Bull Creek

On Sunday for Earth Week Vivian's school and I had planned a work session at the Bull Creek Park. George was to meet the volunteers with work tools in the parking lot and we planned to put in 2-3 hours of work cleaning the park. Instead George took the kids and parents for a lovely walk through the park, stopping at a giant live oak, an abandoned 100-year old house and finally for a nice splash in a swimming hole.

And Vivian and her friends did pick up a bag full of trash along the way.

Earth Day

Austin had its Earth Day bash on Saturday and Vivian's school had a stall to celebrate their zero waste program.  I took Evan, Ava and Vivian over there. They enjoyed walking past the pond and over the bridge. They played with the big pile of Legos. And then we went to the petting farm. Evan played with the lambs and the piglets (scroll down for a photo of Evan petting a piglet and a little girl petting Evan) while Vivian and Ava stuck to little adorable bunnies. I'm amazed we made it back home without a large collection of new pets.

Zero G

Saturday was a trampoline kind of day. First the Shah's came by to say hello to the kids. At 79 Manju may be the oldest person to step on to this trampoline. Not very successfully but we hope with better luck next time.  Then in the afternoon the cousins arrived after Quinn's tennis tournament. A little bit after I took this photo the McCarty's got in there too. How everyone made it out without serious injury is still a mystery. And how Karen stands the parade of people that file past her dining room window is still a wonder.

St. Edward's Again

On Friday night the kids had a second consecutive night of a sitter while Jo and I went to Stubbs to see Vampire Weekend. At some point in the evening Carol drove in to Austin and relieved the sitter and put the kids and then herself to bed. Early Saturday morning Jo and Carol drove off to Georgetown to ride in the Red Poppy Ride. The kids and I went to St. Edward's Park. They waded in the creek and smelled the flowers. Vivian exclaimed "They smell so delicious I could eat all the honeysuckles right now!"

Haircut

Whenever Evan gets a haircut it's epic. His hair is so thick and long we told him that it looked like a black bear had taken up residence on top of his head. On Friday morning after gymnastics, Evan and Jo went to Bird's Barber Shop where they took care of the bear. Hurray - we can see Evan again!

The Peached Life

One lovely evening mid week we took the kids and Ava to Rosedale School Park. A little bit later Karen strolled in with Nala. We chatted while the kids romped and Nala wagged her tail. Karen mentioned that she had settled on The Peached Tortilla to provide sustenance to her party goers at her upcoming Big Birthday Bash. None of us had ever eaten at the Peach. I looked them up and found that that very evening the food truck was going to be the the Draught House down the street.

We drove down there and the kids tail-gated while we drank a very nice beer from the Draught House and ate our bowls and burritos of banh mi's.  We approve.

Math Game Night

On Thursday night it's MathNficient Game Night at Vivian's school. Each table would be set up with two or three cerebral board games and children and their friends and parents would be able to play. And the company that is providing the free games hopes that you buy a few on the way out.

On they way back from school on Thursday afternoon:

Me: "Vivian, we'll be back for Math Game Night later today"
Vivian: "Yea! Emory and Emmy and Gracie and blah blah blah are going to be there too"
Me; "So we are going to leave Evan with Taylor at home and Mommy and I are going to take you out for dinner afterwards. Just the three of us."
Vivian: "Uh - Evan is going to be at home alone with Taylor?"
Me: "Yep!"

Here's where I expected an outpouring of love and gratitude.

Vivian: "Daddy - that's not a good idea. You should drop me back home after Game Night"
Me: "Why?"
Vivian: "Uh - I don't think Taylor can manage Evan on her own"
Me: "He's a handful and I'm sure it's easier with you around by they'll be fine"
Vivian: "No, really. Evan cries and Taylor needs my help"
Me: "So you don't want to go for dinner with Mommy and me?"
Vivian: "Uhhhhh - well - yes"
Me: "You want to spend time with the baby sitter instead of going out with Mommy and me"
Vivian: "Exactly"

Game Night was fun. A bit like a Vegas casino for children. There was a 4th grader at the Blockus table who played and helped explain the rules to Vivian and her friends. And Jo and I played Blink. On the way out we bought both those games. Vivian has already played Blockus with Ava at home. Then we went on to Musashino. Vivian settled down and enjoyed dinner when she realized that she didn't have to share the spider crab tempura or the nabeiyaki udon bowl with Evan. And Evan seemed to have done just fine with Taylor.

Shutterbug

A few months back I was pulling out junk and found one of a few old digital cameras that are stashed here are there. I cleaned it up and put a new set of batteries and gave it to Vivian to shoot. It didn't hold her attention. When she wanted to take a photo she'd ask to borrow my iPhone. Yesterday Evan found that old clunker and hasn't stopped popping untimely flashes in front of our eyes since. Here's a look at the budding photographer.

Morning Snuggle

The air conditioner that cools most of our house stopped working. While we wait for a new motor for the fan (they fixed it this morning), we've been running the other two air conditioners hard and the kids are sleeping in their skivvies. On Friday morning they jumped into our bed. Then Crazy followed. It was a full house. 

Four Years

Evan,

Four years and five days ago you were pulled out from a slit in Mommy's belly with your umbilical cord wrapped around your neck. And you have not stopped being a pain in ours since.

Most children, in my huge experience, change with age - their looks, personality, likes and dislikes, tastes. Not that much in your case. You photos from when you were a little over a year old could be passed off as recent ones. You still like the same foods, and more importantly, dislike the same and any as yet new foods with just as much enthusiasm as when you were little. Just as your mood is either hot or cold - a laughing joking ball of fun or a grumpy old man. No room for temperance in between. 

