Max's Preschool

Max was nervous the night before he started preschool.  He was crying and didn't feel better when I reminded him that he had been wanting to try it for a while now.  He felt slightly better when I suggested he bring his abominable snowman figure ("Bomino") in his backpack.  He finally calmed down when I told him I would let him sleep in our bed.

The next morning, he was still nervous but not tearful.  Simone and I took him in and as soon as he saw the room his face lit up at the sight of the toys.  He didn't immediately run to the fun activity centers, but he eventually sauntered over.  He hung onto me the first time I tried to leave, but on the second try, he didn't even look up to say goodbye!

 Here's a video of when we approached the building the first morning.

When we picked Max up, he asked to stay longer!  He enjoyed preschool!

The following days have been great.  Max participates and his teachers seem to like him a lot!  One afternoon, we saw what he claimed he wants to do when he grows up.

He doesn't eat much and isn't inspired by his classmates because they too are all picky eaters. Hopefully that changes because it's one of the main reasons I wanted him to be in preschool!

I Love My Lolo and ...

Max has a shirt that declares he loves his Filipino grandparents.  Lolo is the word for grandfather.  Lola is the word for grandmother.

Max has a little trouble with the word lola and often pronounces it different.  So many times we hear him declare.

"I love my lolo and layla."

Price for Local Shelter

Before we got to DC, I casually looked at places we could buy and fix up with the hopes of selling the house when we have to move again.  This search was difficult because we wanted something run-down or small that could increase with value with some sweat equity; assigned to good schools; close to Michael's work; and within our budget.  A loan officer gave us a ballpark of how much we could spend on a mortgage, but I thought the price was too high for us to continue our relaxed lifestyle.  I wanted to get a loan for 2/3 of what they said we could "afford"! 

When Michael and I arrived in DC, I paid even less attention to available homes.  If I did a search, it was solely for houses or apartments to rent.  I had given up on buying a house because the last two months in Tampa had been grueling and I didn't want to lift another power tool.  No more fixer-uppers in my near future!  Just paying rent and relaxing. 

When the kids arrived, I started to think farther ahead into the future and thought it prudent to visit some apartments to get a feel of the neighborhoods that are close to Michael's work.  What. A. Shock.  We had dreams of Michael just skipping to work in mere minutes.  Those fantasies were dashed when I realized the basic rent was more than what our housing allowance is.  As my radius of acceptable apartments widened, I inquired more thoroughly about extra fees for parking - particularly covered and assigned parking.  They wanted my other arm and leg for such luxuries!

Finally I found a couple of places worth a visit and made appointments.  When I got there, I found out there are these extra charges called, "amenity fees"!  I asked them what amenities we could enjoy and the only one worth anything was access to the community pool.  There was a long list, but it included silly things like the community lounge(i.e. singles hook-up room), the business center (i.e. public room with a printer), gym (i.e. exercise room with equipment the local health club threw out), outdoor grill (i.e. you can't have one on your own 21sf balcony), mail center (i.e. room where an employee dedicates his life to receiving and protecting your UPS packages until you come home after sitting through 1 hour of traffic), etc.  I dared to ask if we could opt out of the $400/ year surcharge, but it was non-negotiable. 

$400 swimming pool access that is worth it only 3 months of the year

The Lounge!  The place to see and be seen!  

This made me start looking at 1 bedrooms and at 6-month leases.  Both options sound miserable and living in the bus throughout the whole year is seeming more enticing.  I never thought I'd say this but it's cheaper to live in Northern California! 

1-bedroom with a loft.  

Many municipalities prohibit personal grills on balconies.  

We Love Reading!

We are members of 3 libraries!  No, not 3 buildings in a group of connected libraries.  We are members of the one on the military base, the county system, and the system of the city where Max goes to school. 

In all honesty, I'm the one that loves the libraries.  The kids enjoy my reading to them, but they'd prefer we just went to one place close to the bus.  The first two library memberships would probably be enough, but I like going to a library to homeschool Simone while we wait for Max to do his preschool.  Having a place (other than a car or a cafe where we have to pay to sit) where we can read or just chill & stretch our legs for a few hours is so comforting. 

Reading is fun for Simone!

Reading is fun for Max!

Max is pretending to be a bookworm and wants to munch on the dirty, outdoor book.  Yuck.

These are kids.  These are kids on books. 

New Grill

When we were working on the bus, I was adamant about not having too much countertop.  I just didn't think I would be cooking so much in the bus.  I told Michael, "When we are on vacation, the last thing I want to do is be stuck in here cooking!"  Well, Michael was equally adamant about giving me countertop space.  Instead of telling me that I would need it for cooking, he convinced me the kids would need it for when we go on long trips and they need to do homework.

Fast forward 4 months and I am cooking all the time in the bus because we've decided to live full-time in it!  I have a few tools:  a toaster, a Vitamix blender, a Keurig coffee machine, a single propane stove burner, and coal.  With this arsenal, I still found it hard to cook things that I had been used to.

