Highlights from 2017 Part II

Continued from Part I...

Part II...

We continued to celebrate spontaneous sleeping in a variety of locations.

While in Greer, I received word from our townhouse tenants that they were moving in less than 30 days. This set of a flood of concerns and interesting experiences. These folks were very private and so limited in their communications, that we began to prepare for the worst - they had a dog, but were not willing to admit they had a dog, which set up the grounds for distrust. They wouldn't return my calls, and would respond via email but not answering our questions. We made our best guess and posted the rental on multiple website - receiving an overwhelming response. We had never tried renting out a house in August - right before college starts. Meanwhile, our tenants sent another email requesting that they extend their lease for an undefined period of time. After several unanswered calls and emails, I studied up on landlord tenant law, and resorted to posting an envelope on their door, as well as email and certified letter, knowing that if they did not in fact vacate the premises, I would have to start the eviction process. We just had to wait and see what they would do.

Meanwhile, I had to leave for Sedona for a conference. Anne Marie and Tyrien came with me. They got to play at the pool while I was stuck inside windowless, overairconditioned ballrooms all day. But we did get a little bit of time together to explore.

My favorite part of this trip was when we drove to Flagstaff to see Emery, Noah and Wesley. Too bad I forgot to take any pictures!

When we got back, it was time for Tyler's and my staycation to close out the summer before the start of school. The "Five Days of Tyler" were a blast! In a perfect world, we would spend every day, all day, at the pool. But in Tucson, for some reason, the pools don't open until 1pm, of course, in July in Tucson, there are thunderstorms most afternoons. Alas, the pool experience is an unreliable one. So we had to get creative.
The first day, we went to Golf-n-Stuff.

Tyler enjoyed putt-putt. He LOVED bumper boats. When the rain started, we headed for the indoor activities. For some reason, laser tag "freaked him out." We were the only two people in there, and I could not get far enough away from him to surprise him. Reminded me of his young octopus days, where he would suction cup to me in the swimming pool or ocean, and I couldn't get him to detach! Of course, he loved Star Wars Battle Pod.

The second day, we went to the trampoline park. No pictures in there, but we had a blast on the trampolines, in the foam pit, and especially, playing "Duck Hunter." Finally, a game I'm good at! So much jumping burns off a lot of energy...

Tyler lost more teeth, leading to this beautiful smile.

The third day, we traveled to Mount Lemmon for fishing. Tyson was hilariously outraged about this, "You don't know anything about fishing!" Much to our surprise, as soon as we walked down to Rose Canyon Lake, two boys ran up to us to say hello  - Logan and Zane from Catalina!

Before Tyrien was born, I used to sit with their dad and let Tyler play with these guys before heading home each day. Tyler was always fascinated with Zane's bald head. How fun to have a reunion! And their dad immediately set up Tyler's fishing line and introduced us to artificial worms. 

After about 20 minutes, of course, it started raining, triggering a mass exodus. Tyler and I stayed behind to enjoy having the lake to ourselves!

The fourth day was roller skating. Tyler looked like Bambi learning to stand for the first time. Or like the main character from King's Quest when he's drowning.

He wanted so much to use a cheater's rack, and I wouldn't let him. I usually snap a photo to send to Tyson mid-date. When Tyson saw this, he immediately texted back that he himself was unable to ever learn to skate - he just couldn't find his balance. So I lowered my expectations, but still wouldn't let him use the rack. Tyler ran into his rival from Little Dragons, and saw him progress from cheater's rack to independent skating. That, along with some pizza, motivated Tyler to figure it out.

By the end of the session, we were able to skate around the rink a couple of times, with Tyler clinging to my hand and occasionally taking me out. But we were finally having fun!

The fifth day, I asked Tyler to select an activity. He opted to return to Golf-n-Stuff! I regretted not having bought an entertainment book. Note to self - buy an entertainment book. It has coupons for ALL of these activities, it would have cut the price of this week in half!

Meanwhile, the townhouse...everything was fine with the tenants' move out. It turned out, they were relocating to another country for her work! And were excited about it, and jumped the gun, not realizing how long it would take to get a visa. They were actually quite understanding about my inability to extend their lease. They just never got around to telling me!

