"Seriously Mom, do you have to shove that thing in face every waking moment?"
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Hanging out in the van while Daddy searched the junkyard for a window to replace the one that was smashed. After a couple hours of searching he returned to report that he had found one that would work but that he had been unable to get it completely out so we would have to return another day. I was worried that someone else would capitalize off of Miguel's hard work of getting it mostly out and go ahead and finish the job for him, taking the window as their reward. I haven't wanted to carry my camera with me, for fear that it would meet the fate of my purse, so you might be stuck with phone photos for a little while. I wish I didn't have such a deep resentment for the camera on my phone, but I'm beginning to suspect that it's out to drive me nuts. I think I'm going to have to brave up enough to start carrying my camera again very soon.
The beginning of the week found us at Lake Shasta and by the end of the week Z was back at school, thanks to extended school year. Z has always enjoyed our summer trips to various weeks but this year he was much more open to try new things and I think it led to an even better experience for him. In the past he has only been willing to go into the water as far as he could without having to let go of the boat ladder with either hand. This year he just jumped in (with his life jacket on of course) without any discussion and he happily floated about. Even more surprising to me was the fact that he climbed up onto the roof of the houseboat and hung out there reading books most of the trip. For many years his fear of heights has kept him from doing a lot of the fun little boy things I've wanted him to experience. He even decided to go fishing, not something he was ever fearful of but something that he never showed any interest in despite lots of prodding and encouragement. It's fun watching him expand his idea of fun, when he's been so limited in what he would add to the list in the past.
Z still refuses to give swimming lessons a chance though. He actually did agree to do private lessons but I just couldn't swing them despite Aunt D's offer to help out with the cost. I'm pretty sure the pool we've gone to for lessons in the past does private lessons into autumn though, so hopefully that is still something that happens this year. We spend much too much time around water and have such a collective love for spending time in water, it just doesn't make sense for Z to not know how to swim.
Speaking of lessons, I went back and forth on whether to have Z participate in extended school year. I haven't in the past few years because the school year from August to June was such a daily struggle and source of stress, I felt like he deserved and needed some time to unwind and just enjoy being a kid. We received his report card from the school year that just ended and he earned all A's and A pluses (including the areas involving socialization) so he doesn't need the extra schooling. His teachers felt so strongly about the benefits of him going though, and honestly this past year was by far the least stressful of his school career thus far that I was heavily swayed to enroll him. Once we found out there would be a heavy emphasis on building real working Lego robots and that students would be creating a music video for the song they had been writing together, the same song Z is constantly singing outside of school, I knew there really was no decision to be made. Z was going to summer school.
His attendance hasn't been perfect, he actually missed the very first day because we got home so late from Shasta the night before, but he has been going and having a blast. It's been a nice excuse for Az and I get our butts out of the house nice and early and make a day for ourselves as well. I like that Z wants to go to summer school and that he has such enthusiasm for something that has been such a source of struggle for him. I've always been worried that by the time we reached this point, right before entering junior high, that he would be fighting me on every turn about going and participating. A lot of it has to do with Z and his love of learning and showing off his knowledge, but I think his current school has to be given some credit as well. I truly feel like the school he is in now has been his salvation. I know junior high could easily throw us a curve ball but from where I sit everything looks to be much smoother sailing than it has since Z entered kindergarten.
I feel like the last few entries have been about how I see Z growing, but that's because I do. He still has a long ways to go, I would never suggest he go into a mainstreamed school at the moment or anything and I still have to take lots of deep breaths throughout the day but I finally see Z developing in ways I've been crossing my fingers and making wishes in tunnels for since he was very young. He's always been such a sweet, amazing kid. I'm glad he's finally letting other people realize it.
I've been afraid to go out anywhere with my van window smashed. I'm afraid that if I park and leave it anywhere I'll return to find the whole van gone. So until I figure out how to get the window fixed I've been stuck at home. On the night that my window was smashed a guy came sauntering up to me in the driveway to chat. He's staying across the street and I guess he was bored. It turned out we'd been in the same class in sixth grade, and we ended up chatting for a couple of hours. On a normal night when my van hadn't just been broken into I would have probably excused myself and gone inside immediately but it was just one of those weird nights.
