Catching up...

So given that my last post was from the first day of school in August it would seem that I'm falling down on the job here with the blogging. At some point I'll catch up on the time and events in between, from field trips to lost holidays to marches and beyond, but since Rebecca just had her birthday we're just going to pick up there for now ;)

Rebecca is 4!

Rebecca turned 4 last month and she's quite excited about it. As we do every year around her birthday, we watched the video our birth photographer shot of Kevin's and my first hours cuddling with our newest addition, and it was hard to believe she'd ever been that small. 2017 Rebecca said "I'm big enough to hold that baby Rebecca now!"

A few months ago we had gone to a trampoline park for a birthday party for one of Daniel's friends and Rebecca declared that she wanted to have her party there too. She never wavered from that decision, so that's what we did. About a dozen of her friends, mostly from school, came out to join her in jumping, playing, and eating cupcakes.

Speaking of those cupcakes, she threw me a curveball by asking for "rainbow cupcakes." I Googled, showed her a picture, and she confirmed that was what she wanted. So, all I had to do was learn how to make them. I cook a lot but seldom bake so I had my doubts but turns out (shh, don't tell!), it's actually not that hard, just involved.  So, she wanted rainbow cupcakes, she got them! Non-crafty mom for the win ;)

She's in Ms. Susie's class in preschool and loves her and Ms. Shweta, the assistant teacher. She loves learning and taking on challenging works. The most exciting recent development on that front: reading! She started with tentatively sounding out 3-letter words but is becoming more confident and progressing to longer words and books by the day. 

No one is more excited about this development than big brother Daniel. He's like another proud parent, the way he cheers her on and helps her sound out tough words. It's really sweet to see.

Best friends...
Rebecca has several school/church friends she's close with but she and Daniel are probably each other's best friends these days. They want to sleep in the same room any chance they can get and even when we have to separate them for being noisy, we've later gone back up and found that one had snuck into the other's room anyway, like on this night.

But the funniest discovery was the other night. We had told them to go to their own rooms but when I went into their rooms to give one last goodnight kiss I was surprised to find neither one was in their rooms. Then I opened one of the doors to the jack and jill bathroom between their rooms and found...this.

Apparently they wanted to be together so badly that they were willing to forego beds and sheets to be together!

...alas, not more
One day on the way home from school pickup they blindsided me out of nowhere with a surprising idea: they wanted to get married and have babies together! As I navigated a 2-ton vehicle through rush hour traffic I pondered how to respond to that. Being a lawyer I went with the "sorry, that's against the law" card, but said that they would always be in each other's lives as brother and sister and getting married is about finding someone who isn't already in your family and making a new family. They were so sad ("but whyyy can't we have babies together?") but seemed somewhat mollified when I said that they could each pick someone to marry and the couples could live right next door and all be best friends, and when they learned that girls can marry girls and boys can marry boys (look kids, you have a lot of options, way more than most people have throughout history, you just can't pick someone in your family!). It's funny, I can disappoint my kids at least half a dozen different ways on any given day, that just wasn't one I saw coming!

The topic has come up again a few more times since that evening so they haven't quite let the idea go yet but I imagine as they get older it'll sort itself out and the idea of marrying their sibling will sound awful ;) But they're very sweet with each other--Daniel especially is endlessly generous with Rebecca and has even been known to give her his whole dessert sometimes--so if they hold out for a mate who treats them as well as their sibling does, they're setting a good high bar.

Okay, even this post took me a month and a half to finish. Maybe I'll catch up and work in some events from fall and winter next...we'll see ;)

Kindergarten!

We have a kindergartener! Last Monday Daniel had his first day at Coppell Classical Academy. So far, we seem to be missing old friends and teachers but settling in well and beginning to make new friends.

Our first day of school pictures:

That first morning kindergarten parents got to walk our kids in rather than drop them off in car line. Rebecca was excited to come too and see her brother's classroom. He hung his backpack up on the hook by his cubby and we went into the classroom. His teacher told him to take any open he wanted so he marched over to a table full of girls, started coloring a picture, and looked up at us like "ok, you can go now!"

That afternoon I came to pick him up and expected him to be excited to see me. Instead, he was disappointed I was there-he was having fun playing tag with his friend Adam (another Apostles grad) in the gym and wanted to play longer!

(Side note: this kid has wonderful natural running form. I see greatness there!)

