Other June Stuff

Here's the rest of June, in pictures and videos:

My angel-faced girl played dress-up.

I caught Ever reading Curious George to her sisters. (Jim bought a ton of Curious George stories, and the littles are obsessed.) I LOVE having a little reader. Ever's independent reading makes me so very happy.

Leela came over, and everyone read. 

We've used Scott and Rebecca's pool a good amount. It's been such a hot summer. Their pool is solar heated, so it's been amazingly warm. You will notice in these pictures, Tiny and Wrenzy were wearing floaties. They've refused to wear them since their (very brief) swimming lessons in July. More on that later. 

Ever, Nathan, and Wren agreed to jump together. Wren's commitment seemed to waiver from the start.

Don't let that incident fool you, though. Wren and Tiny are both nuts for jumping (which has made for exciting times since they stopped wearing floaties, as they refuse to wait until someone is ready to catch them).

 Wrenzy helped me cook and tried to match the mixer's moves.

We went to the pool at the Y one day. I worked out first and then got the girls ready for the pool. Everything takes so long that it was past naptime by the time they started swimming. Tiny had some tough times and went to ground.

A friend from Ever's kindergarten class, Blaize, arrived at the pool with his mom and siblings while I was still applying sunscreen. Ever pointed him out to me when he arrived, and I suggested she go say hi. So she walked over and said hi, and then they hugged. It was adorable. Ever ended up playing the whole time with Blaize's older sister, and they had a ball. 

Wrenzy read me a card that started off really mean.

And my all-time favorite videos of the littles - that time they went to Relief Society:

Tutu sent us the supplies for a Father's Day craft. It's a picture of a rocket flying to the moon with the message "I love you to the moon and back." The body of the rocket is a piece of paper cut from a tracing of the child's foot. Wren and Ever both made one. They worked very hard on them.

Father's Day morning, Jim got cereal in bed and was presented with all his handmade gifts. Then there was fighting and crying, and somebody spilled his cereal milk on the bed, so we had to launder the bedding. 

We made cream puffs from Ever's cookbook for dessert that night. 

Naked Dr. Wren attended to naked patient Tiny.

Then they both worked on Jim, who was apparently having some abdominal issues.

I've been in a big fight with the birds that turned our backyard play equipment into a toilet. I have never seen anything like it. They were pooping all over our playsets and trampoline. I would spend hours outside cleaning, and then within a day or two, they would be covered again. I couldn't let the girls outside without cleaning first, which was infuriating because it meant I ended up not wanting them to play outside this summer. I cannot overstate my frustration. There was a ton of turd everywhere always.

And sometimes there would be a huge pile of dung that was definitely not deposited by a small bird.

A favorite pooping area is the part of the little playset the kids hang on before they go down the slide:

Seriously, how could I possibly let the kids play outside under those conditions?

I bought a number of supposed bird repellents on Amazon - spiral, reflective hanging things; a fake hawk; reflective tape; and cable ties. I spent hours and hours putting reflective tape and cable ties around the top of the trampoline enclosure. Birds are supposed to be scared off by the tape, and the cable ties are supposed to work because they get rid of the birds' smooth landing surface (like bird spikes).

I put more cable ties up than are pictured above, but it did not matter. The birds just enjoyed the cozy nooks created by the ties. Rebecca was sympathetic but thought the whole bird battle was hilarious. I recognized the humor but really came to despise birds and to have a whole new appreciation for Steel Magnolias (when Tom Skerritt shoots into the trees so that bird s--- doesn't cover Julia Roberts' reception). I finally agreed to allow Jim to buy a BB gun, but that, too, was totally ineffective because a) Jim isn't here most of the time to shoot the birds, b) I didn't learn how to use the gun so never tried to shoot them, c) Jim always missed them when he did shoot at them, and d) I don't think the BBs would really hurt them anyway. So the birds won. (Note: since I am writing this in September, I can say that the pooping has slowed. According to Rebecca's mom, who is super into birds, the insane uptick in bird poop was due to mating season, which is now over. THANK HEAVENS.)

