Summer Recap #2: Utah

We spent three weeks in Utah this past month. Earlier this summer, we didn't anticipate spending so much time there, but some changes with my sister E's release date from her mission prompted us to stay longer so that we could overlap with her. J had to fly out of town for work (to New York and Seattle), but he was with us for the Weber week and when E returned home near the end of our stay.

J had a little bit of an up-and-down time at the Weber. He got food poisoning one day, and he had to stay back at the cabin while several of us went to Seven Peaks for swimming.

 One of our primary motivations for going to the Weber this year was that we would be able to see our beloved C cousins. Sam had a blast with the C boys! Here they are, holding their "Weber sticks" before going on an adventure to "Treasure Island."

This year there was a fire nearby the Smith and Morehouse Reservoir, and the firemen were using the Pines Ranch horse pasture as a helipad. The firemen were really nice and even let the kids sit inside the helicopter!

Amanda caught a fish with her bare hands! This is going down in Weber lore!

Ant Bee brought a bag of Zel's hand-me-down costumes to Utah. Lucy was in heaven!

On one day during the Weber week, we went down to Provo and Springville. J used the internet at BYU so that he could work, and then he walked down to his grandpa's house. I met up with some of my friends from graduate school. We gathered in my friend Shelley's magical backyard. The kids had a blast playing together, and it was really fun to catch up with my friends and talk about all nerdy things related to art history.

A second generation of art historians?

After the Weber week ended, we drove down to SLC. J spent part of the weekend with us, but then he flew to NYC on a work trip. He flew back to Seattle for work afterward, and in the meantime I stayed in SLC. I helped to keep an eye on my sister L for about two weeks, but really she was the helpful one because she was constantly playing with Lucy and Sam. We went to a few museums, parks, the Seven Peaks Fun Center, the zoo, and some restaurants. I also got to catch up with some friends: Julie, Rachel, Katherine, Joanna, and Heather. It was fun to see all of them.

Lucy and Sam especially loved playing with their aunts and Uncle A. Lucy was kind of obsessed with A and would ask to see him or read books with him whenever he was in the house. She also loved watching video clips with my sister C, and she was especially intrigued when C introduced Lucy to the character Princess Yum Yum from The Thief and the Cobbler.

Lucy and Sam playing with their second cousin A and Bop S

Rock climbing at the Seven Peaks Fun Center

Visiting with Julie!

Visiting with Joanna at the "Cinderella Park"

Getting a "virtual haircut" at the Leonardo exhibit on illusions

Flying an airplane at the Leonardo exhibit on flight

I had my kids "recreate" my engagement photo with J at the Salt Lake Library

 Visiting with Heather at the zoo!

One evening we went and saw "The Good Dinosaur" at the park

We visited with my Aunt J and cousin H at their home, and then went to Daybreak for a picnic at the park

Hanging out in L's new hammock

One of my favorite things that I did on this trip was take Sam and Lucy on the Salt Lake Overlook hike. I remember doing this hike with my friends from high school, but the experience was much different when hiking with a toddler on my back and a child by my side. I'm really proud of Sam for doing this hike with me, since it is steep in many places and is a four mile hike altogether.

At the top of Salt Lake Overlook. Sam exclaimed "I'm alive!!!" when we got to the top.

The bird show at Tracy Aviary was so cool! Phin and V joined us at the aviary. (Look at Phin's cute belly!)

Another one of my favorite photos from this summer!

Lucy was trying to get into video games along with L and Sam. She would hold an (unconnected) controller and watch the other kids play, but she would always specify before sitting down, "I want to be on my team!" (As if people participate on a team other than their own!)

At the airport! E is home! She walked out of the security area so quickly that we weren't prepared, and we held up our "Welcome home!" signs backwards so they read "Home welcome" instead.

At Shivers after picking up E from the airport.

Lucy and E! We had a lot of fun spending time with E. We took her to the National Parks Adventure film the day after she came home (which happened to be the exact centennial of the National Parks). I also helped arrange things so that she could welcome a surprise visit from her close friend (i.e. love interest) T.

