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After a long wait, we finally made it to Christmas, and the much desired holiday that comes with it.

We kicked off the celebration with Keegan’s school party on December 21.The kids had prepared songs and they all got to their places and sang their heart out.

Julia, Eric, Elliott, Van, Keegan, Ivan Mackenzie and Espi from his class

belching out some tunes

They were adorable, but I have to admit that the songs were unrecognizable…After their show, Santa and Mrs. Claus showed up.

They were the same pair than last year, and again they put up a nice show: they played and sang a few songs, danced with the kids and posed for pictures. It was very cute when they asked the kids to pick a good friend and hug him/her while singing We Wish You A Merry Christmas. Keegan and Kenzie, of course, picked each other.

After the show was over, it was time for pictures. One more Santa picture to add to this year’s collection.

It was a fun party, and the parents enjoyed the show, as well as the cookie exchange (of course I bought my contribution). Keegan made us a nice card and he also gave us homemade candy cane he prepared at school in a homemade box. I was especially excited they convinced him to try to write his name, since he always refuses to when he is home.

After the party, Keegan and Kenzie played some more outside. It is funny how they get along and how much they fight. And now, since they noticed how much we enjoy them telling us they will get married, they repeat it all the time. Keegan goes overboard, talking about the babies that he will have with MacKenzie, the music that will play at their wedding, etc. So cute.

group photo

This year they decided to close the school early, so we had a little juggling to do for Thursday: Matt stayed home for the beginning of the morning, and I left work early to meet them at 10.30. We went to the library for a Christmas themed story-time, then we met Sharon and Jada for lunch. Keegan was a little out of control, but we had a good time.

Fortunately, the following day we were all off, so we had time to play together. It was a beautiful sunny day, so we went to the Skate park to play, and kick the ball around. On the way home, we saw our neighbors and we did some socializing, so Keegan had a very late start to his nap. The afternoon was mellow, and at night we started the epic job of wrapping presents. ‘

Christmas Eve was quiet. We spent the morning at Balboa Park, vising the aerospace museum and the automotive museum. At the aerospace museum we looked at a lot of very cool planes, many from WWI and Keegan was having fun identifying the good guys and the bad guys, based on the symbols painted on the bodies.We also played in the kid area, where Keegan tried to pilot a plane, jumped on the moon, and experimented with the Bernoulli effect. We even took the obligatory, cheesy, touristy picture on the moon.

The automotive museum had a cool exhibit on VW, and a lot of other fun vehicles. Check out the Rocky Horror Hippy Bus!

Ferrari Testarossa will never go out of style

Italian motorcycles area

Keegan is posing in front of a DeLorean, just like the one from Back to The Future…maybe one day he’ll watch the movie and he will probably think it is totally lame.

In the afternoon,we played and baked cookies. Keegan had fun “impersonating” Santa.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner, and enjoyed some relaxing family time…

Keegan shot this picture (I know, I look scary)

…relaxing family time till it was time to go to bed. Keegan, who has been difficult for most of the month, really was out of control on Christmas eve. I have never seen him like this. He risked not getting anything for Christmas (as well as missing the whole Christmas eve traditions). It was so frustrating that he got a note from “Santa” the  following day, saying that even if he did not deserved toys for the way he behaved he still got some, at the conditions that he would behave. Otherwise, Santa himself would take the toys back…

We did got everything ready for Santa, though. One girl from his school got him (and everyone in his class) this awesome kit to prepare for Christmas, including a plate for cookies and a mug for milk. We set up 1 cookie (just like Mrs. Claus asked us to do) , some carrots for the reindeer and and some milk.

After he was finally asleep, our job started. We had lots of wrapping to do, and a new bike to assemble. Of course, the bike, with its impossibly hard nuts and bolts, took forever to assemble, but we had fun drinking wine and watching the Christmas Story marathon on TV.

I finally crashed around 1.30, just in time to hear the inner tube of the bike explode. Ooops.

The next morning came way too quickly, but Keegan’s happiness compensated for the tiredness. He was so excited (even as we read “Santa’s note”).

cheeeeeseeeee. There. Can we start opening the presents now?

grandparents’ musical card from Italy (Santa singing in English…)

And in a flash it was all over. The tornado hit again.

After it was all over, around 8am, Matt went to take a nap, while Keegan and I skyped with my parents and opened one last present. My mom was dressed as Santa, and while Keegan did not fall for it, he thought it was very funny. It was nice to “see” them on Christmas. We do miss them.

My friend Daniele, whose daughter Gaia was in Taiwan with her mom, came by for lunch, and cooked a delicious Salmon pasta for us. We had a very good time, and Keegan was happy to have company. Well, the fact that Daniele brought him a HotWheel track, had nothing to do with it…I am sure.

Christmas Portrait

We all took a nice rest after he left, and relaxed the rest of the day. There were so many new things to play with that Keegan was a little mellower and calmer. Sometimes, looking at kids’ toys (see HotWheel track below) I wonder who design them? Obviously not someone that have to build the darn things or attach 500 little, tiny stickers on them…

The night was not as restful as I wished for because we had to pack for our short getaway. Since Keegan enjoyed so much playing around in the snow at Seaworld and Legoland, we thought it would be fun to take him to see real snow. We had a coupon for Inner Tubing Sliding at Mt. Baldy, so we booked two nights in an Embassy Suites in Ontario, which is only 30 minutes away.

Monday morning was a little hectic, between packing and getting everything ready, but we were finally on the road by 2. Fortunately keen fell asleep in the car, so we had a nice, easy ride to Ontario. He woke up just as we pulled in.

The hotel was surprisingly beautiful: we have been in Embassy suites before, and they all look the same. Somewhat cheesy, and family friendly. We like go there because of the suites, so we have our own private room, and the free breakfast and cocktails. This one, however, was a surprise. It looked like one of the trendy, modern boutique hotels we used to go to BK (before Keegan). Calder looking mobiles, a two sided fireplace, and a modern firebox greeted us in the lobby.

The room also was quite sleek, with dark wood furniture, and a modern sleeper couch.

Keegan really liked the hotel and was excited about his very own bed. We went downstairs for the famous complimentary cocktails, and set in front of fire. I guess one of the drawbacks of being in a nicer, more upscale hotel, was that they did have very sophisticated ou d’oeuvre instead of family friendly pop corn, chips or fish crackers. Keegan was a little (well, very) antsy, so we did not dare going to any restaurants. We instead ordered room service and had dinner in the room.

It took a while for Keegan to settle down for the night, and many getting up from the bed, so by the time he finally fell asleep, we crashed too.

The next morning we all got up early, had some nice breakfast at the hotel (also included) and headed out for Mt. Baldy. It was supposed to be 58 degrees, so we brought all sort of jackets, hats, etc. We got there in about half an hour, and no trace of snow. We still got all dressed up, and headed up to the chair lift. Keegan was excited about his new snow gear.

ready to go

The chair lift was fun, even with Keegan squiggling in my lap, and again, no snow. When we made it to the top, we finally saw some of the white stuff, but mainly corralled in a couple of areas.

We also saw a lot of cannons. So, I am not really sure how much more “real” than Legoland this snow was. Anyway, we went to the inner tube area, and we had a blast. It was so much fun!

Now, 58 degrees or not, it was really warm, so we started shedding layers. The guy working there, was only wearing shorts and a sleeveless vest with a t-shirt. I would not go that far, but it was very comfortable.

We took a small break, because Keegan was quickly getting bored and hungry, for snacks and miniature snowman.

After our time was up, we headed back down. There was no open snow area in which to play or sled, so we went back to the hotel. The view was a magnificent from the chair, even if, without snow, it is a little nerve racking.

On the way back home, Keegan kept up his difficult behavior with a full blown tantrum. It was nap time, so we promised him he could watch TV after his nap, but he would not want to hear it and screamed most of the ride back home. How fun.

We all went down for a nap, and watched his long awaited Toy Story 2 video together. His restlessness did not improve much, so after our hotel cocktail reception, we went to grab some food to bring back to the room. Good thing I saved some of the wine from before.

