Highlights
- Gran and Grandpa visit for birthday celebrating
- Evan turns 4!
- Calan plays at piano recital
Another Oregon Gs Visit
Continuing the fun tradition of visiting for Heidi’s and Evan’s birthdays, Gran and Grandpa came to spend some time with us at the end of May and into June. We filled the days with some fun moments like paying hide-n-seek with Grandpa (the boys loving these games!) and a few trips out. The excursions included a trip to the WWII air museum here in town, a trolley ride with a stop at Panera Bread and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and up to Santa Barbara to take in the Sea Center and Natural History Museum. For Mama and the boys, it was the second trip to SB this month as they visited a few weeks prior on a Monday Funday to Moxie and the museum. Mama enjoyed the day out on her actual birthday, which she loved. A chance to get some things done, a little pampering, and a break from the household.
Calan
The highlight for Calan this month was getting a new 3×3 Rubiks Cube. He’d been playing with Troy’s at the Y for a while, but now it was nice to see him have his own. Not long after owning it he is able to scramble it in any way and solve it in about 2 minutes. He tends to get a little obsessed his cube but it seems to be a good way for him to have some focused downtime.
For reading, he is currently on the Warriors series that he started last month. He’s also reading Harry Pottery again. He started with Book 1 and went all the way to the beginning of Book 5 within just a few weeks. In math, he did a big review this month, starting in kidergarten and going to 3rd grade. This review was just a way to cope with being resistant to math…it’s that kind of season right now.
The crazy basketball season finally came to an end. While Calan never played in another game in the second half, we attended every practice and every game. The team did really well, and won all of their playoff games. Then they had quite a finish to cap off the season with a win at the championship game. It was pretty excited to say the least. Calan was a small part of that team, and Coach Steve called him out as such praising Calan for his abilities and wishing him the best for the future when he’ll “be back” playing again. It was bitter sweet watching Calan hold the biggest trophy he’d ever received.
Calan played in Mama’s recital for the second year in a row this month. Just like last year, he practiced only his piece in the months leading up to the May recital. This time was a little bit shorter in fact as he’d only seriously practiced a couple months leading up. Needless to say, he was ready and played really well, filling the little church with his music and impressing all of the audience there listening. It’s amazing that he can pull off a piece like that with only practicing a little at a time and nothing else to support it. After he played, he got to meet a former NFL player – the dad of one of Heidi’s students. He took some time to talk to Calan and show him some pictures when he used to block as a lineman for Steven Young of the 49’ers.
Notable quotes this month:
One day while Mama was taking a shower, she started singing opera. Off in the distance you could barely hear it. Calan picked up on it at one point and said, “What’s that?” Dada answered that it’s Mama singing opera. “Really, that’s Mama? I feel like it’s an Indian ceremony.”
“How did Evan get genetics to be so big and weird and strong?”
One time we heard the structures pieces fall down in the other room where Evan was playing. Calan said, “Oh boy, that must’ve been a big building because it crashed for a long time.” Then Evan’s grunts and groans followed.
Making up words one night with Gran and Grandpa over dinner, the word “dam-burger” came up. The grownups all decided that wasn’t a good one because it sounds too much like something else. After a few questions from Calan and vague responses as if to shield him from learning about an inappropriate word on accident, he says. “Well, not like “D-A-M-N” but like a dam that stops water from flowing.”
Evan
It’s hard to believe that Evan is winding down age three. Lately he loves to play “Word World” with Calan. He watches the show itself a lot lately (many times for rest period and doses). The show seems to be rubbing off as one day he decided he would just write the word “POT” on the etchisketch. He also really likes to right his name on things, and it always makes him happy.
When we take Calan to Wil’s studio, Evan has really started getting into doing exercises/drills with the “big kids”. In the past, he would kind of bop around the studio or want to play outside.
We revisited puzzles with Evan this month. We did one together more easily than ever. Then, he did a puzzle all by himself. It’s fun to see him get so much better at something that wasn’t so easy for him in the past. That said, he’s good for about one…and then it becomes too “hard”.
Notable quotes this month:
“I coughed and sneezed at the same time, and that’s making me sick.”
After tripping and falling hard at Wil’s gym one night, Evan got up and was visibly upset from the pain of the fall. He rubbed his knee back and forth aggressively as a few of us looked on, and said, “Get this owie off me!”
Evan: “Mama, when did you show up?”
Mama: “May 31, 1975 at 6:45pm”
Evan: “That’s a long, long time ago!”
Evan: “Mama, what’s that card for?”
Mama: “It’s for Mother’s Day. It’s Mama’s card.”
Evan: “Oh, when is kid’s day?”
Talking about how sometimes parents have to get stern with their kids to help them cooperate, Evan says, “Sometimes I get stern when I get interrupted while playing.”
“When I grow up I’m going to be a robot to fly up there.” Talking about space.
Gran: “Your mother’s birthday is in two days.”
Evan: “What?! You’re kidding. That is serious!”
Evan: “What?! You’re kidding. That is serious!”