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

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

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

what a little heart-breaker!
 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keegan goofing around

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

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

Keegan, Penny, and his favorite monster blanket

Penny is going to Spring Camp

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He was pretty excited!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ready to ride

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I blew my candles over delicious muffins.

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

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

…they got to pet a baby tiger shark…

…examine different marine specimen…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2014!

Finally, the big day arrived. Keegan woke up at his normal hour, and despite his excitement, he still took time to cuddle in bed with us. Then he rushed to the living room. We were able to keep him still long enough for a picture with all the presents.

He immediately saw his new bike, and started his happy dance. He quickly unwrapped it and test it out: perfect size, finally, and it was a nice, bright orange, just like he wanted. Matt chose a Mutant Mongoose bike for him.

He checked the cookies, to make sure “Santa” ate them, even if he kept on saying: “I know you ate them, mom”. Well, this is why I chose cookies I like. I think he actually makes him feel “grown up” be in the know, and again, I don’t really think it spoiled his excitement at all. As for us, while it is a little sad he does not believe anymore, I never really liked the idea of a fat, old man taking all the credits for my hard work. I always try to get the best gifts and wrap them with care, so I should get the thanks.

He tore through the rest pretty quickly. Of course, we made sure to buy him an electric sharpener and special pens, but also new books, a new interactive map, book and game, and a science kit. The stocking also contained his glow rings, and he loved to show them off.

Just like last Christmas, we saved a couple of presents, and called nonni with Skype, so he could open them with them. Their package did not arrive in time, but we had something put away for them. We were lucky that my sister and her family was there, and it was nice to share a little bit of the magic with them. After the big presents rush, I went back to sleep for a little bit. With Keegan home for two full weeks, we actually set up a tight calendar, to make sure he was entertained and we got to do something fun as well. We knew we would be exhausted by the end of it, but at least we hoped he would not drive us completely insane. When I woke up, we went downtown and we took an hour cruise on the North San Diego Bay. It was an absolutely perfect day: in fact, it was almost too warm. Definitively scorching for our little vampire, that can’t stand bright sun or heat. Murphy’s law, right? Both Matt and I moved to San Diego for the sunshine and warm weather, and our son does not like heat or sun. I really hope he will outgrow this.

In fact, probably his favorite thing about the cruise was the fact he got to eat some junk food in the cabin.

My favorite thing? Well, admiring the beautiful views while sipping my cold Mimosa.

check out the sea lions

Merry Christmas San Diego

Keegan run up and down the whole time, and even with sunglasses, it was hard to keep him outside.

We got home in the early afternoon, and had a nice lunch. Keegan pretty much gave up on naps the whole break, so we tried to establish the “quiet time rule”, meaning that he needs to be on his own instead, as we take a break (or a nap). Do you think it worked? Well, practice makes perfect, right? Before the sun went down, we convinced him to try out his new bike. He was a little hesitant at first, but quickly got the hang of it.

He actually enjoyed it quite a bit, and that inspired us to go for a bike ride the following day. We headed to Miramar Lake and reservoir. I really like that place: it is peaceful and beautiful. We have been really lucky with the weather, this Christmas time. Temperatures reached the 80s almost every day, with a beautiful, cloudless sky, and Miramar Lake is the perfect place to take advantage of it. In fact, again, it was almost too warm. We have not been here in a long time, and as always, we forgot how long the actual loop is. It looks deceivingly short, but it is full of twists and turns, and it turned out to be a full 5 miles. We started out enjoying the view, and I have to say Keegan did really good, probably because he realized that he had no choice but to complete the trail. We only stopped once, to rest and look at the view from a pier. It was magical: it does not feels like being in a city at all.

Back at the parking lot we were amazed to see so many birds, mainly ducks but also coots – black birds without webbed feet. The most annoying, though, were two huge geese, who were honking and around, looking for food.

We had fun, and I am hoping it will be the first one of many bike-riding excursions. We got home in the afternoon, and Keegan was so tired that he ended up sleeping almost two hours! Of course, even then, we had to plead with him for getting some rest. The following day, Matt had to go to work for a few hours, so it was just Keegan and I. He was in a good mood, so it was not too bad. In the afternoon, we had a fun playdate at Van’s house. The kids had a great time, and Van insisted on giving Keegan a Christmas gift, an awesome Lego set. His mom insisted Van really really wanted to give his friends something: he is a very generous little boy. Keegan was excited. In fact, as soon as we got home, he started building it, mostly on his own. By the following day, he had it all done. He is definitely getting a lot better at Lego building, but he still enjoys having someone helping him along. On December 28, we had a very busy day. We spent a long day at the beach, after stopping by the library to pick up the final few Magic Tree House Books: I can’t believe, but we only have 6 to go before finishing the whole series (up to now, at least. She is still actively writing.) Once again, another perfect day.

Keegan and Matt got in the water, crazy kids, while I watched them body board from the shore.

We warmed up after body surfing, had a nice pic-nic lunch and did “sand angels”.

I

t turned out to be really low tide, so we walked to Tourmaline Beach to check out the tide pools: they are not as extensive as Cabrillo Point, but we still got the chance to see plenty of small anemones and crabs, playing in the pools.

When we got home, there was a surprise waiting: nonni’s package finally arrived, after a long, tortuous trip. It left Switzerland on November 21! It was Christmas all over again. As always, they really went overboard. There was something for everyone, and even my birthday presents! We were really spoiled.

The day was not over yet: as it got dark, we drove to the San Diego Botanical Garden. They set up their beautiful land with thousand of lights, and they had Cuban music playing, carriage rides, crafts and some snow. Unfortunately, we did not have a large enough sled, so when Keegan tried to slide down, he flipped over. He did not get hurt, but he was so embarrassed, for some reason, and really upset. Fortunately, they had marshmallow roasting, and Matt brought all the fixings for excellent, double-sides ‘smores.

