Halloween and birthday party

This was the second year Chris and our neighbor Bill organized the Haunted Alley. This time, the maze was twice the size, our next door neighbors Shelly and Carol dressed as witches and handed out all sorts of drinks, and there were several high school students who helped out scaring folks in the smoke and flashing light and sheets. Anya and Bess, one of her neighborhood friends dressed up as the twins from The Shining and spooked many an adult. It was wildly successful with hundreds of people showing up. This time, we asked for cans of food or donations for Northwest Harvest and our neighbors were quite generous -- I have no idea how many cans we got, but we raised just shy of $600 - which was matched, for a total of about $1200. Not too shabby!

While Chris was in the alley scaring everyone and running the show, Amy hosted many of our school friends families for the evening. After Anya's haunted alley shift was over, she went trick-or-treating with her friends. It was a fun night!

Hello, Danny. Come play with us. 

Entrance to the Haunted Alley was often packed.

The line to get into the maze was always dozens of people long.

A few days later we officially celebrated Anya's birthday with a cupcake making class at Froglegs. She invited just the girls in her class (plus one former classmate who is still close with everyone). They made four different kinds of cupcakes and decorated them. They all seemed to have a good time. 

Cupcake decorating

Pizza and just settling into watching Dumb and Dumber. 

After a short downtime, Eva and Eloise came over to spend the night. The dynamic made for a very high energy, intense start to the evening. There were some arguments -- to the point where we very nearly called it all off. Fortunately, the girls managed to work everything out, settled down, and had fun the rest of the time. I think everyone agrees that we should wait a few years before trying another sleepover with all three of them. 

Then Sunday evening, Grandma and Grandpa made Anya's meal choice to celebrate (cioppino and creme brulee). Lucky girl (and lucky us!).  

Happy Birthday!

Happy 11th Birthday, kid! Today Anya is going to celebrate with Top Pot Doughnuts at school and then the three of us are going out to a Brazilian steakhouse in Bellevue for dinner. This weekend, she'll have a party with just the girls in her class and then Eloise and Eva will spend the night.

School: So far, so good. From our perspective, it's been a big jump from 4th to 5th grade at St. C, in terms of how demanding it is. There is a lot more homework and it seems like the expectations are higher (which they should be). This took some adjusting, but now Anya is more organized with her homework and also does after-school study hall (which is *awesome*) twice a week to keep on top of everything. There have been several in-class group projects so far and it sounds like she tends to be a leader in her groups and is very conscientious - classmates like working with her.

Socially: At school, the year is starting out well. I think I mentioned it before, but Anya made the choice to not hang out with her old "clique" anymore, and only play with them individually, to avoid the drama. Smart decision. She now mostly plays soccer or football with the boys and a few girls during recess. She gets along with everyone in her class, though. She says she's known as the "weird girl" because of all her interests but seems to be well-liked.

Around the neighborhood, since she's gotten a lot of freedom to roam, she'd made friends with some kids on 19th and regularly plays with them.

Eloise and Eva continue to be the favorites for weekend play. However, since they both are two grades ahead of Anya, some pre-teen tension is starting to trickle into the friendships. Hopefully, they'll still remain close as they get older, since we sure like those kids.

Future Job: Veterinarian (still). She has informed us she will be going to Cornell for college as it has the best vet school. Plus it's up near Chad and Megan's place in upstate New York.

"Or - A marine biologist, but not a scuba diver.  I'll swim with sharks but only if the water is this deep (indicates a level about 5 feet deep)

Or one of those ladies that takes people on African Safaris.  That looks pretty fun."

Likes: Animals and her lizard, Sage, in particular. When she earns a reward for something she usually uses it to buy something for her lizard pet. She makes little costumes and takes Sage with her everywhere she can get away with. Most nights she'll be cuddled up with her scaly friend when we read at bedtime.

She's taken to baking recently and is quite good at it.  She makes cupcakes and cookies which are extremely tasty. I don't even need to help her anymore, save answering the occasional question or teaching some techniques.

Anya had a great soccer season and went from not wanting to play at all to wanting to try out for select teams.

She's still a voracious reader and a really good writer. She's re-reading the Harry Potter series, and also reading The 13-1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear.

She still loves to fish. Last week we went to McCall, Idaho with DonDon and Grangie and she outfished Chris (6 fish to Chris's 2).

And of course, there is always some random half-finished project strewn about the house involving tape and string, some markers, and an old shoe box.

