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Father’s day, this year, happened right on our 12th year wedding anniversary. Bummer. I guess we should have thought about it when we chose the day…Jokes aside, we got our romantic date night the night before: we had a nice dinner on a restaurant overlooking the bay, watching the sunset, then took a walk and enjoyed the fireworks from Seaworld. It was nice and peaceful…a nice contrast from a tense afternoon, when Keegan was running amok.

On Sunday, though, it was all about dad. Both Saturday and Sunday, I let Matt sleep in, while I got up with Keegan and watched Star Wars. Keegan did not want any special breakfast, so when he woke up we had a simple breakfast and we got ready.

We decided to go to the San Diego Fair and we wanted to get there early enough not to find any crowds. We made it before opening, so we scored a nice parking spot and a short line. We met one of Keegan’s friend, Kevin, so the kids had fun together going on rides. Kevin was not quite the adventurer, but they still found some rides to go on together.

When he left, Keegan got to go on all the rides Kevin did not want to try. Once again, the all day wristband worked his magic: we were at the fair till mid afternoon. Very tiring, but he had a blast.

When we got home, it was time to celebrate Matt!! My favorite thing was the Star Wars Card we found for our cool dad.

And talking about Star Wars…how about this one, that someone posted on Facebook? Well, if not for Keegan, I would not have gotten it.

We had all our presents ready for him. Happy Father’s day Matt!

We got him a stand-up card that says: “Quiet, dad relaxing zone”. He can put outside his room while napping. Keegan made a really cool tie card at school, pretty cool!

After all the celebrations, the boys were playing together. It is so much fun watching them play. (-: Matt is a great dad and he is really good at entertain him. Keegan and I are lucky to have such a cool dad!

In 1964, the Beatles landed in US and conquered the American public. 50 years later, it is time to celebrate that momentous year. Mission Bay Montessori Academy chose the Beatles as the theme for their end of the year show. I have to say I am glad: I like their songs, and it makes the 90 minutes program more bearable.I would almost dare to say it was enjoyable.

The kids were adorable: each class sang three songs and then they all performed together for the grand finale; some of the older kids played instruments, and even dressed up like the Beatles. It was pretty fun. Fortunately Keegan was in the center of the stage, so I was able to see him even from the back. The low-res images are from the video that we could, “voluntarily” purchase for the bargain price of $35. Of course,we didn’t have to, but we were forbidden from taking your own video or photos during the night show.

While purple is not my favorite color, they did look very cute. With this show, we got two uses out of his black slacks and dress shoes. Not bad…and we inherited them from our neighbors anyway.

Of course Keegan can’t stop goofing around, especially if there is a female audience. It is hard to believe that Luiza is only 1 year older.

Mission Bay Montessori Academy was not the only place that was celebrating the Beatles’s invasion. The annual San Diego Fair was also dedicated to this event. Colors, look, promotional materials and even the logo were a throw back of the era.

They even had an exhibit of never released photos, chronicling the famous appearance at the Ed Sullivan Show, and other famous stops. A separate part of the exhibit was showing the photos from the John Lennon and Yoko One “bed-in”. Keegan loved to look at the photos and memorabilia.

They also had music stations to listen to the songs and some TV excerpts. I am sure my mom, a Beatles fan, would have enjoyed it a lot. Since it was father’s day when we visited, every dad received a Fab Father Pin, a take on the Beatles’ nickname: Fab Four. Matt refused to wear it, if not on his backpack, but I got a picture of it at home.

It was a fun day…or should I say a Fab Day?

It is hard to believe, but Keegan’s kindergarten year is coming to an end. I can’t say it has been always easy, but he worked hard and finished the year well. As expected, when we met with his teachers, they commended his effort and dedication and good academic results, while obviously commenting on his improvement areas:  maturity, focus and keeping his emotion under control (as well as his loud voice). In one word: self-control.

They held an open house, so parents could see the school and watch their kids work. Keegan displayed his penmanship book, as well as his reading exercises…and his favorite activity: sand sifting.

We also admired their artwork and crafts. Each kid also made a pledge for helping the environment. Keegan promised to pick up trash, two pieces each day to be exact.

I have to say that I feel this year has been a really good one, challenges aside. We can see a lot of improvement, not only in his writing and reading, but also in his personality. I really think it is a good choice for him. We are also very impressed by the extra curricular activities: computers, science, music and art. And speaking of art…remember that painting of an Eggplant and egg I was so impressed about back in January? It was especially impressive if you look at his usual drawings, like the one above. Well, I guess the teacher was impressed too, since she selected that drawing, together with only two other ones from his class to go to the San Diego Fair exhibition. Keegan was so proud!

All the chosen pieces were displayed first in an exhibition at school, identified as Best of The Best. He also received a certificate and a free ticket to the fair.

Finding his work at the Fair was not easy, but we finally found it. It was cool to see it hanging with all the other pieces.

He received a “first place” ribbon, even if it is not really clear first place of what…

Even more confusing if you look at all the other pieces: basically all of them got first place. However, one of his classmates got second place, so he felt very proud. All the other drawings around his were also created at his school, so you can see quite a variety of projects, and quite a good quality.

