On March 1, Jack's school celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday. It was also Family Friday. The first Friday of each month, the school invites parents and other family members to read to their students for half an hour in their class. This month, they encouraged us all to dress up as our favorite Dr. Seuss character. There were lots of Cats in Hats, Things 1 and 2 (and even a Thing 3), a few Loraxes, and even a couple of Sam I Ams. I borrowed a (Teenage Mutant Ninja) turtle costume from one of Jack's friends, thinking that Jack could go as Yertl the Turtle. Jack was not interested in participating.
After I picked him up from school that day, we headed over to the beach for an impromptu playdate with some much-missed friends from out of town who were soaking up some much-missed sun. It was our first beach day of the year. Because it was so last-minute, I didn't have any of our standard beach supplies, including a change of clothes, but that didn't stop my children from heading in to the water. Poor Violet ended up soaked and cold as the sun started going down and the wind started picking up.
Still, we marched on and had dinner with our friends at a local Mexican restaurant. Jack was disappointed that the nachos that he ordered were in fact real nachos with real ingredients, instead of that synthetic nacho cheese product sauce that he gets from the Little League snack shack.
When we got home at 7:15 PM, we were dismayed to learn that the power had been out of our house for nearly an hour. It didn't end up coming back on until 12:30 that night. We got through a hurried bedtime routine by candle- and flashlight because the next day was...
Opening Day of Jack's T-ball season! We had the option of moving him up to the rookie division this season, but we chose to stay with T-ball for one more year. Our coach was keeping his boy in T-ball, and it's so nice to not have to start new with someone we don't know. Plus, if I'm being honest, Jack could use one more year to really get the fundamentals of baseball down before he has to worry about hitting a pitch.
I'm so glad we made that decision. Jack is the oldest child on the team. Because he already has one year of T-ball under his belt, he's familiar with the rules of the game and more coordinated when it comes to throwing and catching than most of the other players. As such, he gets placed in the more active fielding positions, like pitcher and first base.
At yesterday's first game of the season, a local news channel came out to cover our league's opening day. Jack's team happened to be playing at the first field. His team got a lot of camera time, which included filming two plays that Jack made. The weather guy even interviewed Jack. I don't know how much - if any - of this actually aired, since it was apparently being played live and we don't have DVR. I'm hoping someone somewhere DVR'ed it or that I can get a copy from the television station. Stay tuned, grandparents, I will let you know. If I can't get a copy, however, console yourself with the knowledge that I'm not sure how well Jack acquitted himself on live TV. From what I saw, he was either making goofy faces or turning away from the camera, and most of the time he had his fingers near or in his mouth, a habit that he's picked up since he started school that I can't stand.
After that, we had the league's opening day ceremonies. Poor Jack, the opening and closing day ceremonies really aren't much fun for little kids. They just have to sit out on the field, under the hot sun, while a bunch of grown-ups they don't know talk about things they don't care about. It's long, hot, and boring. Jack needs to work on his poker face. When he is miserable - which he assured me he was - he makes sure everyone can tell by his expression (hmmm, I wonder where he got that from?). It took bribes of Gatorade and promises of Pokemon TV and frozen yogurt to get him through the ceremony. It didn't help that most of his teammates were having a hard time sitting still. Most of them were wrestling or sitting on each other or running around, while Jack was just sitting there. It must have felt a lot like school to him.
After the game, we headed over to a park for another, much larger playdate with our out of town friends. Not only was it great to catch up with those who have moved away, it was also wonderful to play with local friends that we don't see as often due to school schedules and other activities. So many of these friends were such a big part of our social circle when Jack was a baby and a toddler. It's always wonderful to see how much all the kids have grown.
Violet was so funny at this playdate too. She and her little friend, R, ran off to dig in the mud. They kept each other entertained for quite a long time, it was so nice. At one point, R's mom asked them what they were doing. Her little boy said, "Making cake in the mud puddles!"
"We're making cake in the mud puddle!" Violet repeated. "Does that make you happy, Mom?"
To quote R's mom, "Thrilled." Especially since this is what her hands and pants looked like afterward.
Tom reported that the bath was filthy that evening. I wasn't there to witness it firsthand, because we had one more grown up playdate with our friends before they left today. Kids playdate by day, moms night out by night. What a life.
Can't wait to see what the rest of March has in store for us.
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