I took four days off last week and tried to crack somethings out. Somethings were pretty good, some, not so much.
Task 1: Grind stucco. This job sucked. We had heavy 80's stucco, and we needed to grind it down to match the new window patches. This job was big, but it is done. Yea for me!
Task 2: Install windows. I put in 3 out of 4 windows. So, that wasn't too bad.
Task 3: Grind and polish counters. I am so frustrated with this. The pour was great. The forms were perfect. There were very few bug holes, and none on the sink counter. We actually thought about setting the counter without polishing because it came out so good. Now I wish I had. I can't grind these things to save my life. The irony is that I had assumed that would be the easiest part when I started. Arrrggg!
November is eventful. We have 4 birthdays this month in our house. Marley turned 4. Asher turns 9 in 2 days. Kate will be one. Stefanie will be... one year older. Add that to the other holidays and it is a packed month.
Asher had his party this last Friday. I don't know if I was brave or stupid, but I agreed to take seven of Asher's friends camping Friday night at Sugarloaf in Kenwood. Fortunately, I had some help from a number of the fathers. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, but amazingly it was a perfect trip. First off, the weather felt like June. We arrived Friday night and started off with a game of flashlight soccer. Sugarloaf campsites ring a large meadow that is pretty flat except for the gopher mounds. This meadow was perfect for a rustic soccer game of boys vs dads.We followed that with a simple dinner of hot dogs, chips, and apples. After dinner, we had some s'mores. There was an Australian family that visited our site in hopes of finding a corkscrew. Although we couldn't help them there, we were able to give them their first taste of s'mores. Yes, it is the total "Dad" cuisine. But it was simple, and everyone there liked it. Dessert was followed with a game of freeze tag in the moonlight. Then at 9 pm, we were off to bed.
Morning time brought more adventure as the boys started out trying to hunt down a turkey for breakfast. While they were on the prowl, we cooked breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. After breakfast, we played a rematch of the soccer game from the night before and went on a hiking trip. The hiking trip gave the opportunity for some rock climbing which was probably the biggest hit. At 11, we made our way home for pizza, wiffleball, and playstation.
The birthday was a big hit with the boys, and I survived the weekend, so everyone was a winner.
The first rains are here. I think we were more worried that their Halloween evening might be dampened than they were. Isn't that first rain always so fun and exciting when you aren't really sick of it yet?
I have been saving this post for a bit, but we can't keep her from you any longer. We would like you to meet Ellyana. She first hooked up with us in Pinecrest. Whenever Marley was "taking a nap," Ellyana would show up. Much like Marley, she is a firecracker with a lot of life. Ellyana had to spend more time with us at Pinecrest than Marley did, however, she visits less frequently now that we are home. Still, Ella had fun playing dress up with her the day this photo was shot.
I have been slothful about keeping up to date on our happenings. So here is a little Kate piece. She is crawling, standing, babbling, and smiling a lot. She is very easy going, but is becoming exceptionally curious. She has had 6 teeth for a while now, and we are surprised more have not made their appearance. Most unfortunately for us, she is not sleeping the entire night. She was, but then we went away and she stopped. When we got home, she had figured how to stand up. So now when she wakes in the middle of the night, she gets up and jumps around instead of going back to sleep. All the same, you can see from this picture that she is quite a cutie.
The tooth fairy has been a frequent visitor to our house. Ella has lost both of her front teeth in the last month. I think it is pretty cute how losing a tooth or two completely changes the look of a kid. She actually looks younger with the big gap up front.
Not to be outdone, Asher had 4 teeth pulled to make room for adult teeth. I have never seen such big teeth. The dentist hoped the roots would be dissolving, but they were full length. Asher wasn't excited about the whole experience.
When Stefanie and the kids moved into the house in September of last year (a month after I moved in), I confidently assured her that we would have Thanksgiving in our "new" kitchen. If not Thanksgiving, then certainly Christmas. Well, for a number of reasons, the primary one being my absurdly unbridled optimism, we are a little behind that schedule. We are hoping that I might make good on that for this Thanksgiving. Tonight, however, was a major step in the right direction.