Overall, it was a very successful year, and we are looking forward to next year, when Keegan is going to enter first grade. Unfortunately, we will not know till the end of the summer in which class he will be, and if he will have any of his friends from this year, but I know he will see them around school anyway. Keegan is sad about leaving some of his friends, but luckily he is quick to make new friends. So, for now, we will not worry, and just enjoy summer school.

Keegan is very voluble in his interests. He is usually obsessed with some theme or toy for a while, and then he moves on, and don’t play with it anymore. Cars probably have been the longest lasting love, since it has come back to them in waves, but now we have a new winner: anything Star Wars. He has been talking and admiring Star Wars for a year or two now, since he has learned about it in preschool. He even asked us to get the movies, but till a few months ago it was not an obsession. Now it is pretty much all he plays with. He even makes up stories and uses his light saber to make them come to light.

He finally mustered the courage of watching all the 6 movies (multiple times) and he is enjoying his Lego sets…well, he mainly likes the mini figures and the built-up ships I put together for him. But as I have said before it is a win-win, since I really like building Legos. It just gets a little frustrating having to rebuild them for the 100th times, after he “explodes” them.

This is the typical scene I see when I get home from work.

obi wan kenobi standing guard

Fortunately I have found these cute Lego shaped boxes, so most of the chaos is safely stored away, and so far, stepping on Lego incidents have been extremely rare.

We are also lucky to live in San Diego, where the volunteer Star Wars society is very active, and it is easy to see some of its members at various events. He always gets a kick out of it (and so do we). We saw quite a few at the latest Touch A Truck Event. It is a fundraiser event with lots of car and truck you can mount and play on. We also saw a medical rescue helicopter land, and got to climb on board. Pretty cool!

Keegan had a blast last year, also thanks to the Robosaurus, absent this time, but this year he did not seem all that interested…except for the Star Wars characters, of course. Can you guess who they are?

Aniken Skywalker and Padme Amidala

Senator Palpatine, as a Lord Sith

A clone warrior

Darth Maul

Of course, it is still hard for me to keep all the characters and ships and planets straights, but Keegan is more than happy to explain and show me who is who. Books helps too. I guess I do enjoy the movies more now that I know all the back story. As I was growing up I only saw the first movie (the only real one, if you ask me: Episode IV), at the movie theater…imagine that! Not sure who took me, since my parents have no memory of it, but I know I saw it and was not too impressed.

Talking of movies, Keegan is looking forward to the new movie coming out next year…I am not sure. Disney and Star Wars???

Of course there are plenty of other Star Wars things to see, especially at Legoland. During a recent visit with Keegan’s friend Kevin, the kids posed with Lego Darth Vader, before admiring the awesome reconstruction of each episode in Legos.

Millennium Falcon

A visit to Legoland, though, is not complete without trying all the other rides (and some overpriced treat), and Keegan tried the “big kids” driving circuit…he was able to drive on the roads, but blew through traffic lights and signals…well, it is his first time.

So, now we are trying to use his passion to our advantage: we are getting Star Wars books specifically created for early readers…Hopefully he will be interested in the topic enough to want to practice his reading…

It only took 20 years, and lots and lots of controversy, but finally San Diego has a new central library. It is a beautiful building, very airy and modern, located close to the Padres Stadium downtown.

Keegan had been wanting to go check it out, since he has heard about it from his teachers. We wanted to check it out too, not only for the cool architecture and design, but also because we created a personalized brick, dedicated to Keegan, and wanted to see it in place. It took two trips, and quite a long time, but we finally located it in the courtyard outside.

Even though we thought we had been original, I saw at least another  brick with almost identical saying…good thing we specified his full name. Once inside, we were amazed at the building, the view and the dome. Really spectacular.

Keegan is getting quite good at taking pictures

The inside is as spectacular: high ceilings, natural light, beautiful furnishing and great art, including inspiring quotes carved in stone.

The quite says” We read to know we are not alone”

Of course, the core of a library is its book collections, and the kid’s collection is amazing. It is huge, and decorated in bright colors, with beautiful murals of some of the most memorable Dr. Seuss’s illustrations.

“kid, you will move mountains…”from The Places You Go

We really had to drag Keegan out, but he was happy about the 5 books we borrowed, which of course included a Star Wars book. Now, I don’t know how often we will be able to visit, since we have a much more convenient library branch around the corner, but it is a wonderful resource nevertheless.

It is hard to believe this is my 7th Mother’s Day! Keegan was very excited the whole week, looking forward to Sunday. Even if he is now in elementary school, he still worked on crafts for me. On Thursady, at Italian class, he colored a paper flower, and at his school, he planted some seeds in a pot and created a cool bookmark, with a personalized message on the back. Very sweet.

The weekend was fun. On Saturday, we went to the opening of the new waterfront park downtown. It was very crowded, but it is beautiful. There are many unusual play structures, and fountains, and for the occasion, many booths were present. Keegan received a small box of ladybugs, to release in our yard. We even met our friend Sara, with Alyce and Betty. The kids played and had fun…till Keegan bumped his face on one of the rides. It was time to leave anyway.

