One more very, very belated post and I might actually be caught up! Until, of course, more things happen. And then I’ll be behind again . . .
A few months ago, Mark heard a local zydeco band play at a bar. When we learned they’d be playing a free outdoor show at Seaboard Station, we told the kids about them and we all got psyched for the show. This marked the start of several weeks of all-zydeco, all the time pouring from Travis’s boom box. Both kids were so charged up that I started to worry whether or not they could handle it if a storm or anything else messed up the concert. Fortunately, it all came together!
John, Sandra, and Jeff, Suzie, Hadley, and Davis all joined us, and a good-sized crowd, at Seaboard Station. The kids were front and center as soon as the band started, and Zydecopious didn’t disappoint. Some friends of ours shared with Kenny Shore, the rub board player, that Travis was dying to play the rub board. They had a great kid-sized one, and the band invited Travis to join in. That was the start of a long evening. Read the rest of this entry »
Travis has yet to learn to temper his reactions to many things. Sometimes this is frustrating, like when he has a total meltdown over a very minor incident. Other times it’s amusing, like his over the top excitement over fairly mundane things.
The last two things he’s gotten really charged up about, and I mean falling asleep talking about them and waking up talking about them and checking on them during the day, are getting his own trash can in his room (one I found abandoned in the attic) and getting a shoe-bag to hang inside his closet door. When something truly exciting and noteworthy happens to him, I’m a little afraid he might explode! Read the rest of this entry »
Hallie and Travis now have 3 of the season’s 4 swim meets behind them. As I guessed, the meets are a bit chaotic. But now that we’ve got the hang of them it’s easier to make sure the kids get where they need to go. They also know what to expect, and we know what to bring along in the form of snacks, snacks, and more snacks and also chairs, water, card games, etc. (There’s a LOT of waiting around.)
Both kids were the most charged up after the very first meet. I was hearing comments like, “I was smiling all the way to the end!” and “That was the funnest thing I’ve ever done!” (Travis) and “When you get in a race and you know you have to swim your fastest, you just swim your fastest! (Hallie). When I asked Hallie what she liked best about the evening, she declared “Everything!” (She’d apparently forgotten about the early waiting-around parts when she whined constantly about heat, bugs, hunger, and boredom.) Read the rest of this entry »
Travis has gotten very into writing this summer. It’s funny, but I think he’s more into writing than reading. Or at least he likes doing both, but on his own terms. If I try to get him to read something along with me, or tell me what a word says, he’ll often go on to something else. But I frequently catch him sounding out things he sees or, more often, sounding out in his head things he wants to write down. He’s getting really good!
He wrote his first real thank you note to Gum and Gup recently. He’s very free-form with the placement of his letters on the page. They can go forwards or backwards and occasionally up and down. If he runs out of room he’ll find another spot (often far removed from the start of the word) to continue writing. So, it takes a bit of a tour guide (specifically, Travis) to read some of the things he’s written. But he’s really making great progress. He’s even sorting out rules for punctuation and capitalization. And I’ve caught him figuring out simple math problems in his head based on conversations we were having when I hadn’t even realized he was paying attention.
I’m sure hoping that his new preschool this fall will be a good fit to keep him challenged and engaged. And I hope it proves right not to have tried to start him in kindergarten this year. I also hope there’s not some sweet little girl starting kindergarten this fall who’s expecting to meet Travis at her ten-year high school reunion. We’ll really have screwed things up for him then!
Yes, I’m way, way behind in posting, so details may be scant. I figure we need at least some mention that we actually held a party for Hallie’s 7th birthday!
This was Hallie’s first at-home birthday party since she was 3. We kept it pretty simple, but everyone seemed to have a good time. It was a completely outside party, which would have been tough in the rain or the heat. Fortunately the weather cooperated, staying overcast but dry (and thus reasonably cool) for the morning. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m so late in posting about our July 4th weekend in Virginia I’m sure I’ve forgotten most of the details. In a nutshell, we had a great time! As usual, Gum and Gup treated us incredibly well.
Anna and Wesley came up for Hallie’s “Bubble Birthday Party,” very creatively orchestrated by Gum. We all enjoyed a fun lunch of only things that roll. We made incredibly huge bubbles with a Klutz Press kit and recipe. We went swimming (and actually left an outdoor pool in July because we were too cold–that was hard to believe!) And we went to the Warrenton 4th of July Parade, which lasted about 5 minutes and was basically a procession of kids and dogs on foot, bikes, or wagons. It was fun, but next year we’ll know to either participate or do something else. Read the rest of this entry »
We had back-to-back weekend visits from Swanson family, and we thoroughly enjoyed the company!
Gum and Gup were here first, to visit and join us for the Dan Zanes show at the art museum. Though shorter than I’d have liked, the show was great. The weather cooperated beautifully, the music was lively and familiar, and the kids were front-and-center, dancing or awestruck the whole show. Getting autographs from Dan himself capped the evening off for them. As Travis walked back to us with his signed book, he gushed, “Look what Dan Zanes did for me!” Read the rest of this entry »
Hallie and Travis both hit some physical milestones within the last year that have made this summer more fun for them and more relaxing for me.
Every since Hallie was little I feel we’ve been in a vicious cycle. Both kids, but Hallie especially, could be debilitated for hours by a skinned knee or a minor tumble. And since neither was wildly coordinated or especially strong at first, tumbles were common. Read the rest of this entry »
I just learned this morning that both kids thought our old address was “Hophouse Circle” instead of “Hobhouse Circle.” They started telling stories about hopping houses. When I asked why, they explained. We all agree we like “Hophouse” better!
It’s likely a function of summer and being around each other a lot more. But Hallie and Travis seem to be having more “spats” lately. They are rarely major, but they get tiresome. And Travis has been going through a fragile spell lately, so I never know what minor thing might cause him to burst into tears. I’ve really been working with them on working things out on their own, not telling on each other, etc.
While Gum and Gup were here this weekend, the kids got in a tussle over using the Lincoln Logs. We got over the hump on that one, and they agreed to some ideas for resolving such conflicts in the future. Later in the day, Travis got down the Lincoln Logs again. When I reminded him about their promise, he happily said, “Hallie, you may have the first turn with these now.” Read the rest of this entry »