That made him feel better. We posed on the picturesque Christmas gazebo and Keegan had a quick hot dog dinner, while listening to the upbeat sounds.

When we finally made it home, Keegan easily went to bed: what a big day! The next day, we really took it easy: we were probably more tired that he was, but still it was nice to have a change of pace. Fortunately Kelton, our neighbor, was around, so the two kids spent some time running around with their scooters and bikes and burned some energy off. December 30 was the day of the big Football Holiday Bowl, and as always, San Diego organized a big balloon parade downtown to celebrate. Bands, politicians and of course huge hot air balloons are the main attraction.This year they changed route, so we got to enjoy the nice view of the bay, as they all marched down the street.

My favorite part was the Star Wars Contingent, and I was glad to see, this year, a former student of mine, marching as Princess Lea.

We were hoping Lina and Mila could join us, but it was not possible. Keegan was disappointed, and probably that is why he got bored before the end of the parade and insisted on leaving. I do enjoyed it, though. For some reason I always find parades fun and entertaining. We tried to spend the last day of the year outside… not an easy task.

Matt had to work a few hours in the morning, so I went to Target with Keegan, to get him some knee pads, which he proudly wore as soon as we got home. Matt got home at lunch time, and we started the epic battle  to go out of the house and head to Cabrillo Point. I am really not sure why Keegan is making it so difficult to get out of the house. Granted, being 6, he is actively trying to contrast and oppose everything we say, regardless, but seriously, dragging him outside is a draining process, between his arguing, complaining and full meltdowns. The kicker is, once we actually get out, he  usually has a great time, which makes the whole process even more frustrating.

In any case, we finally made it to Point Loma, and just in time for one of the lowest low tides of the year. I never saw the tide pools that exposed. It was very crowded and we only had about one hours, but we had fun climbing on the rocks and checking out water life.

As we were leaving to check out the Lighthouse, the fog started rolling in.

And by rolling in, I mean rushing in: you could see it quickly moving, and within less than 10 minutes, the cliffs were completely engulfed in a thick cover, that made it hard to see ahead of you.

We made it to the top of the hill in time to check out the lighthouse, and to admire the last sunset of the year, even if shrouded by fog. It was an amazing site, with the rolling marine layer, blanketing the ocean.

Keegan was way too tired to wait up for the new year (or maybe it was us who needed a break?), so he went to sleep at the usual time and Matt and I enjoyed the last few hours of this 2013. I would not say it has been a bad year, but definitely not one of the best ones either. We watched the Neverending Story (a good omen for the new year?), and then quietly waited for midnight. It was not easy to stay awake, because we were very tired, but we finally made it to the countdown, champagne and sparkling cider at hand.

In San Diego, they usually replay the New York ball drop and so we watched supreme court justice Sonia Sotomayor start the countdown.

11…10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…  HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!

Even if it does not start under the best auspices, may it be a great one!

Christmas season seemed especially short this year: between a late Thanksgiving, and the expanded birthday celebration, we had fewer days to cram in festive activities. Even if we did a little less this year, we definitively made sure to include plenty of fun.

We started the season with Keegan’s school Winter Wonderland on December 6, one of the two winter events sponsored by MBMA. This was mainly a fundraiser, with different food vendors, some crafts and a bake sale. They even brought in a little snow, but the wait was atrocious: we had to stay in line for more than 25 minutes for a two seconds slide. Keegan enjoyed the festivities with his classmate Kevin, and he was even a winner in the “cake-walk”: he chose 8 chocolate cupcakes as reward.

The following day, we went to the annual Cookies With Santa event at Van’s house. It is a fundraisers for Down Syndrome, and it is always lots of fun. There are crafts, games, and lots of cookies. We got plenty of raffle tickets this time, and made sure that Keegan touched each one of them, since he is the lucky one. And sure enough, he won two Legoland Tickets! Of course we would have preferred restaurant gift certificate, but he is the one with the all the luck!

At the party there was also Santa, posing for pictures, so we made our way to the pool house. Santa checked how much he grew.

Then Keegan, sat on his lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas: an electric pencil sharpener, new pens and lots of treats! Well, this is all new to me.

The best part of the party, however, was the fresh snow in the front yard, and that is where Keegan spent most of the time. Beside Van, Camren from his preschool was also there, so the kids had lots of fun with snowballs fights…and trying not to get too wet.

That was a busy weekend: beside the Christmas party, we also had Keegan’s Birthday party and we bought the tree and decorated the house. Whew!

The following weekend, it was Mom and Dad’s time to celebrate the season, with my annual work Christmas Brunch. It is always nice to enjoy a leisure Sunday brunch at an elegant hotel, with no kids. Taking an adult only photo was a different story, and an impossible feat, as Keegan was jumping in the frame, goofing around. We did have a lovely time, once out of the house.

The following week was already the last week before Christmas break, so we were very busy. On Monday, I finally got Keegan to write his letter to Santa. It was not easy to keep him focused, especially when he saw Gaia and the two started playing together. I had to help out. And once again, the electric pencil sharpener was number 1 in the list.

Just like last year, I wanted to take him to the mall, to mail it. Macy will give $1 per letter to the Make A Wish Foundation. Differently from last year, it was not pouring rain: in fact it was very warm.

Matt met us at the mall, and we headed to our traditional photo with Santa (4th year in a row). This time we could finally see well the new, modern digs.

We had a quick dinner at the ice skating ring, and Keegan even met one of his friends, so he got to play around a bit.

