kandas-adventures

Midwinter break happenings

Here are some photos from our midwinter break in February. It was supposed to rain much of the week, but it was windy and we had some surprise sun breaks and were able to go outside and play while we were in the city. We rediscovered Golden Gardens park in Seattle, which got new play equipment geared toward older kids. As the girls are now 10 and 12 their playground options are getting more limited. They still love to climb and slide and swing, but many parks just have equipment sized for the preschool set. We're always excited to find "big kid" equipment!

The park also featured a nice treed area on the beach where the kids played "capture the flag" with friends.

 

The weather was so nice that we went to this park two days in a row. The first day was really windy and cold, and we stopped by between downpours, so we had the place to ourselves. My mom was with us and she just stayed in the car and read while I ran the beach with the girls and we flew a kite. I didn't have my camera with me to capture the action, unfortunately, but the wind was strong and sustained, which was perfect for kite flying.

 

On one of our days in the city with Grammy we had donuts at Mighty-o, which specializes in organic, vegan donuts. Now if only they could make them fat-free, too!

 

My mom always has coupons burning a hole in her purse, so we ate out constantly. Lunch one day was at Ivar's Salmon House, even though my mother hates fish. She had a roasted veggie focaccia sandwich, while the girls and I had clam chowder and salmon. The masks the girls are wearing were the kid's menus -- cute!

 

Another day in the city we spent an afternoon at Blue Highway Games. I bought an expansion for Ticket to Ride, the game the kids are playing in this photo. We have the European version at home, but the expansion gives us detailed maps of Switzerland and India to play as well.

 

And kittens! We have two foster kittens right now, and the black one came down with a nasty case of calicivirus, which meant he and his little friend had to be quarantined in our bathroom. His nose and mouth became horribly ulcerated with weeping, bloody sores. I was doing lots of laundry, cleaning, and medicating. I have never seen a kitten sneeze out so much mucus! I was scraping it off the walls, washing it off the floors, and changing my clothes every time I held him, because he'd splatter me with so much snot. Then of course the medication gave them diarrhea, which is another fun experience. But aren't they just adorable little balls of fluff?

Other things we did during the week were attending a lecture, visiting friends, planning a memorial service, cleaning the house and packing up outgrown clothes for donation, unloading pallets of cases of Girl Scout cookies from the big rigs delivering them, filling bird feeders at the nursing home, playing board games, and staying up too late each night. It was a good "staycation!"

 

Fall Has Come

The house at the end of our street that was vacant after foreclosure last year has new owners now, so we couldn't play in their yard like we did last year.  About half of the houses in our neighborhood have a maple tree in their front yard.  Ours is a Japanese Maple, with probably a million tiny leaves.  Others have giant-leafed maples, with bigger, but fewer leaves.  Most homeowners deal with their leaves by mowing them into bits with their lawn mowers, and dumping them in the yard-waste bins for collection by the waste management service.  Others let their lawn-service people use those annoyingly loud leaf blowers to disperse them off their property -- sometimes into the street, often under the bushes to be left as winter mulch.  Few people seem to own a rake and make a pile for children to jump in anymore.  That leaves me.

Perfecting the peak of one of several piles.

Even after dark, it's fun to go out and play in the leaf pile.

During a quieter moment, after the jumpers had collapsed from exhaustion, we even brought a foster kitten outside to explore the leaves for a few minutes.

When we move from this house, I'm really going to miss this maple tree.  We can't take it with us, because it is huge, and also because the developer was very thoughtful about siting all trees directly over all the underground utilities -- gas lines, water lines, electric lines, sewer lines.  Some of our neighbors have had trouble with root intrusion because of this.  Stupid developers!  They had good taste in trees (sometimes), but poor judgement in placement.

Now that the leaves have all fallen, the kids are anxiously awaiting the first snowfall.

A Scavenger Hunt at the Mall 12th Birthday Party

What kind of birthday party do you throw for pre-teens?  The trend in our area is sleepovers -- a house full of hyper kids drinking pop and scarfing down junk food while watching movies and playing loud music through the night. Lots of squealing and tossing of pillows, with some pranks and dares mixed in.  Not much sleep, and a totally trashed house the next morning, with popcorn found in the hanging light fixtures, and puddles of soda behind the couch.  I've heard the horror stories from other parents.  I didn't want to go there.  Plus, our house is too small, yeah, that's my excuse.  No rec room or basement to banish the kids to.