We stopped by Matt’s new office downtown. Not quite as fancy as the old URS office, but still nice. Even if he does not have a real “closed-doors”office, his cubicle is large and with a great window, overlooking downtown and Balboa park.

At night we had a date night: Matt and I went to watch a beautiful, if hazy sunset at Sunset Cliffs, and then we headed for a great dinner at Humphrey’s on the Bay, overlooking the marina and the sailboats docked there. It was fun.

Sunday finally came. Keegan woke up at 6.45 (in itself a nice present!) and wished me Happy Mother’s Day. After cuddles, he got up with Matt to get everything ready, while I caught up on some sleep. When I woke up the boys have prepared a wonderful spread! Flowers, presents, cards, chocolate…

Keegan, along with Daddy, filled out a booklet for me, full of drawings and funny sayings. They got it finished just in time.

At Chinese class, Keegan created a heart, inscribed in Chinese…it is supposed to say Mama, I love you, or something similar. It was filled, in fact overflowing, with M&Ms…that would make me happy indeed.

Matt prepared a wonderful brunch, with cream cheese crepes and Nutella crepes (my request). Keegan, inspired by a photo he saw on my computer, suggested Matt to create a heart made of fruit. What a great idea! This is the result.

After the delicious food, we posed for the obligatory picture, that is by now a tradition.

It was a warm day, and it was time to release our butterflies, another almost yearly tradition. This year, we bought some caterpillars for Keegan’s classroom as well, so all the kids could enjoy the process. This batch was anxious of getting out, and flew away immediately.

The afternoon was fun as well. Keegan had a play date at one of his classmates’ house, Kevin. We tagged along, and spent a couple of pleasant hours chatting with his parents and snacking on cheese and crackers. We closed the day with a outside dinner, since it was nice and warm, and Matt prepared a delicious BBQ.

I really feel spoiled by my guys. I could not have asked for a better celebration. Thank you, boys, I love you!

Looking back at some of the photos we take during the year, or thinking back to the past few months it feels like our most common weekend activity is going to birthday parties. It can be exhausting, but Keegan loves them, of course, and we perpetuate the madness by throwing our own…so we are stuck into an infinite loop.

Some parties are pretty easy, like the Pump It Up Parties, which is just what we do: I am definitely a low-achiever when it comes to parties.

New classmate Shrinesh’s party

Others are more original. Van’s party was a morning showing of the new Lego movie, completed with popcorn and drink for all the kids, and reserved seating. Even better, it was our first drop-off party, so Matt and I left him at the movie theater and went to have a delicious breakfast and walk at the beach. The party continued at Van’s house, with more fun and an amazing, hand-made Lego cake.

Julia’s party was held at the botanical garden. The kids could paint small vases and rocks and pot their own succulent. There was a scavenger’ hunt and delicious food for all.

The three good friends from the daycare days were reunited. Kenzie painted a beautiful stone for Keegan, and we got to take home a nice succulent.

Markus’ party was one of my favorites, so far. It was held at a public park, and they hired a “Reptile Guy”. I have to admit I had thought about doing something similar for Keegan, but he never showed much interest in it. I was very excited: I love reptiles, and the guy brought lots of them, big and small. He had snakes, geckos, turtles, lizard and even a tarantula (well, not really a reptile, but still pretty cool). The kids had the chance to interact with all of them.

A huge tortoise named Wally would enjoy its time in the grass, and the kids had fun making a never-ending bridge for it to crawl under.

Snakes of all sizes were the big attraction.

I jumped at the chance. I love snakes, and honestly if they would not need that much care, (including needing live animals as food), I would like to own one.

The tarantula was a big hit as well. This one looked just like the one we saw when we went camping at Cuyamaca: in fact it is a local species. The kids took turns letting it crawl over their hands and heads.

The grand finale was a huge albino python. It was HUGE, but very mellow, since it has been raised in captivity and has been a party guest for years. Now full grown, it is usually left for the end of the show.

How many kids does it take to hold an adult python???

Markus’s brother, Lukas, also had a spring birthday, and we got invited to that party as well. It was at the local Skate Park, and this time Keegan had his own scooter to bring along, so he had a lot more fun. The birthday happened during a week-long heat wave, with temperatures soaring to 90s and up, and even if it was only 9am, it was already sweltering.

The kids had fun, but they took longer than usual breaks to rest in the shade and drink water.

When it was time for cake, all the kids were soaking wet, and gulping Gatorade.

My all time favorite party, though, was Brady’s, Keegan’s friend from preschool. The two get along quite well, so, even if he did not want to have a big party, Brady insisted on having Keegan over. So, his parents offered to take him bowling on the Navy base (Brady’s dad is a Navy Helicopter pilot) and then, to keep him at their house for a sleepover! We could hardly believe it: a drop-off party AND a sleepover in one! Yeah! Of course we accepted. We dropped Keegan off by 3pm and picked him up the next morning around 10am.

He had a blast playing bowling, and I guess he did OK, hitting a strike as well. Then, the kids went on base to see the helicopters, and try them out. And these are REAL helicopters. Brady’s mom, Lori, sent us the pictures as they posed and goofed off.

It was Keegan’s first sleepover and he is still wearing pull ups at night, so we were a little worried about teasing, but Brady was awesome, and nobody gave him a hard time. In fact, both boys got up around 3am to use the bathroom. Too bad that did not stick with Keegan.