Most of week itself flew by quickly, especially because Keegan was very busy rehearsing for his big show, on Thursday. They are not kidding around at Mission Bay Montessori. They were required to wear specific clothes, and props were provided. They spent the whole month of December practicing, up to one hour a day…insane! They even had a dress rehearsal.You were forbidden from taking photos or video of the show, since they had a professional videographer shoot the whole thing, and of course, you could buy the DVD, for the affordable price of $35. A volunteer purchase, of course. They even went so far as to offer wristband for seating, adding that parents in previous years lined up 3 hours early to get the best seats! You gotta be kidding me. Remember this show is performed in the auditorium, and you can see perfectly fine even from the very back…I felt like I was in an upside down world. Then again, some parents did watch the show twice, showing up at both performances.

The big day finally came. Keegan was excited, because he had two performances. He got all dressed early in the morning. I don’t think I will see him wearing slacks and button-down shirt till at least next Christmas. He does look adorable, though.

It was a bit of a rush because I still took him to Italian class that afternoon, and while I was waiting for him, I finally enjoyed the only free time I had all week. It was glorious: just sitting there and watched a movie for 90 minutes, thanks to the free wi-fi at the Jewish Center where he is taking his class. We rushed back to school, so he could get ready. Still incredible: slacks, buttoned down shirt, dress shoes! His teacher, ms. Sandra, helped him adjust the cummerbund and bow-tie.

There was barely enough time for him to pose with his teachers, and than it was off to the auditorium, for the performance.

The show lasted 1.5 hours!!!! Keegan’s class performed first, and then we had to sit through all the other performances. Yes, they were cute, but seriously…1.5 hours! Of course, to make sure parents would not leave after their children were done, they made sure all classes came back together for a final number!!! It was a cold and rainy night, but the kids made it a lot warmer.

When it was over, we went back to grab our children, and it was time for more photos. Here he is with his classmate Kalista.

what a dashing little gentlemen

Thursday night show signaled the end of school for Keegan: why didn’t they go to school for another more day, Friday December 20, is a mystery for me. Well, I had to go to work, so Keegan spent some time with dad. As luck wanted, I also had a two hours meeting after class, so I did not make it home till almost three. Fortunately Matt was able to take Keegan to work with him, and get some stuff done. That night Keegan had a Parents’ Night Out at his pool, so we finally were able to took a breath and relax a little. And with Keegan home for two weeks, we definitely need all the rest and relaxation we can get.

Christmas vacation had officially began. We started it off with a visit to Seaworld. It has been a while, but it is always fun to go during the holidays. It was another great day, and we were able to get there somewhat early. Still, it was very crowded, as it is expected during a weekend this time a year. We met Julia and her family at one of the shows, and Keegan was happy to share it with her.

We admired all the Holiday decorations and features, especially the Polar Tree and the live reindeer.

The snow is always the big attraction, but this year we had bad timing: you definitely need to come here during the weekdays. We were able to claim a little bit of snow, to build a micro-snowman. It was not an easy feat: between the crowds and this aggressive little boy that was obviously set to destroy whatever Keegan built, while his parents were of course oblivious, we had to defend our territory.

We even made it up the hill for a quick slide down: but once again, Keegan did not want to wait on line for more. He rather watched shows and animals, like the Polar Bears, Penguins, Sharks and Sea Turtles.

Monday December 23 was a work day for most people, including Matt. I was, however, home, so I offered to help out a friend from preschool, and we had a marathon playdate, 8am-4.30pm. Wow, that was exhausting. Fortunately Keegan and Brady get along well, overall, so we did not have too many issues till early afternoon. The kids started the day with breakfast and running the scooters in the neighborhood (a guess a second scooter comes handy someimes). Then they played a little and we headed up to the zoo. We saw bears, funny monkeys, birds, elephants, leopards, and polar bears. The kids had fun playing around the Elephant Odyssey area.

They explored the polar bear den, and the research helicopter.

We took the skyfari, an overhead tramway, and then checked out the reptiles before getting some lunch and heading home. The afternoon was a little more challenging. The neighbor kids stopped by, but Brady did not want to play with them, since he did not know them, and it was a little difficult to find something both wanted to play. By then it had been a long day, and both kids were a little tired. They had a good time, overall, though.

When Brady left at 4.30 I was pretty much done, but Keegan was still ready to play, and met up with the other kids that were still out playing. Where does he find the energy? And most importantly, how doesn’t he need some time to recharge after spending the whole day socializing??? Finally Matt got home around 6 and I could finally take a breather. I am sure glad I don’t have to teach a kindergarten class. In the evening Keegan and Matt baked some interesting gingerbread cookies, Ninjabread cookies to be exact.

Christmas Eve was an interesting one. As we were getting into the Christmas spirit, Keegan cornered us, bright and early, asking us if Santa is real of if it us the ones who bring him presents. Now, what perfect timing! Couldn’t he wait one more day? He was obviously not looking for reassurance, and he seemed pretty sure Santa did not rally exist. We asked what was he thought was the right answer, instead of answering him outright, and he really insisted we told him the truth. He was a little sad, but not excessively. We told him Santa was really the spirit of Christmas, that inspires us to be better and to be generous, and that if he believes in it, he is real. So, he concluded he did believe, but he knew it was us bringing him presents (and consequently eating the cookies he left out). So, here it is, our son. Why does he always have to come up with this stuff? The only silver lining I want to see is that maybe, this is the beginning of his critical thinking and questioning things, instead of blindingly accepting them. He is already questioning us, as the authority anyway, right?

We still made sure we had a great time, getting ready for the big day. And I have to say that knowing the truth did not seem to diminish his excitement about it. We had a picnic at Kate Session Park, a beautiful place with amazing views of the ocean and the bay.

Keegan is getting better and better at taking photos

We took the scooter with us, and Keegan practiced riding on steep hills. He was very brave and really faced his fear.

