Bad Words

A while back Marcus and I walked into a smelly bathroom at a restaurant. He looked at me and said, "Dad, it smells like 'bad words' in here!"

Marcus Loves Soccer

Our soccer season is winding down and Karen was able to take some photos of the boys' game. She helped coach the girls' team, so I'm hopeful we can get some photos from their game next week. Anyway, he really loves soccer now and has made great strides from a year ago when he layed down on the grass and watched the clouds blow by.

Here, he's either making a great pass or he's about to fall down. I'm not sure which.

 

This is one of his signature moves - knock the kid with the ball down and it's yours! I think the other kid legitimately fell on his own this time...

 Here he is celebrating after one of his 2 goals today.

 

 Of course he is 5, so there is plenty of silliness that takes place.

His best buddy Escher is the master of funny faces on the soccer pitch. I'm tempted to create a post dedicated to this kid's expressions.

Coaching young boys can be frustrating at times, but we have made a lot of progress and had fun along the way.

Test Run and 2nd Grade Musical

On Monday evening, Marcus inquired about the what would happen if he got sick while at school (West Canyon). I told him to tell his teacher and she would send him to the nurse's office, where she would check him out. If he really was sick, she would call Karen or I, who would ask a LOT of questions before we conceded and picked him up. I also told him he missed a bunch of days for Disneyland, so he better go to school unless he wants to repeat Kindergarten. The nurse has spoken with us a few times now and also knows that Karen is a hard-ass and won't let the kids out of school unless they meet certain criteria.

Tuesday, Marcus said he told his teacher he was sick, so he went to the "Doctor's office." She took his temperature and sent his ass back to class without calling us because he was fine. Good job, "Doctor!"

Elena's 2nd grade class put on a musical performance this evening. It was actually pretty good. They did a firefly song in the dark with flashlights. Elena was a bee, and had a speaking part which went something like, "If only you could be as sweet as me!" If only they knew....

Soccer starts in a couple of weeks. The girls' 'dream team' will be back together again with the addition of one new girl. Marcus has most of his teammates back as well, plus his best buddy Escher. We are looking forward to it!

Disneyland

Karen and I did our parental duty last week and took the kids to Disneyland, Disney California Adventures, and Legoland. We flew down there and stayed in a VRBO condo within walking distance of the park. Here are our very photogenic kids shortly after entering the park.

We went to Disneyland on our first full day of the trip. We weren't sure how the kids would do with rides in regards to motion sickness and the scare factor. It turns out we have some adrenaline junkies. I remember holding on to the roller coaster car with one hand and Marcus with the other while he had his arms up flopping around all over the place howling with joy.

We started out with simple, safe rides and moved on up from there. On the second day we did a character breakfast. Basically you pay an egregious amount of money for a buffet breakfast in order to have characters come by and love on the kids. Marcus REALLY enjoyed the Mickey waffles.

 

 

 

 

Our friends Amber and Jalie joined us for a couple of days while we were there. We went to Legoland together on Saturday. LegoLand wasn't really showing up on our radar until I found a bundle of park tickets that incuded it. Once Marcus discovered that such a place existed he had to go. This would be the highlight of the trip for him.

The Ninjago ride was one of tour favorites of the trip. It's not a crazy thrill ride, but you get to shoot lots of fun stuff.

This is pretty much how Marcus looked most of the day.

Here are Amber and Jalie on a boat ride. It sucked. Amber had to stand in about 4" of water and had soggy shoes the rest of the day. Thankfully our kids were too short to ride it.

 Still loving it...

What do parents do when they take their kids to a theme park? They are smiling because they totally knew I busted them.

 

Here are a couple more pics from LegoLand.

 

Marcus was pretty used-up after LegoLand!

Sunday: Temperatures near 90 degrees. Time to go to the beach! We went to Corona del Mar.

We made sandcastles, found the smallest starfish known to man, and checked out some tide pools. Very nice, relaxing day in the sun. Amber's husband Bill joined us for the day.

We met lots of characters while visiting both parks. the kids love it and it's a welcome break from the rides and endless walking. We walked about 10 miles/day when in Disneyland and DCA.

Elena loved meeting the princesses. Marcus wasn't really into it until I found Spider-Man hanging out around the corner. Marcus was so excited to get his autograph that he was shaking.

Elena loved meeting the princesses.

 

 

 

 When you miss the window for a meet-and-greet, but you share the princess's name...

 This photo is from the Radiator Springs Races ride. Like most of our roller coaster photos, you can only see the top of Marcus' head and his extended arms.

The Big "T"

 

For some reason, Elena  is obsessed with climbing Lizard Butte, a local landmark.

Yesterday my friend Andy, Elena, and I were in the car together. Andy asked why she liked to climb Lizard Butte.

She said: I like to climb to the top and stand next to the big "T." Then, later: "Why is there a big "T" at the top?

Me: "It's actually a cross. It's kind of an important religious symbol."

Her: "Why did they choose the letter 'T'"?