Photos from Day 4

I awoke around 7:30 AM and looked over to see that Zander was awake in the sofabed. I went over to snuggle with him and then got up to start the packing.

Stuff was strewn about the room, so I took a semi-structured approach, working across the hotel room in sections. Zander and I chatted as I unpacked, then I opened the darkening curtain so that we could get some light in. Zevan and Doug got up, and the boys played with their new stuffed animals/souvenirs while Doug showered and then we both continued packing. Doug took the boys to get breakfast, while I packed and showered.

We asked the boys what they would like to do today and they chose the zoo to see some animals that we didn’t get to see yesterday. So I grabbed a bagel with cream cheese while they finished loading up the car. And then we checked out and headed to the zoo.

We asked the boys what animals they wanted to see today that they missed. Zevan said toucans (?) and Zander said koala bears. I also really wanted to see the koala bears. Zevan also definitely wanted to ride the Skyfari sky ride.

We walked up to through Absolutely Apes and the Parker Aviary on the way to the Owens Rain Forest Aviary. We spotted a lot of the birds from the guide board. I found myself wishing they had the guide cards in the aviaries, like they do at the Wild Animal Park at Disney World.

We then walked through Sun Bear Forest and passed the Lion tailed Macaques on the way to catch the Express Bus to take us closer to the koalas. We got on the bus and took a nice ride up to the next stop, which took us around the elephants and giraffes. When we got off the bus, we took that loop by foot and leisurely observed the elephants, who were much closer to us than we usually get to see at our own Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. They also have more elephants than we do.

We also viewed the giant anteater, capybaras, tapirs and few more species. Then we took a short walk over to the Koala Exhibit. They were all asleep, curled around branches in the trees. Oh, they were so ADORABLE! I just love them.

We grabbed lunch at Sydney’s Grill, where we discussed the timetable for the rest of the trip. We figured that we had enough time to take the Skyfari, visit the polar bears, take the Skyfari back to the exit, and then leave with enough time to return the rental car, and get to the airport on time.

We all decided that if we had time and money, we wished we could stay longer in San Diego. Zander even said he’d like to live here. Yep, me too!

Another discussion ensued about Zander and Zevan wanting to add yet another animal to their collection. Lots of begging and pretty pleases from the ZBoys. I refused. Then I realized that I do have some leverage – their allowance. So we asked them if they would be willing to give up 2 weeks worth of allowance in order to buy another stuffed animal from the zoo. “That’s $10!” Zander exclaimed. After a couple of minutes, he decided it would be worth it.

So we finished up lunch and headed toward the Skyfari area, took it across, visited the polar bears, and then took the Skyfari back to the exit.

When we hit the gift shop on the way out, Zevan was able to immediately pick out a Komodo dragon. Zander had a much harder time deciding. He really deliberated over several animals, and couldn’t make a firm decision. I mentioned to him that it is harder to pick something out when it’s his own money. He finally decided on a peacock.

And we headed out to return the rental car – and now here we are in the airport, waiting to board our flight.

Bye San Diego!

Photos from Day 3

Zander and I woke up together this morning – and I suddenly noticed that he wasn’t sucking his thumb. And I thought for a bit, and realized it had been a long time since I saw him sucking his thumb. Holy cow! He has stopped sucking his thumb!

I smiled, and said, “Wow, you stopped sucking your thumb, didn’t you?” He nodded.

I gushed about how proud I was of him doing it all on his own, and about what an amazing kid he is. He beamed.

We both got up and got dressed while Zevan and Doug slept. I suggested that he and I go grab breakfast. His reply? “That sounds good, but Dad and Zevan might worry about us and wonder where we are.”

I told him it would be okay. In fact, Doug stirred and asked us what was going on right before we left, so we told him our plan. I grabbed our swim suits and we walked down to the laundry room to throw them in the dryer (they were still wet from swimming last night).

Zander and I had a nice breakfast together in the continental breakfast room. We made waffles Then I stopped by the lobby to get information about going to the beach this morning. And we got the swim suits out of the dryer.

After breakfast, we came back to the room. Doug was on his laptop, and Zevan “scared” us when we opened the door.

I got Zevan dressed and asked him and Doug what they wanted for breakfast. I went down and grabbed food for them (waffle and boiled egg for Zevan, toasted bagel with cream cheese for Doug). While they ate, I packed a beach bag, a bag with a change of clothes and a bag for the zoo later.

