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Sometimes I feel bad that Keegan does not get to have a glorious 2+ months summer break like I did, but then, I think about his personality, and I believe it would drive him crazy to stay home for that long. And let’s not even talk about what it would do to us. He would still need lots of interaction with other kids, all day long, so summer school and camps, at least for now, seems like a perfect solution.

This year, we sent him to a one week YMCA camp, where he did a lot of messy experiments, and, by lucky chance, he ended up being in the same camp as Van, his preschool friend. After that, he wanted to go back to his school for their summer program. He was in the same classroom as the regular school year, so he felt at home. The theme this year was Space, so many activities are space related.

watch out for the alien UFO

Of course, they still do math, reading and writing, but there are also lots of other activities, like gardening, and crafts and storytelling and lots of play, including splash time on Fridays. He seems to be having a good time. For 4th of July, they built a lot of different crafts and had a celebration at school. Not quite as fun as the bike parade in preschool, but still.

Now, looking at the photo below, which kid seems to have the most fun?

He seems to also be enjoying more and more building thing, with all sort of materials: waffle blocks, Legos, flowers?

They do also quite a lot of team work…pretty cool. And yes, there are plenty girls at school, and occasionally they get allowed to build too. In fact Keegan seems to be quite popular among the girls. One of them has decided she wants to marry him…but he is not interested.

His  construction skills translate into home play as well. He built this with jenga pieces.

They also work on less traditional skills like sawing. This is his first attempt.

It really feels like a win-win-win situation: he has fun (even if he would not readily admit it), I get to work and he reviews and improves on his math, writing and reading skills. It may not be the prefect solution forever, but we will worry about it when the time comes.

It happened, finally! Keegan has been wishing for this moment for almost a year, since his friends started losing teeth in preschool. However, he was very late on getting teeth in the first place, so it follows he would be late losing them too. When we went to the dentist in June, she told us he had two molars out already, and that the two bottom teeth were wiggly, so the countdown started.

Finally on July 24, just as we noticed how wiggly it was the previous night, he lost his first tooth at school, biting an apple. When I picked him up from school he was so excited to show me, and so were his friends. The teachers made a little card for him, and taped his little teeny tooth on it.

At night, the tooth fairy arrived. It is a pretty cheap tooth fairy, so it only left $2.00, but he was excited anyway…even if he really knows it us. Form that moment on, he started playing with his other wiggling tooth. He even accidentally bent it, but no luck. No biting, or playing with it helped.

Finally, on August 4, right as we are walking out of Seaworld after the fireworks, he lost his second tooth. It dropped on the ground, and even thought there were tons of people and it was dark, he was able to find it. What a great end of a special Seaworld trip! I tried to take a picture, but it is very dark.

He asked the tooth fairy to give him some paper money and some coins, so the tooth fairy obliged with $1.15 (2 nickels, 5 pennies)

He is so proud of his missing teeth he is telling EVERYONE about it! In all the photos we are taking now, he proudly display his toothless grin. I personally think it is adorable!

We can’t really escape Star Wars: not only because Keegan is really into it right now, but because with Disney purchasing the franchise, and releasing a new cartoon series this fall and a new movie next winter — December 18, 2015  to be specific — Star Wars is everywhere!

It was a huge presence at Comic Con this year. I, once again, took Keegan, who got promptly bored after an hour: what kid gets bored of Comic Con??? Last year he did not want to leave. Anyway, more time for me, I guess. We did get to check out some really cool stuff though: Hot Wheels got in the action too. They will be releasing Star Wars based cars (WHY???), so to advertise them they built a full size, real car. Not just any car, a Darth Vader car. I know it sounds insane, and it is, but this car is AWE-SO-ME. Check it out on this video or read about it here. It does look a little like the Batmobile, but still, I would love to have it.

I was so amazed by the car, I did not even notice the buff guy wearing speedos walking just behind it. And trust me, hot guys at Comic Con is a rare sight.

The little cars, to be honest, are pretty nice too, even if they make no sense. I did not shell out $40 for the collector edition, though, no matter how cool it looked.

We visited a past student who is part of the 501 Legion, the official Star Wars Group. She also volunteers with a company that build costumes. Keegan tried on a huge helmet.