Another note to self - tenants do NOT remember the terms of their lease. Schedule 90 day reminder to check in with them about renewing! I really appreciated working with Tyson on this, given his experience with "customers" - being firm, but realistic. Together, we'd decided not to penalize them for improper notice, but rather, cut our losses and just help them move out. We decided not to try to penalize them for hiding a dog, again, let's just help them move out. Then when asked to let them stay longer, making that difficult decision to proceed with their original move out notice, based on the difficulties communicating with them. We recognized that since they wouldn't be up front about their dog, it would be impossible to show the home while they were still in it, and it would be too hard to find new tenants when we had no clear move out date from the current ones. Listing the apartment so far in advance before being able to show it probably didn't pay off, we probably didn't need to list it as early as we did. We received an onslought of calls, and I had difficulty returning them all. I kept notes on each call, and kept a good schedule for showings. I learned that people don't always show up to scheduled showings, so started booking them 20 minutes apart and making reminder calls, and even then, not everyone showed, and some people showed early, others showed late, so often I had multiple people looking at the house at the same time. I liked that, I felt safer having more people around, and it created competition and a sense of urgency amongst prospective tenants. As always, I learned alot about the different kinds of people there are in the world, and that they didn't understand that I wasn't automatically obliged to rent to them. I was still shocked by the entitlement of some, such as the young college student who became angry and refused to remove her shoes to walk on the freshly cleaned, still damp carpet, clueless that her attitude could and would disqualify her from becoming my tenant. Noticing that everyone else readily took off their shoes and expressed appreciation that I had just had the carpet cleaned. There was the kind basketball player who was about to graduate, and who already knew who he would be subletting to, not realizing that I had the right to refuse subletting. The young couple who thought it would be fun to be playfully mysterious with me, not realizing that failure to give straight answers to direct questions meant I wouldn't be able to screen them, let alone establish a sense of trust. The gentleman who pressured me to change my eligibilility criteria, quoting laws from a different state, and Tyson's advice on how to handle this ("Do NOT meet him in person. Call him and cancel that showing. Get out of it. Now.") The pleasant teenage couple with a service dog and another large dog, who I was excited to rent to, but when their credit screening indicated they needed a co-signer, the young man, so proud and excited of his new career, took offense and refused, despite their complaints that other places were refusing to accept  their second dog based on its size and breed. The woman whose husband had a stroke, derailing her search for a home. The sweet woman whose boyfriend's violent criminal history, plus her lack of income, hindered her ability to find a home. The woman who on the phone had a boyfriend and one child, but suddenly had  three children when she filled out the application, who said they'd be back in 30 minutes with their application fee, and instead, emailed that they'd changed their minds because townhouse was too small for 5 people, not thinking about the fact that I wouldn't be checking emails in a vacant house, and that I'd be sitting waiting for them in said vacant house with a tired, hungry toddler . The devoted mother who wanted to rent the home sight unseen for her two boys, and following Tyson's recommendation to require that she wait until it could be seen, rather than risk her locking into a lease that she might be unhappy with. Meeting so many people, and learning so much along the way.

Tyler for the most part was miserable when it was his turn to show the town house with me. But on the night we met our new tenants, he immediately took to them, taking the lead on the tour, effectively showcasing the highlights of the property. He worked hard, and wore himself out. You think your kids aren't listening, and then suddenly you hear them quoting you...

All those trips to the townhouse tended to happen at either sunrise or sunset. Despite the hassles, I was reminded how much I love this property on a daily basis. I still can't believe I was able to buy this at the age of 25, back when my salary was only $25k a year! Grateful to my family for teaching me how to stretch the value of the dollar and how to save! 

Tyler and Eileen had been asking for a sleepover. I decided instead to offer them a "lock-in". The night of the Perseid meteor shower, we traveled to the vacant townhouse for our lock in. We planned to swim, but when we got out to the pool, there was a beautiful dry electrical storm, so we couldn't risk it. We ate pizza, played games, and watched movies. The kids were asleep before 10. I set my alarm  for 12:30am, planning to drive them to Gate's Pass to watch for meteors. When my alarm went off, it was pouring rain, with lots of lightning. So much for meteor showers!

We woke up to this sight - fog in the valley!!! But in a couple of hours, the sun came out, the fog cleared up, perfect swimming weather. We had the pool to ourselves, and had a blast.

Tyler opted to wear his school shirt to his first day of school. He claims he hates school, yet when asked where he goes, he proudly recites the formal name.

We celebrated Tyson's birthday with our annual tradition of ice cream cake. So grateful that Grandma A came to celebrate with us!

Evidence that riding a bike as an adult is still a work in progress...grateful to our camp nurse for showing me the best way to wrap my hand!

Words can't describe how I felt when Tyler wore this shirt for the first time. I fell in love with the Gourmet Pizza Deli/Lost Dog Cafe in high school, the one on Washington Boulevard, near Lebanese Taverna, my other favorite Arlington restaurant. My sister's sister in law bought Tyler this shirt when he was four years old - so excited that he can finally wear it!

Tyson had bought me a gift certificate to Miraval Spa for Christmas. I had a hard time scheduling it. My admin helped me book the reservation and select activities. I was completely out of my comfort zone, spending a day in solitude amongst people who go to spas. Although I would prefer to go with a friend, spending a day there was an amazing experience!

I would definitely like to go back some day. I'd skip the personal development stuff though - I'd get a massage and some new physical activity, spend a little time on personal reflection, but also spend time with a friend.

Celebrating the development of the boys' relationship...Tyrien used Tyler as a substitute for Vader - sitting on him and petting him. Sometimes Tyler put up with it.

Still getting good use out of Vader's bed.

In October, we threw my mom a surprise birthday party. I picked her up from the airport, and then when she came into our house, my sister, mother-in-law, and our friends jumped out and threw confetti at her.

My sister had arrived one day earlier, and took Tyrien to the Desert Museum while the rest of us were at work or in school. I was so glad that Tyrien had the opportunity to spend time with his Aunt Jonell!

The second day of Grandma G's visit, her cousins Gary and Beth came down for a visit. The next day, Jonell's flight was delayed, so we spent time at the Botanical Gardens. What a great way to spend a flight delay! Grandma G then went on an adventure with her friend, Toshiko. Together, they rode the bus down to 4th Ave, ate lunch, took the trolley back, and then took the bus back.