We had a bit of excitement Thursday. He lost his first tooth a few weeks ago-one of the bottom middle teeth-and its neighbor had been wiggly too for awhile. It finally came out Thursday at school during after care. Apparently a friend bumped into him while they were playing outside and knocked it a little looser then, during snack time, he was eating a banana and out it came. It fell out on the picnic blanket the kids were eating on and he couldn't find it. One of the teachers, bless her, looked around trying to find it but to no avail. The tooth fairy "found" it though and left him a note and a treat anyway.

It's been a little bit of an adjustment for him and all of us going to a new school. He's excited about his new teacher and school but leaving the school, friends, and teachers that were a huge part of his life for 4 years is understandably hard for him. But when his new school uniform shirts came in weeks ago he started wearing them right away, he was so excited. 

I'm sure there must be moments he's happy about it and moments he wishes he was back at Apostles. I've tried to help him understand that that's normal and okay. As he settles in further and makes more friends, I imagine he'll come to love CCA more, and we've talked about making plans with old friends often so they can stay in touch. Anyone would find it hard to leave a place they've been and loved for 4 years, but for a 6 year old, he literally doesn't remember a time before he spent most weekdays at Apostles.

The school decision

So this isn't the public elementary school we're zoned for. How did we wind up here? (Note: this part's probably really boring for anyone not facing a school choice of their own...I just like to keep good notes on process so I can use for future reference.)

Last year we started looking into options. The public school near us, La Villita Elementary, was a good option, certainly one we could live with if we didn't find anything we liked better, but we wondered what else might be available. While we're in a good district (which is itself a tenuous metric, given that good test scores and affluent socioeconomic status seem to correlate pretty strongly), my concern was that even if my kids got motivated and talented teachers, those teachers might be constrained by budget and administration to a degree teachers in other types of schools wouldn't. Also, I didn't like that I couldn't find much detail about the curriculum despite a lot of research. Were they using scientific reading and math instruction methods, or were teachers just doing what they'd done in the past without critical examination of best practices? (Yes, I'm that nerd who doesn't work in education but read a book about educational best practices. Twice.)

There are some private schools nearby but we ruled them out pretty quickly. I'm a private school grad myself so I can certainly appreciate their benefit, but they are very pricy and we had to wonder if they were really THAT much better than other options to merit spending the cost of a new car on one kid's tuition every year (to say nothing of what would happen once Rebecca gets older). We'd happily pay the cost if we felt it was the best choice for our kids, but as we evaluated we found some other options that we felt offered similar quality for a far better price-free-charter schools.

Charter education is controversial these days, and for good reason. Some charter programs nationwide are excellent, on par with the best public and private schools, others are fly-by-night scam artists that provide subpar education or close overnight leaving students in the lurch. And there is fair concern that some programs may be cherry-picking locations to drive their results rather than filling unmet need or serving as a channel for controversial views. So when I saw there were some charter options near us, I was interested but wanted to learn more.

3 stood out as good options: North Hills Prep, Great Hearts Academy, and Coppell Classical Academy. All are lottery admission, so all we could do was apply and hope for the best. North Hills wasn't offering tours until winter and we knew that our odds of acceptance were slim, so we resolved to apply but not spend much effort on it till later. We scheduled tours with Great Hearts and Coppell Classical in November-by coincidence, on the same day.

Great Hearts was first up. Like many charters, it uses repurposed building space-in this case, a former nursing college. It serves grades K-12-lower grades on the 1st floor, upper grades on the 2nd floor. It felt...well, like a private school. The walls were full of art, the students in uniform, the lessons we listened in on were interesting, the teachers passionate, the students articulate and engaged. In each classroom, a student was designated to be the greeter, look each visitor in the eye, shake our hands, and introduce himself or herself. I found myself thinking I'd have loved to go to school at a place like this. The facility wasn't an obvious match for a grade school but clearly worked well, for the most part. It seemed they still had some finishing touches to do but it was definitely a good campus. Their curriculum seemed thoughtfully designed and sound and they were proud to share details about it. They seemed to welcome informed parent questions-no hiding the ball here.

There was a lot to like about it, no doubt. But I found myself thinking that as good of a school as it clearly was, it might not be the best fit for Daniel. It's big physically-big building, big classrooms, tall ceilings, and also a fairly large enrollment. Daniel had thrived so well at Apostles with its small class sizes and cozy space. I wondered if this might feel overwhelming to him. And the kids are taught to sit in "scholar position" in class- not a bad thing in itself, but given Daniel's ADHD, I felt that it might be too rigid of a setting for him. I could see it being a great fit in junior high or high school, maybe, but wasn't sure about it for elementary school. Kevin felt the same way-we both liked the school a lot but wondered if it was the best fit for Daniel. Still, we came away impressed and interested.