Lucy and V at L's soccer game, right before we left to drive back home

 Lucy crashed and fell asleep just minutes after we left the soccer game and started our drive back to Utah. She and Sam had so much fun, and no doubt her brain had to process a lot of information after such a fun and long vacation!

Summer Recap #1: Washington and Oregon in July

It is the last day of summer break for Sam. The weather was considerably cooler today, which I think is mentally helping us to prepare for the start of the new school year. We took Sam's school supplies to his teacher's classroom this morning, and Sam got to meet her and select his desk. I feel like summer is really drawing to a close, and it seemed fitting to write a few posts to recap our summer adventures.

 The Everett parade is one of the best 4th of July parades in the area, I think!

Fireworks at RB 

My first professional pedicure! The other two pairs of feet belong to my dear friends Rachael and Carrie. We had a GNO to celebrate the impending arrival of Carrie's new baby. Ironically, we all chose extreme similar colors for our nails.

We planted several new trees and flowers in our yard. Lucy is standing by the weeping cherry tree. We also planted a "youngi" weeping birch tree, an Akebono flowering cherry tree, and also an "april dawn" camellia bush. The bunnies have been nibbling on the flowers in our garden, so we have been limited in what we can plant, but they seem to stay away from the coneflowers, dianthus, and snapdragons alright.

For a few weeks, Lucy was really interested in wearing Sam's astronaut helmet around the house (especially in the evenings). Here she is waiting for her bath water to be drawn.

In the latter part of July, we had a B family reunion. There were a lot of great activities that were planned, including a "cupcake war" bakeoff, Olympic races and events, a treasure hunt. The kids even put on a talent show one night, in which Sam told jokes and Lucy showed off her letter skills with Will.

Lucy at Susie and Dave's "River Dream"

Cousins outside the Visitor's Center at Sunrise (Mount Rainier)

The Sunrise Nature Trail at Mount Rainier. We did this hike several years ago, when Sam was small enough to be carted around in the same backpack! It is fun to compare those early photos this this recent photo: not only is Sam so much older, but now Lucy is riding in the backpack.

Another fun outing involved riding the ferry and then going up the Columbia Tower, the tallest building in Seattle. I'd never been up here, and it was fun to look at the city and pinpoint landmarks, where I work, where J works, etc.

Sam kayaking at Susie and Dave's lake house. It was neat to see him be able to pull himself back into the boat if he capsized - the "canoe tip" trainings for Cub Scouts really are helpful!

Not long after the reunion, I started to panic that our summertime in the PNW was drawing to a close. We made an impromptu decision to visit Oregon one weekend and go to the Enchanted Forest. We stopped by the Pittock Mansion on our way down. It just happened to be the same day that the Oregon Regency Society was picnicking on the lawn, and their presence prompted me to discover that there is a similar chapter in Washington: the Washington Regency Society. I don't know when it will happen, but I feel like I'm going to have to be a member of this society at some point in my life.

The Pittock Mansion

The Enchanted Forest!

Lucy on the kiddie train ride at the Enchanted Forest. This is a pretty good summation of her reaction to the park. She had a fabulous time.

This is one of my favorite photographs from the whole summer. Lucy spontaneously started dancing while listening to Snow White sing within the Seven Dwarves' hut at the Enchanted Forest. This was her favorite spot of the whole theme park and we had to go back and look at it a few times. I'm so glad that we were able to take her to the park this year, especially since she is just the right size to peer into many of the windows.

Apple Gathering

My family received a bumper crop of fruit on their trees this year, and a few times this week we have gone out into the back yard in order to pick apples off of the trees (and also off of the ground). Lucy has loved gathering the apples and putting them into bushel baskets, and she particularly has liked sorting the "yucky" ones from the good ones.

I do think that this experience has affected (and perhaps tainted?) her thoughts about apples and picking apples. Tonight, my brother A pointed to a picture on our dining room wall, The Apple Gatherers (1880) by Frederick Morgan, and asked Lucy, "What are they doing?"

Lucy replied, "Picking apples...yuck!"

We all chuckled at the thought that she now things picking apples consists of yucky fruit, and even more that the S family's trees make (solely?) yucky fruit. Oh dear! Ha ha! Some of the apples are tart or have worms, but some of the fruit is quite good.

