Other April Things

Ever's front tooth got super loose and super jacked up. It was twisted, pushed in, bleeding, and causing her pain and emotional distress on the way home from church. I sort of jokingly suggested asking Kristi Rondo to pull it. (She has much experience and actually pulled Ever's first tooth.) Ever said she trusted Kristi more than Jim, so I texted Kristi, who obliged. Before:

After (outside Rondos' house):

Ever left another note for the Tooth Fairy. The Tooth Fairy didn't respond since her last response hadn't gone over very well.

Two very fancy ladies helped me cook.

Wrenzy and Tiny played a game while eating that consisted of putting their heads way back, then coming up and giggling. 

Tiny was an uncooperative shopping partner.

Kristi Rondo's dad is running for something, and the Carlsbad strawberry fields held a fundraiser for him. All proceeds that day went to his campaign. Kristi was supposed to watch Wren that morning (we'd been trading off playdates on Thursdays) and offered to take her. I somehow failed to respond to multiple texts from Kristi to tell her Wren could go with them, so I ended up having to take my littles myself. It was good
I should support Kristi's dad anyway. Plus all these years in Oceanside, and we'd never picked strawberries.

These are nothing exciting, but they give a taste of Tiny (and her tongue thrust). She was obsessing about Mommy's and Daddy's water bottles one day.

One day Tiny was in her high chair, and neither Jim nor I had put her in it. We assumed Ever had somehow done it, but she adamantly denied it. We were very confused. Then later I saw Tiny drag a chair next to her high chair and climb in. Mystery solved.

Camp Winacka

Ever had her first Girl Scout camping trip Friday, April 27 to Sunday, April 29.  Her troop went to the Girl Scouts' Camp Winacka in Julian.  It's a lovely spot. I took Leela and Ever. (Anna came up on Saturday.) We arrived late on Friday but were the first people to arrive after the leaders and their girls.

Leela is incredibly picky, so Anna sent some food with her. The girls went to town on her edamame. (Marin Vaughn and Sara Fletcher are the troop leaders. Marin's daughter, Andie, is in front; Sara's granddaughter, Sophia, is in the pink jacket next to Ever.)

More girls trickled in late that night and Saturday morning. We got to sleep late on Friday, and it was FREEZING. I thought the canvas-sided tents might add some heat, but they did not. Ever and I have relatively fancy sleeping bags that are supposed to keep us warm in really low temps, but I was so cold. I worried about Leela, who just had a cheap kid sleeping bag and a blanket. I was relieved that she survived the night unscathed.

Sara and Marin had brought tons of food and supplies for projects, etc. (The amount of work these volunteers put in! Makes me ashamed of my lazy self.) After breakfast, they set up buckets of soapy water, bleach water, and clean water and taught the girls how to wash dishes while camping.

The girls used pipe cleaners and beads to put their names on new water bottles.

We went on a short hike up to some treehouse-type structures that were really fun and had a lovely view.

Moms/leaders photo back at camp:

All the moms were really nice, and I enjoyed chatting with them. I'd been a little worried about spending a weekend with ladies I didn't know.

Ever and Leela wandered off and just sat together on a stump and chatted for a while.

The girls painted flower pots and planted milkweed seeds in egg cartons. They planned to transfer the milkweed to the flower pots at the next Girl Scout meeting. Apparently Ever was the only one who successfully grew a plant from the seeds. The other girls had to start over.

I texted Jim the above picture, and he responded, "Why don't we paint flower pots when we go camping?"

The girls also made butterfly wings to wear on their arms, but I didn't get any pictures of that project.

We played with whatever this big colorful thing is by bouncing/rolling balls on top of it, taking turns running under it, and sitting under it when it was inflated.

Anna and I took pictures of each other.

Saturday night we took a walk down around the lake and then ate dinner at the mess hall.

After dinner, we had a campfire and enjoyed lots of s'mores. One mom (who is SUPER into Girl Scouts) told the girls about some woodland fairies who watch the girls play during the day and then leave candies in their shoes at night. Everyone was supposed to leave her shoes by the door when she went to sleep. The girls (and I) were delighted to find a Hershey's Kiss in each shoe Sunday morning.

Sunday morning Ever and I had to pack up, grab some food, and hit the road to get back for church. She'd done very well on little sleep until then. When the other girls were playing and I asked her to get ready to leave, she threw a fit. Other than that, it was a really nice weekend.

Back at home, Jim took Wren and Tiny up to Irvine on Saturday afternoon to meet Sam, Tess, and Rue Hawkins at a super-fun park.

