This week marked the start of Martin's summer baseball season.  On Saturday, he attended a baseball camp run by our local team, The Springers.  I've watched a lot of games featuring some of these guys and was glad to see them show the kids how to play ball but also how much they love the game.  I think its best to just ignore the part where they are referred to as "the old guys". 

Here's Martin, marching off to stretch out with his group (spot our boy wearing #8).

It rained all four hours of the baseball clinic and I didn't hear a single kid complain.  Especially the kids that were learning to slide in the wet, muddy grass.


Earlier this week, Martin started playing Little League in the Minors.

At his first time up to bat, Martin had "his best hit of his life" (or so he told us).  Unfortunately, it was straight into the glove of another kid who probably had the best catch of his life.

Baseball is big in this town, and even the Minors draw a good sized crowd of parents, siblings, grandparents - and in our case, great-grandparents as well.  The ball field where Martin played on Monday is right behind where Grandma lives, and we were lucky enough to have her join us for the game.


Guess who else enjoyed the game, but didn't watch a single minute?

Summer officially started here last Friday when we kicked off the first free day with a visit to the splash pad.


We had plenty of sunshine, our swimsuits, a picnic lunch, and loads of sunscreen (we are a pale, pale people in early June).


It's all fun and games until someone gets a faceful of water.  Then its a time out, a snack, and back to more fun and games.

A few weeks ago the kids and I went into Minneapolis for an adventure.  Pretending we were tourists, we planned our day around three meals, two art stops, and playtime with The Wilkers. 

Our first stop was at the Cake Eater Bakery  in Minneapolis. 


Newly opened and featuring several items that are non-dairy, Sophie was able to choose a treat knowing that she could eat it without worrying about having any problems later.  So, we had cupcakes for breakfast.  We had two kinds, but Vegan Chocolate Whisky was the hands down winner.


We picked up lunch and stopped at the Walker Sculpture Garden for a picnic.  We ate, but mostly we ran around.


Both of the kids were dying to try this, but were a little disappointed that they couldn't swing so hard that they could knock each other off. 


This was Martin's favorite sculpture in the garden, posing for a long time with his own reflection.


Our next stop was the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  We hung out in the courtyard and drew for awhile while we waited for The Wilkers to arrive.  Drawing is made more exciting when you feel like you might be discovered.


Martin asked me to stand next to a tree so that I could be the subject matter.  He asked me not to move because he wanted to work on drawing a still life.


As you can see, I am once again the primary subject matter in this work.  Sophie did not need to look at me to capture my likeness, she said she looks at me plenty and already knows what I look like.


Inside the museum, I introduced Martin to one of my favorite works.


The kids were excellent inside the museum and we were only told to steer clear of the art twice - which seems like a huge success to me.


Sophie and Trixie made bug clips for their hair.  Once in place, it only increased the two peas in a pod look they already had going.


Its guaranteed: if trying to take a picture of four kids, you will never get them to all look in the same direction at the same time.


After the MIA we stopped for dinner at Galactic Pizza  in Uptown.  Kid-friendly (table on the floor, delivery guys dressed like super heroes) and Sophie-friendly (vegan cheese optional), this was a great place to kick back after a busy day.


And since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped back at the place where it all began.




Thirty-two fiddy, we love you.

I don't know anyone who is more set in her ways than Sophie.  When she decides that its time to do something, it happens that moment.  It was that way when she stopped using a nuk, when she got herself out of diapers, and learned how to ride a bike.  She's very determined and once she puts her mind to a task, its as good as done.  The flip side is also true - if she doesn't want to do it, its not going to happen.  We've all been waiting patiently for her to turn five because that was the timeline she'd set for a lot of important things - getting herself dressed, riding a bike (she bumped that date up earlier this winter), going to bed on her own.  And luckily for us, that day has finally come.  On the morning she turned five, she was like a whole new young woman.

