August 2022 - Odds & Ends, iFly, School Starts, Lil' Big Bear Hike

 Ever made some yummy rosemary garlic pull-apart bread using a recipe from her cookbook. 

We went to a Padres game and had fantastic seats. The Padres had just paid a bunch of money for players who were supposed to be amazing. We did get to see at least one homerun and come home with a W (but the players overall have been disappointing since). Cutest Daddy and his mini-me daughter.

We went on a lovely walk with the Susan Oddous (or some of them) before they moved to France again. 

Amelie, Wren, and Tiny

Ever spent some time adding to her "to-bake" list. Five pages?!

The Littles lay the banquette cushions between the edge of the couch/ottoman and chairs they'd pulled over from the table. They weigh so little that the cushions, unsupported in the middle, held them no problem. These two are the cutest, and I love how (and when) they love each other. 

Fun was had in Cikaneks' pool. I think at least as much time is spent pretend cooking at the edge of the pool/hot tub as is spent playing in the water. 

I belatedly documented my Mother's Day treasures from the girls (given to me when Tiny was five, Wren was seven, and Ever was 10). 

I took close-ups of the things that opened. From Tiny Tot:

Translation of right side: "Thank you for cooking for me!"

We were DYING when we saw this:

The face sure doesn't communicate the same thing as the back. Most hilarious picture ever. My absolute favorite. 

From Wren-bear:

From Ever:

Sometimes these gifts make me think my kids don't know me at all. Optimistic? Never!

Ever spent many, many hours making these fabulous paper roses.

We went to an orientation at Ivey Ranch Park Association (where the girls have done horse camps) so that Ever could start volunteering sometimes on Saturdays. (She ended up going only about a handful of times.) 

Ever was the only one old enough to volunteer, but they let Wrenzy and Tiny put bridles on, too (although they were not really big enough to reach). 

Ever and Leela did an overnight-at-the-theater thing at a sort of rundown theater in San Diego as a reward for selling 850 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I had the honor of chaperoning. They get pizza and salad and snacks and drinks, and there are movies running in about four theaters (two movies alternating in each theater) all night long. If/when you want to sleep, you have to attempt to get comfortable in a nonreclining seat. The girls were excited about the experience.  

They made it until midnight or so, and I bedded down in seats with armrests that could be pushed up (not all seats had those).

For some reason, the Girl Scouts people made us wake up at like 6:00 A.M. to grab some packaged muffins and then wait around until 7:00 when parents started picking up. Tired girls leaving Sunday morning:

Berry made herself a grilled cheese sandwich after church on Sunday, and I thought her little counter crouch was cute. 

John and Chantalle Bishop invited people to their house, and the Littles did some swimming. 

Berry asked me to videotape a jump. 

I took the girls to iFly (indoor skydiving). I can't remember if I blogged about iFly before or if this was the first visit. The whole thing started after Ever won a visit as a Girl Scout reward. (That must be what I blogged about before?) At the end of that visit, we decided to buy a 10-flight package at a discount so we could take all the girls back as a special family activity. We finally made it. They were the cutest flyers. 

I did one flight and realized it was super boring without the "high flight," so I paid to upgrade the girls' last go-round. That place is such a rip-off.

The girls started school at JCS Mountain Oaks, a charter school in Encinitas that does four days on campus and one homeschool day (Friday), plus extra homeschool days thrown in not infrequently. The previous year, Anna had Rafi there and Leela at Rhoades (a $22k/year private school). She was happy with JCS and thought Rhoades wasn't $22k better, so she moved Leela over. The carpooling was essential. Doing that drive twice a day four days a week would be the worst.

Tiny - first grade. Her outfit selection for the first day of school was bold.  

Wrenzy - second grade. 

Ever - fifth grade. I had told her that I like her hair with a slight side part. She took that and ran with it, and she doesn't look like herself in these pictures. She quickly reverted to her middle part.

More group photos at school.

It's tough when schools don't know how to use commas.

Wrenzy and Tiny were in a first/second combo class with Ms. Haseyama and Ms. Barton for much of the year. It was nice that they got to be together and made the transition to a new school a little easier, I think. Wrenzy got in trouble once for hugging and "chubbing" Tiny during school. She has an insatiable need to physically accost Tiny, and I get it. 

We went ice skating. It remains not our family's special talent.

We watched the San Diego Wave (NWSL team) play at SDSU's Torero Stadium with Subrebosts. It's a tiny venue, and it was really fun.  Leela and Ever sported their Wave headbands. 

The girls wanted to get autographs afterward. Anna took off with Rafi, and we hung out for a while and then took Leela home with us. On our way out of the stadium, Jim spotted an open but mostly full bag of caramel popcorn, and he adopted it. This blurry picture is just to remind me of the popcorn.  

Ever was so tired she passed out Sunday evening on the old playroom rug. 

School lunch making:

We went to Big Bear for a weekend. We had just had some super lame guests who barfed all over and somehow got egg everywhere. I found a bunch of egg dried into the cracks in the downstairs bedroom door, on the outlet, and on the carpet that the cleaners missed. How did they make a mess of raw egg in the downstairs bedroom? No one knows.  

We went for a short, unexciting hike near Snow Summit. We were talking about exercise, and Wrenzy (and to a lesser extent, Tiny) decided to get fit by running and skipping and doing high knees and all sorts of neat things. It was the cutest. 

Ever looked ku-mo-dee in my glasses.

The Littles had fun running around on, and jumping off, a big log pile.  

When Leela bequeathed us a couple of robes, I thought they'd never get used. Berry, however, wears hers all the time. She'll put it on after a bath and wear it the rest of the night. There's nothing like a Bear wearing a robe and sunglasses while reading a book on the couch.