Strike Days

Wednesday should have been the first day of school, but instead it was the first day of the strike. The strike continues today. I'm assuming it'll be at least Monday before school starts. I don't mind, as I side with the teachers. And as the days will have to be made up, I'm rather hoping they take them from the stupid mid-winter break first. Do the kids really need a week-long break in February, when they've barely gotten back from their two-week break at the end of December and had a few more days off since then?? Not to mention, mid-winter break is a child-care nightmare for working parents and for me the days I have class.

We had a friend of Gareth's over Wednesday since his parents needed to work. They spent the day building a fort and playing minecraft. Oh, and here's some of our still-messy basement:

The drumset is temporarily to the left of this picture. Once we move into our room it will move into the bedroom that is behind where I'm standing

The near door leads to the garage, the far door to the bathroom/laundry room

In the afternoon we decided to search out a park. Their requirements: zipline, swings, and a metal merry go round. The closest park to us has a zipline, but it's broken, swings, and a plastic merry go round that you have to sit in. It's heavy and difficult to get any good speed on. So I posted in a local group on facebook and quickly got a suggestion for another park with a zipline.

I've been struggling with the new neighborhood a bit. Our old neighborhood had a main street section and just felt very small-town like. I'd fallen in love with it immediately. This area feels more suburb-like to me - not my thing at all. But I'm trying to keep an open mind and hope that as I continue to explore a bit I'll find areas to like. This park yesterday was helpful in that. It wasn't all that hard to get to or home from, had all three things the boys wanted, and looks like it has several trails to explore. There are a few sketchy things about it (some stairs had lots of broken glass and one of the boys said they saw some needles in the shrubbery next to the stairs), but those things were easily avoided. At one of our favorite playgrounds in our old neighborhood Malcolm once found a used tampon under the play structure. You simply learn to keep an eye out for such things and steer your kids away from them. The playground area itself was well-maintained and there were several kids playing there, but it wasn't over-crowded.

Mal loved the mural on the bridge

No school yesterday meant we had this friend over again, as well as another friend. They had a few squabbles in the morning, but eventually settled in. Re-built their fort, played some video games, played outside, played Legos. Gareth was invited to spend the night at his friend's house. I'd think they'd need a break from each other after two whole days together, but apparently not.

GRE

In addition to moving this summer, I've had the GRE looming over my head. I'd signed up back in December to take it, long before we even thought of moving. I was expecting a fairly calm summer, in which I could intersperse studying with fun activities with the kids.

I started studying as soon as I got back from Grandmother's funeral. The result being that I have yet to finish the newest season of Orange is the New Black. Studying got put on hold for a while here and there as I had to deal with closing stuff and packing and moving. It's been 13 years since I did math, so while others apparently all do awesome on the math section, I was very stressed about it. I'm good at math, but if I don't use it I definitely forget all the little rules. And geometry has never been my favorite. Thankfully most stuff comes back pretty quickly. I centered all my studying around the math section, figuring I'd be fine on the verbal and hopefully on the writing as well.

This past week was crunch time. I took several practice tests and, while not thrilled with my scores on the math sections (ugh, my speed math is super rusty!), they were good enough. I felt much calmer about it all after looking up the requisite scores for my program and realizing that at least my practice scores were well above what is required.

Yesterday afternoon I headed to the testing center. I've never taken a standardized test on computer before (except for a couple practice tests for this), so that was new. But not a big deal. Once I was done with the writing section and had moved on to verbal, I made use of the headphones they provided because trying to concentrate with several other people still typing away in the background was difficult. Guess I should've let Gareth play with Legos in the same room as me while I was doing practice tests! I felt okay after the first half. The verbal stuff wasn't bad at all. A few words I didn't know, but felt like I could make educated guesses about. And I usually finished those sections early. The first math section wasn't even all that bad. A couple I didn't know, but I did finish the section with time to review a couple answers. I was not happy at all after the second math section because I ran out of time and had to just pick an answer for several questions - annoying because some of them I was sure I could do if only I had more time! I was glad that my extra section was verbal, because I was exhausted and upset with myself by the end of the second math section, and if I'd been thrown a third math section I wouldn't have been happy at all. But a third verbal section wasn't a big deal and I was able to breeze through it, finishing with almost half the time left.

