tizimatt.info

So, despite the uncooperative weather, and the other snags, construction continues. We are still hoping to be basically done by the end of the year, but let’s see. I am sure that, no matter what, there will still be lots of little details to be finished up in the new year.

At this point we have the security screen door installed, interior doors, shelves and rods inside closets, framing and baseboard basically finished, and the upstairs niche built up.

Looking at the screen door from the inside of the house

Keegan of course enjoys seeing all the changes and almost every day comes with me to inspect the work.

can I play with these cool power tools?

let me document the progress

this is so much fun!

But my favorite part at this point are the wall tile in the bathroom. I really love how they turned out, and I already know that that bathroom will become MY bathroom.

bathroom tiles in progress

Wall tiles finished

Detail

This week we will hopefully have the bathroom  floor installed, and then it will be time for the paint color selection, the stairs railing, the lighting and all the other details. Details that include, securing a permanent mortgage and dealing with two different banks. Blah.

So, I guess my hopes of seeing a LOT of progress after I returned from my trip were quickly dashed. Insulation had been blown in and a front door has been installed but that was about it.

We have a door again!

We also ordered a nice security door to increase protection to our glass door. We saw it in someone’s house, so I knocked on the door and found out where to get it. I guess I have no shame.

And this will be our security door.

There were some issues between the demo guys and our landscaper and we basically lost more than a week. However, we are trying to catch up, even if there are still some kind of external forces conjuring against us. When we finally got the landscaper to start, San Diego experienced a huge heat wave…not the best when you are trying to make new plants thrive. As soon as we were done with that, the weather turned bad,  just as we needed to add plaster to the exterior walls: we lost three day because of a rare three days storm (with thunderstorms) with plenty rain. It rained more on one of these days than on an average October.

So where are we at this point? Well, I guess the more important step is that the code compliance guy came in and basically approved all the demo stuff and gave us the green light to keep on building. Yeah!

The hill is regrades and replanted…

…but we still miss a railing instead of the lovely plywood wall

The guy was actually surprised that we did demo everything already. Hummm, we had NO CHOICE: we could not build anymore if we did not. He was also, according to my contractor, very apologetic and said he was sorry multiple times. Like it helped. Do you know what can  I do with your apologies, Mr. city guy??? If you felt so sorry, you should have written a different letter. Now, we only need the approval of the landscape inspector and we are golden, and we can wait till final inspection for that. We would rather get it done earlier, though, just in case there is something wrong.

We also passed the huge “lathe and drywall” inspection, and we are now texturing the interior walls to get them ready for paint and also plastering the exterior.

we are getting plastered

we got walls and they are all textured

the view from the hallway, as you get upstairs

At this point this is starting to look like a house again. The walls, especially made a huge difference. I can’t say I see the finish line, but I start thinking about furniture and decorating.

Next step will be tiles and paint colors. The bathroom is waiting for some concrete coating to go on the walls, and then is tile time! They better not ruin my Toto toilet and my Kholer tub.

Tiles have been a a little difficult, as I fell in love with some accent tiles I saw in one of the IKEA store, and it took me forever to find them.

No designer I talked to knew where to find them, and the stores I visited did not have what I wanted. I resorted to write to IKEA corporate, and, believe it or not, they answered me and gave me the exact name and location for the tiles. It turned out they are available at Home Depot…I can’t believe I missed them when I went.

I am excited to finally start on the design details: lighting, paint color, furniture. It has been a long time coming.

We have been now been back a few days, and as always the adjustment has been a little rough: Keegan sleeping has been horrendous, and he also started saying he did not want to go to school, which he always liked a lot. We tried to get him back to his routine and schedule immediately and we sent him back to school right away, and even took him to swim lesson the first day we were back. Definitely, thought, these were a lot of changes for him, especially because he found a new teacher at school. But he is getting adjusted: he still very much in a mommie mode, but after getting over the jet lag, he is back to his “‘normal” pattern of a few wakings each night.

As far as I am concerned, I really did not have the time to worry about my own jet lag, and got quickly back to my routine. I still miss everyone, but I am very grateful I had been able to spend two wonderful weeks with my family and friends, and that I was able to rest and relax. I got a lot of much needed sleep and was able to get back to my ideal schedule: late to bed, late to rise…Thank you to everyone for making us feel so welcome and of course to my parents for helping out and “babysitting” so much. I love you all.

We were gone a little over two weeks, and Matt says that Keegan looks and behaves a lot differently. Is this possible? Well, every trip to Italy brought big changes: the first time, Keegan, 9+ months old, got his first three teeth, all at once. During the second trip, Keegan started talking. Seriously, the day we left for the airport he started adding 6/7 words a day to his vocabulary, in both Italian and English.

What about this trip? This time, I think, the changes are a little more subtle, but still.

• He started, from one day to the next, his WHY/PECCHE’ (still some issues with rolling he R)? phase. Lucky us. He know asks why for everything, even if at this point it is somewhat easy to satisfy his curiosity. He does lock in at times, and he asks for the same whys 15 times in a row.
• He is looking for more independence. Not from mom, mind you, but in doing things. Especially potty time. He often went to the bathroom alone when he had to poop: he required privacy (nothing new) but then he undressed, climbed on the big toilet without the little training seat, took care of business, climbed on the toilet to flush (you need to twist the handle on these toilets), filled in the bidet, took a bidet, dried himself out, emptied the bidet, washed his hands, and got dressed again. The whole process took a LONG time, but still I was impressed. Of course his cleaning and bidet skills need a little refining, but hey I take everything I can get. Good thing we will have a bidet soon in the upstairs bath. Hopefully he will keep on doing it by himself.
• His motor skills (=climbing, jumping, kicking, etc.) are much improved
• His Italian is much better, especially after the weekend he spent with my parents. Now I really have to make an effort to keep it up, as I know it will fade a little in time.
• His spacial skills are very good. I am not sure if they improved, or if I admire them so much because I have none, but he has a very good sense of direction and recognizes things from different angles. He surprised me when, at  less than 2 he could recognize his room or ours from outside.
• I would not really like to brag about this one, but he started developing his bathroom humor, definitely NOT SHARED with any of us. It is a constant talk about poop, in all its variations. Of course he decided it was hilarious to do this in a crowded airplane. Not annoying at all.
• He is also obsessed with his boy parts, or private parts in general. I guess it is a boy thing and the beginning of a life long “love affair”, but we are at least trying to let him understand that there is a time and a place, and a crowded street it neither of these. We had lots of talks about “private parts” and what is appropriate to talk about in public, since he likes to list what private parts belong to the people he sees. Oh well, he will learn.

What did not change s his love for rough playing. He used any piece of furniture, and every human, to jump and climb, causing quite a few tumbles and quite a few bruises.

Any willing grown up is good for a ride

He also still likes to build and play with cars and little animals. Of course his grandpa was more than happy to indulge him and build garages, farms and barns for them.

Princesses (my old Barbies and dolls) were also part of his playing, mainly after they were undressed. And he discovered it is fun to dress and undress girls. I tried to remind him I want him to be an INDUSTRIAL  designer/ furniture maker, not a FASHION designer.

