My Boys

Suzy is convinced that I will never post another blog post, so mainly this one is to prove her wrong. My muse has been missing recently, I just don't have that much to say via blog. That is not to say that things aren't going well, they certainly are going great. Sammy and I have been having lots of fun battling, wrestling, having water gun fights, etc. I have also been blessed with the opportunity to teach Daniel's Sunday School class over the summer (at least I am sharing the duties with one other person, that is). It has been very neat to see Daniel in a more 'classroom' setting, seeing how he interacts with the other kids and teacher.

Since Sammy's birthday is in October we had to make the decision on when to send him to kindergarten, this fall, or next. We decided long ago that we would rather he be older than younger, and while it is apparent to me that he could do it this year, he will really benefit by waiting one more year. The thought that he could be starting kindergarten in just a few more months is one to catch my breath. I am very happy that all of next year I will be able to just decide on a whim to have him skip school while he and I go do something fun. I have been debating getting a LegoLand membership again and sneaking up there with him a few times this year. I also am desperate to take him to an indoor rock climbing facility to see how he would do. He has a basic wall at his school that he loves to climb, and I think that he would have a great time with a bigger wall.

Daniel is approaching the age where I may consider risking a baseball game again. Going to a ballgame is one of my favorite things to do, and I had visions of going to games with the boys, but those visions were dashed with the reality of the whining and complaining that goes with the territory. Baseball just doesn't seem to be made for a three/four/five year old, at least when you are paying for decent seats at Petco and don't want to leave after the fifth inning. But Daniel is getting to be old enough that I may give it another shot.

All that means that I have big plans for the boys, but the summer is disappearing too quickly. We are already up against August, and I am running out of time for these fun things I want to do!

That's it. No more blog posting for me. Where's my Padres schedule?

Can you do this?

It appears that doubled jointed arms runs in the family. I have no idea who Sammy inherited this from. Not my side of the family I don't think.

This is just further proof that Sammy has monkey blood running through his veins.

If you are wondering if Daniel shares this talent with his brother...

Apparently not!

Zoo Camp

I have come to realize that I don't like the unknown. I like routine. I like knowing where I am and where I am going. I like feeling safe. I like feeling comfortable. It's not that I don't like new things or change. I do. And yet at the same time I don't. It's all the 'what ifs' that get to me. What if I'm late? What if I can't find parking? What if my kid gets lost? What if I don't know anyone? What if I make a fool of myself? What if it's too hot or too cold? What if? What if? WHAT IF?

See what I mean? Would you ever want to do anything new if all these what ifs were running through your head? It's enough to drive any woman (and her poor husband) crazy. But I know that trying new things is good, so I force myself to step out of my box. My comfort zone. And you know what? Everything turns out fine, at least most of the time, and I wonder why I ever let those pesky 'what ifs' ruffle my feathers.

Today was Daniel's first day of Zoo Camp. We've never done Zoo Camp before. In fact the only camps we've done have been through our church or school (which is part of our church). So this was a step out of my comfort zone. I had many what ifs about pick-up, drop-off, what to bring, etc. and had visions of Daniel wandering around the Zoo looking for his group. I know, I know. I am a little bit crazy. It comes with being a Mom, I guess.

Well, it turns out Daniel had a great time and did not get lost. None of my 'what ifs' were realized. It really shouldn't come as any surprise to me. And you'd think I would have learned by now not to worry so much about the unknown. I guess I'm a slow learner.

So here is Daniel on his first day of Zoo Camp. Yes, that is Sammy climbing on the fence in the background. I really think he has some monkey blood in him.


Sammy and I did a little exploring of Balboa Park since we were there. I love Balboa Park!

Logs are fun to walk on. Especially if you are part monkey.
A flower for me? He is the sweetest little boy ever!

VBS: Power Lab

The boys spent the last week learning about the power of God at our church's Vacation Bible School. The theme was Power Lab and the boys had such fun singing, doing crafts, playing games, doing experiments and learning about God.

On Friday, the last day of VBS, the kids all put on a performance for the parents. They sing the songs they learned and recite their bible verses up on stage for all to see. Anytime I have a child on stage I get a little worried. You never know what they might do and with an audience watching no less. Having Daniel AND Sammy both on stage (along with 200 other kids) is even more stressful. I still have nightmares about Daniel's preschool graduation last year; Daniel pretending to lick his classmate next to him, Sammy karate chopping the boy sitting next to him and Daniel and Sammy pestering each other because someone did not think about the fact that putting Sammy directly behind Daniel during the ceremony was not such a great idea.

