March Madness 2014: The month of special guests, Part 3

March Madness at the Anderson household culminated in quite possibly the most fun couple of weeks we've had since moving into our new house.  Arden and Tracy flew out with their kids, which was the first trip Aden likely remembers (he was 2 at our wedding), and the first trip for Adalin.  It's always fun to have Arden and Tracy here, but to also have the kids was just plain special.  Our kids loved it, and I loved getting to play tour guide and try to show them how fabulous California can be!  (Well, the bay area at least, since we stayed very local).

Adalin set up shop in the kid's kitchen.  That little place has never looked so clean and organized!

Day one of Devon's-wild-and-crazy-San-Francisco-adventure-tour:
We started out for the Golden Gate Bridge.  First stop was at the Marin Headlands to show the kids the landmark they would next then walk across.   The weather could not have been more perfect for us.  It was warm, sunny, with just a slight breeze (which Arden was disappointed in, since he would have loved to get a chance to windsurf at Crissy Field).

Call me biased, but this one is kinda my fave :) 

Next up, the boys and I dropped the WI crew off on the north end of the bridge, so they could walk across, then after parking on the south side, we set out to meet them in the middle.  When I lived in SF I made many a trip across the bridge and back, but never did I get to do it on such a beautiful day, and I definitely never saw dolphins, otters, and sea lions from the bridge!  Of course I didn't get any pics, but it was pretty cool to see!

Had I been a better photographer, I would have panned a little further right to get more of the SF skyline in the background.  The kids were enjoying playing with this model of the bridge.

After our bridge tour, we set off across town, for the driving tour portion of our day, via crazy Lombard street, by Coit tower, through North Beach, past the Transamerica building, over by AT&T park (where the Giants play) for lunch at a family fave: Primo Patio.  Thankfully, the 3 youngest kids got some nap time in, so we took our lunch to go and killed a little more time driving back across town again, towards Golden Gate Park.  There, we unleashed the beasts at one of the cooler playgrounds I know of, Koret Playground. Since we adults were outnumbered 4 to 3, the phone stayed in the pocket, and I didn't get many pictures.  I did manage to get this one video though, of Arjen and Adalin on the cement slide.  Pretty sure they would've stayed there all night had we let them.  

We finally convinced the kids to take one last ride on the slide, but this was made easier by the carousel guy opening the carousel (or zoo, as Gus was calling it) back up.  

Arjen was thrilled to get to ride the Zebra!

The kids were troopers on this wild and crazy day.  Not that it was really wild, or crazy, but taking 4 kids all under the age of 9, touring around San Francisco ALL DAY, could have wound up more wild or crazy than it did.  

Since we were so close to the beach, we of course had to throw in a Sunset on the Pacific, and a popsicle from the ice cream truck that of course just happened to be at Ocean Beach.  

What, you think I'd get a picture of any of the kids here?  Yeah right.  They were too busy getting sandy and wet!

By sunset, Andrew was waiting to meet us after work, at our fave sushi joint.  It was pretty busy, so in order to not make the kids (or ourselves) wait any longer, we had to split up.  Tracy and I got to sit at the counter, with Gus and Adalin, who did an incredible job eating plenty of sushi!

All in all, it was a fantastic first day!  

March Madness 2014: The month of Special Guests Part 2 1/2

Among all the houseguests we had this past month, did I mention I started working again, and the boys started preschool?  It created quite a change around here, but a good one.  Here's their first day of school pic…tures.  Getting one shot of the two of them both smiling is near impossible these days (and not because they were going to school, they were really excited that first day!):

That first day was glorious, then every day since has been a test of my super mom powers to trust that the tears will stop shortly after I'm gone.  It only took a month, but the boys are no longer crying when I say it's time for me to go.  In fact, Gus has started wandering off to find his favorite puzzle or toy before I've even said goodbye.  Arjen still keeps it a little closer, but dry eyed at least.  And after failing to do so one day, he makes sure that every morning, we sing "our" song, which is really a song my mom created back in the days of Keane Kids.  It's a great little song we fondly know as "See you later Alligator".   So we sing, we smile, we hug, and then on our way home at the end of the day, I get to hear "I like preschool mom!" or "I had so much fun at preschool!", while Gus will still start back up with "no preschool mama!".  These kids I tell ya.  They keep me on my toes.  