The next day, we rented a van and drove to Albuquerque for the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta.

We attended the sunrise balloon session, the morning session, and the evening session.

Full disclosure - this trip included two six-hour drives, a 4am wakeup call, a 4:30am traffic jam, and then, everyone is required to leave the park between the morning and evening sessions. We tried napping at the hotel, but the kids' schedule was too messed up. There were meltdowns. Tyrien finally fell asleep right about when we were planning to leave, so then when we finally did leave, we were stuck in evening rush hour, and there was a detour forcing us off the freeway, but with no explanation as to how to get back to our destination, leading to an even worse traffic jam. But then when we finally got into the park, it looked like this:

Tyler and Tyrien requested light sabers. Usually at an event like this, we stay focused on the experience, and don't give in to requests to buy material things. We made an exception this time, and it turned out to be awesome.

The boys loved both the lightsabers and the balloons, and spontaneously held hands for much of the night. We learned Tyrien is not yet ready to love fireworks!

Celebrated more spontaneous sleeping.

Also celebrated moments of spontaneous horizontal orientation, amidst statements along the lines of, "No, I'm not tired!"

Part of my preparation for my Krav Maga test:

A little healthy competition helped get my head in the game.

After the test! As usual, Elizabeth looks calm, cool, and collected, while I look like a mess!

My partner for the test - I learned after that the purpose of the bandanna was to wipe off sweat. Note to self - the braid was a good idea, but bring a hairbrush for after the test.

Words can't express my joy that Gigima and Auntie Em joined us for Tyrien's family birthday this year. Family birthday dinners were a big deal during my childhood - how I loved that my siblings and their spouses would come home and spend the evening with us! I miss my family so much, especially on occasions such as these, so am always grateful that Grandma A joins us. This was the first time in a while that Gigima and Auntie Em came too - this is the kind of family celebration I love!

Second Half of 2017 Highlights, Part I

As I look back at photos from the year, I'm struck by the number of family bike rides. This has become my favorite thing that we do together as a family. Tyler and I are now bicycle commuters on a daily basis, and we often bike as a family to his Saturday Little Dragons class, then stop by the library on the way home. Occasionally we also bike on Sundays, either to 4th Ave or downtown for lunch, but stopping at the university on the way.  

The fountain in front of Old Main is everyone's favorite rest spot.

In June we celebrated Grandma A's birthday. Cakes are my thing. Tyson alerted me that his mom loves cookies more than cake, so I made her a gigantic cookie cake. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was about like this.

We still love our new house and yard, and are becoming more familiar with the necessary upkeep. The big issue we tackled this year was the health of the trees. We learned that we have more than 30 trees on our property, and alot of them are not healthy - they are the living dead, courtesy of boring insects and granuloderma. We removed a few trees, but hired pros to service the tougher jobs. Quality Tree Service did a great job with this one.

Neighbors actually rang our doorbell to ask about it, they were so excited with the results.

This summer, Tyler alternated between time with Grandma A, and summer day camps at Tyrien's preschool, Catalina Methodist, and programs at the UofA. While it was convenient to have both boys at the same place, Tyler definitely enjoyed the greater variety of activities offered at A Camp, especially because friends from school AND Little Dragons were there, and especially at Flandrau planetarium's Fusion Camp, because he loves astronomy. After camp, we'd drive to the campus rec center for swim lessons. Tyrien's lesson was at 5:30, while Tyler's wasn't until 6. We often didn't get home until almost 7 at night. It felt like the summer days were more work than school days! But it was wonderful to see Tyler's progress. He often had free swim time during his camps, and during A Camp he had extra swim lessons, so that he was getting two lessons per day. Our plan for this coming summer is to have him spend the first month at A Camp with swim lessons during the day, so we can get home at 6:30 instead of 7.

Tyrien passed his swim class on his first try. Unfortunately, he was not permitted to  take the next level of classes because he was not yet 3! His instructor requested an exception, but was denied. We'll get started as early as we can this swim season. Definitely, the UofA rec center swim lessons are the best swim lessons we've seen thus far in Tucson, having tried YMCA, DeMont, and Parks and Rec first.

We spent most Sunday afternoons at the Mulcahy YMCA pool, with Tyler spending most of his time on the water slide. Tyrien loves the water. His favorite game at the Mulcahy Y pool was to fall forward face first, then float face down for as long as possible. Nervewracking to watch, but awesome to see someone so young so comfortable in the water. He was definitely playing with buoyancy, using his lung capacity to rise or sink. His other favorite game was to unexpectedly climb out of the pool and dash across the peninsula, jumping in on the other side, out of our sight and reach, in water deeper than he could stand. The lifeguards practiced "rescuing" him more than once.  This kid is just comfortable hanging out underwater for long periods of time, but that's terrifying to us. You can see why we wanted so much to continue his swim lessons.

We continued to celebrating spontaneous sleeping.

The brothers deepened their relationship, seeking each other's company often - sometimes to cuddle, occasionally to play, and often to antagonize one another.

In July, we again vacationed with the Bushmans, this time renting a cabin in Greer. It is so fun to go hikinng with former camp counselors! We learn so much.

Musical sleeping arrangements were a theme both at home and here at the cabin.

Tyler was so excited to fish on this trip. He didn't catch anything, but loved trying.