So I decided to have a Scavenger Hunt at the Mall party.  What pre-teen girl doesn't like the mall?  We had 10 girls gather at our house for pizza, sliced apples (from our tree), rootbeer, hawaiian fruit drinks, and apple cider.  Pizza & beverages for 10 girls and 2 moms: $50.00.

Then we opened presents.  A got a lot of accessories, such as mittens, hats, fragrant hand sanitizers, and this wallet.  She also got 3 great games: SET, apples to apples, and Bop-it.  Rounding out the gifts was a stamp making kit, where you carve our your design into a rubbery block with sharp tools, then apply paint and stamp.

After lunch and presents, we loaded into two vehicles (one of the moms helped me run the party) and headed to the mall.  It was a Friday.  11-11-11.  Veteran's Day, so no school.  In the days previous when I'd scouted out the mall for things the girls had to find, the mall was deserted.  I forgot that there were big sales for Veteran's Day.  Even though only bankers, teachers, and government employees usually got Veteran's Day off, the mall was PACKED!  Where did all these people come from?  It took us nearly 30 minutes just to find a parking place, on the very top level of the parking garage, way off in the furthest corner!  

When we arrived at the mall we broke the girls into 2 teams and went over the rules:  No entering shops, except for the big department stores.  No running and watch out for other people.  Be polite.  Take turns and work as a team.  It's a test of observation, not a race, so don't rush or you'll miss things.

The girls each received an envelope with about 30 things to find or do as a team, and a map of the mall.  Each team had a chaperone that had a bag with money and other things, like a pair of shoes they had to take to get shined.

They had to drop off a pair of shoes to be shined, write the name of the shoeshine's name on their questionnaire, and then pick up the shoes, and pay and give a tip.

The girls were free to use the directories and maps, and could also ask at customer service.  Some of the questions they had to answer were:  "What color is the circle in the logo for the gymboree store?"  "What is the height limit for little kids visiting the play area?"  "How many wooden benches are there on the 2nd level of the mall?" and "What store has a gumball machine in their doorway? Your chaperone will give you each a quarter to get a gumball!"

One of the more complicated tasks was to go from the 2nd level of the mall, through a parking garage, across a sky bridge, and over to a movie theater, where they had to write down the names of all the films (11 of them!) playing that day.  

After about 2 hours we met back at a frozen yogurt place and compared answers.  Each team missed only 2 or 3 items.  Each girl got a frozen yogurt with 3 toppings ($45.00) and then we drove home where the parents were waiting to pick up their daughters.

Review:

I thought it was a great party, and so did A.  I spent $95.00, which was less than I would have spent to go to one of those "fun centers" with arcade games or trampolines, and about the same that I would have spent on food for a sleepover.  There were no "goodie bags," which I've always felt were unneccesary.  A said the response from her friends was good, though they probably would have enjoyed buying stuff.

One of the girls we invited had Autism and needed constant supervision and a lot of support.  I've known this girl since she was 3, and I had no trouble accomodating her.  When we invited her, her mother was so happy, because this girl is almost never invited to parties and has few friends.  Being in middle school, A is learning hard lessons about friendship.  Girls she thought were her friends are suddenly teasing and excluding her.  A is starting to worry about who she associates with, and apparently being at all friendly toward the special-needs kids is the kiss-of-death for your social life at middle school.  A was a little concerned about having this girl at her party, and what would be said at school after, but the girls we invited were some of her closest, longest-known friends, so I hoped it would be fine.  I want A to understand that friends who tease you about who your other friends are, aren't really your friends at all.

Tenth Birthday -- party edition

Little K wanted a birthday party with a few friends, so I obliged her with a simple party at home.  It wasn't the grand celebration that Little K had initially fantasized about, but she was happy regardless.

The girls did sketching and felt flower necklace making while the guests arrived.

Toss the candies in the bowls! 

Race to gather up the balloons!

dig for little plastic animals in a jar of rice.