The next morning, again, we had a whiny little guy at our hands, who did not want to do anything,: he did not even want to go and play in the heated pool! So we checked out pretty early and stopped by Bass Pro Shop, an unbelievable outdoor store. It really does not fit as much in California as it would in some other State, but after tubing, I think it was the highlight of Keegan’s trip. It is a huge wood cabin, chock full of outdoor gear, including ATV, boats and all sort of weird vehicles. The walls are plastered with trophy animals’ heads, and real, embalmed animals are posed throughout the store. There are even aquariums and small ponds with live fish in it. Insane. We must have spent an hour or so there.

Keegan’s favorite part was pretending to ride the ATVs.

After leaving the store we had lunch and hoped Keegan would fall asleep. No such luck. He was awake the whole time, even if he did read his Tag’s books for most of the time. I tried to sleep a little. He finally crashed as we got in San Diego, which was a great thing. We really needed a break from him at this point. So, it was a fun trip, but made a little difficult by his behavior.

While Keegan was sleeping, Matt put a new wheel on his new bike, after the inner tube fiasco, and got it ready for him…of course he refused to ride it, despite the fact he really wanted to get a bike for Christmas. This was a little frustrating for all involved.

Matt was off to work the following day, and I was a little worried about the long two days ahead. Fortunately, we spent most of the following day with Jada and Sharon, which got some of his energy out.

I think this holiday break proved us even more that he really NEEDS school, and being with his friends. He was obviously going crazy with us (and so were we). However, we did have many nice moments and fun memories for this Christmas Holiday 2011.

It is the most wonderful time of the year…or so they say. As you are well aware, if you know me, I can’t stand the holidays: by December, I am already sick of the holiday music, displays and fake “happiness”. I don’t like the stress, the pretense, the feel good commercials, the lack of time. However, having a young child does bring back some of the holiday magic, as there are so many activities and events to go to and just looking at Keegan’s eyes light up at the light makes my cynical heart a little softer.

It has been a busy season: three weeks packed full of fun stuff. We kicked off the season with Christmas tree shopping the day after Keegan’s birthday. We stuck to our little tree format (5-6 feet). It is so much easier to decorate and deal with, especially since it is MY job to prepare it. Of course it sat naked for a few days, but we got it under control. We used the same color scheme than last year: blue, white and silver.

Since Keegan made a few foam ornaments, we got him his own little tree to decorate. It was on his room, and it looked really cute.

This year I even did some small decorating in the house, and outside. We bought some lights to complement the modern tree (that Matt does not really care for) and I hung some tinsel, wreaths and snowflakes…Not much, but a big step for me.

Of course we brought back our Elf On The Shelf. You may remember him from last year: it is a creepy little doll that supposedly spies on your kids for Santa, and then report back every day to the big man. Every day he needs to be moved in a different location, since he flew back in from the North Pole. A major pain. I know I am not alone in feeling this, as you can read in this really funny post on overachiever Elf on The Shelf moms, from the blog People I Want To Punch In The Throat. ( a really funny blog, by the way).

the night before Christmas. Bye bye Fifi.

I have to say that this year it has a little less effect, as Keegan was not convinced he could really see everything he was doing. However, he is attached to the little guy, so we will probably bring him back again next year.

To avoid the huge crowds, I decided to bring Keegan to see Santa early on, on December 8. I am not really sure what Keegan makes out of Santa. He knows about him, but I am not really sure he believes in him 100%. He asked me one day, why a Santa we saw looked different from the Santa we took picture with, and at Christmas he thanked us for the presents. In any case, we went for the obligatory picture. Santa was bored out of his skull, being Wednesday afternoon, and was very friendly and ready to talk. Keegan was a little shy, but loved the candy cane.

We made an afternoon out of it, since Santa’s cottage is next to the kids’ area, complete with little trains and bouncies. This was one of the many Santa’s we posed with this year.

The following weekend, we went to Legoland. It was a beautiful, warm sunny San Diego day, but they set us a snow zone, so Keegan got to play in the real snow (well, probably blown in, but so it is the snow at most California ski locations anyway). He had so much fun throwing snowballs, building a snowman and sliding down a small slope.

There was also a Lego Santa Claus, and we just had to take a picture with him.

We stopped by the Star Wars area to check out the amazing reproductions. Amazing…

like father like son…

Keegan even got the chance to drive his own Lego car, and received a “driver license”.

We had the chance to watch some amazing light displays as well. Even if we missed the Del Mar display, we stopped by our Clairemont ones, and enjoyed the show. This is the third year we are going, and it still amazes us. We also went back to watch the Parade Of Lights, the boat light show. We set up on the Shelter Island beach and watched the amazing boats floating by.Unfortunately, due to the recent litigation, there were no fireworks, but we still enjoyed the show.

We attended all the holiday office parties this year: we were lucky our sitter was available for both, back to back. First, we went to Matt’s office party on Saturday night. It was in a posh downtown hotel. A good excuse to get dressed up. Amazingly enough we won a prize in the raffle. Granted, it was a digital camera (and not the blue ray player our table mates got or the Ipad2), and we already have more than two, but still it was amazing to win anything at all. We NEVER win at raffles.

getting ready for a night on the town

The following morning, we headed up to my company party, an elegant brunch in another posh downtown hotel. It was, as always, great. Amazing food, good company and free flowing champagne. It was so good, I crashed as soon I made it home. (-:

We could not leave Seaworld out: they had special decorations and shows for Christmas. They also had a snow area, but it was not quite as fun as Legoland. Mainly, they did not let kids younger than 5 slide down, so Keegan got bored pretty quickly.

how should I play with this white stuff?

oh, I get it. I will just throw a huge snow ball

We watched the sharks, and the cool decorations, including the over-sized sleigh and Christmas tree, we hugged mascots, and checked out real reindeer.

Christmas Otter

Santa’s sleight

real reindeer

We also watched the Christmas Shamu show, at the light of the huge luminaries. As always, I was taken aback by the highly religious tone of the show.

This year, we also went to another Christmas celebration, a new event in Liberty Station, right where we had Keegan’s birthday party. I had a discount coupon, so we headed there one afternoon. They had many booths, food, a Christmas tree forest, a couple of stages, a small snow area and a kid zone. Once again, Keegan had a blast sliding down the small slope and he did it over and over and over again…till he got a little hurt, and then refused to do it again.

flying down the slope

We watched some girls sing and dance, and even a little piece of the Nutcracker. In the kid zone, there was a really awesome ride: huge, inflatable balls, floating on a pool of water. Keegan got inside, they blew it up, and he rolled and played, and rolled on the water. It looked like a lot of fun. I wished I could be in there.

We also watched a live nativity scene, which really impressed him. He really liked it, maybe because by now he is pretty familiar with the story of baby Jesus, also thanks to a story my mom recorded for him. It was definitely an interesting event, but it felt a little overpriced for what it was.

We also dedicated ourselves to “Christmas activities”, like decorating an over-sized gingerbread cookie, a present from his friend Van, and baking sugar cookies. While our baking was not too sophisticated, it was still fun.

I can surely say that this year we lived the holiday season much more intensely. Keegan was a lot more excited about it…in fact, he was in an over-excited state since his birthday, which also meant a lot more acting out and misbehaving. However,  it was a lot of fun to share so many interesting activities together.

We have finally uploaded the pictures from the Thanksgiving Hike. Sorry it took us a while, but they are now there in all their glory. Thank you Sharon for taking such great shots.

It is hard to believe, but our little guy has turned 4 years old. Wow. He has been looking forward to turning 4, and he was really anticipating the day and the party. It is also the first time he asked for a specific gift, more than one time at least.

We are excited for all the milestones he reached as well. We had all his basic check ups, eye doctor, dentists and regular doctor and everything is good. He is now 40 and 3/4″  high: passed the 1 meter mark (103 cm). He weights 34.4 lb (15.7 kg). His hearing, muscle tone, reflexes, and everything else is good. We all know his language is very good. How couldn’t it be? He is CONSTANTLY practicing: while he plays, while he is in the bathroom, any minute he is with us, at school. He even talks in his sleep. And yes, once again I get blamed for it. (-:

One thing he really refuses to do is drawing or coloring (and puzzles are really not his cup of tea either). We would be worried about his fine motor skills, since most of his friends, especially his female friends, are great at drawing, but he is doing fine with Lego building, even the smaller blocks, and he can button and unbutton his own PJ, so, he must be doing fine. Plus, if you find the right way to ask, he would draw faces or recognizable forms: he just chooses not to.