As the sun set, we took a stroll in the magical lighted street down from our house. As every year, it was beautiful. In fact,m we even saw a newscaster shooting a report in front of one of the houses. Many of the homeowners had set up hot chocolate and cider stations, and it was nice, pleasant evening.

This year, even more than in the past, I really did all of my shopping online. I don’t know how I did it before the internet. The thought of braving crowds at the mall makes me feel sick. It is so much easier just to click and shop. The only drawback, is that you need to buy early and be organized to make sure you get stuff on time. So, for most of December we had almost daily deliveries. One day I got at least 8 separate packages.

I love internet shopping

On Christmas Eve, after Keegan went to sleep, it was time for us to get to work: we had wrapping to do. I already took care of Matt’s gifts, but there was plenty to wrap for Keegan. Matt also planned ahead, and assembled his new bike a few days early. We were done pretty early, and enjoyed some Holiday music and made it to bed at a decent time. Everything was ready for the big day.

Our Lego Family Holiday card

This year, Keegan’s birthday felt like it would never end. Between the anticipation, the celebration, the party and the gifts shopping afterwards, it really felt like an eternity. In fact, Keegan was actually “barred” from talking about his birthday till November.

The actual birthday fell on a Tuesday, and since Thanksgiving was so late this year, we had to plan the party for the following week. Once again we took advantage of some of the early sales and got all his presents ready on Monday night. Keegan really like superheroes, and this year, he is particularly fond of Iron Men. You may remember that it was his Halloween costume too. We placed an Iron Man banner in our room and the presents below. We actually hid the Razor Scooter he has been asking for for last.

Amazingly enough Keegan did not wake up early, so I had to wake him up. He sure was excited when he got in the room and saw all the presents. This year, my parents and Loredana bought him Star Wars legos from Target, so they arrived just in time, as the cool books from Italy. The magic of Internet.

I also got him a monster soft blanket, he can wrap himself in and hide. Matt was a little skeptic, but it turned out to be one his favorite gifts, and he carries it with him everywhere he goes, within the house. Keegan, just like me, loves soft fabrics, clothes and blankets.

Of course, the favorite gift was the Razor Scooter, orange, his favorite color. He was very excited about it, since he really wanted one: all of the neighborhood kids have at least one, and he was really wanting to join them “scootering”. His bike was way too small for him, and without a scooter, he could not really participate.

Unfortunately was a school day, so he could not play with his new toys. After school, we went to swim class. At night, incredibly, Keegan also started building some of his Star Wars Legos, The Droid Escape Pod, right away, starting from R2-d2 and C3po.

He actually built quite a bit of the escape pod all by himself, which is a huge change. I am very glad because hopefully it gives him some confidence to buid the models himself. Now, I am also a little sad, because I love building Legos…maybe I can buy my own. (-:

When Matt got home, we had a small celebration at home. Keegan chose chocolate Chip Muffins on Monday, when we went to Vons to choose the cake for the party: Iron Man cake, of course.

The following day, the celebration continued. I went to his school early in the afternoon, and his classmates and teachers held a celebration for him. At first Keegan was not happy we had to move it to Wednesday, due to scheduling conflicts, but it turned out better that way. December 3 was gray and rainy, and the following day was a beautiful sunny day. We set outside and we all celebrated him. Then the kids ate the treat Keegan chose: orange and vanilla ice cream bar. It was quite a success.

As soon as we got home, he went to try out the new scooter around the neighborhood. He loved it!

That day, my sister’s present arrived, and guess what she bought? A Razor Scooter! I am really not sure why she did not tell me and wanted to keep it a surprise. I felt bad, as I figured she would be disappointed, but if I had known, we would not have bought him ours! Anyway, fortunately, she bought it from Target, so I was able to go to the store and get a gift card instead.

During the week, we also made sure we had all the goodie bags ready for the party. This year we had a comic books/Iron Man party. We included a color-yourself mask, a twirly straw, some tattoos, bubbles and of course, our traditional personalized m&ms. This year we chose red, green and iridescent white.

In the early weekend we were already involved in Christmas activities: his school Winter Wonderland and Van’s Cookies With Santa fundraising event, but Keegan could not stop talking about his party. Unfortunately, the party was at 5pm on Sunday, so it was hard to contain Keegan for the whole weekend.

Finally the party time arrived. After picking up the cake (and slightly damaging it in the cart) we picked up his friend Van and went to the party. We had a great turn-out: 13 of his friends came, and with siblings we had a good 20+ kids. Even his babysitter came to celebrate with him. He had a blast, as always. He also wanted to do some games and all had a great time.

No matter how many times we tried, it was impossible to get 1 picture in which all kids looked good.

The kids ate pizza, veggies and fruit (yeah right) on Iron Man plates.

Then it was time for cake. This time they had a crown available, and Keegan was proud to wear it. He was so excited about the party, he did not even notice the cake was a little ruined.

He loved the throne, and so did all the other kids. He took turns posing with his friends…mainly girls (but not only).

The good thing about a late afternoon party, is that the kids are pretty much ready to go to bed afterwards. Keegan got to open 1 present, and went straight to bed…so the celebration continued.

The next day, after school we had the present opening ceremony…the room felt like a toy store.

Look at all the stuff! This kid is so spoiled, and he still says he is bored and has nothing to do.We got lots of Legos, and Mutant Ninja turtles, and…another scooter, and Iron Man one. It must be the year of the scooter. Of course, since McKenzie got him that, he loved it, and now use s both scooters. We could not return it anyway, since there was no receipt, and he already used the scooter we got him. Oh well.