Snack consisted of popcorn, apple slices, and cheese.

Here two of the girls look at photos of bald-headed Little K as a baby.  In the background A is dancing.  Totally spontaneous was a unanimous request from the girls for music.  A brought the "boom box" down from her room and they put in a CD of world music.

K reads aloud a wonderful book she received for her birthday.

I made cupcakes, which I filled with banana custard, and topped with chocolate frosting.   It was a great little party.  Happy 10th Birthday, Little K!

Tenth Birthday -- American Girl Doll Edition

Little K turned 10 recently.  She missed out on having a party the last two years, and this birthday was significant, so this time she was absolutely going to have a party.  She started planning for it months in advance.  I think it was just after Christmas that she started dreaming and scheming, pouring over party supply catalogs, reading party planning books, and playing around with themes.

Over the months, and then weeks, and then days (and even hours!) leading up to the big day, she went back and forth on what to do.  Hawaiian Theme?  Monkey Theme?  American Girl Doll Party, perhaps at the newly opened store in our area? We decided to split her celebration up.  On her actual birthday a local doll museum was having a birthday celebration of their own, with cake, activities, and prizes.  K invited a close friend who was also interested in dolls (not all girls are these days), and of course her sister, and we went there in the afternoon.

The museum is huge, and an absolute treasure trove of dolls and miniatures.  Sadly, it will be closing soon, after nearly 20 years.  Like so many non-profits and small businesses, it just can't generate enough revenue to pay the bills anymore.  Our visit was bittersweet, as it could be our last.

After our time at the museum, we headed to the new American Girl store.  Little K had been wanting a second doll (She already has one that I didn't think she played with all that often), and tons of accessories, all of which are frightfully expensive.  In the weeks prior to her birthday she came up with an enormous "wish list" of what she wanted, and if you totalled up all the items, it was in the thousands of dollars.  Instead of buying it for her, I told her that she had to use her OWN MONEY, and suddenly she was faced with prioritizing and asking herself what she truly wanted. 

The day before her birthday a new catalog came in the mail, and the wish list grew even longer.  A card dropped out of the catalog touting a new, free "personal shopper" service at the store.  I'd never used a personal shopper before, but I called and made a reservation for one, because I thought Little K could agonize over her decisions with a salesperson instead of me.  Then I wouldn't be the bad guy if she had any regrets!  It turned out to be a great experience.  The personal shopper looked at Little K's list, heard what her budget was, and then took Little K around the store to personally inspect everything on the list.  Boxes were opened, little accessories were oohed and aahhed over, and the personal shopper was so good about asking Little K her feelings about having 5 of those vs. 2 of these, and helping her prioritize.  There was no pressure, and she really took the time to learn HOW Little K played with her dolls and what she would most enjoy.

In the end Little K chose the limited edition "Doll of the Year" and a matching girl's dress.  The personal shopper had spent almost an hour with us, and after we left would have the task of reshelving and repacking all the items she'd shown to Little K.  I felt slightly guilty, since K's budget wasn't extravagant compared to a lot of the girls that come in to shop and have their birthday parties in the store.  It was a really good experience though, and A is planning to come shopping there next month when she turns 12 ( she didn't buy anything on this visit -- she's saving her money -- good girl!).

Instead of eating in the doll store's "Bistro," which was too pink and girly for the rest of the family, we headed over to The Old Spaghetti Factory where we joined Daddy and Grammy for K's birthday dinner.

Little K opened the cards that had come in the mail, and a few more little gifts from relatives far away.  I gave her a set of charcoal pencils and this excellent sketching book, because she loves to draw.  She also received a personalized lunch box from my cousin, a bookstore gift certificate, and a game from her sister.  The waiters came and sang to her, we ate ice cream, and the day was coming to a close.

It was a good birthday!

Goodbye Girl Scouts?

It's summer camp season, and our local Girl Scout camp has something they call "Core Camp" where troops of girls come with their moms and leaders, and the newly trained camp staff try out their programming on the girls before real camp begins the following week.  It's a great opportunity to relive the summer camp experience with your daughter.  It's so much easier for the leader than typical troop camping because all the meals are provided, all the activities planned, and your troop doesn't have to find a trained outdoor skills specialist and a trained first aider to bring along.  Those last two are the hardest -- if you don't have two parents in your troop willing to go through all the training and get the certification, then you have to beg to borrow people from other troops, or bribe a college age Girl Scout to come along.

We almost didn't go because of a new rule that each troop needs to have 2 registered adults attending, no matter how few girls.  I was bringing my 2 daughters and 2 girls from Little K's troop, for a ratio of 1 to 4, which is better than the summer camp ratio of 1 to 8.  Before I signed up, months ago, I spoke with the camp director and said it would be just me with the four girls, and to please match us up with another troop that wanted to bring extra adults.  Often camp has to limit adults for these events, because so many want to do a "mom and me" experience, but the camp wants to keep beds available so more girls can attend.  It's not unusual to hear leaders grousing about only being able to bring 2 adults, when all the moms want to come for this easy camp out.  All the meals provided, no dishes to wash, daughter entertained by others, hot showers... what mom wouldn't want to come "camping?"

The camp director said, "No problem!"  The camp would be fully staffed, there'd be at least 2 counselors in our unit at all times, plus lots of other camp staff on site.  Two weeks before camp started, someone in the Girl Scout council office with too much time on her hands noticed that our troop had just 1 adult registered, and decided to give me a hard time.  We went back and forth, with her threatening that we couldn't come without finding a second adult, but not allowing me to make contact with any of the other troop leaders who were registered for the session.  And she wouldn't contact them on my behalf because it was my problem, not hers.

Meanwhile the camp director deferred to council, because they are her boss, but the camp unit assignments were sent out and I found that I was paired in a unit with another troop of 10 girls and 5 parents, plus 3 staff counselors.  That made 9 adults to 14 girls.  Sounds like a good ratio to me.   

Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough for the woman at council.  Supervision of MY girls was NOT the responsibility of OTHER adults, she said.  Again, it was MY problem, and I needed to find a second adult or not come.

She left one last threatening phone message for me at noon the day of camp, when check in was at 3pm.  Well I was going to camp, and someone there would have to turn us away.  I had the other two girls' moms come along to camp check-in, so they'd be there if we were asked to leave... but I wasn't going to leave without a big scene.  If some girls cried, all the better.  I was ready.

When we checked in, the camp director, who I know from years of coming to camp, welcomed us.  No problem, just like she told me months ago.  We met the 3 wonderful counselors in our unit, the other troop moms, and the other troop of girls quickly folded my 4 into their circle.  It was one big happy family, just as I knew it would be.

That woman from council who gave me such a hard time?  Surprise! She was at camp!  She was there with her own troop!  You would think, the kindly thing to do two weeks ago when she discovered we only had one adult, would have been for her to say, "I'll be there, you can stay in my unit and we'll make sure your girls can come."  But she had another agenda...

I only learned that that woman was at camp because I heard other people complaining about her.  Apparently she was using her council staff status to demand special activities for her troop that weren't part of the program that week, such as horseback riding.   So while she was so adamant about me following the rules, she was waltzing around camp forcing staff to bend the rules for her.

Luckily our paths didn't cross and I managed to avoid her.  I never did meet her, but it was amazing how many people I heard talking about her, so obviously I'm not the only one she's given trouble to.

Camp was wonderful for my 4 girls.  It was everything it should be.  As you can see from the photos, the girls enjoyed canoeing, archery, swimming, climbing, parachute games, crafts, hiking, geocaching, and far too many silly skits and songs. 

As expected in a large camp, the food was terrible.  They served chicken 3 nights in a row, and on the 3rd night I witnessed 2 girls vomiting after dinner, and at breakfast the next morning heard of several more that had lost it in the night.  Thankfully my girls and I had rejected the chicken that night and just eaten the white rice, and none of us got sick.  I guess it's not an authentic summer camp experience without a little food poisoning thrown in.

Camp was bittersweet for us because it was goodbye in a way.  After being a leader of two troops for several years, I am burned out.  My unpleasant experience with council leading up to this camp was not the first time I'd had trouble from council.  In A's troop a parent attacked the other leader and when we sought assistance from council they turned the tables on us and pretty much destroyed the troop after 5 harmonious years.  A parent was unhappy, therefore a leader must be at fault.  It didn't matter that the leaders came to council for help in the first place, or that other parents were worried about the safety of their daughters around said unhappy parent.  Again, the council person went by their rule book without looking at the big picture or trying to find a solution.  

There's also major change happening in Girl Scouts.  Councils have been consolidated, camp properties are being shut down and sold off, girls and volunteers are quitting, and the Girl Scouting program is being totally overhauled by the national organization.    

I've been following the chatter on the Girl Scout leader newsgroups, and I'm not sure I want to lead with the new programming.  In the past girls had dozens of interest and proficiency badges to choose from, but now there will be less than 20 per level.  New handbooks will cost $22.00 per girl,and as a leader you're required to have the girls complete a "Journey" book (which costs additional $7 per girl).  We tried the "Journey" book two years ago and the girls hated it.  It was busy work, a lot of writing and reading silly stories, with little practical application.  The girls said it was "like school and homework." 

Overall, Girl Scouts is pulling away from traditional pursuits, and trying to capitalize on trends and technology.  Outdoor skills are being phased out, selling cookies by text and tweet are now encouraged.  The Girl Scout store is filled with trinkets and jewelry, and gadgets and new things you're required to buy (like the Journey books) in order to earn awards.  

I've stepped down as a troop leader, but both of my daughters will remain registered independent scouts for at least another year.  Little K will attend 2 weeks of Girl Scout summer camp (sharing two counselors with 15 other girls for that 8 to 1 ratio). When the new materials come out in the fall I will look them over.  If the girls have interest, we'll try the new program.  I'll still be involved in our service unit, maintaining their website, and assisting with some events.   

Whether or not I return to camp again with my daughters remains to be seen.  I guess I have a year to find that 2nd registered Girl Scout adult who can accompany me.

Outdoor Skills Weekend 2011

This year for Girl Scouts Outdoor Skills Challenge the girls decided on a Native American theme, so they were thrilled when we were assigned to sleep in the covered wagons instead of the open air cabins at camp.

Here's our little tribe... me with my co-leader in orange on the left, our girls in various home-made "native" costume, and the three judges they had to demonstrate their skills to and prepare a meal for.

 

Here's the interior of the covered wagons the girls (and I) slept in.  Both ends are open, and although the hard rain, hail, and snow did not blow in this time, it was damp because the wagons are sited below massive, moss covered trees.

 

Most of the judging happened within the cook shelter, which was a blessing given the weather.  Here, the girls are just introducing themselves to the judges and are beginning to think about what they'll each need to be doing to get the meal made.  Leaders are not supposed to be present during the competition, so I took this photo on my way out to join the other leaders at the lodge for 4 hours.

 

Here's the lodge where we had meals with all the other troops participating in the competition.  Our troop got to set the table, serve as hostess (or "hopper") for each table, and say the "thanks" (prayer) before meals.

 

Here the girls are performing the "thanks" to the tune of the Addams Family theme song.  There is no reverence here -- if they're going to say a prayer of thanks, I wish it would be more thoughtful, but because it's camp, and non-denominational, they have to make it "fun."

 

Things were more solemn at the flag retirement ceremony the girls participated in.

 

I'd never done a flag retirement ceremony before.  Apparently there are different kinds, and the one we did involved cutting the flag "stripe by stripe, star by star."  The girls were silent throughout the ceremony, which took a LONG time because when we started the only scissors provided were toddler safety scissors, extra dull.  Eventually someone sprinted off to find some more substantial scissors, but in all it took us 2 hours to cut apart 2 flags.

retiring a flag

 

 

A took her task very seriously!

 

The girls line up to have a turn with the scissors, while the fire burns and the flag is pieced out, never touching the ground.

 

The final resting spot is the fire, where each star is laid on the fire while the state it represents is recited for all to honor.  The states are said in the order in which they joined the union.

 

After dinner was the awards ceremony, and the girls received the "Creativity" award, which is one of the consolation awards.  At least they didn't get "Perseverance," which is the ultimate insult for the ill-prepared.  They didn't get 1st, 2nd, or 3rd overall, which they were hoping for.  During the competition there was apparently some arguing amongst the girls, they didn't clean up as they went along, and some of the food didn't turn out as planned, so they got what they deserved, although the judging is purely subjective.  It all depends on who you get as a judge, as each troop is assigned a trio of judges.  This year the judges our troop got were teens and young 20 somethings.  The food our girls prepared was exotic, and the girls overheard one of the judges say she didn't eat salmon, and didn't like quinoa.  Conversely, the troop that cooked a simpler meal of instant white rice and plain chicken with teriyaki sauce won the overall award.  Had our troop been assigned older adult judges, the extra work they took to prepare something unusual and more difficult might have been better appreciated.

Before we knew it, the weekend was over and it was time to clean up.  Before checking out of camp all the girls are assigned "Kapers," ie chores.  A and a friend got the fun of cleaning one of the restrooms, and they went to town with the disinfectant and rubber gloves.  Now if only A would clean at our house with the same gusto!

Throughout the rainy, wet weekend I was constantly steering A away from the deep mud puddles, because I knew if she got her feet wet she'd be complaining the rest of the weekend about being cold.  So, before leaving camp we went looking for the biggest, muddiest puddles and I let her jump to her heart's content.  I asked her if it was worth the wait, and she said yes, but that she was now REALLY looking forward to that hot shower at home.

Here's my post from last year's Outdoor Skills Weekend.

A Snow Day with 5 kids

After we returned from our short late winter get away, it was back to work, which for me means caring for the neighborhood kids.  On this day I had 5 kids: my 2 girls, and 3 boys.  Above, Baby I-Ball is fussing because he doesn't want to wear his gloves.  He soon got over it, though.

The kids got cold, so into the house we went, shedding layers at the door.

I hung it all up to dry, but of course it was all put back on and stripped back off multiple times that day.  Getting everyone dressed, tucked in, and booted up took about 20 minutes.  By the time the last one was done, the first wanted back in (or out).

9:15am and time for some warm chocolate milk and lounging around in long undies.  The kids had already been outside for an hour.

Endless creativity at the Lego table!

Stories all around.  Baby I-Ball loves nothing more than being read to, and he was delighted to have 4 big kids in addition to me, who were willing to sit and read to him.

A needed to deliver some Girl Scout cookies, so we made the rounds of the neighborhood with the boys in tow.

All the nieghborhood kids sledded until the road was bare.

Baby I-Ball was content to sit on the sidelines and cheer on the sledders.

Four of my favorite snow babies!

Lunch for five, before the next round of snowplay.

The little one still takes an afternoon nap.

Meanwhile the big kids break out the board games.

Five times the fun for a snowy day.  I'm so grateful to be able to hang out with the young people in our neighborhood, especially on snowdays.

Getting ready for the next holiday on the calendar

My buddy, Baby I-Ball, helps me wash and sort the eggs for the upcoming neighborhood egg hunt.

A Snow Day (or Three!)

As payback for having no snow last winter, we were treated to three days of frigid temperatures and snow just before Thanksgiving.  It didn't take long for us to dig out the boots, bibs, sleds, and helmets and hit the hills running.
We weren't the only ones with such plans.  Nearly every household with kids turned out for the fun.
I got a kick out of these neighbors who hauled a portable heater and chairs into the street!
A challenge was set to go down the hill, across the road, over a neighbor's lawn, and through the goalie posts.  The more bodies on the sled, the faster and further it went.
Pumpkins were plucked from a nearby garden and carted over to give the challenge an element of bowling.  No one cracked open a pumpkin on impact, though it was certainly a goal for some.
Beneath the snow was a slick layer of ice, due to the cold. 
The sun came out just enough to make a little melt, but as it never got above 25 that day, some lovely icicles formed.
I really savour this time to visit with all the neighbors, and witness the children at play.
Not many cars came by, but of course the mailman made his rounds.  He never misses a day, and has been known to sleep overnight at the Post Office.  One time a few years back he had no mail to deliver, because none of the trains, trucks or planes could make it through, but he still came out to collect.
We're all hoping that this was just an appetizer, and that more is on the way!