After they ate, we put on swim suits and headed out to Mission Beach. It was a nice short drive, and we were able to park and walk right onto the beach. No beach tags required.

The boys got right into the water. Zander said to me, “This is awesome, isn’t it, Mom?”

They really enjoyed the surf and waves. As well as playing in the sand. We took pictures and video. It was really nice.

Afterwards, we went up to rinse off in the showers. Zander wanted to change into his dry clothes, so we took him to the car to do that, and the rest of us stayed in our swimsuits and got lunch. I got a steak sandwich and cheese whiz fries. Doug got a calzone, and the boys each got a HUMONGOUS slice of pizza. Easily over twice the size of a Poor Richard’s slice. Craziness. We ate outside. It was a nice day.

After lunch, we drove back to the hotel. The boys wanted to rest a bit. Doug and I both showered and changed. Zevan just changed. The ZBoys laid down for maybe 5 minutes. Then they were unable to nap or snuggle. Doug and I laid down for maybe 15 minutes. We would have rested longer, but the kids were antsy, so we just decided to head out to the zoo.

We were able to find a free parking spot close to the entrance – score! We took the requisite photo in front of the San Diego Zoo sign of the boys, and then went in. Zander really wanted to take the bus tour (included in our 3 for 1 pass), but the line was long, so we decided to head over to the reptile house first. That was fun – we were able to spot the reptile in each exhibit but one (and it was iffy that there was something actually in that one).

After the reptile house, we took the sky ride over to the Polar Bear Plunge. We checked out the pigs exhibits along the way. The first viewing area was a snore – there was one polar bear, asleep, on top of the rocks. When we got to the 2nd display area, there was a polar bear in the water, playing with a ball. We watched him for a while, and then went outside so the boys could climb on the silver polar bear statues. As we left, there was a big commotion at the first viewing area, apparently the sleeping bear need to take a dip. Zevan asked, “Mom, is that the same bear that was on the rock?”

We then headed down in the direction of the panda bears. We went by the zebras, then birds of prey, past the entrance of the Ituri Forest down to Panda Reserach Center. The line was long, but moving quickly, so we got in line. Well, Doug and Zander got in line, and Zevan and I went to get us ice cream to eat while we were in line. I was able to get a cup of swirl soft serve with two cones, so that made things easy for us. The pandas are just such cool animals to look at. The dad, Gua Gua was fairly active and had a dirty butt. In the 2nd enclosure, we saw the mom sitting around, and the baby was conked out wrapped around a branch in a tree. So cute!

We headed back to the Ituri Forest. We saw tons of animals – hippos, okapis, guenons, turacos and more. And of course, I *had* to see the tigers. We did get to see the mom pacing back and forth at the top of their enclosure. The best part was that we got to see the cutest baby tiger cub, romping around a bit closer to us, and then back up by his mom.

While viewing the animals near the aviary, Zander suddenly announced that he had to go to the bathroom immediately. We, of course, were no where near a bathroom. We rushed through several exhibits, got to the tree house and finally got to the bathroom. Zander went with his dad, and Zevan came with me. And he had to poop. Of course. So I stood in a cramped stall while he went to the bathroom. In the handicapped stall next to us, I heard another mom with her young child also on the toilet. I over heard him asking for something and she told him that she left them in her purse (not with her). So from under our stall, I asked, “Do you need flushable wipes?” and stuck them under neath the wall. Her son was delighted and she sounded relieved and appreciative. Her son struck up a conversation with us. I found out that he was also 4 years old, and had had a Speed Racer birthday party, and lived in California. They finished before we did, so we never did see each other.

Zander came in to check on us. I told him that Zevan wasn’t ready yet, and Zander left to report to Dad.

FINALLY Zevan finished up and we got out of there and back to looking at animals.

We continued through the Itrui Forest for a good long time. I think we got turned around quite a bit. I really wanted to see the gorillas. And it felt like we kept going around wherever they were. We did see lots more animals – like pygmy hippos and alligators, and lots of different monkeys, carnivorous plants and birds. We did finally find the Gorilla Tropics, and were worried that we saw no gorillas in the first few viewing areas. Then we finally did see them – the whole troop. It was really fun and amazing to watch. We also saw the orangutans and a few more simians.

