Ahoy, October!

Though this October was rather greener than any other I've experienced (and we all know I'm nuts for fall colors), it was still ridiculously fun. San Diego has "Kids Free October," which grants free entry for kids with their parents to many museums and other activities throughout the city, as well as various restaurants which offer "kids eat free," (you may have noticed that's about the only way we ever take our family to dinner). Though we didn't make it to nearly as many places as we might have liked (well, as I might have liked, my family is rarely as enthusiastic about all the adventures I try to cram in), we did knock out some fun outings. We were also the lucky recipients of visits from Grandma Donna and Aaron's brother Nate, whom we hadn't seen in far too long.

We were able to enjoy not one but two visits to the Museum of Making Music, only a few miles from our house. It was cool! There were old pianos and instruments from the last two centuries, a variety of early recordings of everything from King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band to Lil Hardin and Louis Armstrong to the Beatles and Elvis. Obviously a huge hit with Aaron and me, but the kids enjoyed it more than I expected. On our second visit, we were able to bring Grandma Donna along, and she enjoyed seeing early trombones, having played that instrument herself when she was younger, and having a father who was a trombonist with a band during the Jazz Age. At the end there was a place set up with an assortment of different instruments to try, and the kids spent nearly an hour trying out ukuleles and banjos and steel drums and harps and dulcimers. It really was a fun place to visit, especially for a family like ours.

The other fun museum visit we were able to squeeze in was the USS Midway downtown. It's a retired aircraft carrier from World War II that saw relatively little combat, entering the fray as it did in 1945. It has been converted into an enormous museum with opportunities to virtually pilot planes and chances to climb inside several era aircrafts. It was pretty cool to see how the ship was a virtual city at sea, with multiple cafeterias, a hospital wing, and recreational activities available for soldiers, as well as an incredible number of operative jobs to make sure the whole thing functioned properly. We were able to walk the runway up top, and see the boilers down beneath. I think one could probably have been at sea for a year without meeting everyone required to run that thing. We were lucky to have Uncle Nate along with us for that visit, and the kids had a great time getting to know him a bit better.

Among our many adventures, we had the chance to attend the most fabulous airshow on earth--the Miramar Air Show. Unfortunately it fell on one of the hottest days of the year. Although we packed up early in the morning to try to enjoy the most pleasant hours of the day, it was still ridiculously hot, and despite wearing sunblock, several kids went home sporting sunburns. It was thrilling to be able to see the fliers straight from the Top Gun Academy, though, even if the iconic soundtrack was missing during the flights. I wish we could have stayed longer (if the weather had permitted) or gone for the evening show instead. And it would have been nice if there had been less complaining (there was a lot, and I confess that some of it came from me).

We also got to visit Sea World again, this time for the Spooktacular that they hold near Halloween. Aside from collecting candy at various stations around the park, we took a few photos with our matching pirate costumes (and a mermaid), and got to ride Journey to Atlantis under the stars. We even got a peek at the snow they've already started making in anticipation of Winter Wonderland that opens next month--maybe we'll have a taste of a white Christmas this year after all!

The next week, we celebrated my birthday! Though the kids are doing a better job at realizing that the math doesn't work out especially well for me to be turning 27 this time around, I'm not changing my story. Some friends treated me to lunch the day before, then we had a family celebration with a visit to Benihana, an amazing restaurant we'd never been to before (and where we will never be able to afford to go again--holy moly, even with three free kids' meals and a birthday meal for me it was still twice what we would normally spend on going out as a family). It was fantastic! We were seated at a table that surrounded a grill, where our Japanese chef cooked up each of our dishes before our eyes. He was fantastic, doing all kinds of tricks, including flipping shrimp tails into his hat with knives and making faces on eggs before cracking them. The food was delicious, but truly the best part was the show that went along with it--the kids are still talking about Chef Tim's amazing skills. Addy made me a cake (though I helped her frost it), and we closed the night with some special gifts from the family I love most!

