Not a Lot Happened in February Besides Big Bear

Based on my photos, it appears we didn't do much in February besides take a trip to Big Bear, and that will get its own post.

We had Maggie and Al Long and Jenny and Jordan Peterson over, and Jenny brought monkey bread. She let us keep some of the leftovers, and I fed it to the girls the next morning. They passionately loved it, and Wren declared that she wanted it for her birthday breakfast. Promptly after breakfast, Tiny vomited it all up. Jim said I shouldn't have given her so much sugar.

Ever went on a reading spree. She moved around the room when necessary, nose continuously in the book.

I found these notes in the bathroom from a scavenger hunt Ever had created for the littles - "look under the fire place," "look on the stair," "Look by the play table."

Prayer time turned into a people pile.

As they prepared for lunch, Tiny, who usually sits at the head of the table, walked all the way around the table and scooted right up next to Wren, saying, "Wrenzy, I have to sit next to you because I like you." Wrenzy found that annoying.

Jim's nurse took a Girl Scout cookie order form around his office and collected lots of orders. Ever organized and labeled the cookies for delivery.

Wrenzy continued to work on her kick, arabesque, twirl, plié, curtsy routine.

I won a raffle at the orthodontist's Halloween candy buyback and got a free eight-class session at Callan Swim School in San Marcos. For some reason, it took them until January to get the voucher and notify me. I figured I might as well sign up all three girls for lessons while we were at it. The girls had an absolutely grand time, but they got nothing out of the lessons besides possibly regression. Their teacher was this sweet girl named Allie who never let go of Tiny or Wren the entire session, despite the fact that I told her that last summer, they were jumping in alone and swimming short distances alone (especially Wren).

Tiny was a little out of control, and this place made the kids stay on the bench on the side of the pool when they weren't swimming. It was so lame. Tiny kept venturing too far down the bench into other teachers' spaces, and Ever kept getting off the bench because she already knew how to swim and it was boring to do nothing. Videos of Allie holding onto the littles the entire time and teaching them nothing.

I was so bummed I spent a few hundred dollars on that debacle. I should've switched teachers or talked to somebody, but I didn't want to hurt Allie's feelings or get her in trouble. 

I wrote this the evening of February 8 and captioned it "An Ordinary Evening I Want to Remember":

"After Ever got home from school, I took the girls to their swimming lesson in San Marcos (the third of an eight-class session.)  The teacher keeps saying Tiny is 'so comfortable in the water,' which I think means she's crazy, loves it, listens not at all, and has no fear. The teacher also said today that Tiny has the best smile. And she does. Those cheeks and sunshine eyes are nonstop while she swims. I could have done without the poop in her reusable swim diaper, which made things hard at the end, but that's OK. She was very patient standing around naked waiting for me to get her squared away.

As we drove down our street on our way home, Wrenny exclaimed, 'Mommy, I see the moony! It's next to me!' And Taylor Swift's 'Tim McGraw' song came on, and I cried because things seemed perfect. As soon as we arrived at the house, the girls ran upstairs to see Jim, who had gotten home and started working on the bathroom while we were gone. Then they ate loads and loads of peanut butter apple, quesadilla, and peas and corn. Ever asked to put a song on while they ate. She chose the Rocky station on Pandora, of course, and made her signature funny face when I laughed about her selection. Then the Bryan Adams song 'Summer of '69' came on, and he was singing about 'the best days of my life,' and I cried again.

Ever started a clap fest to 'We Will Rock You.'

Then I asked Ever to do Wren's bedtime reading with her while I bathed Tiny (on account of the poop). They read bible stories the whole time from the children's book. They were finishing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when Tiny and I finished. Ever begged to read one more - Daniel and the lion's den - because she loves that one so much, she said. We went upstairs to pray with Jim. Tiny sat on my lap for the prayer. Then Wren and Tiny piled onto Jim's back, and Jim bent over to give Ever loves because she was complaining about not being able to join the littles on his back.

I'm just feeling the love. We're so lucky. Our girls are so wonderful. Things seem hard a lot, but sometimes I know that these are the best days of our lives."