Now, with that, you would hope the celebration was over…but noooo. His friend Van (and my sister) gave him gift cards, so he still wanted to go pick up something. However, we told him he needed to be on his best behavior at school, or no toys. It took till Friday for him to manage that, and then on Saturday morning we finally made our way to Target. He decided he wanted to get more planes from the movie (he got some from Jada, under my advice) and an air carrier to put them in. With my coupons and my card, he even ended up with money leftover.

The only thing left to do, was writing Thank You cards. He did not enjoy that, at all, and we had to do it on multiple sittings. Sorry little man, but if you want to receive presents, you have to write thank you cards.

After three days, he was finally finished. He was happy, but we were happier still. After more than 15 days, his birthday celebration was finally over…and now we had only  a few days left before Christmas! Argh!

Wow, Keegan is 6. I now need two hands to sign how old he is, and we are officially past the time of the most crucial brain development … at least according to The First Five (http://www.ccfc.ca.gov/)

“Research shows 90 percent of a child’s brain develops in the first five years of life.”

So I guess our job is done: we have done all we could, right? Jokes aside, we can definitely notice some changes, mainly in his reasoning, and in the kind of things he says and does. In fact, I like to say he is 6 going on 16: we have plenty of rolling of the eyes, slamming doors, stomping feet, and screams of how much he does not like us when he is upset with us. He even told Matt he was embarrassed by the clothes he was wearing. He talks about “naked girls”, he explains the “birds and the bees” (in impressive scientific details) to his friends, he cares about how he looks and what his friends think about him,  and questions everything. Of course, all this is complemented by apocalyptic meltdowns if we pour parmigian cheese in the wrong bowl.

He still likes cars a lot, but he now also like Star Wars (even if he is scared of watching the actual movies) and Star Wars legos, which he usually wants help with. He also liked Despicable Me movie, and especially the Minion Characters. So we bought some cool decal to add to his door. Did you ever notice that, even if they speak gibberish, oftentimes they use Italian words?

He is also full of contradictions:he is still very active and loves to wrestle, but would not consider martial arts. He loves to stay home, but still can’t play independently, most of the times. And he still loves reading, or at least listening to books. The big question remains: does he likes reading itself and stories, or does he like being close to us, and have US read him books? I guess we will find out in a year or so, when he could actually read a real book by himself. For now, we are happy to see he likes books, and we enjoy reading to him. He still enjoys picture books, but he is definitively interested in chapter books. We have read almost all the books in the Magic Tree House Series (43/50) and tried many different ones.

My colleague Marita also gave us tons of books her kids outgrew. Keegan was very excited when I gave them to him.

Some things that changed: he learned how to read and write; he learned to ride his bike without training wheels; he learned to ride a scooter; his Italian has improved; he wakes up slightly later, around 6.39am; his ability to argue has reached new heights (hopefully this is the precursor to critical thinking).

Some things that did not change: he still loves stuffed animals, especially very soft ones; he is still very happy and smiling; he is very enthusiastic; he has a huge curiosity (often crossing over to nosiness…we are working on that); he is picky in his food, with no improvement in sight; he usually does not nap anymore (we are working on quiet time instead); he still wears pull ups at night; he still has major meltdowns; he still very sweet and affectionate.

We took him for his yearly check up: believe it or not, Keegan was very excited about seeing his doctor. She is after all, very sweet and funny. She found him well and healthy. His vision is slightly worse, but still within the norm. He is actually slightly taller in proportion, so his body mass decreased slightly. He is now almost 4 feet (3.97) or 116cm and he weights 44lb or 2okg. As always, he was asked to draw his family involved in an activity, so he drew a house, tree and the three of us. Well, he is not Leonardo, but his drawing skills are definitely better than last year. At least we have bodies.

So overall, he is a normal, healthy and active 6 years old. We are very grateful for that. Now, if he only could sleep a little longer…

Fall is San Diego is recognized mainly by the shortening of the days and the return to solar time. There a few deciduous trees, and the occasional rain, but other than that, it could be easily mistaken for spring, on in some extreme cases summer. On November 13, for example, as I turned my car on to drive home after work, the temperature reading was 106F (41C). Granted, the reading is always a little elevated when the car has been parked, but it stayed in the 90s all the way home.

We went for nice hikes to enjoy the warm weather. Once, we saw a red tail hawk land to the tree next to us while at Torrey Pines. It was huge. We had not seen one so close in years. Keegan was fascinated.

We also tried to go to the beach a little more frequently, since it is so close. During summertime is usually packed, but Fall is the perfect time, with the beaches, and the parking spaces, open and available. The water is a little colder, but with a wet suit, the boys can swim all year around. Keegan is practicing his writing on the sand.

I love mom and dad

This was our message:

We also had the chance to see McKenzie’s new house in Ramona. It is a beautiful, cabin-style house, with a large yard and a barn for their two horses. Keegan was mainly happy to see his “fiancee”: too bad she now lives so far away. She took him for a spin in her car, and gave him driving lessons.

They found some dress-up clothes…it took a little imagination, but here are the king and queen. The king is wearing a 1060 cocktail dress, but he is wearing it with style.

Thanksgiving was very late this year, on November 28, so the holiday season felt rushed. I think most stores completely bypassed Thanksgiving, to maximize Christmas shopping. Fortunately, Keegan’s school only closed Thursday and Friday (and half day Wednesday) so we did not have to take days off. The short week was full of activities for the kids. They got to make different native American Inspired crafts, including necklaces, small drums, and various decorations. On Wednesday, they had a Thanksgiving feast. Keegan did not eat much, but it was expected. He did get to wear a traditional Pilgrim costume he created. Here he poses with his classmate Olivia.

Thanksgiving weekend was a little challenging, as Keegan was particularly needy and would not play by himself at all. Matt, also got sick a couple of days, so I can’t really say I had a restful holiday.

