I could only handle so much time sequestered in the house while the weather was so inviting, so we did load Gemma up in the sports wagon with a pillow, blanket, and barf bowl, and go for a walk on the trail. We picked up some Gatorade at the Rite-Aid and then came back home. Jack pulled her the whole way - what a strong and determined kid!
Our kids expanded the play room balloon pit. It now takes up half the room. It was incredible for the first week. Now it just feels like we have a tiny toy room. Not sure it's going to live much longer...
Hazel and Todd went to the temple together for their daddy-daughter date night.
We had a low-key Valentine's Day, with heart-shaped homemade pizza and a movie night.
Gemma started a soccer class. She's just about the smallest kid out there, but she chases that ball with the crowd and stays right in the thick of it. She said she doesn't like being in the middle of the fight for the ball, so soccer might not be a long-term thing for her, but in the meantime, we've been bribing her with the promise of pizza for lunch afterwards if she touches the ball 10 times. That's given her the motivation to stay in the fight, and although she's calling the program "Kids Don't Love Soccer," she seems to be having a fun time out there.
Jack is giving tennis a try. He's been having a lot of fun with it. It helps that he and his buddy Jonah are the only kids signed up for the class, so they get a lot of focused instruction. It's hard, however, that he can't just go out in the yard and practice.
On President's Day, we brought the kids over to the beautiful Ano Nuevo State Park and took an elephant seal tour. Apparently you can find elephant seals there on the coast year round, but you have to go on a guided tour during the winter months when they are out there in full force, birthing and nursing and mating.
We learned plenty of fun facts about these interesting animals, enjoyed hiking around the sand dunes and the beach for a couple of hours, and stopped at three different locations to observe them up close. Like, make sure you stay at least 15 feet away-close. They were enormous and not cute and jiggled everywhere when they moved. We watched a baby chasing its momma down for a milkshake, a bull body-slamming a female in the most appalling version of animal mating I've witnessed in my life, kept an eye on the second tier males as they tried again and again to sneak into the alpha male's harem and got chased out (including one five second battle where the two males rose up and slammed their chests against each other in a show of strength), and laughed our heads off at the strange toilet-flushing-like sounds the seals make. It was such a strange afternoon!
Gemma is reading left and right and it's the most exciting thing ever! She loves that she can pick up simple chapter books now. For years, she's followed Hazel and Jack's examples and looked at books during meals, along car rides, and even walking out of the library. But now she's totally reading the words and telling me about the storyline! We're all so thrilled for her.
The Croce talent show is coming up next month, and Jack and Hazel have been working hard in preparation. Jack aspired to learn Pachabel's Canon and literally dedicated five or more hours to practicing it over a two week period. It sounds magnificent. And then, they decided to take it to the next level and add Hazel in with a simple violin part. It's so fun to see them collaborating musically.
Jack decided he wanted a chameleon for a pet and spent hours researching what they would need to survive, both financially and practically. That idea burned out when we went down to Santa Cruz last month and he saw that octopus in a jar. He realized a tiny octopus was really the key to his heart and was stoked to learn it was legal to own one. As of the last week or so, he has determined he actually wants a pet turtle and has been looking into what they need to live their best life. Meanwhile, there are real life turtles in the creek we walk past on our way to school. and Jack has enjoyed pausing to watch them each day.
Jack reached 300 AR points and earned his reading trophy at school. That's the final milestone they honor until the end of the year, when the top three readers of the whole school get acknowledged.
We didn't have school yesterday (end of term, I think) so I took the kids to Denica's for breakfast and we split their giant cinnamon roll. It was still too much for me, and I fought off a headache from the sugar for the rest of the day. I'm glad my body is acclimating to less sugar, but I wish I didn't like eating it in the moment!
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