This was part of the "We Will Rock You" clap fest (she lost the littles when she tried to start marching):

The Bible story reading:

We got a ton of rain (for us) this winter.

The view from the train to L.A. was much enhanced by snowy mountains. I didn't capture it very well.

Maggie Long threw a Valentine's tea party for the four-year-old girls. It was very cute, although I think don't think all the work was really appreciated by the littles. Afton Long and Wren:

I got called as the Primary president in January, and we were asked to be in charge of decorations for an adult Valentine's dance at the church. That was pretty much my worst nightmare. Melanie Karner is my first counselor, and Meagan Bunnell is my second counselor. None of us are crafty or cutesy. They helped a ton, and we did our best. It ended up looking like a middle-school dance and was super ghetto, but the handful of people who attended did not seem to mind. Daniela Bertolino, the Primary secretary, took on the task of setting up a photo station, and some Karner/Bunnell/Kringel kids posed for a pic.

Ever, Kara Karner, Rosie Bunnell, Chloe Bunnell, and Piper Bunnell

All on his own, Jim ordered "Little Sis," "Middle Sis," and "Big Sis" heart necklaces for the girls and wrapped them up for Valentine's. 

He is the sweetest dad. Every time I tell the girls they have the best dad, they answer, "Yeah, because he gives us treats all the time, even when it's not a treat day." 

He is also the sweetest husband. I got an unexpectedly loving response to a text about my ETA home from work.

Ever did more reading to the littles. Reading is the best, and I love having a kid who reads.

Jim prepared a snack, and it was amazing. I never do fun things like this:

 

Anna did costumes for Ever and Leela for dress-like-a-Seuss-character day. There were a lot of Things, but I liked Ever and Leela's outfit the best.

Wrenzy pushed Tiny on the swing during the costume parade.

We started potty-training Tiny (whom Jim is now calling "Boozy," from "Tiny-boo" and "Tiny-boozy"). Jim finally got fed up with my procrastination, ordered undies online, put them on her one day, and said we were doing it. I bribed her with chocolate chips and then, when I ran out of those because of my compulsive snacking, mini baking M&Ms.

Wrenzy brought home a craft from preschool with a most unflattering picture of her. We laughed every time we saw it. Jim realized she looks just like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. Nailed it.

Jim is my go-to sub for Sunbeams, and he loves doing it. He usually recruits Derrick Karner to be his co-teacher, and that's cute.

Anna pulled some pictures of Ever off her Daisy troop's website for me.

They did a pinewood derby-type thing, where the girls decorated and raced cars.

We had the Karners and Walkers over for dinner one night. Brandon and Sara Walker have three girls too, so it was quite a girl party. Christian Karner was the only boy. 

Somehow Tiny ended up getting carried around in a backpack, much to her delight.

Big Bear

Oceanside Unified takes the entire week of President's Day off. Jim took a couple days off work so we could go to Big Bear. I really wanted to get Ever on skis. Seven years old, and we'd still never taken her to snow. It was time. Scott and Rebecca Cikanek seemed interested in going with us, but in the end they were noncommittal and it became clear they weren't going to. So I invited the Karners, and they were game.

Jim ordered some gloves, goggles, and gators for the kids, and we borrowed a bunch of old ski clothes from the Karners and Rondos. Ever broke in her goggles over dinner.

Jim rented a place that got bashed in by a fallen tree a couple days before we were supposed to go, so we were relocated to a little duplex. That meant we were next to the Karners but not in the same place, but it was fine.

I have never in my life seen so much snow at Big Bear. So much snow. It was snowing as we arrived late Wednesday night, and it snowed a ton overnight.

Wrenzy was sick and apparently afraid of cold/snow, and she refused to leave the house on Thursday. She seemed to have a fever and be unwell, but we were going to try to take her skiing. As we were trying to get out the door, she started crying that one of her ski socks didn't feel good when she straightened her toes, and she began disrobing. I stayed back with her while Jim took Ever and Tiny to pick up the rental skis and get Ever to her ski lesson. (We'd signed Ever and Alina Karner up for a ski lesson that day.)

