Daniel family reunion

I'm gonna need you to raise your glass

I don't care what you put in it

Here's to nights that you can't take back

We live hard but we love to laugh..

See, we won't forget where we came from

The city won't change us

We beat to the same drum

No, we won't forget where we came from

The city can't change us

We beat to the same drum, the same drum

La-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah

La-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-doe

(Hey) And no matter where we go

We always find our way back home

I've got plenty of spring updates I'll need to get around to at some point but while it's fresh in my mind, I'm posting about the Daniel family reunion last weekend. 

Not every year, but at least every few years, there's a Daniel family reunion on or around Memorial Day weekend (unless there's a family wedding that summer in which case, the wedding does double duty as a reunion). We're a big group. My dad's father was one of nine kids and the reunion crowd includes all 9 of those lines, now 3 and 4 generations down. My dad has more than 20 first cousins! Most of us live in Texas, so we stay fairly close and can make it to events.

I remember the first time I introduced Kevin to the big extended Daniel family. He was my date to a cousin's wedding and we and my parents went to a spot on the groom's side of the church. Literally, just as Kevin was looking around and asking me "wow, are you related to ALL these people?", I could hear my mom, after surveying the same crowd, note that "it looks like a lot of people haven't made it yet." Both were correct ;) When Kevin and I got married ourselves, it was important to me to have all these people I'd shared so many moments with there for our big day. True to form, the Daniels turned up in full force. That's how we roll.

When we found out we were having a son, I knew Daniel was the perfect name to link him to this long lineage he was joining. And even in a big crowd, he's the only one with that first name ;)

My cousin (well, my dad's first cousin, my 1st cousin once removed) and her husband hosted this year's reunion at their ranch house in south Texas, so after the kids' last day of school program and Daniel's graduation (post to come), we loaded up the car and headed south. We got in late and were attacked by mosquitos as we unloaded the car, but the kids were excited anyway. They had been asking for weeks when we would be at the ranch, and of course they were thrilled to see Mimi and Baba.

The next day, rested and covered in bug spray and sunscreen, we headed over to the reunion. I have fond memories of playing with my own cousins and it was fun to watch Daniel and Rebecca play with my cousins' children while I enjoyed catching up with my counterparts. And of course, no reunion is complete without a hayride.

 

There are many pictures of me in group pictures with the cousins of my generation as we got older through the years. Now our kids are the youngest group picture and we've graduated to the parent level. It was a bit of a jolt to see that this was the first year we don't have any of the original 9 siblings at a reunion. 2 are still living, one in poor health, the other just unable to attend. My dad and his siblings and cousins have become the senior generation.

Having kids of our own now has made my cousins and me more mindful of how lucky we are to have a big close extended family and many of us talked that day about how we'll need to take a bigger role in ensuring the reunions continue and staying in touch in general. The family heritage was a gift handed down to us that we hold in trust to pass down to our own children.

The kids-there are a lot more of them than there were last time we met in 2012!

My dad, his brothers, and some of their cousins:

With spouses:

My generation, and then with our spouses/fiancées:

Yep, there's a lot of us.

What a fun weekend! Already looking forward to the next family gathering.

Rebecca is 3!

Last month our baby girl turned 3. Our sweet, funny, spirited, adventurous girl is now 3 and looking every day less like the baby she used to be and more like the little girl she's becoming.

Just after she turned 2 she started in the toddler class at Apostles Day School, and she's still enjoying that class. Academically she could handle the move to the next class, and she's met the requirement of being potty-trained since before she started at school, but her class naps every afternoon and she still seems to benefit from that. Some days she just rests rather than napping though, so I think the move up, once it happens, will go fine for her.

We celebrated her birthday as a family at Disneyland, highlighted by a character breakfast with Minnie and friends. We did her school celebration of life the following week. She asked for a purple cake with bananas, so I accommodated. Then, being a 3 year old, she decided she liked pink better instead. 3 year olds, right? ;)

She seems to enjoy school. She loves her friends and teachers and while she can be shy about showing off what she's learned, it's clear she's learning a lot. She enjoys singing songs she's learned at school and lately has enjoyed counting. She is very fond of the director of the school and asks often to sit in her lap. She's quite the cuddler!