As soon as the Thanksgiving holiday weekend was over, we dove in, head first, in the big birthday celebrations. The week between the two events has been particularly stressful for a combination of factors, including a freelance deadline, regular work stuff, work open house, and of course birthday planning.

the evite for the party

We planned the party at the same park we had it last year. And learning from last year’s experience, we did come up with a plan B: in case of rain, we reserved at Chuck E Cheese , the place I swore to myself I would never go to, but also the only indoor place that required a very cheap deposit. However, plan B notwithstanding, the week was incredibly stressful. The weather forecasts changed daily, or hourly, with various verdicts: clear, cloudy, windy, rainy (on Wednesday!), and I checked them all religiously. I wonder what do they even publish forecast for… We had an even larger number of kids this year, since we invited Keegan’s whole class, and the park was really the ideal solution.

It was an endless week, checking the weather, waiting for RSVP that did not arrive, preparing goodie bags and buying supplies… On Thursday night, we filled bags and baked chocolate chip muffins to bring to school.

Getting ready for the goodie bags.

We chose a monster theme.

Finally we made it to Friday. Most forecast agreed on party cloudy, so the park was a go. Keegan got to celebrate with his classmates one day early, with muffins and grapes. He was excited, and he had his picture posted in the classroom birthday board.

Friday was a busy day: besides the big day preparations, I also had a work event that evening, so I was rushing the whole day.

On Saturday, we all got up early (well, our normal 6.15 am wake up time). We had all the presents lined up in our bedroom, and Keegan had fun opening them.

Presents from Italy

My parents sent a massive package with lots of presents for both Christmas and birthday. Keegan’s cousins drew some beautiful cards for him, and Naraiana even crocheted a card for him.

He loved them all: the books, the clothes, the vibrating bug…but he was especially excited about getting his roaring dinosaur. It is the first time he actually asked for something: he saw a working model at Target and it was mesmerized…well they actually recreated a whole scene, with many different beasts, fighter guys and an “erupting” volcano…who would resist?

oh goodie, the roaring T-rex is here!

the morning loot…or part of it

There was no time for an early morning nap, so we watched some TV, Cars 2, another birthday present, and got ready for the party. We stopped by to pick up the cake…and they spelled the name wrong, despite my very clear printing. Fortunately they quickly fixed it and off we went. Keegan was very impressed by the cake. After excruciating deliberations, he chose a surfing Mickey Mouse cake. Don’t ask me why. He had been wanting a Nemo cake forever, and then, he just changed his mind. It did looked nice, though.

When we arrived at the park, the bouncie was already set up, and Keegan did not waste any time.

It was the same one from last year, and again it was a big hit. His friends started trickling in, and at the end I think we had between 20 and 25 kids, including siblings…wow. Good thing that, despite menacing dark clouds, the sky stayed clear, and we had the whole park to play in.

We also brought a soccer goal, bouncing balls, crafts and we were very close to the playgrounds, so it worked out great.

Hannah plays the goalie

Leave it to the boys to use the bouncing balls as weapons…

In fact, it went better than last year: there were very few tears, no fights and no throwing up. Keegan, being bigger, also was able to hold up for much longer, with minimal whining.

I guess the only big “drama” of the day was when all the kids gathered for cake, and just as Keegan was getting ready to blow off his candle, Torin “helped” him and blew it off. We did have to do a repeat. (-:

stealing a hug from the birthday boy

Most kids left between 1 and 2 pm. Since we had the bouncie till 3 pm, we waited at the park till they came to pick it up. With only a couple of kids around, the adults took turns jumping and sliding: what a work-out. I am always amazed at how the kids don’t get tired. Keegan was still going strong even in the afternoon…with occasional breaks.

We even had some “party crasher” who asked us to join in.

As we were waiting for the guys to pick up the bouncie, Keegan opened the presents. This year he was a lot more excited about them, so it was not easy to “hide” some away, but some clever organizing helped.

Admiring Alyce’s hand made wrapping…pretty impressive

Despite being exhausted, Keegan did not fall asleep in the car and it took some convincing to get him to sleep. He finally went down for an almost three hours nap. Matt followed suit, and I enjoyed the much needed peace and quiet.

Keegan woke up around 6 pm and he immediately proceeded to play with the new toys, even if it was hard to pick with so many good choices.

Is this a toy store display or our living room?

With the party and the celebrations behind us, now it was time to throw ourselves head first on the next big thing: Christmas. Yeah! (and yes, this is sarcastic).

I love this holiday: 4 days we all have off. This year the weather has been  absolutely gorgeous, which allowed us to take full advantage of our beautiful city. We began with a Thanksgiving Feast at Keegan’s school. Fortunately we were charge with bringing vegetables, which made it easy. We all ate, even Keegan, and the kid played outside.

Keegan and MacKenzie: self professed future husband and wife

And to complete the kick off the for the holiday season, my parent’s package arrived that day as well, stuff to the edge with Christmas and birthdays presents for all of us.  — thank you for all the goods (-:

The following day, after the regular early morning nap, Keegan and I met our neighbors for a fun hike in the Canyon nearby. The sky was cloudy, which made it perfect for walking. We had fun collecting acorns and leaves and throwing rocks in the puddles and streams. I was impressed Keegan hiked without complaining almost a full mile.

The kids playing and hiking together

Afterwards, we played at their house, and then we had lunch together. When Keegan went to take his nap, I started my holidays shopping…from home. Lots of great deals out there and with both a birthday and Christmas coming up, I needed it. We found a good bike for Keegan and a few other goodies. In the afternoon, Matt started cooking our feast, and our friend Daniele and his daughter Gaia came over to share it with us. The kids, despite the three year’s difference, played well together, and got to jump around and run. They had fun building a fort out of our bean bags.

Did Keegan have the holidays mixed up…or was he just trying to impress the older woman with his supernatural powers?

Dinner was excellent as always, and we savored all the food and the wonderful pies Daniele brought.

This is exactly how we felt afterwards.

Keegan was exhausted and crashed as soon as they left, and we finished our evening quietly.

The next morning, Keegan fell back asleep till 7am. Wow: sleeping in! It was a beautiful sunny day. Around lunch time we went to the Clairemont Square shopping center to see the arrival of Santa: this must have been the shortest parade in history, but it was still fun to watch, with the vintage cars, marching band and the ancient firetruck carrying Santa. Keegan and Matt missed most of it, but I took pictures.

Definitively much different from the Mother Goose Parade we watched the previous week, that lasted a good three hours.

The line for Santa was too long, so we just strolled around, and got some pizza and ice cream. And this made Keegan’s day. As Keegan slept, I did my own black Friday, by surfing the internet for gifts. I am sorry, but I really can’t fathom waking up at 3amor staying up till midnight and brave huge crowds for deals…

Saturday was an exceptionally warm day: I think we broke a record, with highs in the upper 70s. We took advantage of the weather to go visit the Chula Vista Nature Center, that sits on the 316-acre Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. It was beautiful, with plenty of animals to see. We even got to see the rays and the sharks being fed.

In the afternoon, the tides were exceptionally low, so we headed to Tourmaline Beach Park, in Pacific Beach, to check out the tide pools. I have to say that as far as sea life is concerned it was a little disappointing: we only saw a few anemones/ like plants, and  little crabs, but the beach itself, with the huge stretch of sand exposed was magical at sunset.

How can you avoid falling in love with San Diego in moments like these?

Sunday was also a very warm day: we pumped up the water heater a little so Matt and Keegan went splashing in the pool, and I got my swimming exercise done too. It felt good, and the water was a nice 80 degrees. We took it easy the rest of the day: eating and reading in the sun, while Keegan napped, then playing together and preparing some snowflake shaped banana nut muffins. We had dinner together, and played some more.

everyone knows how to relax in style in our house

All and all it was a great Thanksgiving. We are grateful for everything we have and for all the people that surround us with their love and support. In the craziness of the routine it is easy to forget how blessed we are, and we are trying to instill a sense of thankfulness in Keegan as well.  So, a wonderful, relaxing, 4 days weekend. We really needed it, to recharge and store energies to face the following week, which was a crazy, busy, stressful one.

A real girls weekend…what a concept! It has been a long time since I took a trip on my own, so it was sorely needed. It all started when my good friend from college, Lidia, asked me if I wanted to go see Duran Duran together. We went to one of their shows many years back, in the mid-nineties, and I have to say it was one of the best Duran Duran concerts I have ever been at. It was basically a greatest hit show, so we danced and sang like 14 years old…except that at the end of the show we were exhausted, and completely aching… The last time DD played in San Diego it was on my due date…if Keegan would have been born late, I probably would have gone, but he was early. Thanks Keegan!