My former classmate had trouble placing who I was at first, until I mentioned that I was partially Asian to explain to the Asiatic features of my daughter. Apparently that was all it took for him to remember me. "Oh your eyes were more slanted back then, huh? You had dark curly hair." Once I confirmed that was in fact me, with a horrible early 90s perm, he told me I hadn't liked him, and that I had been really stuck up and full of myself. I told him that I had been really shy, but he said that I always had a sour expression on my face. That part could have been true.
The guy turned out to be a mechanic, and he offered to fix my window for me but when he got home Miguel was wary and told me that he would figure out how to do it himself. The thing about Miguel is that he can figure out how to do just about anything given an Internet connection and enough time. The flip side is that it always takes a whole lot of time. It was a slow process, of finding a compatible window at a junk yard and trying to figure out how to get it out of the old car's frame and then how to get it into my van's frame, made all the more fun by the fact that it was an automatic window in an old car that didn't even have a motor any longer.
It took about a week to get the window in from the night the old one was smashed out. On the night that the above photo was taken the kids and I were still stuck at home and I was still feeling down about the fact that someone had taken my possessions from me. It's funny how attached people can get to material possessions, but some of the things I lost along with my purse had accompanied me on my adventures for over a decade. I hadn't been up to taking many photos on this day, and the baby was making it no easier by dodging the camera lens whenever possible so this is what I was left with, a photo of my daughter sharing her stinky toddler toes with her father.
Today was such a wretchedly hot day. Az and I languished in the heat while we waited for Z to get off of school. When he was finally off we ran some errands but I just wanted to head home, where I knew it would be nice and cool under the redwoods. At the last minute I decided to stop at Sunset Beach. It was so incredibly, miserably hot. I figured the kids could just jump in to the water and get refreshed before continuing our drive home. I grabbed the kids' life jackets and the bag of beach toys we always keep in the van and we were on our way.
Z decided that he wanted to go our secret cove, a bit more of a walk but there's never anyone there. The main beach was full of people and big dogs not on their leashes so I consented. When we got to the cove it was empty as always and the kids jumped in. Even I ended up jumping in, despite the fact that I was wearing jeans. We stayed much longer than I had planned, hours. The whole time we were there I was wanting to go home, something felt off, but the kids were enjoying themselves and it was a Friday evening. We had no other plans, why wouldn't we stay?
We've been to the cove many times, and I've always loved how secret and serene it is but this day something just felt off. I found myself feeling a little scared. I just had the feeling something bad was going to happen. The water was particularly stagnant that day, particularly full of nature's debris. I had the feeling that we were going to find a dead body in the water or something, a fear that has never crossed my mind. The few times my legs brushed against large objects in the water I quickly moved away. They were probably just logs, but I didn't care to find out.
A few people passed by through the bushes but I felt how secluded we were. When my sense of unease had finally gotten the best of me I ushered the kids out of the water and we headed back to the van. When we finally came in sight of the van I noticed that my normally dirty windows seemed a bit too clear. "Oh no Z, I didn't leave my windows rolled down did I?!" As we trudged along we continued to discuss the status of my windows. Were they rolled up or not? Z was pretty sure they were, but something looked not quite right.
We finally came close enough for me to see that the passenger side window had been smashed in, and my purse had been stolen. I know better than to leave my purse in the van, but I had left it nonetheless. Nothing else seemed to have been touched, though the thief had found some loose cash I had smashed behind other things on the console. I'm lucky in that this was my first time ever having my purse stolen. Z and I both seem to remember one of my car windows being smashed, but this is the first time there was anything in my van worth taking.
