Eva and 5 friends – Iris, Fiona, Leona, Ohana and Poppy – wanted to go swimming. So we, Havana, Hudson, Bowie and Maddie trekked through Friday rush hour traffic to the pool at Mountlake Terrace Recreation Center.
Then we came home for pizza, cake and yet another viewing of The Bee Movie. Every slept over so we had 9 kids, which is a record, I believe.
Eva turned 8 today. We celebrated with dinner and cupcakes. She got a custom book, a squishie, and is our first kid to want (gasp!) Barbies. She discovered them at a friend’s house and really liked playing with them but was embarrassed and worried that Havana and Hudson would make fun of her. I was impressed that they kept their opinions to themselves.
She was born 8 years ago today.
Eva got braces today and Havana got her retainer off. Braces in my day were sadistic punishments. Today, kids like them.
Tonight was the Stevens Fall Social, aka the Halloween party.
Iris & Eva:
Colby, Hudson & Bowie:
Kristin & Gay (wo)manning a prize booth:
Photos courtesy of Justin.
Eva finally got her Leopard Gecko and named it Lemon.
The 2018-2019 school year started today. Hudson is in Ms Andrews’ 5th grade class and Eva is in Mr Carroll’s 2nd grade class. Havana had Ms Andrews last year and Hudson had Mr Carroll for 3rd and 4th grades.
Hudson and Bowie are not in the same class for the first time and Hudson was upset and apprehensive about that. But he came out of school today all smiles and really likes Ms Andrews.
Eva and Iris are in the same class this year and almost all her friends from last year are in her class. She’s happy too.
The biggest change is that Havana is now in middle school. 6th graders started today without the 7th and 8th graders so they could get used to the school, multiple class rooms, lockers, etc without the bustle of other kids in the halls. Very cool idea. The school had a parent orientation at the start of school so we attended a presentation by the Principal and others in the morning. Havana was very excited to be going to middle school and she loved it too.
Gay and I also picked them all up after school and took them and friends to Hello Robin for ice cream, which it seemed every other parent also did, including Robin & Clay!
Eva bought caterpillars, took care of them in their cage (seen in the background next to Hudson) and she successfully helped them turn into butterflies. Today she (reluctantly) let them go.
She loves animals and bugs… I predict Eva is going to be a biologist.
And when I see you kitten as a cat
Yeah as smitten as that
I can’t get that smallAnd when I see you happy as a girl
That lives in a world of make believe
It makes me pull my hair all out
To think I could’ve let you leave
— The Cure “High”
Eva had all her friends over for her birthday today. They painted ceramics, ran around, had cake and ice cream. Happy Birthday, Eva!
Eva is 4.5 today. Gay and I are both 45, or 10x older than Eva — we have each lived a decade for every year she has lived. There was no time when that has been true of any of our kids and, if my math is correct and none of us ever use time dilation by traveling in space, never will be true again.