We headed out of the Ituri Forest, towards the zoo exit, which was near the bus tour station. As we were figuring out if we should go, Zander said he changed his mind and didn’t want to take the bus tour. Then, of course, Zevan said that he really wanted to go on the bus tour. So, I bought two bags of chips and we headed over to the bus tour line. Which was actually pretty short. We missed the first loading, but got right on the second one. It was a nice tour of the park – quick and covered a lot of ground. It also showed us that we basically missed about 2/3 of the zoo. So we did get a quick peek at the Cats and Dogs, the elephants, giraffes, koalas and wallabies, and so much more.

After that we hit the gift shop and headed out to the car. We drove directly into downtown to get dinner at The Fish Market. By the time we got there it was late. I dropped Doug off at the door to get us on the list. The boys and I drove around looking/waiting for a parking spot. It didn’t take as long as it did when we went to Little Italy, but it was still a pain. We walked over to the restaurant where Doug was waiting for us. The wait was going to be fairly long. So we had a potty break, then I grabbed some kid activity books and crayons from the hostess station. We worked on those a while. finally, they took us to our table. Which was outside on the terrace. Doug and I never got seated out there – it was pretty cool! But then it turned out that the heater over our table was broken. And then Zander insisted it was too cold for him and he couldn’t stay out there to eat.

Doug, Zevan and I were crestfallen. But there was no talking him out of it, so they said they would give us the first available table inside, and hopefully it wouldn’t be too long. Zander kept complaining, so Doug took him inside. Zevan and I continued to wait outside. When the waitress finally got us for our table inside, Zevan totally fell apart. He started crying and saying he wanted to eat outside. I didn’t know what to say, I wanted to eat outside, too. So I brought him inside. He was inconsolable. The hostess brought over chocolate, and that didn’t appease him. I think it was just too much – he was tired, it was late. I was beyond frustrated with Zander – he was the only one who wanted to come inside, and he got his way. I wished that he could have just stuck it out and took one for the team, but that’s just not a concept for 5 year olds. Oh well.

Zevan never recovered. When the food arrived, he was sad and having trouble keeping his eyes open. He took one bite of rice and none of his snapper. He put his head on the table and promptly fell asleep. Zander took like 5 bites of his food and announced he was tired and wanted to go home.

Doug and I exchanged “the look.” And we ate quickly while I told Zander that we understood that he was tired and wanted to go. And not to mention it anymore. At all. In fact, it would be best if he just waited quietly. I finished eating, and took the boys to the car while Doug took care of the check. Again, Zander tried to complain, and I just said that was enough and not to talk about it anymore. I was brusque and curt as we got into the car.

I know I expected too much from them so late. It’s just so hard when it is always about the kids and never gets to be about what Doug and I would like to do.

We picked Doug up and headed back to the motel.

And here we are. Everyone else is asleep but me. I’m going to do a bit more pre-packing now, and then go to bed.

Photos from Day 2

Zander was up first today and crawled into bed with me and Doug from their sofabed. We snuggled for a while, and he chattered with us. I finally decided to get up out of bed and try out the free internet.

Bad idea. Immediately, I found that 2 of my clients had some fairly urgent issues that I needed to take care of. The boys chattered and irritated me because they were being loud and I was unable to think straight. Doug took them to the continental breakfast so I could finish working in peace.

Once they were out of the room, I was able to think clearly and solve each problem in turn. Then I cleared out my inboxes (marked SPAM, deleted stuff that I didn’t need to read, and sent a couple of replies). I got dressed and packed the backpack for the day (3 bottles of water, 1 diet coke, sunscreen, antibacterial gel, flushable wipes, tissues and lip balm).

I headed down to the breakfast just as they were coming back. It was actually pretty good. They had boiled eggs (the one I opened had a nearly all green yolk – yuck), and I ended up toasting a sesame bagel and schmeared it with cream cheese and a cup of hot chocolate. I was sorely tempted by the Lucky Charms, but passed on those.

I brought my breakfast to the pool area, where the boys were wading and ate quickly. We stopped by the room to pick up the backpack and I filled a plastic bag with ice from the ice maker to keep the drinks cool for as long as possible.

Note to self: next trip, bring the backpack cooler and those blue gel ice packs. Oh, and the car boosters – hello?!

Doug went to the office to get directions to the Wild Animal Park. I went back up to the room and grabbed the audio book. It took us 30 minutes to get there. We paid for preferred parking – and got to park in the first 2 rows! Again, so worth it.

From the entrance, I suggested heading straight for the Journey Into Africa safari. It was on the complete other end of the park. Along the way we stopped to see a few animals, but I really wanted to get us to the main attraction first. It was hot. And thankfully, the park was full of misters and quite a few shady spots. And I noted things for us to look for on our way back.