Happily I had accidentally taken my phone down to the water with us in the pocket of my jeans so I still had that, but the beach was out of my phone's reception. A truck across the lot had also been broken into, but their phone had been taken along with everything else so it was some time before I could call the sheriff. A woman leaving the beach let me use her phone and I finally did get a sheriff to the lot so I could file a report. By the time I got home to cancel my bank card almost $800 had been charged on it. Two weeks later I'm still waiting to hear from my bank about whether I'll be getting any of it back.
I'm so glad I forgot my camera at home that day, because no doubt that would have been left in the van too in my mad dash for the cool water. Considering the much greater fears I'd had in the cove having my purse and wallet stolen and my window smashed is a survivable offense but it's still hit me hard and left me feeling vulnerable. I guess I believe in the best in everyone because I was honestly surprised when Z lost his camera and no one turned it into the lost and found and I really did expect my wallet, or at least my ID, to show up in the mail. But of course more than likely some kid is using it to buy him or herself beer.
I knew not to do silly things like leave my purse in the car. Honestly, I barely thought about it because I expect more of people. I was given a lesson, and thankfully it wasn't as painful as it could have been. My purse is going to be glued to my shoulder from now on. I miss my ID. I really liked that ID, the photo was taken during my kick boxing and pilates obsessed days. Almost as much, though, I miss the pencil box my friend brought me back from Japan and the many other things I've collected over the years and that have lived in my various purses. I'd just bought the purse the day before too, damn it.
Today was Z's first day of extended school year, or what used to be called "summer school" in ye olden days. I haven't opted to put Z into the extended school year the past few years because I think it's important for him to have some time off from all of the stress. I still feel that way but, this school doesn't feel like as much of a cause of stress, and besides they're working on making Lego robots and a music video for the song they wrote in class. Sitting in your jammies and vegging out is nice, but it can't compare with freaking Lego robots.
After Z got out of school we ran errands and then met up with a couple of friends at Sunset Beach for sandwiches by the river. We found a nice little shallow spot where Az could splash about and Z could create a city out of pebbles and rocks until, well, sunset when the beach closes. I hope it was the first of many such river picnics this summer.
Our houseboating adventures ended early in the morning. In fact, Miguel was woken up to start the boat so we could start the journey back to the marina and the kids didn't roll out of bed until the journey had already begun. My brother, his friend, Miguel, and I squeezed in a final game of Hearts before it was time to unload the boat back into our vehicles and then my mom and her crew took off. It was around noon then, at the height of the hot car ride time of day, so I suggested we get lunch at the marina. That killed about an hour, landing us still solidly within a hot ride home, so Miguel found us a body of water to go explore. I have no idea what it was called or if I could find it again, but I think it was part of the Sacramento River. It didn't look very promising at first, and seemed to be getting even less promising the longer we stayed but in the end it lent to a very nice day.
The spot that Miguel found for us was a boat ramp and a small dock. I didn't want the kids swimming in the boat launch so we went trudging along the shore. There wasn't much shore to be had, most of our walk was through brambles and shallow but ice cold water, but Miguel found us a spot where we could set up a couple of chairs and the baby could float in her boat. I sat down to relax after my grumpy walk through the thorns and within twenty minutes not only was all of the sparse land under water, but it was a few feet so. I'd never seen anything like it. My guess is that the river was being filled by Lake Shasta, although since I'm not even sure where we were I can't be sure.
I was ready to just pile back into the van and begin the ride home but it was still a lot hotter than I preferred so we gave the boat ramp another chance. The entire time we were there we didn't see any boats, or anyone else for that matter besides a couple of guys who came down with their dogs. The place was quiet and desolate and the perfect type of place to sit on a dock eating sunflower seeds. So that's what I did.
We started our journey around 6:30PM but it turned out to still be too hot for Az so we stopped at yet another rest stop along the way for an hour. This time it was light out and Miguel was alert so I felt a little better about our time there. When we piled back into the car it was much cooler, and the perfect time to go on a trek back towards home.