Leveling Up

I took my first Krav Maga test yesterday.

I started classes in early January, a New Year's goal to learn how to protect myself and my family from violence. My first gym closed down at the end of January. I decided to train at Rising Phoenix until the other gym re-opened at it's new location. But...it turned out that training at RP was so much more fun! My first exercise of my first class reminded me of being in a mosh pit, especially when he cranked the music, turned off the lights, and added a strobe. I trained twice a week for February, March, and April, until I tore my calf muscle badly enough to have to sit out for 6-8 weeks and get physical therapy. When I returned, at the end of June, I was frustrated at how far back I'd fallen. But it was still fun, and by then, I'd made some acquaintances. The owner announced the next test would be in September, and I felt disappointed, I knew I'd never be ready to test by then. Then he announced his gym was moving, and I felt discouraged. But I decided to give his new location a try, and sure enough, it was worth the extra drive. Then he announced the test wouldn't be until November 11th. My favorite training partner kept encouraging me to take the test when she did. I hadn't actually watched a full test, I'd only come in at the very end of the last test, because Tyler and I were watching a cow eye dissection, and he was into it - you can't just walk out of a dissection when your kid is into it! The rules are that you have to have seen a test, and you have to be approved to test. I was nervous to ask, but as more and more people kept asking me if I was testing, I finally asked the teacher, "So, for the test, am I...???" I made a tentative gesture. "Oh, definitely." His vote of confidence made me feel better.

Knowing I was testing in less than 4 weeks motivated me. I made myself a 21 day burpee/pukee challenge. I started with three sets of burpess, pushups, and crunches. I worked my way up to 70, at some point realizing that I didn't really need to do separate pushups if I was already doing them as part of the burpeees. Sometimes I tried to do sets of 15 burpees, but usually ended up back at sets of 10. Crunches, on the other hand, got much easier very quickly. And I was motivated to do my physical therapy exercises too, and stretch after. I did really well the first two weeks. The third week I slacked. And I had torn huge chunks of skin off my big toes. And was working around a sprained ankle. I rested the fourth week too, then felt panicky that I was now out of shape for the test.

I took the early classes on Thursdays, the intro classes, which were not much of a workout but were focused on technique. Saturday classes were much more intense, but not always working on relevant skills. My most frequent training partner and I stressed over gun disarms. I asked Tyson for help with it. It sort of helped. Kind of. He definitely helped me feel less squimish about it.

I ordered a different Krav Maga book, the one people on forums refer to as the Bible. I found Krav Maga instructional video segments on youtube. Whenever I struggled with a technique in  class, I read about it in the book, then watched a video, then tried to practice by myself at home. It was encouraging when I'd then try the move in the next class and get it right on the first try, when it was so confusing just one week before.

Three days before the test I got sick. I did my usual remedies, then resorted to Sudafed. My boss was kind enough to suggest that I take a day off, but I needed to teach. I reminded her I could rest on Veteran's Day. I went to class that night, and was a bit of a disaster - I could not follow the most basic instructions. The instructor pointed out the two of us who were testing, and announced that if we stayed silent during the test, we would fail. He gave us drills to perform in front of the rest of the class, stating he was trying to induce test anxiety. My training partner said she was nervous. I asked, "What's the worst that could happen?" She answered, "I might throw up." So the next day, I texted her words of encouragement. I felt she was in much better shape than me to be taking this test. She sent thankful and encouraging words back. I stuck to my word, and lazed about for the holiday, watching kung fu movies, then got serious about hydrating. I took Sudafed that night, which resulted in another night of insomnia. I watched Dark Angel for inspiration. Saturday morning I drank my usual amount of caffeine. I stressed when I realized I wouldn't finish eating breakfast before 8am. I stressed when Tyson asked that I meet him at the autoshop.  I packed four water bottles, three ice packs, extra bandages, tape, and pads, extra clothes, extra gu...and baby wipes for my sniffly nose. I had to pack and repack my bags, ending up taking two. I left later than intended - 9:35.

I arrived to the test at 9:48, thinking I had plenty of time to warm up. Instead, Jesse was already giving instructions on the mat, including announcing the location of the puke bucket. That really was an expected issue??? I raced to the bathroom, but rushed so much that I had to go again. I listened to instructions, then ran back to get my baby wipes. I showed my training partner, and apologized in advance for sharing germs. She seemed very understanding - who wants to wait another six months to test?

We started right at 10am with shadow boxing, followed by burpees, followed by straight strikes. At one point, a judge yelled at me, "What do you think this is, tae-bo?" I didn't know how to respond, but my partner understood the judge, and suggested, "slow down, focus, hit hard." I was able to pull it back and settle in. Then more burpees. By 10:15, I was shocked and concerned that it was only 10:15. I had one brief moment of nausea, but it waned quickly. By 10:33, I was exhausted, but confident. I knew the worst was over, now we'd get opportunities for rest - every time our partner attacked us.

