May and June 2018 Bring Summer Weather and Swimming!

May and June brought warmer (but not too warm) days and the excitement of beach trips and the start to pool season. We have certainly received a huge return on investment related to our Homeowner's Association (HOA) dues. Our dues are among the lowest in the area, and while we don't have a fancy pool with a splash pad, slide, or kiddie pool, we do have a swim team, long pool season, snack bar, wifi, pavilion, ping pong table, and super nice lifeguards. We've been regulars at the pool since moving in June 2011, and this summer was no exception. If I had to guess at the frequency of our pool days, we've probably averaged 3-4 times per week for the entire May-September pool season per year. 

This year we were super excited that Rose would have a chance to join the swim team - the Swampfoxxes! Swimmers have to be 4 years old by the start of summer to join. They had three weeks of daily (M-F) practice starting May 14 until an event called time trials. For the 6 and under age group, swimmers had to be able to swim 15 yards on their own at time trials to join the swim team. If they couldn't, they'd go on the practice squad, the Swamp Pups. 

First ever swim practice

I worried about the daily practices that were required to be on the swim team and thought we might want Rose to be on the Pups. But, sure enough, Rose was the standout 4-year-old who made it the 15 yards on her own on June 5! Watching was among the most stressful 51 seconds of my parenting life. Within a week, she had shaved 10 seconds off her time, and she reached a personal best of 24 seconds at the end of the season. 

First Swim Meet - a 41 second finish

Our small, but mighty swimmer

I was so glad she made the team. The daily practice really did drastically improve her abilities. In addition to becoming a faster freestyle swimmer, she also managed to compete in the backstroke and breaststroke by the final meet in mid July. Her accolades will be saved for the next post!

First backstroke event

Unfortunately, Zoe couldn't be on the team, but she enjoyed doing the warmups before practices and meets. We are disappointed she has a September birthday. It means she won't get to swim next year yet either. This year she was still okay hanging out in the shallow end with her floaties (or eating) while her sister practiced. But, meets were a little more challenging for her.

Rose and Zoe doing swim team warm-ups

The only other downside to so much pool time was that it seemed to wreck havoc on Rose's skin. We went through a rough patch for about a month where she seemed to get prickly heat rashes and bug bites all over her back, legs, and even her head. We made several visits to the doctor, which ruled out the more serious possibilities like shingles. Some visits the new rashes or bites looked like poison ivy and other times we thought they might be spider or other insect bites. Rose's scratching was so bad, it became infected and we had to give her the first course of antibiotics this year. The medicine helped clear up the rashes and bites, and we managed to prevent a relapse with a trip to New York (and no pool time for two weeks). I was so worried about the bites and rash I brought in a bed bug exterminator to be sure we didn't have bed bugs. Thankfully, we didn't. But, we never figured out the source of the problem. Poor Rose has been left with some scars this summer, but I'm glad the symptoms resolved.

Finishing a great soccer season

We had a nice transition to swim team from soccer this spring. Rose had her last soccer game on May 12 and started swim team on May 14. It really was good timing. We want to be very careful not to over-schedule the girls. They already go to school full time and have pretty exhausting days of playing and learning. Soccer was on Saturday mornings and the nice thing about swim team was that all the meets and practices were weekdays. It was somewhat stressful to get them to practice every day, but we had the option of a 4:45 or a 5:45p practice, so that was more manageable. It was nice having completely free weekends to do whatever we wanted.

This year was also the World Cup. While we didn't get the result we wanted for any of our teams, we had fun cheering on our favorites - Portugal and Brazil. The girls loved getting to wear their Portugal gear to school when the team was playing. Their teachers, all Latinas and mostly from South or Central America, also were in the spirit wearing their team colors.

Go Portugal!!

One of the events I look forward to in the spring is going on the annual Piedmont Farm Tour. Carolina Farm Stewardship Association puts together the event in partnership with many farmers in the region. There is a minimal cost to visit the farms, and many offer self-guided or guided tours. At one of the farms, we were able to pet baby goats and baby chicks. At another farm, we harvested our own eggs from the mobiles. I want the girls to know where their food comes from. While they don't quite fully understand it yet, each of these visits provides us with some teachable moments.

Playing on the tractor at the farm

What girls doesn't wear a princess dress to a farm

 Collecting eggs on the farm

Rose is much less into her princess and fairy dresses these days, but sometimes she wants to do what Zoe does, and Zoe is in the prime of her princess dress days!