Az in one of the many, many, MANY outfits her great-aunt Lulu has sent her. I wish that Lulu could see her in one of them in person one day. My aunt Lulu, whom is definitely the furthest thing from being financially prosperous, says that she just loves buying baby girl clothing. We are fortunate to be recipients of her love. They are usually not things I would have picked out myself, but that actually makes it more fun to receive. I have an excuse to dress my daughter in floral bubbles with matching hats because hey, it was a gift from my aunt.
This was our only full day on the houseboat. Contrary to appearances and photos of cute outfits Az spent most of the day running around the boat in her diaper and, when outside of the walls of the boat, her life jacket. It was a quiet day in the cove; everyone took off on the speedboat and my mom, the kids, and I stayed behind. When Miguel returned I did take the opportunity to swim across the lake. I wish I could swim everywhere. Water sports and activities have always come much easier to me than those of the land variety. I wish that either of my children knew how to swim. I would love to go swim-exploring with Z. I think he did four summers of swim lessons. He enjoyed the excuse to get into a pool and swim but chose to not partake in the lesson part. A few years ago when we rented a patio boat for the week at Lake Shasta Z clung to the ladder every time we tried to get him into the water. This year he floated around in his life jacket eagerly. So we are making progress. I can adapt my fantasies to floating around with my son rather than swimming with him if I must. Although I'm really holding out hope that Az ends up liking swimming without any coaxing.
A picture of Z from the photo shoot I won online. I was fortunate that this didn't happen to be one of the days he didn't want his photo taken. Before we met up with the photographer I discussed how important it was that he let him take photos, and how this was a rare opportunity, and luckily he went into the experience in a good mood. The photographer told us to just go about things as we would normally so Z got to work on one of his sand creations and having a good time. By the time the photographer was ready to move on to another activity Z was in playing at the beach mode rather than doing things in front of the camera mode, and that mode did not include trying to hang out in the vicinity of his sister to get photos together. That mode mostly involved running and jumping, an eleven-year-old's idea of what would make good photos. They may not be the photos I would have originally envisioned but it will be nice years down the line to have photos of Z in his natural environment.
My mom and her husband rented a houseboat on Lake Shasta and allowed us to tag along. It was Miguel, Z, and Az's first time on a houseboat and Miguel is always fun to do things with when it's his first time. One of the things I like about him the most is that he is never too cool to show how excited he is to be doing something. Once Az had finally crashed out and caught up on sleep (the almost three hour ride to the cove my mom's husband wanted to go to did the trick) she had a blast, and of course any time Z is outdoors his mood is improved by at least five notches. It was still off season for boat rentals so my mom was able to get the boat for a little cheaper. This also meant both that the weather wasn't as stifling hot as it can sometimes get but also that the water was still pretty chilly. This didn't keep Z out of the water, but everyone else seemed to stay on either the houseboat or rented ski boat. Az did spend a good portion of the time throwing things into the water though, things like her dolls and garbage.
My brother and a friend of his also came, so it was a nice opportunity for Az to get to know her uncle a little better. When she was younger she was a bit wary of him but as she's spent more time at her grandmama's she's slowly warmed up to him and before the trip was often requesting she talk to him on the phone. The few days in close quarters with her uncle was nice for strengthening the relationship they are forming. I felt very fortunate to be out on the lake sleeping under the stars (once I pulled the blinds on the window by our bed up) but spending a few days on water with a toddler whom doesn't exactly love being in a life jacket and people whom aren't used to keeping doors that lead to open water closed was quite frazzling on the nerves. I hope Az takes to swim lessons better than her brother has, because we spend way too much time around water for neither of them to know how to swim.
Today was my day to pack for our trip to Lake Shasta, and then drive to Lake Shasta. Except that Az was not having it. Every time I tried to put something in her suitcase she quickly pulled it out, though she was perfectly happy to put in items of her choosing, like an empty dirty cup. And when that didn't seem to be deterring my packing she just plopped herself right down into the suitcase. We managed to get out of the house right around the time I wanted to, 9PMish, and then we went to the grocery store to get provisions for our short trip, and then we realized that we had a lot of what we wanted at home already so we went back home and threw those things into a plastic shopping bag (including some yogurt I forgot about until the next afternoon.)