Then we roamed the floor: it is not too bad early in the morning, and photo opportunities abounded.

We checked out the characters of the new TV show and we even got a really cool Lego Star Wars book for a super cheap price. They had amazing exhibit, as this Han Solo in carbonite replica, that could be had for only a few tens of thousand of dollars…or if you win a raffle.

Of course not everything is Star Wars at Comic Con, far from it. There were lots of fun stuff and good costumes, even thought I thought last year was better.

Lego has always awesome models

check out this steam punk Jesus

these guys usually make their costumes, and walk in them all day…

One more Star Wars event was organized by my college. Platt invited students and artists to create some artwork inspired by the Star Wars universe. All the art was exhibited in Liberty Station for one night event.

We all went and it was fun evening.The artwork was incredible, and it was fun to check it out.

Our favorite was, however, baby Yoda.

The 501 Legion members were out in force, with their amazing costumes, so Keegan got the chance to pose with many of them. My ex-student was there, as Princess Leia, and she was so amazing with Keegan.

even I got a piece of the action (photo by Keegan)

The most surprising and amazing costume, though, was probably Chewbacca. You don’t often see him around. Pretty cool.

They also had a classical string quartet that played a couple of Star Wars pieces and more contemporary pieces. It was really nice. Check out the “director” brandishing a light saber.

We lasted about 2 hours, took one last shot to end with a bang and then headed home for pizza night.

With Star Wars all around him, it is no surprise he already chose what he wants to be for Halloween…can you guess? Darth Vader of course! I have found a costume on sale, so I got it. I know there is a chance he will change his mind, but I thought that, for the price, it could be a cool dress up costume anyway. Doesn’t he look fierce?

I guess he will not get over this obsession very quickly, but I promise this is the last Star Wars post for a while…I am sure you saw enough picture of people in costume to last an eternity…

This summer, we were very happy to spend some time with two of Matt’s siblings. Matt’s sister Sue started a three weeks long journey cross country, with the plant to visit of of her siblings, and more. She left from North Carolina after the 4th of July, and made it to San Diego on July 10, with her husband Dan. Hannah, arrived the following day.

To say that Keegan was excited is an understatement. He was ecstatic (yeah, we don’t get many visitors)! We saw them pull in just as we got home from school: perfect timing! It was so great to see them. Sue, being an elementary school teacher, was wonderful with Keegan, and so patient with him. She immediately snapped a selfie to celebrate.

After dinner the adults had a wonderful talk outside, under an almost full moon. The next day, I had to go to work, while Matt, Sue and Dan went to get Hannah at the airport. Matt and Sue had the chance to have a great one  on one time, which was way overdue. I think it was really beneficial, especially for Matt.

I meet up with them for lunch. We headed to La Jolla…maybe not the most brilliant idea, since it is the middle of summer and it was packed. However, we scored a beautiful table at George at the Cove. It was a beautiful, clear day, and the view was breathtaking. The food tasted delicious too.

After an unintentional stroll through downtown la Jolla (we could not quite remember where we parked), Sue and I went to pick up Keegan. Sue was very interested in checking out Keegan’s school, and Keegan could not be happier to show off his aunt. At home, we all relaxed, and Keegan welcomed Hannah, by getting her to build Legos with him. We all felt still pretty full from lunch, so we had a light dinner, and after Sue put Keegan to bed, we had another beautiful conversation outside.

The next morning, I woke up feeling really sick…food poisoning or some other kind of stomach bug. I really did have enough strength for getting up from bed, let alone going out. I was bummed, but I really could not: I spent most of the day in bed, resting. I guess it worked out, so they could all go out in one car: they headed to UCSD, since Hannah is considering that university for her master. They had a nice tour, and visited the Geisel library (dedicated to Dr. Seuss, a.k.a. Theodor Seuss Geisel ) and many sculptures around campus.

dr. Seuss sculpture

After the tour, they headed over the Glider Point, to watch paragliders and hang-gliders. Nobody gave it a try though.

They got back in the afternoon, and while everyone rested, Matt prepared a wonderful BBQ. Shannon, the step-daughter of Matt’s sister Beth, came over with her puppy, which was a great hit with Keegan, of course. Everything looked delicious and I was so sad I could not eat any of it. I still had a very nice evening with everyone…

I lasted till 9pm.