March Madness 2014: The month of special guests, Part 2

The Germans are here!  Okay, now is when I really start to feel old.  When I was a sophomore in high school, my aunt and uncle graciously took me under their travel-savvy wings, and gave me an experience I'd never forget, traveling around Germany and Austria.  We were visiting Martina and Manfred, their son Sascha, and his Grandma Margot.   Martina and Manfred had been to the states a year or two prior, as part of an exchange program, and landed in the home of my aunt and uncle as their host family.  In the olden days, before we had email and the internet, it was suggested that their son Sascha and I become Pen-Pals.  So we did.  And I then got invited along on that trip my sophomore year. Fast forward 20 years (see, feeling old!), and a few more trips/visits between Germany and the US, and we are all still friends, (Andrew and I even attended their wedding in Vegas 8 years ago!) and Sascha, his wife Katrin, and their 6 year old son, Lennert, were here visiting us.  Let me just try to explain what a trip that was, figuratively speaking…to see my boys getting along so fabulously, with this boy who doesn't even speak their language (and vice versa!).  But laughter, toys, bikes, balls (is it soccer or football?), cartoons, and yes, even wrestling, are clearly universal in the language of children.    And, incase you're wondering, parenting is also a universal language!  I can only hope that this friendship continues, and that our boys will grow up understanding how amazing this all really is.

We first met up with "the Germans" at GGma's house in Albany.  We went up the street for lunch (which is the best Chinese food I've had anywhere in the bay area! incase you're wondering…)

Lunch at the Chinese Restaurant up the street from GGma Clarice's house

Arjen and Lennert…the adventures begin (mind you, these boys had just met only an hour or so prior!)

After lunch, we made our way further East, landing at Larkey Park in Walnut Creek.  I had grand visions of taking our friends to the Little Farm at Tilden Park, but of course I discovered the night before (phew!) that they're closed for construction.  So Plan B: check out the Lindsay Wildlife Museum at Larkey Park Walnut Creek, but then Plan C happened, because young children need to run, and run, and run, and get the wiggles out, so we ended up just spending the afternoon at the park.  Which was fabulous.  The weather was gorgeous, Lennert got to kick his football around, and everyone was happy.  Particularly us moms.  :)

Bubbles! (oh yeah, add bubbles to the universal children's language)

Arjen and Lennert…football! Soccer! 

And then, we headed back to our house for good ol' American staples: Push-pops and Pizza

At least "cheese" in english translates to get the appropriate response in German.  Not sure what language Arjen was speaking that day (perhaps he was speaking popsicle)

While Lennert and Arjen were busy chasing each other around the yard, Gus was content to sit and enjoy his push-pop at the table

The backyard bike course

"Press Here" - to any mom's of young kids reading this…if you don't have this book yet, get it!  So fun.  

Beer, books, and friends.  What more could you ask for?!

An attempt to calm the kids down with cartoons…worked briefly at least!

So fun just watching and observing the various interactions among these three

The next day, we traveled to Fairfield, where "the Germans" were staying with my Uncle Kevin and Aunt Maggie.  Before dinner, we took the older boys to a nearby park to burn off some energy, playing soccer of course!  It was perfect, because Arjen had specifically worn his soccer outfit, so he could play soccer with Lennert.

Goal!!!

It took a few times repeating, but Arjen finally caught on to the fact that we only use our feet in soccer.

More Bubbles!

Again, neither of my kids care to pose for the camera, but the good news is that the three of them did famously well at the kids table!

As promised, wrestling; universal language

And I was glad to see someone not afraid of giving Arjen a dose of his own medicine.   And Gus was more than happy to get to remain standing.

The "babysitter" was at Kevin and Maggie's house too.  

These kids were troopers for a weekend full of fun, staying up late and missing naps, but it was so worth it to get those couple of days with our German friends!  Thank you Sascha, Katrin, and Lennert for coming to visit us!

March Madness 2014: The month of special guests, Part 1

Part 1:  Grandma and Grandpa flew out from Wisconsin for a visit and to help celebrate Gus's birthday.  Some photo proof of the fun we had (despite being mostly stuck indoors during the only week full of rain that we've had)!

Driving cars with Grandma Cherie (see the road that borders the rug?)

 We drove into the city one day to meet Andrew for lunch.  The boys were more than happy to get to wear their rain coats and boots for a bit of puddle jumping.

PUDDLES!

Look out Grandpa!

Look!  Rainbow!

Storytime with Gma and Gpa at the library

2do cumpleaños feliz Gus!

Gus is 2.  Sweet.  Holy.  Moly.  He's a pretty rockin' two year old.  He continues to chase after everything and anything he sees that older brother doing, saying, trying.  And all the while, maintaining his calm, cool, personality.  Oh, with a sprinkle of scream and wail here and there, or sometimes more than a sprinkle. Yup, he's two.  