On Thursday we had dinner with Daniele and Gaia. Keegan was looking forward to it, also because we had movie night, and watched Monster University on the big screen. Matt cooked a delicious meal, and Daniele brought great appetizers. The kids got along pretty well: Keegan has been particularly fond of Gaia since they are attending the same school; he often looks for her, and they sometimes play a little together at pick up time.

Not the best picture, but it captures the spirit. Happy Thanksgiving!

The rest of the weekend was not out of the ordinary. We went to cut Keegan’s hair, and on Sunday, I took him to Pradyuth’s party…at Pump It Up, a preview of his own party the following week. Matt was sick and rested.

So, all in all, we can’t complain: even if it was not as restful, we consider ourselves lucky and are grateful for all that we have.

Halloween time, once again. Halloween fever started early, since Keegan fell in love and got his costume in early September at Costco. It was great: no worries, no stressing out, and definitely the best deal in town. He wanted to be Iron Man. He promised me he would not change his mind…and sure enough he did not.

He got a lot of use out of that costume too. He played dress up quite a bit, with or without  friends, and he even got to wear it at a birthday party. One of his new friends from school, Aiden, had a party in Balboa park, and since it was so close to Halloween, costumes were requested. They had Halloween crafts, favors, food and music.

making a witch’s glove with candy

swinging on the rope is fun

The party was in the afternoon, so it soon got dark…but that only added to the fun. Glow sticks and bracelets were everywhere, skeleton cupcakes were served and they even told scary campsite stories.

Even if Keegan’s school took the kids to a Pumpkin Patch as a field trip, we also had our own adventure. Julia, his friend from preschool, joined us, with her brother Ivan. They were so happy to see each other, and they run towards him to hug him. They had fun going on all the rides, and selecting the best pumpkin. I think I bought the biggest one yet this year.

Even better, we all went to have pizza together, and Keegan got to ride in their minivan, watching Cars: what is better than that? Well maybe playing around in the restaurant and eating delicious pizza. The husbands joined us too, so we had a nice evening together.

Keegan holding baby Henry

The Friday before the big day, Keegan’s school held the long awaited Halloween Carnival. It is, apparently, a huge event, put up by the Parents Group, that obviously requires weekly or biweekly email updates. The day itself was brutal: I spent 5 hours there! It started with all the kids gathering in the playground for a concert and a parade.

getting ready for the parade

Once all the kids were settled on the playground, the concert started. These kids are really good. Even Gaia, my friend Daniele’s daughter, is part of the band. She plays violin (dressed in blue in the photo).

After the concert, all kids walked around in their costumes, starting from the smallest ones. Keegan is in Room 12, and was led by one of his teacher, dressed as Snowhite. The other teacher, dressed as a viking, was closing the line.

After the parade ended, the carnival begun. We bought a wristband, so he could participate to all the rides, and there were many rides indeed: bouncies, booths with various activities, petting zoo, pony rides…The older kids even made a scary house. There was even a fortune teller. Keegan wanted to see her and this is what she said: based on his birthday, he has many impulsive reactions, that he starts many things and does not finish them, and he is kind and sincere and will have many good relationships. The tarot card he picked was Freethinking. Well, I did not need a fortune teller to tell me this!  It was funny that the lady told me I looked familiar, and she thought she saw me before…I wonder if she was the same lady that read our card, just before I got pregnant.

Keegan was bouncing from one thing to the next, mainly looking for his friends or Gaia, whom he seems to be very fond of…you know, the older woman.

Keegan took also two pony rides, one with Gaia, of course.

Needless to say, he had a great time. Needless to say, I was exhausted.

The weekend was full of activities. We went to watch the annual Boo Parade, in College Area. It is right in front of my school, so we got to park there, even if the street was officially closed. Keegan posed under the big Pumpkin my colleague made for the classroom out of construction paper.

It was pretty cool. Keegan liked to watch all the people walking by, but he liked even more the fact that they were giving him candy as they pass by.

who are you going to call?

Ghostbusters!

not sure what the samba girls are doing here

My alma mater, SDSU float and mascot, Monty trailing behind with the cheerleaders

On Sunday we had Alyce’s birthday party:while it is not a Halloween event, per se, it has become one, since it is happens right before the big day.

That evening we carved our pumpkin: we were talking a big gamble, since Halloween is on a Thursday. Will the pumpkin survive till then? We tried everything this year: drying it with candles and hairdrier, keeping it in the cold sun room overnight, coating it with melted wax…well, it barely made it, but it had the tell tale signs of mold on Thursday.

The big day finally came. It was a little hectic, because Keegan was at Italian class till 5.30, and will all the traffic he did not make it home till 6.15. He had a quick snack, got dressed quickly and got ready for the big night.

We met with our neighbors Jada, Kelton, Lukas and Markus and families as always and we started our slow trek around the neighborhood. While not packed with kids like last year, it was still pretty crowded. It was especially nice to see more and more younger families with children opening the doors.

The kids did not seem to get tired, and their pails were very quickly full. I helped out, since it was getting very heavy. Some houses really had amazing decorations: I wished I took more photos.

Most of the candy was great: not a lot of cheap stuff. One house, though, topped them all: when the kids knocked at the door, a lady gave them raisin boxes, a rubber bracelet with the word PRAY on it, and a changeable card, with different scenes of Jesus’ life. She accompanied it all with the comment: “I want you to be friends with God”. Talk about inappropriate! They are 5 years old and it is Halloween!!! Is that really the right time to preach? I did not find out till a couple of days later, but seriously???? We found out who it was, because they invited us for two “neighborhood” BBQ, and on the second (which we avoided) they were showing some Evangelic Christian’s DVD…

As always, we had way too much candies.