Keegan was basking in all the attention, but that did not stop him from misbehaving…so he lost his brownies for the evening. He promptly ate them from breakfast the next day. On Sunday, after our morning nap, and Sue’s morning run, we all went to Coronado Beach. The weather was a little hazy, but still beautiful. Keegan did not want to swim, but he played in the sand and built sand castles with Hannah.

After we got home, Aunt Sue and Hannah took him to watch: How To Train Your Dragon 2. What a special treat…for everyone. We just rested. I felt better but still not OK, and definitely tired. We had a quiet Pizza night, and everyone got to bed early. They all left early on Monday morning, but we were not too sad, because we knew we would have reconnected that weekend at Los Gatos, just outside San Jose’.

On Friday afternoon, we picked up Keegan early from school, right during his splash time. He was so excited for the trip, though, he did not even care. We headed straight to the airport. Everyone was a little tired and cranky, but we all felt a lot better when we arrived. We headed straight to Matt’s brother Jim’s house. It was nice to see him, and his family as well as Sue and her family.

Jim’s wife Dyah prepared a great dinner, but unfortunately I could not stay. My college friend Meggie, who lives in San Francisco, drove down for dinner, so we could catch up…it has been close to 4 years! I could not pass this chance up. It was so great to see her, and to have a nice dinner and talk together. I missed her.

I have heard the kids had a blast. Jimmy performed at his violin and piano, and the kids played very well together. They also celebrated Sue’s birthday,which was only a couple of days prior.

Keegan and Matt ended up going to bed really late, around 10pm, and I was later still, but that of course made no difference: Keegan was so excited, he was up by 5.30am. He watched a movie for a little while, and then, fortunately we met up for breakfast (I even drank some coffee). Later in the morning we met Jim, Jimmy and Kirana for a hike. Little did we know, it turned out to be a massive – for people like us who are out of shape – 4 miles hike up a mountain. I am amazed Keegan made it up with not too much complaints…the power of peer pressure. Matt and I were trailing behind. I had a good excuse: I was not wearing appropriate shoes, and my knee was still hurting. Once we finally made it to the top, the view was breathtaking…not sure we could really appreciate since we were pretty tired.

After a few minutes to rest, it was time to go back down. It finally dawned on Keegan: he had to walked down as long as he walked up. It was not a good realization!. He had a major meltdown and refused to go down. Matt tried to carry him, but he was not fast enough. So, Hannah, gave him a piggyback ride…all the way down. Wahoo…I am impressed. I guess, as a reward, they got to see a deer and her baby.

Matt and I slowly made it down, but I did not mind: it felt like it was just the two of us, since everyone was so far ahead, so I enjoyed our alone time, like our time BK (before kids). We finally limped to lunch and met everyone else at a park. We were all so tired, that as soon as we went back to the hotel, we crashed for a nice 2 hours nap. We did not even have to convince Keegan.

In the late afternoon we headed back to Jim’s house. The kids watched a movie and we talked. After dinner, we made ‘smores…in fact the kids had fun preparing them.

One more late night, but after all is summer. The next morning, we had still time for a nice breakfast in Los Gatos. Then everyone went relaxing in a nearby parklet, and we posed for a group photo. CHEESE!

And just like that, it was time to pack up and leave. Keegan got to take a quick jump in the pool, and then we rushed to the airport. We were all sad, but we had wonderful memories. It was so great to see everyone, we promised ourselves not to let this much time pass till next time. Thank you Sue, Dan and Hannah for visiting us and for being the catalyst of this min-reunion. We miss you already.

Keegan is not a huge fan of traveling (yet, I hope), so we often limit our excursions to a day or two. We don’t have the energy to endure much more, in general …but we are still hoping that “someone” will enjoy travel more and more.

Last weekend we decided to spend a short weekend in Los Angeles. I had read about an interesting exhibition on Pompei, and since we had been reading about the big eruption with Keegan is the Magic Tree House book series, I thought he would be interested. Keegan is always game if there is a hotel involved, especially Embassy Suites Hotels.