And what did we do for all those blessed childless hours? We enjoyed the peace, of course. Actually we spent the night at a nearby hotel, watched the sunset at Glider Point, and had a delicious dinner at a Steakhouse in walking distance of the hotel. It was great.

The next morning, when we picked Keegan up, there were smiles all around! Keegan had a great time, and so did we…now, I am not sure about Brady’s parents, but for us, it has been a win-win situation. And yes, next time it is at our house.

So, finally, birthday season is coming to an end (at least we hope so)…we will enjoy it till the merry-go-round starts again, in August.

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…

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.

I know that San Diego is not supposed to have seasons, and in all honesty January can be warmer than July (truth: it did happen a couple of years ago). This is exactly why I love San Diego.

January 15, 2014 (notice the 81/26 degrees on my birthday)

However, even here you can feel when Spring is the air: the perfume of fresh flowers is everywhere. So this is an even more fun time to be in San Diego, and with the super early daylight saving inception you get more daylight…yes, you hate every morning for a good two/three weeks when you get up in the dark, but there are more hours to play.

And play we did. We added a new spin on usual activities, like the zoo visit. Check out how cute these pandas are. Unfortunately the latest baby was not on display, but these two, mama panda and one of her 6 kids, made up for it.

We took advantage of the fact that Matt needed to survey a nearby canyon to change our usual hike route. One think that did not change was Keegan’s whining about it. He does not like to hike on flat areas…if there is climbing, well, that is a different story.

Even a visit to the air space Museum had a nice twist. A new space craft for space exploration, Orion, is getting ready for its first flight. It is intended to travel beyond low Earth orbit. While the first test flight will be unmanned, the spacecraft “will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.” At the museum, there was a banner that you could sign that will be at the Orion launch. By the way, our signatures, are on the top left part of the photo, right above the O.

The museum visit was fun as always: Keegan, and Matt for that matter, never cease to be impressed by the cool planes.

Even in San Diego, we had a small celebration for Carnevale: Keegan dressed up for two consecutive weeks for his Italian class and on Fat Thursday, they learned about carnival’s traditions and made their own masks.

We are also trying to make Keegan a “well-rounded” kid, and to expose him to a variety of “gender-neutral” activities: Matt is teaching him how to use power tools.

We also enrolled him in a Woodshop class at school. He loves it and I am keeping my hopes up…maybe he will be the furniture maker I am wishing for! The teacher drives up to school in a refurbished bus, with individual stations for the kids. No power tools, but plenty of hammers, saws, hand drills. The kids complete a small project each lesson. The coolest thing is that the instructor is a woman. In fact there are more girls than boys in his class. Yeah!

proudly displaying his jet and his back-scratcher

Of course, Matt tries to inspire a love for cooking, especially since Keegan declared that “mom is a disaster in the kitchen”. This is obviously not true, as I can whip up eggs and soup and pasta…but we all know I hate cooking, with a passion. Lucky for us, our friend Daniele is also another great male cook, so hopefully it will come naturally for Keegan. Last time we visited him for dinner, Keegan and Gaia helped making hand-made tagliatelle. Keegan loved to make his own pasta. Well, we do have a pasta machine, but I am not sure I am ready for a whole afternoon adventure making pasta…and the mess that comes with it.

Dinners at Daniele’s are always excellent, but the pasta tasted particularly good after all the work our kids did. The two went along wonderfully: they really like each other, and Keegan especially is smitten with Gaia, who, for some strange reason, enjoys his company and is incredibly patient, despite the three years difference.

We also went to Engineer Day at the mall. Keegan seems to be very interested in science and experiments, and he had fun checking out the different booths. He got to build a gum-drop tower.

We saw some of the people who works at URS. It was a little weird, since Matt’s last day there was the previous Friday, so it felt a little bitter sweet, at least to me.

One other science-themed event was the High School Robotic Competition. This is a great annual event in which teams from different high schools create a robot able to play a per-determined game. It was awesome to watch, and I really hope it will be inspirational for our little guy, even I have to say I was the most excited by far. I would be happy for Keegan to be interested in these kind of things during his high school years. Even sweeter, two teams were from our local Clairmont high schools, and one of them, the Devil Duckies from Madison High won the competition.

one of the robots from Madison High in Claremont

There is hope for Keegan’s high school education! The competition took place in a Sports Arena, decorated with beautiful band pictures. Here my little guy posing with Kurt Cobain and two random robots.

Lately Keegan has changed his desired future profession from Diver to Scientist. We are trying our best to help foster his interest: we have a few scientist’s kits and we try out different experiments, we watch scientific videos and we will enroll him in the Mad Scientist summer camp to foster this interest…and let’s keep our fingers crossed.

After our big Disneyland adventure, we had more excitement: nonna came to visit us for 10 days. It was a special trip, as it was the first time she flew alone and she stayed at our house. Everyone was a little nervous, but she handled the trip wonderfully and I bet she is now fully confident about traveling alone.