She and Daniel are mostly best friends but do have their share of sibling squabbles. Even so, they ask often to sleep together in the same room and when I recently offered them each the chance either to each get an afternoon one-on-one to do something special with me, or to take them both together, they both immediately chose to be together. It'll be interesting to see how their relationship changes in the fall when he goes on to kindergarten and they aren't together in extended care any more in the afternoons.

Through school she does ballet, soccer, and basketball and enjoys them all, but seems most excited about her swimming lessons that she does once a week. She's really swimming pretty well for a new 3 year old and seems very proud of her progress.

Rebecca remains a pretty good sleeper-usually a good 10-12 hours uninterrupted during the night, dry, and a 1-2 hour nap most afternoons. For Christmas we swapped the crib and full-size guest bed in her room for a new queen bed with matching dresser and bookshelf. She's excited about her big girl bed and sleeps well in it.

On this particular night, she apparently felt she needed to be prepared for both cold weather and a construction job!

As for eating, well, she's still Rebecca, which is to say, she's a picky one. Pasta, yogurt, pancakes, and eggs remain favorites but most dinners are met with "I don't like that." She eats her lunch pretty well at school, at least. When she does eat her meal at home, she is slooooow.

She was born 8 days past her due date which proved to be a sign of things to come. Let's just say she doesn't have a sense of urgency on most things. Which I suppose provides Type-A mom with opportunities to practice patience ;)

As a baby she was also a very happy, affectionate girl, and that has also proven to be an early show of personality. She loves being held and is free with her "I love you's." She's also got a good sense of humor and her teachers are often telling us about funny things she says and does. She's no delicate flower either: she likes to join her brother in climbing and jumping around the house and recently earned herself quite the shiner doing just that. Yeah, I felt like Mom of the Year taking her out looking like this!

We love our sweet, silly, slowpoke, picky eater little girl. I love the way her voice rises when she asks a question, the way she asks me what flavor of kiss I want, then is "out" of every flavor I ask for except salad or cucumbers (well, I suppose they're healthy, right?) I love the feel of her arms wrapped tight around my neck. I love to see and hear her excitement as she learns new things. It's been another wonderful year with our sweet girl and I can't wait to see what the next year holds for her.

"I don't need any help with my headband!"

Montessori Night

Earlier this month the kids' school held their Montessori Night, which gives the kids a chance to show off the works they've learned to their parents. We got to watch Rebecca first then Daniel.

She was feeling shy thaat night and while we could tell she knew the works well she didn't want to show off very much. She hadn't napped that day AND had gotten shots at her well check that afternoon, which probably didn't help.

Showing us the book she made of some of her works

Organizing the knobless cylinders by size

Matching objects to the letter they start with-this one she did seem to get into and was more excited to show us

Showing us the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" book she had colored, and pointing out all the things the caterpillar ate.

Purple shirt, shorts, pink boots- yes, she did pick her own wardrobe that night ;)

Daniel, by contrast, was eager to show us one work after another. No sooner would he finish one then he was asking his teacher what he could do next.

Fractions work. He was really excited about this one. And I was surprised to see that he knew that 1/4+1/4=1/2, but I can see how this work would help students grasp that concept well.

Life cycle of a tree: he put the stages in order from seed to flower, then matched the pictures and words. He had also made a poster showing the stages, which he was proud to take home to hang on his wall.

Skip counting by 5s. He also had a song he sang to get from 0 to 100.

It was a natural progression from skip counting by 5s to using the clock. When we gave him different times-7am, 8:15, 3:40, etc., he'd move the clock hands to that time.

Trinomial cube. This work is used in older grades to teach algebra but younger kids use it to learn colors and shapes. The layers must be done one at a time and each piece will only fit in one place. Every piece must be in place for the box to close. He was able to do it quickly and confidently.