We left on Saturday morning, and arrived in Los Angeles in a little over 2 hours, which is impressive: almost no traffic! A peaceful ride for the most time (well, thanks to the DVD player). Our first stop: la Brea Tar Pits. Amazingly enough, I have never been there and I was very curious to check it out. It is the largest urban ongoing fossil recovery area. Millions of fossils have been recovered so far, and the number may double in the next few years. It is incredible. The tar pits — which are actually liquid asphalt, bubbling with methane gas— are still very much visible, and they also have an open pit open for viewing, that shows all the bones that are being recovered.

Pretty cool. In San Diego, we have a tar pits reproduction at the zoo, but it nothing like seeing the real thing. They obviously built a museum around the pits, as well, to learn more about the discoveries, and to display some of the largest, skeletons they  have found in the pits.

As we entered the museum, a family gave us their tickets to a short show, which turned out to be very informative and interesting, explaining how the pits formed and how they happened to contain so many fossils. They even had a semi-robotic saber tooth tiger, that moved around like the real thing. More animated animals were in display in the lobby.

It was really cool…but as always, I think we were way more excited than Keegan, who was looking forward to go to the hotel. We headed back to the car, and enjoyed one of Los Angeles most famous features: traffic. We got stuck for quite a while, but again, for as frustrating as it was, the quiet that came from the back seat made it almost worthwhile.

We finally made it to the Embassy suites, next to LAX. Matt and I tried to rest, in vain…Fortunately the free reception started shortly after, so we headed for the lobby for free drinks and snacks. The two glasses of wine (mine) definitely helped. We decided we could not brave an outdoor restaurant, so we just got room service, which is always fun. After dinner we settled in for the night. We all went to bed pretty much at the same time. Keegan had a hard time sleeping, since the room was at the first floor and quite noisy. Matt kindly went to sleep with him…while I barely noticed thanks to ear plugs.

Early next morning, Keegan watched a movie, while we tried to catch up on our sleep. We headed to the great breakfast buffet, and as we got ready to check out, Keegan got to jump in the hotel room. We finally headed to the California Science Museum, the main reason for our visit. It is a great museum and quite large. I would say it is a cross between the San Diego Science Museum, the Aerospace Museum and the Birch Aquarium, as it has exhibits from all these areas.

We started with the space area. You could see real space modules, like the Gemini 11 or the Mercury-Redstone module, which sent a chimp named Ham in space. There were also real astronaut suits. It was very interesting…at least for us adults. It was perfectly fitting too, since Keegan is studying about space in his summer school program.

When our assigned time came, we entered the Pompeii exhibit. I think it was very well done. They started with an introductory video and then let us in in the exhibits. More than 150 objects were displayed, and there were many 3D reconstructions and tours of different building, such as homes and baths. There were house objects, and gladiators artifacts, and smaller statues.

photos from the museum site

They also showed a video that showed what happened when the volcano erupted, and how the city was buried. Of course, the part that made a larger impression into all of us was the mold of the people that never made it out. Keegan was particularly sad for the little boy they showed, probably around his age.

photos from the museum site

Again, this was way more interesting for us adults, and Keegan was in a weird mood. Maybe he was tired and cranky, but his usual curiosity seemed completely absent. Oh well, we tried.

Before heading home, we took the time to check out the rest of the museum. We saw exhibits on ecosystems, rivers, sound, and also some kelp fish and vegetation. Our final stop was the actual Space Shuttle Endeavor, that is now hosted by the museum. It was a nice surprise, because we did not really know it was there. Pretty awe inducing. I remember watching it landing on tv and now it was right in front of me. It is now hosted in a temporary pavilion, but will have a permanent home at the museum. We watched a movie that showed the tricky transport from the airport to the museum, via surface street. It took about 2 days. Pretty crazy.

photos from CNN

Unfortunately we could not get closer or inside, but it was still an impressive site nonetheless.

After the long visit, we enjoyed some overpriced lunch and ice cream in the museum cafe and we finally headed back to San Diego. Again, no traffic, and a blissfully quiet ride back, thanks to electronics…I guess sometimes you need to compromise your principles for some peace and quite, especially when driving.

All and all it has been a very fun weekend, and we are looking forward to more fun experiences like this. Here is to our next adventure!

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.