Yellow Belts

For the past several months the boys have been participating in Taekwando.  Their taekwando school was recommended to us by families with young kids because 1. they love it and  2. because it is one of the only ones in the area that allows kids as young as 4 to participate.  While neither Chris nor I have any martial arts in our backgrounds, I was curious about how this kind of activity could improve coordination, strength, agility and help teach the kids to learn their left and right (something I still struggle with!).  After watching the boys participate for the last several months it is clear, the program is wonderful.  The Masters are great with little kids.  They provide the perfect amount of bolstering without coddling.  They build the kids up with each activity and make each skill fun.  They leave class sweaty and tired and very proud of themselves.  It has been wonderful to watch them blossom and enjoy this activity so much.

In addition to great successes, Taekwando has presented some new parenting challenges for us.  Several times over the last four months one boy has achieved success (in the form of receiving tape on their belt indicating that they have mastered a skill) before the other.  It has been interesting coaching the boys through these situations.  Brody is competitive.  He wants to be first at everything and when he is not first to get tape, he is disgruntled.  Brady is more laid back about it.  He finds solace in the words of his coaches that he is "this close" to mastering the skill and takes those words of encouragement with him as he practices at home.  Brody is happy to try and help Brady get something right and Brady always accepts his brothers help.  Brody is less tolerant of being shown what to do by his brother.  Teaching them to be happy for each other when only one succeeds, identifying the issue that needs to be fixed and working through the issue until they achieve success has been our main objective.  I don't know if we succeed every time, but I do know that for the times when Brody has gotten tape before Brady, Brady has come running out to greet me with a huge smile on his face and a proud announcement that his brother has achieved success.  I'd say that is a step in the right direction.  Determining how to motivate and coach Brady vs Brody is the key (no duh) and it is interesting to see this situation show up so early in their little lives.

For their belt test, the boys had to break a board in front of a room full of people. Neither boy had ever had a chance to practice breaking a board; it is something that they do only only during belt testing.  It was great to see Brady and Brody follow the instructions and figure out what needed to be done.  Brady did not break his on his first try and he needed some coaching.  In what is their typical great manner, one of the Masters got right down on Brady level, told him exactly what he needed to do in a stern but helpful voice and Brady listened perfectly.  When the board broke, you could see he was so incredibly proud of himself (and of course I was dying on the inside!!!).  Brody attacked the board with gusto and it broke on the first try. The instructors let out a little giggle when it happened because I think they were surprised by how smoothly Brody's board broke.  All it all it was a great experience and I look forward to watching them blossom as yellow belts!

Two Wheelin'

I have been meaning on getting Brody up on two wheels for some time now.  He was really good on his strider and could go long periods of time balancing on two wheels.  After a few months on his tricycle, I could tell he was ready for a new challenge.  Travel, pneumonia (poor kid) and me trying to wait for Chris to be around for bike riding kept pushing the time line back.  Finally I decided not to wait any longer and I took the boys to the park after picking them up from school.

Knowing the boys' personalities, I figured Brody would be game to try no training wheels without any convincing but Brady would need some coaxing.  I also figured it wouldn't work out well for any of us if both boys wanted to try two wheelin' at the same time.  That being said, I still wanted Brady to have a mile stone he could be proud of so we decided that Brody would try removing his training wheels and Brady would try riding with his training wheels lifted by an inch or so.

Since both boys were on balance bikes until December when they got their "big boy bikes" it was pretty easy for Brody to remember what to do.  I removed the training wheels, told him to start riding and within seconds he was balancing and riding by himself.  I may have been more shocked than he was because I had been expecting it to take longer than that!  He had absolutely no problem balancing but he did have a terrible time steering.  I was running next to him and had to grab him time and time again before he steered into benches, picnic tables, off stairs, etc.  The park we were at had relatively few obstacles, or so I though, until Brody steered into every single one of them.  In an effort to end on a high note, I got the idea to grab a big stick and draw a very long time in the dirt trail.  For the last few minutes we played "stay as close to the line as you can".  Both boys did pretty great and we left feeling very proud of ourselves.

The next morning at 6:30 the very first thing of of Brody's mouth was "Mom, can I ride my two wheeler?".  I had plans for us to go to the park again later in the day and when we got there, Brody hopped on his bike and took off.  He was noticeably better at steering, almost as if he had been working on it in his sleep (I know consolidation is a thing, but it amazing to see it happen in real life)!  He "got it" and by the end of our play date he was a fully capable bike rider.  Once the newness of Brody's move to two wheels has worn off, it will be Brady's turn!

Side funny story: We were riding with our best buddies who are triplets.  Seeing 5 four year olds on bikes is really quite a sight.  A father and son biking duo road by and the dad asked me in a hopefull tone, "Is this a toddler bike club?!".  I laughed and told him it was just a set of triplets and a set of twins riding together and he laughed but was disappointed.  I guess we do look like a club or gang whenever we go anywhere!

Easter 2016

We had a fun Easter filled with jelly beans, bow ties and lots of eggs!  The easter bunny hid tons of eggs around the house and the boys had a blast finding them and trading their contents.  The bunny got smart this year and only put two jelly beans in each egg and the boys were sweet enough to share with each other.  They were quick to hand me every sticker they found... I am guessing they were not as valued as the jelly beans and bunny cookies!