Well, this performance went much better than said last one. I was a little concerned when I saw how close the boys were standing, but there was no licking, chopping or pestering this time. Phew! Daniel did decide to try and extract something from his nose during a lull in the program, but luckily he was either success or gave up after not too long (although it seemed like eons to me). Sammy looked a little shell shocked for most of the program, as did most of the little guys. Overall they did great.

It was a fun filled week for the boys and they are already looking forward to next year's VBS.

LA Summer (Day 5)

My Dad and I took the boys up to Soleado School this morning, the local elementary school where I attended 1st through 4th grade, so Daniel could practice riding his bike without training wheels. The first time around the playground with my Dad holding onto the seat and running behind had Daniel in tears. The feeling was just to weird and scary. Daniel sat and cried for a while and then amazing jumped back on the horse. Way to go Daniel! The second time around he whimpered, but after that he got more and more comfortable. He didn't get comfortable enough to ride on his own, but that will come with practice. I am so proud the he didn't give up. It was neat watching my Dad with Daniel teaching him how to ride in the same place he taught me to ride a bike about 26 years ago.

For dinner we went to Kings Hawaiian Restaurant where I stuffed myself with kalbi ribs. Yum! And for dessert we brought home a dobash cake in celebration of my Dad's upcoming birthday. Double yum!

Tomorrow morning we head home. Although the boys are having a ball and not ready to leave I am missing my Baby (Dan). I knew it was time to be getting home when I squeezed my Dad's bum yesterday as I walked by him. Yes, it is time to go home, but we will take with us some great memories. And we will look forward to our next LA summer.

Disneyland Adventure

I promised more photos from our trip to Disneyland when I had recovered. Well, I think I am mostly there, so here it goes...

As you can see the boys are pretty excited as we were waiting in line to go in.We started out strong. Our first ride was Star Tours, Daniel's favorite. Sammy, finally over the 40 inches mark, got to finally go on this ride. He loved it. Then we racked up points over at the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Tutu's favorite. Next we took Sammy on Space Mountain, Daniel decide to sit this one out. I wasn't sure how Sammy would react to this ride as it is quite fast and in the dark, but he absolutely loved it. Then we ran over to the Matterhorn. Here is a picture of my parents as we waited in line and no, your eyes do not deceive you ,that is Tutu in line with us. I can't remember the last time Tutu went on a roller coaster with us. Go Tutu! Daniel did not want to go on the Matterhorn, he was scared of the snow monster, so I had to bribe him with promises of Legos. Turns out he loved it and we later went on it again.
Then we headed over to New Orleans Square and Critter Country. We went on Pirates and the Haunted Mansion, once again I had to bribe Daniel. We then took the raft over to Tom Sawyers Island, now called the Pirate's Lair. And you will never guess who we ran into......Captain Jack Sparrow himself. Well, not the Captain Jack Sparrow. If that was Johnny Depp that would be me not Daniel in the picture.After a ride on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Tutu went on this one too (way to go Tutu!), we took a rest and had lunch. A few chicken strips and fish & chips later we were headed to California Adventure. Our first destination, Soaring over California, was quite crowded so we grabbed a Fast Pass and headed over to the Playhouse Disney Live on Stage! show. After the Monster's Inc ride we were all feeling a little sluggish so we headed over to the ice cream parlor and bakery. Sammy and I indulged in ice cream while Daniel had a ginormous cinnamon roll (he almost ate the entire thing!)
With sugar pumping through our bodies we were reved up for more fun: Soarin' over California, Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, Mulholland Madness, Jumpin' Jellyfish and Golden Zephyr.
Then we happened to be in the right place at the right time for the Pixar Play Parade. We had never stayed late enough before to see any of the parades and I am so glad we were able to see this one. It was awesome. The boys love all the Pixar movies so it was fun to see all the characters. We all agreed the parade was awesome. The Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams was starting at Disneyland next so we ran back over to Disneyland. But after the Pixar Parade this one was just okay. My boys aren't into princesses or the old Disney movies much, so it wasn't as exciting.

Since it was fast approaching 8 pm we rode the Matterhorn one last time, grabbed some pizza for dinner and headed home.

It was a great time all around. It really wasn't too crowded, especially for summer and I don't think the boys whined, cried or complained a single time throughout the entire day. They don't call it the happiest place on earth for nothing. It was a very happy day!

LA Summer (Day 4)

I think I've mostly recovered from yesterday. I must have been really tired because I slept until almost 8 this morning and the boys both came into my room at around 7 am and were playing quite loudly while I slept. While I've been a little tired and groogy all day you wouldn't have even been able to tell the boys had a long day yesterday. They woke up at their normal time and were full of energy the whole day. The whole day! I just don't understand how they can do that.


My Mom and I took them down to the local mall which has a water fountain that kids can play in. The boys had a blast playing in the water and getting soaked. We were there for almost 2 hours and Sammy probably would have stayed longer if we had let him.

