First Family Bike Ride!

When I was a kid, I loved riding my bike. For me, bike rides were a way to experience freedom and adventure. I could be by myself, go explore, and feel the freedom of independence. I especially loved going along the gravel trail that was in my neighborhood and seeing the Canadian geese at the pond. I would even take the trail all the way past my elementary school, and sometimes meet up with friends.

So, as an adult, it was hard for me to accept that Sam didn't want to ride a bike because I felt like he was missing out on those experiences. Ever since he was about five, he has stubbornly refused to ride one. For several years I came to terms with it, and accepted that his childhood would not be the same as my own. And for the past two years, I have been content with letting Sam ride his scooter alongside Lucy's bike.

But this summer, it was time for Lucy to get her training wheels off. If she was going to learn, then I thought this was a good time for Sam to learn too. Plus, with quarantine and the restrictions due to Covid, I felt like I wanted to put the pressure on Sam so that we could have another way to exercise as a family outside (especially since the Y is practically closed, and we aren't ready to go there anyway due to the rising cases). He kept on hesitating and deflecting my pleas, but we finally got him to agree by bribing him. We promised that we would give him the Mandalorian LEGO set that comes out this fall (for which he has been saving all summer), if he would buckle down and learn how to do it. It didn't take him long to agree to this arrangement. And so he learned to ride a bike, at twelve years old, through coercion and manipulation. But it worked!

With Lucy's training wheels off as well, both kids took time to practice riding in the long drive way across from our house. It basically only took Sam about two days to learn how to ride his bike. He got confident really quickly, and even exclaimed, "Why didn't I learn how to do this seven years ago?" In fact, Lucy noticed how quickly Sam picked it up and muttered to herself, "Why is he faster than me? I've been practicing longer than him..." And this is true, if you count the two years she has been on training wheels.

Regardless, they have both picked up well on bike riding. Lucy can get herself going on her own, and so far we haven't had a major fall yet. We have gone on several rides together, and this is now one of their favorite ways to earn "active minutes" (which then translate into every-other-day screen time). And Sam has agreed with me that bike riding does give a sense of freedom, which he likes. As a parent, I feel like I've finally succeeded in teaching him the joys of bike riding. And I hope he will also remember this experience of facing a fear, overcoming the challenge, realizing that the challenge wasn't that hard in the first place, and developing a love for something that he thought was a fear.

First time practicing on the Cedar River trail by our house. We've been back twice and also explored the other side of the trail by the Community Center and Carco Theater.

Our first bike ride with all four of us was this evening! We went on the east end of the Cedar River trail in Maple Valley. I thought this day would never come!

Lucy is Six!

Lucy had a wonderful sixth birthday. We originally planned to have her friend Abby H come over for an outside playdate (the first playdate since quarantine began!), but then Carrie (her mom) had to be tested for Covid-19 and the H family had to isolate while waiting for Carrie's results. So, we spent the day at home. Luckily, she got lots of presents from her family and extended family, so she wasn't at a loss for things to do. It was a marathon day for me, but I worked hard to say "yes" to everything she asked. She and I flitted from toy to craft to bubbles to toys all day long. The house was a wreck by the end of the day and I was really exhausted, but she had a fabulous birthday. (And Sam said that he had a great day too, because for the most part Lucy was occupied with me and he was able to have alone time in his room! Ha!)


During quarantine Lucy has rediscovered her love for Little People princess figurines. She got her pink Little People castle years ago, but last year I started to store it in her closet because it wasn't getting played with. However, over the past few months she has become really fixated on her princess castle and figurines, and she even was pretending that the pink castle was Elsa's ice castle. It seemed right to get her the Elsa castle for a birthday gift. She didn't even know such a thing existed!

Instead of a Moana cake (since Abby couldn't come over), Lucy wanted to have pancakes with a Moana topper. She specifically wanted to eat blue whipped cream so that it would look like Moana was sailing on water.