Our princess at the playground

The girls have been really into doing puzzles since late spring. Rose, in her typical smarty-pants fashion mastered puzzles I bought her within a day or two and moved on to more complex puzzles quickly. Zoe, at only 2 and half, has done really well putting them together. She usually gets the puzzle 50-70% finished and then Rose likes to jump in and help complete them. We've noticed them working together as a team much more lately. I hope that pattern continues.

Showing off our "ram sam sam" skills at the beach house Memorial Day weekend

A non-princess dress day still requires a dress.
Surprisingly she also managed to let someone put her hair up!

One of the many trips to the pool for swim practice.
Here, with a tiara made at school

With our event-free weekends, we alternated between trips to the pool and trips to the beach. We started the month with a trip to the beach in Wilmington. It was May 4th and the girls had no problem playing in the shallow pools of water. It was still too cold for me!

Fort Fisher, NC May 4, 2018

Our Memorial Day weekend trip to Myrtle Beach was a little more my style. Nice, beachfront hotel with pools, and ocean temperatures that were quite nice. We had a beautiful weekend with warm days and comfortable nights. It was nice spending time with the Clemente family.

Nice beachfront hotel Memorial Day weekend in Myrtle Beach

Zoe is a good beach napper (and eater!)

Colin's newest toy - the mighty max can carry up to 450 lbs
Guess how many times I've heard that?!!

March and April 2018 Updates

This year, spring was very welcome, except for a few hiccups we had along the way. We started off the month checking out the kite festival in the park by our house. I rode both kids down to the park in the bike trailer, still feeling pretty good after a winter of consistent running. I had also been going to physical therapy regularly for about a month at that point, working on some core strength that was still weak thanks to the diastasis recti I had throughout two pregnancies and post partum. I was getting stronger, but still feeling lower back pain (more about that later). My family visited in March to celebrate my birthday, and we got to see some North Carolina Courage (professional) women's soccer in a few exhibition games against division 1 college squads. Since Rose has pretty much stopped napping, I took her to an afternoon game again Tennessee (go Vols!). Most of March was spent grant writing for me, and with an injury (more below), Colin stepped up to take the girls to things I didn't need to attend (like school friend's birthday parties). Easter was April 1st this year, so we obviously had some Easter Egg hunts in these two months, and a trip to South Carolina for Easter this year. Other exciting events included first haircuts for the girls, Rose getting really good at the Strider/balance bike, the spring projects display at the girls school, and trips to our favorite museum and parks.

Rose trying to fly a kite at the Bond Park Kite Festival March 3

I had decided not to play outdoor soccer this spring, wanting to keep my weekends free to hang out with the family. But, after going to some of the college/professional games, I was itching to get on the field. I felt stronger (except for that nagging back), and decided to join a few weeks into the season. Of course, all it took was the first game to put me back out of commission. It certainly didn't help that my first game back was after a week of travel to/from Asheville, later in the day after carrying Rose about half a mile on the walk (with a back that was already feeling pretty stiff), and playing a full 90 minute game down a player (10v11) in 40 degree rainy conditions. I played on a Sunday, sat at a computer working on a grant all day Monday (our March snow day), and woke up unable to move on Tuesday. I tried to do physical therapy for the rest of March and April, but finally decided to get a MRI. The results ... three bulging discs. I remained optimistic. Bulging discs are better than herniated discs and I left my "pelvic" physical therapy practice for a "spinal" physical therapist and that has made a huge difference. Did you know you can do exercises to "push" the bulge back in? I've been working with my new physical therapist to figure out the right angle for the exercises since May.  It's the end of June now, and I am much better, but not healed. It's a long road to recovery and I'm not sure my back will ever be 100%. 

Spring brought on Rose's soccer league. Her first game was mid-March and she had a wonderful season which wrapped up on May 12. It was noticeable that she was one of the more experienced kids on the field, and she was now 4 whereas some others were only 3. Zoe's been ready to play. We hope to sign her up in the fall even though she doesn't turn 3 until a few weeks into the season. The season was so fun because Rose had two of her classmates on her team - Lucas and Nathan. The two girls and their two friends would often sit together after the games enjoying their post-game snacks.

Rose and Zoe ready for Rose's first Spring 2019 game on March 17

Zoe with her gear on at Rose's soccer game

Our first Easter Egg Hunt of the year was at Bond Park. Even though the park is basically in our back yard, this is the first year we actually went. Rose had a soccer game in the morning and we managed to squeeze it in before Zoe's nap and before the rain started. It was a last-minute decision, so we weren't completely prepared for it. We had walked to the park and had to move quickly to get back home as it started sprinkling when we finished collecting the eggs. 