We got started right away with a random series of  surprise choke attacks (standing with our eyes clothes until the choke was applied.)  I was confident on those. I was nervous about the bully headlock defense, and was pleasantly surprised when I took my partner to the floor with ease, over and over. Then more burpees, and then it was her turn to be attacked. I made it a point to take my time walking around her to surprise her - to give us both some rest. I was nervous about elbow strikes, which were to be called out by number. My partner was kind enough to give me extra cues until I got it down. I did the same for her, and realized, she was so exhausted that numbers simply weren't making sense for her. When it came time to do groundwork on the floor, my left middle toe began to cramp. I drank water at the break and applied trigger point pressure, but it didn't let go. I continued the test, trusting that it wouldn't get worse. Buck and rolls went okay for me. Ground kicks were a concern for me. I kept missing my takedowns, and then when it was my turn to be taken down, I missed a slapout and let my head hit the floor. I got kneed in the face at one point, and had to do the TMD release to try to soothe my angry jaw. But none of this felt terrible. Adrenalin carried me through. Then we had a five minute break. We were told to put on shoes and go outside. I booked it for the bathroom, and to my surprise, I could not pee. Given the toe cramp, I decided to take another squirt of Gu, in the hopes it had the right electrolytes to let my muscles let go. I put on my shoes, then remembered my baby wipes. I had been blowing my know and wiping my face at every opportunity. I ripped the shoes off, ran across the mat, grabbed the wipes, and ran back to put on my shoes. Three women from class gave me encouraging words - "You're kicking ass!" I went outside, and stood against the wall to rest in the shade. Next was sparring. I took some intense palm strikes to the face. Next was chokes against the wall, with the reminder to avoid getting our faces bashed against the bricks. Then we did gun disarms. I think I might have been the first person to choose to call out something threatening, "Give me all your money!" Then I heard the instructor say, "extra points for creativity!" I tried, an authoritative, "Get in the car!" and "Get on the ground!" My partner advanced on me shouting, "Give me your shoes!" I attacked and disarmed her and shouted, "I need my shoes, I have to walk home!" At one point she shouted at me to giver her my money. I disarmed her, tapped and racked, and responded, "No, you give me yours!" My last order to her while advancing with the gun was, "Buy me a drink, dammit!" It was fun to hear the spectators laughing.

After the test, we waited to meet with the other two judges and to be interviewed. One judge gave a speech about how we hit the wall, but then found the strength and courage to continue, how that makes us special, etc. All I could think was, "childbirth was so much worse!" He let me know I need to work on keeping my elbows tight to my body during strikes. The female judge let me know I need to practice getting up until it becomes second nature, and to protect my face. I was surprised when she said, "You had the best kicks from the ground out there today." I attribute that to physical therapy - all those bridges paid off. She also said, "Most people start off intense, and as they get tired, the intensity drops. Your intensity steadily increased throughout the whole test, you became more and more confident and aggressive as the test went on." She gestured with her arm to show an upward trend. I felt relieved that they didn't give any corrective feedback on the direction of the elbow strikes, or the buck and roll, or the gun disarm. They let us know that someone in the test wanted to quit after 14 minutes, and that it wasn't who we might think.

Doing an interview was tough, I couldn't think straight. And I felt a bit guilty for not being more tired, like maybe it was cheating to have taken Gu at the break. I knew at least one person was drinking Gatorade on the mat, that's pretty close. Then I noticed all the Monster drinks being consumed - that's just a liquid version of Gu, but with even more stuff in it. Had I not had that cramp, I would have skipped it. The cramp dissipated soon after taking it. True, you can't stop a fight to take gu, but then again, it's unlikely that you're going to be fighting off an attacker for more than 45 minutes straight. Note to self, carry Gu at all times, just in case.

We took some pictures and made plans to meet the instructor that afternoon for our complimentary beers. It was nice to get a few minutes alone with him at the restaurant. I told him Tyson was skeptical about the test, that everyone passes to preserve the business model. He acknowledged, "That's why I have to approve who gets to take the test. I only approve  people who I think can pass. But I never know who actually WILL pass, a guy today lost consciousness for a little while, I thought I was going to have to fail him, because you can only sit out so long before you fail. But he got back in, just in time. He explained that people have died taking the test before, hence the pre-approval mandate.

When the other testees arrived, we had great talks about kung fu, the ABO and NCLE exams, the humane society, gun safety...I planned to stay only one hour and ended up staying for 4.

Today I'm stiff and sore, mostly from missing that one slapout, and maybe from one hard elbow strike to the face. Bruises are badges, I have several. A couple months ago, Tyler pretended to stab towards me with his Minecraft sword, and I went through a disarm with him. He asked, incredoulously, "You know how to disarm a SWORD???" "Not really, but kinda." So I was thrilled when Tyler asked me questions about my test, "How many burpees did you have to do? Two hours???"

Time to prep for Level 2.

Halloween 2017

This year for Halloween, Tyler asked to dress as Willy Wonka, and Tyrien never made a decision,  so Tyson decided we'd dress him as an Oompa Loompa. I realized something about Tyson - he feels about Halloween costumes the way that I feel about kids' birthday cakes - it's a point of pride that he doesn't buy a premade one from the store, it's important to him to put the time and effort into actually creating a costume  This is the third year that we've crafted costumes out of used clothing. It's time consuming, and isn't necessarily less expensive, but it fosters creativity and appreciation for used items instead of buying something new.