As always, though, Keegan got to pick his favorites, and then we took the rest, along with my leftovers too, to the dentist for cold, hard cash. With my contribution we made $6 (=6lb of candy). Keegan was not too happy about it, especially when I told him that if he wanted my contribution, he needed to give some of the money to charity, but we came to an agreement.

The last event of the season, was a movie night, the following week with Hannah and her sister Natalie. It actually provided a perfect bridge to next holiday season, Christmas, since we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas. The kids enjoyed the movie, and Keegan especially loved snuggling in with his friends.

And with Halloween behind us, we are now officially starting the big holiday trifecta: Thanksgiving, Birthday, Christmas. I am not sure who ever said “it is the most wonderful time of the year”. It was not me for sure, as I will simply try to make it through the season…Let the craziness begin.

Keegan has been attending the Montessori school for a couple of months now. It has been a somewhat rough adjustment: many rules, a much stricter routine, lots of work, and trying to catch up to the other kids, beside, obviously, trying to make new friends.

The making new friends part is still an on-going process: he definitely has lots of friends (and once again, he seems popular among the girls), but he also has lots of disagreement and small fights with them. Oh well, boys, right? There are, after all, 24 kids in his class, (don’t ask me to name them all) so I am sure he will make lasting friendships. eventually.

One thing we can say, though, is that despite all the personal dramas, he is pretty happy there. And so are we: the progress he has been making is great. He started at the beginning of September not knowing how to read or write, and refusing to practice. By the end of October, his writing, while still uncertain, is almost at par with all the other kids. He is also much more willing to write, and getting faster and faster at it. This is the comparison between early September and end of October.

He also started reading…granted, simple, 1 syllabus words, but it is still reading. He brings a book home every week, and he seems more motivated at trying to read in general.

It interesting to see their method: they don’t focus on sight words at all. They went straight for reading and phonetic reading. It is “funny” to see Keegan getting frustrated at trying to pronounce words right. It does not seem to be any rules. Why wouldn’t  two OO always sound the same? Why do BLOOD and FOOD don’t rhyme? And I can totally feel his pain! Can anyone explain to me why don’t they??? He is definitely a lot better when he reads Italian, since letters always sound the same.

We also like the fact he gets to do a lot of interesting activities. He is learning computers, music, science. He has guest speakers. He already went to two field trips, to the Pumpkin Patch and the the natural History Museum. I could not be there, but a father posted some images. The kids learned about harvest and hunting and gathering in the old days. They even did some mud painting, using the symbols native American used. It looks like they had a great time.

painting ideograms

grinding acorns to make flour

If we forget the constant monetary request for this or that cause/event, we are really happy with the choice so far. We are still working on behavior, but I am glad that discipline and personal responsibility is also highly enforced at school.

While I am not a huge Autumn fan, I have to say that September and October are wonderful months in San Diego. The weather is usually beautiful and summer-like, but all the tourists are gone. So, we get to extend our summer season another couple of months.

To take advantage of that, we went camping in the Palomar Mountain Area. It is only an hour away, but it is about 5,000 feet above sea level. The weather was beautiful, though, nice and warm. Keegan loves camping, mainly because he loves hanging out in the tent. This time we did not even try to put him to sleep early, and we all went to bed at the same time, after some s’mores. As always, convincing him to go for a hike was a challenge, so we actually had to lock him out of the truck, barefoot, to “convince” him to join us…and then he had a blast. He particularly likes climbing on rocks or trees. He insisted I took pictures.

I guess, this camping experience was slightly better than last year’s…at this rate, we will have fun camping trips by the time he is 18!

We also had his first, boys-only birthday party at the local Skate Park. We were not sure Keegan wanted to go because he is a couple of years younger than the birthday boy and does not own a scooter (yet, I may add), and he never tried the jumps at the park. We went anyway, though, and Keegan got to try someone’s else scooter and tried his first few rides. He had a lot of fun, and did better than expected.

Of course, he has been begging us for a scooter since then, on an almost daily base. So, I guess he will get one for his birthday. Being a morning party, we had a delicious donuts cake.

The nice weather also allows Keegan to unleash his hidden Picasso. He seems to enjoy drawing and coloring and painting a lot more now, especially when it comes to create his masterpieces on the driveway.

If he gets to involve an adult, it is even better.

tracing daddy’s body

the battle of the robots: daddy’s and Keegan’s

The zoo, or should I say, The World Famous San Diego Zoo as they like to call themselves, is always fun too. Last time we went, we saw a peacock mom and her babies waddling around the trails. Too cute!

Fall also means Matt’s Birthday. This year it happened on a Friday, and, lucky for us, it was also the Parents’ Night Out at the pool. We love this monthly event: it is cheaper than a sitter, and Keegan has a blast. We had the chance to have an early dinner in La Jolla: the full moon was rising, and it was spectacular.

The dinner was also pretty awesome, and we scored a free dessert, since I said it was Matt’s birthday (over his objections). But not to worry: since it is a high end restaurant, we did not have to suffer through any cheesy display or singing: just a wonderful free dessert.

After we picked up Keegan we had one more celebration at home. Once again, Matt chose ice cream for his trat, so I got some delicious mix from Cold Stone. Keegan helped placing the candles on and delivering the presents…

It was a fun celebration. Matt asked for a new record player, which are back in vogue, but with all the cool, new technological bells and whistles, like usb connectors. At least he can now play his old records, which have been sitting in boxes at least since we moved.

With Matt’s birthday over, we officially enter the Halloween time!

It is hard to believe, but Keegan is starting “real” school this year.We were all excited, and a little nervous about this big event. Even if Keegan spent 4 weeks at the Montessori school, he moved to the “big kids” side for the school year, so it is definitely a brand new beginning for all of us. I was a little concerned about Keegan’s inability of reading and writing, since most of the kids in his class are already able to do it, but I trusted the teacher’s judgement.

