Florida Bound

In just a few hours, the boys and I will be hitting the road and heading to sunny Florida. It's FINALLY my annual Girls' Weekend with my three best friends, and following Girls' Weekend, Ed will be joining us for a week-long family vacation at the beach. Woo-hoo! The boys and I are leaving this afternoon and will break the trip up into two shorter legs. Hopefully we'll arrive in Jacksonville by 2 p.m. on Friday.

And hopefully by 7 p.m. on Friday, the girls and I will be enjoying drinks at a waterfront restaurant, celebrating my 40th birthday! That's right--I'm turning 40 tomorrow. Not really sure how I feel about it, but it is what it is, so I might as well celebrate. Maybe I'll reflect more on this milestone later (maybe even write a letter to my 20-year-old self), but for now, I just need to keep my head on straight so I don't forget anything!


Despite the million and one things I had to do last night to get us ready for this road trip, the library was featuring the "Bubble Lady," so after starting a load of laundry and fixing (and eating) a quick dinner, the boys and I headed over. The place was packed, but the boys were happily entertained and I managed to check out a few books on CD, so it was a win-win for everyone. I even got pictures of the boys inside giant bubbles.

 After we got home and the boys were in bed, I finished up laundry, Ed and I packed (he's heading to Cleveland for a college friend's wedding this weekend and will meet up with us on Sunday), I left notes for the cleaning woman and the neighbors taking care of our cat, Ed installed the DVD players in the car, I put out the snacks we'll be taking on the road, and gathered up DVDs  and books for the trip. At some point during the evening, I remembered that my driver's license expires tomorrow (CRAP!), so I this morning bright and early, Seth and I got in line at the DMV and luckily, the ordeal only took about 25 minutes.

So we're all set! Don't know if I'll be blogging on our trip, but I'll be sure to give a full report when I return. See you when we get back!

Crazy Town

I've been living in Crazy Town for the past few days. On Monday afternoon, a man who lives in one of the houses behind our row of townhouses armed himself and refused to leave his house. His father has moved to a retirement community and is planning on selling the house. The moving trucks came on Monday morning to remove the rest of the house's furnishings, and the son refused to leave. So the cops were called. Because the man was armed, the SWAT team came out. When we got home around 6 p.m., it wasn't immediately obvious that something was going on. But then Ed heard something that sounded like gun shots and he noticed that the house behind us had a bunch of heavily armed police officers in their driveway. Then we started noticing SWAT guys positioning themselves all around the house next to the one behind us.

We got the boys inside the house and closed all of our shutters. We pretty quickly learned what was happening. And were told to stay indoors, away from the back of our house. At one point, I was in the kitchen making dinner and looked up to find a SWAT guy on our patio. That was crazy. But we did our usual routine and got the boys in bed. When we woke up in the morning, the cops were still there. Ed noticed two of our patio chairs were missing. He peeked outside our patio gate and saw this:

Yep--those are our chairs.

We got the kids ready for school, just like we always do. If you're wondering what the kids knew at this point, we told them that a man was inside the house and didn't want to come out, and the police wanted to make sure that nobody got hurt, so they were trying to talk to him and get him to surrender. But, they also wanted to make sure the man didn't try to run away, so that's why they were surrounding the house.

When we got home, we saw a policeman in the area between our house and our next-door neighbor's. (We live in an end unit.) I got the boys inside and then went to peek out the window on the side of our house. And found this, right below our playroom window:

Well, hello there heavily armed SWAT guys!

The boys did not know they were there, and we went about our routine. The suckiest part was that it was a GORGEOUS day yesterday, and it would have been perfect for riding bikes and grilling on the patio. But that wasn't going to happen with this guy on the patio.

Can you see him behind the gate?

Fortunately, some time around 10:00 p.m. last night, the situation was resolved. When I told Seth that the bad guy put down his weapon, Seth cheered and said, "Yes! He made the right decision." I didn't tell Seth that the guy had doused himself and parts of his house with gasoline. Yikes! I also didn't tell him the cops had tasered the guy. Anyway, all's well that ends well. I hope that guy can get the help he needs. And I really feel sorry for the father who now has to put his notorious house on the market.