I had Tyler try on my purple suit jacket, and was relieved when he announced, "Perfect!" Then we went to Savers. Funny enough, Tyler was upset about having to go, but as soon as I located a brown top hat for him, he cheered up. The tophat was new, so that was a bummer. But we found used tan pants for Tyler, and a used brown thermal shirt and used white pants with leopard print legs in the toddler girls section. A belt with a tan bow on it made for an easy bow tie for Tyler. I found a green wig for Tyrien, and a makeup kit that included the color orange. Surprisingly, we could not find a cane, but Grandma A brought Gigima's cane as a sacrifice to the cause.

Our first Halloween event was the BASIS Halloween Party. Tyler met up with Eileen and Joseph. They didn't do the activities, just ate some cotton candy and then played on the playground. Tyrien waited in line for one activity, then broke out of the line and played on the playground, too.

The next event was the Peter Howell Neighborhood Association Halloween Parade. This event is one of my favorite things about our neighborhood. An instrumental band named Sol Axe plays, and it's just so nice to get so many neighborhood kids together. The drawback, in previous years, has been that since Trick or Treating is part of the parade, kids didn't do trick or treating afterwards. But this year the parade was on a Saturday instead of on Halloween. I loved this.

We invited Eileen, Leo, Auggie, and Penelope to join us. We planned to meet up with Logan and Zane, and we happened to meet up with Edwin. Fun to see so many Catalina kids at the parade!

We stopped to take a few pictures before walking to the parade. 

My adorable Willy Wonka and Oompa Loompa!

I turned to discover a ninja had scaled our wall.

That made me realize that wall is pretty cool for photos. Too bad I didn't have the three ninjas sit together. But the kids were amped and ready to go.

Great music, great costumes, great people!

It did feel funny doing this parade while we hadn't yet decorated our house. I appreciated having the extra time. We carved pumpkins on Sunday evening, and kept them inside on Monday. I cut bats out of construction paper, and taped them to the wall behind an ocotillo. They faded in the sun, which made them look really cool, they were lit by the street light, and it looked like they were rising from the ground. So of course, I forgot to take a picture. 

I remembered from last Halloween that the lights along our driveway and sidewalk detracted from our display. I tried covering them with tissue paper bats, but that didn't do anything. So I covered them with orange tissue paper. That looked much better. I think purple paper would look even better.

I took some mason jars, covered them with orange tissue paper and with white tissue paper, and put artificial candles inside. I'll do that again next year. I also stuffed a mason jar with spiderwebs and spiders, and added an artifical candle that changed colors. I'll do that again, too. 

Last year, I only decorated my side of the carport, which meant it was only visible from Holmes St, and we didn't have many kids. It occurred to me that we need to advertise our presence to vehicles and pedestrians on the bigger road, Irving. So this year I strung purple lights along the carport that faced Irving Road. Between that and the bats, we announced our presence. I need to remember to get more purple lights for next year, I couldn't find any this year. 

This year I tried putting the graveyard with the lighted tombstones and the strobe skull in the gravel area right in front of our driveway, so it would be visible from the street. Mostly because I didn't know where our extension cords were. I liked that it was visible from the street, but I'd like to do something different next year, with more lighting. Tyler and I hung ghosts from the trees.

I experimented with the blacklights - there's too much light from the streetlights to make them very effective. I discovered that white streamers react to the blacklights, while white tissue paper does not. So I strung streamers along one side of our central architectural display. Tyson realized it would look cool to angle the spider projector to reflect on the streamers. 

We decided we'll definitely do the streamers again next year - more of them, so the kids have to walk through them to get to the candy. 

Tyson asked that we skip the fog this year. Given my disatisfaction with the graveyard, I agreed. If I have the ability to pull of a Halloween party or haunted house next year, I'll bring the fogger back. 

The boys first went trick or treating with Tyson and Grandma A along Holmes Street and then into the 6th Street Cul-De-Sac - on the Columbus side. Tyson reported "That was a bust." Grandma A and I took the kids on the Irving side of the 6th Street Cul-De-Sac. Also a bust. So I decided we should stick with what we knew - Tyler and I had ridden bikes past Halloween displays on Irving north of 5th St, and along the 3rd St Bike Path. We never made it to 3rd St - Tyler announced he was tired of walking after hitting just two houses on Irving. I realized it's not terrible that he didn't want any more candy,and it was a school night, so we headed home. 

Tyson estimated we had 25-30 kids - seems like more than last year. Whether that's because I decorated along Irving Street, or just because the parade was on a different night, we can't really be sure. But it was fun figuring out some improvements on how to decorate our house, and seeing how much potential there is for a haunted house or halloween party. 

 Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

Things to Remember

Now that I hardly ever post, I notice things that I want to remember about the boys, but never get a chance to write down. I'll have to start this post and add to it, or just periodically post with the same title, Things to Remember. My friend Patricia once told me that her boys loved hearing details from their early years, and I notice Tyler lights up when we tell him things he did that Tyrien does now.

So of course, now that I have a chance to type without Tyrien climbing all over me and jabbing at the keys, I'm drawing a blank...

When Tyler was younger, some of the cutest things he used to say, due to his pronounciation, were "proyect" as in, "I want to do a proyect", and "instruccshuns", as in "Let's look at the instruccshuns for this lego set."

Tyrien has something adorable that he says now, that causes us to reminise about proyects and instruck juns. And now I can't think of what it is Tyrien says. Maybe I will in the next few minutes.