We took the Rift Lift down and had been observing the Air Balloon ride from the moment we got to the park. I wondered how much extra that ride would be. I was shocked to find that it would be $20 EACH for anyone over 2 years old.

Okay, we’re not spending $80 frakking dollars to do that. Hello?! Zevan was SO disappointed. When we passed it after the safari and water playground, he cried for 15 minutes over it. It was so sad. I kind of wanted to carry him over and pass him off as a 2 year old and then maybe just ride with him. But that would have left Zander and Doug out, so I had to hold my ground and let him cry about it. It was so sad.

But back to the safari ride. It was REALLY cool. Zander was a little bit touchy and rude however – I think it was the heat and low blood sugar) – and it was work to try and enjoy the ride despite his attitude.

We saw so many animals, but the saddest story was of the white rhino – there are only 7 left in existence. 2 in San Diego and 5 at the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic. Sadly, these are probably the last of their kind. It turns out that females will only reproduce if they have a female best friend with them. And they keep the same best friend for life. It’s such a sad story.

We saw lots of giraffes, gazelles, antelopes, rhinos, African birds, gnus, ostriches, kudu, zebras and impalas. Our tour did stop briefly for a medical emergency, which turned out to be a young boy in the tram car in front of us who totally lost his lunch. Poor thing. I had been using the quickly melting bag of ice to cool us off during the ride. Otherwise, that might have been us.

After we disembarked from that tour, we planned to grab lunch somewhere to get everyone’s blood sugar to normal, nice levels. On the way we took a detour through the Lion Camp. At first, we were disappointed to see empty display areas. But then we got to the main area and they had just released the lions into the exhibit with hunks of meat. It was a good sized pride – a male, maybe 2 females and lots of cubs. They gave us a good show in the main area. Then they all bounded through all the display areas that we initially found empty. They settled in on the first display we saw, which had a big drum that the male lion sat on, next to the display window, while the others climbed in and on a gutted car there for their play. One cub tried to climb on the drum with dad, only to be roared at and sent back down to the ground, settling on being able to paw at dad. It was AWESOME!

We headed back up, past the balloons (where Zevan had his big tantrum) and then through 2 sets of mister tents, and stopped at the Savanna Cool Zone to cool off. Zander refused, but Zevan got right in there and got soaked. I got wet, too – it was so refreshing. I did pull Zander in there, he was more than reluctant, and then let him go while Zevan and I played around some more. Then we headed up to get lunch. Back up the Rift Lift, there was a snack area at the top. The menu was limited and there was nothing there to interest me or the boys. We consulted our map and headed to Samburu Terrace.

A burger for me, grilled chicken sandwich and Corona for Doug, and chicken tender kids meals for the boys (3 chicken tenders, chips, raisins, animal cookies and small drink – all in a souvenir bucket with souvenir cup – a pretty good deal actually). We had a nice lunch on the terrace overlooking the grounds. Once we were all fed and hydrated, things were nice and happy again.

After lunch, we walked through the Heart of Africa area – okapis, ground hornbills, warthogs, elands, duikers, flamingos, storks and more. What I really wanted to see was the cheetah. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a real live cheetah before. And I got to see a couple of them. Far away, under a fallen tree, and I mostly just saw their heads. It was a little disappointing, but still cool. We even fed the ducks (and catfish).

We headed again back up past the balloon ride and up the Rift Lift. This time we stopped and I bought the boys hats. Zander chose a really cool hat with good sun protection, a floppy brim and neck covering. He looked so cute in it with his big grin. Zevan chose a primary colored baseball cap with a propeller on top. That looked unbelievably adorable.

We passed the gibbons (did you know that males are black and females are tan?) and saw the cutest baby female gibbon. The boys and I went to the Lorikeet Landing and got nectar to feed the lorikeets. Doug has a bit of a bird aversion, so he opted out. The Lorikeets were not shy at all about getting the nectar and the boys were able to feed many of them. However, the birds were a little bit agressive which led to spilled nectar and at one point, a lorikeet grabbed the nectar cup right out of Zevan’s hand.

