6-Year Old Generosity

"Dad, why is there only one puck in a hockey game? If I were the ruler of hockey, I would give each team a puck."

AJF 4/30/10

What's A Dad To Do

VS





April has been pretty awesome and summer is just around the corner. The lawn has already been mowed a few times. Pleasantly surprising white blossoms are in full force on one of our trees out front. The small vegetable garden inspired by A's persistence has been planted, albeit without her actually performing much of the work. And the FroFamily bike gang (minus Mrs. Dad because she says her seat hurts her sensitive butt) is frequently terrorizing the cul-de-sac, as well as the 3 block trek to the neighborhood park. We are loving life here in EP. That is except for the shoddy paint jobs inherited in nearly every room of the house that stare us in the face every day, the repercussions of the obvious lack of landscaping and lawn care skills demonstrated by the previous owners, and the storage graveyard that has become our basement.

Between bouts of screaming and crying, C is pretty darn cool. That kid wants things his way, but if it doesn't happen, hold on to your f'in hat. Obviously he is taking after his dad in that regard. He clearly pronounced the word baby several times at G&G J's yesterday, which was really cool. Otherwise, the only spoken word that we have determined the meaning for is "baaahhh". Logic would suggest this is his sound for sheep, but alas, no. Our beloved baby boy has deemed this sound to mean mom. Mrs. Dad gets home from the daily grind and the moment C hears the door he starts yelling "baaahhh, baaahhh, baaahhh, ..." It is fantastic and something I need to get on film.

Big Boy B is his usual self. He is very busy from the moment he wakes up to the time he goes to bed (with short breaks for school and eating) thinking of and/or playing with Thomas the Train and his other magical friends from the Island of Sodor. It is a fascination I will never understand. I tried to watch a show with him one time, but it was almost as bad as watching Oprah or the Channel 45 news. I had to excuse myself quickly. Maybe I'll try it again, only next time be a little tipsy. It can't hurt. I don't mind a good Imagination Movers episode though. Those guys are top notch. And Nina is quite the little vixen.

As B winds down his first year at Little Flowers, he seems to be demonstrating a little more interest in expanding his educational horizons. After all, he is 4 and he's got to get crackin'. At least he talks more about doing new work at school. Whether or not it is true is another question, but as parents we must continue to have faith in the system. We have drunk the montessori Kool-Aid and it tastes good. A is proof enough for us on how well it works. She blows my mind on a daily basis with what she knows or can do. B is a completely different animal though. He is more concerned with other things. Social interaction let's call it. He talks about everyone in class and what each person did, or wore, or said, or ... Interestingly, I asked him the other day who his best friends were at school, and I gleaned this classic quote, "Ellie, Emma, and Ava, because they are the prettiest." I've also heard a few other times that Ellie wears beautiful clothes. That tells me one of two things: Either 1) Lookout ladies, B is on the prowl at the mature age of 4; or 2) Hello fashion institute of Milan, B is of the alternative mindset. That's my boy.

A is gearing up for Kindergarten graduation. This is huge, both for her and Mr. Mom and Mrs. Dad. She is relishing her time as big girl on campus, having her run of the place, but I think she is also slowly warming up to the idea of 1st grade at a new school, with new kids, and a whole new setup next fall. We'll find out when the day gets here. And it is approaching all too fast.

The light bulb also went on for A at swimming lessons. We have both A & B in the Foss Swimming School (a.k.a. intensive swimming boot camp). That place runs like clockwork, and they fit more into a half hour lesson than ever imaginable. After a very slow start in previous attempts, A has quickly gone from not wanting to get her face wet to starting to swim actual strokes. The front crawl and back crawl are coming together except for the occasional lazy left arm. Sometimes I think she would swim in a circle if the lane markers weren't there to stop her.

Before we go, I have two other things to get off my chest. The first is one of the most bizarre sightings of my life. The other day after dropping A&B off at school, I am at a red light. Then pulling up next to me is a little blue car driven by an early 20-something girl puffing on a hookah pipe. I didn't know what to say. If you don't know what these things are, look it up on the google. If smoking that apparatus does not classify as distracted driving, I don't know what does. I had to do a double take just to make sure it wasn't a bong. And it was being toked on by a relatively normal looking 20-something year old girl nonetheless. I could maybe see an Uptowny Peter Jackson look-alike, but this girl???? Too weird.