This painting by Frederick Morgan has been in our dining room for years and years, and it is something that I associated with my family's home (as well as my mom's aesthetic preferences). However, it just occurred to me this week that the painting is on the same wall that faces the fruit trees in the yard, which makes me wonder if my mom thought about the subject matter and the physical alignment with our miniature orchard when she placed the painting on the wall.

Ironically, this painting portrays a romanticized view of orchard workers gathering a bountiful harvest, but my two-year-old isn't old enough to think about the romanticized effort or the suggestions of fertility and bounty by having (mostly) women collect the fruit! Maybe one day she'll think more than "yuck" when she sees this painting.

Celebrities Project: Louis Armstrong

I finished my study of Louis Armstrong last week, when I finally finished reading the informative, yet tedious, book Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life by Laurence Bergreen. but I haven't had a chance to write because we have been at the Weber. In some ways, I struggled with learning about Louis Armstrong, simply because I couldn't really relate to much of his life or his interests outside of music. I was surprised to discover how much I seek to relate to these celebrities when I have been learning about them, which must indicate something about how I learn or what type of connections I find meaningful. One thing that I really did admire about Louis is that he was an extremely generous person. It is easy to tell that gift giving was his "love language," since he loved to gift expensive items and money to the people that he cared about.

Some interesting things that I learned:

• Louis always pronounced himself as it is spelled ("Lou-is") not "Louie." He also went by the nicknames "Satchelmouth" and its abbreviated form "Satchmo." The names referred to when he use to hold coins in the side of his mouth while playing, to ensure that no one would steal the money that was being given to him while he played.

• Outside of music, Louis was passionate about laxatives and marijuana. He was such a fan of the laxative Swiss Kriss that he would give cellophane-wrapped packets to everyone he met: journalists, diplomats, fellow musicians, etc. In fact, you can purchase Swiss Kriss in the gift shop of the Louis Armstrong House Museum.
• Louis Armstrong had four wives, not to mention numerous affairs on the side. It also appears that he fathered an illegitimate daughter, news which was just made public about four years ago.
• One of the most influential moments in Louis Armstrong's life was when he was sent to a juvenile detention center as a young boy. During Mardi Gras, he decided to take his stepfather's gun and shoot it off in the air during the celebrations. When authorities caught Louis with the gun in his possession, he was placed in jail and then moved to the detention center.  As a poor black boy in New Orleans, he wasn't given a chance to be proven innocent. However, this time in the center really changed his life and helped introduce him to more formal instruction in music.
• One of the main reasons that Louis Armstrong would stop and sing during his musical numbers was simply out of necessity: he needed to give his embouchure a break from all of the tension and pressure that it sustained during trumpet playing!
• Louis Armstrong even created an album of Disney songs: Disney Songs the Satchmo Way

It was easy to segue into Louis Armstrong performances this month, since I saw his appearances in the film High Society during last month (when I focused on Grace Kelly). The other shows that I watched were Hello Dolly (1969), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), A Song is Born (1948), and The Five Pennies (1959). In several of these movies, I didn't really feel like I got a great sense of Louis Armstrong as a performer, since his appearances were short (and he really just seems to serve a more secondary, even caricatured, role as a black entertainer in order to support the white leading actors). But I do think that his energy, personality, and love of music are apparent in this rendition of Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong singing "Oh When the Saints Go Marchin' In" from The Five Pennies:

Another sweet scene from The Five Pennies is when Louis Armstrong, Danny Kaye, and the child actress Susan Gordon perform a trio medley. The person who posted this video mentioned how these people are all very different and from different backgrounds, but they are brought together by music.

This month I also watched Louis Armstrong: The Portrait Collection, which included some televised performances of Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton. Their interactions are entertaining (such as in the performance of "That's My Desire"). One of my favorite television performances, though, is when Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra sing "The Birth of the Blues" together. Frank's singing is actually rather bland here, I think (and really is only kept lively through Louis's trumpet playing), but the thing that I live is that Frank is genuinely jamming when Louis starts singing at about 1:16:

I read that Louis Armstrong never made great friendships with the wealthy white entertainers within Hollywood, but they did seem to respect and greatly admire his musicianship and showmanship. And I feel the same way: although I don't feel like I have a great connection with Louis Armstrong's personal history, I really respect the way that he could move his audiences. His rendition of What a Wonderful World is such a inspiring, heartfelt song.

