The Summer Trip, 2015

On the road in Tucumcari, NM:

Mesalands Community College Dinosaur Museum:

Indianapolis, with the Spencer Cousins:

At the Romsek's Cottage in Lower MI:

Silver Lake State Park, MI:

"Homeless Wonders" in St. Louis:

Up into the Gateway Arch, St. Louis:

Somewhere on the road:

All tripped out:

3.2 or, My Favorite Sweaty Mess

Dear Miriam,

It was Grandma's birthday this month.  We gave her a new porch swing for the front porch, and a book of meditations that I picked up when Dad and I went up to the Redwoods in January.  I helped you write your name in a birthday card that said, "Home is where Grandma is," which is certainly true.  I'm so grateful that she and Grandpa moved to California with us.  It has made everything so much easier for us.  You should try to make it more worth her while, instead of running off naked every time she's halfway through changing your diaper.

We didn't do a birthday cake for Grandma.  Instead, we did an ice cream sundae bar, and everyone got to have their own sundae.  I scooped some ice cream in a bowl for you, and then every time we asked you if you wanted a topping, you said yes.  Then you just ate the ice cream and not the toppings.  Of course.

Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena came up to celebrate with us.  They were wondering about the lack of cake.  I told them that Grandma always wants an ice cream cake, but I think they're too much trouble.  So this was our fun compromise.  Aunt Lena was a bit scandalized that the birthday person didn't get to have the dessert that she wanted, which made Grandma and I laugh.

Your stuffed animals have been getting enough play time that I've been sewing them back together.  I had to sew up a little penguin.  I had to sew up a turtle puppet.  One day, I had to sew Mrs. Rabbit's legs back on.  A few days later, I found her riding a dragon.  It's no wonder they need maintenance.

There was a book fair at school, so you got to get a new book.  You chose one that's all about meat eating insects.  It came with a big, rubbery centipede, which I think is disgusting.  We have read the book a few times, but I think you really just wanted the centipede.  Yuck.

It was School Fiesta time, too.  When I got there, you had already been in the bouncy house and were waiting to get your face painted.  Corbin got a blue dragon, and you got a green dinosaur.  Then you went back in the bouncy house and got all sweaty and the face paint all melted down all over your neck and dress.  I was worried that the big kids would bounce you around too much, but you didn't seem to mind them.  You were mad when we made you get out so we could go home.  You kept squirming around, and crying, and I was trying to hold on to you but not get sweaty face paint all over myself.  It was a mess.  You were so sweaty and gross that I put you and Corbin into the bathtub together as soon as we got home.

We had a visit from some relatives from Grandpa Lam's side of the family.  His younger sister Delma and her daughter Amy's family had driven out from Kansas City to go to Disneyland.  So they stopped by one afternoon to visit.  Their kids, Nathan and Olivia, came with them.  I haven't seen them since they came to our wedding--before kids, of course--so it was very nice to have them visit.

We got a box of clothes from Sofia Chapman (via her mom, Becky).  There were a couple of t-shirts, some nice leggings, and about a million dresses.  One of the dresses was a cheetah print, so you demanded to wear it right away so that you could be a cheetah.  I call you my favorite girl a lot, and lots of times you tell me that you're my favorite puppy, or pony, or lion instead.  I made you some dinosaur shirts this month, too, using some iron on patches and some plain t-shirts.  Unless your tastes start lining up with dominant American culture, it's going to mean some creative clothing options.  To be honest, though, I would rather iron patches on t-shirts for the rest of your life than have you wear clothes that you don't like, just because think you should wear them.  Life is too short for that kind of nonsense.

Love,
Mom

6.3 or, Necessary Fun

Dear Corbin,

In May, you finally wore out the sneakers that you started wearing at the beginning of the school year.  I had been surprised at how well they were holding up.  Then one day I looked at them and there were holes in both of them.  It was like they were fine for 10 months, and then 10 months and one day later...BAM. They were falling apart.  So we got your new sneakers out of your closet.  They're only a smidge too big for you, but somehow they make your feet look huge.  Possibly because the rest of you is still so skinny.

Dad started re-constituting his woodworking equipment, which meant several trips to Home Depot and Lowe's with him grinning like a fool.  The garage has filled up with a new air compressor, and a new table saw.  Then he built a dust collection system for the table saw, which meant a new shop-vac and a hose set-up that makes it appear as though the table saw is actually some kind of large squid.  You were happy to help with that for a while, but you have an aversion to power tool noise.  You were wearing Dad's good ear protectors for a while, which was funny looking.

We were at school twice this month.  I joked to Mrs. Hedley that it was our way of convincing everyone that you weren't actually an orphan.  There was an Open House, which I thought was very interesting.  You got to show us a portfolio of your classroom work, and we chatted with Mrs. Hedley for a while.  Then we ran into the Jorgensons, and Celia showed us all around her 1st Grade classroom.  It was really fun to see what you might get to work on next year.

The week after that was the School Festival.  You played a couple of the little carnival games, and then you got your face painted up like a dragon.  Then you went in the bouncy house and the bouncy obstacle course, and the paint sweated off your face and onto your shirt.  It was kind of gross.  You and Miriam went into the tub together as soon as we all got home.

You had some play dates this month, too.  You got to spend an afternoon at Carter's house one weekend.  Carter was happy to see you.  Becky and Suren were saying that you must be old enough to sleep over now, so maybe that will happen sometime soon.  Then we had a visit from my Aunt Delma, Grandpa Lam's younger sister, and her daughter Amy's family.  Amy and Neal used to live in California, so they had fun telling stories about that.  You had fun playing with their son, who is a few years older than you are.

The end of the month was Grandma's birthday.  Every time it's someone's birthday, Grandma says we should get an ice cream cake, and I always tell her its way too much trouble.  So instead, we did an Ice Cream Sundae Bar.  We got a couple flavors of ice cream, and all kinds of toppings, and we each made ourselves a sundae.  For presents, we gave her a new front porch swing, and a little book of meditations that I got when Dad and I were up in the Redwoods.  Grandma told me once that she was going to live until she was 96 (or was it 93?) which gives us another 20 years for her to try and convince me to have an ice cream cake for someone's birthday.

We had fewer fights over homework this month.  We started doing a little at night, and a little in the morning, and that seems to be useful.  For a while now you've had the assignment to write a sentence every night.  I kept trying to get you to write long, silly sentences, but you kept wanting to write a little as possible.  Dad came up with the idea to write about a theme each week, and that seemed to make it a lot more fun for you.  Being able to have fun while you get necessary work done is an important skill.  Life is full of tasks that aren't inherently much fun at all, which can make them easy to avoid.  Dad, of course, is fond of playing loud music while he does chores.  I like to have company, unless I'm really trying to concentrate.  Find ways to make life fun.  Unless it's having ice cream cakes.  You can forget about that.

Love,
Mom