The works he's doing really seem to be developing his numbers sense and he seems to be really enjoying them and understanding the concepts well. I think that as he enters grade school, with the right curriculum and an encouraging teacher, he may really get excited about math. (I guess he inherited something from Kevin!)

This was Daniel's last Montessori Night at Apostles and seeing Rebecca's class first provided a good reminder of just how much he has learned in his time there and how much confidence he has gained. We didn't catch Rebecca on her best day this year but it was clear she knew a lot and was proud. It'll be fun to see how she does next year.

Another ADS milestone in the books for this school year!

Disneyland...When can we do this again?

Last week after months of anticipation we enjoyed our first family Disney trip. Given that every day the kids ask when we can go back, I'd say they enjoyed it pretty well!

We arrived Sunday afternoon and headed over to the park to meet my parents, who had arrived the day before to get a head start. I've been looking forward to this trip since before Daniel was born but I know they've looked forward to taking grandchildren probably even longer than that. My mom went as a child with her parents, then she and my dad took my brother and me when we were younger, and now she's experienced Disneyland as a child, parent, and grandparent.

The kids enjoyed all the rides. Daniel especially enjoyed Splash Mountain ("I got all wet! I want to do that ride again!"); unfortunately, we only got to ride it once as it was under refurbishment the rest of our trip. While the rest of us were on Splash Mountain my mom took Rebecca to the Winnie the Pooh ride, which turned out to be a favorite for her, and they rode it 3 times.

The next day brought more of the same. They both decided the Buzz Lightyear Astro-Blasters (aka "the one where we shoot bad guys with lasers, because they're trying to take my buttons and dress"-Rebecca) were a favorite so we rode that one quite a few times.

We also watched the Paint the Night Parade. This parade is the successor to the beloved Main Street Electrical Parade that ran for decades and which I'd enjoyed on every previous trip. While I'm still sad I'll never see that one again live, Paint the Night is a worthy successor. Daniel was on Kevin's shoulders, Rebecca's on my dad's, and I was watching their faces at least as much as the parade itself. Their faces say it all-they loved it!

Walking hand in hand out of the Buzz Lightyear ride, our last ride of the night

A few weeks before the trip I upgraded phones because my 5S was out of storage and I'd been making it work as long as I could. I debated between the iPhone 6 or 6s and ended up going with the 6S in large part because of the improved camera and the Live Photo feature which, effectively, captures a 3 second video instead of just a still photo. This trip convinced me that that feature alone justified the upgrade. Take the 2 parade photos above-you can see the kids are excited. But now look at the Live Photo versions (one from a different night)-you see and hear the emotion and excitement. It's not just a 2D memory. It's 3D with texture, and I find myself smiling every time I rewatch the Live Photos from the week. (Alas, the major drawback at this point is that the Live Photos are really best seen on new Apple devices-to put them on this blog I had to download video versions. But in time, I expect sharing to become easier.)

The next day we ventured to the California Adventure park. On my last Disneyland visit 15+ years ago this was under construction so this would be the first visit for all 4 of us. The highlight was CarsLand modeled on the town of Radiator Springs from the Cars movies. Daniel loved the Lightning McQueen race car ride. Rebecca wasn't tall enough to ride it but we made use of the "rider swap" feature so one adult or pair could stand in line with Daniel, get a rider swap pass, ride, then hand the rider swap pass to the other adults, who then got to go almost to the front of the line with Daniel.

Rebecca met Jessie from Toy Story and was excited to show off her light-up pink boots. Again, still photo versus Live is a big difference.

 

That night my parents took the kids and Kevin and I enjoyed a nice dinner and wine at a restaurant just outside the park. The next morning Daniel and Rebecca couldn't wait to tell us about the magical headboards in Mimi and Baba's hotel room that lit up with fireworks!

Thursday was Rebecca's 3rd birthday. When you're in Disneyland for your daughter's 3rd birthday, and she loves Minnie Mouse, what better way to start the day than with a character breakfast with Minnie and friends? She loved meeting Minnie and Pooh but was rather cool toward Captain Hook, "the bad guy." 

