Spring

After our back-to-back ski trips, it seemed like a good idea to spend the early spring sticking close to home and taking things a little easier.  Which doesn't provide much 98 Carmels material, so forgive the lengthy delay.  Also, I've been busy running a very small real estate empire (more news to come, hopefully) which eats up an unexpectedly large amount of time.

So, what did we spend March doing?

I was volun-told (by Brennan) to chaperone Room 204's trip to the Yerba Buena Ice Rink, since I can ice skate.  I'm no Nancy Kerrigan (or Tonya Harding, for that matter), but I can stay upright while an 8 year clings to me like a drowning man.  As it turns out, unlike Michigan, places that don't have 5.5 months of winter and a frozen pond in every backyard don't produce as many ice-skating adults, so I was probably a useful presence.

On the other hand, my oh-so-important job could also be done by a stack of buckets and cheap office chairs.

Brennan's buddy William had such a fantastic time skating that he decided to have his birthday party at the very same ice rink!  So we were right back at it about 2 weeks later.  This time, the boys seemed to be getting the hang of it, although most of the party skedaddled to the playground after 20 minutes or so.  But not Bren & William - they stuck out the entire open skate, an hour and half!  More amazingly, the first thing Brennan did when we got home was crawl into bed and crash.  He hasn't taken a nap voluntarily since he was 3, unless you count fevers.

The sofa I ordered back in November finally arrived.  We were all a little sad to say goodbye to the Cow-ch, the kids gave it a hug, and I felt a little pang when I thought of all their monthly baby pictures, propped against the arm.  On the other hand, our new couch seats all of us at the same time, doesn't have a steadily growing hole in the seat cushion, and doesn't look like it's waiting for the cast of Friends to sit down and enjoy an oversized latte.

Lucie's been very busy with her art.  I literally can not keep up.  I may have to start buying carbon offsets to assuage my guilt over the volume of paper consumption.  But I was impressed by this one, as - in Lucie's words, "it looks like the horse in front has 8 legs, but it just looks that way, because there is another horse standing behind that one" - she's discovered perspective.

This vivid and busy Star Wars battle, drawn for her brother in marker on earth-friendly whiteboard - is a little more representative of her usual style.

There's also the quarterly wine club run, which is meant to be a nice family day, but may possibly be training them to loathe wineries, the way our childhoods made us dislike hiking (Daddy) and long car trips (Mommy).

Pick up fell on rainy day, so we had to improvise a little fun.  It probably helped that Roux was included, too.

March also means the return of Soccer.  Brennan is back on the pitch with the Gorillas - he says he likes to play midfield the most.

And Lucie is back goofing on the sidelines with the younger siblings.  Of course, the Junior Jellyfish are playing the spring season as well, but have a later start.

The rain is tapering off and it's not fog season yet, so we've had some pretty days to play outside - including some hiking!   Lucie has come a long way from the little girl who insisted every day she needed to be carried up the hill home.  It started with the neighbor kids inviting her on their hikes - Lucie's never going to turn down time with Willow - but now she will ask to go.  Well, under two conditions:  Roux gets to go, and Lucie gets to walk her.