We did eventually get on the road, and took our time driving up to Shasta. Last year on our drive to Oregon Az had been hot and miserable so I had hoped leaving at night, when it would be cool and Az would be inclined to sleep would make things easier. It sort of did, and sort of didn't. She did fine as long as the vehicle was moving, and slept as I had hoped, but whenever I would pull over to take a nap she would wake up confused and angry and not at all in the mood to sleep. I pulled over twice to catch a few winks in rest stops, because there isn't much else on I-5, and Az woke up both times wanting to go walk around the rest stop and explore. I've heard enough horror stories about rest stops that I would literally rather attempt a root canal than wander around one with my almost-two-year-old daughter in the middle of the night. Unlike his daughter Miguel had no trouble sleeping through our stops, and was in fact extremely resistant to waking up so I spent most of the night throwing a cranky Az back into her seat and driving until she was asleep and content again.
Z, by the way, handled the ride like a champ. He's never had much trouble with traveling. When he was younger I considered long drives with him my special vacation before the official vacation because he was content to just look at the passing scenery and amuse himself. When he was around two and three years old we ended up taking almost monthly trips to Los Angeles, about an eight hour ride, largely because of this.
Due to the not stopping for as long as I had planned we arrived at the marina at around six in the morning. Which meant we had to wait in the hot car for over five hours until the rest of our party arrived. The whole point of leaving late at night was to avoid sitting in a hot car. When I tried to walk around with Az she quickly became irritated with me for not letting her go down by the boats without her life jacket. I think next time we'll just go ahead and leave early in the morning. It's a pain trying to get everyone awake and into the car but it's not a bigger pain than juggling a hot and cranky toddler.
158/366
On Tuesday night I found out that I had won a photo shoot given away by NYC Taught Me, with photographer Keith Pitts. After excitedly calling Miguel and jumping on the bed I realized that Keith would only be in the area for one weekend, the one that was now less than a week away. The same weekend I was supposed to be going away on a houseboat to Lake Shasta. I sent Keith's wife/assistant a rambling overly excited e-mail that featured way too many exclamation marks (though I promise you I felt every one of them) and they were wonderful enough to suggest that we meet up that Friday, the same day they were coming into town from Bakersfield. It was suggested that we meet up at Stinson Beach, a beach I hadn't been to in years but which I had always been meaning to revisit.
I've been wanting to get professional photographs done of Z since he was born, and that desire has only grown stronger since Az was born. Embarrassingly enough, I happened to be laying on the couch doing my best to not clean the house and fantasizing about what I would dress the kids in if we were going to get photos done when I checked my phone and received the e-mail from Sharon of NYC Taught Me telling me I had won. So I was beyond pumped to have won. And also a little freaked out that I had to figure out what both of the kids were going to wear within a few days, because my idle fantasies hadn't turned much up.
Unfortunately Miguel was working Friday and couldn't get the day off. It would have been nice to get pictures of the four of us interacting but as it was it was difficult enough trying to get pictures of the kids together. Az was wary of the strange man with the camera and never really did warm up to having her pictures taken that day. The picture of her on the left is a pretty accurate depiction of how she spent much of the couple hours we were with Keith. Z, however, was more than happy to run around for the camera. I think I have my quota of crazy-haired-Z photos now.
Monday, June 18, 2012
It was a day of running around taking care of errands and not taking photos. I left my DSLR at home and pocketed my old point and shoot Lumix for my night at the Exploratorium's After Dark. The kids stayed with my mom, and it seems this time Az did much better being away from Miguel and me. I think having Z with her when we leave her really does make all the difference. By the time I got to my mom's it was a couple hours later than I had intended so we didn't end up leaving Az for very long. I suppose that could have helped the night go smoothly as well.
