Day with Kate

Kate is done with camp, but Jack's lasts two more weeks. So Kate and I are doing our own thing; here was today.

- - Drop Jack off at camp. Kate wore a ballerina skirt and slippers and the leggings part of her Olivia dress-up outfit, so it is just as well that she doesn't have to get out of the car. "Bye Jack!" she yells.


- - We drive home and Kate goes off to find the stuffed monkey she and Jack are calling "dark chocolate." I don't ask.  I hear her playing with her dolls, which is pretty cute: she speaks for them in this high, airy voice. The stories usually involve somebody being put in jail and then rescued or whatnot. I am not sure how the monkey figures into it but I like to think she is reenacting King Kong or something.


- - We go to the grocery store. Kate has certain staples of these trips. We go to the deli for meat where she wants to try slices of ham or turkey, and then chooses peanut butter and jelly anyway when we get home. She likes to say hi to the lobsters, who for all she knows are grocery store pets I suppose. She likes to pick out her yogurt, and usually wants eight different kinds of cereal which I honestly believe she picks based on either the color of the box or how cute the animal is. So if you ever wonder why cereal doesn't come in brown boxes with cartoon warthogs on them, now you know.


- - We visit with the neighbors' kids who are slightly younger. The three of them ride tricycles and scooters in circles around the driveway. Golf clubs come out eventually and I get Kate home before someone gets brained.


- - We have lunch. Kate eats a sandwich, yogurt, chips, grapes, juice box, milk, water, cheese stick, and some pea pods. Lunch is Kate's big meal, especially since we cut out second breakfast.


- - We ride Kate's bike, well, she does, and I run or walk fast behind her. Sometime she sings, sometimes not. Today she didn't sing but did ring her new bell. A lot.


- - Read a book, "Backyardigans: A Merry Fair." The TV show is better, but she is learning to read and we are going with "ready to read" books for her. She does pretty well, and when we finish a page, I congratulate her, and she cackles with pride. She really does kind of cackle.


- - We pick up Jack and I try to ask about his day while Kate babbles away about her day. Our day.

Kate and Jack plan the future

When Kate and Jack get along well, they really get along well; they happily play with each other, and plan a future where they are always together. We explained how they can't get married, but that hasn't stopped them from planning some sort of roommate situation anyway. They discussed this yesterday.

Kate: "We'll have a pool. And our own beach! And we'll have a candy hotdog slide! AND a candy pizza!"

Jack: "And we'll live at Great Wolf Lodge! And we'll have BUNK BEDS!" Kate: "No, Jack, we can sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed!" I explained to Jack that when he's older he might not want to be at the Great Wolf Lodge doing water slides every day. "Well, then I can play the wand game!" he countered, which was this game for kids where you went on quests and such.

Kate: "And when I'm older and Mommy and Daddy aren't our Mommy and Daddy anymore..." Well, we'll still be your Mommy and Daddy, Kate. "Oh," she said. "OK."

Jack: "And I don't want to be kind of bald like Daddy." Thanks, Jack.

Kate: "And we'll be our OWN Mommy and Daddy. And I'm going to marry Joshy!"(Kid in her preschool who she'll most likely never see again.)

Jack: "And I'm going to have a son named Jack Junior!"

Funny stuff

The stuff they say, the stuff they do. It is better than anything I could come up with on my own.

Jack won or was given a red and green wristband at camp this week. He was very happy xwith it, as he conveyed to me in a theatrical fashion before bed the other night: "It's a VEry SPECIAL wristband. Very. Special." He smiled mysteriously.

Jack was explaining something the other night. "Sometimes when I laugh I snort," he said. Then he proceeded to laugh. And snort. And laugh harder.

We cleaned his room earlier this week. His first reaction upon surveying it: "Now that I can see my floor, I want a robot rug." He thought for another minute. "Or dinosaurs."

Kate is not the most adventurous eater. She typically asks what's for dinner DURING dinner the previous night. "What's for dinner?" Spaghetti and salad. "I like tomatoes," she said brightly. "Only, not the squishy ones."

We had a picnic today. With all of her dollies, whose hair she had me put in pony tails. I might be getting good at it. In her room.

"Come with me," she said, after I agreed to the picnic. "I have Cinderella. And Belle, and Sleeping Beauty. And I have my baby. My old baby and my new baby. And I have a piano." She pointed out the keyboard. "AND," she said, "I have a humpback whale." She indicated a circular toy that did not look much like a whale. "Well, actually this is baby's toy. But she doesn't really play with it."

She had one more toy to bring out. "AND," Kate finished, showing me one more animal toy, "I have a penguin."

Then I poured the tea and we had a picnic.

Cape wrap up

Last night in the Cape. Some random thoughts.

- It was nice seeing Kate swim, and want to swim. The week started with her just wanting to jump in and out of the pool, over and over again. Her only swimming was from where she landed in the water to the ladder. But at the end of the week she wanted to put her face in the water and swim, either in the ocean (without the water wings she wore in the pool) or the pool. "Daddy, watch!" She would grab her nose, take a deep breath, and swim...we used to call it the Steamboat back when I was learning, I think. Awfully glad her being sick only lasted a day. Lucky.