Secondly, and the subject of my post title, is our beloved MN Twins. The start to this season has been fantastic. Great April weather, outdoor baseball at the new park, pretty solid team thus far, ... B, C, and I love to catch the afternoon games on the radio in the car or in the backyard. B has even identified Jason Kubel (sometimes affectionately referred to as Jason Cool) as his favorite player. However, I may have to stop watching them on TV. The reason: Rob Incmikoski. For some reason FSN North thinks it is a good idea to keep this guy on camera. Random post-game interviews from the park, hosting studio pre-game and/or post-game shows, occasional Gopher hockey work this past winter, .... I just don't get it. I'd like to tell you all to watch closely and find out for yourselves, but I'm not sure anyone should be subjected to such torture. FSN North - Please stop. You're killing me here. First you tell me you're getting rid of Frank and the Wooger as your Gopher hockey game guys, now a heavy dose of Rob Incmikoski??? I never thought I'd miss the days of Ron Johnson or Telly Hughes, but I'm quickly starting to. At least those guys didn't get much face time.

That's all for now. Mr. Mom is blogging out.

Do you know the Cupcake Man?

I just wanted to show you this photo of my wonderful Mr. Mom and his hand-decorated chocolate and vanilla birthday cupcakes for the kids' Imagination Movers party (those are gears on top of the cupcakes) we had earlier this week. We are having a family birthday brunch for A's 6th birthday tomorrow. Annalise's top choices for gifts are currently Littlest Pet Shop or Calico Critters. I know that I am going to miss these days, in a half dozen more years when the present requests become more expensive and risque.

Since we are finished with the Magic Treehouse series, we are now reading Junie B. Jones books. She is quite sassy, but they are fun to read. It's getting Annalise thinking a lot about first grade coming up, and it's always good for a laugh out of Bennett when the story line has something to do with rhyming words with 'diaper.'

Adventure Peak adventures!

Tuesday night is the new Saturday! It was a great night to have a joint 4 year old and 6 year old friends birthday party at a nearby indoor park/play structure/bouncy house/gym. It was not too crowded at all, and we were the only group. The menu for the event was light snacks, and it worked out perfectly, since kids are usually too distracted to eat much at a party, and there was no ability to heat or cool things at the facility. Yogurt with fruit and granola, carrot sticks and apple slices, and the perennial child-friendly, Wisconsin-lovin', Mommy-eats-all-the-leftovers favorite- cheese and crackers!

I don't know how many times we'll be able to pull this off, but this year it worked out well, since A and B attend the same school and know the same kids. They also agreed to the Imagination Movers theme, since both of them really like the show, and also agreed to a Littlest Pet Shop gift exchange (although B had some last minute grumbling, as he would have preferred a new Thomas train). Curiously enough, A invited one boy (who wasn't in attendance) and B invited all girls, so Bennett was totally in his element among all of the girls (and most of them older, which is even better)!

They found their baskets!

The Easter bunny was not too clever for the Frochildren this year. Annalise got her very first Barbie in her basket this year (Pet Vet Barbie, who will be able to care for any sick Littlest Pet Shop pets). Mommy even got an Easter basket, that Annalise surmised was for me, based on its contents- Mad Men season 3! Thank you, Easter Bunny!

We went to the 7:45 mass on Sunday morning, and it was fabulous! No crowds, no long-winded services. We then went home to eat candy (and nap) before heading to G and G's for the Biggest Pork Roast ever! Thanks for a great Easter dinner- and how refreshing to not have ham!

Easter Fun

Our new neighborhood had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, complete with a visit from the Easter bunny. Colin was freaked out by the rabbit, but all the kids had a great time gathering eggs in their baskets. The eggs were stuffed with candy at the last meeting of the ladies book club- how Desperate Housewives is that? We are loving our new neighbors! We were invited over to a neighbor's house pre-egg hunt for mimosas and bloody marys, and met some kids who will hopefully be bus-riding buddies with Annalise in the fall.

We then headed to PL for dyeing Easter eggs with cousins, and an Easter egg hunt around the yard, where only one egg was resistant to returning to the carton. Maybe Shug will run across it next month?

New Hampshire Rocks!

Mount Washington Resort

Mike and I had such a nice time at the Mount Washington. It had a really interesting history, and lots of black and white photos depicting good old times of yesteryear. Parents magazine rated it as a top family ski resort, and we both agreed that it would be a wonderful family trip sometime in our future. On the other hand, it also reminded us of the hotel in The Shining.
The conference I attended was really interesting, and germane to my new position, and I learned a lot. I met a nice group of PAs and NPs that I had dinner with on Sunday night, and again later in the week. Mike enjoyed doing nothing, except for one day when he hit the slopes. Another day, we took the chairlift to the top of the peak where there was a restaurant for lunch. It was just a little strange to be riding the lift down the ski hill, and having the operator stop the lift for us to step off. I would have liked to take snowboarding lessons, but we weren't able to fit it all in. Oh well, another time I guess.
Our trip back to Boston, and our flight back home was uneventful. Many thanks again to our wonderful babysitters. It sounds by all accounts as if the kids and grandparents all had a really nice time.