I love this Live Photo:

Between breakfast with Minnie, a day at Disneyland capped off with Paint the Night Parade and the fireworks show, and stopping for ice cream on our way back to the hotel, I'd have thought that would be the perfect birthday for a 3 year old. Alas, she burst into tears while we were in the hotel eating ice cream, disappointed that she didn't have a candle to blow out. Nice try, mom. (I did rectify that omission this week with a strawberry cake with purple icing and bananas for her school birthday party, because purple is her favorite color. Except that after seeing the cake, she declared that pink was her new favorite color. Better luck next year.)

Friday was our last day and we made it count, hitting many favorite rides one last time. On past trips I remember the last hours of the final nights being a mad rush to hit all the big rides again. This time, the final rides included the Tiki Room, Tarzan Tree House, Alice in Wonderland, and of course, a few more rounds of Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters to shoot a few more bad guys with lasers. Then it was goodbye Disneyland till next time.

Five days proved to be about right. I had thought Rebecca might get tired and cranky as the week went on but she held up like a champ. We went back to the hotel every day for a nap and she took a long one each day. She didn't seem upset about not getting to do all the rides Daniel could; she was perfectly happy to do something else instead. She finally had a meltdown once we'd arrived back in Dallas at the airport, as I was trying to get her strapped into the car seat to go home. She fell asleep on the 20 minute drive home. Daniel never napped (the only one of the four of us who didn't), but he was ready for some downtime by the end too.

Our expectations when we scheduled the trip for February were that crowds would be light but weather would likely be cool. Sort of right on the one, not so much on the other. 

We arrived on Super Bowl Sunday and while it wasn't as crowded as summer, we were definitely not the only ones who had the thought to skip the game and go to the park instead. The next day, Monday, was almost as crowded, which surprised me till we found out there was a parade there for Peyton Manning. The rest of the days were a little lighter, and we seldom waited in a line more than 30 minutes, so I guess it wasn't busy, just felt that way. There were definitely far fewer school-aged kids than normal, most kids were preschool aged and younger.

The cool weather we had expected, on the other hand? Not so much. It was in the mid-high 50s early morning and at night but reached nearly 90 with full sun during the day. We'd usually leave the hotel in the morning in shorts and tee shirts then return in the evening after our naps in jeans and pullovers.

Another aspect that was a little surprising is that those fast jerky rides are a little harder on an adult body than I recall them being when I was young. Still fun, but a visit to the chiropractor was definitely in order after all that. I guess the carrying and holding kids might have had something to do with it too.

We had wondered if the kids were at good ages for a Disney trip. I was 8 the first time I went and Kevin hadn't been as a child at all, so this was uncharted territory for us. The timing was mainly about getting in during the offseason before Daniel started grade school and that wouldn't be possible, and getting to go while Rebecca was still (barely) under 3 and didn't need a ticket. This turned out to be a great time. They loved seeing the characters and were really taken with the magic of everything in a way they may not be in a few years. Daniel was old enough to ride most rides but was happy for the most part to do the ones Rebecca could do too. And she didn't seem to be upset that she couldn't ride some of the rides. I'm glad we were out of the diaper stage and never had to wait in the sometimes long lines for a changing station, but it'll be nice later once we can visit stroller-free. It was nice to have a stroller there, but the week did remind me why we very seldom used strollers when the kids were younger. I wore Rebecca in my Beco carrier sometimes but she did get heavy, and it was hard to get her in and out as often as she wanted. Still, the hands-free aspect was nice and much easier for navigating through crowds than the stroller was.

We went into this trip with high expectations, me with nostalgia for prior visits, Kevin and the kids having never been, and having talked it up for months. And for all that, I think it still exceeded expectations. We're definitely looking forward to going back in a few years (now that Rebecca needs a ticket, we'll wait till she's tall enough to ride most of the rides) and it'll be fun to see which old favorites they want to do over and over again and which rides catch their interest anew. As the Paint the Night soundtrack says "I gotta know, my friends, when can we do this again?"

