The Dwindling Spring

Spring is nearly over. I haven't felt a lot like writing lately, but it doesn't mean I haven't taken plenty of pictures. Since our camping trip to Pinnacles, I went on a short backpacking trip, Smunch participated in the Junior Olympics, we had a successful 5th grade Colonial Day, played lots of baseball, played lots of softball, Mam made the summer travel softball team, Smunch's PONY Bronco Giants won the Bronco Championship, while his travel team lost almost every game they played. Mam and I ran a 5K together...what a blast that was! Smunch played his cello on stage for the first time. I played my flute on stage, for the first time in 20 years...and possibly the last time, but I remembered how much I enjoyed it.

I feel like I'm drowning in kids' practices and sports right now, even as the school year quickly winds down. I'm praying for July... when softball finally ends...to rescue me. And since I have no real heart for the writing, here are some pictures.

Mommie N. and me at Pt. Reyes National Seashore for a more adventurous trip to Alamere Falls

Meanwhile, I  missed Smunch competing in the Junior Olympics. Here he is doing the standing long jump.

My little runner, who ran the entire 5K with me for Girls on the Run.

Turns out running with your daughter is pretty awesome. She says I'm too slow, however.

Mam finished her stint as a Neon Green Viper

I joined current students and alumni to bid a happy retirement to our high school band director, retiring this year.

My high school buddies on stage with our flutes.

Well, one of us appears not to have aged a day.

A happy little cellist preparing for his first concert.

And after this? He quit.

Mam, once again, tried out for the Nova softball travel team

The head of the cooking school and her little colonist

Who knew there were pickup baseball games during colonial recess?

Oh, and she made the team.

8U Nova winning their first tournament in Brentwood

The end of the Mavericks' season was far less joyful

A little something I did for myself

Eat your heart out, Justin Bieber. Smunch with Coach Jeff.

And this is where I realize that the PONY Bronco Giants really, really deserve their own blog post. Because they just do.

Mam

I ran across this photograph of Mam the other day...

Gosh, I miss that teeny little girl. It's hard for me to fathom that this is the same little girl who sang at the spring concert at school last week...my nine-year-old. Could that really be her?

Well, the dimple matches.

She's such a funny girl. There she is, all smiles in her cute pink dress with swirls on it. She's very proud to be up on stage and thrilled that her family is there to watch her. And then there's this:

This is the little girl who went from being a Red Unicorn, to being a Pink Butterfly, to being a Fuchsia Firework. She's now a Neon Green Viper...obviously.

She's every bit of that and more. She loves her dresses, but it doesn't make her less of a fierce competitor. And last weekend was the Vipers' first game. She was ready to show them her stuff too.

She's a little rusty on the pitching, but she'll get there.

She's ready. She's paying attention. She's got the batting stance...

She threw a couple of strikes, got two good hits and scored a run. And then there's this:

She may be a fierce competitor, but she's really just a goofy girl at heart. 

An a-ha Moment

Last weekend, I took a little trip to a not-so-little city a ways south of here. In a rare instance of independence, I went without any of my family. And although I took this photo while I was there, it's not what you'd think.There was no baseball involved.

See, I've got some really old friends. Well, I mean, they're not old. They're younger than I am, but I've got a good friend from pre-school who I still hang out with from time to time and one from kindergarten. I've written about these girls before. But I digress.

My best bud from kindergarten e-mailed me a few months ago to ask if I'd like to go see one of the iconic bands from our high school days in their farewell tour...in Los Angeles...in May. Her treat, she said. Well, sure! Well, better ask the husband. What date was that again? May 16th? Oooooooh... You mean the anniversary of that day when you were the maid of honor in my wedding? How do I even bring this up with the husband?

Now, I've been married for 11 years and I know my husband pretty well. He's a nice guy. And he's always supportive of things I want to do for myself. He was, I suspect, a lot more understanding of this situation than I would have been, had the roles been reversed. I felt horribly guilty for even asking if I could abandon him with the kids on our anniversary, but a once-in-a-lifetime trip to see a band I'd loved, but never seen, for the last possible time with one of my dearest friends? There would be other anniversaries, right? Eeek.

My husband does not get resentful about things like this. I'm so very, very lucky. Because I went. And it was so awesome that the high is only just wearing off. (And no, there weren't drugs involved.)

I learned a lot of things on this trip.