I reported my scores and was shocked to see the math score. After the second math section I was expecting the score to be really low. But it was higher than my practice tests had been - not as good as my high-achieving self would normally like, but hopefully plenty good enough. Considering how long it's been since I took a math class and how spotty my studying was with everything else going on this summer, I feel pretty good to have done so well. And the verbal score was excellent as well. Granted, they're "unofficial", but as long as the writing went well I think it's safe to say the GRE is behind me. I drove home, grabbed some food, and headed back out for a clarinet choir rehearsal. I'm excited that I get to have a few weeks without that looming over my head before classes start up and I start stressing about the rest of the application.

Ice Cream Social

Gareth's school sent out letters telling us his room number last week, but not his teacher. They held an ice cream social last night where you could find out your teacher's name. Most of the teachers weren't there because they were at an SEA meeting to discuss the contract negotiations with the district and vote on whether or not to strike if no agreement is reached. While I'd be a bit sad to lose some of my couple weeks where they're in school and I'm not, I do support the teachers in striking if it comes to that. Those incomes listed in the Seattle Times article? I wouldn't want to live on that in Seattle, especially lately. A veteran teacher with a masters only makes $80k? If you're single that's a pretty decent salary, but if you are supporting a family you're going to be struggling a bit (and almost certainly having a long commute to your job). I will never understand why we so undervalue educators in this country. The district wants to add 30 minutes of instruction to the day. How exactly? The kids are already there 6 hours and get paltry recess time as it is. SEA has come together with parents and is demanding more recess time - and equitable recess time as lower income areas are currently most likely to get short-changed. Those are just a couple of the big issues.

Anyway, the principal was there, so Gareth got to see her, though it was difficult to hear what she said. And we did walk around inside the school a bit and walked up to Gareth's classroom. You can tell this school isn't quite as old as his previous one partly because the classrooms are more spacious. And because of the newer doors and sheetrock walls etc. I'm interested to see where the kids keep their belongings as there are no lockers to be seen (lockers in an elementary school seemed weird when he started K, but now that I'm used to them it was weird not to see them). Apparently his teacher is a full-time sub. Two of the third grade teachers had babies and are taking a full year off. But the parent telling me this assured me that the subs are fully-credentialed teachers and are excellent.

I also found someone to ask about bike racks. She assured me there are some out front. I have yet to find them, but I'm not entirely sure which side of the school is considered the front either. I'm guessing it's the side of the school I haven't had a chance to check out thoroughly yet. Gareth had a great time playing on the playground, and Malcolm scored a balloon, hand sanitizer, and chapstick from a local dentist's office (a few local businesses/health clinics were there with tables in addition to the before/after-care people and the pta tables). People were all very friendly and I'm hopeful that it will be a good environment for Gareth. They also hold a small open-house in a couple days where you can meet your teacher and see your classroom and drop off supplies (maybe - they always said you could do all these things at our previous school, but we only had one year where the teachers were actually at this event and they never did have the classrooms ready to check out, so I'm keeping expectations low). Maybe he'll actually get to meet some other kids from his class at that.

Making Friends and Doctor Visits

Part of moving is Gareth changing schools. And Malcolm as well (I'm still sad about this as I was so looking forward to being in Teacher Lauren's class again, but we have found what I hope will be a good alternative). I know Gareth is a little bit nervous and upset about this as he mentions it occasionally. But overall he seems to be attempting to take it calmly.

Gareth has always been social and good at making new friends. My biggest concern is that he hasn't had to make new friends, really, since preschool. His closest friends then are still among his closest friends now. And we just moved away from them. I kind of feel like a horrible parent. I loved that he was still so close with his friends from preK. But he had added a few new friends to the mix over the past couple years, so he'll be fine and will make new friends and I will work much harder than I usually do to be intentional about getting together with his current friends.

