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!

Lego birthday party

I have yet to share much about Calvin's 9th birthday — it always falls during vacation week, and between baseball and vacation and me catching up on work it's a hectic month. I'm fast-forwarding to the end, the party capping our celebration.

(I'm only sharing a few photos here because the others are all full crowded with kids, and I can't post those online. If you want to see the full album, email me to get the link.)

Calvin wanted a Lego party, and he wanted to invite a ton of kids. I happily said yes to both, and was glad I did. Calvin was an enthusiastic helper, winnowing down the list of party activities, agreeing readily when I vetoed ideas that were too ambitious, and cheering me on and thanking me whenever I, say, found myself covered in frosting and wondering why I thought making dozens of hand-cut cookies would be fun.

The biggest hit: coloring in stenciled T-shirts. I stenciled 19 shirts in all — enough for Doug and me — and set them out with a stack of fabric markers so everyone could make a minifigure shirt. So much fun!

Here's Calvin's shirt:

And Finn working on his:

And the result:

And Doug's shirt:

There was a brick piñata, made per Calvin's specifications (once I vetoed re-creating a Lego creation in papier mâché) that stood up through just a few kids before the Little Leaguers crushed it:

And cake, with Calvin's favorite colors:

And a banner and cookies and goody bags and even a skee-ball-style brick toss game:

And there were grand battles and pranks and a showing of "Ninjago" to calm the boys down a bit. And when it was all over and the kids had gone and the cake crumbs had been swept up, Calvin sat down and enjoyed the cards and notes from his friends just as much as he enjoyed the gifts.

He's growing up.

Student of the month

Finn has been looking forward to this day for a week:

"I can't wait until April 8, when I'm a Cool Cougar!"

Cool cougar = student of the month at his school, and Finn is being honored this month for putting in great effort at school. He was one of the students in the spotlight at this morning's assembly. It was a big honor for him.

Of course, we're very proud of him: He has worked hard in class, and has made great strides since beginning kindergarten back in August.

Calvin also has reason to be proud: His artwork is hanging in the office as part of a display by his class. They drew and decorated ducks inspired by a Splat the cat book. It was so much fun, the idea has spawned many more iterations at home.

Argh, it's that day again!

First day of school

Today, we dropped off two students: Finn has finally joined his big brother at school!

Finn was eager for his first day. Unlike his big brother, for whom everything was new, Finn is entering kindergarten with plenty of friends from preschool, familiarity with the campus, and even a teacher he knows well: Mrs. R, Calvin's beloved kindergarten teacher, is Finn's teacher as well. (Mom and Dad are thrilled!)

Calvin doesn't know his third-grade teacher well, but he hasn't heard any stories that made him worry (that's a relief!). He has a few friends in his class and of course many more he'll see at recess. He was a little less enthusiastic about going to school. It was difficult to pry him away from a new book, but he was finally enticed to put it down so he could open his back-to-school cone filled with markers, activity books, craft projects, and other goodies.

The transition from our summer of fun to school was quick. We got home late Monday from Kauai, and last night Calvin was still wide awake at 10:30 p.m. No one liked waking up at 7:15 a.m. this morning (and I let them sleep in a little bit). Finn prepared by tucking confetti from his teacher under his pillow, putting on his first-day-of-school clothes, and then getting in costume for who knows what:

We're proud of these guys: They learned so much this summer, and we know they'll learn much more this year. If they can be serious and stop doing silly stuff like this:

Doug's 40th in New England

It's official: After years of joking he was old as the dirt, Doug really is. After a festive surprise party with West Coast friends, we celebrated a life being well lived by visiting friends and family on the East Coast.

Doug's mom treated him to dinner and birthday cake, and the kids — jet-lagged, overtired, but happy to have the flight behind them — burned off some energy playing baseball and exploring anthills in the yard. (A novelty: I don't know why, but we don't see many back home.)

We stopped by Doug's old high school, a sprawling campus near his home, where he made many lifelong friends:

Then it was time to go south, for an awesome day at the Boston Museum of Science, followed by a rather unexpected Red Sox victory — the boys' first visit to Fenway! It was very hot and humid, but still fun. Most of my Fenway memories involve losses and rain, so clear skies and a win were a treat.

With a game at Fenway checked off the bucket list, we wanted to steep the boys in some New England history. Aboard Mayflower II, Calvin was surprised to find the ship was so small. He liked hearing about mischievous boys who fired a musket, starting a small fire — why does it always come down to explosions?! (Thanks, guide, for adding Guy Fawkes Day to the list of holidays Calvin would like to celebrate.)

Calvin's been an avid photographer lately, experimenting with his rediscovered camera. He's looking forward to making his own photo album. 

Doug marked the last night of his 30s with high school and college friends in Boston. Dan brought Pinkerton yearbooks, one featuring a sprawling note from a very teenaged Doug, and we shared stories of past and present over food and wine. We're hoping teleporting becomes a viable option soon: The two coasts are much too far apart.

Doug, Dan, Darienne, Finn, Amy, Lydia, Jenn, Jon and Calvin

For his birthday Saturday, we returned to our old stomping grounds: Jon joined us for a trip to the beach in Newport, R.I. The kids had a blast: Finally, water they could actually enjoy! Doug and Jon played football and ran around with the kids, and we left as the wind kicked up and the kids got fed up with sand in their eyes. (Travel stress caught up with them this day: To say they were a little on the cranky side is putting it very nicely.)

Megan and Walter overcame impressive challenges (car failure, packing to move) to trek out to Providence and join us for a wonderful meal at the Capital Grille.

We headed outside just in time to catch the lighting of WaterFire, an art installation in its infancy when we lived in the city 15 years ago. More than 80 bonfires are lit along three rivers downtown, with music and art and performances.

It wasn't quite as peaceful and romantic as I remembered it being — it really couldn't be with two tired kids shooting noisy, glowing bubble guns — but it was still a treat. I'm glad they do this regularly: Check it out if you can.

We didn't take in much beyond the riverfront: It had been a long day. The kids enjoyed the fires but we were ready to pack it in ... and get ready for the next day's adventures.

And that's a wrap on the school year!

You can now call him kindergartner Finn! He celebrated the end of preschool yesterday with dancing and songs, a lei, giant bubbles, and a happy aloha to his teachers. He's had a terrific run at this school: I'm so grateful we found it. It's truly been a second home for him over the past four years. His teachers invited him to come back and share a book with a class once he learns to read, and he's already looking forward to it.

A highlight of the morning was the bubble ceremony. Here's Finn looking at the world from inside a bubble:

Also yesterday morning, Calvin and his second-grade class celebrated a year's worth of writing with a publishing party. He's come a long way, and the stories he wrote this spring were especially fun. (His featured book was about an ankylosaurus who saves everyone from a volcano.)

Plus, Calvin received special mail yesterday: from the White House! Everyone in class had colored in a Flat Stanley and mailed him off to visit some part of the world. Calvin sent his to President Obama.

His classmates' Stanleys returned to school over the past several weeks, but not Calvin's. Stanley made up for his delayed return by bringing pictures of the White House; the Obamas' dog, Bo; and the President, who also wrote a letter about Stanley's visit to the White House. (For a paper doll, Stanley was very busy — engaged and ready to learn, the President said.) Calvin has decided he and the prez will be pen pals now. Maybe we'll stop by the White House and say hi later this month.

And you can now call him third-grader Calvin: He's officially on summer vacation! Finn still has a few hours of preschool tomorrow, but it's really just a big party. Calvin and I get to go out for coffee and cocoa, then we'll all celebrate the start of summer break for everyone — including Doug.