First Weekend Back

Starting the day after Labor Day, we had our first "full" week of teaching.  Due to graduates and attrition over the last couple of months, I am down to nineteen hours a week right now.  Plus we have cut out mandatory weekly drives to Covington on Thursdays and Federal Way on Wednesdays.  It's feeling much more manageable with the upcoming newborn.  Of course, Anne doesn't start school until tomorrow, so we'll be adding in that drive twice a day, three days a week.  But it's a short one.  We wound up with a very full three-day weekend after the first week of teaching, with no regrets.

Friday was Lazarus' second birthday, and although he didn't really know what that meant, we were all excited for him.

First event of the morning was a visit from Anne's two school teachers.  It was so nice that they came to the house, because I know they get a better sense of their pupils from meeting the whole family and seeing where they are from.  Both of them love cats, so they had quite an enjoyable time with us.  ;-)

But speaking of cats, last week my brother's wonderful cat MC died.  I think she lived with him for around fifteen or sixteen years, and they both loved each other dearly.  My brother arranged for a burial for her in a lovely cemetery in Tacoma.  So around lunch time after the teacher visit, Anne and I took off to meet Jeff and Linda at work and slog through the Friday traffic to Tacoma.  When we reached the funeral home, Anne and I mostly hung out on the lawn while Jeff and Linda installed MC in the gorgeous hardwood casket Jeff and his friend and spent most of the night constructing.  Eventually we loaded up and went across the street to the cemetery where Jeff and Linda had some things we took turns reading, and then we watched as the workers lowered the casket and brought in the backhoe to fill the hole.  Very sad.  Afterward, Linda wanted to go down the street to a restaurant associated with the most gorgeous golf course I've ever seen and see about ordering tea and cookies.  We ended up getting more than tea and cookies.  And I kid you not, this is the view from the patio where we were sitting...

Once we all made it back home, we had a sort of disorganized and late birthday dinner at our house.  Here is Linda helping Lazarus ride the new balance bike.  Unfortunately it is too tall for him still on the shortest setting so he has to be assisted, but he is quite pleased to have his own bike.  "No Anne!  Mine!  Dadydats'! My bahk!"

After dinner Anne ran to get her cello to play the Happy Birthday song while we sang along.

And despite being ridiculously tired, he was quite enamored of the cake since it involved "guck"s (trucks), "back hoe"s, "pitch" (peach), and "bawbebby" (strawberry).  He also got into the whole blowing out the candles thing.

Here is a picture of him at church the following morning with his own attire selection and new baby doll (in motion!) from Linda and Jeff.

A few nights ago when I wasn't sleeping, I was looking at old photos from my blog and realized that the only hike I'd done last summer from Mowich to Spray Park at Mt. Rainier was mid-September, and that the flowers were all done up there at that time.  And I realized we still had time to go up before the baby and before the 11-mile unpaved road closes in October for the winter.  This is one of my favorite hikes, and I realized I would regret having let the whole summer go by without doing it.  So after church, we crazy people drove down to Rainier and did it.  It was the longest, hardest hike Anne has done to date, and she only complained about four times in the SEVERAL hours it took us.  I was really proud of her.  Also, she and I were a good speed match.  5000 ft. up to 7000 ft. + 6 miles + 40 extra pounds + 36 1/2 weeks pregnant makes me hike at tired-5-year-old speed.  There were still lots of wildflowers along the way, as well as lots of wild blueberries.  Anne figured out she could go slow and get tired, then eat a couple of blueberries, and then run ahead of me on the trail.  And then repeat the process as many times as it would take.  The top of the mountain was completely shrouded in cloud, so we knew ahead of time we wouldn't have any of the stunning views of the snowcapped peak.  Jared and Lazarus walked more miles than we did, most of them with Lazarus riding, and about half of them with him howling.  But I think? Jared felt it was worth it.

We all made it to Spray Park!  Almost unbelievable.  :-)  And in case you think I don't look pregnant, it must have to do with the camera angle and the fact that black is slimming.  I have very few clothes which I can still squeeze into...

Sunset looking down valley.  It was pretty dark by the time we made it back to our car for the two-hour drive home.

Sunday we had a big studio event, and beforehand it felt like everything was going wrong, but it turned out quite nicely for those who came, and I think it was successful.  It was a welcome back social event (the point being to help the studio get to know each other and feel like a part of a community) and a parent Dalcroze class/orientation (the point being to help the parents understand the value of Dalcroze and the thought behind it, so that they can help their kids invest in it.)  I'd had a couple of families say they couldn't come, and four more families cancelled the day of, and after we had gotten down to the donated church space in Kent where we were holding it, I realized I had forgotten my ice-breaker get-to-know-you game I had worked really hard to create, so I had to run home and pick it up, and I was almost late.  But anyway, the game was very successful in getting people who had never talked before to meet each other and interact in a meaningful way, and the parent class seemed to be enjoyed, and I managed to wrangle the kids into something fun and collaborative while the adults were occupied.

Anyway, here we are on week two.