On his first first day, September 3, we posed for a celebratory phot0: we will try to do it every year, to see how much he grows in 12 months. He is very proud of his new Monsters Lunchbox.

We all drove to school, since we wanted to see his new classroom and meet his new teachers. We met Ms. Christine, who is originally from a town close to Stuttgart, Germany, as I later found out. Keegan was extremely shy, and would not go outside to play, so she asked him to help her distribute name tags. It was nice of her. We left him with some worry, but we knew he would be fine.

I picked him around 3.30 and he seemed OK, all considering. He was still a little shy, but he did not seem upset. I met his second teacher, Ms. Sandra, a couple of days later. It turns out this is a k-1 class, so there are kids in age ranging from 5.5 years to 6.5 years. This is a definitely different experience for us, since Keegan has almost always been among the oldest ones, and in this new class he founds himself among the youngest. There are 23 kids in the class — 14 boys and 9 girls, as Keegan likes to remind us — which is pretty amazing in itself, since the average class in kindergarten has 25/28 kids, and ONE teacher.

The adjustment has a been a little difficult, for all of us. Keegan is struggling understanding that he needs to focus on his work when he is in school, and he has a particular difficult time not goofing around, or talking, or moving around. This is all normal and expected. He is now in a big kids class and must learn to how to control himself. For the first time, he gets to bring a backpack to school, and he is so excited about finally using his McQueen’s backpack (a present from a couple of years ago). It is pretty huge, but he carries it with style.

After a few days we attended the Open House, to learn more about the school, his class, and any possible after school activities. Keegan has been assigned to Room 12, and he has a nicely structured day. Besides a strong emphasis on writing, reading and math, the kids also have “enrichment” classes. These classes include science, music, art, Mandarin Chines, Spanish, computers and of course P.E. We like the fact they usually split the kids in two groups for these enrichment classes, so only 12/15 kids participate in these activities at one time. The room is split in various areas, including a reading area, with Montessori learning tools. It also has a color chart, to track behavior…and this is definitely an area we are working on.

So far, we are pretty happy with the experience. Keegan is still adjusting. He is pretty much the only one that does not know how to write legibly, and this get him a little discouraged …but obviously not enough to get him to practice more. All our attempts have been futile. However, he is now starting to read on his own! Again, we have been trying for a very long time to practice with him, but in vain. He started practicing his letter sounds a little during summer school, but only now he actually began to read. Reading Italian is obviously a little easier for him, since it is pronounced exactly as it is written, but he is learning quickly to read in English too. Granted, we are still at the very basic level, but it is a big improvement in two weeks. And , once again, proof that he will not be coaxed by us into doing thing he does not want to do. I wish he wouls resist peer pressure the same way.

reading together

As for making friends, I think he is doing all right. He does not have a best friend yet, and already had small fights with another kid, but he seems to like his classmates. We met with his teacher and a few of the other parents at a pizza event, and all the kids seemed to get along well, and they all warmly greeted him when we arrived.

All these changes, though, have been taking a toll on all of us: with all the new rules, the increased work, the no-nap day and the new school, Keegan has been a little difficult to handle: meltdowns and tantrums are common, and not only from him, and he has been constantly challenging us and pushing us to the max. It has been a little stressful.

We all know it is just temporary, and that he will soon find his new groove…we just hope it will happen soon. On the fourth day of school, bright and early in the morning, we had another beautiful double rainbow, that we want to see as a sign of a great year ahead. And with this photo, I promise…no more rainbow pictures.

And if worse comes to worse, and he decides later that school is not for him… he will make a great field technician at dad’s work.

Finally, almost 2 years after he got his first bike, Keegan learned to use his bike without training wheels. Hurrah! You may remember that when we bought the bike, Christmas 2011, we originally decided to not mount the training wheels. We bought a gyrowheel, to help him learn instead.

The wheel, using its gyroscope, helps the bike to stay balanced on its own, teaching good habits. Wired magazine named it The Training Wheel of the Future. We were so full of hopes and dreams. In fact, one of the first things we did on January 1, 2012 was testing the new bike and new helmet. How naive! Of course we did not counted on Keegan’s strong will. He refused to even touch the bike for more than 6 months, no matter how much pleading we did. By early July, with his school’s Bike Parade quickly approaching, we caved in and installed traditional training wheels: Keegan 1, Parents 0. He still did not fall in love with the bike, but he used it a little more, especially when the neighborhood kids were out riding.

Finally, this year, we had to get rid of the training wheels: they were falling apart, and not even touching the grounds. Finally, very begrudgingly, and after much pleading (and threats too) we forced him to try out the bike with the special wheel. On August 26, we finally had the first successful attempt at riding alone. The initial, partial success slightly motivated him, and within two weeks, with much pleading, he started running around the neighborhood.

We slowly reduced the gyroscope wheel speed, to get him used to balancing himself. He became more and more confident, so much so he wanted to show off for people, usually girls. We graduated from the curb in front of our house, to the park to Mission Bay.

Finally, on September 7, we switched out wheels, and Keegan rode all by himself! He is so confident now that we went for a small bike-ride in the neighborhood. Obviously, he is still learning to balance, steer, not to lean, and even more importantly, not to get distracted while he rides, but it is a huge progress. Now he wants to learn skateboarding and scooters, but we will wait a little bit for that.

off into the sunset

So, I guess the advertisement is true: it takes about two weeks to learn to ride a bike with the Gyrowheel…too bad it took us 1.5 year to get to this point! Once again Keegan showed us that he will do things when is ready and willing, not when we tell him to. Montessori seems more and more the right choice for his learning style.