We were a little sad nonno could not join her and that it was only for 10 days, but we got the most out of it. The weather, while not magnificent, was nice enough for her to enjoy some peace and quiet (in the morning) on the deck and yard. Keegan was very happy to see her, and he loved all the extra attention. We were also very happy to have her spend time with us, and cook for us, of course. There was a lot of playing around, reading books, painting and simply goofing around.

During the long President’s Day weekend, she babysit more than her share: Keegan had two days off, so he spent the morning of Valentine’s Day at home with her.

what a little heart-breaker!
 

That night, Matt and I had a nice date night. We scored last minute tickets to the TAO: Taiko Japanese Drummers and as always, it was an amazing show.

The next day we hit Pacific Beach. Keegan did not want to swim in the water but we had a lot of fun playing in the sand. It was also the perfect backdrop for photos.

Evan Keegan wanted to get in the photo-action: I have to say that, despite the extreme angle, he is getting quite good at taking photos. Maybe he’s just trying to be artistic.

Mom very kindly offered to watch the little guy, so Matt and I were able to spend a night alone in a hotel. Yeah! Almost 24 hours alone. We stayed in Del Mar and had a beautiful dinner at a restaurant…and then slept in the following morning…what a concept! Thank you mom!

Monday was a holiday for all of us, so we headed to the Midway Museum, a retired aircraft open to the public. It was fun, as always. Right across the bay we were also able to see two real aircraft carriers, docked off Coronado.

Keegan wanted to test all the possible airplanes, and dragged nonna with him.

For once, the upper deck was not too windy, so again, lots of great photo ops.

Keegan goofing around

After a long visit, we rewarded ourselves with a great lunch at the FishMarket, a beautiful restaurant right on San Diego Bay. Of course Keegan did not even tried the fish, but I enjoyed a wonderful swordfish sandwich.

Unfortunately, the visit was over too soon, and on Wednesday we had to take nonna at the airport. It was sad to see her go, but we had wonderful memories to keep us company till we will meet again. And lucky Keegan got one last present: a small, soft penguin to remember nonna by. He called it Penny and it became immediately one of the favorites, and earned the much sought after role of “sleeping buddy”. See you soon nonna (and nonno)!

Keegan, Penny, and his favorite monster blanket

Penny is going to Spring Camp

We all slept soundly after the long day at California Adventure. Keegan woke up at 6.30am, and he said he had bad dreams about the spooky hotel. He got to watch his movie while we rested some more. Then we had breakfast downstairs, pack up, and check out. Another cool thing about this hotel: they let us leave the car in the garage, for half the price of Disneyland’s parking…and it was closer. So, whatever the hotel lacked in amenities, it made up in convenience.

We headed excitedly to Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth…well I am really not sure this is the case: how can a place with huge crowds, tons of kids and no booze be the happiest place on earth?

Anyway, on Mondays the park opens at 10am, and we immediately went to one of the most popular rides, and from what I remembered from my first and last visit 12 years ago, one of the coolest: Indiana Jones Adventures. The wait was only 10 minutes, so we went right in, after getting a fast pass for later. The waiting itself is cool, as you wind your way to the ride inside what it looks like an old temple with strange artifacts and inscriptions on the walls.(google images)

The ride is in an oversized jeep. Keegan was getting nervous. Honestly I did not remember what the ride was about, except that I liked it. Unfortunately Keegan hated it, as he repeated multiple times afterwards. It was very shaky, and very dark. Ooops. He refused to ride it again…so much for our fast pass.It was a bummer, since I still liked it a lot.

Next we went to the Pirates of The Caribbean. Once again, almost no lines. It is a boat ride, in a dark cavern. There were two drops, and some water splashing, but Keegan was OK with it.

They changed it a little since I saw it: they got rid of the most risque’ animatron and added Jack Sparrow, as it appears in the movie played by Johnny Depp. (Johnny Depp and his animatron. Google images)

We hit Fantasyland next: the Peter Pan Ride was already jam packed, so we did the Pinocchio and Snowhite rides: nothing to write home about it. Unfortunately It’s A Small World was closed: I am sure Keegan would have enjoyed it.

Then we headed to Tomorrowland.The first ride we went to was Star Tours. This is a motion simulated attraction  based on Star Wars. You are in a ship piloted by r2d2 and cp3o and fly through a variety of dangerous situations.The cool thing about this ride is that the wait is very pleasant. The huge screen shows travel videos for different Star Wars locations, the droids quarrel and complain, and the walk to the ride is made more interesting by a droid scanning checked luggage and cracking jokes.

The ride itself was awesome! It really felt like you were flying through space. After that we headed to the monorail which was Keegan’s wish since yesterday.

Honestly, not that great, but he enjoyed riding in it. I liked the train ride better, since you got to see more of the park, as well as a re-creation of prehistoric world. Keegan loved the train as well.

We tried to convince him to ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds, a cool roller coaster inside a fake mountain, but I think Keegan used up all his courage and was DONE with scary rides. Oh well, next time. So, we waited instead for 30 minutes for Autopia: you wait forever to live the experience of being stuck in traffic on California highways, while you are trying to go faster but you can’t…basically your morning commute. Fortunately the car in front of us was not slow and did not stop, so the ride was not as painful. The Matterhorn ride was in the background, mocking us, so close and so far…You are welcome Keegan!