Last weekend Sophie had her first kid-style birthday party.  To my kids, birthday parties mean bowling - so we set out to have our first birthday party at the Cold Spring Lanes.  Here's Sophie with her friends: Jordan, Martin, Josie, Lily, and Madelyn.


They loved the shoes like you can only before you start thinking about things like germs.


The boys were pretty serious about bowling, finishing three GAMES to the girls six FRAMES.  The girls spent a lot of time doing things like laying on the floor, talking to the magic meatball in the hallway, and chugging pixie stix.


These two met at preschool and look a little bit like they could be sisters.


Five: the year where everything can happen.
 

Four years and a handful of days ago, I started this blog.  It was just after Sophie's first birthday and I started it out of guilt because I was so far behind on updating our family website that she hadn't yet appeared there.  Over the past year I've thought of giving up this site as well.  Facebook has become a good way to keep in touch with people, and sometimes writing and posting here becomes overwhelming.  But each time I look at other options, I realize that none of them would really replace this as the documentation of our family or daily lives.  So, until I find something that works better for me, GOnelsons is here to stay.  And if I'm really lucky, it will be more regularly than the past year.

On Saturday night, after all the excitement of the birthday party was over, Sophie crashed out on the couch which just left Martin and me to entertain ourselves.  He was busy playing his DS and I was preparing food for the next day, I flipped on the TV and was pleased to find that there was a Lawrence Welk Valentine's special on public television. 

"Oh Martin!  Its Lawrence Welk!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah?  Who's that?"  He asked, head barely even tipping up from the DS.

"Oh Martin, your Grandma Zamora LOVED Lawrence Welk.  She used to watch him all the time," I explained, sitting down next to him.  And seriously, what is not to love? 

There is always some great dancing where the girl gets twirled about, sometimes spun around the guy's head. 


There are great singers in matching outfits who have hair worthy of envy.


And of course, there's the man himself.  He always looks so serious when he introduces the guests and regulars on his show, then smiles broadly as the performance begins.


I like it when he turns to the orchestra; all the musicians lifting their instruments in unison.


But the part I like best is when the a musician stands up to do a solo.  And in the Lawrence Welk Orchestra the accordion has a very special place.  Here the accordion player looks directly at the camera and nods his handsome head.


Later, he stands in front of the orchestra for a fast-paced song where his fingers fly across the keys and buttons faster than the wind.


And at the end he speaks directly to the camera over thunderous applause and says "Thank you, you've just made a grandfather very happy." 


And I can imagine that this very charming accordion player has made an awful lot of GRANDMOTHERS very happy as well.  Very likely, my own.

On Sunday I asked the kids to stand together so that I could get a nice picture of the two of them on Sophie's birthday.  They'd each picked out their own outfits that day and they looked so cute, and I wanted to be sure to get a picture of it before the day got away from us.  I took quite a few thinking that out of all of them, I was likely to get one or two where they were both looking at me and neither one was pretending to be dead.  It was wishful thinking.


Song selected by Sophie.  Turns out, she loves Poison.

There are a few things about parenting that make me cringe:

1. I don't think that kids need to have a "playdate".  At my house, they can just play. 
2. A child's bedroom does not need to have a theme.  Here, the theme is "its your bedroom".
3. Similarly, kids parties do not need to have a theme.  To me, an appropriate theme is "its my birthday".
4. Gift bags for birthday parties = thorn in my side.  Giving gift bags to every kid is tricky; its difficult to give things that are treasures AND inexpensive.  Usually the two do not go hand in hand.  If you're going to give gift bags to every kid, I totally get why the treasures can land on the disposable side - buying stuff for every guest at the party can be a very expensive endeavor.  But here's the thing - after going to party after party where they get gift bags, the kids sort of expect to both give and receive them.