We have been planning our concrete counters for a while. I got a quote the first month we moved in for $4500. So we decided to go the DIY (do it yourself) route. I actually was ready to begin in March, but we opted to focus on other things for a while. With summer all but gone, we decided to use my last 3 days to get going on the counters. In true optimistic fashion, I also made a mental list of ALL the other things I would do during those days, because, well, 3 days! I can knock these counters out in half that time. I got started with the first step of cleaning the garage. You can see here that my garage is actually clean, and the tables I built are level. Problem? This took all of day 1. You are looking at the finished product of an entire day of work. I actually finished unpacking that final four boxes still in our garage from our move 1 year ago (although we still have a lot of other boxes in our dining room).
2 days left. I got to work on the forms. This was my favorite part. Figuring out the size, making the forms, putting it all together. This is a picture of the form for our cooktop counter top. It is made with MDF, and the counter is poured upside-down. The bottom of the form will be the top of the counter. I cut 2 inch foam insulation into the shape of our cooktop. Just a tip, if you ever find yourself needing to cut foam insulation, don't use a handsaw! What a mess. The jigsaw is definately the ticket. After all the corners are caulked with silicone, I went to work on the rebar and wire mesh to give the concrete some support. Then I thought, "What will I do with the extra concrete from these two counters? I should have a good amount." So I started a third form for our bathroom sink. That accounts for day 2 AND day 3.
We went away on Saturday and Sunday, but Monday night, I decided to pour starting at about 8 pm. I figured the cooler weather would be better for pouring concrete. I knew this would be a two-man job, so I asked my friend Don to come help me . We mixed, poured, vibrated, and smoothed all three counter tops before 10:30pm. This interesting tool Don holds is called a pencil vibrator. It gets all the air-bubbles out of the concrete. The only problem was that it got smoking hot and was hard to hold.
In 5 days, I will see how these turned out. I will post an update then. Out next step is to stain the counters a weathered dark brown and polish them with the diamond polisher. Full steam ahead!
Marley started preschool today. As you can see, she was excited! She is in a little setting with a total of 6 kids. She has been dreaming of school. However, tonight was melt-down time. She started balling at 6pm and didn't stop. She asked me to put her to bed at 7. Actually, all the kids have been that way since school started. Every evening is a mess when they all crash from exhaustion. I think we must be in the minority of parents that like summer better than the school year.
Yes, Kate is crawling. She continues to be one of the happiest babies we have met. She has a ready smile for everyone. However, Asher was worried because our friend, Kaliegh Anne, who is a month younger has been crawling for weeks and Kate was lagging behind. He must have felt sister competition because he resorted to coaching her and giving crawling tips. Needless to say, he was relieved when she started moving her caboose.
The big attraction at Pinecrest is always the beach. The thing we like best about the whole trip is that we don't "have" to see or do anything. Most of our time is spent sitting and playing at the beach. Add to that the fact that I didn't drive the entire week and you have paradise. We ride our bikes most days to anywhere we need go. It is a mere 1 mile from our cabin to the beach. We even have a trailer to carry Marley and all the gear. Our spot on the 3rd beach (the least crowded one) is already picked out. We have a routine for relaxation.
Depending on the time of year, the water can be cool and refreshing (August-ish) or cold and frigid (June and July). It is interesting to see which kids mind the cold water and which ones don't. Our kids like the water for about 5 minutes. After that, they come out of the water a shivering mass of goosebumps. However, keeping them warm is always a nice part of the day.
On Wednesday, we took all the kids for a hike around Pinecrest. We went 1/3 of the way to the dam. It was a nice workout for me since I got to shoulder Marley a good deal of the way. The kids loved hiking the rock although meghan had a rough go of it in her Crocs.