Anyway, DD were touring again, to promote their new album, and playing shows both near San Diego and in Las Vegas, where Lidia lives. Luck, once again was not on my side: I was in Italy at that time. Then Lidia came up with the prefect plan: they had a show in Boston, at the end of October. Lidia lived in Boston for 5 years, so she would be happy to go back, and I have always wanted to visit, plus the show was on a Friday night: I could not pass it up.

First I had to make sure it was OK with Matt: after all, he is the one that would have to be with Keegan for two and half days. After getting the green light, we bought tickets and booked the flight. I was very excited and a little nervous, just because Keegan is still in the “mommie” phase, and always wants me around.

We both left on Thursday night, with a red eye flight. Going at the airport alone, with only carry on luggage for a “short” 5 hours flight was a dream! I flew Jet Blue that, when not keeping passengers hostage on the tarmac for 7+ hours, it is a really “comfortable” airline. I was able to catch a little sleep, and met Lidia at the airport.

I got all my warmest clothes on and I have to say I was able not to freeze…but man it was chilly!

some cars had snow on them…welcome to Massachusetts

We immediately got a nice, warm breakfast and headed to the hotel. We were able to get an early check in so we snoozed a few hours, to get ready for the evening. When we woke up, the sun was still shining, and we went for a walk to the beautiful Public Gardens. We enjoyed the mild temperature and catching up: we have not seen each other in a while.

real fall and Autumn leaves

We had the mandatory stop at the Ducklings statue, and a photo-op at the Cheers pub.

We walked the replica of the London Bridge…we both have been at the one in London: now we are only missing the real one in Arizona.

We got an early dinner in an Irish pub, where I could taste an awesome cup of clam chowder, with mussel and fries, and of course a Samuel Adams OcktoberFest beer. Maybe not the best combo, but still delicious. Now that I have a smart phone, I had email a picture of it to Matt right away. (-:

We walked home, and watching the lit up marquee got us excited for the show that was only few blocks away, at the Wang Theater.

Needless to say, the crowd was the same exact crowd of 30 years ago: a bunch of teenage girls, now 30 years older, and with husbands and kids in tow. Quite interesting. The show was great: it is a small theater, so even if we were sitting in the balcony, we could see quite well. The show focused on the last album quite a bit, which fortunately I have bought and listened to (and it is pretty good), but of course they played many old hits, which are always more fun.

This was definitely not your 80s concert:
• we had assigned seas, instead of waiting for hours outside, and then fight to the death for getting access to the first rows
• no injuries or burns
• Simon made a lot of jokes and I can now almost fully understand
• The security was not only not searching for hidden cameras or recorders, but getting out of the way when you were taking pictures or video with cameras or smart phones

You can see a lot of them on YouTube, and Lidia made amazing pictures.

• the hysterical screaming was almost non-existent (thank God)
• I only spotted 1 real lighter during slow songs. In fact, even Simon le Bon asked the crowd to turn on their cell phones, and lighters. It prompted me to download the Zippo app…so very sad!

John is still hot…

… even if Simon is the one who aged the best

guess what song are they playing now?

What did not change:
• my determination to see them again next time to come
• it was a fun show, and we had a great time
• the songs still sounded great
• Simon still missed a few notes
• my determination to see them again next time to come
• the show was packed with enthusiastic fans, despite my parents guess that by the nineties nobody will even know who they were. (-:

I guess you can’t deny your past. I tell this to my students all the time: choose your band wisely, because these will be the bands you will listen to for the rest of your life. You can like more, different bands— and I do — but there will always a soft spot in your heart for the music of your adolescence and early twenties.

The next morning we woke up under gray skies and ominous forecast: an apocalyptic storm was coming, and we better be prepared. This was a major bummer, since we had the full day for exploring the city a we wanted to go to Salem for the annual Halloween celebration. Anyway, we took it as it came, and we went visiting the city. Lidia was an excellent tour guide: we walked most of the freedom trail, we say the Paul Rivere’s house, and Samuel Adams’ grave, with a couple of detours to Dunkin’ Donuts, Lidia’s favorite coffee shop.

We visited the Main Public Library, which is amazing: it looks like a classic museum, and it is so beautiful. They have several special room, including a map room, with little nooks for children to read themed books or play related activities.

It also had a wonderful courtyard, with a Mother and Child statue fountain.

I crossed the finish line at the Boston marathon, the closest I will ever be to the actual event.

We just meandered the street, catching civil war impersonator at any corner.

We saw Samuel Adam’s grave and Benjamin Franklin’s statue: I had to get a picture of him since he was born on my birthday…or is it the other way around?

In the same square there was the democratic Donkey, and a place to stand in opposition.

a cool bridge, but I don’t remember the name

Boston is definitely a beautiful city, and I do want to come Back sometime, to spend more time here.

We had lunch at Regina’s Pizzeria in the Italian neighborhood, North End.

Just as we finished up, it started raining. And we are not talking about San Diego rain: it poured. We quickly caught the subway, and headed to the Samuel Adams Brewery for a free tour. We had to wait a while, but it was warm and dry, so we did not mind.

The tour was fun, and pretty short and lead to the tasting part: we tried three different beers, and we enjoyed them all. Samuel Adams is one of my favorite beers anyway.

With rain still pouring we headed back to the hotel to rest and relax. Salem was out of the questions, and the train to Cambridge, our alternate location, was under construction, so taking the alternate buses in this messy weather was not an option. So we walked to a nice, warm, Irish pub for a great dinner. We relaxed and chatted, and then watched the first snow fall down. It was cold, and windy but it was fun to see snow falling: I am not sure when was the last time I saw real snow.

We slowly walked back, watching all the “kids” heading to their parties in skimpy clothing. This made me realize that young people are crazy everywhere: in San Diego you see them walking on the boardwalk in t-shirt, shorts and sheep skin Uggs boots, even if it is 70 out. In Boston, you see them wearing coats, dress clothing and flip flops even if it is 50 outside. Or you see them wearing shorts and skimpy dresses even if it is snowing…like the famous Italian verse says: quant’e’ bella giovinezza… (how beautiful is youth).

The next morning, bright and early, I headed to the airport (thank you Lidia for riding the bus with me). Of course the sun was shining and the weather was mild. I had to be in Boston the only night they had a major storm! Oh well, it does not matter: I had a wonderful time, and it went by way too quickly. Thank you Lidia for coming up with the idea and thank you Matt for encouraging me to go.

The flight back was unremarkablele, except for the mad rush to board: despite being at the airport 1.5 hour early, I was the last one to board. It took 50 minutes to clear security, including having to wait to for the result of the full body scan. I still made it in time to buy a small replica of the airplane I was flying in for Keegan, and then I settled in. The flight was quite pleasant. Free xm radio, synced mostly on 80s and 90s music, and I even caught a video of Wild Boys on Vh1 classic…I had the chance to read uninterrupted for hours—which was a wonderful vacation in itself— a very interesting, if haunting book, Room, which I really liked.

We landed early, and I caught a cab only to arrive at an empty home: Matt and Keegan were at the zoo.

It was great to see them both, and even greater to know that Keegan was very good, and he had a great “guys’ weekend”.  Matt kept him busy, and while he was very happy to see me, I sighed with relief, knowing that, despite his mommy phase, I can leave him without worry…

Does that mean I can do more girls weekends?????

It has been only 6 weeks since we got back from Italy, but it feels like the trip was a very long time ago. Maybe this is because we have been so incredibly busy in these 6 weeks that time flew by. And with the holidays coming, including someone’s big 4th birthday, I don’t see any slowing down.

So, let’s recap:the trip back was probably the best and easiest to date. While I still had to deal with a few issues in regard of the car seat, no one questioned Keegan’s age (and I event told him to lie..) and we were able to get the seat on both flights. And this meant, he stayed in his seat…buckled…without protest! For the short flight, Keegan fell asleep as we landed in London, seriously, but he woke up easily. On the long, intercontinental flight, Keegan stayed seated the WHOLE flight (except for potty breaks), and mainly buckled. We are talking 11+ hours, in his seat…The headrest TV helped a lot. He watched two movies back to back, including Cars 2. He never watches a full movie, and here he is, watching two back to back on his personal entertainment system. Great! So I got to read and watch movies too. Falling asleep took a while, but covering him with a blanket did the trick. He slept a few hours and so did I. So, all in all, despite the serious hassle, the car seat was a great thing. I am worried what I am going to do next year without it!

