A Good Blur!

So if there's any question to how busy life is after you realize how I've gone from a post every few weeks or couple of months to this cadence of trying to capture chunks of a year, then I'll quickly answer you: things are extremely busy.

All-in-all, it's a good blur of life. Everyone is healthy and generally happy. Work is demanding. Chores are too. The kids schedules are...well, I know we shouldn't complain because it's only going to get worse (?!), but it is crazy!  It's hard to imagine what we used to do with all of the free time!

For our 10th anniversary, the g-parents watched the kiddos so that Lisa & I could take an amazing long weekend to Puerto Vallarta. We stayed at the adult-only, all-inclusive Hotel Mousai and lived the life of modern royalty for a few days. Somehow, we managed to leave the infinity pool situated 14 floors above the jungle and overlooking the Pacific for a few runs, a hike, and a kayak trip. The food was amazing (oddly, I had the best sushi I've ever had). The room was amazing, too -- wrap around balcony, hammock, personal gilted hot tub -- Gawd, even writing this paragraph makes me long to go back. Most of all though, it was SO nice to have time to just spend together. Having some space to breathe & talk makes you realize how taxing the day-to-day really can be sometimes, and how we lose ourselves in the hustle. By no means am I trying to overstate our first-world problems, which are filled with more love and luxuries than anyone can hope for -- it's just nice to have a moment away from the blur to appreciate all that complex beauty and remember that we're more than the next work trip, t-ball game, or family bout with a virus.

Besides our Lake Powell trip, we took a couple camping trips this past summer up to the redwoods and loved every second of it. Once with the families to Big Basin and another with some school families to Mt. Madonna (which was on a scorcher of a weekend -- 108 high in Santa Clara -- we were so glad to be in the forest where it only hit 98).

Additionally, Lisa stayed with the kids for 5 nights which allowed me and a buddy from back east to check something off the ole' bucket list: Backpacking the Lost Coast Trail. We drove 7-8 hours north and then hiked 30-35 miles along the rugged coastline where we only saw a dozen people the entire time. It was amazing.

Since the last significant post, E has been on the same trajectory of awesome. He had a lot of fun with t-ball and finishing out pre-K. He continues to love baseball, racing, space, building things, and went from being nervous about riding a bike with no training wheels, to cruising around like it ain't-no-thing. One highlight: Papa, E and I took a long weekend and went down to watch the Perelli World Challenge race at Laguna Seca Raceway -- it was a blast of a "guy weekend" and we even got to see some tricked out Honda Fits racing. E and Papa joke all the time now about buying decals for Papa's lil' red Fit and taking it on the circuit.

E continues to have this sweet streak as well...always trying to make J feel better if she's having trouble. They tell us that at school that he's incredibly respectful and always helps keep the lunch boxes in order. And he gets SO upset when he discovers someone is disappointed in him. He's careful with his Kindergarten homework (which is something I definitely didn't have back in the day) -- rocking the math and really starting to get the hang of reading. His handwriting is...getting better (hey, it's becoming less important in the world anyhow, and it's not like mine is winning any handwriting awards. Wait, I don't think there are any of those anyway. See, how important can something be if they don't even really have awards around it?!)

We tried to sign E up for this new thing in Boy Scouts called Lion Scouts, but he was the only one, so they cancelled it. Not to be deterred, we made our own (and it allows J to join too)! On Sunday afternoons, me & the kids have been doing "Lion / Princess Scouts." We've gone through our Halloween candy & selected a good % to donate to less lucky kids. We frequently bake or do nature savager hunts on local greenbelts. 

What can I tell you about J? Oh man. I can't believe all that personality can be wrapped up in such a little frame. Broad brushstrokes: she's a little girl who loves little girl things -- dolls, babies, horses, princesses, pink & purple, etc. She LOVES Bailey and her brother...and would follow them to the end of the Earth. Well, maybe that's not 100% true...maybe it's more like, she'd follow them to the end of the Earth as long as they were taking her pre-selected route. Yeah, she has a bit of a project manager streak to her (and considering that's where Lisa & I both wound up, I'm not surprised). She's really enjoying Pre-School and gets glowing remarks from the teacher. In order to keep her occupied while E does his homework, we started making copies for her to do the worksheets as well, and guess what -- she's doing really well with them.

Thanksgiving was awesome. Nana & Papa hosted and we were there to "help" with the kiddos. Beyond the food and family, we'll cherish the 16 placemats that the kids made for each guest -- an idea proposed by them. E did a good number, but HOLY TURKEY, J was a little craft factory. Also, I snuck away for an early morning spin class with Angelina...though she did fail to mention that it was a 75 min class (normal ones are 30-50m max). I earned my meal that day!

We're now in the full Xmas ramp up: shopping, decorating, baking, and wrapping (which is an activity that the kids are really taking a liking to -- definitely Lisa's DNA at work there).

Oh and I'm going to really try and stay more on top of this blog, if not for you, then for me. I want to remember some bits and pieces of this blur with a bit more resolution.

Happy Holidays!