The highlight of the whole week might have been our trip to Cleo's bath. Cleo's bath is an area 2 miles above Pinecrest. The stream that feeds into the lake comes down through the granite mountains. On its way down, it makes its way through Cleo's bath. Over time, the river has worn the rock smooth and spun boulders around depressions in the rock to make deep pools. The pools are smooth and round and vary in size from hot tub to swimming pool. Our favorite pool features a waterslide that drops into a pool 20 feet deep and 25 feet long. This water is snow-melt so although it is warmer in August than it is in June or July, it is still quite brisk. The hike up is as exciting as the arrival. I suspect that Asher and Ella liked it better. This was Ella's first time, and I thought she might have some troubles, but she was a champ and kept up with Asher the whole way. Last year Asher refused to even try the water. This year, he took the plunge, but once was enough.
The tradition on the way down is to stop for a Rootbeer Float at the snackshack. We canoed across the lake to the trailhead on the way in, but Asher and I raced the canoe back on the trail going home. In the canoe's defense, Tom and Jain didn't realize we were racing until we caught up to them, but it did give me an idea. Asher and I decided to run the lake that Friday. The lake is 4 miles of up and down rocky terrain. Though we went when it was getting hot Asher ran a great time. He ran around the lake in 1 hour 6 minutes. So we were all pretty impressed.
We did also have our usual trip to the Ranger Station, smores for dessert, and an evening show put on by the kids. It had all the elements we have come to love.
We started on our way to Pinecrest right about on time. The only problem is that Stefanie's back went out, and she needed to lay down for a while before driving. ONn the way, Stef also needed to get out of the car for a bit, so we stopped at REI. While we were there, Asher tried climbing the rock wall. He was able to make it all the way to the top although he had to do it barefoot which couldn't feel good. We left again and made it to Tracy. We stopped at a gas station for some gas and a break. I was so excited that gas in Tracy was under $4! How frightening that $3.98 is a good price. We thought we were on our way. We enter the freeway and Marley tells me that she needs to pee. That's my fault; I should have asked if she needed to go. We take the very next exit and use a grimy port-o-let. Finally we made it to Oakdale. Every year we stop at Dorada Park for a break. It is a cool old park with a lot of character and nooks 'n crannies. The kids had a great time not sitting in the car, and Kate tried her first swing. We got back in the car and drove. We almost got hit in Confidence by someone looking at their radio on a big turn. We missed the head on collision, but Ella got hit in the head with a rice cooker in the process. That's my fault; pack the heavy stuff down low. So the upshot of the drive up is that we turned a 4 hour drive into an 8 hour drive. We arrived at 8:30 after dinner was done and packed up. But at least we made it.
I love seeing my kids to learn to ride a two-wheeler. The feeling of running with them as they pedal frantically and then letting go of the seat as they teeter unsteadily on their own is one of a kind. It is hard to see them grow up and do these things on their own, but I also feel a sense of "rightness." It is like a metaphor for parenting as you let go and they venture on their own.
Being the third in line, Marley is always trying to keep up. Lately she has been determined to ride a bike without training wheels. We worked a little on it last week, but she lacked the confidence. She still is unsure, but she is riding on her own. You can hear her shout in the video, "Dad! Hold on! Hold on!" I am sure all kinds of symbolic metaphors could be drawn here, but the really it is just fun to see her learn to ride a bike.
So the long-awaited Daddy-Daughter Hip-Hop class began last night. Here is the history. Ella took a few dance classes at the Sonoma Academy of Dance, but she always had her heart set on a Daddy-Daughter class they offered. When she asked, I agreed. "But..." I said, " I don't want to do the recital." Her face got a little long. She sort of turned away to leave and mumbled, "Ok, then I don't want to do it." "Wait a minute. Why don't you want to do it?" "Dad, the whole point of a dance class is the recital! (You have to say that with a 'No duh' tone in your voice)" Total manipulation, but I was cornered. "Alright, we can do the recital."
So the January class got moved to March. The March class got moved to May. The may class got canceled to late summer. Ella was getting so impatient that I had to ask the dance studio, "What's the hold up?" They told me to get 2 other Dad's and their daughters, and we could have a class. After some recruiting efforts, 7 dads with their daughters were ready to hip-hop this past Tuesday.
Although I can't post pictures in good conscience, I can say that Ella and I had a great time. I'll let everyone know how the recital goes after it is over--don't expect me to publish the date or time...