After lunch, it was on to Coppell Classical. Like Great Hearts, it's also housed in a repurposed space-a former church building. It had student artwork on the wall instead of the classic prints Great Hearts had, and its classrooms and hallways were smaller and the space felt more casual. I liked it though-it felt cozy and cheerful. Here, as at Great Hearts, the kids were also in uniform, alert, and seemed engaged, but the atmosphere was a little less formal. The director led our tour himself (and had personally called to respond to my email asking for information) and went into a lot of detail about the curriculum (similar to Great Hearts' in the classical education focus, phonics-based reading, and Singapore math), but also talked about how, while the school's test scores were excellent, they were careful not to put pressure on the kids and didn't put much focus on the state tests. It was clear they encouraged a thoughtful educational environment, but also a warm one.

I asked both tour guides that day the same question and the different answers they gave were instructive. I asked how they attract and retain top teachers, given that teacher quality is one of the biggest drivers of educational attainment. At Great Hearts, we were told, the school sought out people who knew their subject matter well and actively encouraged them to further their own studies as part of their development as educators. Not a bad answer-knowing your kid's teacher is spending part of an in-service day reading Plato seems like a good thing. I'm my own boss and I take continuing my own education quite seriously, reading way more CLE articles than I need for my annual credits just because I'm always looking to become better. If I were a teacher, a school that encouraged that would be quite attractive.

The Coppell Classical director's answer was a little different. He said that in the past they had let go of several smart teachers who knew their material well but weren't effective educators, and their focus was on finding excellent teachers who kept up with best practices and really had a heart for the job, who looked at the students in their classes as being like family, and also fostered strong camaraderie as a staff. Of the two good answers, this one resonated more with me. As board chair of the preschool, I feel strongly that the best draw we have is our teachers-ladies who truly love teaching and are passionate about it. I liked hearing that that was valued at Coppell Classical and could see how it would attract good teachers who really want to teach, not just do test prep.

The day actually reminded us of when we had been touring preschools 4 years ago looking for the right fit for our almost 2-year-old. We looked at another Montessori earlier in the day and then to Apostles. The other school was nice, in a new facility, with a greenhouse, computer lab, and Spanish and Mandarin classes. It was a good school and I could see why they were proud of it. Apostles is in an older building with smaller classrooms and fewer amenities, but the minute we we walked in, we could feel that it was a place where the kids weren't just taught and cared for, but really loved. I knew Daniel would love it and couldn't wait for him to start. We felt the same way 4 years later about Coppell Classical. On paper, in some ways, Great Hearts was the more attractive option, but the feel of Coppell Classical was what we were looking for, and it was at the top of our list after that.

Now all we had to do was apply in the lottery and hope we got in. We applied to all 3-well, 4 actually. Coppell Classical has a sister school in Carrollton which we listed as our second choice. We figured if we only got into one, that's where we would go, and if we were lucky enough to have 2 or more options to pick from, so much the better.

I don't know what number we were on the waitlist with North Hills, but apparently we were so far down they didn't even bother to send us a letter or email and I only saw we hadn't gotten in from their website. I wasn't too upset about that. It's only a block from the house so certainly had the convenience factor, but it had a reputation for being overly rigorous-not really what I was looking for.

Great Hearts had us in the 90s on their waitlist (now up to 39, apparently). Given that we didn't expect 90+ families to pass up a spot, we didn't pin our hopes on that.

Then there was the Responsive Ed lottery for the Classical Academies. We got admitted to Carrollton and number 24 on the waitlist at Coppell. I was glad to have an acceptance in hand but hoped we'd get in to Coppell. Mr. Sisk, the director, saw me at the lottery event and recognized me from our meeting months earlier, and told me to be optimistic because 20s on the waitlist were likely to get in.

While we were in Disneyland in February I got a call from someone at Carrollton telling us we had till the end of the day to either accept our seat or release it, and if we accepted, we'd be removed from the Coppell waitlist. Hoping for the best, we turned the seat loose and hoped the Coppell waitlist came through for us. 

Over the next few months we moved up the list little by little (though through some technical glitch, they weren't tracking us properly for awhile, but were able to sort out when I called). Finally, while I was sitting in the Detroit airport in June about to board our flight to Montreal, I got the email we'd been waiting for-we were in! We were about to enter the land of limited data plans so I quickly responded that we accepted.