Next stop: Innoventions. Keegan was mostly interested in the Iron Man 3 exhibits. All the suits he wore were on display and he got to pose with them.

The coolest part, though, was the virtual reality game. He stood in front of the screen, and then he was able to control the Iron Man on the screen with his motions. He could even shoot missiles with his bare hands.

Downstairs, we got to participate to an interactive storytelling of Peter Pan: as the story was read, real shadows, lighting, etc. would appear in the room. Pretty fun.

Our next ride was Buzz Lightyear Astroblaster. You rode into a car, and used your laser guns to shoot targets, accumulating points. Matt won every time.

Our next stop was Mickey’s Toontown. This is where Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Goofy live.

We rode on a small roller coaster, and rode the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin.. Meh. We also visited Goofy and Mickey Mouse’s houses. Fortunately Keegan did not want to pose for a photo with them: the lines were huge.

We walked through all the other lands too: we visited Tarzan’s tree house and took a boat ride, among many animated animals in Adventureland; we strolled down Main street; we look at Frontierland and Critter Country; and enjoyed the view in new Orleans Square: we even got to ride the Pirates ride again. We walked through the Sleeping Beauty Castle, and admired the pretty Merry Go Round.

As the sun set, we headed back to Tomorrowland. Star Tours had a very short line, so we decided to ride it again. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the movie was different. In fact, we talked to another rider who said that the simulated movies are always different. We put his theory to the test: Keegan really wanted to ride again and there was no line, so we did ride 5 times in a row. He was right: we never got the same movie. Some parts were the same, but each movie had at least one or two unique sections. How great!

After the fifth time,  though, is was getting very late, and I was getting queasy, so we headed to the store. We promised Keegan 1 souvenir, and he choose a light saber. In the shop they had a cool, build your own saber.

Since it was pretty late, we were lucky to have one of the store people helping Keegan build what he wanted.

He was pretty excited!

The park was about to close, so we headed towards the exits. We walked through Fantasyland again: the line for the Peter Pan ride was still over an hour. Well, it was not meant to be. The castle, which Keegan recognized from all his videos, looked magical at night.

Before leaving, we had one more stop in front of the flower Mickey.Goodbye Disneyland!

After a quick stop at McDonalds, we got our car and headed to San Diego. Keegan fell asleep the moment he got in his car seat…it was almost 9pm, after all, and once again, we spent more than 10 hours at the park. I barely kept awake, but I was sure glad to hit the bed.

So, we survived our first trip to Disneyland with a child in tow. I have to say it went very well, and we are very happy. Keegan behaved wonderfully, it was fun to see him getting excited about all the rides, the lines were manageable, and the rides were fun. We are missing it already, and we will be back for sure.

Maybe it is the happiest place on earth, after all!

Keegan has been asking about Disneyland for the past couple of years, or at least since his friends went. We have been postponing the trip, even if I really like Disneyland.

We wanted to make sure that:
1) he would be able to go on all day without nap (with the price of the tickets, we wanted our money’s worth)
2) he would be able to wait in line without whining and complaining
3) he would be tall enough for most rides
4) and last but not least, he would be old enough to remember it

So, we settled on 6 years old. Surprisingly enough, though, he did not start asking as soon as he turned 6. In fact, he did not even asked once since his birthday.

However, we decided that we would try to plan it for one of the least popular times of the year, and we chose Superbowl Sunday and following Monday. February is also great for tickets, as Disneyland offers discounted tickets to Southern Californians during their slow times. After frantic research and planning we left on Saturday early afternoon, and headed to Anaheim Desert Inn. We did not find too much traffic, and Keegan who did not sleep, did not even complain much about the almost two hours ride.

We picked this place because it was the closest hotel to the parks’ entrance that would offer some kind of suite (as in a lockable bedroom with separate sleeping couch). It was also affordable, as it was basically an upgraded motel, had a decently priced parking, an inside pool and jacuzzi and a fireworks viewing deck. Bonus! As we settled in, we realized that Keegan was literally bouncing off the walls, so we took a quick trip to the pool. The water was not too warm, so we just relaxed in the jacuzzi. After a quick dinner, we went to the roof to watch the fireworks. Pretty awesome.

It was almost 9 by the time Keegan hit the sack, and we went to bed shortly after. He woke up a few times, finally getting up at 5.45am. We set him up with a video, and tried to catch a little more sleep. After a quick breakfast, we headed to California Adventure Park at 8am, as it opened. First stop: the Radiator Springs Racers ride fast pass. Lucky for us, some of the most popular rides have this wonderful fast pass: you get a ticket and return to the ride at a predefined time for little or no wait. There are limits on how many you can get at a time, but still they are a wonderful thing, especially for Radiator Springs Racers ride.

Don’t get fooled by what it seems like a small line: look closely at the front wheel: the wait is 80 minutes (and it is not the longest we have seen). We had to wait a few minutes in line for the pass, but we got it, for 11.50am! So we strolled around Carland, a wonderful recreation of Pixar cars’ world.

We got the chance to ride on other, less popular rides, such as Luigi’s Flying Tires or Mater Junkyard jamboree…

The morning time was really quiet, and not crowded. We also strolled around, watching the beautiful, fake scenery. It really made me want to go to Utah, to see the real stuff. Springtime, maybe?