This was Sophie's first birthday party with other kids, and she really wanted to give away some great treasures - and by that I mean candy.  I let her pick out two of her favorites (smarties and pixie stix) and some little gift bags in which they could be placed.  To find those three items, we spent 30 minutes in the party store, 27 of which were spent with me saying "no" to hundreds of other items.  When we left, we had plates, napkins, gift bags, candy, and two plastic treasure chests (with locks!) that Sophie planned to use as "serving dishes" for the remaining candy.  We added flavored lip glosses and mini play doh containers to the mix, and we were on the way to having decent (and not totally empty) gift bags.

I really like making something for the gift bags, and I also like using things that we already have at home.  For Martin's parties we've made mix CDs, and last year we made tattoos for each kid.  This year, we decided to make our own crayon hearts.

To start, we collected bits of broken crayons from all over the house.  If broken crayon bits could be exchanged for cash, we'd be rich.


The kids peeled off the wrappers and broke the crayons into little bits.  Then, they arranged them into different color combinations in the heart-shaped silicone tray.


We placed the silicone tray on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven at 200 degrees F until they were good and melty. We took them out when some of the crayons still had visible shapes).  After it cooled completely, we popped the crayons out of the silicone mold.


They turned out to be a pretty good addition to the gift bags, and a really good project for the kids.  They liked making different color combinations and thought it was fun to start out with broken stuff and end up with something new.  We'll definitely make these again.  Maybe the next time somebody comes over for a playdate.

Unless the show is on Nick, Disney, or the Cartoon Network - its pretty rare that I watch it.  For the most part, I don't mind.  But once in awhile, I like to watch TV shows before they are released on DVD.  Tonight I'd like to watch the super bowl - more for the commercials and the hoopla than the actual game.  In order to talk Sophie into it, I've come up with a two-part strategy:

1. Food: Snack buffet.
2. Games: Super bowl Bingo.

For many years  the kids and I have played a game in the car where we identify things we pass by their logos.  They've gotten really good at it, correctly identifying all kinds of businesses even before they were able to read.  To help increase the likelihood that we'll be able to keep the game on today, I've made bingo cards to match up with likely commercial contenders.  I'm hoping we make it until halftime.


Want to play along?

Print it: Super bowl Bingo 2010

Last year Martin participated in wrestling, and by that I mean that we went to twice a week practices for one looong season, but he never actually entered a tournament.  He was new to the sport and I could tell that he didn't really understand how an actual match would go when he was on his own, so we thought he ought to wait until the next season.  At the end of last season, he wasn't totally sure that he wanted to take wrestling again.  I think he was kind of tired of the practicing, and in his defense, he hadn't gotten to experience any of the thrill of an actual match (whether that thrill is victory or defeat).  I wasn't sure if he'd take it again, but told him just to think it over.

This year when we moved, the first two guys he met were about his same age - and wrestlers.  On the spot, he decided that he'd definitely take wrestling.  And a few months later, I found myself sitting in the wrestling room of my old high school watching this:


The wrestling room still smells exactly the same - a combination of sweat and hard work and energy.  There are at least half a dozen kids in the program that are the children of people with whom I grew up.  And about half a dozen coaches that I cheered for from the mat or the stands when we were in high school.


Two weekends ago, Martin participated in his first tournament.  I don't know if he was nervous, but I sure was.


He stood ready - waiting for it to start.  Each of us had a role to play - his dad coaching from the side of the mat, I was taking pictures, Sophie was running up and down the bleachers and chugging pop when I wasn't looking. 


After three rounds of wrestling, Martin took fourth place.  Which was okay by him.  "Sure there were only four people, but its still FOURTH!  And I got a medal!"


On the heels of his first experience, we decided to take Martin to another tournament.  He was excited, interested, and it was nearby - good criteria for participation.  And with a combination of luck and gaining some skill, Martin improved his performance - THIRD.


Not only that, but he got his first PIN.


I was so proud.  So proud, that I've added a video of his first pin.  Also so proud (but in a different way) that I've edited out the audio - the audio where I'm yelling "GO GO GO!" for the entire length of each one minute period. 

Download | Duration: 00:02:19