While I was trying to get him some more nectar from my cup, a lorikeet landed on my shoulder from behind! I brought my cup over to the bird to eat, then held my arm straight to see if he would let go of me. I looked back and he was chewing on the strap of my backpack! Then he walked down my arm to my outstretched hand and started lapping up more nectar. I was freaking out just a little bit. Finally I shook him off, unable to stand it anymore. (A similar thing happened to me at the Budgie Buddies exhibit at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo – a bird landed on my chest right as I walked into the exhibit with my food stick).

I refilled Zander and Zevan’s cup with my remaining nectar and let them feed the birds some more. It was actually really cute and I think I got some good pictures.

After that we stopped for a root beer float on our way across the park to The Poop Show at the Discovery Center. It was a campy show, a bit too punny but cute for the kids.

After that, we went around lemur island, where we caught a glimpse of a baby lemur, then we got an ice cream cone to share, went back near lemur island to feed the ducks at Zander’s request. I’m not exactly sure when, but we also saw red river hogs, dik-diks, babirusa and more.

Finally we headed out for the day. We got back to the room and no one was hungry for dinner yet, so we all went out to the pool for a swim. It was nice and we were the only ones in the pool for a long time.

After about 45 minutes (maybe more) we all headed up to the room for a shower. We reheated the boys meals from Little Italy the night before and Doug went out to grab Popeye’s for us (lame, I know, but I really think I wanted comfort food). The boys worked on several pages of their workbooks, and then finally went off to bed. Doug went to sleep early, too. And I have been typing this entry (and finishing yesterday’s) ever since.

And now I’m going to bed – tomorrow we are going to the San Diego Zoo!

Photos From Day 1

The alarm went off at 5:30 AM. I ignored it until Doug came over and poked me, “Time to get up, honig.” I barely stirred for a minute, then slowly got up. I put my toiletries bag and 2 pairs of shoes in the suitcase and zipped it up and took it downstairs. I got the boys dressed and showered and dressed myself. My dad showed up at 6:00 AM to drive us, and we were out of the door at 6:15 AM.

As we checked in at the airport, I realized I forgot my cell phone – I left it in the charging station, next to Doug’s phone. He then realized that he also forgot his phone. Oops. I called my dad from the payphone, but it went directly to voicemail. Oh well.

We got through security with no issues (and 11 bins!), and got to the gate. I went to Pikes Perk and grabbed some stuff for breakfast – a steamer for the boys, one for me, an extra hot latte for Doug (skipped the extra shot since it was so early), a strawberry turnover (yum), blueberry muffin (eh) and everything bagel with cream cheese.

The boarding and flight were event-free as well. Although they put us in a funny configuration that would leave one of the boys on their own in a row or a single seat. So we swapped seats with someone so that we each could sit with a boy. Not sure what happened in their row, but Zevan alternated between resting and I let him play 2 full races of the Cars Leapster game.

After we landed, and walked on the tarmac to the baggage claim, we waited a while for our luggage. After a long while, it arrived, Doug picked it up and then casually asked me, ” Did we bring the booster seats for the car?’

Off we went to catch the shuttle to Budget. A 25 minute ride later, we got there, and another 25 minutes and we were in the rental car on the way to Target to buy booster seats. Renting boosters would have cost us $10/day/child = $80. 2 boosters from Target = $40 – and I could upgrade the boosters in my dad’s car.

Boosters and water bought. Now where? After much debate from Zander, we finally decided to go ahead and hit Sea World first.

After much research, I decided to get the 3 for 1 pass – unlimited admission to Sea World, San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park for 5 consecutive days. It really is the best value. I could have saved even more if I planned ahead and bought them from Costco online in time to be delivered before we left. Just a hint to anyone that might be planning a trip to San Diego.

We got there and I decided to pay the extra $5 for preferred parking. That was definitely a good call and well worth the money. I got to park within the first 5 rows from the entrance. Great for getting started, and I knew it would be good at the end of the day.

We started with lunch at Shipwreck Reef Cafe. Zevan REALLY wanted trout, which they didn’t have, but they let us get a side order of teriyaki salmon for only $4.99 with Doug’s seafood entree. I got the burger (pitiful thin little thing) and Zander got a chicken fingers kid’s meal (typical fare).

After lunch we checked out the sea turtles, which were accessible from inside the eating area of the Shipwreck Reef Cafe.

The rest of the day we went from one end of park to another – following the whims of the boys as well as some of the shows scheduled.

