Pool…

The weather was great over Memorial weekend so headed off to the pool.   Last time Stacy didn’t want to go to the pool but this time she went and she LOVED it.  I mean she loved it!!

Stacy has no fear and it was a full time job watching her at the pool.  Jack knew he had limited skills in the water and would just stay on the steps or the safety of the pole.   Stacy just jumps in the pool!!   Stacy is water safe but she doesn’t know how to swim but she just wanted to jump in and swim like Jack.

I could kick back in the pool with Jack and sort of lounge but not with Stacy.   Stacy is trying to swim by herself so even if you hold or carry her in the pool she is trying to squirm out and swim on her own.  

Open House…

Jack had open house at his school last week.  What a scam.  Sure it is just Kindergarten but there was absolutely nothing really to see or do at Open House.

I thought it would be like the parent teacher conference where you get a status update about how your kids are progressing at school.  Nope, Open House was just seeing all the stuff they do at school.   Now, all the stuff he does at school comes home every week in Jack’s folder so if you go thru that as a parent then you really don’t need to go to open house.  

Just a scam for you to leave work a little early, shave (for me) and walk around campus thinking you are looking at nice stuff like this:

This was basically a self portrait of Jack…that he named Jonathan.  What a spaz?!   Who draws a picture of himself and calls him ANOTHER name??  Genius.

At Home Conversation…

As most of you know Aya goes to work early due to the Stock Market opening.  Typically, Aya will be up at 4:45 am and out of the door just after 5:00 am.    The week before Memorial weekend Aya was waking up at 5:45 or 6:00…so basically for her sleeping in an extra hour and half.

Right before the END of the 3 day weekend Aya springs this on me:

Aya:  Oh, can I get a ride to the airport Tuesday morning.  (She is going to Chicago for work)

Miles:   What time?

Aya:   I dunno, before or after you take the kids over to your parents house.

Miles:  What?  What time is your flight?

Aya:  8:15 am

Miles:  If we go BEFORE I drop the kids off then I have to wake them up so we can leave early.  Jack has his science project and he has to be at school early as well.  If we go AFTER then it doesn’t leave you a lot of time to go thru security after a 3 day weekend.

Aya:  I will make it.

Miles:  Yeah, but if I go after, then I can’t sleep in the way you have been sleeping in AND after I take you to the airport, I might as well go to work.

Aya:  So.

Miles:  So, I don’t want to go to work super early after a 3 day weekend…especially when my boss isn’t going to be there for the next 2 days.

Aya:  So I should get a cab?

Miles:  YES.

Aya’s company PAYS for the cab ride to the airport as well.   Grrr.   See this is why I have gray hair, balding and why I am so grouchy.

Nail Polish…

This is how it all starts!   Aya painted Stacy’s nails one week and now EVERY week Stacy wants her nails done.   Aya and Stacy went to Rite-Aid and Stacy picked out 4-5 different colors and Aya paints Stacy’s nails every weekend.

After Aya painted Stacy’s nails, I noticed that the nail polish on one finger was gone:

Miles:  Oh no Stacy, what happened to your nail polish?

Stacy:  Where?

Miles:  Right there…on your finger.

Stacy:  Oh.   I pick my nose with that finger.

HAHAHHAHAHA. 

ACL - Week 15

It seems like everything for my knee is going as planned.   My knee is feeling better every week.   I can feel it getting stronger and it feels more like ‘my knee’ again.   For a while I had no feeling in my knee or it felt ‘numb’.

I was finally cleared to come into therapy twice a week now.  I can walk pretty normal now.  I can go to Disneyland and do most every day things now.   I still can’t run or jump yet.   I run on the treadmill at therapy still but I have to do supervised running.   I have not even tried jumping yet but they said NO jumping yet.

Still, it feels pretty good to do most day to day things with no pain or no limitations.   My leg is still pretty weak though as you can see all my muscles twitching trying to work and ‘keep up’ during my exercises. 

Hopefully I will be able to start riding my bike to the beach for the summer!

Swim Test…

Stacy had her swim test last weekend and she did great!    I should post the video but it happened so quick that my video wasn’t in complete focus so it was a little blurry. 
In any case, Stacy got her first ribbon as she passed her level 1 swim basic test.   In a nut shell, if Stacy falls into a pool she can float on her back until she either gets to the wall or someone notices that she has fallen into the pool.

Aya and I couldn’t  remember if Jack got a ribbon.  We looked at the old pictures and video’s and Jack also passed his swim Level 1 test.  Sadly, Jack was almost 4 when he passed and Stacy is 2 years old!   After Jack passed level 1, we quit because Jack didn’t want to go to swim lessons anymore.

SBY Camp…

I took Jack to the SBY Camp at my alma mater, CSU Dominguez Hills.  It was my first time back since I graduated.   The campus basically looked the same but a lot of new buildings and parking have been added.