Miguel, my brother, and I went to the Exploratorium to celebrate a friend's birthday but all of my friends ended up going to a talk on Titan that took almost a couple hours. The boys and I opted to sit that one out (or not sit, as the case may be) and I didn't end up seeing much of my friends or the birthday girl after all. I had taken a different bridge than I had originally intended into San Francisco, which brought us semi-close by a friend whom was looking for a ride so at least I did get to visit with her during the extended trafficky ride. The Exploratorium was still a lot of fun, I have a deep love for the Exploratorium and have always had a fantasy of getting to play with the exhibits after the crowds (and kids) have gone home, long before I knew adult-only nights existed there. It would have been fun to hang out more with my friends since I very rarely have nights out with them, but there are certainly worse people I could have spent the night with than my boyfriend and brother. I guess this just means I'll have to find another excuse to gather everyone for a night at the Exploratorium.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Az has shown a lot of interest in the big toilet so I decided it was time to go ahead and get her a potty of her own. She has shown a lot of interest in her new potty, and constantly asks to sit on it, but she wants to sit on it with her diaper still on. I've been dreading the potty training phase. Potty training was a long, loooong struggle with Z. I don't know if I got too excited and started too early with him, or if it has to do with some of his diagnoses, but it was not a quick and easy process with him. I'm very eager to get Az out of diapers, my wallet is ready to throw a party when that day comes, but I'm just not looking forward to the journey one little bit. I decided to get Az the princess potty that plays music, because she's Az after all, my music loving little princess, but she immediately realized that she could get the thing to play music if she stood up and sat down quickly. In fact, every little thing seems to set the music off on that thing. Half the time I think she's gone to the bathroom because the music starts playing, only to find a completely dry bowl when she stands up. I'm really not even sure she gets what she's supposed to be accomplishing on there. I think my only plan of action for the moment is to not force the potty on her. She's not yet two, so I have some time until I really start feeling the pressure. It sure would be awfully nice to just wake up and find out that she was out of diapers though...
This week was Z's last day of fifth grade. To celebrate we got sandwiches from Oliver's and took them to Steelhead Beach. In August Z will start sixth grade in the junior high classroom, grades 6 through 8 I believe. It will be nice for Z to be with the older kids, I'm hoping that being with kids whom are slightly more mature will have a good effect on him, but I really have liked the teacher he has had the past two years. I can't say there has been a staff member at the school that I haven't liked though, so most likely I will like his new teacher as well. We've been through so many struggles with teachers whom were a bad fit though, I guess I'm always nervous when Z starts in a new class.
It's hard to believe that Z is going into junior high already. I'm glad that he will be at the same school, just next door to his old classroom. Baby steps seem to be the best kind for Z. I feel fortunate that Z doesn't have to go to an actual designated middle school. I work in middles schools; Z would be eaten alive. This week he was invited to an 18 and under club by a former classmate of his, a boy two grades older whom will be starting high school this year. I felt relieved that we were busy so I had an excuse to tell Z he couldn't go, because I would have been biting my fingernails the whole night. Z has at least a couple years until I would feel comfortable throwing him to the wolves of teenagers. He's grown a lot in the last two years though, and has shown huge progress towards being able to socialize with his mainstreamed peers. I think that he will be ready to go to things like under 18 clubs given a little time to mature. Of course, I probably still won't be ready.
Today was one of those days where every time we were invited to anything I said, "Let me guess, is it on June 2nd?" Before I completely lost count, between Z and me we invited to over fifteen events for the day. We managed to make it to three of them because of course everything was scattered all around Northern California. Some of the events I didn't mind missing, like the invite directed at Z to go to an under 18 club with a former classmate of his. I'm just not ready for that, not even close.
