Safely delivered

This morning I had to leave super early to make a 9am meeting in Santa Barbara...well not super early because the earliest I can leave is 7am when I stop Calvin off at school. Of course, that means that I somehow have to get E to school and thankfully we have friends/neighbors who can take E to school for me, and will let me drop her off at their place at 6:45am! And these friends are even thoughtful enough to send a text and photo of E at school so I can stress out about stuff at work rather than Ellie. 

Thank goodness for the village!

Bike ride

Double Dare

Double Dare, the TV show, is back. Apparently this show was Nicks favorite as a kid and it had a huge impact on him (beginning of his love for trivia?). So, guess who has been reliving his childhood with his kids and the new episodes of the show.

Well trivia, physical challenges and an obstacle course totally play to Ellie’s favorite things. Calvin just thinks it’s funny to watch everyone get messy. 

So, lately the kids have been creating their own version of the game. Indoor physical challenges have involved moving beads from one cup to another with oven mitts on and separating small bowls and carrying them across the house with oven mitts on. 

Outdoor physical challenges are more fun and involve water and throwing candy. Last Sunday the kids created a re-enactment of the game with the neighbor kids.

Helping hands

Ellie’s soccer coach and the team manager encourage the development of the whole student-athlete. They encourage hard work on and off the field but also friendships with teammates on and off the field. So, they schedule events for the girls outside of soccer games. 

Yesterday was one of those events. They arranged for the girls to feed the homeless at the Midnight Mission in downtown LA. Nick and other parents accompanied the girls with their coach and manager downtown. Besides feeding the homeless they also got s tour of the shelter and donated toiletries. And then they also went out to breakfast themselves.

Recycling

It’s August camp at Calvin’s school. Which means lots of outside time, crafts, and no classroom work. As such, they put out a request for toilet paper and paper towel rolls for crafting. Calvin took the call seriously and has been scouring our recycling bins for rolls to take to school (after he clarified that they are supposed to be empty). Today he brought home binoculars. 

He also comes home much dirtier during August camp. And today they made banana sushi...bananas and peanut butter rolled in Rice Krispies. 

Photography by Calvin

Chess at school

He took the chess board to school. It was a big hit with the kids apparently. He picked up a few lessons and tips from the older kids.

Chess

Calvin is interested, fascinated, captivated by chess currently. Not sure why, except that there was a large scale chess board by the pool at the hotel this past weekend (soccer tournament). He didn’t play with it, but there were some older kids playing with it and he did ask a couple questions. 

As soon as we got home Ellie set out to answer his questions and teach him the game with her chess set. Nick helped a little bit.

Monday, he asked his friends at school if anyone knew how to play. There were two people who did and so he asked if he could bring our chess board to play with them. Monday night, before he started another game, it seemed like a good idea. Fast forward 10 minutes to when he was upset that his pawn couldn’t take one of Ellie’s pieces...and then he lost, and there was kicking of chess pieces and a tantrum. So I told him he couldn’t take the board to school. 

This morning he asked if he could. I reminded him of his poor behavior last night and that there were consequences and he couldn’t take the game to school today. Well, there was more tears and an angry Calvin. Eventually he recovered and seemed himself.

But as soon as we got to school, he started crying. He walked into the classroom, straight to his friends who he knew how to play chess, and through tears told them that because he kicked the pieces last night he couldn’t bring the game today. He genuinely was upset and sorry about it being able to bring the game because of his actions. He apologized to them and I think he felt that he had let them down. 

Then he saw the trains and started to play with them. 

Tournament weekend

This past weekend Ellie and her FC Golden State were in another tournament. It was up in Thousand Oaks and so we got a hotel room in the same hotel as most of the other team members. And the downtime for her hanging with her soccer friends was super important. I think she has her soccer besties, one of which was on her All-Star team this past Spring. 

The team did well, getting to the championship game. But they lost and came home with second place medals. The girls worked hard. Ellie had a few amazing saves and really earned her spot on the competitive club team this tournament. The coach asked if we got photos of one of her saves because it was pretty fantastic...and she used her acting camp skills and milked it for attention. Her hard work even got her chosen as a captain for the championship game!

Show and Tell

Calvin was very excited for Show and Tell today. Every morning this week he would ask what day it was and then count how many days till Friday. 

He wanted to share an art project he made with Ellie. He used a toilet paper roll to make a palm tree. Apparently he designed it and E helped him cut things and glue it together. 

Test scores

Last year Ellientook her first standardized test at school. All 3rd graders in Cali took it. We got her test scores yesterday and she rocked the test! Her scores were “exceeded standards” and she was way above average. I’m just glad that her first standardized test was a positive experience...there are so many more ahead of her.

And now some photos by Calvin:

Egg-celent

Calvin found an egg shell outside of Ellies school. Following his adventures at Natural History Camp he was keen to pick it up and share it with his classmates.

He also loves his new shoes. Not a fan of his uneven and non-floppy haircut. 

Happy Birthday Great-Grandma Van

Grandma Van celebrated her 95th birthday with cupcakes, ice cream, friends and family. 

First Day of Fourth Grade

Today was the first day of school for Ellie today. And she’s a fourth grader! Which means she is in a different building at school (the lower playground) and has a different recess schedule. 

She said the day went well. She was happy to see her friends. She likes her teacher. And they didn’t get homework. Apparently the teacher also gave them a fake quiz. One of those where the first direction is to read all the other directions/questions before doing anything...and the last direction is to ignore all previous instructions except the first one. But directions in the middle include yelling and running around the classroom and other silly things. She said that only one kid ran around the classroom...it wasn’t her. So far, so good!

Camp Grandma and Grandpa Day 12

Last day of treats and fun...we go tomorrow to bring them back into the real world.