Zoe collecting Easter Eggs

Zoe had also been dying to get her haircut for weeks. There is a kid's haircutting place next door to the wine shop where we pick up our weekly Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share. She saw kids come of the salon with balloons one time and every week would ask to get her haircut. Since Rose has never gotten her hair cut, and Zoe's hair has gotten long fast, we scheduled it for one weekend in late March. Both girls got to watch Paw Patrol while they got their cuts. I wasn't overly impressed with the cuts, but we were in and out quickly since both girls were sufficiently distracted. And, they were both so excited to get their balloons!

Rose made sure we scheduled the haircut the night before

Zoe ready for her hair cut, Rose will be next

Two happy girls with new hair do's and balloons

Easter weekend we made the trip out to the Greenville, South Carolina area where my parents live. My back was still feeling bad (before I had the MRI, while I was still doing the pelvic PT which made symptoms worse, and while I was still pretty stressed with grant writing). I made the 4-hour trip laying on my bac, across the second row each way. We loaded up a few things in the passenger seat and on the floor of the second row, and put the girl's car seats in the third row. Darwin stayed home (which he prefers to the car rides), so that made it easier. With a back that wasn't hurting too bad (thanks to laying down), I was able to mostly enjoy the weekend with the family. We explored Greenville on a beautiful spring day, came upon an Easter Egg Hunt when we were going to a park between Greenville and my parent's house, and had a very nice Easter morning/day with my parents at their house. The weather was amazing all weekend.

Rose and Zoe enjoying the Greenville, SC downtown park

Picture with the Easter Bunny at the Egg Hunt we stumbled upon in Greer, SC

Rose and Zoe in their matching Easter dresses, ready to hunt for eggs at their Avos house

Sipping hot chocolate in the nice warm South Carolin sunshine

Cheers to a wonderful Easter weekend!

In April, Bond Park started their "First Friday Bands, Bites, and Boats" event, which includes a performance on a small stage by a musician, a food truck, and boat rentals. We decided to check the first one out. Both girls wanted to dress as princesses. We brought our own dinner to the park, went out on a boat ride, and the girls practiced riding their balance bikes before going home.

Heading out on our boat ride

Rose zooms too fast for the camera

Zoe's still not sure about the balance bike

I know I've posted about it before, but we love where our girls go to school. The Reggio Emilia inspired Spanish languge immersion school really excels as the projects they do with the kids. They have tons of outdoor time, get fed good meals and snacks, work on themed projects every month (or a little longer), offer semi-annual parent-teacher conferences, and have semi-annual festivals to display the class projects. Rose was excited to show off her "transportation" projects and Zoe loved showing us her music displays.

As the weather warmed up in April, Rose really excelled in soccer. While she wasn't always scoring in the correct goal, she was working hard on the field, getting involved in the play, not getting frustrated when others pushed/knocked her down, and just really wanting to be on the field. She's a very good listener, paying attention and implementing what she learns. We are so proud of her.

Rose lined up for soccer drills at practice before the game

And, I have a feeling Zoe won't be left behind. I don't know if I've posted before that Zoe has always been a little pigeon-toed. We brought it up with the pediatrician a few times when she was young. He told us most of the best athletes are a little pigeon-toed. Not sure if there's any evidence of that, but I will say Zoe does act really athletic. She's got great ball control already and can move pretty quick. I hope we'll find out how she does with team sports in the fall. This video doesn't do her skills justice, but it is the best at capturing the games this spring.

School friends enjoying the post-game snack

A family selfie in April 2018

Rose enjoying the carousel at Pullen Park

Some museums and things we do are regular events in our household so I don't share details about them every time. As I often post, we are huge fans of both the Durham Museum of Life and Sciences (and their train, bears, wolves, lemurs, farm animals, butterfly house, music and treehouse exhibits) and Pullen Park (and their train, carousel, and paddle boats). In the spring, summer, and fall there are often events going on in Bond Park as well, like the Bonds, Bites, and Boats First Friday evenings. The park also hosts concerts at the amphitheatre, Arts festivals, kits festivals, dog festivals, etc. 

Stay tuned for more posts on our May and June adventures, which include lots of pool time. If you've followed me for awhile, you know we spend a lot of time at our neighborhood pool. This year we've already gone to the pool a whole summer's worth of times thanks to a certain 4 year old now being old enough for the swim team. You'll have to wait to hear more about that!

