I’m not sure that we’ve gotten (or will ever get) the whole story, but you read it right – Natalie broke her arm last month playing in her room. Apparently her sister told her one thing, then something else happened and then… well, apparently, in her words, “I forgot to put my feet out.”
She was a trooper, though, and the compound radial fracture is nearly healed!
Papa
The holiday season is here, and I have more than most to be thankful for. So much, in fact, it’s almost impossible to put into words everything that is in my heart and mind. I have a beautiful, loving wife, two daughters that mean more to my very being than any words could ever express, good health, and more of life’s basics (clothing, food and shelter) than any one person deserves. These blessings are with me throughtout the year, and thanks to my daughters the ones that really matter will be with me, in their words, too, “always and forever.” Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve decided, as we get closer to the end of the year, that I am going to make every effort to write about the holidays that have passed in 2009 before they come around again in 2010. That said, I was looking through some of the pictures that we had from Mother’s Day 2009 and realized that I hadn’t shared a wonderful experience brought along by my beautiful wife, mother-in-law, and my two daughters. If you don’t see it, the symmetry in those three things is that combined they are my joy.
There are some positives and negatives about not having posted for a while, and for most they should be pretty obvious. On the negative side we have – restless readers, big gaps between updates, and a waste of space on the internet. All terrible things, but none-the-less countered by the positives of so many things to write about . And, with that, I thought that I would share a little about a exploration day that we had on Mama’s August 4th birthday (she was turning… 29, again).
The first day of school is one of life’s first rights of passage. It’s a change from being in Mama and Papa’s fold to being judged by a relative stranger and held up to the opinions of other students that at some point (very quickly) become your peers. With Sofi going into kindergarden this year it was also a wake-up call that my babies are growing up.
There are few things more exciting to a child than an amusement park, and we’re fortunate enough to have a few pretty good ones in our metaphorical back yard. Paramount’s Great America and their partner organization Gilroy Gardens are both pretty close and offer a wealth of rides for young and old alike. Personally, I think that Gilroy Gardens is more suitable for children under 10, but the fact that Great America is about 15 minutes from the house makes it a lot more appealing than the hour or so it takes to get to Gilroy Gardens.
I’m way behind in writing about some of our recent adventures, but thought that I would take a moment to catch everyone up on our recent New Brighton State Beach camping trip. For those that haven’t heard of it or visited, it’s south of Santa Cruz and is touted as a beach-side campground, which is probably about as accurate as one can get. You don’t get to sleep on the beach, but it’s a short walk from the campground and adds quite a bit of fun to what otherwise might just be a trip into the forest. Hopefully the pictures and following story will share a little of the experience from our perspective.
In a perfect world I would have a way to spend every minute of every day with my children, but it’s not a perfect world and sometimes it is necessary to just accept that there will be days that I miss and time that I can’t be as close to them as I might otherwise desire. Fortunately, during the summer months, Mama has the time and opportunity (being a teacher gives her summers off), and this year, as the girls are older and more able to get around, they’ve been making the most of the summer months and it would seem as though they’re really enjoying themselves.
It’s difficult to believe that my daughters are old enough to be riding scooters – it seems like just yesterday that they were “scooting” around the house as part of learning to walk. But here we are 2009 – Sofi is 5 and Natalie is 4 – and they’re out riding their scooters; tearing up the neighborhood. Fortunately, they’re having loads of fun, too!
The Razor scooters are actually pretty cool and the pink handles, wheels and board make them girly enough for even our little princesses to ride with pride. In just a few days they’re actually pretty good at it, too, and a lot better than I would have expected. We’ve even made the morning run to Starbucks – about three relatively long blocks away – and they did very, very well. Before too long they will be doing the trips that Sofi is so ready to try out. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve come to the conclusion that for as much as we try to educate our children based on our experiences, what they teach us (or remind us) is infinitely more important. Take this weekend, for example, and the big, blue ball at the park just outside Capitola. The big, blue ball, is huge – bigger than me by a lot and that much more bigger than both Sofi and Natalie. Fortunately, it’s not intimidating and actually looks kind of fun. And, of all places, it’s perched at the top of a hill (with others already having started their decent), begging to be pushed from it’s teetering spot. I asked if they wanted to try and push it, thinking that they would think I was insane.
Instead, they were excited about trying to push it down the hill, and even as they were saying, “don’t be silly, Papa, we can’t push this down the hill” they were asking me to help to see if WE together could push it down the hill. ‘Cause, just the thought of this was too exciting an opportunity to pass up. So we pushed and strained and pushed a little more, but the giant ball did not move. One lesson learned; one to go.
As we walked away, Sofi said, “that’s okay, Papa, maybe next time” with a big, giant smile on her face. It brought tears to my eyes and made me realize that what I had forgotten is the simple joy of trying something – even when your mind says it can’t be done. Because, for all of us, that trying may be all that is needed. That little bit of effort brought Sofi, Natalie and me that much closer for trying together to see what we can accomplish and what we can’t.
These pictures will be my reminder, and “maybe next time” I will try that much more to do what I think can’t be done.
Papa
As an interesting side-note for any of the geeks in the house, all photos for this post were taken with my iPhone 3GS – and the quality seems pretty darn good.
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