Oh, yes. Bike-y-bol. "Where's my bike-y-bol?" He is referring to his tricycle. Bike-ee-bole.  Melts my heart every time.

Despite his propensity for either bronchiolitis or asthma attacks, Tyrien actually has a good set of pipes. During Tyler's school play, The Sneetches, Tyrien stood on Grandma A's lap, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Brother! Brother! Brother! Brother!"

Tyler loves to watch TV and play videogames. So much so that we worry. We set limits, of course. We're not looking for advice. It's just a constant struggle. When he maxes out his time, he tends to hang out in the living room waiting for any opportunity for screen time. My plan for the heat of the summer is to have a new rule, that they have to play outside for a few hours, in the early hours of the day, before the TV can be turned on.

So far, Tyrien loves to be outside. He also loves to be barefoot. Outside and barefoot doesn't go well in Tucson. When he was one and  a half, he stepped on a huge mesquite thorn, it looked like it went halfway through his foot. Amazingly, it came out easily with tweezers and didn't get infected. Right in the soft spot of his foot. You'd think he'd learn from that.

Oh, the other adorable thing Tyrien does lately is to say, "I want a yummy" when he wants something sweet. "I want ahce keme" (ice cream) is also adorable. Clearly, he gets more sweets than Tyler did at this age, a product of early exposure to them. Good thing he loves being active!

As Tyson points out, everywhere Tyrien goes, he is running. He climbs, lately on top of Tyler's bunk bed, where he gets stuck because he can't get down by himself. Surprisingly, he has not yet climbed out of the crib. He alternates between sleeping in his crib and in the lower bunk. We can balance a water cup for him in the crib, so we prefer the crib. Why did we never figure that out with Tyler? We constantly had to bring Tyler water in the middle of the night. But, I suppose that was once per night, and Tyson was happy to do it, so it wasn't overwhelming. Whereas Tyrien, he really wants milk at all hours of the night, so the balanced water cup was an act of desperation, and it does usually work, now that he has tubes in his ears. Now if he's crying for milk in the middle of the night, I know he has an ear infection.

Yeah, he hasn't weaned yet. Not looking for advice on that either. I regretting weaning Tyler before he wanted to wean, even though he was over two. I did it because of the stupid Time Magazine cover - a four year old was standing on a stool to nurse from his standing mother, and there was a huge backlash. Suddenly strangers were asking me how old Tyler was when he weaned (which he hadn't done yet), and sharing all kinds of judgemental comments about the woman in the article, women in la leche league, etc. I weaned Tyler when I had the opportunity, and then I regretted it, because he was constantly sick for the next six months. And I weaned him in May, so it's not like it was the cold/flu season. Tyrien's colds turn into concerning breathing patterns, so no way am I forcing him to wean right now. He's not even down to once a day yet, or at home only. After two years of never sleeping through the night, I'm willing to nurse whenever and whereever he wants during the day, just so long as I can get my six or seven hours of sleep at night!

Oh my gosh, do I miss Vader. The boys have taken over the dog bed that looks like a miniature couch, and somemtimes, I see movement on it out of the corner of my eye, and think it's Vader. It's always just one of the kids, wearing a dark shirt. I hear neighborhood dogs barking so much, and think about how I used to get frustrated with Vader for barking too much. He didn't bark as much as these dogs. And I don't feel annoyed by these dogs, so maybe the neighbors weren't annoyed by him, either.

I mostly miss him in the middle of the night, I definitely did not realize how often he was checking on me in the middle of the night until after he was gone. I think anytime I woke up, he came to sniff me and get petted. He had taken to sleeping in the bathroom, on tile and against the wall, even in the wintertime, instead of on his dog bed next to me. But he still listened for me to stir and came and sniffed me each time.

Back to the living.

In January, I finally started taking Krav Maga classes. For three weeks. I didn't love it. It was hard, it hurt, and I felt lonely. Then abruptly at the end of the month, the teacher announced that they weren't renewing their lease and didn't have the new studio locked in yet. So I tried a different gym, and loved it! The first exercise reminded me of being in a mosh pit. A couple days later, I tore my left calf muscle running on the treadmill at work. I rested for four days, then gingerly returned to Krav Maga and seemed okay, so long as I stayed on my toes on that leg. Loved the class. Two months later, in the class, shortly after the initial warmup, I performed a ball-groin kick, followed by a knee to the groin. Which actually, is a motion quite similar to running. I felt that same rubber band snapping feeling in my right calf. I immediately sat down, asked for ice, and iced it for 20 minutes. I stood up to resume the class, and realized there was no resuming the class.

One week later, it looked like this.

Two weeks later, my ankle was bruised and swollen, and I still couldn't put weight on my right heel. I went to the doctor. "Yeah, with all that bleeding, I would not expect it to heal in two weeks. It'll be at least a month."

I finally got to start physical therapy four weeks after the injury. The physical therapist's response upon examining it was to periodically announce the Lord's name in vain. He asked lots of questions, performed lots of tests, and proceeded to give me a series of exercises that have nothing to do with my calf muscles. Clamshells and fire hydrants and leg abductions. Along with stretches for the hamstrings, hip flexors, and gluts. Only one calf exercise. I compared notes with my former running partner who is being treated for an IT band injury. Same exercises. I've been three times now, and can walk quickly again, but still have not been cleared to run or go back to class. I think I actually miss the class more than the running! Who knew that getting punched in the face would be so fun.