Quite the adventure for our sleepy little community!

Pick Me! Pick Me!

Our local library's summer program has begun, with special evening shows every Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Last night's show was Mad Science--all about the laws of motion. Seth decided to stay home with Ed so William and I headed out just the two of us. The show was great and full of opportunities for audience participation. Every time the facilitator asked for a volunteer, William's hand shot in the air. And every time, she picked someone else. William stopped raising his hand after a while, and I could tell he was feeling discouraged. What kid isn't dying to get picked from the audience? What Mom doesn't send a silent prayer skyward that goes something like, "Please pick him, please pick him, please pick him."

By the end of the program, there was just one demonstration left. The facilitator said she needed a volunteer. William raised his hand and made sure he was sitting on his bottom. Two big kids in front of him shot their hands up, too, and were practically on their knees, obscuring William from sight. Then the clouds parted and the angels sang, the bigger boys sat back down on their butts, and the facilitator picked William! ("You--in the blue shirt," she said, pointing to William. "ME?" William asked, incredulously.) He sported an ear-to-ear grin the whole time he was up front, and I was so, so happy for him. He was helping to demonstrate the third law of motion--every action has an equal and opposite reaction--so he strapped on a helmet and kneeled on a little vehicle that was propelled by the release of high pressure gas (maybe dry ice propulsion?). He had to push down on a lever, which released the gas and moved him forward. He had so much fun.

I only had my iPhone with me, and the lighting was terrible. But I got some pictures!

After the program ended, we walked across the street to the park where he has his summer camp, and he showed me all around--where they play Duck-Duck-Goose, how they walk from the community center to the park, where they waited for the bus to go on their field trip yesterday. It was nice to spend time with just William, and I was just so, so happy that he got the opportunity to be picked out of the crowd. It's the little things, right?

Father's Day . . . and SUMMER!!!!

Our first official summer weekend is behind us and I think we maxed out the fun factor. The weather was absolutely perfect (although it was a little bit too cold for swimming--I think I need to get the boys full wet suits for the pool!), and we capped off the weekend by celebrating the best dad two kids could ever wish for. The highlights include:

• Pool party for William's kindergarten class on Friday. This was almost a disaster because William is still not swimming and is not overly comfortable in the water. But all of his friends who were there were swimming and jumping off the diving board and having a great time. Poor William was so upset at the beginning of the party. I made the mistake of getting in the water with him and Seth, because then he just took out all of his frustration on me. It was hard to watch him feel so down on himself. BUT, I think it's exactly what he needed to see--especially as he starts two weeks of swimming lessons this week. Unfortunately, the water was really cold and the air temperature was in the low 80s with no humidity. And if you're not moving around a lot and actually swimming? It's pretty cold. But once all the kids got out to eat and play on the playground, William had fun. And then he got back into the pool and played with a few kids in the shallow end, even though he was freezing. I was so relieved the party was salvaged for him. And my big take-away lesson? I have to let him fight his own demons. Sometimes it takes despair to inspire motivation.
• Beach Boys concert with Ed Friday night! This is the Beach Boys 50th anniversary tour, and Brian Wilson is back with the band. There are still five original members in all, and they sounded fantastic! We had a really great time singing and dancing and the boys had a great time with Ed's parents. 
• "Date" to the mall with William to get new shoes and a Harry Potter Lego set. We are reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and William is now completely into Harry Potter. We're a few years too late in the toy department, but there are still some Lego sets out and about. So I promised William we could go to the Lego store to pick one out. We had a really nice outing together. Fortunately, William shops like I shop--he knew what he wanted, quickly picked something out, and then we were done. 
• Father's Day breakfast for Ed (we took him to a local diner) and then the pool, playing outside, dinner on the patio, and "swimming" in our neighbor's Jacuzzi. We got Ed a book for Father's Day and then left him alone for the entire day so he could read it. And he did! He finished the book in one day. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the day with the boys, and we capped it off by hugely successful "swimming" in the Jacuzzi. Amazing what can happen with warm water! William went under water over and over and even "dove" to the bottom to retrieve torpedo toys. And this was with 5 other kids in the "pool." The look of accomplishment and pride on his face--the huge, ear-splitting grin--made the rest of the weekend's good times fade in comparison. I hope that sense of accomplishment will carry over into this week and next as William tackles swim lessons and summer camp.
• Speaking of summer camp, William started summer camp today. I dropped him off in the "before care" program at the community center, with a room full of strangers. He admitted before we left that he was a little bit scared and a little bit excited. But he went in and met the counselors and started playing fussball with an older kid. (Actually, I started playing with him, but then the older kid came up and asked if he could play.) For this week and next, he's doing a "summer fun" camp at the park, with outside play, swimming, arts & crafts--the usual camp stuff. He'll also take a swim lesson every day. But of course, today's weather is rainy, cloudy, and cool. So I doubt they'll get to swim or play outside in the park. But hopefully he'll have lots of fun with activities in the community center. As Seth and I were leaving the building, we saw one of his friends from kindergarten going inside, so I know he'll have at least one friend in the program. After this camp, we head to Florida for a week at the beach, and then when we get back, he has a week of "Ninja" camp, and then he starts the summer camp program at his school. He'll be familiar with the staff there, the setting, and likely even most of the counselors. I'm glad, though, that we're starting off with this different summer program. Different is good, and it challenges William a little bit. It also feels like "summer," even though he still has to wake up every morning and do the same routine. (Although he doesn't still ride the bus every day.) I hope he's literally a "happy camper" when I pick him up this afternoon.