Ella, Marley, and I went up to Sacramento to see a "Rock Circus" by a band called the Sippy Cups. I was a little wary, but my friend Sandy recommended them, and we are sold. It is music the kids like that I can actually bear to listen to. In addition to their own songs, they did some covers of Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, and the video shows the girls dancing on stage with the band to "I want to be Sedated" by the Ramones. It was a great hit. Check out their site if you are interested: http://www.thesippycups.com/
Every child, well every boy child dreams of running the big machines. Asher was no exception. He could say backhoe before he could say potty. The thing is that adult kids, don't give up those dreams. I was secretly looking forward to finally living my dream of running an earth mover, even a small one, in our backyard project. I must admit, it was fun. Even though I got pretty sore and tired just sitting in a chair running this machine, I was a lot of fun.
The first challenge was getting it home. The machine and trailer were 1000 pounds too heavy for the van. So, I drove slowly. Then the trench needed to be close to the house. Danger! I must say I never hit the house. I did bump the air conditioning unit around a little bit, but we have fans, so who needs it? I had to avoid utilities, which I did except for the cable. We don't really watch TV much, the house it too hot without air conditioning. So all in all, it was a pretty successful day.
The relief of a baby's first teeth is immense. At least for me it is. Out of the 4 babies we have had, Kate is the most mellow. Her easy-going way almost makes us forget how hard babies can be. So when she started getting fussy and inconsolable for no apparent reason, we had flashbacks to any of the first 3 colicky babies. When her first and then second teeth broke through, it was a relief. It was a feeling of gratefulness that there was actually a reason for the fuss and bother. In any case, 2 down, a few more to go.
Meet Bill Bonderud, my father-in-law. To say my father-in-law is a character is a redundancy. Three weeks ago he devised his own weight loss program: come to Sonoma, eat only heathly food, wake up at 6:30 every morning to a grinning granddaughter, and spend the remaining moments of the day doing obscene amounts of yardwork. The biggest challenge in our yard has been stumps. We had half a dozen stumps to remove and Bill took them out. The one pictured here took 3 days to conquer. His plan worked, he has dropped 24 pounds in 3 weeks. However, we have been the real beneficiaries. Aside from the obvious fact that our yard is 10 times better thanks to his efforts, Stefanie can pick up the kids and leave the baby napping, Marley can listen to nutty stories at 6:30 am when everyone else refuses to wake, Asher has a challenger for his games, and Ella has a grandpa to help build fairy houses. Our whole family has appreciated his help much more than he appreciates losing the weight. Some people have a real problem with nutty father-in-laws. I sure am glad for mine.
I don't think I have ever heard a baseball coach tell a kid to slow down as they run the bases, but that might be the case for Asher next time he is on the field. In his game last week, he was running the bases on one of his hits and caught up to the player in front of him at home plate. As the first boy turned around, he collided with Asher and caught him in the mouth with his batting helmet. At first, I thought his lip was split, but it seems Asher's tooth went through his lip from the inside to the outside. Besides a lot of blood, it wasn't too bad. However, he still has a fat lip a week later and some tissue in his mouth that is hanging loose and has yet to heal. He sat out for 1/2 an inning, but when the time came to bat again, he was back in the box. I guess it wasn't as bad as it seemed.
Asher has had two weeks of baseball, and he is pretty much in love with it. Truth be told, he goes pretty full-tilt into whatever "thing" he is doing. Soccer during soccer, football during the superbowl. Right now it is baseball. I really don't know where this obsessive behavior characteristics comes from. It must be a passive Bonderud trait.
He is on a coach-pitch team called the A's. I am helping with the coaching. He is still a bit afraid of getting hit with the ball, but he is a strong hitter. In his first game, he hit the ball to the fence.
I never thought I would be so excited for a Papa Murphy's pizza. After 6 months of living in a fake kitchen, we have finally graduated. We have an oven. True, the oven is on cinder blocks. Nevertheless we are rejoicing in our convection capacities.
It is amazing how we have adapted to our rustic conditions. Stefanie often forgets that she now has options. She was cooking fish the other night that didn't come out too well. It was only after dinner that she mused, "This would have been better if I didn't cook it in the toaster oven." Then the lightning struck and she realized she didn't have to use the toaster if she didn't want to.
