The cousins came over to spend the night, which was about 2 months overdue for my kids. I didn’t even try to get a picture of the boys, as they could be anywhere, but Kyla and Cecily came up to show me their royal outfits.
Cousin Time!
Uncategorized
Math Olympiad
For the last 5 months, I coached the 5th grade team at my kids’ school, and had half of all the 5th graders (though, notably, not Piper) at weekly practices. We just took 10 kids to our districts Math Olympiad, and I was proud of the 3 teams–“we” brought home a gold, silver, and bronze. The snow shaved off two weeks of practice, so we shoved probability into one week (which was unfortunate, since the only part of the test my mathletes got stuck on was the many questions about ratios), and skipped Olympiad practice all together. Sigh. However, I was glad to wrap up this math team, and immediately started recruiting for the 4th grade team, to start after Spring Break. This year has been a fun break to take on math in addition to all things books as a volunteer! And I’ll have my revenge–Wesley gets to be an honorary 4th Grade Mathlete this year. At least one of my kids will be on Math Team.
And, on a related note, Kyla just passed the qualifiers to sign up for Algebra as a 7th grader! She and I were both really excited for that accomplishment. Sure, she’s really dyslexic, but she’s also extremely book smart, and it’s fun to watch her have achievements after years of extra tutoring and her feeling like the dumbest kid in class. This kid is going to be fun to watch!
Orange Belt
Wesley earned his orange belt today at testing. Part of the assessment was to block an attack (in red). I fully own my mother bias, but I was proud of him!
Piper Crafts Again!
Oh, that darling Piper. She wanted to make cousin Taryn a birthday present, and so finger-knitted this cheetah, cleverly using yellow yard and brown stuffing for authentic coloring. I love it’s sassy tail and blue eyes.
Happy Pi Day!
I like that we’ve now fussed over Pi Day for a few years now, and my parents always bring themselves (and a PIE!). I can’t be bothered to celebrate St. Patrick’s day, but I can get a shepherd’s pie from Costco and even sneak down to the grocery store bakery after middle school bus drop off to get–for $3.14 off!– rhubarb/strawberry and cherry pies. We had plenty of room on the table for Mom’s delicious, and homemade, pumpkin pie. Fortunately, I’ve successfully lowered everyone’s standards enough that they congratulate me for going to the trouble of buying the rest of our “pi”s!
Introducing a New Blog (for the nondescrimating reader….Grandma)
Part of homeschooling is having Wes starting his own blog that he’ll be posting to regularly.
Goals:
- Creation
- Keyboarding skills
- Writing (convention) skills
- Reflection (okay, this is stretch goal!)
It’s been fun for me to see what he comes up!
Read his deep thoughts at https://weswrite.blogspot.com/.
Lessons I Learned: Family Travel
1. We really can easily travel with carry-on only. Each of us had a rolling suitcase and a backpack, and if anything, we still brought too much.
2. Cookie o’clock makes good times better and turns around bad moods.
3. When you feel surrounded by too much rich (digestively and financially) food, making a PB & honey sandwich for lunch really hits the spot.
4. Washing clothes in a sink and hanging it out in the tropical heat is an easy way to keep up on laundry and pack less. I brought a bag of powdered detergent this time, but only because the detergent strips I had ordered hadn’t arrived in time because of the snow.
5. The whole family appreciated the First Aid kit I brought, but Piper, especially, was in bad shape after I forgot to pack a sunburn ointment. (Note to self: First Aid kit items listed below.)
6. Just bring microwavable popcorn, packets of instant oatmeal, gum, and granola/protein bars. Oh, and tea bags. I love having my favorite teas available to me. One of the hotels we were at had expensive and unwelcome options for kids’ dinners and we just need an easy alternative.
7. Have appropriate cash for tips—lots of tips. Make people happy to assist you, especially when you are at a language and cultural disadvantage.
8. Headphones for everyone—cheap is okay, if you are just trying to use them on the plane.
9. Everyone gets a small-ish laundry bag to carry their own dirty clothes in. One of them should be a waterproof bag. This is for the wet swimsuits that haven’t dried by the time you need to travel, and to be used as a plug if a sink doesn’t have its own stopper.
10. Figure out a way to sleep better on the plane. I hate the idea of packing neck pillows to drag about the world, but I may have to better prioritize sleeping, especially when trying to hold a child or two while they try to sleep.