He did not betray his old love of trucks, though, and in Italy he had a field day, since there are construction zones at every corner. His favorite one is the cement truck (betoniera in Italian) and he loudly called it out every time he saw one come by.

He also really enjoyed the “sleep game”. Cruel irony! For as much as he does not sleep when he should, he likes to “pretend” to sleep, and I and all his animals have to join in. He likes to be “snug and cozy” under the blanket and to hide in there.

Watching him play and just go about his day, I often wonder what goes on in his little head. Wouldn’t it be nice to take a peek to see what is really going on in a toddler’s head?

The second week started well: Keegan was very sweet and affectionate, if a little clingy, and I got to do some Milano shopping while he was playing with his cousins. Unfortunately I did not find much, but I always love a nice window shopping. I upped my social activities as well, and had two nice dinners with old friends, eating real pizza.

We also finally took Keegan to the Duomo, the symbol of Milano. I have a framed series of Duomo images at home, and Keegan had been looking at them, so we thought it would be a good time to show him the real thing.

Just like I did when I was his age, he loved to chase the pigeons from the square. I could swear I have the exact same picture from when I was 2. I was of course wearing a stylish coat and head scarf then.

He also wanted to go inside the Duomo, and he was actually really good. He kept quiet and did not run. He even quietly posed for pictures. Sometimes I forgot how majestic and beautiful the Duomo is.

On Wednesday we decided to go back to the Safari Park at Pombia, since Keegan enjoyed it so much last year, and he has been asking to go back to his favorite roller coaster for months. We left after lunch time, hoping he would doze off in the car, but it took him a long time to sleep, so he ended up getting less than an hour nap. No matter: he was as excited as he can be. Most of the animals were napping, but we still got to see zebras, giraffes, lions, tigers, etc. up close. Then it was time to party. The Bruco (caterpillar) Roller Coaster was of course the first stop…and the second and the third. We went back a few times. He never gets tired of it, but we dos, so we all took our turns.

We could barely pry him away, and only with the promise of more rides. So off we went to the Marry Go Round…

…then the giant slide.

This was my favorite, and if I did not have to climb all the way up, I would be still riding. I even took him up on a water roller coaster thing: not a brilliant idea, it turns out. I guess they could have some warning or age restrictions, but this is Italy, after all. It was a hollow boat, with no restraints, where you sit one in front of each other and climb up, up, up and then fall down in the water. The problem was that Keegan had to sit behind me, and could not see what was happening, and, without anything that would hold you, it was very difficult not to fall backward during the almost vertical lifts. Needless to say, Keegan did not like it, and after the first plunge wanted to get out. Fortunately there were only two. But he was very brave and did not cry. I guess next time I will go up alone.

After two or more round for most of the rides, we ended the day with a Parrot show. It was a little cheesy, but the parrots were very cool. Keegan loved them. By then, though, he was really tired, so we headed home, after a stop in the bathroom. Keegan was very proud of himself, because he had to pee standing up, like big boys: the only bathroom they had there were “Turkish style”, basically a porcelain piece on the floor with a hole in the middle. He was a little hesitant first, but then loved the fact he had to be naked to do it.

The next day, I did more socializing, and also took Keegan to visit my old friend Simona and his two sons. They have an amazing train set Keegan remembered from last year (he also remembered Simona had chocolate cake then), so we quickly set it up.

And while there was no cake this year, there were plenty of other snacks, which took the place of dinner.

On Friday, the weather quickly turned bad, so while we could not go outside as much, Keegan was enthralled by the rain, and thunderstorm. Living in San Diego, this was a real novelty, so he sat in front of the window and watched the lightning and thunders for a while. Loredana and Francesca stopped by to play, and they all got dressed up for the occasion.

After they left, there was more excitement: Naraiana and Samuele, Keegan’s cousins arrived for a sleep over. How fun to wake up in the morning and find them there. The weather was not the best, but we all had the chance to have fun. All fun that was of course videotaped and then watched in real time: Keegan bacame quite obsessed with watching videos and photos even as they were created.

I left in the morning for a last shopping trip to one of my favorite stores, Hi-tech a huge store that sells a lot of cool stuff, much from the States but also from Europe. I have found some really fun things, like My First Autoban for Keegan (a little back rolling car and a roll of tape, printed as a freeway), or the Daily Mood Calendar for Matt.

In the afternoon, since the weather improved somehow, we went to the Giardini Pubblici and had some fun on the merry Go Round and the little train, also known as the “longest little train ride in history”. It is a small track, but it goes around 6 times! Fortunately Keegan wanted to go by himself after the first two times (which means I still had to do 12 rounds on the damn thing). Such a big boy!

three generations

I was even able to squeeze in an Aperitivo with an old friend in this busy day. Sunday, our last day, I had to get packing: as always, no matter how many bags I bring, and despite all my good intentions, I always end up struggling with making everything fit, and under 50Lb. My sister and his family came over to say goodbye, and we brought the kids to the Bouncie house one more time. Keegan loved to have his cousins with him, so he could access previously unreachable areas. The place was packed (2 birthday parties) but he was still able to go wherever he wanted without wait.

taking a little break

When we got home we did our annual group photo…we did miss Matt, though )-: and we put Keegan to bed.

We had a nice, leisurely dinner, and then it was time for goodbyes and real packing. I cut down the number of carry-ons to 6, but that meant two bags to be checked.

The return flight went OK. It was difficult to carry all the stuff, and an Italian passport guy was giving me a hard time because Keegan’s last name is different than mine (you got to be kidding me!) but I got through it.The car seat really helped, and so did the DVD player. Keegan slept a few hours on the first flight. Then, fortunately we met an Italian girl, Valentina, that lives in San Diego, an acquaintance of mine who has a boy, one year older than Keegan. It was great because , not only she helped me with my bags, but Keegan had a playmate during layover. They were both over tired so they were jumping off the wall, literally, but at least there was not too much crying (aside from a timeout he got for kicking me…I still have the bruise). The layover was a little difficult: I had to get my checked bags in Atlanta, and had to walk a mile to custom and then re-check them…and remember I am also pushing a stroller and tons of carry-on. Fortunately Valentina helped me, and we went through it OK. More security screening (why do we have to do it twice is a mystery) and then a long wait. Fortunately, Keegan feel asleep the moment we were seated on the plane: it was now about 9.30pm, and I dozed off too. He slept all the way till we landed, then woke up and had one of his episode of extreme crying as I was trying to gather all our stuff and get off the plane. He wanted me to hold him…yeah, right. Not only we were the last ones to get off the plane, but it took us so long the gate door was already closed.

Anyway, we made it, and seeing Matt’s smiling face at the airport almost made me forget about all the stress and exhaustion. Keegan was a little shy, but he soon warmed up to him.  The house was clean and tidy (well, as tidy as it can be in the middle of construction), and beautiful flowers and a card expected me home. I miss everyone back in Italy, but it was nice to be home!

Once again we are back from our Italian vacation. This year, only Keegan and I went, and so we were only gone for a couple of weeks. With the house completely under construction, we thought it would have been better to have at least one person home to take care of things. And with us gone, Matt had some sort of vacation as well, and three full bachelor weekends.

