Catching up

Looks like I've set a new record for length of time between blogs! The longer I go without an entry the more time I think I need to catch up on the past few months and so the less likely I am to actually get to typing. It's a silly barrier because, given how poor my memory is, I can't remember more than a few weeks ago anyway!

I just got back from a work trip to Myanmar which meant Carlos, my mom and Sandra had to contend with Sofia from Sunday-Saturday. The trip was poor timing as I left on Easter, came back on Sofia's birthday AND missed the kids' spring break. For Easter we set them on a clue hunt around the house first and then sent them away while we put eggs out back and on the first floor for an egg hunt. It turns out our kids aren't the only ones excited about the easter egg hunt. In the 30+ minutes between putting the eggs out and letting the kids hunt around the squirrels came out and gnawed through half dozen eggs in search of chocolate! I hope they aren't as sensitive as dogs are to chocolate.

While I was away the kids did a mini-soccer camp and on Friday they set up a lemonade stand for the Nat's first home exhibition game. They broke their previous record and earned $75!

It seems Sofia dominated as usual and made everyone exasperated. Because I was on a plane for her birthday, we haven't had a proper celebration, but she did get pampered with fun presents. We also got the good news on her birthday that she got into Brent for next year which is a huge relief.

Sofia figured out how to make stairs from her drawers so we often find her on top of her dresser as she debates what clothes to put on. As you can see she either wears nothing or the same single dress every  day. 

I was in Myanmar for the inauguration for the new government and the ongoing negotiation of which ministries will be put under the NLD. It's fascinating and full of rumors given the opacity of politics. I don't know if I'll have a chance to go back - not the ideal vacation spot - but it did and continues to have a deep impression on me. I've been reading about Aun San Suu Kyi and the immense brutality of the Tatmadaw in The Perfect Hostage.  It's hard not to think about how fortunate I and my kids are to simply have been born in a country like the US - pure luck. Trying to get my kids to see how lucky they are hasn't totally stuck yet:). I read an article to them about Bangladeshi girls that were facing cultural backlash for learning to surf. Charlie did agree to share some of his lemonade earnings for fund that was being raised in their honor, but he capped his compassion at $20. Some pics from Myanmar:

ASSK shared a room with her brothers and her bed is the closest one

Other fun activities over the last few months include:

Visiting the Homestead. Fun and funny. We would go back now that we know the drill, but it is like airlines - they nickle and dime you for everything! I'm surprised the pool was free to enter...


Bowling at the White House with SAISers

Visiting Toby and Lisa's farm:

 First School "Dance." It mainly entailed Diego getting chased around by a bunch of girls and Charlie and his friends chasing each other. But there was some dancing and everyone had fun.

The girls who chased Diego

Snowpocalypse!

Snowpocalypse! We enjoyed a ~25 inch snow show Friday and Saturday.

Friday Night

Saturday

Saturday night

 It snowed and snowed and snowed and today we were left with a beautiful puffy powdery snow.  Pedestrians used the roads as there were no cars in sight and every kid on the Hill made there way to the Capitol for sledding. Last year sledding wasn't allowed on the Capitol grounds, but after various "sled-in" protests they changed the rules this year.  We tried to get an early start to avoid the crowds, but it took nearly an hour to get everyone out the door and even then I had to bribe Sofia with a cookie to go outside.  When we tried to get her outside she would say "I'm not going to the freezer."  I don't really blame her. But a chocolate chip cookie got her out into the freezer and through a few sledding rides before she demanded to go home.

Sofia with a cookie in the "freezer"

 She took a long shower and ran around naked indoors the rest of the day. Meanwhile the boys and I headed up to X park to play around and it took about 30 minutes to walk two blocks; the kids wanted to slide down every embankment and throw every compact chunk of snow they could find. Carlos rode his BIKE three miles to the other house with a snow shovel attached to his back to shovel the sidewalk.


It's been cozy so far, but we'll see how we do with cabin fever after tomorrow which will be the 4th day at home (no school Friday or Monday). My favorite part has been playing Clue with boys by the fire after Sofia goes to sleep. I bought an old school version of Clue and taught them how to play this weekend and I love that they love it! 

New Years

We headed to San Francisco for New Years and had such a fun time that the boys said they wanted to spend the summer there. I think that is largely due to how much they adore tia Veronika.  We rented bikes one day and rode along the Embarcadero and Crissy Fields to end up at a trampoline park and then back to the Ferry where we crossed the bay for a (mediocre) meal at Guaymas.  The kids went rock climbing and got to stay up late catching up on Star Wars movies. What's not to love? 

Is this just a Bay Area thing?

No visit to SF is complete without dental day with Tia Veronika

The one downer was battling Sofia over the holidays which, unfortunately, seems to have become a common occurrence. Over the last two weeks I've had to exit the homes of 5 different friends because of her screaming. While I can't stand leaving with a screaming child she goes on for about 15-20 minutes and I don't like subjecting anyone to that torment. I feel terrible for Sofia that she gets herself so worked up about things and can't control herself, but after awhile I am sick of the screaming that I have to just put her in her room and wait it out.  She'll be charming and sweet and then as soon as the boys arrive she starts either defending her ground or going on the offensive trying to take their toys and it isn't long before the screaming starts.  She also can't stand being in a car seat so she battles every single time we get in the car - like it is a negotiation??!  I suppose I should read some parenting book, but I'm not even sure how to classify her behavior and realistically I never end up reading parenting books....