Matt picked us up with a nice bunch of flowers and a big smile on his face. At home, I have found a clean and tidy house and a beautiful vase of “anniversary” flowers. This years were the best one yet!

After we got married, I told him I would like to have for our anniversary, the same flowers that were in my bouquet, and every year since he bought them. Not an easy task, even with a labelled photo: of course, I chose flowers for my bouquet that are completely out of season, so he needs to order them in advanced. What a great husband!

Keegan was not disappointed either: there were “welcome home” gifts waiting for him.

He was excited to see all his old toys and books, and to show daddy the new ones he got in Italy. But he was absolutely ecstatic when he saw his Halloween costume: Dash from the Incredibles. He tried it on immediately, and kept on wearing it almost every day since.

Is it Halloween yet?

Back in San Diego it was Fall time. Let me start by saying that is absolutely not true that San Diego has no seasons. It is pretty obvious when it is Fall time: the days are shorter, it is not quite as warm, especially at night, the occasional rain falls and the marine layer is a very rare affair. And for you skeptics, here it is: we do have deciduous trees too.

There. So don’t talk to me about leaves or seasons. And no, I don’t miss the cold and snow, AT ALL.

Of course it took Keegan a good week to get over the jet lag — and therefore it took us a whole week to be able to get any sleep at all —but this has not stopped him a bit. As soon as we got back, we started up our social life. Hannah’s birthday party was set for the Saturday after we got back, and we headed there after an epic nap (courtesy of jet lag). It was a nice way to start out the routine. Keegan was very shy at first, but quickly warmed up with cupcakes.

He also went back to preschool, the very next day after we arrived. He got readjusted very quickly, and it felt like he never left. His friends had been asking about him, and missed him, so they were very happy to see him, and so was Keegan to see them. I got the cutest picture of him and two of his girl friends. That was the day he could not leave without kissing them.

MacKenzie, Julia and Keegan swinging away…

…and joking around

The following weekend we went to “night-time beach”, as Keegan calls it. With shorter days, it is pretty easy to stay past sunset. It was quite chilly, but we still had fun running around, playing with the sun toys and even dipping our (well, theirs) feet in the water.

There were a few things going on that night: one environmental group was…well, we are not sure exactly what they were doing, but it was interesting to see them. The group created a maze of luminaries and then invited everyone to walk through the maze. Strange but fascinating.

There were also people creating memorials for Steve Jobs on the sand.They drew a large Apple logo and wrote messages.

It was moving. Being a Mac person, Steve Jobs’ death affected me deeply. Not sure why. His genius and his creativity will be sorely missed. Obviously I was not the only one. All the Apple stores became shrines, with flowers and thousand of colored sticky notes attached to the window, carrying messages and memories. In UTC someone even brought an old Mac II. So sad.

Even Keegan got “involved”; when he saw the memorial website, and asked me about it, and we talked how Steve Jobs is not here anymore. He became very serious and he said “how sad”. He knows Steve Jobs as the guy who helped design his iPod. Keegan has been talking more about death lately, but while he does seem to understand what it is, he does not seem too scared or worried.

On October 18, we celebrated Matt’s birthday. Keegan was excited, told everyone at school and could not wait for the evening so we could open the presents. We went out for dinner, and as a “birthday cake” we had ice cream. By the way, Matt expressly requested ice cream and not cake. I was not trying to escape my responsibilities as a wife. (-: And Steven Colbert AmeriCone Dream is probably one of the best flavors yet. Try it out.

The end of October means only one thing: Halloween!!!! This year must have been the best one yet. Keegan was so excited about it, and could not wait. He chose his costume, and he had a few test runs, literally… Halloween also meant Pumpkin Patch, or a bunch of rides with a few pumpkins thrown in for good measure. This year MacKenzie came with us, so it was twice the fun. The kids tried a lot of rides, and the train, and of course the super huge slide.He was not quite as tiny this time around, so I did not get any weird stares.

Enough pictures, I am ready to go in

They had so much fun together, and we got quite a few picture perfect moments. Aren’t they adorable?

Of course the pumpkin patch is mainly for the rides: the pumpkin themselves are a little overpriced. We got ours at the grocery store, a week before Halloween. Bad idea: the pumpkin molded, shriveled up and died well before the big day. We even tried to torch the inside…no luck. Oh well, Keegan got to enjoy two different pumpkins. He “helped” decorate the first one.

The second one was quickly (Keegan was not helping) carved the day before Halloween.

This year, I even added a few decorations, getting carried away by my little guy’s enthusiasm. Nothing over the top as the inflatable ghost some of our neighbors had, but it made the house look more festive. And it was a great way to show off our new grass and curb plants. So nice not to have to look at dirt anymore.

We had one more social event, Alyce’s birthday party. Keegan met Alyce at gym class. It was at Boomer’s, a cute place with rides and mini golf. Keegan tried all the rides and even tried mini golf, something I am absolutely horrible at.

October 31st finally arrived. Keegan could not contain his excitement. He started the day by wearing his Incredibles underwear and donning his costume for school. At 10.30, I met him at school for the annual Halloween Parade: walking around the block, in costume, and going Trick or Treating at the local stores.

waiting for the green light from their teacher

The mask lasted only the time it took to take the picture

Dash-Keegan and Puss in Boots-Kelsen. In the back Woody-Van

A candy break followed.

When I picked him up in the afternoon, we played a few carnival games and went home to get ready for the big night.

To complete his costume, we had to style his hair back. Not an easy task. Even with a maximum hold gel, his hair would stick straight up.

we are ready to go

We arrange to meet the neighborhood kids: it was a group of 7. They had a great time, and I have to say that this year there were a lot more kids in the neighborhood, walking around in costume.

He got so much candy, his pumpkin was too heavy and I had to empty it out in my bag. After a full hour, Keegan and the other kids could not take it anymore, and headed back home to sort out booty.

Keegan organized all his candies in categories and picked his favorite 5. Of course he chose all the pack containing many pieces, like M&M and skittles. The rest will go to mom’s workplace…except for white chocolate Kit Kats, my absolute favorite. Amazingly enough, he went to bed easily, despite the sugar high…

These 6 weeks were pretty full of adult fun as well. Matt and I went to see two of my favorite shows: Hair and The Rocky Horror Show. I have never seen Hair before and I was impressed: the production was great and still moving after all these years, even though very different from the movie. The fact that the Occupy San Diego encampment was just outside the theater, made it more poignant, even though, I do realize that 60’s anti -war protest cannot even compare to the Wall Street protest of today.

On a lighter note, the Rocky Horror Show was amazing as always. We got our prop bag and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I still think is an amazing show. The actors were great, and there were a few in the public shouting comments and come-backs like in the movie theater. The actors often improvised based on these audience participation. This is definitely a show I will watch again and again.

Finally, I had my girls’ weekend in Boston, watching Duran Duran. I will talk about it in a later post, but let me just say it was GREAT (even with the storm of the century).

So, all in all, it was a great way to get back into our routine here in San Diego, and now, after taking a deep breath, we are getting ready for the crazy holiday season.

A trip back to Italy also means I get to see many of my friends. I am sometimes surprised by how many people I am still in touch with. In fact, I think I am the one who is in touch with more high school friends. Maybe it make sense: when you move to a different country you cling to pieces of your past…In any case, it was fun to see old friends, and to catch up on what happened in the last year.

This year I had the pleasure to meet my friend Tiziana’s 9 months old baby, who reminds me of Keegan, as far as sleep patterns are concerned, and I also the chance to see my friend Simona in her last few days of her third pregnancy…and I got to meet the new baby as well: how special. We met a couple of times with her kids, who are a little older than Keegan, but again young enough they don’t mind playing together. Once again we went to the Museum Park, and hung out on the play yard area.

combo slide

We could not miss the Merry Go Round and the everlasting train ride, of course. I think I mentioned it last year: this is really the longest train ride in the universe as  it does 6 rounds!!! I guess you get your money worth.

We were also fortunate to spend Simona’s last evening as a pregnant women together: we met up in the afternoon and played. Then got some delicious pizza and kicked back. While the kids watched some TV, we relaxed, chatted and downed a couple of beers.