We left, bright and early, — or should I say dark and early (4am) to go to the airport. Keegan was very excited about flying. Even if we had to wake him up early, he got up immediately, with a big smile and said: “Good morning. We are going to the airport!”. Sometimes I wonder where he comes from: I could barely keep my eyes open and I don’t remember ever being this happy as soon as I wake up.

This year the carry-on madness got even worse: I actually had 1 piece of checked luggage and 7 pieces of carry-ons: my own carry-on and Keegan’s pirate carry-on bungee jumped together (and hooked to one side of the stroller), my bag draped around the stroller, his cooler bag with food hanging on the stroller, his penguin backpack inside the stroller, and the car seat in a backpack. Insane. I definitely went overboard. Next year I will cut down A LOT. Somebody actually asked me if I was moving to Italy. I did get many compliments for the organization, though, and some pitiful looks.

Of all things, though, I have to say that the car seat was actually the one piece of carry on worth the effort. Keegan felt comfortable in it, it was familiar to him, and he spent a lot of the time actually seated AND buckled. I had it on board for three of the flights and he slept on it too. The flights over were not too horrible, with a few exceptions. Keegan was a little tired and hyperactive at times, but after I got him to nap he was a lot better. During layover Keegan got to jump and run and play with bubbles, inspiring  comments from an other passenger on how active he was. In the second flight he slept more than three hours, so I could nap a little too. The dvd player helped too, but he got bored of it pretty quickly.

With all the stuff I had on board,we were the last ones, by far, to leave the plane, but that meant less wait for the bag.We arrived on time and my parents were waiting for us. Keegan was a little shy at first, pulling his stroller shades down, but he quickly warmed up to them.

getting his first hugs and caresses from grandma

They played games all the way home and once there Keegan immediately had gifts to open and chocolate to eat. We also had guests. My old friend Loredana and her daughter Francesca stopped by to say HI. After lunch, we all went to nap fr a few hours, and in the afternoon, Keegan’s cousins and my sister and her husband stopped by. It was time to tumble and jump and play on the furniture, and Naraiana and Samuele were happy to oblige.

Getting reacquainted with the grandps

The following day was mellow: grocery shopping, nearby park and basically resting. Keegan did not sleep much at night so we were all tired. Nothing too exciting, but, this is really what I wanted. After the exhausting and stressful life of San Diego, I needed to rest, and sleep. And between naps and my parent’s help, even with Keegan waking up a lot, I got more sleep that I usually do in San Diego.

On Monday we went to visit my sister and her children. Keegan loves hanging out with his cousin and there is always so much going on at their house. He played ball, jumped, run around the yard with the tricycle and even did some daredevil stunts.

driving the excavator

look ma, no hands

The only negative part of my sister’s house are the mosquitoes the size of an helicopter. They are also very aggressive; I got stung on my butt: they went through pants, tank top and underwear. Crazy. Keegan got a huge bite right on his cheek too. Poor guy. Of course it did not slow him down a bit.

The next day he spent a lot of time with my parents, and I had some time off to see friends and just unwind. He played and demonstrated his musical skills by banging on the piano.

By Wednesday night, his sleep was almost normal. He only woke up briefly once or twice, and by then, my mom could get him, so I could sleep. We were all more rested and full of energy, so we spent a good couple of hours in what I can only call Bouncie Paradise. Right in the median of a large street, there is a permanent kids play area, with 5 huge bouncies, including large slides, and lots of other kids playthings: cars, motorcycles, tricycles, little house and ball pits. It was also somewhat inexpensive: for about 10$ you can stay as long as you want. Keegan LOVED it. He bounced and slid for more than 1.5 hours! His favorite was the giant slide, but all other bouncies received their fair amount of attention too.

ready

set

jump

Being a Wednesday afternoon, it wasn’t too crowded so there was no lines and he could roam the place undisturbed. He liked it so much we went back twice.

Of course, no matter how tired he got (he even told me his legs were tired) his sleep pattern was the same, meaning, multiple night wakings. Fortunately for me, my mom in also an early riser, so they both got up early together, while I caught some zzzzs. Thank you mom.

Every day there was something fun planned for the little guy. On Thursday, we went to visit and play with Lori and Francesca. Despite the age difference the kids really get along and the both tumbled on the grass, and chased each other, and we even introduced Keegan to his first official Hide and Seek game. While he kept on peeking as he was counting, he quickly got the hang of it.

testing out his somersault skills

playing horsey with Francesca

upside down with mom

On Friday, we went to the Giardini Pubblici, a large park in the city. We had a quick run (literally) through the Museum of Natural Science where Keegan enjoyed all  the stuffed animals (yes, kind of creepy). Then some time at the playground, a few rounds of the merry go Round and even a quick ride on the resident pony, since he is actually enjoying them now (see previous post). So much fun!

The weekend, however, it was mommie time. I decided to go away for a short weekend with Loredana, and Keegan spent the weekend with his grandparents. It was basically the first time I left him for this “long” so I was a little nervous. Keegan, to make things more difficult, had been really cranky and whiny since I told him I was leaving, and the weather forecast was rain, but none of this deter me.

We left on Saturday morning and took the 3 hours train ride. We went to Sestri Levante, where I spent all my summers when I was young. It was so weird not to have to worry abut nap times, and tantrums and potty breaks. Very liberating. We arrived with the sun, but clouds quickly came in. It did not matter. We were having a good time, and we did not let a few drops spoil it. The hotel was very nice, right on the beach, and after checking in we went for a nice lunch and a stroll on the boardwalk. There was some kind of celebration that weekend, so we look at various booths and did some shopping before retreating in the hotel as the rain grew more intense. It stopped early, though, and we went out for a nice late dinner.

The next day the weather was absolutely gorgeous, bright blue skies and no clouds in sight. We had a nice breakfast on the outdoor tables overlooking the ocean and the Baia Del Silenzio, taking it all in.

And then it was beach time! We laid in the sun and I even took a long swim. I miss swimming in the calm sea, looking at beautiful scenery. The water temperature was just perfect and the sea was somewhat clear.

We ate the unbelievable Focaccia and lots of other goodies, and strolled some more. We bought a huge Barbaforte balloon for Keegan (well hidden in a plastic bag), and slowly made our walk back to the train station. We were back just before Keegan’s bedtime. Keegan was very excited to see me, and gave me a wonderful welcome. It made my heart melt. We cuddled and he asked me ALL  about the trip, and I mean ALL. He was worse than a jealous husband. He shot a barrage of questions, mainly: where did you go? why? what did you do? And then what did you do? And after that what did you do? He wanted the full sequence of what we did, ending with his Why did you go to the beach? It was funny. He never asked me that many details about anything.

According to my parent, he was pretty good, and while he did asked for me a few times, he had a good time with my parents and his cousins. On my part, I had a wonderful time, and it was nice to take some adult time away. But it was also very nice to come back home and see him again. And the Barbaforte balloon was a huge hit (literally). He really liked it and his favorite thing to do with it, was hitting it, really hard. Is it time to get him a punching bag?

This year, summer flew by. Maybe it was because it felt like summer never really started. The weather has been horrible, with marine layer extending in July and August. And we are talking about a thick marine layer, that never broke, even at midday. These photos, even if  shot in September, show how the weather looked like for most of the summer.

bubble fun (he can now do them by himself!)