The following day, Aaron and I took Emerson and Sera out of school and we all went to LegoLand in further celebration of my birthday--it's crazy that we've lived only minutes away for the better part of a year, and still never visited, especially considering what Lego maniacs they both are. We had a great time, waiting for no more than a few minutes in any of the lines, and trying out the delicious "Granny Apple Fries" that are the park's specialty (they're really good). The best part of the day was walking through Mini Land, which is where some of the most elaborate Lego constructs ever built are set up. We saw the Las Vegas Strip, the Washington D.C. mall, Times Square in New York, and even New Orleans. Then there were elaborate Star Wars constructs from each of the movies--they were pretty spectacular to see. We had a lovely day, but we still managed to end in time for Aaron to make a rehearsal and for me to get Emerson and Sera to the new classes I recently signed them up for--hula and Tahitian fire-dancing (classes I wish I could sign myself up for, actually).

We ended the month with a handful of Halloween activities, from Addy's late birthday/Halloween party with friends to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat (held completely outdoors!) to our own little excursion to "Pirate's Way," a neighborhood street that was as elaborately decorated as a Disneyland set, and where we took a handful of pictures. The kids had a nice time trick-or-treating our street, and came back with enough candy to last only a day or two, which I think is exactly the right amount.

Hoppin' Harmonies, Hula, and Halloween

We loved visiting the Museum of Making Music in October (kids were free to a bunch of museums in October)

 

Some of Louis Armstrong's old horns--loved seeing those!

 

We loved having Grandma Donna join us for our second visit, although we didn't get any pictures of her while we were there.

We did manage to catch one when we visited the Wild Animal Park together!

 

Addy decided on a Halloween-themed birthday party this year, so we saved it for October

 

Her friends look lovely . . .

 

But they come with a side of wild!

 

And because she loves me, Addy agreed to spend the last hours of the party giving our Harry Potter movies some love

 

Another "kids get in free" at the USS Midway museum, where we got to explore a real WWII aircraft carrier

 

Very cool aircraft

 

And we even got up close and personal with some blast-from-the-past pilots

 

As cool as it was, it was hard to imagine being at sea for months on end even on a man-made island like this

 

We were lucky to have Aaron's brother Nate with us that afternoon, even if he was a bit camera-shy--it was great to see him for the second time in my life!

 

Emerson has been working on his Tahitian fire-dancing skills--love these classes!

 

And Sera has learned some pretty cool hula moves

 

My birthday visit to LEGOLAND with Aaron and my (not-so) littles

They were so surprised when the "dentist visit" we took them out of school for turned out to involve more shark-teeth than people-teeth!

 

We had such a fun day!

 

Everything was awesome!

 

My favorite was the elaborate Lego cityscapes in Miniland

 

There was a crazy hair day leading up to Halloween for these two--they took it pretty seriously

 

And then . . . Halloween! We enjoyed a visit to the Sea World Spooktacular

 

But my favorite pictures were the ones we managed to catch in a nearby neighborhood that goes all out for the holiday--and matched our costumes perfectly! Welcome to Pirate's Way!

I nicked these awesome costumes for 75% off after Halloween last year, and was thrilled to have a chance to use them

This pirate ship captain and mermaid were my favorites

 

But there were even costumes for Aaron and I--how often does that happen?

  

And we actually carved pumpkins this year--although they rotted rather more quickly than usual given the warm San Diego weather--at least they lasted through Halloween!

 

Spotless September

For the fact that having a clean house should make such a difference in my temperament, I blame my mother. August involved rather a lot of yelling. Specifically me yelling at my kids, but it went both ways. Because it is miserable to live in a place where people have no problem dropping their things all over the place, yet feel no responsibility to clean them up. Although it really is their responsibility, and I don't believe at all in expecting somebody else to pick up after oneself, I ultimately broke down and used a groupon that Aaron got me to help get the house properly clean again. From there the kids have been reasonably decent about keeping their rooms clean and beds made, and I, as a result, have become a much more pleasant creature. Apparently messes are my kryptonite, because my yelling has dwindled to practically nothing. I have braved my kids' rooms to read to them, and have even managed my temper at bedtime (which is when I usually start to lose my cool). I really hope the kids appreciate the difference enough to make keeping things tidy their priority instead of mine.