Let's hope 2016 brings good things and many more adventures....without screaming....

Here is from the Renwick Wonder exhibit - super cool:

Christmas

This winter has been scary warm - which, although terrible for the planet, is great for my mental health! We've been able to enjoy so much time outside with temperatures as high as 70+ in December!!  As soon as we got back from Thanksgiving we hurried to chop down a tree and get it decorated before we left town.  Aunt Mary recommended a new farm for us to visit which turned out to be a great idea and - armed with hot apple cider - we hunted around for the perfect tree. As usual, Carlos is the most particular about the tree specifications while the rest of us enjoy the scenery and then pressure him to hurry up.  We ended up with a nice tree and a fun adventure.  Because we didn't buy the tree from our school, we bought many other things and charlie spent hours volunteering at the school christmas tree sale. He and his friend Jack literally spent 4 hours sweeping the playground to keep up with the mess from all the trees being carted off.  
Once we got the tree decorated we made a massive ginerbread house and 50+ cookies and invited the boys' friends over for decorating. It didn't go exactly as planned. Diego and his friends worked hard on their decorating, but Sofia just sat there eating cookies and Charlie and his friends just absconded with candies. They weren't so interested in the decorating part....I had offered to have 1 kids sleep over, but then word got out and we ended up with 4 extra bodies strewn across the 3rd floor.  It was actually a lot of fun.  That said we had a serious night owl and an early bird so it was a bad compbination for sleep.  Sometime around 11 we had to threaten to drive one kid home if he didn't go to sleep and then by 6am one kids woke everyone up.  As an early Christmas present I had found a game table on craigslist and so the kids played non-stop on the miniature billiard table. They love it!

We tried to cram in all the Christmas activities we could before leaving so I also took them to National Harbor to see the crazy ice sculptures, decorate yet another gingerbread house and see all the fun decorations. They loved it and really wanted to spend the night in the hotel. I of course couldn't wait to get out of there....A more fun outing was going to the White House with the Ralleses to see the decorations. Big Bill has a great view of the tidal basin (and a nice tree for the holidays).

We made it to Reno for Christmas and were very lucky to arrive before a big snowstorm.  That meant we got a white christmas and the kids could go skiing! Veronika took Charlie and Carlos took Diego up the mountain and after a few days they got so much better. I got to join one afternoon - after 10 years of no snowboarding!!! - and had so much fun. I loved to see Diego go down the slopes with no help.  By the last afternoon they started taking little jumps. Crazy kids.  Unfortunately I was so enthusiastic about my venture to the mountain that I took photos, put my phone back in my pocket and then....forgot to zip up...The kids on the chairlift behind us were screaming, but I had no idea what they were saying. Turns out my phone fell off the chairlift.   Somehow it was found, turned in and I was reunited with it the next day. That was really lucky because in an attempt to stop loosing things I got a phone case that holds my ID and credit card so I would have had no ID and no money!!!

We made our annual virtual christmas card to overload everyone on pictures of the kids: http://bit.ly/2015taftvazquez

As I look back over the year it's amazing how the kids have grown and changed. Charlie is becoming a very thoughtful, well-rounded and diligent young person. I admire him very much. He works hard and is competitive, but values his friends more than winning (which has caused issues with one of his best friends this year who wants to win over anything else). He is diligent and respectful at school and his teacher love having him in class. He works hard - he was the first in his class to complete the math curriculum - but loves to have fun once school is over. He has a group of very close friends who are all extremely nice.

Charlie and his Capitol Kicks champs

Diego is still my angel baby.  Carlos and I both worry about him being stuck in the middle. He is overshadowed by a confident older brother and a tyrannical younger sister. He is the only one of the three who can play by himself for hours - he loves legos, building, vehicles, play figures and drawing.  He loves his teachers - past and present - and I've been told by multiple mothers that Diego is by far the teacher's favorite. I think it is his scrumptious cheeks and contagious giggle. He hasn't been as quick to learn to read as Charlie and I worry he may be a bit dyslexic. It's been hard to get much alone time with him to work on his reading/writing given Sofia's constant demands. In any case Diego shines bright for me.

Sofia, Sofia, Sofia. I admire her so much. She is more strong willed than the rest of us put together and is the boss of the household.  The below comic sums up how we often feel about her:

She is super self-sufficient - she gets herself dressed (multiple times a day) though the clothes are often on backwards and inside out.  She had a record destructive week recently (broke or ruined at least 1 thing everyday) and Cici's mom got me thinking when she said "Puppies destroy things when they are bored." I'm thinking that maybe Sofia needs more stimulation so school will be good (if she gets in). She can already spell her name, but needs some help counting after twelve..."twelve, thirteen, nineteen, eleven, sixteen...".  She sure is a force within our family.