Picnicking with his buddy Lachlan after Mom's boot camp class 

Enjoying a book at the library

Highlights of Gus's current milestones:
- definitely talking A TON.  He's putting together 4-5 word sentences at times.  Granted, you usually need to "speak Gus" to catch what those long sentences are, but the kid is definitely speeding along with the communication business.

- running, starting to jump (like feet actually leaving the floor…almost), climbing, you name it.  The only thing he doesn't seem too interested in is figuring out the strider bike.  So it goes.

- coloring…he LOVES to color.  Fortunately he's mostly figured out how to keep the colors to the paper only, and not the walls/chairs/doors/floor/table…

- reading.  He's a big fan of books.  You just can't leave him alone with any "peekaboo" or "flap" books, because there won't be any flaps left when you get back

- puzzles.  Just this morning, I caught the little dude actually putting together a jigsaw puzzle, all by himself.  He managed to get one whole corner put together without any help from anyone! Shoulda took a picture.  I was impressed.

- using silverware.  He's actually quite good with a spoon and fork now, and even starting to get the gist of using a fork and knife together.  It's funny how focused I was on trying to "teach" all of these things to Arjen, but the 2nd time around, I realize there is a lot that kids pick up just from watching the rest of us.

- animals.  The kid is a fan.  As are most kids at this age.  He's particularly fond of elephants ("eh-ehf") and giraffes ("jauf" which is easily confused with "juu" or juice and "joo" - shoes).  Like I said, it helps if you know how to "speak Gus"

- order.  He knows there is a certain order to life (sometimes).  He actually helps to put toys away (sometimes).  He grabs his snack/toy/book and heads to the door when we're getting ready to go somewhere (sometimes).  He says please, and thank you, and help.  He'll grab your hand to bring you where he needs you if the words fail him.  And he knows his technology of course.  It's frightening.

- courtesy.  This boy is as thoughtful as I've seen them come.  He'll get a cup for juice for not just himself, but for Arjen too.  He'll get a toy for himself, then also for Arjen.  He'll bring me the remote…oh wait, that's so I can turn the tv on for him.  Well, at least he's thinking a couple steps ahead…

- he still manages to make nap and bedtime a bit of a headache, unless I catch his 5-minute window of readiness just perfectly, but most days I'm not that good.  Fortunately, he manages to maintain his coolness even when thoroughly sleep deprived, which lately, seems like all the time.  And also fortunately, once asleep, he's a pretty great sleeper.

- dare I jinx our progress, but I think he's also finally coming out of the shrill, shrieking phase.  Seems like he's catching on that screaming isn't the most effective way to get our attention.

- focus.  The kid is focused.  He will easily entertain himself for probably 20-30 minutes at times.  Or at least it seems that long to me.  He'll sit and work on any of the above activities (puzzles, trains, coloring, duplos, stickers) and stay contently that way.  It's fantastic!

- and one of my favorites, he's starting to sing the ABC's.  I think I've heard him get as far as G.  Seems appropriate he'd stop there.  :)  And he likes to count too…"three, two, three…"

- a few of my favorite "Gus-isms":  "Shuh" (sure), "ah-igh" (alright), "no nah mama" (no nap mama - I laugh at this one, although I really don't care to hear it!), "deh oo goh" (there you go), and of course there's always the "buh" (phone, or the old iPod touch we let him play with)

We celebrated Gus's birthday this year with a bit of a mexican flair and a lot a bit of family.  We've discovered a new favorite Mexican food place, actually inside a Mexican grocery store nearby.  So we ordered up some tacos, and incorporated Gus's current fave video ("Planes") into the Tres Leches cake, with "el Chupacabra".

Practicing blowing out the candles on his actual birthday. 

We saved the birthday cake for his party, and made birthday brownies for the actual bday.  He was a little stunned by the fire I think, but then figured out how to blow the candles out, with a little help. 

The boys were having fun with a new birthday toy from their cousins

The "El Chu" cake!

Again, a little stunned by the fire

Getting a closer look

Since 3 out of every 4 years, Aunt Casey's bday is the day after Gus's, the party of course was in her honor too!

He had no problem finishing off a rather large portion of cake and ice cream. 

He very fittingly (and totally coincidentally!) received a Mexican Soccer jersey from Aunt Shannon and Uncle Brian, which he's sporting here, while looking too comfy in the chair opening his presents.

Thank you to all the family and friends who helped us celebrate Gus's birthday!  He is most definitely one lucky little dude!