Dummies Ran!

So race season 2012 is upon us. We ran our first 5k of the year last weekend and it about killed me. But the good news is that it showed me how off my game I am, and I'm now motivated to step it up, but good.

Pictured: Me (looking less than thrilled with what's coming), Josh and his nipples, Sharon.

And here we are after the race. Yeah, we're tough. Especially the two little ones who didn't actually run, but didn't mind taking credit.

Brick Pig

Dash was in his very first (and, judging from his giddy enthusiasm over it, not his last) play last week.

It was the Three Piggy Opera and Dash had one of the leads as the Brick Pig.

With his co-stars, Straw Pig, Stick Pig and Big Bad Wolf.

I think they enjoyed themselves...

Eclipse

Did you know there was a solar eclipse yesterday afternoon? You know who did know?

This guy. Who built an eclipse viewer out of two FedEx boxes and some tinfoil.

Seriously, how lucky are Dash & I to have full time access to this type of geekery? Pretty fucking lucky.

Disneyland, Part the First

We hadn't been to Disneyland since 2009, when Dash was three years old and rather unpleasant as a state of being. It went better this time.

First thing, Josh and Dash got a map and came up with our plan of action.

Dash was mesmerized (almost as much as his mama) with the store window displays. The Ratatouille window was my favorite.

Here are the boys all hyped to go on Space Mountain!

Aaaaand, it didn't go very well. Poor Dash nearly crapped himself from sheer terror.

Dash art-directed that hat he's wearing and I sewed it. He calls it his "gamer hat" and he'll only wear it while playing video games. He actually brought it with him to Disneyland because Josh told him they had an arcade. So we walk into the arcade, he puts on the hat, plays a couple of games and when it's time to leave he takes it off again. Kids are fucking weirdos.

Pirates of the Caribbean!

At some point Josh went full pirate.

I don't care who you are or how old, it's impossible not to get giddy when you see Sleeping Beauty's castle.

Josh decided that he was going to get Dash & me to puke on the Teacups. Guess who was the only one to get nauseous. Take that, irony!

Dash loved the Indiana Jones ride. Josh may have loved it slightly less.

And so, finally, I refuse to leave Disneyland without heading to Small World. The boys make fun of me, but I'm pretty sure they think it's pretty magical, too.

See?

Mother's Day

I know I still need to post parts 2 & 3 from our vacation but I wanted to quick-drop-in-a-post-about-Mother's-Day.

It's hard, isn't it? This being a mother jazz? As the babies grow into kids, things get easier in some ways--they sleep through the night! they can fetch their own water! it becomes increasingly unlikely that they'll eat cat shit! But things get harder, too. Sports and the assorted sports-related activities eat your life. Homework and PTA and "volunteer opportunities" eat your brain. All the ways you've fucked up your kid become more evident, more easily seen by outsiders. You can't even hide the veggies in their mac & cheese anymore. They're onto your bush league bullshit.

Someone I used to know was once considering having a child, and she asked some mamas she knew for stories about their experiences--any advice we might have to help her decide. I wrote her a long letter about how difficult it was to be a mother. How the days of "doing nothing" are over. There's no more sleeping in or Law & Order marathons on TV. No more easy decisions. No more life without worry. I think I used the word fraught a lot.

But I also wrote a lot about how full my life became the instant I became Dash's mama. How the pleasure of knowing him, raising him, holding him, telling him ridiculous jokes & teaching him the words to Queen songs filled me up in a way that I never knew was possible. Watching him come down the stairs in the mornings is like Christmas every single day. Hearing him laughing with his amazing papa is more lovely than any music in the world. Even the feel of his skin next to mine feels different, more significant than any before him.

That woman decided against having children, but writing that letter to her helped me to recognize the miracle of my own motherhood. Of my beautiful family.

All that is to say to my amazing boys: thank you for the pancakes and eggs. Thank you for the cards and drawings and gifts. Thank you for the perfect day, picnicking with our beloved friends at LACMA. Thank you for the love and gratitude you showed me (and show me every day). But my real gift, the only gift I'll ever need for the rest of my days, is you two.

Oh, and a box of See's Nuts & Chews. Always. Every time.

OK, enough with the sap. Onto the pictures!

Painting silk scarves for the Grandmas. Stripes for Grandma Sherry.

Dots for Baba.

Ham.

Right?

The annual bear shot.

Tuff stuff.

Pants!

Miss Tori gets comfortable where she pleases.

Josh & Jordan also get comfortable, but in a different way. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

"Hi, my name is Samantha and my whole job in life it to make you want to have more children. It's working, isn't it?" Yes, Miss Samantha, it sure is.

Brothers.

Away We Went

The Engels managed to get it together for a short, three-day jaunt just south to Anaheim for some Angels baseball & Disneyland action. First up, Angels recap:

When the Angels signed Albert Pujols & Josh switched his Facebook avatar from a picture of his family to a picture of Pujols, I knew we'd be heading to Anaheim in the near future.

Dash brought his glove in case there were any foul balls to be caught (there weren't).

Is there anything cuter than the way a grown man turns back into a little kid when he watches the game he loves?

Dash ate/wore some ice cream.

New Vans (Third pair since August for those keeping count. It's not that he's outgrowing them, it's that he is causing them to disintegrate with the force of his play.)

I'm not a big fan of beer in general, but is there any greater thing than having a cold one while watching baseball? I say no. OK, maybe the cure for polio. MAYBE.

Shit got a little tense there for a while.

But we shouldn't have worried. Dash's streak remains intact & Albert Pujols hit his first home run for the Angels!

Happy fans.

Fin.