After our hunt the boys played with the toys they got and we drank coffee and watched them.  Aunt Kathy showed up a bit later and we headed out for brunch.  After a great breakfast, we picked up the dogs and bike and went up the elementary school.  The kids were happy to speed along on their bikes and the dogs were happy to be able to run free for a little bit and play with their doggie cousin.  It was a very nice, very low key easter!

It is hard to tell from this picture, but Hank looks absolutely crazed when he runs.  He is like some kind of cartoon.  If I could draw, I would make a whole set of children's books using this dogs face!

(Sorry boys, your mom overexposed our family picture and used black and white to try and cover it up.  Thanks for smiling so nicely and being good sports, it won't happen again!)

Our first camping trip! Big Sur Camping 2016

We officially dominated our first family camping trip.  Given the tremendous build up including a reservation made several months in advance (not my style), and stories for the boys describing s'mores and other wonderful things about camping, you would have thought we would have been more prepared for our trip.  But alas, prepared is not our style.

The original plan was to camp for two nights but a rain storm blew in Friday morning so the rain combined with some complications from Hank's neutering surgery made us decide to stay just one night instead. We were supposed to leave on Friday, but as of Wednesday we still did not have a tent or sleeping bags, two necessities for camping.  Thanks to Google express and Costco, all of our camping gear showed up on our doorstep on Thursday morning (Google express is amazing BTW, if it comes to your area, sign up, it will save you so much errand running).

We packed the truck, hit the grocery store for some food and headed down to Big Sur.  For some reason the boys insisted on wearing specific hats for our camping trip.  Brady thought Mickey ears were the most appropriate and Brody went with a wizard hat.  They also insisted on bringing their elephants instead of pillows.  Rock on with your bad selves, boys!

It is a very reasonable drive from our house to Big Sur so we arrive fresh and ready for the woods (and beach).  The camp site was awesome and we were camping with three other great families.  We set up our tent while the kids played together and set off for a hike.  We opted to find a dog friendly hike so the four of us headed to Pzfiefer State beach, a hidden gem on the Big Sur Coastline.  Purple sand, giant rock formations and cypress trees make this spot a must see!  We hung out and played at the beach for awhile and then headed back to the camp site.  We also let the dogs swim in the river right next our campsite and the Hank had his first swim!  He liked it, we think.   We cooked dinner while the kids all played together and repeatedly (seemingly EMOM (every minute on the minute)) asked for s'mores.  Once the s'mores supplies came out, the boys dove in head-first to their first s'mores experience.  It is a no brainier and they loved it!

Somebody was very pleased that he snuck into my picture!

We got the kids ready for sleep and I laid in the tent with them to try and get them to settle down.  They were so amazed that we were sleeping outside, so much so that just when they were almost asleep (or so I thought) Brady yelled out into the darkness "I can't believe we get to sleep on the ground!".  It was so cute.  Unbeknownst to me, Hank was also trying to hunker down for the night next to the fire with Chris and the other grown-ups.  He kept trying to crawl into the camp chair but it would tip as soon as he climbed up.  Chris let him into the tent with us and he promptly laid on the air mattress right between the kids and passed out.  I think our littlest baby was just as excited and Brady and Brody that we were all sleeping on the floor together!!

The night was, well, let's just say it was a night to remember.  Not long after crawling into the tent, it started to rain.  The rain turned to pouring rain and that's what we heard all.night.long.  About two hours into sleeping, I could hear Brady tossing, turing and grunting, basically doing what I call "angry sleeping". I grabbed him and snuggled him close so he would warm up and that settled him down but it kept me wide awake the rest of the night.  I felt like I woke up 1 million times and everyone time I opened my eyes all I could think was "why the heck isn't it light yet.  Please please please let dawn break".  At one point I woke up with Brady's fingers in my eye socket and Hank's face/droopy lips plastered up against mine.  Again, it was still dark and all I could do was try and go back to sleep.  Finally, I could not take it anymore and I had to go to the bathroom.  My rustling woke everyone else up and we were all awake and partying inside the tent at 6 am (foreshadowing: it was 6 am according to my watch).  Now, under normal circumstances, it would have been light at 6 and  I could not figure out why it was still so darn dark.  I kept thinking "man, this is some storm that is creating this much cloud cover".  Fast forward a couple of hours and we realized it was Daylight Savings weekend!  The clocks changed overnight and we did not know!  Chris actually said (before he knew the clocks changed) "the only hours I slept were from 1-3.  I Never saw 2 am for whatever reason"...  now we know why!!!  What a fantastic night to lose an hour!

As soon as we had enough light, we broke down the tent and got ready to go.  We had a blast but when the tiredness set in, I wanted to be on our way home.  We had breakfast with our friends and the kids played in the rain.  When the moment was right, we said our goodbyes, hoped into the truck and drove back up the coast.  It was a totally wonderful time and I am looking forward to doing it again.  Chris has many many happy childhood memories that come from camping with his cousins.  I think the boys are going to have just as much fun camping with friends and family and generating similar memories!