It's funny, as much as I'm a logical, Type-A person, I've found that I always make big decisions pretty much the same way: I use research to narrow to a few options, then go with my heart. It has generally served me pretty well, and I think that process led us to the right school for Daniel. Any of our options would have been an excellent academic school, but I feel like he'll best thrive in a smaller setting with teachers committed not only to teaching but to really nurturing their students. So far, it feels like a good choice.

The good news is that assuming we're happy at CCA, as I expect us to be, we shouldn't have to go through this again. Rebecca will have sibling priority so will get in easily when her turn comes, and the school system goes all the way up through high school so we just keep moving along to the next campus-no reapplying to get in. Knock on wood, we may have done all our school admissions till college!

Padre trip

Last month we did what the Daniels and Williamsons do every summer-we went to Padre Island for a long weekend. This year's trip was special though-for the first time, we were there on Daniel's birthday.

It's fun to see how the kids' experiences change from year to year. It's the same beach, same condo, same ocean, same sand, but every visit is different. This year we got the kids inner tubes and with those, they played in the ocean a lot more than in past years.

Of course, they still enjoyed playing in the sand too. We dug a lot of holes and built walls (of the non-offensive variety ;)) and had fun filling the holes with water to make swimming pools.

Kevin buried each kid in sand.

There was also time for swimming in the pool...

Super-Rebecca captured in flight!

...and cuddling with grandparents Mimi and Baba...

...and trying on their glasses.

For Daniel's birthday dinner we went to Gabriella's, one of our favorite island restaurants. 

But what was Daniel and Rebecca's favorite part of the whole trip? Sandcrabbing with Mimi and Baba, of course! That was their favorite thing last year too and they're always asking when they can go back. This year Daniel was brave enough to pick up the crabs himself!

It was a great trip, and we're all looking forward to going back next year!

Daniel's 6th birthday

My boy is 6 years old now! We celebrated our birthday boy in style.

For Daniel's first birthday we did a pool party at an aquatic center in Coppell. It went so well we've been on repeat and had every birthday party there since. It's always been a fun time with friends and this year was no exception. It was especially nice to give Daniel and his school friends another fun time together as they prepare to part ways and head off for kindergarten.

Last year he requested a "Prince Wednesday" cake modeled on one he saw on a Daniel Tiger episode, and he asked for the same thing again this time.

He also had a special request for his birthday breakfast-our usual weekend eggs, pancakes, and bacon, but dyed green! It looked like the Grinch took over our kitchen.

When we got home from the party he got to open his gift from Mommy and Daddy-his first pedal bike! He was thrilled.

Later that afternoon I took him to the field near the playground by our house and pushed him as he go the hang of steering. About 10 minutes in I let go and this happened!

Since then he's progressed further, first riding loops around the parking lot needing help pushing off, then starting on his own and now, the other day, riding 6 miles on the Campion Trail with me. He loves that bike and I'm looking forward to a lot more rides together!

His birthday party was actually the weekend before his birthday. We spent the actual day at Padre Island as part of our annual beach trip-another post.

It's been a wonderful 6 years with our sweet boy. I'm excited to see what the next year has in store!

Quebec trip

Another summer, another foray to our neighbor to the north. Last summer we enjoyed our visit to Victoria, BC on the west coast of Canada so this summer we explored a new area of the country none of us had been to before-the province of Quebec, near the east coast.

After my half Ironman in Victoria I immediately started researching other possible races for this year and settled rather quickly on Mont-Tremblant, QC. It sounded like a beautiful area with lots of family-friendly activities, scenic and challenging course, and an exceptionally well-organized race. I registered the day registration opened, which proved to be a good choice given that all spots were filled up that same day.

Mont-Tremblant is a small town about 90 minutes from Montreal, the tourist-focused part of which is a ski village.  It certainly makes business sense for the town to make itself into a triathlon designation during the summer, when there's no skiing, but the ski village set-up with shops, restaurants, and activities all within a compact walkable area also makes for a very athlete-friendly setup for those who travel with their families. 

Our hotel was right in the village and all the shops, restaurants, and attractions were within a 5-minute walk. So was the race transition area and swim start-can't get much easier than that!

