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…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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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