We got to take a picture with a real size, talking Lighting McQueen.

Finally our fast pass time arrived, and we went to the most anticipated ride. It was great to breeze by the huge lines.

ready to ride

The ride was great. It starts slow, simply cruising through majestic arches and rocks, and seeing some of the main characters of the movie, talking to you. Then, you’re starting a very fast race. Guido e Luigi are wishing you luck.

It was hard to take good picture of the ride, so I went to trusty Google to find some cool ones.

It was very cool. We rushed to the fast pass station, but unfortunately, they were all sold out for the day, at 12pm! We kept on checking during the day, but the line never got shorter than 1 hour, so we did not ride again.

As we were walking through Carland, we saw Mater and McQueen driving by. Not sure if they are RC or if someone is really driving them. In either case, it is pretty cool to see them (and follow them).

Carland is not all there is to see, even if it is probably the coolest part.We went to see Paradise Pier next, a recreation of an amusement park or carnival. The most prominent part in it is a huge Ferris Wheel. Keegan wanted to ride in a swinging gondola, so we waited patiently for our turn. Once we got inside, and we started moving, Keegan realized he has not made a good choice:by swinging gondolas, they really meant swinging, as wildly moving back and forth from very high altitudes. He was terrified, and covered his eyes. I have to say I was a little scare too…but he could not complain, since he chose it.

Lucky for him he was too small for the huge roller coaster (and too bad for us), but we had our thrills in Goofy Sky School, a smaller roller coaster. We even got to see some beautiful dances in honor of the lunar new year. We rode a few other carnival attractions, like the Silly Symphony Swing, or the Jumping Jellyfish, or the spinning Golden Zephyr. We even tried the mellow Ariel Undersea Adventure, a boat ride within the Little Mermaid Story.

We brought our lunch, and Keegan got his long wished for treat: cotton candy. As we were enjoying it, we happened upon one of the many water shows, paired with classic music and Goofy as the director.

We went to see Bug’s Land next, and we watched a 4D movie about being insects: it was really fun, with interesting special effects, such as water, air, huge spiders hanging from the ceiling and of course and excellent 3D. Keegan was a little scared. He enjoyed the bug bumper cars a lot more.

We strolled though Hollywoodland, the recreation of old Hollywood. Of course there are rides there too. Keegan especially enjoyed Monster Inc ride, and since there was not a long line, we got to ride it three times. My favorite part was the end, when the big female monster would inspect your car and commented on something specific. One time she said that she saw Keegan doing “googly eyes” at her, and said “cheese” as I was shooting a photo. The second time, she reproached Keegan for calling her slimy monster, saying it was not nice.

In Holliwoodland they also had the frat house from Monster University.

The big attraction in Holliwoodland, however, is the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It is very popular, and we could only get a fast pass for 7pm. (photo from google)

So, we strolled around some more, and we went to the Soaring Over California ride: it was a really cool simulated ride over the most iconic California destination. It was pretty awesome. Finally we settled in, as the sun went down, to watch the parade.

So very cool: characters, acrobats, music…so fun. I love parades.

After the parade, we stopped by our hotel: so convenient only having to walk 5 minutes. We put on warm clothes, and headed for dinner. After dinner, back to the park again, for our long awaited ride. As we got closer, and got in line, Keegan started to get nervous. At night, the “hotel” looked a lot scarier and spookier. (google image)

The ride is based on a Twilight Zone Episode, and starts by showing you the intro for it, in which the hotel get zapped by lightening, and the people riding in the elevator “step into a nightmare”. Fortunately we met a friendly girl that, upon request, explained Keegan exactly was what going to happen: we board an elevator, strap into our seat, then we start a ride in darkness to the top, watch a video, and get dropped twice, then pushed back up. The doors open to see the whole resort hundred of feet below us, before you get dropped down twice, pushed back up, doors open again, car starts shaking, a photo is taken and then you get dropped one more time. I am not sure this reassured him or not, but at least he knew what to expect.

If you want to get a feel for what the ride is about check out one this video taken by a rider of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror or this video. The screaming in the darkness corresponds to when the elevator drops. Please do not call Child protective Services: we really did not know what the ride was about, and he was well tall enough for it.

Keegan was pretty scared…but did not scream much, and I guess he said the scariest part was not the drop, but the eerie, spooky video of the 60’s TV show. So he was concerned about our own hotel, hoping it was not haunted.

To calm down, we took a stroll down Carland. It was even more magical at night, with all the lights on.

Even Mater’s ride was more fun at night. The line was still about 1 hour long for Radiator Springs Racers ride, so we gave up, and rode on Monster Incs instead.

We headed back to the hotel just before the fireworks, and just as it started raining. We watched the show from the roof, under a light rain, and finally headed to bed, exhausted. I am still amazed at Keegan’s resistance. He had less than 8 hours of sleep, and we were at the park from 8am to 8.30pm (with 1.5 hour break for dinner), and he was still going. He is really the energizer bunny.