We could not even make it to the beach, it was so cold and grey. We probably went only a couple of times to let Keegan splash in the frigid water.

a rare sunny day at the beach

Anyway, we still found some time to have fun. We now have two inflatable pools so we had plenty of splashing at home. Plus, since the garage is pretty close to the front yard, we could fill it with warm water, so we could use it even with bad weather.

The Shamu pool, spraying water§

Keegan has been hanging out with his friends a lot: it becomes more and more obvious how much he NEEDS social interaction. Even after a full day playing at school, he still needs more. So, I try to plan more activities and playdates. Fortunately, San Diego really is a great city for children: so much to do and so many beautiful places to play in.

dinner with Hannah

On Sunday evenings, during the summer, a nearby park had some free concert, so I took Keegan one time when his buddy Jada was there. it was a success. The kids loved the playground, but the biggest hit was the band. Keegan and Jada danced the “night away”. They were so cute.

He even made a few new friends. He is really getting along with one of the new kids at school,Van, and we had a couple of playdates with him. We played at the park and at his house. Keegan loved his house: he has a nice big pool, and he had a blast swimming with Van and his brother. They even had some dinner together.

after all the swimming we all need a good snack!

Talking about swimming, he continues his swim lessons. He loves it and he is getting much better. He now swim without me in the water, and he now can swim under water, moving hands and feet for a few seconds. He does not move forward much, but it is a start. And most importantly he is having a blast and he is not afraid of the water.

We also started Birthday season with Mila’s birthday. It was a mellow affair, but lots of fun. Keegan, Mila and Hannah really get along, so they played in harmony for a while, while we adults, got to chat and relax.

Dinner together was fun, but not quite as fun as eating the birthday cake.

time to say: goodnight!

Progress on the house has been steady, if not very fast: we have almost finished the demolition; the pool is in storage, the jacuzzi in in the front yard, the retaining walls have been removed and so have the trellis. Now we need to re-vegetate and add railings and final boundaries. Also, the demo guys, need to fix all the damages they did; they are not called demo guys for nothing: they destroyed a bunch of plants and ripped away our irrigation system. As for the house, we have finally passed a major inspection (plumbing, electrical and structural) so we n now move on and insulate, drywall and stucco. The front door arrived, so we can finally stop using the garage to enter.

The last two weeks of summer have been particularly hectic. I was leaving for Italy on September 10, and even if I stopped working on August 27, I did not stop moving a minute the whole time. To make things crazier, my old friend from Italy (and now Germany) came to visit us with her family just before my trip, so it has been a mad rush between trying to make the house presentable-as far as it can be as a work in progress-, making millions of design decisions to have everything arranged before I left and preparing for the trip. Add to that the even less sleep we got (because of all the new situations, Keegan slept less than usual) and you will understand how exhausted I made it to travel day.

hoping a new pj will bring us good luck

However, it has been great to see my friend Giada, and her family. It must have been 5 years since last time I saw her, and I really missed her. She is my longest friendship: my mom met her pregnant mom when I was a few months old, and we have been friend since. She has two children, and while they are quite bit older than Keegan (6 and 8) they all got along great and played wonderfully together. Keegan loved the company.

They did some stuff on their own, but we also get the chance to spend a lot of time together. On Sunday night we had a great BBQ, and we all ate together. On labor Day, we went to Seaworld; it was actually not bad. We went at opening so parking was easy, and for most of the morning it was pretty empty. The overcast skies helped. We were able to watch many shows, beside the mandatory Shamu show.

Keegan took a nap around lunch time and I left him with Matt and went to the New Horizons dolphin show. It was fun, and definitely different from their basic shows.

big muffin: 10 minutes line to get the overpriced muffin, 3 bytes total consumed.

a rare family photo

After Keegan woke up, we checked out the sharks and stopped at the toddler play area, and went home, exhausted. Giada and her family stayed on for a few more hours. We met again for a nice dinner, and the next morning they left for Las Vegas. We crossed paths again on Thursday night, before I left on Friday.

group photos

I spent the following two days packing and preparing everything for my trip. Amazingly enough I got everything done by dinner time, so I had a couple more hours to spend with my friends, before my 3.30am wake up time.

So, all in all, we had lots of good times this summer and we are sad to see it gone.

Week 2 of the demolition. Of course, summer and the heat wave arrived just in time for the demo. Poor guys. They brought in the heavy artillery, and in a few short days they were able to tear down what took months, over the course of years, to build. By now we have became the cautionary tale of the whole neighborhood and beyond:this brought us lots of sympathy from neighbors and workers alike, but it still does not change the situation.

So we are trying to smile about it…This month, our calendar shows the following page:

“Mistakes: it could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others”.

How appropriate is that? By the way, the calendar is from the awesome site despair.com. So, these are a few snapshots of what our demolition derby looked like these past two weeks.

pool walls stacked on the front yard

Miscellaneous pool elements, Keegan’s toys and walls wiring

pool demo: the beginning. Concrete chunks filling the pool and burying my plants

Today, they moved in the big trucks. Unfortunately Keegan missed the excitement, but they did leave one dirt mover parked on our property for the weekend.

The funny thing is that the head demo guy, the one that never does any work and supervise, today had the balls to ask me:”so, what do you think?”, with this proud tone. What do YOU think, YOU MORON! It sucks, and I am very bitter about it. And how do you expect me to feel good about you destroying my back yard??? Then again, this comes from the guy who gave me attitude when I asked him to keep the area safe for Keegan.

Fortunately, most of the stuff will be gone soon: we rented a storage container, and we hope to fill it in this weekend. So, for a few months it will be out of sight out of mind.

On the positive side, construction continues: we have now wrapped the house, and once we have finished the demo we can start with the stucco. I have a long list of design decisions to make before my trip, and then I can “forget” about this for two full weeks.

Now, just for ending on a happy note, a couple of pictures of our little guy, goofing around.

It was Far West week at school, and all the kids were supposed to dress up as cowboys for a day. Of course the outfit lasted the time of the picture only, but it was still worth capturing. It was also the same week they had a real pony at school, and we will post the pictures soon.

Construction …and destruction continue. We are making progress, even if it is difficult to tell if we are on track or not. The good news is we see people working almost everyday, without having to call them. This is a nice change from some other contractors we worked with. It is also nice to notice that they try to keep everything as clean as possible, and to make it as easy as possible for us to live in a construction zone.

Two months in this is where we are:

• The basic framing is basically complete.
• We have a roof, almost completely shingled.

Keegan’s room

• We have windows, which is really weird, because we still don’t have walls, so they look like they are floating. Of course, the first day they installed the windows, it rained…in July! No biggie, as they are getting dirty anyway, but still.

• The house is starting to look like a real house, and we even have some compliments on the architectural details. They did made sure the addition would blend with existing house well.

• We also have most of the plumbing done, and the soaking tub installed. We decided to go with a full house tankless water heater, and it was installed, even if it is still not connected. it will be nice to get rid of that monster tank in the garage. And it is amazing how small the tankless is, and how stylish it looks.