I'm actually much more worried about me. I'm hoping to stay close to my friends (who are the parents of his friends). But if he makes new friends that means I have to at least get to know some new parents. And that's a little terrifying. It's one thing when your kid is starting kindergarten and all the parents are in the same boat for the most part. Sure, some have older kids at the school and have parents friends already, but they're open to getting to know new people as part of their younger kid making friends. But coming in to a bunch of 3rd grade parents who already know the ins and outs of the school and already have circles of friends? It's exactly what I'm horrible at. I don't break into existing groups of friends well at all. Lack of shared history leaves you always feeling just a little on the outside, if not a lot. At least we haven't moved that far away from our friends, so continuing to get together with them shouldn't be all that difficult.

In other news, I took the boys in for their yearly physicals today. They're both doing great. Mal, as usual, was not super-thrilled to be at the doctor's office, though he does like to look at the fish in the waiting area. He has at least stopped screaming the instant he sees the doctor and just spent this visit acting very scared and sad. He only screamed when she tried to check his ears and when she wanted him to lay down on the table (he hates the crinkly paper). Neither of them had to get shots this time around, which Gareth was happy about - mainly because he doesn't like hearing Malcolm cry when getting shots. Gareth tends to take his own shots in stride. Both boys are very consistent in their growth. Gareth's just above the 50th percentile for both height and weight. Mal is just above 50th for height and about 40th for weight. She did comment on how different the boys' personalities are and seemed glad to hear that Mal will be doing preschool, giving him a better chance at socialization. That's one reason why I'm excited for it as well. Gareth has a couple tics and it was nice to hear that she didn't notice him blinking as much (I've always been horrible at noticing this one, but others have commented on it as well). He's still clearing his throat all the time, but we're going to keep trying to ignore it and hopefully it'll diminish on its own eventually.

Ending Summer

Last week, in addition to Jetty Island, we had a friend of Gareth's over a couple of times. The first day we decided to do some neighborhood exploration and went to a local park we'd heard good things about. It looks like a nice park - an area where you can run/walk/bike, a soccer field area, a butterfly garden, and a nice playground. Unfortunately for the big kids, the zip line was broken. Nevertheless, they had fun playing with the other equipment for a good hour or so. Then we stopped at a local toy store on the way home to check out what they offer. Seemed like a decent store and a good place to buy puzzles. Perhaps a little pricier than our previous toy store, but not by too much.

The next day we headed over to his friend's house and hung out there for a little bit before heading to Golden Gardens. The boys decided to wear wet suits. Getting those on was a workout! But I think they were glad to have them because it enabled them to play in the chilly water for hours. Malcolm wasn't as willing to touch the water here because the waves were a little more raucous. He had fun digging in the sand and building sand castles, along with an occasional trip to the water to check out the seaweed.

They spent most of the day trying to topple one another over into the water

Fascinated with what the big kids are doing

Mal needing to use the toilet multiple times meant many trips across the scorching sand for me. Ouch! Next year I'll be sure to have some water shoes or something, both for protecting my feet from the sand and for enabling walking on the rocky beaches around here.

Over the weekend we got some much needed rain - and some not-needed wind. We've got one somewhat large branch down in our backyard and lots of little twigs. Lots of people lost power, but our block never did. Saturday afternoon we debated, but then braved the weather and went to a barbecue with a couple of our friends. Gareth was in tears when he thought we might not go, and I was pretty disappointed as well. It's been hit or miss getting together with friends this summer between us moving and their various summer activities, so I was really looking forward to this gathering. I'm glad we went - the winds calmed down and the rain even stopped for a while. And we all had a great time.

We've still got a week and a half before school starts, but I'm taking the GRE this coming weekend, we've got some things to get together before school starts, and it's supposed to be rainy all next week. So while summer isn't quite over, it definitely feels like things are winding down. I think this past week was a good way to bring summer to a close.

Jetty Island

Jetty Island had been on my list of outings to take for a while. Apparently it's a nice place to hike and see birds. But you have to make reservations on the ferry and I'd never quite gotten around to doing so. So when a friend emailed with an opportunity to go with them and someone they knew, who'd already made reservations, I happily said we'd join them.

