Party of Five: September 2009

Dear long and neglected blog,

I feel like I should offer up an apology for the lack of participation on my part. It's been a busy month .. and I can't believe I haven't written to you in a month! So much has happened in the last 30 days that it's hard to recall all the events. I will, however, do my best to catch you up.

The biggest news, of course, was that school started in mid-August. Gavin is in 2nd grade, Chloe in kindergarten and Zackary in junior kindergarten. It's been an active start, but the kids appear to making fairly good transitions. Chuck is enjoying his schedule (although it include some elementary PE classes, which he equates to herding cats!) and I am enjoying my classes as well.

All the kids are participating in gymnastics each Thursday afternoon. They are in different classes (which are separated by age groups) but the classes are all offered at the same time. What a happy coincidence! They really look forward to their class each week.

After the first few days of school we joined Chuck's parents for a one-night camping trip at Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe. What an experience that was! We had never taken all the kids camping, and for a first attempt things went pretty well. Falling asleep was a little tricky (we had all five of us together in one tent) and then, of course, Zack kept his early morning schedule and had us all up by 5:30 or so. :) The kids also enjoyed some time playing in the Lake and building sand castles. I know the beach is fun, but I have to admit that sand is one of my least favorite things to clean up!

We all spent the Labor Day weekend together and really had a great time. A local Organic farm hosts a crit (it's a bike race where they do as many laps in 40 minutes as they can). Anyway, Chuck got to test out his birthday present (a new bike!) and did pretty well. He finished third behind two pro riders, so we were pretty happy with that! His mom joined me and the kids for a picnic dinner. The kids had a great time getting REALLY dirty! It was a really pleasant way to spend a Saturday night!

This weekend Chuck is headed to LA (Bonelli Park) for the Super-D State Championships. He and his good friend Chris headed out about 6:45 this morning. The kids and I have been hanging out and having fun. I have to admit that it's a bit nerve-wracking to play the 3-on-1 zone defense, but things seem to be going quite well. My sister joined us for an outing to the mall and In-N-Out burger for lunch. Right now I'm pleased to share that all three kids are currently playing together ... for now, things are good!

Of course, on top of all this, I am also in the process of getting my Master's Degree. I've completed my first course (poetry) and I'm nearly finished with critical literary theory class. Next up will be multicultural literature. I am enjoying my classes, but I continue to look forward to next June when my degree will be complete! :)

What would a blog be without a few classic lines:

CHLOE: Go to where you are! (How's that for deep, pondering thoughts?!)

ZACK: Mama, I would like a new sister. Chloe won't listen to me. (It was all I could do not to laugh!)

In regards to Gavin, it's a little tough to come up with one-liners for him. He's in the process of making up jokes. Most of them make absolutely no sense, but man is he working hard at it! Rather than re-tell jokes he likes to make up his own ... but sometimes he's trying too hard! He's adorable. :)

Okay, so I guess that's all the updates for right now. Next big event will be Zack's FIFTH birthday on October 16. I'm not sure I'm ready for him to turn five, but well, there it is!

A few pictures follow to show the highlights of the last month.

Much love,

--M

The picture below is Chuck racing in the local crit. It is SO hard to take pictures of people riding bikes! All the photos are blurry!