Favorite music: Cinema music (Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings are still favorites). Imagine Dragons is at the top of her list of bands, as well as 1960-70s songs she learned at Hidden Valley Camp (John Denver, Donovan, the Beatles, etc.). She also seems to like whatever we happen to be listening to, such as Arcade Fire, Frightened Rabbit, or Phantogram.

Media: Currently quite into the show Gravity Falls (we are fans too). Awhile back she was into A Series of Unfortunate Events. I guess we don't watch movies too often since she can't think of any she currently loves. Harry Potter and LotR have been re-watched.

Favorite foods: Sushi Train (Tengu), Italian (Marcello's), Mexican food (Mr. Villa), and Ramen when mom's not home. Homemade favorites are still Chicken and Bread Salad and pumpkin cinnamon-swirl bread.

Happy, happy, happy birthday. May 11 be a wonderful year.

Summer Recap

This summer seems to have gone by in a flash. We had a lot going on.

The first week of summer break, Anya attended Sail Sand Point camp. They learned to sail on Hobies (small catamarans) and ended the week with a sailing trip across Lake Washington for lunch in Kirkland and back. This was the second year Anya did Sail Sand Point. Last year was a combined camp with Mountaineers (half sailing and half rock climbing). This year she wanted just sailing and had a great time...and managed to lose a hat.

About a week later, Chris and Todd took Anya, Eva, Javier, and Robert on a backpacking trip near Sol Duc.

Anya, Eva, Javier, and Robert. Robert is either going to brain li'l J or Chris

Drying firewood on the fire.

Playing "hot lava" on the Dungeness Spit. Todd in flip-flops.

After backpacking, we had a few weeks where we had long, unstructured days. Anya often played with neighborhood kids or walked over to a park. She had a lot of autonomy (she just had to take a phone and check in with us) and it was the exact kind of summer fun that our generation all had as kids. She most likely lost a hat along the way.

Big Summer Event #1 was a three-week stay at Hidden Valley Camp up near Granite Falls with her friend, Clara. We had tried to get her into a 2-week session, but I hear it was filled up by Autumn of the previous year -- it's a popular camp! Since she's a pretty independent kid and her friend would be there, we went ahead with the other option of 3 weeks. I'm glad we did it this way. Overall, Anya had an amazing experience (minus some major drama with a cabinmate that was compulsively stealing). She did all the traditional camp things (fishing, archery, horseback riding, hiking, camping, etc.), went to dances, sang songs. She met Collin (a boy from Charlotte NC of all places),  and they were "boyfriend/girlfriend" for most of camp. Pretty cute. She still talks about camp all the time and sings the songs. She is already looking forward to going again next summer and has asked to do multiple sessions (no). Two hats went missing.

Camp supplies.  I don't see her fishing pole.

Anya and Clara waiting to board the bus to camp

Anya and her camp horse, Dixie

Family day. Eloise came with us to visit Anya. 

Then we had a short stay in Birch Bay with Lynn and Steve. Thanks, guys, for having us!


Big Summer Event #2 was our Alaska cruise. It's our PEPS 10 year anniversary, so we all decided to celebrate big. While it wasn't anyone's top choice, we could all agree that we'd only want to do a cruise with friends and no one had done an Alaska cruise before. So the cruise won out over more exotic locations.

We all flew into Anchorage (on different flights) and made our way down to Seward via various modes of transport. From there, we were on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas for 7 nights. We saw the Hubbard Glacier, Skagway, Juneau, Icy Strait Point (Huna), Ketchikan, sailed through the Inside Passage, and got off the boat in Vancouver.

Overall, we had fun (mainly because we were all together) and enjoyed the amazing scenery, excursions, taking over a bar on the top floor, and cleaning up on trivia competitions. The kids had a lot of freedom to roam the ship and loved the swimming, rock climbing, and running around. There were some things we didn't care for as much, too. Cruising probably isn't "our thing," but we're glad we celebrated this way. And thank you, Lynn and Steve, for picking us up in Vancouver. That was pretty awesome and much appreciated. No hats were lost as there were no hats left to lose.

Anya simulates an ascent of the Hubbard Glacier.

Anya atop the 10 story atrium.

The boat at port in Juneau

Atop Mt. Juneau

At a pretty lake on a hike in Skagway

The 10-year circle of PEPS friends (plus a few siblings)

The most difficult photo ever taken...