So that was our weekend. Lots to be happy about as we embark on our summer adventures. I'm most excited about heading to the beach in two weeks. We're staying at my friend's ocean-front condo for the week (I have the BEST friends!!!), AND I'm starting the week off with my annual Girls' Weekend. So much to look forward to!

In the meantime, we're taking advantage of all of our community's offerings. Tonight we're stopping by the library on the way home to join the summer reading program. On Wednesday night, the library is hosting a Mad Science show. On Thursday night, our city has concerts in the park. At some point this summer, we WILL go kayaking. We will make homemade ice cream. We will grow tomatoes. (We are so late on this one already, but I'm hoping we can still make this happen!) And we will make our own Summer Service List. I'm trying to keep things low-key and to not have a whole lot of expectations. What I want most for the kids this summer is FREE TIME. It's hard to balance all of the of experiences I want them to have with what they actually want to do. I want them to have a chance to get bored and to use their imaginations and to explore and not be directed and led and entertained all the time. So while I have ideas for awesome things we can do this summer, I plan to implement them sparingly, and when the time seems right. I'll offer them up as ideas, but for the most part, I just want to follow their lead and see where it takes us. Although we've had just one weekend of official summer, so far, so good!

Kindergarten Graduation

I know I have a TON of catching up to do. No good excuse for not blogging--just busy! All good things going on, though. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of blogging and can do a wrap-up of the last few weeks. But for now, I actually have a picture to post (thanks to another mom in William's class).

Such a goof ball! Tomorrow is William's last day of kindergarten, and at the end of the month, Seth will begin his transition to Pre-K. Yikes! They're getting so big.

I'm looking forward to summer, but I'm also worried about how to make sure William doesn't forget everything he's learned this year. I still have to force him to read to me, but we'll be joining the library's summer reading program, so maybe that will motivate him. I also got a bunch of first grade workbooks and am hoping we can "play school" this summer. Somehow, I think that might be a struggle, but I'll put in my best effort! We started reading Harry Potter (the first book) and he's suddenly completely obsessed with Harry Potter. So lots of Harry Potter may be in the cards this summer. I did end up joining a neighborhood pool, so hopefully lots of swimming will be in the cards, too.

For now, I'll just reflect on how proud I am of William for making it through kindergarten (mostly) unscathed. He has learned and matured so much this year and I know that he struggled at times but he managed to make a lot of friends, have fun, stay positive, and learn a lot in the process. Congratulations William!