Here the old princesses are meeting the new Frozen characters.

Sam was kind and even helped play with Lucy, so she could enjoy her new Frozen castle. Elsa's castle is being defended by Star Wars ships and figurines

Lucy had her birthday playdate with abby all planned out to be a Moana-themed birthday party. Since Abby wasn't able to make it, we still pulled out Lucy's Moana dress and she got to wear the Heart of Tafiti necklace that she planned to wear with Abby.

A fairy house from the F family!

A giant craft kit from C and S

A giant bubble wand from E and T

Picnic dinner from Din Tai Fung at Seahurst Park. Lucy had wanted to swim, but it was too chilly.

Chocolate dumplings for a birthday dessert!

Lucy didn't even notice that her loose tooth came out while she was eating her birthday dumplings! She was startled and had a little cry when she realized her tooth was gone, but she was comforted to know that the Tooth Fairy would still come. She wrote a note, just to be sure.

Bop came over to bring Lucy a birthday present! Gram developed a cold that day, and out of an abundance of caution she stayed home and Bop was sure to wear a mask.

A few days later, we were finally able to have Abby come over for an outdoor playdate (Carrie's test came back negative!). Lucy was so thrilled to get to play with her friend after being separated from peers for so long:

We went hiking with the Hongs about a week later. Lucy and Abby held hands several times while hiking. I know social distancing is important, but I didn't have the heart to stop this cute little manifestation of friendship (although we did sanitize hands afterward!).

Here are few more recent pictures of Lucy:

On a recent hike to Franklin Falls

Reading "The Light Princess" with Blondie Bloom and Felicity

She still loves to play with dolls, both the Fisher Price princesses, Blondie Bloom, Felicity, and the Strawberry Shortcake dolls in her doll house. She also enjoys playing with Lego, reading Tomie de Paola books, riding her bike (she just started to ride without training wheels) and playing with Sam. She has a mild interest in playing the piano, and we practice for a few minutes every couple of days. Here is a cute poem that she wrote for kindergarten:

And here are some drawings that also were made about this same time. She likes writing and drawing on the whiteboard, and we have been trying to practice her handwriting this way:

She is getting more independent, although she still prefers to have a friend with her at all times (and in quarantine, that means either me, J or Sam). She is also getting more mature, and we don't often have fits or outbursts of temper from her anymore. She knows that she can get Sam to play with her if the story involves Star Wars, and she has a growing interest in Star Wars lore. She also likes to play Sam's Lego Star Wars game on the iPad, and it is amusing to hear her talking about "defeating" people in that game. 

Her day-to-day preferences are almost always the opposite of what Sam wants, whether it is the route for our morning walk with Violet or opinions about what to do during the day, but she and Sam always come to a compromise. They have been good quarantine buddies while we have been stuck at home for the past several months.

Swainson's Thrush Song

This is a summer of hiking, since it is pretty much one of the only activities that we can safely do right now. The kids and I have been going on at least one or two hikes each week, and they usually are willing to go because: 1) they get to leave the house and 2) they earn one minute of screen time for every minute of physical activity.

Earlier this week we hiked on the Shangri-la Trail in Cougar Mountain, and we kept hearing this really unusual ascending bird song. It sounded to me like the sound of a cassette tape was being fast-forwarded. Lucy thought that the bird "sounded like space." It took me quite a while to find the right call, but I finally did. For a good portion of our hike we were listening to the Swainson's Thrush sing:



We want to go back to this network of trails again, because there are a lot of different places to explore and we only visited a few trails in our three-mile loop. And I think we all would like to listen to this unusual bird sing again!

Lucy's Parking-Lot Dance Recitals

This past week was Lucy Week! In addition to her birthday, we also got to see her perform in two socially-distanced, outdoor dance recitals. We drove up in our car and watched the dancers perform outside in the parking lot behind the studio. Everyone tuned in to the same radio station and the families stayed in the car while we watched the dancers perform six feet away from each other. Despite having to re-choreograph the dance routines and needing to take classes via Zoom, the girls did a fine job.