The cool thing about this particular fountain is that sometimes it shoots a steam of water out of holes on the ground and sometimes it just throws a small ball of water into the air. The kids love trying to catch, hit, karate chop and kick the little spurts of water. And sometimes when a kid is waiting patiently and looking intently at the hole for the water ball to come shooting out the fountain shoots out a full stream right into their face. Needless to say my Mom and I had just as much fun watching the kids as the kids had in the water.

LA Summer (Day 3)

I am too tired for words. We woke up at 6 am, left the house at 6:45 am and got home at 9 pm. I am wiped. We really had a great day. I am just soooo tired now. I will post a couple of pics to whet your appetite and will post more after I have gotten some sleep and my feet stop aching.

LA Summer (day 2)

We had a pretty mellow day today. I didn't want to tire the boys out too much because tomorrow we wake up bright and early to go to the happiest place on earth, or so they say. Yep, we are off to Disneyland. It has been a while since our last visit and the boys (and the adults) are pretty excited. This is an especially exciting trip for Sammy who is finally over 40 inches. This means he can practically go on all the rides at Disneyland. The question just remains, Will he want to go on the rides or be too scared? Either way we will have fun.

So today the boys pulled out practically every toy in the house, Megablocks, playdoh, swords, cars, etc. We also made cute animals drawings from our hands. My Mom checked out 'Drawing with your hands' from the library. It is a cute idea and the boys seemed to enjoy it. Daniel decided to make a fox and Sammy a cat. The gist is you position your hand to look like a certain animal, trace it, add features and then color.

Here is Sammy's cat. I love color choice.
And Daniel's fox which looks quite fierce, but according to Daniel is friendly and does not eat other animals, only wolves.
It is still unclear whether Sammy is right or left handed, but for now appears to be ambidextrous. Here he is using he left hand, like his mother.

And when he got tired he switched over to his right, like his father. Switch hitting for now, we will have to see what develops as the season continues.

LA Summer (day 1)

The boys and I are in LA at my parent's house for our yearly summer visit. Since Daniel was born I have been coming up to stay with my parents for a week during the summer. It has become a tradition that I and the boys have come to enjoy and look forward to very much. One of the best things about visiting Papa and Tutu is we have established so many traditions; places we like to go, restaurants we like eating at and things we enjoy doing.

We only arrived late this morning, but we had a fun packed day. After a quick nap, in which only my Mom and I slept (it has become the norm that the adults all collapse exhausted at siesta time while the kids do who knows what), we headed off to the theatres to watch 'Kung-fu Panda'. The boys have been wanting to see this movie and luckily it was still playing at the local theatre. It was a cute movie and the boys really enjoyed it. The only drawback was they spent much of the evening practicing their karate moves on innocent plants, eachother and Papa. After the movie we walked over to the boys favorite place to eat here, Red Brick Pizza. And to wrap it all up we got dessert at Yummy Yogurt (one of my favorite places to go). Despite their pre-bedtime hyperness they crashed. I am pretty tired myself. Who knows what kind of fun and yummy things tomorrow will hold. I will let you know.

Just Hanging Around

Well, it definitely is feeling like Summer in the Walls household. We've had nothing to do this week but our heart's desires. I took the boys to see 'WALL-E' yesterday. It was good and the boys liked it. I am pretty sure that Sammy was crying right along with me at the end. Behind the tough facade is a sensitive little boy. Dan has jury duty today so we are stuck at home today. I am thinking pool. I love having a pool we can walk to and not have to take care of ourselves. Very nice, especially when you've got kids.

Tomorrow Papa is coming down for our annual trip to the Del Mar Fair, well actually it is now called the San Diego Fair. Smelly animals, fried food and carnival rides will fill our day tomorrow and I can't wait. The boys are pretty excited too.

So we have been just hanging around having some good old fashioned summer fun.

Summer Vacation

Today was the first day of summer vacation. Yippee! We had a nice leisurely breakfast. No rushing or stressing about being to school on time. We took a trip up to our library, although it wasn't yet open, had a water gun fight and found snails, caterpillars and other bugs in the backyard. The sun was shining and it was hot out.

It didn't take us long to get into summer mode. I just love the first day of summer vacation. It feels like the start of something new and exciting. The possibilities of how you can fill the long summer days seem endless. Swimming, camps, homemade cold lemonade, going to the beach, napping under the fan and so much more. I don't know who is more excited, me or the boys.

Let's see what do we have to do tomorrow...? Oh, absolutely nothing!

