September came and went in a blink

We are probably crazy.

There is nothing like fall to really emphasize just how crazy we are.

It's a juggling act. Three kids in three different schools. Two kids in soccer with games and practices in two different locations at the same time. Two kids in dance. One kid taking piano lessons, choir, and chimes. And in between all this we have a birthday boy and some very welcomed guests.

I'll start with the piano. The excitement level in our house upon learning that we were finally (after years of talking about it) getting a piano so that Clara could start lessons was beyond high. She is taking lessons from the music director at her church and he is very impressed with her progress, she is breezing through the early sections of her lesson book... a quick study.

Soccer has begun. And we suddenly have a soccer star in our house. Lucas loves the sport, looking forward to practices and games. He's even scored goals in the last two games! Our kitchen has become his personal practice spot, which can be fun. Clara has a lot of fun playing, but I don't think she loves the sport. Though last weekend, she got to play goalie for the first time and I think she truly loved that! She seemed to fit that position very well, she just needs to work on getting the ball back into play quicker. For the last three weeks, Jason has put together a parents vs. kids game which is a lot of fun, too. Not too many parents have joined into the fun yet... but hopefully it'll catch on.

School is in session... first day of school pictures!
Amid all the hustle and bustle Eli turned 3. Jason came up with the idea to make Eli a DC United soccer cake as he does love our home team. So I came up with this plan for Eli's cake in my head and was pleasantly surprised when the outcome matched nearly perfectly the picture that I'd been carrying around in my head for weeks. Eli loved loved loved his cake. He also loved his balloons and his presents. It's so much less pressure when it's just a small family party.

The following week, my Dad & Stepmom came up for a visit from Florida. Dad hadn't been here since last November, while Sharon hadn't been here since the summer of 2008... too long!! What a wonderful week having them here. They helped so much with getting the kids to and from school. Dad worked some sort of miracle with our ice maker/water dispenser in our refrigerator, not only fixing the ice maker that has been broken since early spring, but improving the flow rate of water so that it isn't just a trickle anymore! Dad also re-screened some panels in our porch that Eli had pushed out long ago. They also watched the kids so that Jason and I could go out to dinner to celebrate our 11th anniversary. And Dad helped Jason to replace the battery in our car when it expectantly died. I wasn't ready for them to leave. Luckily for me, after they spend a week in CT visiting my uncle they'll be back for a day or two. They have to hurry home, though, because Sharon got some exciting news while on vacation... she got a great job and starts next Monday! Congratulations, again!!

While most of September has been a great new adventure as we all enter these new phases in our lives. Lucas fits Kindergarten perfectly... he is so happy and has settled into the routine effortlessly. Eli loves preschool so much that he wishes it were every day and not just 3 days each week. Tuesday and Thursday are so hard for him... crying as he sends his siblings off to school. He just runs into the classroom without even looking back and saying goodbye. It's nice that he's adjusting so well. Clara really loves her new school/class/teacher. However, the workload and the pace of the class is causing her to struggle. The teacher called me regarding some behavior issues that have emerged along with the incomplete work. So it's been a tough transition for her and there is a sense that she's feeling frustrated. The actual work comes easy for her, but she tends to "overwork" everything so that it leaves little time to accomplish everything. This week has been her catch-up week, which has been painful as I see her spend every spare moment doing homework. There will be a meeting with her teacher soon, but aside from that, my fingers are crossed that we can alleviate some of the stresses by having her keep up with assignments at home and finding her a friend so that she has somebody to 'help' her socially.

Summer 2010, Part II

There is something satisfying about writing this entry about our summer as September slips away. Not the part about it taking me a month to get around to finishing out my summertime blog post... just the part about reflecting on what a great summer we had. Part II really just focuses on August, but we packed a lot into one month. In addition to the activities/trips that are included below, we also spent quite a bit of time getting caught up on all of the kid's doctor and dental visits, doing a bit of back-to-school shopping, buying a new piano for Clara to begin lessons, and soccer practices began. I have to admit that I was looking forward to school starting... so that I'd have a bit of time to relax!

7/28: Lollipop Swim - Every summer all the local junior swim teams come together for their own swim meet, the Lollipop Meet. Prior to this meet Clara had been working really hard to swim the entire length of the pool (25 meters) and she finally did it! She was so proud of herself.

7/31-8/7: Atwood Family Visit - Finally, Kelly and company made it out to see us! What fun it was hosting good friends. Although they stayed pretty busy during their visit, it was so wonderful getting to spend time with them. We accompanied them to a couple of the stops: Rock Creek Park, the US Botanic Gardens, and the Beach. Rock Creek Park is this beautiful gargantuan national park nestled right into downtown DC. We explored some of the hiking trails, had a picnic, and let the kids throw rocks under Boulder Bridge. Our visiting friends got the opportunity to meet our local friends at a BBQ. It was actually very comfortable and I really loved seeing all the mingling of the kids. The Botanical Gardens are beautiful, too. The kids loved walking along the paths pointing out each and every different type of plant/flower. It was a great place to play with my camera and get some interesting flower shots. Although, I bet Clara would claim that the best part of the day was our lunch in the cafeteria at the American Indian Museum. It was the most interesting cafeteria... divided up into the different categories of American Indian (i.e. Northwest Coast, Plains, Southwest, etc). All the food served was inspired by actual food that would have been native to each specific area. We had so much fun just picking a bunch of different dishes and trying them all. So... who wants to come out for a visit next... I would love to go back there! And then the beach... well, the beach is the beach. We all had a great time getting sandy and whipped around in the waves. It's going to be fun planning for the next time they come out!!
8/14-8/16: Shenandoah National Park - This weekend marked our second camping trip of the summer and our second trip to Shenandoah. The drive up looked ominous with heavy dark clouds hovering over the very area that we were planning to camp and sure enough, once there the cloud cover was so thick that often we couldn't see anything at the overlooks and a light drizzle kept our tents nice and damp, but the temperatures were incredibly pleasant and overall the weekend turned out to be magnificent. After setting up camp on Day 1, we headed out for a short easy hike along the Limberlost Trail. Then upon waking on Day 2 headed directly out to conquer the Bearfence Mountail Trail before breakfast. That was the best hike! The trail wasn't so much a trail as a rock scramble and both the kids and adults came away covered in dirt and sure that we would all do that again next year. In the afternoon, we hit the Stony Man trail and Little Stony Man Cliffs for some outstanding views (in between the drifting clouds). Day 3 had us walking around Big Meadows in the morning and the Lewis Spring Falls Trail as our last hike of the weekend. Our weekend ended on a high note with some handmade blackberry ice cream (thanks to another family we met on the trail for telling us about it). We always enjoy our camping trips, but it seems like each time they just get better.

8/19 - U.S. Capitol Tour - A big huge thank you to our good friend, David, for getting us scheduled for a tour through the Capitol Building. This was something I've always wanted to do. Our red coat tour guide took us through the Rotunda, the Statuary, the Crypt, and the old Supreme Court. However, it was the private tour, led by David himself, that was truly the highlight of the afternoon. He took us down the decorated halls of the House wing to his offices where we got to go out onto the balcony! The kids loved this part of the tour, not to mention that they all got to pretend to be committee members sitting at the table talking into the microphones... which they could have easily done for much longer than we let them. This guided tour made me realize how much the kids have grown and are now capable of being well-behaved which makes me optimistic for future tours.

Oh... and that whole having some time to relax once the kids were in school is a huge myth! It seems that now that all the fall activities are in full swing, things are busier than ever. But I think I'll save all that for a future post.