In other news, a month of school has elapsed, and things are shaping up swimmingly. After trying out both schools, the older kids decided to stay with the public school, despite my impassioned attempts to persuade them of the virtues of small classes, no homework, and time in gardens and in the community. I ultimately relented, and am comforting myself that at least they have access to band classes and higher math instruction. We've worked out a carpool with families that live on our street, and both Asher and Addy have started running cross-country. The schedule works out nicely so that I can walk Emerson and Sera to school each morning, which is a beautiful way to start the day. I've also taken on teaching art in each of their classrooms, as the school did away with art classes and art teachers for budget reasons several years since. It makes me so sad to know that there are qualified, licensed art teachers out of work, and I am doing it as a volunteer. Still, it was fun to go into each of their classrooms and spend some time teaching the children to draw self-portraits.

I have gotten into a routine (we all know how much I love routines at this point, don't we?) during school hours, spending the first hour of each day on cleaning projects before sitting down and writing. The one hour time cap has helped me choose manageable projects that leave me feeling accomplished but not overwhelmed. Writing has been going better than expected--I am knee deep into a Clara Wieck Schumann book that has been in the back of my mind for over a decade. I feel stupid for working on something new rather than giving the requisite attention to books I've already written and for which I need to pursue publication, but I guess it just goes to show I really am a writer more than a marketer. I keep telling myself that as soon as I come to a difficult place in my writing, I'll switch my attention, but so far the writing has come entirely too fluidly.

I also passed out about 300 flyers for starting a KinderKeys studio here, but when absolutely nobody signed up, I kind of abandoned the idea. I still have a few people who have asked me directly about doing a class, but I keep waffling. Starting something from scratch is so hard, and I'm not sure my heart is in it right now. I guess I need to find something to put my heart into, though, because I also got word that I did not progress to the next level in my application to become a Foreign Service Officer. Even though I didn't really expect to progress as far as I did on my first application, it still came as a blow. Although a year's time is required between applications, I do intend to apply again--it seems like exactly the kind of career I would thrive in. Meanwhile, I have sent in applications to be a librarian, and am in the substitute pool at Pacific Ridge School, where Aaron teaches. The plus side of my hodge-podge schedule is the time to write, which I am really enjoying--I just feel so incredibly guilty and humiliated that it has yielded exactly $0 over the past seven years during which I have been seriously pursuing it.

Enough about me, seriously! Aaron has been working hard starting the year with the Children's Choir. He has had his own struggles with trying to motivate the administrative staff to do the work required to bring people into the organization, and working to find the best path forward for the choirs. Addy has decided to sing in his Concert Choir this year, and Asher is waffling on participating in the Youth Choir (mostly high school students, but also boys whose voices have changed). We were excited to have Emerson and Sera participate in a new branch of the Intermediate Choir that was slated to open in Carlsbad, but lack of publicity (see above) prevented the opening at the beginning of the year. We're still hoping that it will open soon!

Well, since I spent most of the last post complaining and this one hasn't been a great deal better, I should probably move onto the awesome experiences we've had between the two months! We visited Sea World one last time for the summer, enjoying the last nighttime Shamu show of the year, as well as the last fireworks. We attended the Del Mar races (horse-races) and had such a great time! There are going to be more races in November and we hope to go again. I love the names of the horses--our favorites were "Ivegotafeeling" and "Happy Birthday Song." We made bets with each other, but no money changed hands--I can certainly see why betting on horse-races would be exciting, though. One Saturday I took Emerson and Sera (nobody else wanted to go, though I can't fathom why not) down to the Festival of Sail downtown, and we were able to board several old sailing ships, including the Star of India that was used in filming both Master and Commander and the Pirates of the Caribbean moves. It was just amazing to get to see them up close, and to imagine sailing half-way around the world that way. What an experience!