• We have most of the electrical connections  in place and we have upgraded our electrical panel. We do have now recessed lighting in the living room. It is so amazing to be actually able to read at night!

We are now ordering our front door and passed one part of the huge inspection of all the plumbing, electrical and heating. This means we can soon start to wrap the house.

I guess, and I only speak for myself now, living in a construction zone has not been as horrible as I thought. maybe I am just relieved that we are actually building instead of waiting on the City, that I tolerate everything else better. Amazingly enough, the messy garage (which by now is our main entry) is what bothers me the most. Of course it will be great to be able to go from the kitchen to the bedroom using the hallway, but since we can use the kitchen, most of the living room, the sun room and all the bedrooms, construction is for the most part livable.

In the meantime, however, we started the demo of our backyard. We are still bitter and heartbroken, but mainly numb, and really want to get it over with. The deck has been truncated and the trellis has started coming down (and my plants are already suffering). The tiles stairs and the pool surround is a huge pile of concrete chunks. We have boards and debris everywhere outside. The pool is in pieces in our front yard. For the time being it will be in storage.

This definitely added some stress to the process, since we can’t really utilize the patio much, but we try to stay focused on the positive. Before my trip, we have to make many decisions (the fun kind, the design kind) so we can try to finish this project on time.

It will be interesting to see what progress will happen when I will be in Italy in September. I am sure Matt will keep me informed, but still, hopefully I will see a big change and I will be happily surprised.

What a busy weekend we had. This year, even without much fireworks, we had a great three and half days of fun.

The festivities started on Friday, when Tizi left work early to participate in Keegan’s 4th of July Bike Parade (=a super short ride around the block from his school with bikes, wagon or strollers). The kids created decorations and necklaces and got ready to start. Keegan was very excited: the tricycle was all decorated, he was wearing his patriotic t-shirt, and all his friends from school were riding alongside him.

Ready…

Set…

Go!!!!

Of course the excitement decreased proportionately as the road become more and more uphill, but with a little push from mom, he finished it off, a few minutes later. As a reward, there were popsicles waiting for the riders. It was a short day at school, so after lunch, we headed home. Between the change of routine and the workers that, obviously decided to start banging on the roof just today, it was hard to get him to sleep, but he finally drifted off.

On Saturday, our Hannah and Mila stopped by for a play-date. I guess their parents were “crazy” enough (or maybe curious enough) to want to come by even if we are in the middle of construction. I guess they found interesting to visit the skeleton of our future home. Fortunately, the heavy marine layer that has been very present disappeared by early afternoon, replaced by a pleasant sun. Not too warm, mind you, but enough for the kids to have fun in the pool. Keegan could hardly wait, and as soon as his friends showed up, they all jumped in the warm water. They had a very good time splashing an jumping around, and despite Keegan’s WWE maneuvers, nobody got hurt.

We even attached the hose to create a small waterfall. What a blast. After the water play, the kids started playing very well together (!), and the adults chatted and got the food ready. The little ones had their own little table, while the grown ups sat at the grill and ate some great food.

Happy 4th of July!

Hannah is trying to get hired by our construction crew (or maybe Caltrans)

After dinner, we moved inside, for more chatting and desserts. The kids loved the ice cream and the lemon cake, and so did we. Then it was story time! Dave “volunteered” to be the reader: by then the kids were so tired (it was way past their bedtimes) they listened and sat quietly and still…or at least as quiet and still a group of young toddlers can be.

It was getting dark, and so it was sadly time to say Goodbye. What best way to do that than a Group Hug???

By the time we got our little guy to settle in bed it was past 9pm! Of course, all the excitement and the running and jumping had absolutely NO effect on him, and he woke up at the same, ungodly hour the next morning. After Tizi took her early morning nap, it was time for more fun. While Matt rested at home, we went to play at a park, and at noon, we headed to a 4th of July Carnival sponsored by a local church. It was awesome…and totally free. They had popcorn, different game booths, but most importantly…a jumpee. Keegan was so excited and bounced up and down and down and up for more than half an hour. He only took a small break when the big kids came in.

Then it was pop-corn time. After the jumpee, we headed to the star attraction: a huge inflatable slide! Wow: he could not have enough. He was not afraid or hesitant at all, and immediately climbed up and jumped down. He obviously got that from mom…he is already saying he wants to jump from a parachute “if only bigger”.

It was hard to pry him away from it, but after more than half an hour we had to leave. Once again, he was WAY past his lunch and nap time, so we went home. After a quite afternoon, and average nap, our neighbors called and asked us if we wanted to go grab a bite to eat. So we headed with Sharon, Joon and Jada to a semi empty Chili’s and the kids had some fun. He is always happy to see his buddies.

After Keegan went to bed, again around 9pm, (and again, this did not affected his wake up time at all), Matt and I went upstairs and caught a glimpse of some fireworks. Unfortunately, even with a second story, you can only see the highest ones: too many trees are in the way.

Since the 4th of July was on a Sunday, we all had Monday off: one more day to celebrate, and for us adult, one more day to get an extra nap. In the afternoon, we met up with Krista, Eric and Torin at the Liberty Station Playground and Park. It is a great place: huge green fields, two playgrounds, bathrooms, and lots and lots of space. The boys, big and small, kicked the ball around: soccer mania has hit…and by the way: Go Netherlands! Krista flew a beautiful kite, and we all just chilled…literally it was pretty cold. I am not sure what is this “summer thing” people are talking about. Most of the country is sweltering, but here in San Diego, we are freezing! No sun, drizzle and low temperatures.

After some fun playing around it was dinner time. Keegan really got spoiled: he loves restaurants and got to have dinner out twice this weekend. We went to the relocated Corvette Diner, a fun place, styled like a 50’s diner, a la Happy Days. The food was as good as I remembered, and the atmosphere was really fun. The kids had fun, and Keegan even ate lots of food. Not very healthy, mind you, but still food.

What a great tail to a great weekend.If you count the playdate with Kenzie at Mission Bay on Thursday, Keegan got to see all his favorite friends!

For Tizi, the best was yet to come, as her school is closed for Summer break the whole week. She had grandiose plans of getting lots of stuff done and getting caught up on things…but of course, Keegan had other plans, and on Thursday, he woke up with a nice fever. Well, I guess I had two days, right? At least he compensated with being very affectionate and cuddly (if a little clingy).

So, all in all a wonderful weekend and a great beginning for the summer season, in spirit at least. Now we are just waiting for some sun and some warmth.

In the last post I wrote about how much Keegan has grown, and about all his accomplishments. Now is time to show some of the fun he is having, just being a little boy.

He has been going to the same daycare/preschool since he was about 5 months old, and one thing we really enjoy about this place is that is a small school and everyone knows each other, teacher and kids alike. And this includes parents as well: I can’t never sneak in and observe him, because a few kids, as soon as they see me, start screaming: “Keegan, your mommie is here”.

