tizimatt.info

After a super early Easter last year, in March, this year Easter landed at the end of April. Ironically, even with more time, we did not really do much or participated in many activities. Keegan did not show any interest in public egg hunts, and I obviously did not press the issue.

We did get together with his friends Alyce and Betty for some egg coloring, but even that activity was completed pretty quickly.

On Easter week, or Holy week if you are religious, there was another kind of spectacular event; a full lunar eclipse was visible from the clear sky above San Diego, and a special one to boot: the “blood moon”, which happens when the eclipsed moon appears read due to the sunsets and sunrises across the globe.. The previous week we went to a special event at the Science Museum where we watched a planetarium show previewing the eclipse. We were all pretty excited about it. It was unfortunately happening in the middle of the night, but we set up the alarm. As it happens, the alarm didn’t go off, but I woke up around 1.30, just in time for seeing the moon getting out of totality. It was still an amazing event. We woke Keegan up, and enjoyed the view.

best image from our deck, with my crappy camera

awesome photo from Jack Brauer

As far as Easter is concerned, Keegan kept on going back and forth on believing and not believing on the Easter bunny. Bottom line, I think he knows there is not such a thing as the Easter bunny, but he likes to believe in it anyway. How do I know? He asked US to make some money eggs for him to find.

On Easter morning, Keegan actually work up at 5.30…and went to the bathroom (miraculous!), but then got back to bed, so we could sleep another hour. Matt hid the eggs in the yard, and by 6.30 am the hunt began. Well, not so much of a hunt, but more of a collection. It did not matter: Keegan loved it. In a few minutes he filled his basket, collected three huge eggs and found his Easter basket.

We brought the loot inside, carefully peeling slugs of all sizes off the eggs…Keegan opened all his eggs to find plenty candies, $1.50 in quarters, a plane and a truck. Candies included hand-made lego chocolate which, by the way, did not elicit such an amazing response and will be therefore archived in the “not worth the effort” category. The basket was also well received, with three new movies, a drawing book, some reading books, and especially two Hot Wheel track extensions. There was also a chocolate egg that came straight from Italy. Thank you nonna!

After all that, Keegan settled in to watch one of the new movies, while Matt and I went to sleep. We instructed him to wake us up in two hours, and he was allowed to start watching a second movie if he had time left. Sure enough, three hours passed, and we had not heard from him (incredibly!). Well, he “forgot” to look at the time, and “accidentally” watched two full movies. I guess some time you have to compromise your principles a little: we were so happy to be able to sleep three extra hours that we simply made it an Easter exception.

We had a great brunch, courtesy of our personal chef Matt. My favorite part were the cornbread eggs in different colors. Keegan had the idea to add food coloring to them. Good idea! Everything was delicious.

The afternoon was quiet, or as quiet as it can be. Keegan built a ramp for his car, and with the new extension he could actually launch them from the living room to the sun room. I relaxed outside on the deck. We did did errands and homework (and no, this was not quiet). We closed off the day with dinner at Jennifer and Dave’s house. Lina and Mila were there too, so like old days, the three friends (+ Natalie) played well together, while the adults had some fun conversation.

What a great way to close off the day, and for Keegan, to conclude his Spring Break. He spent the week at the YMCA camp, and he had fun. It is now time, however, to get back to our normal routine. We are in the home stretch, and in less than two months, Keegan will not be a kindergarten kid anymore. Wow, this year surely flew by…

Comments are off for this post

Curious George has been one of Keegan’s favorite characters for a couple of years. He is a monkey (well, technically he is an ape, since he does not have a tail) that lives with the man with The Yellow Hat and lets his curiosity lead him in all kind of adventures. In the TV series, every episode centers on learning something new, so it is definitively a show we endorse.

Curious George was also Keegan’s nickname at his preschool when he was an infant, as he would immediately turned towards every noise to see what was going on…and this did not change AT ALL. Our little guys is still incredibly curious (in fact often crossing over to the noisy and busy-body territory). Curiosity, when it reined in, it is one of Keegan’s best skills, and we are hoping it will translate into curiosity about learning. At his school, Curious George is the classroom’s pet, and every weekend he goes home with one of the kids for the weekend.

Keegan has been waiting anxiously for his turn. Not knowing exactly how this turn was determined extended the “agony”: it did not seem to correlate with any order, or any merit, for that matter…finally his turn arrived. Since Keegan is a very lucky boy, he got to bring him home for Spring Break: a whole week! And to prove there is no apparent rhyme or reason to the assignment, Keegan had a pretty bad week: very little work was done, and his behavior was disruptive enough that, along with two other boys, he had to go to the principal to promise he will not talk anymore. Not that this will be an incentive to behave: Keegan thought it was kind of fun to go to the principal.

Anyway, we made sure to have a lot of fun with Curious George, especially because we need to write down his adventures in the classroom book. And he has been around: he went to Disneyland, Legoland, Seaworld, the zoo, different classes…

We started with a movie night on our big projection screen with our neighbors. Naturally, Curious George slept with Keegan every night, despite his other 4 animals already there.

In the morning, Keegan chose to watch his Curious Geroge DVD of course.

Then he went shopping with us: first IKEA, then Lowe’s then Kohl’s to get some new shoes.

The following day, we had a fun playdate with his preschool’s friend Brady, and George played too. He also came to Italian class, and on Friday night, he went with Keegan to his Pool Party (parents night out).

The last weekend was a busy one: he watched more tv on Saturday morning, and in the afternoon, he went to Seaworld. They have finally finished their latest remodel, with the addition of the Explorer’s Reef, a series of shallow pools, where kids (and adults alike) can interact with different sea creatures: horseshoe crabs, rays, white-spotted bamboo sharks, and Keegan’s favorite: cleaner fish. These are very small fish that like to nibble on your hands. If you are patient and still enough, dozens of little fish will feast on the dead skin cells on your hands. Quite fun.

Of course we had to sit through the obligatory Shamu Show (definitely way less fun than the previous show) and the Dolphin Show, and pay our dues at the kid’s zone. However, all this excitement wore Keegan down, and he wanted to leave before closing time. Seaworld is celebrating its 50th anniversary, so the entryway has a brand new commemorative “statue”. The design is not even too bad.

We concluded the week with a bang: Easter Sunday! Matt got up early to hide the eggs in the yard. Curious George accompanied Keegan in the hunt and helped him collect all the eggs and his basket.

After egg hunting, it was time for brunch, and once again, Curious George was our esteemed guest.

Wow, Keegan had a great time with the class pet. But every fun experience must come at a price. Bringing George home means you must write in a journal and tell about all the adventures you had, maybe add a drawing or photos. Seems easy, right? Well, it took us 3/4 sittings and lots of patience to get slightly more than a page. I am really grateful we don’t have homework every day: it is such a painful experience, mainly for us parents…

working hard on the drawing

Keegan’s adventures

The final result is “stunning”: the drawing of the eggs hunt is complete. And with a little help from mom for the photos, we can finally put the journal away. Done! I am glad they only get to take it home once a year.

Bye Bye Curious George.

Comments are off for this post