Addy turned eleven, bringing both a smile to my face and tears to my eyes. She is the most spectacular (not-so-) little girl I know, and I can't say how many times I just look at her and wonder how I got so lucky. Even the things that currently drive me crazy about her make me love her more. She is currently rather shower-resistant, despite going through that thing where she suddenly needs showers at least twice as often as before, she cannot be persuaded to wear socks with her shoes, making her shoes smell awful, and she would much sooner wear two or three favorite outfits than clean clothes every day. And yet, despite my pinched nose, I love that Addy can waltz into middle school completely nonplussed about what anyone else might think of her--that is a great gift for a girl her age. She is kind and friendly to everyone, and lets Asher's rather too-frequent digs about her appearance or unpopularity (both figments of his imagination based on his own insecurities, I'm afraid) roll right off her. We celebrated her big day with a Padres game and dinner at Chili's (using a round of the Kids Eat Free coupons the kids scored with the library reading program this summer). She got a pet--an actual furry little hamster, cage and everything--as a gift from Aaron and I, filling the wish of at least four years now. Well, she may technically have asked for a dog, but a hamster is closer than a fish, isn't it? She has been working hard to make friends with Peanut, who was initially a bit nippy, but who has warmed up significantly to her new owner. She also scored a ukulele, a sewing kit, and a new set of Uno cards from her siblings. Oh, and a cute little stuffed "big-eye guy" monkey from Sera which was quickly reclaimed for the hilarious games Emer and Sera play with their own "big-eye guys," Meep (turtle) and Spells (owl). I guess sometimes that's just how 7-year-olds give gifts.

Aaron and I had a couple of amazing experiences all our own as well, going on a sunset cruise into the harbor on our anniversary (I should probably copy over my facebook post about spending 16 years in the company of such a wonderful friend and husband), and going on a sea cave kayaking tour together one day while the kids were in school. It really is wonderful to have some time just for us these days. The sunset cruise was lovely--we had a gorgeous view of the city, were able to see frolicking sea lions and various ships out on the water, besides delicious food and time to talk to each other and a whole array of people we met on the boat. The kayaking tour was one of my favorite adventures ever--we learned so much about San Diego history and sea life, and got a great workout besides. Some of my favorites were learning about underwater caves where smuggled booze was stashed during Prohibition, seeing leopard sharks and rays swimming in the wild, hearing about houses crashing into the ocean, and learning more about how much the American military relies on sea life to make tactical decisions.

Truly, both August and September were awesome months for our family--we had some great times! But it's nice to keep in mind some of the less-spectacular stuff as well--it helps us maintain perspective and remember that the journey is meant for growth as well as enjoyment. Happy fall (to everyone but us--we'll just have to stick to the beach)!

Around the House, Around the Town

September always starts with a birthday for this light of our lives--as long as her wish doesn't have anything to do with boys, we're doing just fine (and it doesn't)!

 

Both Asher and Addy ran cross-country this year

 

This meet was like a scene out of Chariots of Fire--absolutely gorgeous (but a bit hot and sticky for the runners)

 

Do my eyes deceive me, or is that a smile our Asher is sporting?

 

And again? Could it be a fluke?

 

I didn't get any of Addy's run, but she and her friend Rhea put forward a strong first showing

Addy also had a great time on the Children's Choir retreat--she's excited to sing under her dad this year!

 

With all those kids off at school, Aaron and I found some time to play--our favorite afternoon was a sea cave kayaking tour we took together. If only I could have taken our camera along without ruining it--absolutely spectacular views of the coast, and some exciting encounters with sea life!

 

 

We visited La Jolla Cove one weekend--Sera brought her new attachment, "Mathilda"

 

And here's what I find lying around the house--our Emerson is an origami master!

 

Plenty of time after school and on weekends for stops at the pool (I always appreciate when I can have the kids shower there because it saves on our exorbitant water bills and limits the number of wet towels strewn through the house)

 

I'm pretty sure that's a smile on Asher's face again--maybe not a fluke after all?

 

I try to walk to school with these two as often as I can--they crack me up! On this morning they were the elderly "George" and "Betty" hobbling along with their walking sticks.

 

And can we just zoom in on the little friends they bring along with them? We have (l-r) Meep, Dribble, Spellz, and Bubbles

Besides hilarious, our walks are also beautiful--peppered with birds of paradise

 

natal plums

 

palm trees

 

and blossoms--it's beautiful here!