake out of all the adults.

We took the boys to camps, then I picked them up later. Vincent and I went to get food before picking up Tyler and spent a nice hour together.