A Novel November

November has been a month of trying new things for our family. This is our first fall ever in a place that doesn't have clearly defined seasons (except Aaron, of course). Though this is not much of a problem ten months out of the year, fall is my favorite. I walk into grocery stores stocked with cinnamon brooms and scented pinecones, and there is such a disconnect between what I smell and what I see outside. There are a handful of trees that are changing color however, and there are theories floating around that we should be able to expect a bit of rain sooner or later, so I'm holding out for that. Meanwhile, the beach is great for curing my nostalgia.

Emerson and Sera have branched out this month by starting hula and Tahitian fire-dancing classes (they actually started in October). They like them quite a lot, and I love them! Not only do they teach the great skills of coordination and patterns that all dance classes are good for, there is also a cultural element that I just adore. Emerson has gotten so good at shivering his knees together and walking with his knees bent and his body only a few inches from the ground--if you want a good workout, give "duck-walking" a try. Sera is mastering the skills of moving her feet and arms without moving the rest of her body a bit. There is an international element to the class as well--hula dancing is sought out not only for kids of Polynesian descent, but also those with Japanese or other Asian island heritage, so I especially enjoy conversations with other parents during the classes.

Asher has taken on a role as a den leader with a local cub scout organization, helping younger boys at activities. It was an opportunity offered to him by a friend of ours, whose son was involved with the troop, and it has been so good for him to have a chance for leadership among other boys who are Emerson's age. Because Emerson is not involved in the troop, I think it ends up serving to make their relationship closer, as Asher learns to interact with younger boys in a positive, encouraging way. I've noticed a lot less fighting between them, and many instances of collaboration and play together--something that has been diminished or absent over the past couple of years.

When a friend told me about auditions for "Annie" coming up, I was thrilled. "Annie" was the very play chosen for Addy's fifth-grade musical--the one she never got to be in because we moved in the middle of the year. It broke my heart to drag her away from it. But somehow things come right in the end. I decided to take her for auditions, dragging Emerson and Sera along as well, as they remembered all the fun Asher and Addy had in "Oliver!" last year. Well, once we were there, I ran into an acquaintance from church who was auditioning as well, and found myself persuaded to sing a quick audition song along with the kids. Although Addy was called back for an orphan role, she wound up cast as a Hooverville/ensemble member with Sera and I, and Emerson was cast as a dog-catcher--a role he is positively thrilled about. Although I initially wished Addy had landed a role with the orphans, as the holiday season has kicked in, I couldn't be happier that our rehearsal schedule is extremely manageable, and that all of us attend the same rehearsals. We're looking forward to performances (seven of them!) next month.

Another fun thing I've taken on recently is substitute teaching at Pacific Ridge School. Though it's not the most glamorous job in the world, I have loved the school since before Aaron started working there, simply based on their teaching philosophies and practices, and I think the kids who attend are fantastic. We would love to send our own kids there, though tuition costs are quite steep. Anyway, I've filled in for several classes already, and have especially enjoyed breaking out my rusty math skills for some calculus and algebra classes, though my favorite was probably the Colonial South Africa class I got to fill in for a couple of weeks ago. The course offerings are so varied and so interesting. I think I wouldn't half mind going back to high school if I could take classes like that.

At my own kids' school, I have continued to provide Arts Attack lessons for Emerson's and Sera's classes (as there is no art teacher at the school), and so far have taught classes on portrait sketching (line), watercolor fall trees (color), and helped other volunteers teach projects including Day of the Dead figure constructs and Japanese stamping. They've been fun to prepare and teach.

Last week, when much of the country got their first blast of artic air, complete with a "snow day," we had to make do with our sunshiny weather and gentle breezes. Since the kids were out for parent teacher conferences, I took them to the beach where we had a "snow day" of our own--which is to say that we attempted to build a snowman with sand . . . it's harder than it looks! We had a great day on the waves, enjoying the beaches that we avoided all summer because they were too crowded. The kids are getting pretty good at "boogie boarding," although I think both Asher and I would love to graduate to a surf-board. We also took some time to visit Sea World's new exhibition, "Snow World," where they make fake snow every day for all of us who live too far away from the real thing. We had a great time making and throwing snowballs, and the kids even got to stand in line for a little "sledding." It wasn't Indiana, but on the other hand, we got to wear flip-flops!

For Thanksgiving we talked our friends, the Pecks, into joining us. They brought over all kinds of fancy creations, from cantaloupe/fruit kabob turkeys to mini-pies-on-sticks to sugared cranberries, along with half the makings for our feast. We had a lovely, laid-back meal together, topped off with some Christmas carols to usher in the holiday season, and a watching of The Sound of Music. I so appreciate having good friends to share the holidays with--especially the kind who can get excited about music and singing! Though our holiday season is shaping up to be ridiculously busy and full--that's life in a musical family, after all--we've definitely gotten off to the right start!

The Freaky and the Foody

Day of the Dead in Old Town San Diego

 

I couldn't get anyone else psyched about painting their faces white, and only Sera was willing to take a picture with me, but I thought celebrating this cool and kind of creepy Mexican holiday was fun.

We visited the awesome little town of Julian to get a taste of fall--there were colored leaves and everything--at least a few of them

And delicious appleberry pie

I think this  place was actually called Mom's Pies--it doesn't get homier than that

 

I chaperoned a field trip to the Birch Aquarium for Sera's class

Get a load of how tall that girl of mine is!

The tide pools were the coolest--lobsters, crabs, all kinds of crustaceans

 

So it turned out that the kids were out of school on what happened to be the first snow day in Fort Wayne--we hit the beach!

There was a lot of singing "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" and Emerson and Sera did their best (sand is harder to work with than you might think!)

 

The water, quite honestly, was a bit on the cold side

But these guys had a blast in the sand

 

Addy played sea lion . . . or something?

And Asher, as per usual, worked on his hops

Then, Thanksgiving--these two were supposed to be my helpers, but they were mostly distracted by the hors d'oeuvers

We managed a very pretty meal, with some help from our friends the Pecks, who were able to join us

Let is suffice to say that their hors d'oeuvers were prettier than ours!

We ended the evening with PIE

And singing Christmas carols around the piano--when we have friends who not only agree to this, but inspire it, we know we're in good company!

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!