This also means that now that he is in the preschool part, he plays with all the other kids, even if they are older and he knows all the teachers too, so graduating to the next class is less traumatic: in fact is something he is looking forward to. He knows that, as soon as he is completely potty trained, he will move to the Green ‘Gators room, and he can’t wait. I don’t know if this was the incentive, or the fact that MacKenzie already moved up, but he started pooping on the toilet! Now, he is still not 100% accidents free, but he is very close. Like we hoped, the first time it happen was somewhat of an unplanned event, but after that, Keegan lost the fear. In fact the first thing he told me afterward was :”it is not scary to poop on the toilet”. So we are keeping our fingers crossed and hope this transition will happen soon.

Keegan loves his school, and often he does not want to leave when I pick him up. All the teachers are very nice, and he seems to learn quite a bit, besides having a whole lot of fun. His best friends are as always Mackenzie and Kelsen (whom he has the love/hate relationship with). He also plays with Elliott a lot. These are some pictures that were shot at school.

A rare sight (for us): Keegan reading on his own

Finger-painting with Kenzie

Playing dress up with Kenzie, Kelsen, and Elliott

The three Musketeers: Keegan, Kenzie and Kelsen

He still enjoys his swim lessons, and he is beginning to feel more comfortable with his teacher, Courtney. Last week, he started swimming using his arms, spontaneously, deep jumping (with a little help), and spent more time under the water. Let’s hope this trend will continue.

Two and a half years…so when do you stop counting months? Anyway, we thought it would be a good time to give you an updated snapshot of our little guy. Six months after his birthday, we can honestly say that the “terrible twos” have arrived: more whining, tantrums and power struggles, but all and all they are better than I have expected (knocking on wood, touching iron, etc.). I still like this age a lot better than the “ones”.

Keegan is doing great, and it is amazing to see how much he has changed in just 6 months. We took him for a check up visit, so we have the most recent measures. He is still on his curve: 25% for weight (12.7 kg/28 lb) , 50% for height (90.5cm/35.6 in), and 25% for head circumference. The doctor found him well, and well developed. Despite his standard height, finding clothes that fit him is a real challenge. 24 months are usually a little too small, while 2T are usually gigantic, especially lengthwise. Even more surprising, Italian clothes are even bigger and longer, like Italy is a land of giants, right? So non of his clothes really fit him: they are either too big or too small.

Isn’t he stylish, with his made in Italy clothes?

What’s new with him? Well, the biggest news is that he is now starting to potty train: the teachers at school decided to try to let him wear underwear a couple of weeks ago, and he has been doing great so far. Very few accidents, and he usually asks us to go pee.He even used the big toilets in public bathrooms, at the doctor, at Target, at friends’ house, etc…but he draw the line at the porta-potty. His reason: ” they are yucky and smelly. Too much paper and doodoo”…and who can blame him? Now, as far as poop…we are not so lucky; Nothing worked so far: we tried bribes (M&Ms and stickers), we tried peer pressure (“all your friends are potty trained and are moving to next class”), we tried to let him stay in his underwear so he will get dirty and get grossed out (he could not care less, while mom, on the other hand, is the one who is TOTALLY grossed out by the cleaning up) and we even tried to buy him a small potty. Nothing. He refuses categorically. Oh well, it will happen. We are just hoping it will happen accidentally one day…

He still likes to read books, or even better, to listen to us reading him books, and he now repeats some of the words on the page. He was given the language and comprehension test at school, and supposedly he scored really well. He was able to clearly pronounce all the letters (except R) and he can understand a story and “retell it”. He was given a test for 3 years old an up. His vocabulary is increasing rapidly, and while English is definitively his first language, he is pretty fluent in both, and knows pretty much the same words in both languages. He may even start a simple Spanish class soon. He is very interested, since his teachers at school speak some Spanish to the kids.

He is still very active, and never sits still. He loves jumping and kicking the ball. He has been going to swimming lessons. We went to a different school this year, and he seems to be enjoying it more (maybe just because he is older). After about a month of “parent and me” swimming class,  he graduated to his first swim class without me in the water. He did well…a little shy maybe, but he did not cry. (-: While he is not yet able to actually swim, he knows how to hold his breath and blow bubbles under the water which is a great step toward water safety. To encourage his swimming skills, we have been playing in the water a lot. While he is not too fond of the big pool — too cold— he LOVES the small, blow up one we bought. And since the weather has not been that great or warm lately, we ended up filling it up with warm water from the garage: so he spends literally hours in there.

The hat and the glasses lasted exactly 3 minutes before being tossed in the water

Some other milestones:

• He has known most common colors (yellow, green, red, blue, orange, brown, black, white) since he turned two, so now we are working on more sophisticated colors: light blues (azzurro) tan, magenta, etc.
• He walks on tip toes
• He has been “counting” (or better yet, memorizing a string of numbers) till 12  in Italian and English (and some Spanish) for a while: he is working on actually counting objects. He can count till three/five so far
• He recognizes many letters of the alphabet
• He speaks in “long sentences” and uses past tense, plurals and some prepositions. He links multiple sentences together. He can retell an event, somewhat
• He is asking “W” questions: Who and What? He is especially curious to know what things are for, and what we are eating, if he sees us chewing
• He is interested in Spanish and wants to learn/hear new words in any language
• He loves to “dance” and sing. He sings familiar songs, or make up the words for his own creations. He hums too.
• He starts playing pretend games. He especially likes to pretend we are going to Seaworld or at the pool
• He started understanding how to play with simple puzzle with cardboard pieces.
• He can recognize most basic shapes. He can sort by color and shape.
• He can put on (and unfortunately off) his pants, underwear, socks, and some shoes. With help, he can put on a shirt
• He enjoys being naked, immensely
• He has bad dreams: which means he often wakes up in the middle of the night, and needs comforting. Yeah, like we needed his sleeping to get worse!
• He gets up from his crib without problems. And yes, he will get his own bed as soon as construction is over, so we can actually fit a bigger bed in his room. He does nap on a full size bed, though, and he only fell off of it once.
• He expresses affection openly. He shows affection for familiar people spontaneously…and he really likes kisses from girls.
• He can identify boys and girls, most of the times.
• He can push the pedals of his tricycle by himself, but he is not too interested in it
• He wants to do lots of stuff by himself, so we are constantly hearing “I need to do it”
• He can draw circular shapes and lines
• He knows his full name, how old he is and can show it with his hand. He also knows the street where he (and Jada and a couple of other neighbors) lives, as well as his city (San Diego) versus the city and country where his grandparents live (Milano, Italy). In a couple of books he can point out the general area of USA and Italy. He also knows he lives on earth and not on another planet. (-:
• He has a good memory: he recognizes streets and remembers things that happened a few months before (he is better than mom on this one)
• Two other things he does better than mom: kick a ball and using 3-d/spacial skills. Since he was 2 he can recognize from outside the house, even with the blinds drawn, mom’s bedroom or his own bedroom…I still have issues with that
• He can stack cubes in tall towers, as tall as he is.

He is still quite the social boy. This means we still have no breaks, and that he requires constant attention, but it also means that he is enjoying playing with other children. He is generally quite good (for a toddler) at sharing and waiting his turn, which makes for pleasant playdates and quite a lot of adult conversation. He is still better with one-on-one interaction  rather than large gatherings: he becomes a little shy when there are a lot of people and children, and needs a little time to warm up.

One of such fun events was Torin’s birthday party. The whole yard was a kid’s dreamland, with a water table, the bouncie and a huge slide/swing playset.