This was taken in the car, right before Lucy's tap dance to "Dear Future Husband." This was taken just two days before she turned six!

This was taken in the car right before Lucy's hip hop dance performance of "Firework." The performance was taken the day after her sixth birthday! You can see that she is missing two bottom teeth. One of her bottom teeth came out while she was eating her birthday dinner, but she didn't realize it and inadvertently swallowed the tooth!

Lucy did a great job in both performances. I think she does especially well with her ballet and tap classes, but she likes doing hip hop and we're going to continue to encourage her in all these areas of dance!

Latest Outdoor Adventures and Hikes

This first photo was taken on the same day as my last day of classes for the quarter. I took the kids to Sammamish State Park. As we walked around I kept mulling over how my last class session went over Zoom, and ways that I could have better taught the topic of Caravaggio's paintings of youths. This field of flowers helped me to focus better on the moment and on my two kids next to me. And I think it helped me to let go of the stress of online teaching from the past quarter, and begin to embrace the summer with my kids. Even though the last class didn't go as well as I had hoped (the students were understandably focused on the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests), I hope I'll have another chance to teach the Gender, Sexuality and Identity course at another time.

And so, my kids and I have slowly been transitioning into summer. They officially finished school last week, but we are still trying to have some kind of academic structure for them during the summer months. And luckily, they are interested in going on hikes and outdoor outings, since there isn't much else to do with museums, summer camps, and the Y closed. Here are some of the things we have been doing, with some things from last month too:

In the middle of May, J set up the tent for the kids to enjoy some backyard camping. That night Lucy only lasted about twenty minutes in her sleeping bag and asked to be taken inside to her own bed (so I slept in the house with her), but the boys slept outside all night.

Seahurst Park in May

Seahurst Park in May

We took a detour on our way to my brother C's wedding and drove past the Salt Flats. This is one of my favorite pictures of these two kids. The trip for the wedding was stressful and frustrating for me, in light of the ongoing pandemic and the need to social distance from my family, but I'm glad we could be at the wedding dinner for two hours to support C and S.

On our first day of true summer vacation, I took the kids to walk along the I-90 bridge into Seattle. We walked from Audrey Davis Park in Mercer Island to the Sam Smith Park in Seattle, and then back to our car. We went about five miles that day! The kids were mostly interested in the I-90 bike tunnel, which had some fun art. I think they felt like the bridge was too noisy with the nearby cars and busy with the bikes, but I think they liked the experience of walking along a bridge that is a familiar landmark.

I-90 Bike Tunnel

This outing to bike/scooter through the Snoqualmie Tunnel was a total bust, but it is worth including it since it took a lot of effort to get here with our bikes. We went here for Father's Day. Lucy got scared about 1/2 mile into the tunnel because it was dark, and plus the ground wasn't paved and completely flat to her liking. She got to a point where she wouldn't push her feet on the pedals, so I had to hold onto her bike handle with one hand and pull her and her bike along while I pedaled on my bike. Sam and J continued on for another mile, but Sam got bored in the tunnel and they didn't make it to the end. I don't think we'll go here again. I was pretty frustrated and I'm giving up on my dream of family bike rides.

These last pictures from today are evidence of a success story, though. I took the kids to hike to Talapus and Olallie Lakes. We hiked about seven miles round trip! Lucy was tired when we got to Talapus Lake and didn't want to continue on, but I got her to soldier on and even carried her for about a mile and a half. But for the most part, she did it on her own. This is a really nice hike because most of it is in the shade and he trail isn't very steep. The only real setback are the potholes in the road that leads to the trailhead; I wouldn't attempt this drive in a smaller car.

The kids pretended that the rocks were giants, like those from The Silver Chair or Frozen 2.