In any case, there was about 80 kids at the SBY Basketball camp:

Jack did pretty well.  The had 6 different baskets and grouped the kids together based on skill level.  

Jack is 6 years old and he was lumped with the 7-8 year old players.  

At the end of camp they had a scrimmage.  See the kid in the orange shorts.   We was on the other team.  Jack went up for a shot and the kid swatted the ball about 5 ft out of bounds….it was a great block.   I was pretty happy that Jack went out and played with the older kids. 

Elia…

After I hurt my leg we hired a housekeeper named Elia to clean our house every other week.  It has been almost 4 months now and she has been great.

Last week Jack and I were working on his homework and Jack was making lots of mistakes so he had to erase everything and start over.   When he used his eraser it made all those eraser ‘droppings’ and Jack just brushed it onto the ground.

Miles:  “Stop brushing all the eraser on the ground.”

Jack: “Why?  It bothers me”.

Miles:  “Because, I will have to clean it from the table AND the ground now.”

Jack: “Why?”

Miles:  “Because it is dirty and we need to clean up after ourselves.”

Jack: “But Elia can clean it.”

Grrr.   See that is why I didn’t want to get a housekeeper.  How or why Jack even deferred that to Elia I have no idea.   Aya and Jack….birds of a feather!

Uncle Bryan’s Birthday…

We celebrated Uncle Bryan’s 27th birthday at my parents house:

We ordered Tito’s for dinner and my mom made apple pie:

Happy Birthday!

Mother’s Day…

These holidays seem to creep up on me and I just totally forget that the kids need to get something for Aya for Mother’s Day.  

Luckily Jack made a card with flowers on it and Stacy and I bought a card.   Jack also made something at school.  Once again we have no idea what it is….an ornament…a wall decoration?  Who knows?!

Dawn hosted Mother’s Day brunch at her house.   I totally forgot to take pictures of everyone but I got Grandpa trying to eat Jack’s raspberry:

Cheers!

Swimming…

Wow.   I can’t even tell you…double wow!   Stacy has made a HUGE leap at swim class.   Once Stacy stopped crying she has really gotten comfortable in the pool.  I already knew how much Stacy liked the water because when we go to the pool she loves it….she just doesn’t like swim class.   Now, Stacy is a whole new person and is doing great in swim class.

The teacher thinks Stacy will be ready for her swim test soon.  Basically, water safety test where they throw the kid in, either in a swim suit or clothes and see if they can float and not drown in case they accidentally fall into the pool.   I for one know it works, because Jack fell into the pool last summer and he was fine.

Doggie…

HA!  Not a real doggie obviously.    Since Stacy likes stuffed animals, I thought Stacy would like Build-a-Bear.   I thought Stacy would pick a bear to build but she choose a dog.   This makes #3.  She already has “Wow-Wow” and “Puppy”…this one she named “Doggie”.

Stacy was so happy to build her own puppy.  She put a heart inside.   She didn’t want any “clothes” for her dog.   She just wanted to hold him all weekend:

Dodgers Part 3…

So after a day game on the weekend, the Dodgers have Kids Run the Bases.   I loved baseball and the Dodgers when I grew up and I would have killed to run around the bases when I was a kid, so we thought Jack might like it.   You have to wait until after the game and then wait in line.  Aya and I had no idea the line would be HALF the stadium!! 

The line was super long, it was a hot and I think Aya just wanted to go home.  Jack really wanted to run the bases so we stayed.  Part of me, didn’t want to stay either but part of me was thinking how cool is it to run the bases.

The line looked like it was a one hour wait but once the line started going it was about 30 minutes.   They really herd you and the line quick and it was chaotic so I didn’t get a chance to take good video or pictures.   Jack also didn’t want to run with Stacy so Jack ran as fast as he could and Stacy ran by herself so I am trying to watch both kids at the same time on the camera.

Dodgers Part 2…

Most people probably pick games based on players they want to see or teams they want to see, but Aya and I picked games based on the free giveaways!   This game was free Clayton Kershaw kid jerseys:

Jack in right field:

Jack leaping for a ball down the right field line…probably would have looked better if he had a glove on:

Most all it was Kids Run the Bases day after the Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals:

Dodgers Part 1…

I have been a Dodger fan all my life but last year I just couldn’t stand Frank McCourt any longer and I boycotted the Dodgers.  I would not watch or go to the games…even if I had free tickets.   This year once I knew the Dodgers would be sold, I joined a group and went in for a share of Dodger season tickets.   Since we were new to an existing group, we didn’t get as many games as I hoped for but it is just enough for us.

What I reallylike about the  tickets is that it is under the awning so it isn’t likely for us to get hit with a foul ball AND it is in the shade so we can go to weekend day games and not get roasted: