Football fanatics

I'm overscheduled and crunched for time, which somehow means I'm more efficient and trying to do more.

Like staying on top of photos and posting here.

A couple quick photos from Finn's latest sport adventure: flag football. He just wrapped up soccer, and is down to one more week of football. They play two short games each Sunday, and the boy unfortunately has missed 2 1/2 weekends (sprained finger, stomach bug, and tickets to Julius Caesar).

He really loves to play this game, which makes it more fun for us. He's playing wide receiver and quarterback. Today he scored a touchdown in a 6-6 tie game, and was absolutely beaming.

I'm not sure when it happened, but he's become a huge football fan. Perhaps because football has become a nearly year-round thing here, thanks to arena football. I was skeptical, but splurging on season tickets for arena football seems to have been worth it. Finn and Calvin are hardcore fans: At the last game, Calvin caught a game ball (several players signed it, and he slept with it for a few nights) and Finn, who has become a JumboTron regular (that's what going to games is all about – getting on the big screen, right?), has a cameo in the team anthem video. I still can't quite wrap my head around arena football, but they love it.

Meanwhile, we're almost done with the school year. We're sprinting through the last 9 days, with a million things to help out with: a concert, a publishing party, baking bread in two classes, helping with two park parties ... but the highlight, certainly, is Calvin's moving on ceremony next week. He's moving on to middle school next year, whether we're ready or not. We have a little bit of camp this summer, but mostly the boys plan to ride scooters, sleep in the treehouse, and play Minecraft.

Because they can't get enough football

The boys have had so much fun at the San Jose SaberCats arena football games that we treated them to season tickets this year.

I need to point out that in the past we've often walked into the stadium FOR FREE because they're so desperate to get butts in chairs that someone is always giving away tickets outside. But with season tickets, the boys get premium seats in the end zone, so there's that. And there's an annual barbecue with the team, which was held last weekend at a new bar in San Jose that's centered on video games.

So the boys completely ignored the players around them:

Until one of the offensive linemen joined in and totally schooled them in Super Smash Bros.:

Once we coaxed them to put the controllers down, Finn and Calvin brought their football around to gather signatures, including that of Jason Stewart, who is our favorite player because his name rhymes with Mason Stewart:

First home game is next week. You might want to buy stock in green and yellow temporary hair dye.

Soccer season

eager to be in the center of the action

what form!

It's solidly spring here, and we're three weeks into soccer season. (No baseball this year!)

To Finn's delight, his teammates voted to name themselves the Seahawks — that's his favorite team. Doug is taking advantage of his lightened-up schedule these days to coach the team. He has several years of experience coaching baseball, and as he hoped that experience more than makes up for his lack of expertise in soccer.

The team is off to a great start: They have a 2-1 record, and we're especially happy to see how well they play together. They're supportive of each other and very engaged, and they look like they're having a blast on the field.

Not a bad way to spend springtime Saturdays...

making fun of coach

Book geeks

I've been so backlogged with photos, I haven't posted in ages!

The boys are off to a great start this year in school. For 5th grade, Calvin has the same great teacher he had last year and has been especially interested in the work they've been doing on maps and U.S. geography and on cells.

Finn really likes his 2nd grade teacher (I do too) and has been very focused on writing neatly and, lately, using descriptive language in his writing. He's very proud of how he's doing in reading and math; I'm just happy to see he's finally discovered books without a lot of pictures have redeeming value.

Outside of school, they're both enjoying new activities. Calvin joined a swim team and has been making great improvement with regular lessons. He still has some skills to build before he should enter a meet, but he can compete if and when he wants to — he says he wants to win a medal.

Finn is very busy with both fall baseball and soccer through this month. Baseball is especially intensive, with two long practices and a game each week, but he's holding up well.

With author/illustrator Katherine Roy

Shark cupcakes!

I'll try to get some other pictures up, but I had these quick ones from last night: Finn was jealous that Calvin got to a book signing with his teacher (Aaron Becker, who made the beautiful Quest and Journey books), so he said he wanted to go to a signing too.

So yesterday he went to his first signing, a book launch party for Neighborhood Sharks. The author grew up in the area, and wrote about the sharks who thrive just off the coast of the Bay Area.

Finn loved it: He parked himself in the front row and helped the author measure out the length of a shark, asked a great question ("Why do humans hunt sharks but sharks don't hunt humans?"), and picked up an extra book for his classroom. It was a very late night, but so worth it. (The shark fin cupcakes were a nice bonus.)

I never thought going to book signings would become a hobby, but I'm happy to encourage them.

Summer camp craftiness

It was all Camp Galileo last week, with both boys at two Galileo programs. Calvin worked on a video game and Finn went on a road trip.

Calvin got to choose: the K-5 camp that Finn went to, or the Summer Quest for grades 5-8. The older group won easily, but it was difficult choosing what to focus on. He settled on making a Minecraft mod and trying 3D printing. (If he had three weeks, he'd be making a go-kart too — deferred for next year.)

For those who don't speak Minecraft, "mods" is short for "modifications" — ways to customize the game. (For the uninitiated, it's a creative world-building game, using block shapes. That's an oversimplification, but sufficient.)

Here are some screenshots of his mod. First, here's his red "awesome armor" and "explosive sword":

What makes this sword so cool, aside from its stylin' red-and-black look? When you use it, lightning strikes your targets:

And he made these "sweet" building blocks. Here they are atop a tower he built:

Put it all together:

Meanwhile, Finn traveled along Route 66. In the art room (the "so-called" diner, he says), he whipped up this billboard he plans to use when the boys host a restaurant at home. (He's especially proud of the sequins, which sparkle in headlights and attract your attention.)

And here's his billboard along with a print of the Chicago skyline reflected in Lake Michigan ( a cool technique with oil pastels and watercolor). Behind them is his kachina doll, inspired by Native Americans in Arizona and composed of three spirit animals he chose to help him in his pursuits: a bear's head, for strength; a shark in the middle, for swimming; and a wolf's legs for stamina.

The kids collaborated on retaining walls to protect the Mother Road from rock slides:

And Finn made a working headlamp for exploring the Grand Canyon:

The grand finale: a short clip of Finn's rubber band car — he's very proud that it can go past 18 feet!

Portland weekend

Meanwhile, a month and a half ago... Calvin and I had a just-us getaway weekend to Portland to visit Carol and Jessica. I shared some what-to-do-in-Portland links, and Calvin helped plan the itinerary: one night in a hotel in the Pearl District and one night at Carol & Jessica's, with visits to the Saturday market, OMSI (the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), and bakeries. Carol suggested taking their boat along the Willamette, and that proved the highlight of the weekend.

It was a meandering, indulgent kind of weekend. We arrived at the hotel way past bedtime but ordered a pint of locally made chocolate sorbet to enjoy as we read. Since we weren't in a hurry in the morning (and Dad wasn't there to say no) there was an epic jumping-on-the-bed session, then a half-hour playing with the typewriter in the lobby.

At the Saturday market, Calvin swiftly found the same shop where I found him a gift years ago: handmade tops and toys. He picked out souvenirs — one top that creates an image of a mountain (Mount Hood, perhaps?) when it spins, and another that flips as the spin slows. He found a few other gifts before we stopped at Powell's to pick out new comic books.

But it was the river trip that made him fall in love with Portland. Nervousness quickly gave way to bliss. Before long, he was urging Jessica to steer into the choppy waves — and not long after that, he was driving the boat.

Other adventures: introducing Carol to The Princess Bride, visiting her office, playing with a kinetic sculpture, teaching how to play cat's cradle, sliding down the stairs, and visiting OMSI. Calvin's favorite part was touring the sub used in The Hunt for Red October. Carol even fired the torpedoes:

It was a much-needed break for both of us, and a long overdue visit to Carol and Jessica. Lucky me gets to go a second time, and soon — I plan to take Finn up there before the year is out. Here are more photos:

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Show and tell

What we knew as "show and tell" has morphed into "sharing day" at our school, and even then it seems to have been phased out recently. But Calvin was eager to bring in one of his chickens to share with his class and his teacher, always happy to follow their interest, said yes.

So Calvin brought Blackberry, our most easygoing hen, to school Monday morning. He enjoyed the attention as we carted Blackberry to class. One of the great parents at our school took the time to ask all sorts of questions, putting Calvin through a pre-game warmup without him realizing what she was doing.

Calvin took some questions, and really relaxed when he classmates to meet her up close. The kids crowded around to pet Blackberry, hold her, and feed her some scratch and lettuce. They begged to bring her over to the grass, where she happily devoured as much clover as she could between hugs. Blackberry was remarkably good-tempered about the whole thing. And Calvin was delighted.

The chickens are nearing their first birthday this month. We're in our third spell of high heat (low 90s) and they're handling it well. Blackberry decided she was in the mood for motherhood and spent a few days in the most-favored nesting box. This box is so popular that sometimes hens hogging the box end up getting crowded — last month we caught Shadow barging in after Blackjack spent hours in the box and ignored her squawky protests:

Blackjack eventually moved along, but Blackberry was in there day and night. So the boys had their first experience at breaking a broody hen. Finn put up a de-motivational poster, but it didn't do the trick.

So we dragged Blackberry off the next and put her in a cage for two days with food and water. Blackberry was very angry and bashed her head on the top of the cage to the point of bleeding, but then she settled down. And the other birds fussed and fretted over their confined friend. The third day, we let her out and she bolted to the run with her friends. Adventures in chicken-raising...

Celebrating the 10-year-old, part 2

The boys have fallen hard for James Bond: Doug received a set of all the movies for Christmas, and we've been watching them in order. (We just wrapped up the Roger Moore years, and we're bracing for Timothy Dalton.)

So for Calvin's party, we blended his fascination with 007 and our longstanding promise to let him have Nerf guns once he turned 10. The result was a ridiculously fun party two weekends ago.

As the boys arrived, they took turns navigating the laser trip wire maze Doug set up in the hallway and sampled sugar cane (a rare treat from the farmer's market for Calvin).

Then we walked to the school yard down the street, handed each kid a Nerf gun, and dished out ammo. They spent a solid hour blasting away at each other and taking hostages — no fighting and no tears, and only Finn came out bloodied (not that he noticed or cared).

Back home, Calvin's friends toasted the birthday boy and devoured pizza, profiteroles, and a Bond cake topped with sparking dynamite candles. They knocked back many cups of root beer (another milestone: first time I had a group of boys in my house chanting "chug! chug! chug!").

They all stayed on to watch Thunderball. Most of the boys hadn't seen any old Bond movies: They had no idea what was happening and talked through much of it, to Calvin's irritation, but they had enjoyed themselves. Everyone went home happy, Nerf gun in hand.

I've found boy energy overwhelming at parties in the past, but this was perfect: We let them run wild, and they had a blast. It was a great group of kids, polite and considerate even in the midst of competitive burping and fart jokes.

Celebrating the 10-year-old, part 1

With four people snapping photos during our two-week vacation, I have nearly 2,500 photos to sift through. I'm working on it, slowly, and will post a few as I go along.

Today, however, I'm focusing on this beautiful, silly, smart boy, who celebrated much of his 10th birthday in transit. We left Paris early on his birthday and flew to Barcelona. He was so excited to be in another new country that he requested McDonald's for lunch, then happily played video games in the hotel room while Doug worked through the afternoon.

Once Doug had fulfilled his work obligations, we headed toward Port Olímpic and the Mediterranean Sea, searching for Icebarcelona. For his 10th birthday, Calvin wanted to go to a bar! An ice bar, specifically: It's a small room with chairs, bars, everything made of ice, and kept at a brisk 6 degrees F. Calvin wore the provided coat over his own parka and sipped juice from a glass of ice. Fun, but so, so cold!

Back to the hotel, where Calvin and Finn happily played Xbox games with a new friend from London while we waited for a late dinner. By the time we got to birthday cheesecake and candles, the birthday boy had collapsed, asleep, on his chair.

 

 He woke up just long enough to blow out the candles, then went right back to sleep.

The cheesecake wasn't so tasty the following day. (Doug and I didn't let the ice cream go to waste.)

A few days earlier, in Paris, Doug and I introduced the boys to Kevin, the photographer who had taken such lovely photos for us two years previous. The kids were harder to photograph — such a blur of movement! — but Kevin captured this shot of Calvin that I just love. It shows his sweet and sensitive side, with a hint of mischief in his smile. And look how handsome!

An epic week in California

The cousins were here! The cousins were here! And what an adventure we had... Aunt Cheryl came with them, but the real thrill was to have two pint-size people to run around with and argue with over who would get to sit next to whom and where every time we piled into the car.

There was a lot of piling into the car. We went to Disneyland, the redwoods, the Mystery Spot, the beach, Fisherman's Wharf, the Exploratorium, Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, and even our favorite neighborhood park. But we walked to that last one. There were princesses and Star Wars villains, sea lions and a fruitless search for banana slugs, and chances for everyone to use a bit of Spanish and Mandarin. It was an exhausting week crammed with fun, and it flew by fast.

And there's still so much that was left on the kids' wish lists. (Yoda, sorry we missed you!) Here's a quick pictorial recap. (If this slideshow isn't working for you, click here to see the pix at Flickr.)

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Chicka chicka boom boom

New use for old toys

The summer is flying by. We're having adventures and taking pictures ... I've just been too busy playing with the kids and trying to meet my work commitments to get photos up.

The kids kicked off one of their bigger adventures on Saturday, when they went to a nearby farm for a four-hour crash course on chickens and brought home five chicks, just a few days old. Within minutes of their homecoming, they were all named: Shadow, Blackjack, Goldie, Brownie, and Blackberry.

Brownie

The first lesson learned raising chickens: Baby chickens are fragile creatures. The first class we planned to attend was canceled because the entire shipment of chicks died in transit from the hatchery. Dozens more died in the shipment for the rescheduled class.

And our Brownie, who was looking a little weak from the start, died Monday. Calvin was especially sad. And poor Brownie spent much of the week in the freezer. She was finally laid to rest near the orange trees this afternoon.

The kids wanted to replace her, so we returned to the farm Wednesday and brought home Cheetah.

So here's a look at our our lineup below. These are, from left, Shadow, Goldie, and Cheetah:

Shadow, Goldie, and Cheetah

At least one is an Ameraucana chicken, and will lay blue-green eggs. The other two may be Ameraucaunas as well, or they may be Welsummers (light brown eggs), or they might be one of each — the chicks are indistinguishable. (Follow the links to see what they'll look like all grown up.)

And these two are Blackberry and Blackjack.

Blackberry and Blackjack

They're Dominique chickens. They're believed to be the oldest breed in the U.S. and neared extinction in the 1950s-1970s. They lay dark brown eggs.

Cheetah's getting lots of attention right now, because everyone thinks she looks the coolest:

Cheetah

I think the Dominiques will give her a run for her money when they're all grown up. (Though I'm still not sure I particularly like adult chickens. I suspect they'll grow on me.)

We've fielded lots of questions about this little venture. Here's some of what I've answered the most:

* These are probably all girls. If any are roosters — we'll find out within a few months — they'll go back to the farm or somewhere else to be "dispatched." We're not allowed to have roosters in our city, and we don't want one anyway (they're noisy and aggressive). No rooster is needed for laying hens.

* We should start getting eggs by late December or so. We could get as many as 6 eggs per chicken per week. They lay fewer in winter, and different breeds and chickens may lay less. Their diet can affect how many they lay as well.

* That's more eggs than we need, and the boys plan to sell the rest.

* We're converting the playhouse I made into a coop (the boys never used it) and fencing in the unused strip of dirt next to it to make a run.

* People tell me it isn't much work to raise chickens. We'll see.

* Once mature, they lay eggs for 3-4 years. Typical life expectancy is 6-10. Once they aren't earning their keep, the plan is that the kids pay for feed and keeping them alive, or we find them a new home or turn them into soup. (Cold, I know. I might feel differently when the times comes... or I might not.)

* And no, Doug isn't into this at all. But he does think the chicks are very cute.

The new kings of the castle

The kids are having all sorts of fun playing with them. The chicks celebrated their one-week birthday Wednesday by showing off their new perching and jumping skills, and even a little bit of almost-flying. They get a lot of playtime in the castle, going up and down the stairs, hopping across platforms, and testing out temporary perches the kids are laying out for them.

Helping Cheetah learn to perch

Saying goodbye to Brownie

Lucky he didn't get pooped on