In the morning we headed down to Gilroy for Miguel's mom's 60th birthday party at a local park. After that it was on to San Mateo for my cousin's 18th birthday slash high school graduation party. As that was winding down we headed over to Oakland for a friend's art show. The show was held in an abandoned auto shop and made a huge point to be kid-friendly. There was a food truck parked inside, though the kids and I passed since we had filled up at the previous two parties. There was also a large supply of chalk, which Z used to draw a giant maze across the entire floor of the garage and Az used to try to eat. It was a pretty long day for the kids, we left the house in the morning and didn't get home until around midnight, but both of them held out pretty well. At the 18th birthday/graduation party Az spent some time clinging to me and refusing to be held by anyone else but eventually the other two little girls there, two of my cousins' daughters, whom were not much older than her seduced her into exploring.
The above photo was taken shortly before we called it a night at the art show. Az was pretty ready to be strapped into her car seat by this point and call it a night. I was glad to have gotten through the day so smoothly, but it would have been awfully nice if just one of the events had been scheduled for the next day. We of course had zero plans for the next day.
In celebration of Z's last day of fifth grade we brought a picnic to Steelhead Beach after school. Az had a blast playing with her dad in the water, but she showed a particular interest in the woman in the background of this photo. She kept trying to hold the woman's hand and wanted her to follow her around. This is unusual behavior for Az so I was trying to figure out why she was so interested in the woman. The woman appeared to be in her early thirties and was with a boy of about five years old, whom was not at all amused by the amount of attention Az was paying to his mother. When I commented to Miguel that Az must find something familiar about the lady he told me that she was calling her "Grandma." The woman was very gracious with Az and let her lead her around. She didn't seem as offended as some women in their thirties might have been by being called "Grandma." She didn't look anything like either Miguel's or my moms and was much closer to my age than either of them, so I'm not sure what it was about the woman that reminded Az of a grandma. Maybe she thinks all women with some color on them are called Grandma. If so, I hope the next "Grandma" is as kind as understanding.
Az was sitting on the sofa pretending to talk alternately on my phone and a gadget I received as a gift that plays Mr.T sayings at a push of a button (I'm still waiting for the first time she says, "Don't give me no back talk sucka" to me.) This only lasted so long, however, as she very much knows the difference between talking to herself and someone else. We're beginning to run out of people to talk to though, so I called the house phone with my cell and had Z answer. Az was over the moon talking to him; they talked for a good thirty minutes before my cell phone battery died. Az was quite upset; apparently talking to her brother in person just doesn't compare to talking to him in person.
Whenever Az sees one of us brushing our teeth she runs in to get her toothbrush as well. Since buying this toothbrush it has come to my attention that children as young as Az shouldn't use battery-operated toothbrushes, which is just as well since she threw the toothbrush in this photo into the toilet last night. Hopefully she'll love using her new, less fancy toothbrush just as much.
Tonight we went to the chicken barbeque put on by the homeowners association, which benefits...the community I suppose. I've never really thought about what the money goes towards until Miguel asked. I assume I'm supporting something I'm in favor of with my barbequed chicken consumption. I hope I am at least, it's good chicken.
The barbeque happens two times a year (I think. Geez, I'm really beginning to realize how little I know about it) and has been going on for at least the 30+ years of my life. Not that long ago it was a big event for my family; my grandfather would go down bright and early with a table cloth to reserve a picnic table for the family and the extended family and friends would gather for dinner and music. Now though it's just Miguel, the kids, and me. We didn't go down early to reserve a spot so we were left to sit on the grass with our meals. It was still nice though, the same band that has played since my earliest memories plays on and the kids line up for the talent show. The talent show looks different now though. When I was a kid there were lots of renditions of "I'm a Little Teapot." This year three of the contestants danced to "Party Rock" by LMFAO.
After the talent show we went next door to our tiny miniature golf. They've doubled the prices since Z and I last went; a game now costs an entire dollar. Miguel and Z played while I chased Az around the place. I don't think I'll be taking her miniature golfing again for a while, all she wanted to do was run up and down the putting lanes, and the people around us were taking their games surprisingly seriously. All in all it wasn't a bad night for an event we could walk to.
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