"Love and Friendship" Quotes

My good friend Rachael and I went and saw Love and Friendship this evening. What a fun show! Rachael and I laughed heartily throughout the movie, especially during the scene when the inane - yet pleasant - Sir James Martin first arrives at the Churchill country estate. It was a really fun evening. 

One critic said that this film is "the sort of movie that fans will quote to each other to affirm membership in a secret club."  I definitely can see that. Here are two quotes that I found particularly clever:

• “We bring these delightful creatures into the world—eagerly, happily—and then before long they are spying upon and judging us, rarely favourably. Having children is our fondest wish but, in doing so, we breed our acutest critics. It is a preposterous situation—but entirely of our own making.” 
• "Americans really have shown themselves to be a nation of ingrates, only by having children can we begin to understand such dynamic."

The movie is based off of a book by Whit Stillman, but now I'm anxious to read Lady Susan and see how it compares to the film (and Stillman's book).

Lucy is Two!

Our Lucy Loo is two! We had a really fun birthday weekend, especially because B and J's family was visiting in town that day, as well as some O-family cousins from Oregon. This birthday was especially fun because Lucy had a really good idea of what happens on your birthday, having recently seen three other family birthdays take place in the weeks preceding her special day. She practiced singing the "Happy Birthday" song and blowing out pretend candles on her toy cake for weeks. (And now, come to think of it, she hasn't pulled out her toy cake since!)

The day before Lucy's birthday we took her to the Woodland Park Zoo.  Beforehand she made a specific request to go and see the gorillas, and we were happy to oblige. However, her favorite "animal" during our visit was a sculpture of a fox, since she thought it looked like Swiper from "Dora the Explorer." 

On Lucy's actual birthday, we got her dressed and went downstairs to open presents. She was thrilled that we got her a birthday balloon. This balloon actually lasted for almost a month before deflating. Lucy's present from us was a set of Fisher Price Disney Princesses. I really wasn't anticipating that she would be "into" princesses, but she really does love musicals and I ended up showing her Cinderella and Snow White a few months ago (which started the "princess ball" rolling). The feminist in me feels better about having her play with the cute, round Little People figurines though, since they are less objectified than the Disney characters themselves.

We ate brunch with B and cousins at a cafe in Issaquah that morning, and then spend the afternoon playing at RB. Lucy got a bubble machine as a gift from her caretaker at day care, and it was a huge hit! Lucy's other main request was to watch Beauty and the Beast in the upstairs room at RB, specifically the moment "when Belle comes" (which is when she walks down the stair in her gold ball gown, at 1:00 in this clip).

This was taken right before we started singing to Lucy. I think it's cute that Sam crouched down to smile and share the moment with his little sister.

I took this photo just as we started to sing. She knew exactly what was happening (after weeks of practicing on her toy birthday cake). Her expression says, "This is it! This is the moment! I can't believe this is happening!" When she blew out the candles, she got a very loud cheer from her extended family members.

Lucy is such a sweet girl. She loves to snack, and it is a common sight to see her going over to the pantry door to help herself to whatever is inside. She constantly asks to eat Goldfish crackers, Creamies, or baby food "crushers" during the day. (Although she is extremely picky about crusher flavors, and will only eat the peaches, apple-carrot, or blueberry-purple carrot-pear flavors made by Plum Organics. She's way too old to eat these anyways, but we are trying to help her cut back on her addiction!)

Lucy has been introduced to potty training and has had some success, but she's not really interested right now. She usually asks to use the potty so she can watch "Cookie Carnival" on my phone. We have tried to bribe her to use the potty by rewarding her with M&Ms, but she isn't interested. On two occasions, though, when she really felt like eating candy, she beat our system: she would use the potty (only relieving herself the tiniest bit) and eat her M&M reward after we all cheered, and then go back to the potty and eek out a little bit more so she could have her next M&M. I think she ate five or six M&Ms within fifteen minutes! Silly Bubba.