Once we were back, we got the rest of Anya's school supplies, had some playdates, time with various friends and then school started up.

I can't forget to mention Big Summer Event #3, which kicked off while Anya was still in camp: our attic remodel. We were finally able to revamp our attic, which before consisted of my sewing room, an office at the landing, and a storage/playroom (jokingly called The Dog Food Room for years). It's currently being converted to a master suite which will consist of a bedroom, bathroom, an actual closet where I get to put clothes (yay!!!), and a nicer office at the stair landing. It's coming along nicely (knock on wood!) and should be ready for move-in in 2.5-3 months.

First Day of School

I'm almost a week late in posting this, but Anya had her first day back to school last Tuesday. 5th grade. This summer went by crazy-fast (separate blog post forthcoming), but by the end of it, Anya was itching to get back in the classroom and the routine.

This year, Mrs. Donoso is her homeroom teacher. Chris and I like her and have worked with her the past few years on the school play. Anya says she is magic when it comes to teaching math. So I'm optimistic for the school year. This is the first year where she moves classrooms/teachers for core subjects - kind of like middle-school lite.

So far, so good. It seems Anya has been spending recess/lunch with different kids from previous years, but is getting along with everyone too. Other than an older boy that tries to bully her a bit (he's in trouble often for this behavior with several kids), there seems to be little social drama. There's a new classmate she has befriended and she's been playing a lot of soccer with the boys/a few girls. It's only been a week, but this year seems to be off to a good start. Anya seems to have jumped some in maturity, which accounts for some of it. Fingers crossed it all continues!

Chris will also want me to mention that she is playing soccer again. The girls are combined with Our Lady of the Lake (we don't have enough girls in the class to field a team) and Chris is an assistant coach instead of head coach - he's thrilled. They've had a few practices and their first game was on Saturday (they easily won). Anya is playing so much better this year. Very aggressive (in a good way), probably partly due to playing soccer with the boys during recess. It should be a fun season.

Welcome to the family, Sage!

After two long years of working to earn the right to get a new pet, Anya finally triumphed today.  This cute little beastie is Sage, the bearded dragon. Dad and Anya just returned from North Bend where Sage lived with a very nice young couple. They recently had a baby and needed a good home for Sage.  Anya was more than happy to become an adoptive mom.

This was a big day, not only because we gained a new family member, but because of all of the hoops Anya succeeded in jumping through to get here. 

Trial the first:  Before we would even discuss a new pet, Anya needed to prove she was responsible.  To do this, she had to remember to feed all EXISTING animals in the house without having to be reminded for one month.  As you might imagine, this step alone took a distractible 10-year old a long time, nearly two years in fact. Every time she forgot a feeding, we reset the clock on the lizard discussion. Many times she got within days of success, only to fail and have to start all over again entirely.

Trial the second: Anya had to prove she was knowledgeable.  Having selected the critter of her choice, she had to read at least two books on the animal and write a report on their care. This step took Anya all of a few days, and was done in the form of a slide deck and presented to us.  It was awfully cute. In addition, many Youtube videos were watched, pamphlets perused, and Petco employees had their ears talked off.

Trial the Third:  Anya had to prove she could support the lizard financially. She needed to pay for the lizard and all the supplies and food herself.  This could be accomplished either by saving up on allowance or doing chores. As soon as the first barrier was crossed, the number of extra chores in the house skyrocketed, the yard was weeded the furniture dusted, and help was even given during dish time (now we know she’s capable!). She got a bit ahead of herself and spent $150 on supplies at the store.  Grandma and grandpa found a free terrarium, and now all she had to do was wait to earn the final $50 to pay for the baby dragon.

While we waited, we began looking on Craigslist for bearded dragons and discovered that most of them come with gear and some are free.  So Anya decided to return what equipment she could to reclaim some of her hard earned cash.  Again she impressed us with her maturity. She walked into the store and addressed the cashier. She managed to get all of the items returned and was extremely polite the entire time. 

Finally, today was the day.  Dad left work early, and picked up Anya. They drove to North Bend, and brought her home.  We also got a colony of Dubai roaches (yay?) which will never leave their cage ever. Never ever ever. 

All in all, one of our better life lesson parenting moments. The kid rose to the occasion and we couldn’t be more proud of her.

Welcome to the family, Sage!

The first moment with Sage

Sage in her new home

Basking is what they do.

She likes to lick Anya's neck

There has never been a harder earned lizard