January and February 2018 Updates

2018 started off with a bang. If you recall from the previous post, both girls got sick in the first few days of the year when we were in upstate New York. We arrived back in North Carolina on January 3rd with a double ear infection (Rose) and RSV (Zoe) and rushed to get back before we got our first few inches of snow in North Carolina. We had experienced about 10 days of single digit (ie -freezing!) temperatures, and unfortunately brought some of that cold weather back to North Carolina with us. January 2018 was the coldest January I've experienced since moving south, and we had a handful of snow days, one of which included the most snow accumulation I've ever seen at our house. Cold is a relative term and it being "cold" in North Carolina is much more manageable than "cold" in New York. We could actually be outside enjoying the snow for an hour or two, with temperatures near the freezing mark (~30 degrees F).

Most snow we've ever had on our deck in the 6 years we've been here

The day after January 17, 2018 snowstorm

Sledding and building snowmen at the neighbor's house

The entire month wasn't freezing or snowy. We had two "snow storms." The first produced only a few inches that mostly melted the next day. The second big storm mostly melted within two days. That is why I love North Carolina.

During the month of January we also went to our beloved Museum of Life & Sciences in Durham, went to the bounce house, found kid play areas in new places (like Home Depot), and celebrated Rose's 4th birthday a little early with a few friends who had January birthdays. I celebrated Zoe mostly being potty trained (and the end of cloth diapers) by buying a new washer and dryer. I also decided that 2018 was going to be the year to really work on "fixing" my back. I started back up with a physical therapist to work on strengthening the core.

Painting at Home Depot

Rose and Landon's 4th Birthday and Liv's first!

Celebrating the birthday girl with her friends from school

The month of February always goes by so quickly. It's a short month and we celebrate Rose's birthday several times, including the day of her birth. We like to celebrate her birthday with the other February birthdays in the family - Rose's aunt and grandmother (Colin's sister and mother). That means we usually take a trip up to New York. This year we drove up and I spent the week with the girls. Thankfully the weather wasn't nearly as cold as it was in December/January. We actually had a warm spell and went to a snow tubing park where most of the snow had melted. Thankfully, we came back to North Carolina without illnesses the second time around.

Even for her birthday, Rose isn't quick to wake up

Dancing to end her birthday (and use up the cupcake sugar!)

Driving the 12 hours to New York

Lots of bilingual singing in the car on this trip!

Zoe now loves smiling for the camera for selfies (when she's in the mood)

We checked out some programs at the Music School in Albany - both girls had a blast!

Sledding with cousin Isabella

This year, February was even busier because of a grant application I wasn't prepared for. Over the past few years, I've had to write some federal grants that bring in significant funds for the state to offer health programs, but they've been written to the same funder each spring. My agency (and by "my agency" I mean "I") was asked to take the lead on a big, competitive CDC grant. It involved collaborating with a lot of internal and external partners, creating a complex plan for meeting very ambitious outcomes, and figuring out how to detail it all in a narrative and workplan with page restrictions. It also came at a time when I knew we'd be applying for another federal grant soon after (likely to overlap), and while my office was/is short-staffed at leadership and project management levels. It is really difficult to find the work-life balance when work is over-the-top stressful. I tried to engage with the girls and Colin during "family time," and to keep work separate, but the mental and emotional fatigue and stresses are harder to separate. I struggle daily with patience, and really had to work on it the past few months through the writing of two big grants from February through May.

Stay tuned for updates from March and April. There was an unfortunate injury in there for me, but spring and nicer weather mean we had a lot of fun outdoor activities start back up.

A recap of December 2017

Thanksgiving to Christmas is always a whirlwind. Add some traveling in there, and it went by in a blink. As the girls get older, I find it more difficult to take pictures and videos. Bringing out the cell phone means the girls want to play with it, and they now always want to see the pictures after we take them. Since I use my phone much more for work than Colin does, he's been the one taking pictures and videos on his phone so that mine has less chances of being dropped and cracked or broken.

One event in December I always look forward to is the Pullen Park Express. It's a really inexpensive holiday event where the park is only open to ticket holders from 5-9p for about 6-8 days in December. The ticket allows you entry into the park and a train ride around the park. This year, tickets for the event sold out in less than 30 minutes when they went on sale in July. I wasn't getting my hopes up to go, but was checking to see if people were selling theirs on Facebook. I did get lucky to find someone who was selling tickets at face value (instead of the price gouging lots of others were doing), but the unfortunate part was that it was for a day when I was going to be in Asheville for work. Colin ended up taking the girls, and they had a good time despite the freezing cold night (one of the few during the month). 