We had reservations for the 10:15 ferry, so needed to be there about 9:45. Google said it'd take 30 minutes, so we left an hour early since I had never gone before and had no idea what to expect from the traffic (most morning traffic would be heading south into Seattle, but there is a Boeing location north as well, so hence the playing it safe). Turned out there was no traffic, so we made it there just after 9. We managed to kill an hour by paying for parking (only $3 for the day - not bad at all for Seattle area!), using the restrooms and checking out a sculpture near the dock.

In the end there were some empty seats on the 10 am ferry, so we got to go over on that one. The ferry ride lasts all of two minutes, but the kids still enjoyed it.

Mal looks grumpy, but he wasn't. He hadn't eaten before we left, so hence the bagel munching here. He had excitedly climbed onto the bench on the ferry only to look down and see the water and decide that seat was a little too scary. So I held him in my lap instead.

We didn't hike around the island on this visit, but instead spent the day on the beach. It was low tide when we got there. There was a sign posted about ghost shrimp at work and to be careful of sinking sand. As you walked out closer to the water, sure enough, the sand was full of little holes. As you stood on the sand you would slowly sink into it. It was a very weird feeling. As long as you kept moving things felt pretty normal. Sinking into the sand wasn't too big of a deal for big people, but it did cause Mal to fall over once. Apparently the sand doesn't drop off for a long ways; it was really disconcerting to see Gareth wading out incredibly far. But I think the deepest in he went was up to his waist. The water was incredibly calm in the morning, so Mal surprised me by wanting to play in the water. Usually he wants to stay safe on the beach, but with the water being so warm and not very deep at all, he loved playing in the water today.

The little kid in the background of the picture of Mal was no bigger than him, maybe even a bit smaller, to give you an idea of just how shallow the water is for quite a distance here.

After a couple hours we managed to get the kids to come back to the beach for some food. Then Gareth got to try out the kite he got last Christmas. He'd tried one out at a beach gathering at the end of last summer and loved it. Ever since getting his kite he's been begging to use it. I'd hoped to try it out long before now, but with moving and all we just haven't had the opportunity.

The kids all took turns flying the kite. Whoever wasn't flying the kite would try to catch the kite's shadow. The wind was perfect and they were able to get the kite quite high. After an hour or so of that it was back to what was left of the wet portion of the beach now that the tide was coming in to play with the sand and water some more. There were more waves by now, so while Mal was willing to go in the water still he didn't want to go out as far or without holding my hand. The kids were all disappointed when it was time to go, but the grown-ups wanted to avoid traffic getting home. Malcolm fell asleep almost instantly on the drive home.

Definitely an outing that will have to be repeated, both to check out the nature walks and for the beach. The beach never felt crowded, which was surprising to me. I suppose having to take the ferry, not being right in Seattle, and the limit of 60 passengers per ferry ride helps to keep it that way.

Camp Quest

The day after moving in we drove Gareth up to Camp Kirby on Samish Island for Camp Quest. I'd had him pull together all the stuff he needed Friday night so that I could run a load of wash Saturday evening and so it would all be in one place after the move Saturday.

He was the first one from his cabin there, so we didn't get to meet anyone else in his cabin. We signed him in, handed his stuff over to his cabin counselor, let Mal check out the totem pole and the water a bit, and headed back home. It felt weird to put Mal to bed in his room by himself that night. We spend the week assuming Gareth was having a great time.

We picked him up last Saturday. He greeted us with a big smile and immediately started telling us about camp. One of the first things he said was, "Can I come back to this camp next year?". He got to go kayaking and do some archery. He tells us he didn't try rock climbing, but will next year. And he opted against swimming after being told the water was cold (I'm doubtful it was since it's been so warm this summer). They had crafts as well. One day he made an architeuthis out of yarn:

They did some problem solving/building type activities and sang the typical announcements camp song, and had a campfire with songs and stories. He says the food was delicious. Each cabin put together a skit. I haven't figured out exactly what the plot of Gareth's was yet, but he got to play the role of the Fartis, which is "just like the Tardis but it needs nuclear creeper farts to power it". Clearly a skit written by 8 and 9 year olds.

From his description it sounds like he had a great time - and we'll definitely plan on him returning next year. And I'm sure I'll be much less nervous sending him off next year since things went smoothly this year.