- Jack was happy basically the entire vacation. He lost his tooth the first morning (and another a few days later) which really started things off nice for him. He did a great on his bike, riding probably some 20 miles altogether, taking trips Tuesday, Wedenesday, Thursday and Friday. On Thursday we rented bikes (trailer for Kate) and rode to a little pond, having a beach day at a quiet little spot with fish and frogs and a deep drop off as you walked out into the water. Anyway, he was really comfortable on his bike, which is a huge improvement from where he was as recently as a month ago.

- The kids aren't adventurous eaters. But at least Kate ate hotdogs from a variety of places. And Jack ate some fried shrimp. Yeah that's all I got. Emily and I ate well.

- Kate took naps where she could get them. In the bike trailer after our pond trip. In a chair at the pool, briefly, once. Any midday car trips. It probably helped her mood, which was mostly awesome.

- They ate all their ice cream tonight. The seven days of ice cream are complete!

Cape vacation, days 3-4

Day 3

Kate woke up too early, but better - she was talking to her stuffed dog, which she has named Carl.

Jack woke up too early, thanks in part to Kate, but was still giddy about his lost tooth, and the $5 he found under his pillow. He wanted to find his wallet to make sure he put it there.

We spent most of the day at the beach. Threw a soft, fabric ball in the ocean with Jack for hours, it seemed. Might have been that long. Over and over, with brief breaks for snacks, swimming, and rest. Got lunch at the beachside stand -- best chicken tenders ever -- followed by ice cream.

Kate and I made sand castles, jack and I made sand patterns (sharks, dinosaurs), we all made pits to bury each other. Kate walked circles around the sand castles, singing all the way. She made a "sand castle cake" which she was very pleased with.

Played frisbee with Jack. Pushed Kate on a swing. At home, later, played pixie sticks with Jack and read Backyardigans stories to Kate. That was the day.

Day 4

Rented bikes. It was tough for Kate, more riding than she is used to, and there were some mild expressions of discomfort on her part. After about half an hour we made our way back to the rental place (Emily and Jack were miles ahead) and I rented a carrier to tow Kate behind my bike.

She liked this development quite a bit.

Jack was awesome on his bike, he and Emily made about a 4 mile trip, then did it again with Kate and me. Went to a nice little pond. Both kids waded right in and would have gone swimming if we had our suits on.

Later, pool. Kate swam a lot. Jack and I jumped in together in the 9 feet deep area. I should note we had to talk Jack into going because we had bought him the new How to Train Your Dragon book and he almost literally couldn't put it down. Jack, don't read while you're walking up stairs. He finished it in a day.

If the mark of a good vacation is the kids not making a peep after lights out and being really tired writing a blog, well, mission accomplished.

Cape vacation, days 1-2

Day 1

Driving day. We hit the road at 9:30 and Kate was asleep before 10. Jack did not sleep, so he talked Emmy into playing Mad Libs. Over and over again. Since he's 7, favorite adjectives included stinky, smelly, ugly, poopy. It made for some interesting reads, especially since it was a Star Wars Mad Libs and most of the pages were about the Death Star.

We were late crossing the Bourne Bridge, so there was some traffic, and when we stopped at a rest area for Kate, they only had port o potties. Emily started thinking it would be the bizarro version of last year's Cape trip, which Kate being sick the next morning only added to. But we got there and checked in and went straight to the pool, which was a hit as always. Ate seafood and drank beer (us not the kids, though they had some shrimp) and turned in.

Day 2

Kate was sick, high fever. Slept all morning. Jack, shortly after breakfast, lost his awkwardly twisted hillbilly front tooth when he knocked it against the back of Kate's chair. I honestly don't think I have ever seen him so happy; just giddy with joy and glee. He threw his hands in the air and said YES so excitedly it was like a spoof of someone being happy. He didn't even mind the blood. In retrospect we gave him too much grief about getting that thing out (as he pointed out in a note to the Tooth Fairy) and I kind of felt bad about it. But we were celebrating right along with him. In the car on the way to the beach we heard a song that had a line about it being a great day, and he said "it is a great day now that I got my tooth out!" Probably I am overstating this but it came up a lot during the day.

So Jack and I went alone to the beach. We played together for a bit and then Jack saw some boys playing baseball and he said "I'm going to see if I can play with them." I didn't see much of him over the next two hours. They played baseball, then Jack ran to get his shovel and pail and ran back to the boys and they made castles while I exchanged pleasantries with the parents. (the boys were a grade or two older) At one point Jack and the younger boy hung out on body boards, hoping to catch a wave and chatting like much older kids. I oversaw them from afar until the impromptu play date ended. Later Jack drew a picture of them playing baseball, writing, "I made a new friend." Emily said to Jack, that's impressive, making friends like that. Jack said, "it's easy. Just walk up to somebody playing and say, 'can I play with you?'"

Other stuff we did at the beach: eat lunch, find snails and shells (jack: "if you see a snail, draw an s in the air so I know"), and get a couple of rocks for Kate. I brought Kate her rock and she was duly appreciative. "I will add it to my rock collection. Well, it's at home."

She told me she felt a little better (next day, she was) and liked the grape medicine I got her.

Jack played catch in the yard with Emmy to end the day.