11. Always carry water bottles—spill proof preferred.
12. Figure out ways of at least starting a long journey with healthy food, especially veggies.
13. Avoid American Air when possible.
14. Have just one person (in our family, Dwayne) always in charge of the all the papers and passports. I’m not responsible enough and can be generally careless and distractible, so putting the passports back safely in the same spot is something I mean to do, but Dwayne actually does.
First Aid Kit packing list:
-
Band-Aids, assorted sizes -
Antibacterial cream
-
Sunscreen
-
Aloe Vera, or sunburn ointment
-
Insect repellent, spray and wipes
-
Anti-itch cream
-
Insect sting relief
-
Chewable Pepto-Bismal
-
Chewable Children’s Tylenol
-
Handwipes
-
Alcohol wipes
-
Asthma inhalers
-
Vomit bag (didn’t need it, but there were a few legs I was glad it was there if I needed it)
-
Infant nose bulb—handy for so many things!
So quoted
I was at the State of the District breakfast this morning, and our superintendent put this quotation up.
You can choose courage, you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both.
Why is it encouraging to be reminding choosing the right thing is difficult? That would take more depth than I have, but it fits my life right now as I prepare to home school Wes for the rest of the school year.
A Final Good-Bye to Costa Rica
I only did this the last two mornings, but getting up at 6am with the sun was the perfect time of day! If I wasn’t such a night owl, I would love to embrace the quiet mornings that are still the perfect temperature.
This doesn’t look like an ordinary hotel. And it’s not. Here, the sun is rising on the main part of the hotel, where the office and primary restaurant are located. See how private each “villa” is?
Piper is definitely my morning buddy!
The girls somehow got away with fruit, fruit, fruit, and chocolate cake for breakfast. (Wesley had a bacon omelet every single day. Sadly for him, he does not care for tropical fruit.)
We couldn’t decide if they made the bread-iguana every morning (no one ever dared be the first to eat it), but the iguana and turtle joined the pastry table every morning!
Good-bye, Costa Rica!
Pura Vida: Don Ramirez
Reading a thesis on differentiating lifestyles by SEC (wealthy, middle class, poverty-level) several years ago, I took a “quiz” about which category I was most comfortable in. [Knowing which were the best places on which days for food free meals or services was something that I couldn’t check on the poverty quiz, but knowing how to get a library card and file paperwork with insurance companies landed me in middle class lifestyle.] The only question I remember from the Wealthy check list is having a favorite restaurant in another country.
Well, we’re extraordinarily wealthy, because Dwayne and I “discovered” Miguel’s Don Ramirez on our third night in Punta Islita.
First, we spent one day not knowing there was a tiny little town within walking distance of the hotel. Then we spent another day thinking that there was only one restaurant in that little town (because I was pretty sure that the girls and I had walked the entire town by turning left at the only corner in town and walking up to the church). But poolside gossip said that if you went past the grocery store, and up that street (that was a street?!?!), and kept going long past where you think you’d ever find a restaurant, you would come to the best little place at the end of the world.
There we found Miguel, who had converted part of his house into a bar and restaurant.
The Heavens sang. And we ate there every night he was open until we left, so 3 out of the 4 days until our Tuesday morning departure.
First, it cannot be overstated the pleasure of eating outside (because no CR restaurant wastes space with indoor seating) after a screamingly hot day in a warm night with bright, bright stars above. The kids aren’t confined to hard tables for a two hour meal, and Piper quickly found a friend.
Dwayne found a cocktail (or two!) he liked, and I had the best sangria of my life. And in the best fashion of lemoncello in Italy, Miguel always brought out a shot of his own making at the end of the evening, after the bill had been settled. Cheers!
Miguel’s enthusiasm for food and people was contagious, and even though we knew we were going to start with one of each of his 6 small plates (unique each night), we still loved to hear him describe them. On Sunday, his brother was there to make his lovely, lovely chicken, named after the sibling himself. We toasted him through the open window to the stove top.
It was foodie, local, fresh, delicious, unique, thoughtfully and aesthetically prepared, and less expensive than the stuffy meal at the hotel restaurant. It’s actually a spot I can imagine taking everyone I love to spend time with there and making the experience twice as wonderful.
And since Miguel and his wife had 3 of their own children, he straight up asked Wesley if he wanted a bowl of noodles instead of anything on the menu. Yep, even the kids adored this place!
While I just assume we won’t make it back to Costa Rica because there are so many other places to see, this little spot would be a reason to tempt me to revisit this little part of Central America.
Needopedia 