He did crash heavily when we got to the hotel. He was sleeping so soundly he did not hear Matt go out to get us, adults, some ice cream. So, I would say it was a very successful day: the crowds were moderate, we got to ride all the coolest attractions, Keegan did not complained or whine (except for cotton candy) and waited patiently if we had to wait. I guess waiting till he was 6 was a good call.

From the adults’ perspective…I really liked California Adventure: they did a great job building it and there is plenty for adults to enjoy. I would definitely come back!

January brings the birthdays for two of the most important people in Keegan’s life: mom and McKenzie!

My birthday was on a Friday, which is always nice. We were also in the middle of a “heat wave”, with beautiful sunshine and temperatures in the middle to high 80s. Sorry everyone else in the middle of polar storms. (-:

I woke up to find a dozen of red roses and tulips. I had to work, but Matt surprised me at work with flowers and a balloon, and took me out for lunch at the Thai restaurant next to work. It was a real surprise, because he was supposed to have a work lunch, but at the last minutes it felt through. No, it was not a ruse: he really had planned a work lunch ( I was not too happy about it), and he was just lucky it got cancelled. Still, the gesture was very appreciated.

In the afternoon, he went to do some last minute birthday shopping (guys, always procrastinating), but my biggest gift was that he picked up Keegan and took him to the library, so I could enjoy some peace and quiet. I relaxed in the sun, read, and just kicked back. When the boys got back, we had a birthday celebration, and the ritual candles blowing. Keegan wrote me a really cute card, with very creative spelling (I had to ask him to translate for me), but very very sweet.

I blew my candles over delicious muffins.

The second big birthday was McKenzie’s. She had her party at the Scripps Aquarium, on another beautiful sunny day. When we arrived, Keegan had the best welcome: both McKenzie and Julia screamed:”Keegan is here!” and run to hug him. Very cute. This helped him feel a little more at home, since he was the only boy there. Well, there was also a 3 year old but I don’t think this really counted. Well, like they say in Italy, “beato fra le donne” (blessed between the women).

The party was cool. They did games and activities and learned about the coral reef…

…they got to pet a baby tiger shark…

…examine different marine specimen…

…feed the tide pool animals. Keegan did not like to hold slimy, smelly fish in his hands.

Of course, the group photo was in the courtyard, inside the shark’s mouth.

Then all the kids gathered for some delicious cupcakes and treats.What  a fun way to end the month of January.

Fortunately, since he has started kindergarten, the birthday circus has slowed down, and we don’t have a party every weekend. Another good thing about kindergarten is that he has also doing lots of progress at school in general. I am very impressed by the art education they are receiving. Having helped out in the class twice, I am amazed at what great results the teacher can get from 6 years olds. Check out his first water gouache painting, a still life of an eggplant and an egg. I was amazed at looking them copy real objects, using high end, professional tools.

2014 has official begun and while we are expecting a few challenges, we are also looking forward to some fun. We started out the year right, with morning cuddles, a morning nap (in turns) and calls to Italy. When we were all up and awake, we tried to drag our “home-buddy” outside. As always, it was a struggle. He played with Kelton for a few minutes fist, then we tried to visit the Birch Aquarium. Despite the messages on their website, the aquarium was closed, so we ended up going to Torrey Pines Gliderport, just down the street.

It was quite windy, so there was only a lone paraglider trying to launch. We watched, and waited, then waited and watched some more. There were many false starts, but we still held out hope.

Finally, another couple of guys showed up, and took off, but quickly disappeared below the cliffs. Definitely not the best day for flying or watching. So, we went explore the cliff overlooking Black Beach. Keegan had a lot of fun climbing up and down the rocks, and even discovered a little “canyon-like” passage. It turns out he likes to “hike” only when climbing is involved. We’ll have to find some other places like that nearby, and maybe one day we’ll be exploring finger canyons in Utah, which I always wanted to do.

Even if I did not wear the right shoes or clothes, I went along with him.

Wearing our new clothes, a New Year tradition, we all posed for photos in front of the seemly endless blue ocean.

It was another “beautiful day in Paradise” as they like to say here, and we could not ask for more. There is no other place we would rather be on New Year’s Day (or any other days), especially when most of the country is experiencing a 40 year old Arctic storm system.

I went to work on January 2, but Keegan was home till January 6. However, the short week felt even shorter because I had to take the following day off for my dental implant procedure. It was not fun, for sure, but being able to sleep all day, undisturbed? Priceless!

We took it easy on the weekend, but we finally made it to Birch Aquarium (third time is a charm). It was quiet and not crowded. Jellyfish and Seahorses are always my favorites.

As always Keegan breezed through the exhibits and tanks, lingering instead in the interactive and multimedia section. He was interested in the California Climate Change area, pretending, with Matt, to be a newscaster for a breaking news report on California wildfires.

January 6th meant the end of his long winter break (yeah!), but not before Befana showed up and left her stocking on Keegan’s door. Now, discovering that Santa is not real, translated also in not believing in Befana either. In fact, we bought together the car he wanted Befana to bring him. Of course, this does not mean we can skip it!

So, as they say: L’epifania tutte le feste si porta via! (Epiphany takes away all the holidays) and with the cleaning up of the holiday decorations we are now ready the face the new year.

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2014!