Crazy Hair Day

It was Spirit Week at the boy's school so the kids have been having fun wearing pjs, sports attire and mismatched clothes. Since the kids normally have to wear uniforms they have been especially enjoying dressing up all week long. Yesterday was crazy hair day so I spiked Daniel's hair. He looked so cute and he loved having spiky hair. He kept running to the mirror to check himself out. Sammy's hair is so short right now that I couldn't spike it up, but he enjoyed touching Daniel's spikes and pretending that they were so sharp as to hurt his hand. My silly little boys.

Fern Street Circus

I went with Sammy's preschool to the Fern Street Circus today. It wasn't your normal circus or at least like the kind of circus they had when I was a kid. The clowns in this circus kind of reminded me of those characters in the Doodlebops. They were moderny, edgy clowns is how I would describe them. There was lots of juggling, which the kids enjoyed immensely, people dangling from ropes and chains and hoops in strange positions, silly skits and more. Thankfully the weather cooled off today since it was an outside show.

After the show we took the kids to a big grassy area and had lunch. The kids ran around, rolled down hills, chased bubbles and gathered sticks. They seemed to have more fun during lunch than at the circus.

Sammy really like the circus show and watched intently the whole time. I kept thinking, "I can totally see Sammy doing this." He can be such a little clown and is very athletic and coordinated. Although Sammy with three bowling pins really scares me...

We took the boys out to Lake Murray today. I've actually never been to this lake before even though it is only about 10 minutes away. I was a beautiful warm spring day. I really needed a day like this after a cold and cloudy week with two sick kids. Since coming back from my Colorado canoe trip I've felt pretty out of it. Been in a strange, lethargic funk. I couldn't exactly put my finger on it, but I think I just missed the sun and being out in the open.

The boys had fun feeding the ducks, running around, setting up a rock and sticks shop (leaves were money) and watching all the squirrels run around (there were about one thousand squirrels out and about). We will definitely have to go back. Maybe bring our fishing poles and try and catch a fish or two. A perfect day for a stroll along the water.

Pre-Mother's Day Treat

It kind of felt like Mother's Day today as I got to attend at Mother's Day tea put on by the Preschoolers and I was showered with presents the boys have been making this past week. Cards, pictures, singing, flowers and delicious desserts. What more could a mother ask for? But the most cherished thing I received today was a book entitled 'My Mom' by Daniel.

My Mom by Daniel
Mother's Day 2008

My Mom always says u didnt gev me a ces tudae. (you didn't give me a kiss today)
My Mom cooks the best eg in the hool. (egg in the hole)
My Mom really loves me.
My Mom and I like to go to home.
My Mom's favorite clothes to wear are a dres. (a dress)
My Mom is beautiful because of her hair.

More precious than gold or silver. I am truly blessed to have such sweet and amazing little boys.

Spanish Lessons

This past weekend, after a delicious dinner had been consumed, our family was sitting around our dinner table playing a rousing game of 'Simon Says'. Daniel was Simon, and was adding in a level of difficulty by giving directions using his newly mastered Spanish (oh to be a language sponge like a six year old).

'Simon Says... touch your ojos'
'Simon Says... touch your hombreras'

Well, this one stumped Suzy and I, for even though we both had multiple years of high school Spanish, neither of us knew that hombreras meant shoulders. It didn't take too many years of schooling for our son to pass us in his pursuit of academic excellence.

So, last night, as Suzy and I were in the midst of a tightly contested game of Sequence, we were discussing our past week, and Suzy mentioned something that Sammy had said. As soon as she said it, it tickled something in my memories of last week. I had heard him utter the same word, but had put it off as him making up funny words during the coarse of conversation. Well, this word, which I can't repeat as I don't want this blog marked as objectionable material (if you must know, it's the Spanish word for someone who is a member of the oldest profession), is definitely not something that you would say to someone who speaks Spanish. In fact, as I thought more about the incident, Sammy had used pretty good inflection, and definitely had a good accent going. After discussing it more with Suzy we decided we better nip this in the bud, so Sammy doesn't inadvertently offend half the population of Southern California.

Me being the adventurous father that I am, decided to tackle the conversation this morning as I was helping the boys get ready for school.

'Sammy, you know that there are some words that I don't like you saying, right?'

'Like butt!'

'Yes, Sammy, like butt.'

'And pee pee head.'

'Yes, pee pee head is also not okay.'

'And ...'

'Okay, okay Sammy, you get the picture. Well there was a word you said a couple of days ago that...'

It seemed like he and Daniel (who was eagerly eavesdropping) got the point, but I am a bit afraid of hearing from the teachers and/or offended Hispanic classmates/parents tonight.

So, if you find that you are on a dark corner in a bad part of Tijuana, and you see a scantily clad young lady who has a bug on her shoulder, my boys can probably help you out with any translations necessary.