Enjoying bike riding after school
Rose has started practicing riding on her pedal-less Strider (balance bike) 

The girls and daddy on the Pullen Park Express train ride

We found lots of holiday events to attend wherever we were. In Cary/Morrisville there was a train ride around the shopping plaza with a light show to Christmas music on the movie theatre. On that trip we enjoyed some hot chocolate. During a trip to Charlotte to meet up with my parents and brother for our Christmas gift exchange, we found another shopping plaza with a train ride, face painting, and reindeer ears.

Enjoying holiday festivities in Charlotte, with a train ride, face painting, and reindeer ears

At school, the girls had some fun events leading up to their big holiday lunch including holiday pajama day and crazy hat day. The only time we tried meeting and getting a picture with Santa was at the neighborhood holiday party where there were no crowds and after we got to hang out for an hour or so in the same room with Santa. Even then, Zoe didn't want to sit with him so mommy had to be in the picture. Since we were going to be traveling for Christmas, we decided to put up our fake tree instead of getting a real one. The girls were engaged for an hour at most and then Colin took them outside to play while I finished putting the branches on. Our tree is fairly large and looks amazing when it's up, but it does take a long time.

Excited about their Holiday gear

Our picture with the Oxxford Hunt Santa

A holiday tradition we started last year includes creating and decorating gingerbread houses. Last year Colin built them all from graham crackers and a frosting recipe he found online. This year we opted for the kits. The kits made the process so much easier and allowed us to spend more time creating with the girls instead of prepping on our own.  Our houses came out great and both girls enjoyed eating treats during the process. Rose is our chocolate girl and Zoe likes any of the sugar-sweetened candies.

Building one of our two gingerbread houses

One of our amazing gingerbread creations

Since the girls' school closes for an extended break at Christmas, I decided to take the two days off from work to spend with them before we traveled to New York. During one of the days, we had a lovely outing at the Museum of Life & Sciences in Durham. It's one of our favorite places to go and we always try to see the zoo animals, the wolves, the bears, the lemurs, and ride the train. Lately, the girls have also been into seeing the butterflies. After we have lunch, we usually make our way to the awesome treehouse area so the girls can climb a bit before we go. Most times we have to play a little music, go down a few more slides, and run around in the soundscape exhibit before we can actually leave. Naptime is always late for Zoe when we go!

Enjoying a beautiful late December day at the Museum

Our trip to New York has become routine and the girls are proving to be good travelers. Now that they can both face forward, I can more easily help pass them food, toys, drinks, etc. We still usually have our morning break to stretch our legs and get the girls out of their PJs, and we try to have a longer play time right before or after lunch before finishing the final few hours.

In New York, we didn't realize it, but we have also started a tradition of going to the NY State Museum on Christmas Eve. The carousel there is free and we just made the last ride of the day on our trip this year. Last year it was just the four of us, but this year we brought Aunt Karen along for the excitement.

The girls are posing for Aunt Karen at the NY State Museum

This year was the first time I can remember waking up to a White Christmas. I don't love snow, but there is something special about the anticipation of snow on Christmas morning. The girls were excited to wear their pretty dresses, and they managed to sit through the Christmas morning church service. We haven't made a big deal about Santa, so there wasn't a rush to open presents Christmas morning, but the girls did enjoy opening their presents mid-late morning. 

A white Christmas in New York for 2017

Dressed up at church

Opening Christmas presents

The whole week we were in New York it was freezing. It was literally in the negative and single digits in degrees farenheit! That was the major bummer for us Southerners. We had to find museums and indoor activities for the girls for the whole week. We took a trip to the Boston Children's Museum one day, the Saratoga Children's Museum another day, made a couple trips to the YMCA so the girls could go swimming and so we adults could do some exercise, and had moving night at Aunt Karen's. With all the indoor activities, we were waiting for the illnesses and sure enough Zoe spiked a fever two nights before we left, and Rose was screaming with ear pain the night we were planning to drive back. We called the doctor during the drive home and managed to get one of the latest appointments of the day. Zoe's diagnosis was RSV and Rose had a double ear infection.

Consistent morning temperatures all week in New York

Movie night at Aunt Karen's

Serving food at the Saratoga Children's Museum

Colin and I did enjoy a late night out for New Year's Eve, our first in a very long time. The girls did great going to bed for Grandma and we got to celebrate Colin's friend's wedding with his closest friends in Lake George. It was a bummer that the weather was so cold. They had planned a bonfire, which was canceled. We still had a great time and stayed warm indoors and on the dance floor! I'm pretty sure Colin danced the most I have ever seen in our 16 years together.

Celebrating a New Year's wedding in Lake George

Starting off the New Year with celebrations and dancing is always good. It was too bad our girls started off the year sick. Thankfully, they both quickly recovered and we got back to enjoying the outdoors before long.