The Halfway Point
We're officially at the halfway point today - 50 days down, 50 days to go! That's enough to bring a smile to my face on this sunny day.
What have we been doing? Not too much and yet we've been busy this week. We have been spending a great deal of time outside as the weather has been more than pleasant--we have actually had a couple of days in the low 70s. Time to break out the sunscreen and my silly summer hat. I don't know what it is about the sun here, but it seems extraordinarily strong and can burn me in about 12 minutes. Josiah, too. Annika has inherited her father's swarthy genes and simply turns a lovely shade of brown. She'll never be like me...I could spend hours in the sun and come away with a burn that just turns back to white skin!
Josiah had an unexpected tee-ball practice yesterday. It's so difficult for the sports program to find parents who can volunteer, so we didn't get a coach until just a few days ago. Thank goodness Coach Jeff stepped forward--I think he's going to be really great with the kids. There are eight kids on the team, ages 4 and 5. Only four were able to make it yesterday due to the short notice and the fact that many folks are on vacation right now. The team is the Athletics...I know very little about baseball teams, but I think even the colors are the same as Oakland: dark green and yellow. He got a hat, a T-shirt (he chose number 4), pants and green knee socks. I need to run out and get him a little glove somewhere. They practiced a little batting and some throwing. I have to say, Josiah can throw straight and hard. He bats to the right, but catches and throws with his left hand. I hope that he enjoys it.
Today was the Easter egg hunt here on Patch Barracks. I was a little afraid to go on my own. It's gotten difficult because Annika doesn't like to be in the stroller as much. Josiah is pretty good about staying close to me, but as soon as she's unstrapped, she bolts and doesn't listen. I was also nervous about the other 250 children there who would all be grabbing for eggs at the same time. But everything went just fine. The organizers had different fields of eggs taped off for different age groups, so Josiah and Annika were in the 3-5 year old field. We found a good spot next to the tape and they waited with some friends patiently until the Easter Bunny showed up and blew his horn...and then they stripped the field bare of eggs in about 6.5 seconds! I think they each got about a dozen eggs filled with candy or other little prizes. They were absolutely thrilled with it.
We meant to go over to the Easter celebration afterwards, but we barely got through the door and I bribed them into leaving. It was just too crowded, too full of strollers and shoving adults and children. Just the sort of situation that sends me into a panic attack and makes me very difficult to be around. I think that if Hans had been here, I would have been able to do it, leaving the stroller outside and each of us taking one child. But trying to navigate the buggy through the crowds was just too much, so I told them they could pick out a treat, any treat, at the commissary and then we'd head home. Thankfully, they agreed to the compromise. Also, I mentioned egg-dyeing in there somewhere. So we inched our way back through the melee and escaped!
We are back home now. Josiah chose Cheetos, so he's covered with a film of sticky orangeness. Annika chose a sucker, so she's just sticky. Josiah gave all of his Easter hunt candy to Annika, so she's on the floor surrounded by a pile of wrappers, with a ring of chocolate around her mouth...oh well, Easter only comes once a year!
Next week: ballet, tee-ball, OB appointment, registering my firstborn for kindergarten...
What have we been doing? Not too much and yet we've been busy this week. We have been spending a great deal of time outside as the weather has been more than pleasant--we have actually had a couple of days in the low 70s. Time to break out the sunscreen and my silly summer hat. I don't know what it is about the sun here, but it seems extraordinarily strong and can burn me in about 12 minutes. Josiah, too. Annika has inherited her father's swarthy genes and simply turns a lovely shade of brown. She'll never be like me...I could spend hours in the sun and come away with a burn that just turns back to white skin!
Josiah had an unexpected tee-ball practice yesterday. It's so difficult for the sports program to find parents who can volunteer, so we didn't get a coach until just a few days ago. Thank goodness Coach Jeff stepped forward--I think he's going to be really great with the kids. There are eight kids on the team, ages 4 and 5. Only four were able to make it yesterday due to the short notice and the fact that many folks are on vacation right now. The team is the Athletics...I know very little about baseball teams, but I think even the colors are the same as Oakland: dark green and yellow. He got a hat, a T-shirt (he chose number 4), pants and green knee socks. I need to run out and get him a little glove somewhere. They practiced a little batting and some throwing. I have to say, Josiah can throw straight and hard. He bats to the right, but catches and throws with his left hand. I hope that he enjoys it.
Today was the Easter egg hunt here on Patch Barracks. I was a little afraid to go on my own. It's gotten difficult because Annika doesn't like to be in the stroller as much. Josiah is pretty good about staying close to me, but as soon as she's unstrapped, she bolts and doesn't listen. I was also nervous about the other 250 children there who would all be grabbing for eggs at the same time. But everything went just fine. The organizers had different fields of eggs taped off for different age groups, so Josiah and Annika were in the 3-5 year old field. We found a good spot next to the tape and they waited with some friends patiently until the Easter Bunny showed up and blew his horn...and then they stripped the field bare of eggs in about 6.5 seconds! I think they each got about a dozen eggs filled with candy or other little prizes. They were absolutely thrilled with it.
We meant to go over to the Easter celebration afterwards, but we barely got through the door and I bribed them into leaving. It was just too crowded, too full of strollers and shoving adults and children. Just the sort of situation that sends me into a panic attack and makes me very difficult to be around. I think that if Hans had been here, I would have been able to do it, leaving the stroller outside and each of us taking one child. But trying to navigate the buggy through the crowds was just too much, so I told them they could pick out a treat, any treat, at the commissary and then we'd head home. Thankfully, they agreed to the compromise. Also, I mentioned egg-dyeing in there somewhere. So we inched our way back through the melee and escaped!
We are back home now. Josiah chose Cheetos, so he's covered with a film of sticky orangeness. Annika chose a sucker, so she's just sticky. Josiah gave all of his Easter hunt candy to Annika, so she's on the floor surrounded by a pile of wrappers, with a ring of chocolate around her mouth...oh well, Easter only comes once a year!
Next week: ballet, tee-ball, OB appointment, registering my firstborn for kindergarten...