1. Although L.A. intimidates me in general, the financial district is pretty darned tame...especially on a Sunday. 2. That funny Scandinavian cell phone company builds some pretty kick-ass concert venues.3. A long road trip with a good girlfriend isn't really so long at all. (A lot shorter, in fact, than a long road trip with two quarrelsome children.)4. Not all pop-rockstars from the 80s age poorly. At least not those from Norway.5. The addition of a far-larger-than-life chameleon as a backdrop adds very little to concert atmosphere.6. If, as a teenager, you loved your music like some kind of alternate religion, you never ever forget the lyrics and the nostalgia is almost unbearable.

7. It sucks to be reminded of how much you loved a particular band right when they're going away. And hard to fathom that it's been 25 years.8. Some concert venues have given up entirely on keeping out cameras. I guess they figure they can't keep out the cell phones...oh, the irony if Club Nokia banned cell phones. If you need a blast from the 80s past, I'm including one of their songs. If you were alive, and particularly in high school, during the 80s, you already know it. If you were a fan of more classic rock, you'll doubtlessly want to skip it. Apologies for the pretty crappy sound quality, which varies because, as I discovered, the microphone on my camera is on the top. I also think it picked up the audience singing more than the band here and there. In real life, they sounded great and the lead singer could still hit all the high notes. Hopefully, those horribly out of tune warbly notes aren't me!


9. I'm not actually a teenager anymore. The long roadtrip and unfamiliar bed with no husband to snuggle up to took more wind out of my sails than I anticipated.

10. Every stay-at-home mom should have a husband so awesome that he comes home shortly after lunch, just so you can take a really, really long nap...even though your kid was too sick for school on Monday and he had to take the whole day off just for that.

When opportunities like this one come up, I should jump at them more often than not. I had so much fun reliving a tiny piece of my life with someone else who was there for it.

I am so grateful for the opportunity.

Singing

Late last week, the kids had their Spring Sing at school...or more precisely, the kindergartners through third graders at their school had a concert at the local junior high school. It's a big deal...at least parking and finding a seat in the big auditorium is a big deal. This shindig is always standing room only. Usually, that's painful for us. Because we never get there early enough, despite being early. And, in the past, we always had a very impatient Mam to tend during the performance. But wait!...Where is Mam? Isn't that her, up there...singing??What do you know? That is her. We have a kindergartner and life just got a tad bit easier. Well, at least this concert got easier, even if there's just one year left of that easiness.

As is always the case when reviewing one's own child in a performance, it was adorable. The kindergartners and the second graders were the best and the show wasn't too long at all. Even Smunch was looking pretty happy up there... And, as is also always the case, you do not want to see videos of this event if you were not there. You know you don't. So, I'm not posting any, although I've got plenty. If you've really got to see one of my kids perform on stage, I'd be happy to send you a video or two. But then, please do visit your psychologist first. You may have a problem.

In case you were wondering...

If you check the blog frequently, you've already noticed that I've been doing a lousy job of updating it over the past couple of weeks. I'd like to make some long-winded excuse about how many posts I wrote when we got back from Chicago. I thought it was going to be a pretty mellow summer. And in some ways it is, but it's been pretty busy too. At least we've been having fun. I'm sure there were lovely little vignettes I could have written up about some choice moments in there, but the problem with not writing is that I've forgotten them already. I can tell you that an hour ago, Mam was listing every animal name stored in her iddy biddy brain and telling me whether it was born alive or came from an egg. Geez.

Anyway, since I've failed to blog each of our fun little events separately, here's a fun little peek at what we've been up to lately.

We went berry picking...and enjoyed an awesome berry pie later...Mam started going to a local preschool for "summer school" with her buddy, Riley. Not entirely coincidentally, I'm also an alumna of this school. She loves it. Chickens roam around the campus, there are rabbits, finches, doves, guinea pigs, tadpoles, frogs, turtles. It's really pretty awesome. I'm sorry its mostly ending this week!The kids started semi-private swimming lessons at a local swim and tennis club. Their teacher for the first three weeks has been fantastic and they've both made a ton of progress. We had to switch instructors for the next three weeks. I only hope they have as much fun. We're visiting the pool 3-4 times a week right now.Aunt Karen and the kids' cousin, Spencer, arrived from San Diego, prompting another fun trip to Happy Hollow...along with a lot of running, jumping and very loud screechig from all three of them.We caught a Celtic concert in the park.And we celebrated the 4th with a block party on our street and fireworks at the park.We also took time out on the 4th to get some photos taken of the kids all together. I still love last year's photos, but these were pretty good too.Spencer and Aunt Karen will be leaving tomorrow, but it won't be long before we're off to visit them at their home. I'm sure the kids are already stockpiling their squealing power!