You love your sister dearly and will follow her to the ends of the earth, even when you are grumpy, and you will not find a better sister. You love a good snuggle in our bed in the morning and that is a very good thing because that makes us like you again after laying awake and seething in bed all night from when you woke us up for no good reason.  Your teachers love you though we don't really understand why because you fully and completely reject anything we attempt to teach you or you say with great disdain "I already know that". Yet you do seem to be learning, so if the universe bestows blessings, then bless your teachers. You take most things more literally and matter-of-factly than I mean but you still show a deep and nuanced understanding of many and often surprising things.  

You are your own man, more or less fully formed by one-ish. You have always dared to dance to a different drum. I look forward to continue to be amazed and surprised by you. I love you always.

-daddy

Birthday Party

The first guests arrived at 10am. The last left at 430pm. A good time was had. Except by poor Vader who hung up there high above the fray before the party but then the piñata rope snapped and I had to prop him up while the children bludgeoned him. 

 The light sabers were a big hit. The "May the 4th Be With You" cake worked out well. 

And there was even time for some kinky stuff involving Darth Vader helmets and yaks. Happy birthday, Evan.

Easter

On Easter morning we woke up and got the kids dressed and drove down River Road to Slumber Falls to attend the pre-egg hunt Easter service. It's out in the open by the river under huge live oak trees.

After what felt like endless singing and the praising, Scott started his sermon. Most of the congregation tuned out to think of important things like breakfast and the egg hunt. But Evan was very attentive. And he's not heard a rhetorical question in his life. So as needed he jumped right in. When Scott said "love him", Evan added "with my heart!". And then there was a rousing yell of "Chesus" a bit later. And when Scott asked (rhetorically again) if anyone listened to NPR both Evan and Vivian's hands shot up. By the end of the sermon Michelle was sure Evan's going to be a preacher.

Afterwards, the young lads who play the guitar and the drums at Nicolle's church played Happy Birthday for Evan. Then it was on to breakfast and the egg hunt. In the afternoon the cousins came over to Grandma's. Eggs were cracked open and all sorts of candy was dutifully snarfed down. By the time we returned to Austin it was past bedtime and the children were asleep in the car.

The day wasn't busy but there was so much going on that I realized that Evan had turned four and I had not given him a proper hug or wished him a happy birthday.

Wildflowers

After a nap after Easter dinner I asked Vivian and Evan to come up to the blue bonnets so I could take a photo. They hemmed and hawed and when the finally did, they had a bad attitude. So I sent them back down. I'll keep the one I took last year as my phone's lock screen for another year. Here it is.

But then I walked around and stuck my iPhone here and there and ended up with some photos of spring in the Hill Country. It smells as good as it looks.

Lady Bug

Last year Evan regularly graced the photo galleries of the weekly email newsletter from his pre-school. Back when his teachers called him Sweet Evan and he kept his turdish tendencies hidden from them. No so often this year. But here's a picture from the pages of the august publication from last week - Evan with a ladybug crawling at the end of his middle finger.

On Wednesday afternoon while Jo and I were enjoying a quiet lunch at China Cafe and relishing the feeling that Evan was going to stay at school an hour later than usual (for Soccer Shots) my phone rang. It was the director of his pre-school. Evan's ear was hurting. Could we come get him?

We drove to Evan's school and found him in Leigh Ann's arms. He was in tears and his left ear was bright red. We brought him home and Jo took him to Dr. Griggs. Apparently things didn't go that well there when the nurse tried to clean out his ear which was so full of wax that the doctor couldn't see very much.

Later that evening we had to put some drops in his ear. He resisted and threw a fit and got completely irrational. I tried to explain that it wouldn't hurt. That I was just going to put two tiny drops of medicine in his ear. That the medicine would take the pain away. I even had him hold the dropper and squeeze a drop on my hand. The trauma of the afternoon's experience obviously still bothered him. Till Jo said "OK - no medicine, no birthday party". And he lay is head down quietly on my lap and said "Daddy - I'm ready for the medicine". Just like that. I can only conclude that Evan actually fakes irrationality to get away with shit.

After he was done with the ear drops, Jo said "Evan, now you need to take some Tylenol". Evan asked if that medicine would also be given in his ear. I replied "No, we are going to drill a hole in the side of your head and pour it in". Payback. The look on his face for a second was worth it!

At the end of the day, while Evan snores softly, the image that I still have in my head is of Evan tightly holding on to Leigh Ann while tears roll down his cheeks. She sat cross-legged on the floor of her office comforting Evan on her lap.  Thank you Grace Garden for taking such good care of our children for so many years.

ps. And that was it. No fever. No pain after that.

Piñata

On Wednesday while Evan was at school Jo and I drove down First Street to buy him a piñata. This is what greeted us at the first piñata store - a gaggle of Easter Bunny piñatas looking rather creepy.

Jo ran in to the store and stepped back out in about 30 seconds with this beauty. Our own creepy piñata. Later we scared Evan with it. If you aren't up on your Star Wars or are unable to see the resemblance and are wondering why we bought home a piñata of a hairy short armed man in a gas mask with the Windows logo on his chest, it's Darth Vader.

Meanwhile, Jo has been churning out light sabers faster than a Chinese labor camp making pirated merchandise. This morning the dining table looked like this.

And then a box from Amazon showed up with the Darth Vader voice changer helmet.  Evan looks suitably freakish wearing it. But Vivian is the one who asked for it - so she can have light saber duels with Evan's birthday party guests.