Lately Lucy has gotten in the habit of asking "Where are we going?" when we get in the car, and then responds, "Oh!" after I tell her our destination. She also asks if we can "go somewhere" in the car, and last weekend asked (when we were driving away from our house) if we could go shopping. She loves that her car seat has now been turned to be front facing, and she likes to talk about how "red means stop" and "green means go" when we get to stop lights.

Lucy loves singing, dancing, reading books, stickers, drawing and painting. She has quite good fine motor skills, and she can hold a pencil correctly and make little spirals or straight lines. Her favorite shows are Anastasia, Cinderella, Thumbelina, Swan Princess, Wreck-It Ralph, Toy Story 3 and Letter Factory. She also likes to watch episodes of "Dora the Explorer." Every night she asks to wear Sam's toy astronaut helmet while we have our bedtime routine. She loves to listen to music in the car, and we continually have either a Disney compilation, Yo Gabba Gabba, the Rio soundtrack, or a Nancy Stewart CD playing while we drive.

We love Lucy's cheerful little personality, and her curly blonde hair is perfect for her usually-sweet temperament. She has only had a few major tantrums in her little life; most of the time she is very easy going and happy. She's very chatty and social, and she especially loves to play with her brother (whom she often calls "Sammy" or "Sammy Loo"). We love having this little light in our lives.

Sam is Eight!

It has been several weeks since Sam had his birthday, but things have been so busy around here that I haven't had a chance to write anything down about it. Sam is now eight years old! He had a special day. That morning we took him and his two best friends (Lewis and Sky) to the Family Fun Center. The boys played laser tag, arcade games, and miniature golf. Sam won a lot of tickets on one particular game, which made him especially happy.

After Sam opened his presents, we called this day "The Lego Star Wars Birthday." He got several things that weren't Lego Star Wars, but the majority of his presents were Lego Star Wars sets, and we also gave him a Kylo Ren Lego figurine.

The boys wanted to pose for a picture inside the play gym circle (see above). The glare of the light sin the building made it hard to see their faces, but I want to remember that they had the cute idea to pose for a picture. It was really amusing to listen to them chat as I drove them to and from the Family Fun Center. The dare that they were giving each other - which no one would agree to do - was to say the phrase "Girls rule and boys drool!"

After Lucy's nap that afternoon, Sam wanted to go and see the Angry Birds movie as a family. We met up with Bop and Gram afterward, and we ate at Panera (Sam loves their macaroni and cheese) and then returned home for brownies.

It's hard to believe that Sam is eight years old. He still loves to read, and his currently favorite books are the Geronimo Stilton series, Garfield comics, Calvin and Hobbes comics, the My Weird School series, and the Boxcar Children series. This year Sam read Alice in Wonderland with J, and currently he and I are reading The BFG together.  

I am still teaching Sam how to play the piano, and sometimes J will also help teach Sam in the evenings. Really, though, Sam does a good job at figuring out how to play things on his own. Right now his favorite song to play on the piano is "The Magician" from the Alfred's Basic Piano Library series. He likes to play Minecraft and Survival Craft on the iPad. Just about two weeks ago, I downloaded "Pokémon Go!" onto my phone, and he likes to play that game when we go on walks. He also really loves to play with Legos, especially Lego Start Wars figurines. He is involved in swimming lessons (he was just promoted to "Flying Fish" level), but still isn't interested in learning how to ride a bike. Right now he wants to be an inventor when he grows up; the other day he was telling me about his idea for creating a robotic hand that uses "The Force" by manipulating atoms.

Sam is a very obedient, helpful, and kind person. Lately I've been really aware of how often he uses "please" and "thanks" when speaking to to me and J. When I ask him to help with something, he always comes over to help without complaining. He is very kind and attentive to his little sister, and he also is patient when she demands that Sam play certain games or watch specific shows with her. I have had some friends tell me that children start to get a little more belligerent and argumentative around the time that they turn eight years old, but that isn't the case with Sam. He is still very much a sweet little boy, and he still even likes to hold my hand when we go for a walk! We love Sam very much, and I feel so lucky to have him as my child.