Pat's Run 2018

We left for Pat's Run on Wednesday, April 18. We decided this time just to go to Palm Springs and stay the first night there. We were swapping houses with the parents of Derrick's friend Seth again, and their place in Mesa wasn't going to be available until Thursday morning. Derrick had also just finished his busy season (the tax deadline was Tuesday, I think), so he was going to be wasted. A more mellow start sounded nice and relaxing.

We had an incredibly time-consuming, overpriced, and disappointing meal with the Karners at a highly reviewed restaurant in Palm Springs before checking into our hotel. It ended up being a really late night, even though we'd only had to drive a couple of hours. Ever threw a fit when I dragged her away from the Karners. When I finally got her to our room, she and Jim practiced the dance she had learned from Leela, who, in turn, had learned it at a dance class that was offered at Palmquist as an after-school enrichment activity.

The next morning we spent some time in the big, mostly vacant hotel pool. The place was great. We wished we had more time to enjoy the pool and rec center.

Jim's looking good at 45.

We made some sandwiches at the pool and then drove to Mesa.

Friday we tried to go to the cowboy town the Karners have visited in years past. We'd always stayed back to put our kids to bed when they went. We were excited to go, especially because the weather wasn't too hot. When we got there, we discovered that the place is under new ownership and is now only open on weekends. We went to a different cowboy town, which was fine but not mind-blowing. I'd really wanted to watch one of the gun shows they do, but of course they only do those on weekends. I got some incredibly poor-quality pictures as we roamed. Love Wrenzy's arm around Tiny:

Tiny really wanted to get up to the gallows, which were off-limits.

Wrenzy wanted to join her.

They twinned as they browsed the hymnbooks in the old church.

We took a train ride that was probably not worth the price.

Ever and Kara were going to ride horses, but by the time we were ready, the guy who does the rides said it was too late. So instead, I took Ever on the zipline. It goes quite high and stops very abruptly. I was pleased she was brave.

Then I took Wren, who was also very brave. Tiny just cried and cried the whole time because she wanted to go but wasn't big enough. 

Saturday was the race. We piled the girls in the double stroller, which Jim had the privilege of pushing.

At one point during the race, Tiny fell out of the stroller, and then Jim ran her over because he was looking to the side and didn't realize she had fallen out. That was exciting. She suffered no major injuries.

We refueled after the race. This first pic is of Wrenzy saying "cheese." I don't think that whole say-"cheese"-to-get-a-good-smile thing is working for her. 

Tiny fell asleep during the race and stayed asleep until after the kid race started.

Ever wanted to run with Christian Karner. Jim went with her, and they tried to catch Christian, who'd started in an earlier heat. (The older you are, the earlier in the race you start.) I went with Wrenzy. She ran very briefly and then stopped and refused to go. 

That was pretty much her whole .42-mile race - a short burst followed by a stubborn stop.

Mischievous.

There's nothing cuter than tiny runners.

We put the littles down for naps and then went to Seth's pool to swim. His parents' pool is unheated and way too cold in April. The one at Seth's complex is really nice and warm. 

Sunday we laundered sheets and towels, cleaned up the house, packed, went to church, and drove home. 

What is not depicted in pictures (besides some adult hangout time, the fish Christian and Ever nearly killed by overfeeding the first night, and other little interim events) is the horrific behavior Ever exhibited this whole trip. She is obsessed with the Karner kids (Kara, in particular). She wanted to be with them every second. She drove in their car. She went to the park late one night with them. She got in extra swimming time with them. She skipped naps to be with them. (Yes, our six-year-old still naps when she can.) When I asked her to come talk to me about something, she got totally exasperated and said I was taking up her time; she wanted to get back to the Karners. She was so mean, disrespectful, disobedient, and defiant to Jim and me the entire time. 

The night before we left for Arizona, she had not gotten to bed on time, thereby earning herself an earlier (by a half-hour) bedtime on another night. We couldn't really put her to bed early on Palm Springs night, so we ended up letting her choose which night in Arizona she wanted to go to bed early. She chose Saturday. That meant we had to tear her away from the pool - and the Karners - to get her to bed early that last night. She threw the hugest fit. There was a gigantic fight over bathtime. She was yelling at Jim and me, lashing out like a crazy person. It was nuts. 

She seriously pretty much ruined the trip. Jim said she really doesn't deserve to go next year, and he would consider trying to leave her with someone while the rest of us go. It was that bad. The sleep deprivation/Karner love/FOMO definitely aggravated things, but this was part of a longer phase of lashing out and being terrible. She has been better lately. We haven't had a big incident in a while. I am, however, still having a really hard time getting her to help and do the things I ask her to do. Wise family members are invited to give suggestions. 

Anyway, that's my honest record of Pat's Run 2018.