Literally a few hours after we left, she was at the hospital…it must have been my belly kiss that did it. (-: And quickly, Margherita was born. Yes, just like my mom. How interesting that two of my friends chose this name for their daughters. We got to see her after they went back home. She is so small…I forgot how small babies are!

Keegan was very excited about meeting the baby. He is very fascinated by babies, and I have to say he is very gentle with them (surprisingly, since we are still full of bruises from his rough play). He says he would like a baby even though I am sure he would be crushed if he had to share our attention.

We spent also a lot of time with my friend Loredana and Francesca, her little girl. We went playing at the park together, and watched fisherman catching small fish in the Naviglio (yuck), and they loved to roughhouse together.

Keegan also discovered a favorite ice cream, Liuk, a lemon popsicle with a licorice stick. He could not get enough of it.

It makes me really happy to see how Keegan gets along with my dear friends. He has a special connection with the people I like, and this is great.Of course all the gifts he receives from them and all the attention does not hurt.

I just wish we lived closer…but I enjoyed all the time spent together.

I love spending time with my family and friends. I also have to admit I like the help I receive from my parents in taking care and entertaining my little one. Thank you so much!!! They really provided me with some much needed downtime for shopping, relaxing (even reading) and some fun afternoon and evenings out. I met some high school friends for our annual visit, and it was wonderful not to have to worry about getting home so the babysitter can leave.

This year I was also able to see my friend Giada that lives in Germany. For a lucky coincidence, she was in Milano for her nephew’s baptism. So, even if her time was very limited, we had the chance to meet for drinks at a fancy rooftop lounge bar, across from the Duomo. It was great to see her. Amazing: we got to meet two years in a row. We know each other, literally, since she was born, 8 months after me.

So, all and all it was another great trip. Spending a lot of time with family and friends, without hurry, and just enjoying each other’s company, makes the long trip and even longer adjustment so worthwhile. I already miss all of you, and I am so sad I can’t have my family closer to me and don’t get to talk to my friend, face to face, more than once a year (if I am lucky). However, I know that the wonderful memories will keep me company in the months ahead.

Thank everyone for making our trip so enjoyable and of course thank you to my parents for pampering us, spoiling us and making us feel like celebrities. You are the best and we love you lots!

Our annual trip to Italy has come and gone. This year, just like last, only Keegan and I made it across the pond. Fortunately, every year the trip gets a little less difficult, and the pile of baggage is a little smaller.

Can’t you tell from the arrival photo? Don’t forget last year I had 7 pieces of carry on, while this year I only had 4: my carry on, my purse, Keegan’s backpack (which he carried for some of the trip) and the car seat. Oh, the car seat: remember the 17 lb  I had carry on my back??? Well, once again it was worth the pain and suffering, including fighting with a flight attendant that did not bend his rule of “3 year old or younger”. Keegan slept in it, up to 6 hours at a time, and quietly sat in it, buckled, for hours. What’s not to love? It compensates for sore muscles. We tried British Airways this time, and I have to say it was great for many reasons:

1) you leave at night time and arrive at night time
2) you fly 10/12 hours straight in a large airplane , so plenty time for sleep or relaxing or walking up and down
3) you land at Linate airport, only 20 minutes away from home (vs. Malpensa, 1.5 hr)
4) you ship your bags directly to the destination without having to get them and transfer them at the first port of entry in US

Also, the planes are nicer, with individual monitors and movie library, the flight attendants are actually nice and pleasant and you can request child meals. If I did not have all that weight with me, the layover would have been nice too, since London Heathrow Airport is like a large shopping mall.

As always, these two weeks flew by.  As always it took Keegan 1 week to get adjusted, and his sleeping and going to bed was somewhat troublesome for the whole trip. It was at time so frustrating I went to buy the Italian translation of Go The F…To Sleep, renamed Fai ‘sta C..o di nanna and wonderfully translated. I am waiting for the audio book, narrated by the Italian Samuel L. Jackson. (-: You should have seen the disgusted face the late 50’s cashier gave me when she rung it up. OBVIOUSLY it is not targeted at her, and OBVIOUSLY she does not have a three years old that does not sleep. The only surprising thing was that the book was displayed in the Children Help Section, next to the serious book on raising children.

Other than the usual sleep issues, though, we had a great time. It was wonderful to spend time with family and friends. While we did not do any special trip, spending time together was priceless. Keegan got re-acquainted with his grandparents right away, and they were laughing and playing together from the airport. Nonno and Nonna invented many new games to keep him entertained and he was just loving all the attention.

Reading new Italian books was always fun, but his absolute favorite were the books I used to read when I was young. My dad kept most of my toys and books, and it was fun, even for me, to rediscover them. Disney 3 little pigs combined with the old VHS tape of circa 1950 animation was a hit. He has been singing these songs ever since.

more reading

And talking about my toys, my old Barbie Doll House was brought up again. Granted, Keegan used it for all sort of creatures, not just Barbies (which were pretty abused in the bath already), but still, I thought it would make a nice blackmail photo for when he is older and dating…

We also went for our annual visit to The Natural History Museum, another blast from the past for me: it was one of my favorite places to go. This year, since Keegan has been more and  more interested in Dinosaurs we visited also the fossils area. They had huge recreations of entire dinosaurs skeletons as well many other animals bones and skulls. It was pretty cool.

watch out for the T. Rex

stegosaurus and footprints

my all time favorite, Triceratops

And since the museum is inside a large park, there was the obligatory Merry Go Round…and round…and round…up to 9 rides at a time. These grandparents are really spoiling him. (-:

The same park also has wonderful places to watch Koi fish and turtles, and to climb and play.

Eating great food is also another wonderful part of our trip, and Keegan and I indulged in delicious soups, pastas, and of course breads, pizza, focaccia and gelato. The round little focaccias where one of his favorite, along with his liquid yogurt.

Keegan was also thrilled of spending time with his cousins, aunt and uncle. Fortunately they are still young enough they enjoy playing with a little one, and they showed him off at school. They visited us…

…and we visited them at their house, where Keegan could play soccer with his cousin and his friend. I am not sure how he is not falling down after these kicks, but he does not. Maybe we should enroll him in a soccer school.

not very graceful, but effective

They really got along great, and Keegan was so excited about having them around…He was also very sad when it was time to leave.

Despite random sicknesses, we were able to have nice dinners all together and even got the chance to take our annual group photo in my parents’ living room. It is fun to compare them, year after year.

…and  hello Blue Dolphins!

Keegan graduated to the next class in his preschool. He is very excited about it and so are we, and not only because the tuition is getting lower.

He had a lot of fun in the Green Gator class, despite a little rough start, with the change of three teachers and he really bonded with his final teacher, Ms. Johnna. She was very good, very sweet and fun, and all the kids just loved her. Good thing Keegan will still see her and play with her. All kids, from 2 years up, play together outside, once the classroom schedule is over.

Ms. Johnna

The new class will be a little more demanding. The new teacher, Ms. Marlena, introduced the curriculum to us during open house: there will be science, and phonics and reading and writing preparation, along with basic motor skills development and a couple of field trips. This sounds like a great plan, and I am looking forward to the progress. Keegan seems very excited about the change: despite the fact that Ms. Marlena is a lot stricter and more of a disciplinarian (which never hurts), 6 of his best friends “graduated” to the blue Dolphins room too. Keegan, Mackenzie, Rozalin, Kelsen, Elliott and Julia are now together. I do feel a little for his teacher, because these kids together can be trouble, and definitely the are a handful! (-: She feels optimistic, though,a bout this class and how much they will accomplish.

Blue Dolphins Room

So have a good school year, my sweet, little Blue Dolphin.

Summer may be officially over, but the nice, warm weather (and the actual calendar) made us indulge in Summer fun a little longer.

We planned a few play dates to take advantage of the tourists’ departure: we went to the zoo with Torin and his mom and dad, and explored new paths. Krista and Eric are the experts when it comes to the zoo, and know all the shortcuts. We saw giraffes, polar bears, monkeys, meerkats, tortoises (getting busy as always), snakes and other assorted animals. We even took the sky ride back, saving us a long uphill walk, while providing wonderful aerial views of the zoo and the bay. Keegan loved it. Another highlight was the zoo train. How fun, for them…

Another fun tourist attraction is the Birch Aquarium. While not as extensive as the Monterey Aquarium, it is still fun to visit, and you can’t beat the view. It was the perfect place to be in an unusually rainy Sunday. Jada and Sharon met us there. They also have a nice kid play area, which was Keegan’s favorite part.