There were kids of varying ages, but Keegan mainly played with the guest of honor. These two really get along well, despite their 6 months age gap. Of course he loved to play, but the pinata was definitely a big hit (no pun intended). None of the little guys was able to smash it, but they had fun trying. And of course, it was even more fun to grab the candies that fell out of it.

Then, it was time for cake, or cupcakes. Keegan enjoyed his chocolate one, while mom feasted on the jummy Nutella/banana/nut dessert that Krista prepared. Adult food and beverages were also available to make it a really great party.

We dove home with an exhausted but happy toddler that night, and we really marveled at how much he has grown and is becoming more and more his own little person everyday. He already has his own favorite sentences, and typical expression and his own sense of humor. We are grateful to have him in our lives, terrible twos notwithstanding.

Father’s Day weekend, 2010 edition. It was a lot of fun, and we made sure daddy had a very special weekend…or at least we hope.

The celebration started on Friday: Matt was able to leave a little early from work, so we both joined Keegan at his preschool’s Father’s Day pic-nic. There was some good food and dads participated in fun water games. I am sure glad we did not have to do this at our Mother’s Day celebration!

Keegan played with water, and had a blast splashing his friends. He did not have quite the same fun when they splashed him back!!! We tried to explain to him that getting wet is part of the fun! Not too many good pictures of father and son…so this is the best we could manage.

On Saturday, Tizi and Keegan spent a lot of time together: we played, went to the grocery store and to the large playground in UTC, trying to give daddy a little break. Unfortunately he had to do some work as well, but still he also got to enjoy some relaxing time, alone.

On the actual Father’s Day, Matt took the first nap shift, at 7am, and Keegan and Tizi watched the second World Cup soccer game of an unimpressive Italy. We were all ready: we got our flag out and rehearsed our cheers of “Forza Azzurri”. Keegan got it down. He was so cute, waving his flag around. Even more impressively, he watched the whole game. This is the kid who can’t stay still for a minute, but he sat on my lap for the whole first half, trying to encourage me and reminding me that “they are trying”. The second half was a little more fragmented as we dealt with laundry and preparing daddy some muffins. One big lesson Keegan learned from it, though, is that “we don’t pull shirts” and pull players down when playing soccer (especially in the goal area). The penalty kick impressed him, even if I still can’t convince him that the goal is NOT a fence.

Forza Azzurri!

After the disappointing 1-1 we got everything ready for Dad. And by the way, yes, I am very distraught about Italy being eliminated in the first round…but we will be back in 8 years to win it again. Historical data indicates we only win every 12 years, so here it is. I called my parents, and we commiserated together on Skype.

Keegan “made” Matt a paper tie and a mug full of candy, and mom got a few more things for him. When Matt woke up, we celebrated with a nice brunch and muffins. And of course we gave him our cards: Keegan decorated his with stickers and stamps.

After our brunch, we all took a nap, and spent a “quiet” afternoon at home. Keegan played in the pool and splashed around and we enjoyed our time together. Keegan is really very lucky to have such a wonderful, fun, dedicated dad (and so am I). And we can’t say it enough: thank you for all you do, Matt.

We just wanted to post an update on our construction. We passed the first two inspections and we are now working on the framing. I think this is probably the more exciting stage, because this is when you really see something growing from nothing. Last week, the stairs were completed, and we can now go upstairs and check out how it will look like: the rooms are now set and we can look outside the “windows” and start imagining how it will be.

It is great to get home and see dramatic changes from one day to the next. It makes you forget about the noise, and dust, and dirt  and all the other inconveniences. The pictures were shot a few days ago, and while lot of work has been done since then, it still gives you a rough idea of how it will look.

we got stairs!

View from one of the canyon-view bedrooms

Of course, Keegan is fascinated by all the construction and loves to go up and down the stairs. He knows we are building HIS room, and he is very excited. Maybe a little too much: it is very difficult to get him going in the morning, because he wants to stick around and see what the workers are doing. Their schedule is great: they start early in the morning and they are usually gone by midafternoon, so generally, we have the house back to ourselves by the time Keegan gets home from preschool.

Inside the future “man cave”

You gotta love those stairs

Of course the curse has not been lifted yet: the pool and everything else, still will have to come down in a few short weeks and, we just found out, our inspector, the one our contractor knew well and that was mellow and easy going, just passed away, poor guy. This means that we are not sure who will inspect us now, but hopefully this will not cause too many delays or too many headheaches.

Anyway, we are trying to stay focused on and “enjoy” the progress…and let’s hope to be done by the end of the year.

Finally, the beginning of Summer. It has been a little chilly for San Diego, and we have not been able to enjoy warm days, so Memorial Day Weekend was a welcome surprise. Not that it mattered too much to us, since we decided to go for the full heat, and celebrate the unofficial start of Summer — and the first three day weekend— in blazing hot Ranch Mirage (Palm Springs). I guess we figured it would not be as hot as Phoenix in July (see last summer) and we found very good rates.

Since Keegan has never been a great traveler, especially when it comes to sleeping, we had a “dry run” about a month ago, and spent a night at a hotel in North County. The hotel had a pool and he spent lots of time in it, even if the water was chilly. He has been taking lessons and he is really enjoying himself. He is pretty good, learning to blow bubbles underwater, and, while he is fighting it sometime, he is overall enjoying being in the water. The night went well, and thanks to the “magic” clock, he sleep pretty well, and till the yellow light came on. Then he started wandering around till he found us. Of course we chose a suite, so we would have a sleeping area semi separate from Keegan’s couch. The next morning, after the mandatory pool dip, we went to Queen Califa’s Magical Circle, a garden sculpture garden by Nikki De Saint Phalle. It is really cool, and he enjoyed climbing and jumping on the sculptures.

It was a good experience. So we were emboldened to try for a three day trip. Emboldened but not crazy, so we still looked for a hotel with  pool and a suite.

We reserved a “villa” at the Westin villas and Spa, and made sure there was a pool, Keegan’s new obsession. It was basically a condo: a 1 bedroom apartment with 2 fireplaces, 2 TVs, a full kitchen, dining area and living room with a queen size pull out couch. In the bedroom, there was a king size bed and a large jacuzzi tub, plus a full bathroom. A large balcony with BBQ completed the package.

Now, all this goodness almost DID not happen. The night before our trip we called to check in on our reservation, because they did not mention Keegan, and on the course of the call we realized that the reservation has been set for next year. How this happened is a mystery: we tried to replicate the error, but the website did not allow us to reserve a year in advance, so it may have been a computer glitch. No matter…we panicked. of course I complained and asked for a manager, who sounded unflappable. After, of course, telling me they were completely overbooked, they found “miraculously a space: same accommodations as we reserved. Now, I am grateful we did not have to scramble to find something else at the last minute, however, was the “we have been completely booked for three months” necessary?

Anyway, we climbed in our nice rental car and drove away. it took Keegan a little while to settle down and fall asleep, but then we were golden. The trip only took less than three hours, and Keegan woke up in time to enjoy and marvel at the wind turbines. We arrived shortly after, and we were greeted by a balmy 95+ degrees weather for the whole weekend.