Ella turned 6 last week. For this occasion she invited 12 of her friends to come for a dance party. We cleared back the couches in the living room, hung some stars, painted a big star on the floor, and made a playlist worthy of the boogie. When Ella came down, I made her favorite breakfast--chocolate chip pancakes. In the middle of breakfast, she asks, "Dad, can you wear your red suit today?" There are two things to consider. First, how can you turn your daughter down anything that is reasonable and easily within my power on her birthday? Second, I am always looking for an excuse to wear my three piece red suit. So in addition to everything else, I got to wear that beauty. We had some fun with the chicken dance, YMCA, freeze dance. From there we moved to cupcakes and presents. Let the girls play a little. Organized some more dances. And at the end of the three hours, I learned one great truth. Three hours is too long for a 6 year-old birthday party. I think I was done at 2 hours.
Ella wanted to bring Kate to school right after she was born. Obviously a newborn and a kindergarten class don't go together for a variety of reasons. So, Ella made this podcast instead to bring to class and share.
I think everyone in the family was excited for Asher's first Pinewood Derby. Asher and I worked on his car, Ella and Marley kept up the encouragement about how fast it would be, and Stefanie tempered his expectations so he wouldn't ride the emotional roller coaster that ends with the crash of not coming in first. That last may not sound "excited," but it was the kindest thing any of us did for him. Stefanie held cautious excitement. In case you are unfamiliar, the Pinewood Derby is a longstanding Cub Scouts tradition. Boys and their parents spend anywhere from a day to months building a car from a simple block of wood. However, the regulations are extensive. It can't weight too much, must fit within specified dimensions, use stock wheels and axles, stock lubricant, no liquid weights, etc, etc, etc. As the rules imply, this "friendly competition" can get sticky. It is said the competition is often about the dads as much as the kids. The rules stated, "This is a boy event, the scout should do most of the work on their car." So Asher designed his car, and I cut out the shape for him. Then I gave him the sandpaper and taught him how to do it. But Asher painted his car a gold color, and we were ready to go. When we got there, we saw what this was really about. Most of the cars had polished lacquer finishes with weights embedded inside the car. I was hoping we wouldn't get sideways looks for helping with the cutting, but I quit worrying once we saw the other cars. I can only say that if the boys did most of the work, Sonoma is chock full of pre-adolescent Bob Villa's. You could see your reflection on the lacquered finishes. The winning cars had weights embedded inside the body and covered over with bondo. Amazing work especially if they were done by 8, 9, and 10 year olds. So we were there for hours, but the kids made the most of it. Marley was very supportive of Asher, cheering him on and staying close. We were disappointed the kids never got to load their cars on the track or get them at the finish. Adults ran the whole thing and had police tape up to keep the kids back. It was dreadful boring. The bright spot is the 2 minutes when Asher's car actually raced. One mother in bounced up and down when her son's car won. I heard her say to her friend, "My car won! I was up until 4 am finishing that thing!" I think I was just amazed at how quickly people lose perspective. It was supposed to be about the kids. But Asher's car didn't do so well, because he did most of the work on his own. If he decides to do it again next year, he will be at a disadvantage if he does it on his own. Hopefully next year, we will decide that win or lose, it is better to accomplish it on your own.
I knew it would come, but that doesn't make it any easier. Kate is getting older. She won't be driving anytime soon, I know, but she will be 3 months on the 20th. She has started smiling, grabbing, cooing, and recognizing family. Apparently Stefanie can hold an entire conversation with her. Actually, I don't mind the growing up a little if we could keep it just to the point of getting a good night's sleep.
Ella took part in her first play recently. In "The Big Hug," she played a grandmother pig. Now, Ella is quite dramatic, so she took to the acting thing like a fish to water. As we left for the evening performance, I asked her if she was nervous. She said, "I have already done the play twice Dad, and I wasn't even scared. So I am not nervous at all." Fortunately, her confidence was well founded as she delivered her one important line with boldness and confidence! "That is the best mail I ever received. I have a kiss to send back to those little piglets of mine!"
