Lucky number seven

Happy birthday to my amazing boy, Ian. We decided to try something new for his party this year. The Virginia Aquarium has an Adventure Park ropes and zip line course in the trees behind it. We primarily picked it because they let you bring your own food for the party which allowed our gluten sensitive guests to eat the same things everyone else did. It also was something completely new for all of us, kids and adults.

We ended up with nine kids and four adults acting as chaperones. Those adults were really needed in the beginning for the younger kids. But what amazed me is that for Lily and Gabi (the six year olds under my watchful eye), their biggest challenge was being too short for some of the clip locations. Otherwise, they did great, even better than their older brother and Ian at times.

The session starts with a mandatory bathroom break for everyone, which is smart given the complexity of the harnesses we had to put on. We then got a 20 minute lesson on how the carabiners work and how to transfer from line to line. As the instructor started his schpeal I thought, "This is going to be a fiasco. There's no way these kids got all that." He asked if there were any questions and the kids all shook their heads no. I was dubious.

And damn their times, they just clipped in and went to town. Lily was the one closest to me and she just kept saying, "This one is locked and this one is unlocked. So this is how you do it, Miss Genie." These kids could barely get their little fingers to reach the release and the clip at the same time but they were undaunted by the zip line procedures to hook up three different things in a very particular order. Behold the power of motivation. These little wildlings wanted to be up in the trees something fierce.

I was so delighted to follow along behind them. Feens got to her first platform about 10 feet in the air and threw her little fists into the air screaming, "I did it!!!" You could actually hear the multiple exclamation points at the end of her sentence.

We had our food and presents and I can tell you, as an adult, I was wiped out. The children, however, were still going strong. We decided to pool our efforts and let them do their Lord of the Flies thing in the streets of Ocean View. They have been racing up and down the road between our collective houses, riding bikes and scooters all over, and killing zombies in the treehouse out back. Good times.

I ordered pizza and made Ian's birthday giant chocolate chip cookie for the remaining gluten tolerant people to inhale for dinner. And I'm enjoying the relative peace and quiet of the house while the kids laugh outside.

Today was a good day.

Neptune Festival

I asked Ian this morning as we were snuggled in bed if he wanted to go to the Neptune Festival this weekend. I started describing that it's on the oceanfront and there are little shops ... "Oh, I thought it was about Neptune and there would be a bunch of giant telescopes." "Well, that would be an awesome festival too."

We then discussed that Neptune is a (pause while I thought about it ...) Roman god. I told him that the Greeks and the Romans - "Who are the Greeks and the Romans?" He had no context. They could have been sports teams for all he knew. So we talked about how people from France are called French. And people from Mexico are called Mexicans. So people from Greece are called Greeks and people from Rome are called Romans. But a long time ago there were civilizations.

"Do you know what a civilization is?" "Yeah, like Egypt?" "Sorta."

So then we went through civilizations and how they have government and cities and cultures and religions. And some civilizations believe in one god and some civilizations believe in lots of gods.

"Like the bible. The only two things I remember about the bible are Adam and Eve were the first two people and that Jesus died for us. Do you know some people don't believe in Jesus? But I watched a Youtube video about people who died and came back to life and this one lady said she went to heaven and saw Jesus."

"Ok! So! Back to Neptune. He was the Roman god of the sea. And there's a big statue of him down at the oceanfront. And we'll look at sand sculptures and eat funnel cake and look at jewelry." "Is jewelry expensive?" "Some is and some isn't." "I would like to buy a ring please at the Neptune Festival." "We can totally do that."

All of this before 7am. I'm tuckered and yet totally enamored with him.

First day of first grade

Ian and I went for his "meet the teacher" session last week. He was excited to see his new classroom, see some kids, and meet his new teacher Ms. Boutwell (as in about well). The teacher talked a lot about reading and how if my kid doesn't know how to read now he will by the end of the year. Ian and I kind of just looked at each other because he's currently reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - slowly, but with great accuracy. Ian's schedule this year is:

8:55-9:05 Announcements 9:05-11:00 Shared reading and guided reading groups 11:00-11:45 Writing and Calendar Math 11:45-12:35 Lunch and Recess (lunch is 11:50-12:20) 12:40-1:40 Math 1:40-2:10 Science and Social Studies 2:10-2:55 Resource (Art, Music, PE twice a week) 3:00-3:15 D.E.A.R (Drop everything and read) and Dismissal

My kid gets 15 minutes for recess (12:20-12:35pm) every day and twice a week he gets P.E. for 45 minutes. Otherwise he's sitting and learning. I'm a grown up and that day looks taxing to me. Thankfully, when he gets to Jenna's in the afternoon, she throws them outside, but it's still rough. I don't see Ian until 5:30pm. With no naps at school, he is exhausted by 7:30pm and asleep by 8:30pm at the latest. He's up between 6:30 and 7am every morning.

I offered to take him to school this morning because he had two large bags of supplies for the classroom in addition to his backpack. I wanted to take his picture in front of the house but he suddenly looked unhappy. He told me his smile was awful. This was after he suddenly felt sick at the breakfast table and was slow to get out of bed this morning despite popping awake at 6am all summer.

I told him he looks great and I love his smile. It looks a lot like mine in that you can tell we're happy if our eyes disappear behind our cheeks. I asked him if he was nervous about school. He nodded yes.

"But Mom, they're going to have hard math!"

I assured him that he was brilliant and that the math would not be too hard for him. I told him no one was attacking him for how he feels and it's perfectly normal to be nervous about starting something new. "It happens to me all the time and I'm a grown up. But all the chemicals that make you excited and scared are basically the same. So take it as a good sign that you're body is working just fine and go for it. You'll do great."

He smiled a little and climbed into the Jeep. We drove the 3/4 mile to school with his leg hanging out, his eyes closed in the wind, his shaggy hair blowing all over. (He wants to grow his hair long like his new friend Kieran, so no back to school haircut this year.) I pulled up to the school, handed him his bags and called out "I love you!" to him.

I hope the school rested up all summer so they are ready for him. He's a lot of kid but worth it.