Eaten by Bruce the shark?

The outside fountain

We also had the chance to use the little inflatable pool some more, by having Hannah and family over. Buying that pool was definitely little money well spent. The kids loved splashing in the Shamu pool and jumping around.

After a few more games, it was time for art. They were so serious and concentrated, and it was interesting to see the different “styles” in action: Keegan mixed all the colors in large quantity till he had a big gray blob on the page, while Hannah was carefully choosing colors and keeping them all neatly separated.

We had dinner outside: the kids had their little table while the adults were relaxing at the big table, and baby Natalie, was happily playing on the floor. The kids also had a cute fruit composition, “funny fruits” as Keegan called it; I was hoping to encourage them, especially Keegan, to eat some fruit: no such luck. No matter: we were more than happy to help out.

After dinner we had story time, tickle time, thanks to the Tickle Monster book, and just plain goofing around.

Throwing themselves over the bean bags

Making funny faces

Finally, Keegan got to experience his first boat ride. My friend Gary, whom I have known since college, owns a fishing boat, and he took us for a nice tour of Mission Bay. Keegan liked to pretend he was driving…

His favorite part, though, was spraying pelicans and cormorants with a water gun. He just could not get enough of it.

Fortunately, Gary knew a spot where they gather in large number, alongside the California sea lion (you can distinguish them from seals thanks to their color and because they do have ears). They are incredibly loud, but it is kind of cool watching them lounge around.

Thank you Gary!!!! We had so much fun, we will have to convince Gary to take us out again.

Even if summer is basically over, we took advantage of a great labor Day sale and bought a family tent. We have been talking about going camping and we definitely needed a new, larger tent. We went all out and got a 6 people, two rooms one: even if the divider is a thin piece of fabric, it is great to have our own space. And since I am small, I can actually stand inside. If our fall is warm and sunny as usual we may be able to get our quick camping trip. If not, we will do some backyard camping till next spring. Keegan really liked it.

Matt and I also had the chance to say goodbye to Summer in a beautiful way. For our last date night before my trip, we went for a 2 hour kayak sunset tour of la Jolla Caves. It was beautiful! While we did not see the tiger sharks, we enjoyed the beautiful caves, and plenty of Garibaldi fish, pelicans, cormorants and of course sea lions, in their natural habitat: this area of la Jolla is a marine preserve. It was fun to see them swim or dive alongside us. We also took a close look at the caves, and even entered into the largest one. We tried eating seaweed (salty and slimy) and enjoyed the most beautiful sunset, sitting in glassy water. What a great way to conclude the season!

You never really understand how much we rely on electricity till you have to face a blackout. It was a really unprecedented one. The afternoon started as any other day: I was working at my computer, and we had some guys pouring some concrete in the backyard. As I was getting ready to pick up Keegan at school, I realized we did not have any power. I thought, at  first, that the guys did something to cut the power off. I then realized that the whole house was out, and as I called Sharon next door, that the whole neighborhood was out. During my whole drive to Keegan’s school, I did not see one traffic light working.My cell phone was working intermittently, but my land line, and corded phone, worked great. So I guess it was worth keeping a relic hanging on the wall.

At school, we exchanged stories about the black out and listened to the radio. This being San Diego, there were comparisons to horrible catastrophes, like hurricanes and tornadoes, but, all exaggerations aside, we did find out that the black out was extensive, stretching from western Arizona to the coast and from Orange County all the way to Baja California, Mexico. WOW, this is more than 7 millions people without power. Cars were stalled, and traffic jams were horrendous, so a few of us decided to wait it out a little, and have our kids play outside school for a while.

Fortunately, the roads we were driving were pretty open, so both Matt and I made it home quickly. We gathered candles and powerful LED flashlights and got ready for the night. I was mainly worried about the food, since I had been grocery shopping the previous day. Keegan, while amused by the novelty, was not too happy because he could not see his many little toy cars and therefore play with them, and proclaimed “I don’t want another blackout ever again”.

enjoying watching his huge shadow on the wall

After Keegan went to bed, we settled in, had a nice candlelit dinner (how romantic) and started watching a movie on the portable DVD player….before we both crashed. Fortunately the power came back on around 2am, so it has only been 11 hours, but what was more disturbing was the cause: while inquiries are underway, it looks like ONE guy, in Arizona, changing a malfunctioning part on a transmission line, had cause all this, including the shutting down of the nuclear reactors in San Onofre. Pretty scary thought…ONE guy cuts power to 7 million people, and none of the safeguards worked…

the dramatic headline the following day

The next day, we hoped for a return to normal…no suck luck. Keegan’s school was closed, and so was mine, as it turns out. Don’t ask me why: they are both private schools. So that meant scrambling to find something entertaining to do, but also that my last day of work and end of class, had to be postponed to Monday. Not fun. At least we managed to spend a good, if tiring, day together. We played and we went to the Science Museum. It was not as crowded as I thought, especially considering the two for one  offer and we had a great time playing around the different exhibits.

following his daddy’s footsteps…will it be a water resources engineer?

In the afternoon we got our flue shots and obligatory ice cream and finished the day reading stories, deeply grateful for the bright light that was illuminating the words. Of course we all made plans to stock up our emergency kit, for real this time, and of course nothing has been done… YET. But with fire season just around the corner, it may not be a bad idea.

August was quite eventful as well. We started the month with a bang with a weekend getaway to Monterey: Matt’s sister Sue and her family were in town for a convention, so we met them up there. We picked up Keegan from school right after lunch and headed to the airport. Of course, it had to be Circus Day at school, so we retrieved a little boy with fading face painting and bright green, glitter hair. We received quite a few comments on that, and we had glitter everywhere!

circus day

at the airport…attracting quite a few stares

We stayed at the Embassy Suites which was an awesome hotel. We arrived in time for the free happy hour (open bar and snacks) which Keegan loved. Free, “unlimited” popcorn? Small fountains with live Koi fish?  “Tropical plants”? What’s not to love?

We headed to the Worf, the more touristy part of the city, for an excellent seafood dinner with Aunt Sue and cousin Hannah. Even if Keegan has not seen them since he was little, he immediately loved them, especially Hannah, also called by him: oatmeal hair. This never ceased to amuse him, for the whole three days.

apple hair and oatmeal hair (Keegan and Hannah)

The next day, after an excellent free breakfast, we went to the famous Monterey Aquarium. It was beautiful! We also met Matt’s brother Jim, his wife Dyah and their kids, Jimmy and Kirana. Keegan was trooper and “endured” a 4 hour visit. It must have been an all time record. He watched otters being fed, and diver cleaning tanks, and fluorescent jelly fish and all sort of aquatic animals.

Hannah, Jimmy and Keegan in the wave tunnel

Kirana and Keegan in the wave tunnel

Keegan, Jimmy and Kirana and the fluorescent jellyfish

After lunch, we went back to the hotel for a much needed nap. We met everyone again at our hotel for happy hour and quick swim in the pool. We had a great family dinner together… It was great to be together, even if for a short time. We miss them and we wish we could get together more often.

The next morning, with Keegan waking up so early, we had the chance to enjoy the hotel some more. We went to the heated, indoor pool, where Keegan (and Matt) had fun splashing around. After a delicious breakfast we got ready to leave. Keegan helped, carrying his own backpack.

Before leaving we found some time to play at the Dennis The Menace Park.

This is the great playground where Matt used to play in when he was a little boy, (around Keegan’s age), and lived in Monterey. It was originally designed by the creator of the comic strip Dennis The Menace, and even if it has been renovated (and made safer) since then it is still quite great. It has an original steam engine to climb on and discover (with very careful adult supervision), a large garden maze, a suspension bridge, a climbing wall, a rolling tubes slides, and many other traditional play structures.

Keegan’s favorite: the rolling tubes slide

We headed straight to the airport, and Keegan had a short nap in the car, missing all the traffic. We had a great time. Keegan loved seeing his cousin, and all the attention and he positively LOVED the hotel. He actually cried when we left, and for many weeks afterwards he said he wanted to go back to Monterey and to see his cousins and aunts.

