Daddy-Daughter Hip-Hop

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...

Kids Rock

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/

Childhood dreams

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 First 2

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.

A Stump of a Guy

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.

Rounding the Bases

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.

Introducing the Red Rainbow