One day I was downstairs and heard Tiny crying upstairs, "Alligator eating me," over and over, in a truly sorrowful voice. I have no idea what it is with her and alligators.

Ever took a dance class through the City of Oceanside. The rec center is super far away, so while the price is right, it is not convenient. As of the first day of class, Leela and Ever were the only two kids registered. The teacher said the class would be canceled if at least a couple more didn't sign up. Leela and Ever wanted to make flyers to hand out at school, but fortunately just talking to their friends was sufficient. Naomie and Aviana (friends from their class) and Aviana's little sister, Sophia, signed up. The girls had a lot of fun. Anna (Leela's mom) did most of the driving because I was usually working on class day, so that was nice for me.

On Saturday, June 23, all the dancers performed at the Oceanside Pier amphitheater. They got started late. Then the music was played from iPods onto ineffective speakers, and virtually no one in the audience could hear. It was so ghetto. (The amphitheater, itself, is in terrible shape, too.) Also our girls were near the end of the almost 30 dance numbers, so we had to wait for about an hour until their turn. At one point, Anna asked me to keep an eye on Rafi, who was next to me playing on Anna's phone. After a few minutes, I remembered that I was supposed to be watching Rafi and realized he was not near me. I looked back to where Anna and George were, and Rafi was not there. I looked all around and could not see him. A lady from our neighborhood, who I hadn't even realized was sitting behind me, said, "Whitney, are you looking for someone?" I went back to where Anna and George were sitting and confirmed that they didn't know where he was, and then Kat (the neighborhood lady), Anna, and I began searching. He hadn't gone far but had wandered through the gate and over by the bathrooms. I hate when I lose other people's kids while I'm supposed to be in charge of them.

Our group, before the performances started: 

Naomie, Aviana, Leela, Sophia, and Ever

Waiting for their turn to dance:

Their dance:

Anna invited Mrs. Tesluk (the girls' kindergarten teacher). She came and waited patiently for their performance, and then she gave them all flowers. She is the sweetest lady, and I'm so grateful for her.

Anna had arranged for their family, Aviana's family, and us to eat dinner together. We should have bailed because it turned into a really late night, and dinner was hard with the incredibly overtired little people. It was a nice idea, though. Walking up to Swami's Cafe:

Now that she's a pro, Ever likes giving dance lessons. This one started as a private lesson for Wren, but then Tiny joined in:

We attended a surprise birthday party for Papa Wilson.

Tiny started calling every song her favorite song.

Ever and Leela did a week-long gymnastics camp at the YMCA Gymnastics Center in Carlsbad. Ever loved it. This was drop-off on day 1:

On Wednesday that week, Anna picked up the girls and took them bowling after gym. Both got over 100, so it was a proud moment. (Of course, they were using bumpers and a slide for the bowling ball.)

On Friday, parents were invited to come watch as the kids rotated through a ton of different stations. It looked like so much fun. I didn't get any footage because I was running late and left my phone in the car.

Tiny came up with an interesting new dance outfit - just a diaper and a sheer tutu worn like a poncho shirt. I think in this first video, she says she is "dancing with my [or mine?] dress." Usually when she puts on a tutu, she says she is "putting on my dance class."

This second video was taken a few days later. The ensemble wasn't just a flash in the pan.

Tiny gets into things a little more than her sisters did. Lotion:

She made a cozy little bed on the stair. Not sure why one of the things she's snuggling with is Wren's romper.

She got grumpy when the paparazzi arrived.

She kept Jim company when he cleaned Little Gray. She wanted to be buckled into her car seat and just sat there. I love her little face.

We went out for dinner and bowling with the Sorensons and Shirleys one night. Jim and Tom were the stars of the night, but I got 111, which was pretty exciting for me.

Greta stopped by with her baby (Eleanor Zelda, aka Zellie), on her way to San Diego. The girls had fun on the tramp. Greta tried really hard to get a pic of all four girls looking happy with hands in the air. It didn't work out, but their inadvertent pink/yellow color coordination was impressive.

We went on our first family run in a long time.

And Biggie and Tiny cuddled.