Back in San Diego we had more fun play dates. The marine layer returned, but the sun usually broke through in the afternoons, at least at or house. This is one of the reason we don’t go to the beach too often in the summer: between the smelly seaweed, the crowds and the grey, cloudy skies what is the fun? It is better to wait till the fall when the weather is nicer and there are less people. We did managed to go a couple times, though. We meet one of Keegan’s new friends from his gym class, Alyce, (of course, a girl) at la Jolla Shores, a large, pretty beach, backed up by a large grassy field with a large playground. The perfect location. The water, despite the overcast skies, was very warm, and Keegan managed to get quite soaked. But this is part of the fun.

Talking of water, the mom of one of his friends from school, Van, graciously organized a pool party for his classmates, and we met at their house ready to swim. Keegan was so excited. They have a nice, large pool, with a diving board, and he has been talking about it since last summer.

Van, Elliott and Keegan getting ready

He had a blast and really did not need me in the water at all. He could dive, swim, get to the edge, get out and do it again, without floaties or life vest. In fact he felt a little “left out” since he was the only kid without and he had to give them a try.

cannonball!

I was so proud of him (and so relaxed, just floating and chatting, without too much worry). Kelsen, Elliott, Eric, Julia and Victoria, and of course Van were all there, and they played together quite well. The baby brothers and sisters splashed around a bit too.

After swimming and recovering their energy by eating hot dogs, they all headed inside to watch Rio, or at least part of it. What a fun afternoon.

zoning in front of the tube

We got time for adult fun too. I went to a day trip to Los Angeles in a field trip with Platt College. We went to see the Disney Music Hall and an exhibition at LACMA on Tim Burton’s art. It was great. We rented a luxurious double-decker bus and headed north. I’ve never seen the Disney Hall, so it was great for me, and we were lucky that the auditorium was open to the public that day. What an amazing building.

The auditorium with the Gehry design organ

The Tim Burton’s Exhibit was also spectacular. I spent more than two hours admiring his beautiful art and props from his movies. I miss museums and great exhibits. I even miss LA, and strolling down sunset or hanging out in some cool hotel.

the entrance of the exhibition. No photography permitted inside

On the way back, though, I remembered why I don’t go to LA more often: it took us 4 hours to get back home! We boarded the bus at 3pm and we were in bumper to bumper traffic all the way to the merge with the 8 freeway, way within San Diego. Wow. I did not mind it too much, though, since I was not driving. We watched The Corpse Bride on the DVD system the bus had (I told you it was luxurious), and I brought a book. So, 4 hours (or 6 counting the way over) of uninterrupted reading in a comfortable, bus is not too shabby for me.

We closed the month with our date night: a dinner cruise in the San Diego Bay. For pure luck,  San Diego Summer Pops, a concert series, had fireworks scheduled, so we got to “park” our ship right in front of them and enjoy them. Very beautiful and romantic.

So even if we still complain we don’t get enough real vacations, and we don’t get to take 3/4 weeks off like Europeans (or at least Italians) do, I guess we can console ourselves thinking we live in a beautiful place, a real vacation destination that offers so much to do and see and that we get to play outside in a beautiful environment all year around. (still I would not turn down extra vacation days).

September starts with a three day weekend, and with that Summer will be officially over. There is much to look forward to in the Fall as well: our trip to Italy, (Keegan and I), Cars 2 out on DVD (well, I guess this is more Keegan than me) and Keegan moving up to the next class, Blue Dolphin on Tuesday. For once, half of his class, and most of his best buddies are moving up with him…we are really feeling sorry for the new teacher: Keegan, Kelsen, Kenzie, Rozalin and Elliott in the same class…wow this is an explosive mix! We hope Ms. Marlena got a lot of rest in her vacation.

Wow, Summer flew by…we have been so busy enjoying it we did not have too much time to update the blog. I will try to make up for it now. (-:

July was a good month: we finally got a short break from the marine layer and gray overcast skies, and had some fun in the sun. With warmer days we had more water fun. The small pools worked overtime and we managed to get the larger pool workable enough to dip in. Keegan loves it. In fact, when asked at school what he likes most about summer, he answered: using two pools. He swims in it most days, when Matt comes home…too cold for when the suns not  out. His swimming skills really improved, and he can now swim by himself quite easily. He is working on learning the correct style but he can dive, swim underwater, and more importantly he is able to come up to the surface and swim to the edge of the pool. This is a big relief for us, because we know that, even if he still need constant supervision, he is safer in the water.

We had Kenzie over to splash around and the two took turns diving in three inch water, and getting soaked.

They had a blast. Can you tell?

Keegan was also invited to a fun birthday party at Gym Ventures: the kids got to play in the gym for an hour with an instructor and then filled their bellies with pizza and cupcakes. Even if the party was right in the middle of his bedtime, Keegan lasted till the end, and promptly fell asleep in the car when we left.

everyone is making funny faces

We also had a few more play dates with friends from school. You would think that after seeing each other all week, they would need a little break but noooo. Seeing each other outside school adds to the fun. Keegan went to Rozalin’s house with Kenzie. Amazingly enough, there were no fights or crying, and the 4 kids, including Rozelin’s big brother,  went along wonderfully.

Keegan is in touch with his feminine side: nursing a doll back to health

July was a good a good month for us too: work on the yard continued, as well as the furnishing and fixing up of the house. I got to go to Comic Con, which was unexpected, since tickets has been really hard to come by. I guess this is the advantage of attending a design school… I only stayed for a few hours, but it was great to see all the art…and of course I got a couple of books for Keegan, signed and dedicated to him by the artists. Great Christmas presents. In the meantime I gave him the book I bought at last year Comic Con, an awesome story by illustrator David Mack. What an inspiration to see all this beautiful art and to talk to the artists. Hopefully this beautiful book will inspire Keegan as well.

This summer has really been the summer of Cars. Not only Keegan has been watching the video over, and over, and over again on the weekends, but he has been playing with his toys cars A LOT. Many people complain about these movies, because their kids obsess over some particular character…well we are counting our blessing. Since he discovered Cars in the Spring, he has been playing with them a lot, by HIMSELF. This means that we get a few minutes of independent play when we can actually relax and read or do whatever, without having to pay attention to him 100%.

It is not quiet, mind you, because I think this is physically impossible for him to do, just like he can’ t stay still. He needs to talk. We get many comments, all the time (some nicer than others) on how he expresses himself so well, how he asks so many questions, how inquisitive he is…all nice ways to say he is NEVER quite. Not even in the bathroom, or when he goes to sleep. And definitively not when he plays. It is actually quite funny: he makes up all these stories, and I have to say that the little TV he watches, fuels his imagination and stories.

He plays with his cars using all sort of other toys, building garage, or slides or whatever else. He races them, he hides them, he lines them up, and he takes photos of them with his camera…

this is what I find when I get home from work

some of his favorite ones…but where is Francesco?

recording the crash?

Despite my dislike for licensed characters stuff, my resistance was futile: he has Cars underwear, sock, shoes, pjcs, t-shirt, various books, stickers and markers. He even has a Cars 2 lunch box: after spending a long time looking for the perfect lunch box to buy, we went to Target and it was all over…I had to get that one. My favorite toy, though, is a large Mac: it contains 16 cars and has a handle, and this is where all the cars go to sleep at night. (-: And he is going to get a new launcher. garage, once he gets enough stickers, of course, that will hold 10 more. These are the kind of toys that I like…storage masked as toys.

We also found a way to use his new passion to our advantage. We made sticker charts to earn new cars. The charts have a road and he uses cars stickers to fill it. This has helped our nighttime routine quite a bit. We both win: he gets new cars, we get more peaceful nighttime. The only problem is that, since he jumped on the bandwagon so late, it is extremely difficult to find the cars he wants at a reasonable price, since it has been so many years since the movie came out. The charts also have the added bonus of instilling the idea that you need to earn your toys. Now if he sees something he likes he says: “can I earn stickers for this toy?” Nice.

“There is a lot of traffic on this road” is his usual comment

Now he is looking forward to the Fall, when the new Cars 2 video will come out. We thought about taking him to the movies, but he can’t stay still and quiet for two hours, and even at home he always wants to skip through videos, even his favorite ones. So we all agreed that waiting for video is probably best.

So, thank you Pixar. You genius idea of commercializing one of the oldest plaything for little boys has really worked out for us.