Wrenzy was perfectly happy to play games and read in the cabin. At one point she asked, "Mommy, when is Daddy and Ever and Tiny going to be home?" I said, "They'll be gone all day, sweet love."  (Which turned out to be a lie.) She said, "OK, then let's read lots of books." We read and played Dominoes.

Meanwhile, the snow kept coming down.

After probably a couple hours, Jim returned with Ever and Tiny. Alina had thrown up that morning, and while Mel and Derrick thought it was something she ate and not a sickness, they didn't think they could send her to ski school. So Derrick and Alina hung out at their place, and Ever bailed out of ski school when she found out Alina wasn't going. 

It was determined that I would try to take Ever skiing that afternoon. It did not go well. In fact, it was pretty much a nightmare. I had no idea what I was doing, and Ever thinks she knows everything and doesn't like when I tell her what to do. Just getting her up to the ski lift was nigh unto impossible. I picked a spot where I thought she could put on her skis, but then I decided she should wait and put them on later because it's hard to get uphill in skis. She threw a little fit because I'd said she could put them on at that particular spot. So finally I said, fine, put them on. And it was hard to even get them on her, and then I had to figure out how to get her up the hill and over to the ski lift, when she knew absolutely nothing about this equipment. A man who works there saw us struggling and dragged her up the hill for a second. (Mind you, this sounds like we had to travel a great distance to get to the lift. It was not very far, but it felt like a mile.) Eventually we made it to the lift and then to the top of the bunny slope. But I didn't have any idea how to teach a kid to ski. We ended up holding hands and skiing, but then we'd run over each over, and Ever would yell at me. So then I let go of her, and she skied and then fell, and then she yelled at me. I have no patience and am not a good teacher. We made it probably three times down the bunny slope in about an hour and a half and then called it quits. 

Jim came to pick us up. Ever, while we waited for him:

We stopped for Subway sandwiches for Ever and me and then went back to our place. Ever played outside with Derrick and Christian and built a snowman while Tiny and Wrenzy napped. 

I should have insisted that Ever nap, but I didn't. Jim took Ever outside and pulled her around on her skis. Derrick built a little ramp the kids could ski down.  

Tiny woke up and wanted to build a "nowman." 

She even briefly donned the little ski boots and skis we'd gotten for Wrenzy, and Jim pulled her down the street.  

Bear Bear finally got up but refused to venture outside. When questioned, she said she didn't want to go out because it was cold.

We rescheduled Ever and Alina for a ski class on Friday. Ever did a little reading in the morning before hitting the slopes.

Ready for action:

Back at home, there was more reading.

Wrenzy got really, really sick. Photo shoot with lethargy girl:

She finally fell asleep on the couch.

Jim and I hung out at the house with the littles all day. The Karners picked Ever and Alina up at the end of their lesson, and Mel reported that the teacher said Ever did great. (She is a perfect pupil for everyone but me.) After the lesson, Ever skied with the Karners until the lifts closed at 6:00 P.M. I could not believe she lasted such a long day. Mel and Derrick said they helped her on the lift and skied with her a few times. Then she and Christian could ride the lift together, and Ever was good coming down the slope by herself. She's hard to spot in this video until the end. 

We had a lasagna dinner at the house that night with lots of treats. Before bed, Tiny and Wrenzy gave Jim some violent love pats.

Saturday was a beautiful day. We found a sledding spot on the way out of Big Bear. The view from the car:

Wren fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep much of the time we were sledding. When she awoke, she refused to get out of the car. I don't think her illness can take all the blame, and I'm concerned about her debilitating fear of winter.

Tiny, Ever, and Jim hiking back up the hill:

Tiny mostly just played in the snow at the top of the hill.

Jim and Ever on one of the more successful runs:

Most times the runs ended with a collision into the tree at the bottom.

Being cabin-bound the entire trip was not ideal, but my primary objective of giving Ever a good first skiing experience was fulfilled. So I considered it a successful trip. When we got home, Tiny asked me, "Can we go to Big Bear house again?" I said, "Yeah, I'd like to. I think we probably can." Tiny followed up, "Do we have a plan to do that?" Smart girl.