We got into Montreal early on Thursday evening. Unbeknownst to us the next Friday was St. Jean Bapiste day (a "national holiday" in Quebec, however that works) so we wound up sitting in what I gather must has been holiday weekend traffic for a longer-than-expected drive to Mont-Tremblant. To make a very long and unhappy story short, I made the decision to ship my bike to and from Canada via FedEx. It arrived but was far more exciting than it should have been. Anyway, my bike needed to be picked up from the local shop in Mont-Tremblant that evening and we made it with 15 minutes to spare. I rode it back to the hotel to meet Kevin and the kids and we set out to find some dinner. When we came back to the room the kids were excited to discover that we had a fireplace in our room...not that we needed it in late June, but still a fun treat.

The next day we explored the village more. The kids enjoyed riding the luge sleds (alas, since each of them needed an adult to ride with them, we didn't get any pictures) but also just enjoyed the simple playground right behind our hotel. It was a very kid-friendly town.

At lunch we saw Toufou, the Mont-Tremblant mascot, and the Ironman mascot.

We also played on the big Snakes and Ladders (Brit-speak for Chutes and Ladders) board.

Fun fact: In most of Canada British English (harbours and such) is the dominant language with French as the alternate. Quebec is French with a side of English. Most signs were in French first then (usually) English in smaller print and we were greeted almost everywhere by "bonjour hello." I've never felt the need to brush up on my French before visiting Canada but it would be helpful here. One day I needed to go to the magasin (general store) to buy some screws and batteries. I was able to find the batteries but could only find a screwdriver, not screws. The sales clerk asked me in French if I needed help and I was trying to describe what I needed but not well. I thought about having my phone translate but was concerned it might suggest a meaning of the word that I didn't intend and I might cross the line from being the pleasant and bumbling tourist to the offensive one. We muddled through and sorted it out but I may brush up on my French before my next visit ;)

The kids' very favorite thing in Mont-Tremblant-probably in all of Canada- was the big carnival slide set up in Ironman village. They wore that thing out sliding over and over and over. Rebecca was proud and excited to graduate up to the fastest red slide that Daniel was on!

One of the reasons this was such a great place for a triathlon was that everything was right there. Friday I went to packet pickup at a nearby hotel 100 yards from where the kids happily played on the slide as Kevin watched them. Saturday Daniel helped me walk my bike the 5 minute walk from our hotel to transition for drop-off then played on the slide as I listened in on the athlete briefing. The kids enjoyed walking around the Ironman village vendor tents, making cheering signs, and of course picking out a spectator shirt. It was much easier to let them be part of the race experience than even most local events I do, and it was great to have them along.

Our days in Mont-Tremblant passed pleasantly and between the compact footprint of the village and the lack of any ambitious sightseeing plans, it was easy to just take it all in and relax, exploring without an agenda and just doing whatever we happened upon that looked fun. Like the splash park, bungee jumping (for Daniel; Rebecca was too small), and climbing wall all tucked away at the top of the village.

On race day while I was off swimming, biking, and running, the rest of the crew, joined by my parents, enjoyed another fun day around the village. They just missed seeing me exit the swim but they were there to greet me when I biked in and then again standing outside the entrance to our hotel as I headed for the finisher chute at the end of the run. It was easy for them to check in on the race then get back to their day. I'm going to guess a fair bit of that time was spent on the carnival slide!

When I got up on race morning, I was greeted by this sweet sight:

Fun during the day:

Daniel showing off his race sign:

He explained to me that it says I'm going to go 100 miles an hour (all the distance markers were in kilometers, but I appreciate the thought) and he put go "moms" instead of "go Mom" because he wanted to cheer on all moms ;)

The next morning we bid adieu to Mont-Tremblant and headed back to Montreal for a few days. First up on our to-do list was a visit to the Notre-Dame Basilica, which was beautiful.

That night my parents watched the kids and Kevin and I enjoyed what has to be among the best dinners in our lives at a place called Bouillon Bilk. Between us we had the strawberries and tortellini starters, the scallops and a halibut entrees, and the mascarpone mousse and strawberry desserts. Yum!

The next day we took the Metro to the Space for Life museum complex to explore the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium and Biodome. Daniel studied outer space this spring and has been fascinated and eager to learn more so he was excited to watch a show about asteroids and then see the (simulated) Montreal night sky in the planetarium theater and was surprised to see that the same planets he can see from our front yard in Irving were in the night sky more than a thousand miles away.

The Biodome featured animals and foliage from 4 different habitats. Rebecca and Daniel were especially excited to see the penguin feeding.

Riding the Metro:

The next morning, our last in Canada, we drove out to Mont Royal, the mountain that gives the city its name. We didn't have long there but stopped to admire the view from the lookout and then spent a few minutes at a playground, then it was off to the airport and back home.

It was a fun trip and one we look forward to doing again!