We petted and fed dolphins (and a bird stole one of the fish right out of my hands!), watched sea otters, observed moray eels and bat rays, watched a sea otter presentation, trekked over to Arctic World to see beluga whales, polar bears and a huge walrus (that kept chewing, spitting out and chewing and spitting out meal of a fish – disgusting), watched a dolphin show, then the killer whale show – (Shamu and the other whales were awesome – the cheesey “believe” theme and music were unimaginative and overwrought), then trekked across the park again to get on the sky ride, and caught the sea lion show on our way to the sky tower ride before finally heading home.

Zander’s favorite thing today? The Sea Lion/Seal show. Zevan’s favorite? The sky tower and sky ride.

When we got back to the room, the boys changed into swim suits and we headed out to the pool. They had a great time. The pool started at over 3 ft, so Zevan wasn’t able to touch the bottom, except for the stairs, and Zander was barely able to touch bottom with his head above the water. They both mainly started out with the swim rings. After Zander was “warmed up” he swam without the ring. They both are doing really great in the water.

We spent a while in the pool, then came in for a shower and got ready to head out for dinner in Little Italy. It was really late – and of course, even later since the boys were still on Colorado time. I dropped Doug off at the restaurant and searched for a parking spot. I drove around for about 20 minutes – not one spot available for 10 blocks. I stopped at two different lots that were closed for repair. I finally found an open lot about 4 blocks from the restaurant. Just as we arrived, they called for our table. Whew! It took a while to get our order in. Then it took a REALLY long time to get our food. By the time it arrived, the boys were heads down on the table, nearly asleep. Doug and I ate quickly. Zevan ate a few bites before conking out at the table. Zander rested and whined about being tired and maybe took one bite. He was really tired and then fell asleep on the table. Zevan and I went to get the car while Doug paid (and Zander slept). I did stop next door for gelato before getting the car…

We picked them up, and Zander was beside himself with exhaustion. They both fell asleep on the way home and we carried them inside to bed.

Doug and I were tired, too. I read a few chapters and found myself unable to keep my eyes open. Doug was still reading when I fell asleep.

It was a big day.

I’ve been worried about Zander. Lately, he’s been having some trouble with his confidence. He’s been really tentative in his physical skills.

I think it started when his swim instructor for Level 2 said that Zander had all the skills to swim, but lacked the confidence to actually do it.

Then after a few weeks of climbing just fine at the climbing gym, he was suddenly anxious and nervous and didn’t want to try any new routes. He would climb the one route he knew he could do, and he was done for the day. Meanwhile, Zevan would try 3-4 routes and just really work at getting to the top.

Most recently he has been very tentative on his bicycle. On the slightest downhill, he wants to get off of his bike and walk until it’s level. At the same time, Zevan comes barreling down the same hill, “here I come!”

I know I’m not supposed to compare them, but I’m just stating the facts here.

I’ve been trying to be supportive and understanding, but it seems so sudden and odd when he’s excelling at so many things like reading and writing and patience and helpfulness.

And then today, at the climbing gym, I was trying this 5.10 route on the traverse-y wall. I tried to start it a few times, ended up sideways and thought, there’s no way to do this. I can’t do this route. For a split second, I tried to go straight up, but immediately decided that the hold was too far and I would never be able to reach it. So, I gave up on it, and started on a nearby 5.9 route up until the one hold I needed to reach, then finished on the 5.10.

Afterwards, while Lisa climbed the same route, I decided to give a new V1 route a try. I tried several times to start it, and thought, this is crazy – how can this possibly be a V1? I can always climb V1s – this must be misrated.

So Lisa basically had the same results as me on the 5.10 route – we figured that we both must be too short to get to the hold we needed to get to. Then I asked her to try the V1. She got much farther than I did, then stalled, too, about 3 moves later. We were both flummoxed.

Kyle walked by and we asked me to show us how to do both routes. He got right up on the 5.10, and pulled himself up easily. We were so surprised that we asked him to do it again, noticing this time that the wasn’t even maxed out, and that it should be totally reachable for either of us. Then he simply said, “You can do this.” Still skeptical, I got on the wall, and found that he was right, I could do it. And it was actually easy. Lisa tried, too, and was able to get up the same way.

Then we asked him to show us the V1 route. Again, he just pulled up on the wall, and smoothly climbed to the top. He came back down, and asked where I got hung up. I showed him where. He gave me a few pointers, and again simply stated, “You can totally do this.”