Tyson pointed out that I can still ride a bike, so I've been doing that. Funny enough, I've owned my bike for two decades, but have hardly ever ridden it. I have a lot to learn.

Tyler finished the school year. On the last day of school, we rode our bikes. He was so proud of his bike! He joyously strutted through the schoolyard with it as we walked over to the bike rack to lock it.

Here's another favorite from the end of the schoolyear:

Fierce!

Disneyland 2017

For Spring Break, we had planned to go to a cabin, but then were invited to Disneyland instead. We realized this was actually a good opportunity to go, not too crowded, not too hot, and to get to go before Tyler was too old to enjoy it. Especially since a new hotel had opened, with family friendly suites at a good price, walking distance from the park. We tracked down those elusive UofA discounts, along with some USAA discounts, packed the car, and off we went.

The drive was the longest road trip Tyrien has been on yet, about 8 hours. Tyler alternated between playing Minecraft on the tablet and suddenly stopping, closing his eyes, and breathing deeply until falling asleep. Tyrien spent most of the time asleep. 

The arrival at the hotel was fantastic. The woman who checked us in made it fun and seemed genuinely interested in our family having a good experience, asking Tyler questions, etc. Tyrien saw a Mickey Mouse display in the lobby, and shouted, "MICK-e-MOUSE!" and ran to see. We had no idea he even knew who Mickey Mouse was, so to see him so excited validated the trip.

Upon arrival in the room, the boys were so excited, happily jumping on the bed, looking out the window, and then playing together on the bed. 

I had done some research and found you can bring food and water into the park. This significantly impacted the affordability of the trip. We brought up bacon and sausage from the breakfast buffet, confirmed that their eggs tasted awful, so cooked the eggs we'd brought with us. We ate a large breakfast, packed peanut butter sandwiches, crackers, water, and a couple bottles of soda.

The fastpass option plus rideswap was awesome. Tyson would retrieve the fastpasses, then he and Tyler would ride first, while I hung with Tyrien.  When they were done, Tyler would get to go on the ride a second time with me - we'd get to go through the fastpass line so the wait was short. 

During one of our waits, I noticed Tyrien seemed terrified.

Stormtroopers!

One of the stormtroopers approached Tyrien. When he saw that Tyrien's reaction was unfavorable, he announced, "These are not the ones we're looking for. Go about your business." 

Tyrien was miserable the rest of the day, until finally I called his doctor and requested a prescription for ear drops, explaining that we were in Disneyland and he was absolutely miserable. His doctor's office was awesome, and we were able to pick up the eardrops on the way back to the hotel. With the tubes in his ears, the drops work really quickly. Added in Tylenol and ibuprofen, and by morning, he was visibly more comfortable.

We spent Day 2 in California Adventureland. Tyrien had more opportunities to ride on rides, starting with Tow-Mater's towing. He had a blast! 

Our friends arrived in California Adventureland a bit later, and we had fun spending time with them for parts of the day, then going off on our own at other times. California Adventureland felt smaller than Disneyland - streets were narrower, and so crowded. But we walked alot more there. Tyson tracked his steps, he walked over 27,000 steps that day, compared to 13,000 at Disneyland. 

Tyler enjoyed rock climbing, practicing multiple times before I could coax him away.

Towards the end of the day, Tyson and Tyler went off on their own and Tyrien and I had some alone time together. He LOVED the carousel and insisted on riding it  over and over.  Where other rides inspired giggles and laughter, he was very quiet and serious on the carousel, looking up frequently to try to figure out the mechanics.

While Tyson and Tyler were waiting in line for a Lightning McQueen ride, we returned to Tow-Mater's ride. Tyrien was thrilled. We rode this ride multiple times as well.

With a dead phone and poor night vision, I was nervously waiting for Tyson at the "gas station", which had loud music and alternating flashing lights on the floor. Tyrien broke into dance. No worries about Tyson finding us in the dark anymore - with Tyrien rocking out like this, I knew Tyson would find us.

We returned to Disneyland the third day. We had passes for Space Mountain earlier in the day, and that resumed it's standing as my favorite ride. Tyler says Thunder Mountain was his favorite. We got to meet Chewbacca in person. Tyrien may be afraid of Storm Troopers, but he was happy to give Chewbacca a high five.

Towards the end of our time in Disneyland, we finally made it to Toon Town. Should have gone earlier. Seeing Tyrien's reaction to Goofy's playhouse was priceless. He was immediately confident, ran into the area, and immediately climbed up the play structure to wait his turn to go down the slide. He was in his element.

Then he spotted Tyson approaching from a distance, carrying oversized ice cream cones. He immediately shouted, "Ahce Keme!" and dashed out to meet him.

We enjoyed Mediterranean food that night, then left the next morning to return home. When we saw evidence of a traffic jam just before we got to Phoenix, we stopped to eat. We got back on the interstate after the traffic jam was over. But that's when we learned, Tyler cannot play videogames in a moving vehicle on a full stomach. I write that here so that we will remember. Do not let Tyler play videogames in a moving vehicle on a full stomach!!!

All in all, this was a great trip and I am so glad that we went!