Daniel's 1st triathlon!

As I was perusing race options for myself a few weeks ago, I noticed a kids' triathlon on the schedule, the Monster Kids Tri in Keller. After reading more about it I thought Daniel might enjoy it and it would be a fun introduction for him into a sport I love. I told him about it and he was very enthusiastic so I signed him up.

As race day drew closer and I talked with him about what to expect he would get a big smile on his face and say he couldn't wait. The night before I walked him through my own pre-race ritual: inflate bike tires, make sure all labels are affixed to bike and helmet, load the bike on (or, in this case, in) the car, pack all gear, lay out clothes. 

Race morning started early. The race started at 7:30 and was a 30 minute drive from the house so we were out the door by 6:20. At first Daniel was hard to wake but he quickly became alert and excited once he realized what day it was. I offered to let him sleep in the car on the way there but he asked me to play loud music for him-just as I do on my race mornings! So we rocked out to Pitbull and Eminem and danced in our seats.

When we parked and went to the body marking line he said he had rocket boosters on his bike but was going to save them for the race. We enjoyed visiting with the families around us. Unsurprisingly, the parents were all triathletes themselves, and I have to say I haven't seen so much M-Dot (Ironman) apparel since Ironman Village in Victoria. I'm sure for all of them this race meant what it did to me: the chance to include our children in the sports we're passionate about. To share it with them so that our hobby isn't just something that takes us away from them but something fun we can enjoy together.

Of course, it's also about giving the kids a fun experience, and this tri definitely delivered. After body marking, we set up his transition area and headed into the natatorium where he took a spot with the rest of the Leap Frog (youngest kids) group. 

Finally, the event started, with the Leap Frogs starting 5 at a time. Their swim was 25m-one length of the pool, and each lane had a teen escort (I assume members of a local swim team) who had a pool noodle for the kids to hold onto. Daniel has swum 25m  before but made use of the noodle. I was waiting at the end of the lane and together we ran out to transition (note to self: next time bring the towel inside for him). Swim down, bike and run to go.

He was cold so wanted to wear pants and a long-sleeve shirt under his short-sleeve race tee shirt with race number. After one wardrobe change (and a little unplanned nudity when he decided to take off his swimsuit instead of layering the pants over it!), he got his helmet on and we walked the bike out of transition and over to the mount line. I watched him roll away on his balance bike and awaited his return. The bike was a 1 mile out-and-back, and soon enough he appeared on the other side of the road inbound for transition. I cheered him on as he rode to the dismount line and we ran the bike back to transition. 

We dropped off the bike and helmet and grabbed his Aggie cap (I wear an Aggie visor at my races, so this was his version of that) and sunglasses and headed out for the run. I asked Daniel if he wanted me to run with him or wait at the finish line and he wanted me to go with him and hold his hand. I'm recovering from a stress fracture and not really supposed to run but I couldn't pass up the chance to hold my son's hand as he ran his very first triathlon and I figured I could handle a .3 mile run at a 5 year old's pace. We ran-walked it and before long, the finish line was in sight. 

Holding hands, we ran together under the finish marker as the announcer called out "Daniel Williamson of Irving, first triathlon!" He got his finisher medal and was just beaming with pride as he looked at it.

Before we had even walked back to the car Daniel was already asking when he could do his next triathlon, and as he'd look at his medal he kept saying "I'm so, so happy I have this." I told him that the rule was after a race, the athlete gets to pick where to eat and he chose Chik-Fil-A "so I can eat chicken and fruit and play in the playscape." Of course, by the time we got there, the post-race doughnut he'd eaten at the finish line had had time to settle so he didn't touch his food but Rebecca got there just in time to eat it all. Younger siblings have their uses ;)

Afterward Daniel declared that he wanted a medal hanger like mine to hang this and all the other medals he plans to earn, and he asks every day when he gets to do his next race. I'm so glad he enjoyed the race and look forward to sharing more triathlon experiences-his and mine-over the coming years. It was well worth the early morning and drive to see the pride and joy on his face. My little triathlete!