Talapus Lake - this lake is quite blue because it is exposed to the open sky. The lake is surrounded on a few sides by slopes with boulders

Olallie Lake in the background. This lake looks quite green due to all of the surrounding pine trees

Sam was really chatty on the way back when I asked him about The Alchemyst book by Michael Scott that he has been reading. E and T gave the book to him for his birthday. He told me about the plot in great detail. Lucy was listening carefully, and then she chimed in and explained that she and Sam are doing a pretend game that is a variant of the book's plot. In their game, she can create things out of silver and gold (due to her silver and gold "aura") and Sam is a scientist/alchemist who helps her. I'm glad that they have such fun together. It's cute to see them quoting "Bad Lip Reading" videos to each other and getting a kick out of similar types of humor.

Sam's 12th Birthday!

Sam is twelve years old! He had a special - and unique - day, despite some of the restrictions for Covid-19. He has grown a lot this year and always seems to be hungry, so we wanted to make sure that his birthday was filled with his favorite foods. We had crepes for breakfast, Subway sandwiches for lunch, and Panera mac & cheese for dinner. He even surprised us by choosing a birthday dessert that was not brownies this year: he saw a picture of chocolate lava cakes in our recipe book and asked that we try it:

Sam got lots of books from his family members and friends, which is great because I want to make sure he has plenty to read, since we will likely be spending most of our time at home this summer due to the virus. He also got some LEGO sets from us, including a Bantha, Tusken Raider minifigure, and also an AT-ST walker from the Mandalorian series.

At lunchtime, we ate Subway sandwiches and had a birthday celebration in my in-law's garage! It was raining and we couldn't stay strictly outdoors, but we opened the garage doors to have air circulation while we visited at a social distance across the garage. I bet this is the only time Sam will have a birthday party in a garage!

Sam also received a fun candygram and oversize balloon from the Hong family, which was special. We caught the Hongs as they were leaving the gift, and got to say hello to them from a social distance. I feel like the Hongs and the Roses are like our kids' surrogate cousins, aunts, and uncles.

One of the things that I thought was special, is that Sam and Lucy chose to spend their allowance money on Harry Potter wands. On Sam's birthday I let them come into the store to see the toy aisle, if they promised to wear their masks. It was the first time they have been in a physical store since March. They chose some "mystery" Harry Potter wands. Lucy ended up getting James Potter's wand, and Sam ended up getting Snape's wand. They spend much of Sam's birthday afternoon playing some sort of Harry Potter wand game up in Sam's room. Sam also got a little music player for his birthday, so that he could listen to his Spotify playlist offline, while in his room. While they played, the Harry Potter film score music from Sam's playlist appropriately accompanied their game.

I think the most special thing for Sam, though, was that he got to see his two best friends, Lewis and Judah, this weekend. Due to the lockdown restrictions, he hasn't seen his friends in person for about three months. The restrictions have eased slightly so that people can have outdoor gatherings, but you are only permitted to see five people outside your household over the span of a week. The boys sat and chatted for most of the time, but we did serve a pizza picnic lunch and they played a round of bocce.

He sure has grown a lot this year. He is about as tall as me, and he can slip his feet into J's sandals (although they are still a bit big on him). His voice has gotten lower and he looks more like a teenager with each passing day. Still, though, Sam is his constant and cheerful self. He is such a great kid. He's responsible, caring, obedient, smart, and very kind to his sister. I have no doubt he will graciously play with his sister this summer too, even at times when he'd rather do something else. Tonight Lucy wanted to hold his hand on our family walk, and even though I could tell he'd rather not hold hands anymore (he feels too old for that), he sweetly acquiesced and they held hands down the hill. I'm sure proud of him.

Lately he and I have been reading The Ickabog online (J. K. Rowling has released it on her website as a gift to children during the pandemic), and it's been fun to read a fantasy book out loud to him again. I hope we have many chances to read together this summer. Even though he gets older, I hope he doesn't outgrow his love for fantasy and fiction.