I got back on, remembering his movements, and was able to get most of the way up. About halfway, I lost my footing, and slipped off, I hung there for a while, trying to find the foot holds, with them directing me, “a little higher. to the right. higher. almost there”

By the time I got my footing, I thought for sure I was going to drop. “You’ve got it,” he said. And somehow, I did. I pulled myself up, and got to the top. Whew! When I got down, I thanked my coach Kyle and made Lisa go up and do the same.

We laughed at how convinced we were that we couldn’t do it. And that once we got some direction and encouragement, it was totally do-able.

So then I thought back to Zander. And I guess I’m already doing what I can for him. Encourage him, let him know that he CAN do it, and let him go.

I just wish there was a way for him to actually believe me when I tell him that he can do something. For him to at least give it a try instead of giving up right away.

It’s a hard thing to balance. I guess we’ll keep working on it.

We have been participating in the PPLD summer reading program for the first time this year. Both boys have been reading books to me, Doug and grandparents so that they can color in their bugs and earn prizes.

Zander is reading so well, it’s just amazing to me. Words that I think will trip him up, don’t. Face it, the English language is so full of irregularities, it’s a wonder we can all read at all.

He’s breezed through the Level A and B Bob Books with ease. Today he read two stories to me from Days with Frog and Toad – which is the book he chose as his prize when he completed the Summer Reading Program.

The boys spent the morning with Doug drawing castles and knights. Zander really enjoyed it and even continued to draw more knights during the whole day. He just loves knights and castles and dragons. We’ve got quite a collection of Schleich figures, Safari dragons and a Ryan’s Room wooden castle given to us by May.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Zander announced that he got his first “grown up tooth.” Sure enough, one of his first permanent molars had come in. Wow. He’s going to be 6 in just a couple of months. And that in 16 days, he’ll be starting full day kindergarten at Buena Vista.

Zevan has mostly been reading Bob Books – Level A, Set 1 to me. He’s working hard on sounding words together smoothly. It’s so cute, now, though with the way he says the sound of the letters separately – “duh-og” and “huh-at”

He has also lost most of his baby fat, and is such a boy now. His voice and round cheeks are all that’s left of his babyhood.

He is much more vocal about his wardrobe these days. If there is a clean one, he simply must wear one of his Lego Star Wars t-shirts. He is just *full* of mischief. And jokes and silly dances. He’s a total comedian, this one.

He’s still pretty emotional and gets really frustrated when things aren’t going his way or exactly as he wants them to. I know that this, too, shall pass. Meanwhile, I just relish the fact that he still snuggles with me and that touching my belly comforts him.

My boys are growing up – they are amazing.

First a primer about me and my love for action movies. I love movies where things get blown up and there are guns and martial arts fighting and epic battles with swords (The Matrix is still one of my favorite movies ever). I love James Bond (Daniel Craig rocks) and Jason Bourne (Matt Damon!). I love superheroes, fantasy and science fiction.

Last night we went to see The Dark Knight. I think Christopher Nolan is a great director. Memento and Prestige are really good – entertaining and suspenseful with a twist.

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD – you have been warned.

The Dark Knight was really spectactular – totally lived up to the hype. Best Comic Book Movie. Ever. So true to the characters (except that one weird thing where Batman bent the barrel of a gun – what was that about?) and the story totally hung together and even surprised me (in a good way).

What I wasn’t ready for was a scene where the Joker (played in most sinister way by Heath Ledger) has Gordon’s family hostage, and he is threatening to kill Gordon’s son in front of his dad, mom and brother. The portrayal was so real and tense that my emotional and physical response while watching it was incredibly visceral.

When the movie ended, I burst into tears from the emotion of that scene, even though it wasn’t close to the last scene. I totally sobbed about it in the bathroom, then again in the car. Doug was surprised by the intensity of my reaction – as was I.

I said I needed to put it on my list. What list? My list of movies that, as a mom, I’ve had a hard time watching. Most of the time it was because of a single scene or act that I simply wasn’t expecting – with the death of/violence against a child

In recent years, that list includes

Pan’s Labyrinth – the gorgeous and most heartbreaking movie I have ever seen. I was depressed for days after watching it, wishing that I had never seen it. It was so painful to watch.

The Kingdom – in the beginning of the movie, there are deaths of children from a terrorist attack that nearly made me want to turn off the movie and not watch anymore. I did continue watching and enjoyed the action and drama. But the early violence haunted me throughout.

Bridge to Terabithia – I watched this on a plane on the way to NYC. I knew nothing about it. It started out all fun and fantasy, so I was totally thrown by the death of the girl. So not expecting it.