The place was amazing, even if all that lush landscaping definitely looks out of place in the middle of the desert. And I’ve never seen so many water features in one place as in Rancho Mirage. Every establishment, big or small, MUST have its own water feature. Pretty crazy.

looking down from our balcony

Keegan loved the “pond” with its duckies and sprouting water

The  the moment Keegan has been waiting for all week: pool time! While we could use all the amenities our resort shared with the hotel, we mainly stayed in the resort’s pool. Keegan loved the toddler wading area (about 1 foot high) because he could play and splash without any help. After a couple of jumps in the big pool, he decided the small one was what he liked.  We sat and played in the warm pool till past 7, then we had dinner and settled in. Keegan fell asleep easily, and Matt did a quick store run to get a stroller and some food. We then watched a nice movie and relaxed and crashed early.

Keegan slept the whole night: he loved the hotel! Bright and early, after a quick breakfast, we went to the Living Desert, a small zoo dedicated to animals that live in desert or African areas. They also had a huge model train, and Keegan was fascinated.

We saw giraffes feeding on branches, and bulls, and petted goats and sheeps…and promptly left around 11, before melting down.

Back at the hotel, after lunch, we all crashed. Well, it took mr. Keegan a while to settle down: the two of us could not keep up with him, manically running from one side to the other of the apartment, opening one door as we closed the opposite one. It felt like a giant game of whack-a-mole.

He finally crashed, and so did we…for three solid hours! Perfect escape from the hottest time of the day (almost in the 100s). We had to wake up Keegan at 4, and it was difficult. The prospect of sending more time in the pool, however, got him motivated. And back to the pool we went. We bought a couple inflatable toys, so he had a great time floating and splashing around, while some dj were organizing the “do you know this tune?- 80s edition” on the pool deck. How relaxing!

Matt BBQ some jummy dinner, and then our little hero went to bed; so finally,  it was adult time! Some adult beverages, a nice jacuzzi, movies…you can’t ask for more.

check out the jacuzzi tub!

This second night was a little more eventful (Keegan woke up a couple of times), but still good. Check out was late, at noon, so we had a full morning of splashing and playing in the water, before heading home.

Reading his favorite books in our dining area

Once again we headed home right around Keegan’s nap time. He was so exhausted he actually asked me to take a nap, instead of going to the restaurant, as we promised. We hit a little bit of traffic on the way back — it was Memorial Day — but it was not too bad. Keegan slept most of the time, and woke up only because the car stopped (i.e. super crabby kid). By the time we got to San Diego, he was in full meltdown, because he NOW wanted to go to the restaurant. So, since we all had skipped lunch as well, we had one of my earliest dinners (or latest lunches) on record: 4pm.

It was a nice way to finish the weekend and this month of May. With construction starting up again and the weather, hopefully getting warmer, may Summer 2010 be a lot better than the Winter 2010.

We have briefly mentioned in some previous posts that we have been going through some stressful time lately trying to remodel our home. We are adding a second story to our home. Or at least trying to…if the city will ever let us.

We weighted a lot of pros and cons, and at the end we thought that in this economic climate, remodeling was the way to go.We really did not want to go through an exhausting search- it took us almost 6 months to find this house and I looked at over 100 houses – and assuming we could find a bigger house we could afford, we did not want to go through the hassle of moving. Plus we would have probably take a big hit as far as selling price. Moreover, we love the house and its canyon view and at this time, construction company are really looking for work, so materials and labor may be cheaper. The catch 22 of all of this, though, is that no banks are lending money: so it took us months to find one who did and to prep all the necessary paperwork. We started the exploratory process in march of last year, and we signed loan docs in December!

By the beginning of March, we thought we were on our way to start our huge project. Our contractor called at the end of February and said they wanted to start in a couple of days, because all the construction plans has been approved, and we were only waiting on a brush management plan, that should have been a formality!  So we had a hectic few days, trying to get everything boxed and moved, to rent a storage space, and get organized. We also went around talking to our neighbors, letting them know of our plans…and it was a good thing too, because jack hammering started bright and early.

We decided to build two small bedrooms (Keegan’s room and a playroom) and an office for Matt and a bathroom, adding about 600 sf. We are not sure how long it will take but we hope to be done by the end of summer. We will be building over the living room, kitchen and some of the garage, so our bedroom are intact. They also assured ous that they should be able to build above us, without ripping the ceiling, so most of the house should be somewhat usable, dust aside, for most of the time. The only drawback, is that we are not able to go directly from the kitchen to the bedroom, since this is where the new footings and the stairs will be built. Good thing we live in Southern California, so we can easily go around that by using our patio.

A nice plywood wall has been built in our living room, and two zippered plastic walls separate the kitchen from the bedroom. It has not been a big problem so far, and fortunately we are at work for most of the noisy part. Keegan seemed to be enjoying the diversion, and he was taking it as an adventure. Hopefully it will last even when the novelty factor wears off. And I guess I can say the same about us.

So, at first everything seemed to work out. Then, our luck turned. The city took a special interest in our project, and a whole series of rounds of discussions and meetings took place. I will spare you all the pitiful details, but this is what happened:

1) After our plans were basically approved, some wonderful person at the city decided that he needed to have a second look and found some violations. We were not called in to explain, nor he came over to the property to inspect.
2) The city called code compliance to record some alleged violations according to some obscure ordinance that applies to steep hills.
3) Their vacation schedule prevented us from having a specific answer about this violations for more than a month and a half
4) They sent us a complaints letter that made no sense at all
5) They set up a meeting with us — finally— to discuss the issue
6) They required a new plan to be submitted, and the removal of basically everything we have in the back yard, regardless if it has been there for more than 15 years. This includes the deck, the trellis, the spa and the pool.
7) During the whole time they held our permit hostage, and no work could be done till this is resolved

So, we have been living in a construction zone, with no construction going on. How fun! Keep in mind that our project has NOTHING to do with the back yard. They just require a brush management plan regardless of what work you do, as an overreaction to the recent fires. They are going overboard in the interpretation of the laws and regulations, so if you live in a canyon area (about 70% of San Diego is), you can’t do basically NOTHING to your own canyon land. And who said that California is the land of freedom?

As you can imagine this has been extremely stressful and disheartening: we were trying to make our house better, and we will end up taking away lots of his amenities. At this point we have no choice. Construction or not we have to take care of  this or face a fine. We only hope the extra space will make up for it.

So, after almost three months of delays, uncounted phone calls and emails from our contractor, a meeting, and multiple modifications and resubmitting of the plan (and guess who is paying for all this?), we are finally starting again. The final permit finally arrived about 10 days ago, so we immediately got and passed our first inspection, and we are moving along. Of course, we still will have to tear down our beloved “back yard”, pool, spa, deck, retaining walls, trellis and all…and let’s not forget the re-vegetation part!

We are however trying to focus on the positive, and simply wish a carload of bad karma to the nice, hardworking people at the city, that for some reason decided that our project needed to be used an an example.

It is now June, and we are hoping that the “curse” that has been dogging us for the past 3 months — starting with the hit and run damage on my parked car — is finally over. We will keep you updated with more photos as we move along.

Here’s to a happier second half of 2010.