The big show

Max goes to OFASS, Oakland Fine Arts Summer School. Its a low-to-no cost 19-day program in the summer for 250 local kids K-5th grade. On the second-to-last day (that would be today) the kids perform some of what they learned in their classes. The walls of the school are lined with their art work, they sing, dance, hip hop, clown, model (yes, like on a runway), perform martial arts...drum...the list goes on, in fact, so did the show. And on and on and on.

There were two shows, each supposed to be about 1+ hours, each ending up at around 3 hours. Egad. BUT then there are these kids performing their hearts out. What's better than a 8 year old waving and smiling with a goofy grin in the middle of a big number? Funny, fun, beautiful.

Max is not the most daring and outgoing kid but he gave it his all. Below on the runway:
He was very excited to be pictured in the paper (picture at the top), he was pretty proud of his new dress up clothes, and he even cracked a smile while singing in a mass of kindergarteners towards the end of a ridiculously long day. He told me later, "I really liked that song the best."

I helped out in the boys dressing room and of course they all wanted to see how good they looked on my camera...

Finally, what day would be complete without a celebratory lunch between performances (read: bribe to return for second show)?

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Give me a break

I am so ready for a vacation. Yesterday, we went to a birthday party in Daly City. It was a pirate party. The kids had a great time, We had a great time given that it was really a visit to good friends. It was a painful reminder however of how much I miss seeing my friends, how much I miss having a normal life. This parallel life of mine, working 100's of miles from home is starting to wear thin.

So, next weekend we are off to Legoland in Carlsbad, CA. Perhaps we'll throw in SeaWorld as well. Maybe we will just hang out at the beach or, not get further than the hotel pool. I don't care. Vacation. Rest. Reaquaint myself with my husband and kids. Hi, my name is mommy...remember me?

The other side of Fathers Day

While BZ and Max watch Star Wars, Aiden and I chase birds in the park.

So many milestones

Max lost a tooth today. Yesterday, he tested and earned his first stripe in Poekelan, a martial arts class he's been taking. These things are amazing to me. He's 6 and I wonder all the time about this small little creature and how fast he grows.

I am so amazed at his language and his humor and then suddenly he starts to whine or cry over a lost Lego piece and I remember he's JUST 6 years old.

Aiden at 3 has become a full fledged comedian. He loves doing asides to the audience, He takes a crazy or goofy stance and then freezes waiting for the laughter. It is funny so he gets the laugh which leads to unfreezing and a new crazy position and then freezing again.

Parenthood is fun sometimes.

Birthday

Its Sunday. The day after the day after my birthday. I meant to say that. We had a party. It was fun and helped shake off my birthday blues. Perhaps it was the wine, perhaps it was my party dress, but more likely it was a house full of friends that did the trick.


Before the party, Aiden had to go to the ER, which got downgraded to an appointment at pediatrics since he was struggling with breathing a bit. Apparently, his Albuterol had expired. Oops. Turns out they say he's got asthma. Now, here's the thing, the doctor took about 15 minutes to check him out, no testing, nothing. Basically, he got a Saturday afternoon, "sure want to get the hell out of here" checkup.

So, I was a bit tense at the beginning of the party not really knowing if Aiden would come back home with pnemonia or some other awful diagnosis. When I heard asthma, I was relieved since I could process that later and he seemed (and still does seem) fine.

There were lots of people, food, music, fun. As usual, its always hard to get around to everyone so I just decided to try and enjoy myself instead of stressing about doing it right. I think I succeeded. Towards the end of the evening, Bear and Zac started to play,

others joined in. The kids and I just kicked back....and enjoyed the closing of the party...


Today, we cleaned up cupcake residue around the house, put the closet door back on (kids are strong), picked up the marbles and went....oh yeah, we are home.

Birthday lunch