I should say instead that I found it too cumbersome to use the processes mentioned above to cook one of our family's beloved dishes, spaghetti.  It had been 3 months since I had made it!  To make it though, I would have had to use the coals to boil water for the pasta and to bake the spaghetti squash for Michael and me.  I also had to use our stove burner and our tiny 8" skillet to brown half the meat, set that aside while I did the other half of the meat. To warm the sauce I would just plop the whole works into a bowl.   I began eyeing all of our neighbors' grills, envying their cooking power and convenience.  Pushing an electric ignition was heavenly compared to setting out coals, dousing them with lighter fluid, throwing matches at the pile and waiting 20 minutes to start the cooking.   Ain't nobody got time fo' that!


So off to Home Depot I went and checked out different grills, making sure my dutch oven could fit inside, so I could do some baking."  I had originally tried to pick a grill by researching online, but I couldn't really tell if my dutch oven would fit based on the dimensions given.  I had to see the real thing and imagine myself cooking with several pots and pans at once.  I also had to pick a grill cheaper than the one I fell in love with online.

It fits!  This Brinkmann was affordable and could close with the dutch oven.

Weber Q 

I was so shocked that the dutch oven worked with this one.  I love the Weber brand because our first one worked so well.  But this model had only one dial for the entire grilling space.  Not a lot of flexibility.  And expensive!

Itty-Bitty Brinkmann

Talk about affordable!  This single burner was only $40 and it fit the dutch oven.  Unfortunately, it would have fit just one kitchen equipment at a time.


I tried the dutch oven with every grill cheaper than the Weber E210 Gourmet Series that I had originally coveted.  Still undecided, I brought Michael to the store to help me decide.  I was totally gunning for the 2-burner Brinkmann, but Michael was dissatisfied with the thin gauge metal.   He too loves Weber so we decided to go splurge and get the Weber we wanted despite its price.  

And we love it!!!  I've even cooked on it while it's been raining!   One of the coolest things about it are all the accessories you can insert in the middle to get a fine-tuned cooking process.

Mmmm, Bacon!

With the grill comes the griddle insert.  At the time of purchase, we also got the pizza stone.  We are ready to use the heck out of this grill!

Time for spaghetti!

I wasn't sure if I could boil water in a dutch oven but did it anyway and ended up with great-tasting pasta!  The spaghetti squash sat at the rack for about one hour and it worked just like an oven!  As for the saute pan, I could go bigger to fit all the meat, but I'd rather not have another kitchen item in our tiny bus.

We ate well that night.

Simone and Her Violin

Simone has been expressing that she'd like to learn the violin for the past year or so.  It's been amazing that she is adamant about this particular instrument.  Not that the violin is an amazing choice, but that she has been so consistent in one instrument.  She, and other kids her age, usually waver among different options that it's hard to know what a kid really wants.  But not with Simone, she wants to learn to play the violin because, in her words, "It's beautiful." 

At a DC Metro station, watching a young woman play her vioin. The kids were entranced!

In August, I decided to visit a music shop to just casually see if they would have a violin in her size.  We went that day because the store was on our way home from Max's doctor appointment.  The associate there measured her arm span and found a used violin that we could rent.  I had meant it to be a research visit, but we ended up renting the violin because she was so excited and because the rental fee was so cheap!  $19.99 for the first 3 months! 

She wanted to play with it so much, but we had to tell it would be better to wait for instruction lest she develop bad habits.

The clock to get an instructor was ticking because of 1) the 3 month rate (afterwards, the rate increases to $28/month) and because of 2)instructors' schedules would fill up as soon as school started.  I called a few and inquired online through teacher search websites.  After 2 interviews in person, Simone decided she wanted to learn from Ms. Laura, who happens to be a Suzuki teacher.  I was especially stoked with Simone's choice because one of Laura's master degrees was in pedagogy! 

I was also glad that Simone would be studying the Suzuki method.  I had heard a lot of good things about it and was eager to have Simone engage in it.  I did hear bad things about it such as there being too little emphasis on note-reading, but my interview with Laura assuaged my concerns.  Although Laura also mastered in the Suzuki method, she does not adhere solely to it and incorporates note reading much earlier than the "pure" Suzuki teachers would.  She herself had studied traditional first and then moved into Suzuki, a common route for other professional players. 

Part of the Suzuki method is that parents are highly involved - so much so that before Simone could begin her lessons, I had to take a parent class!  I took a very accelerated one in which Laura just discussed the idealogy of Suzuki techniques with me.  She said that a typical parent course involves observing 8 student lessons in addition to the book class! 

I don't know who was more excited during Simone's first lesson.  I eagerly took notes like the good Asian student  I am.  Simone couldn't find her voice at first and would look at me before she answered her teacher.  Within 20 minutes, however, Simone was answering questions without prior approval.  It was a really fun class.  Simone and Laura made a foot chart that helps Simone know where to put her feet during "rest position" and "play position."  They discussed parts of the violin and did an end-of-the-lesson song that involved their bowing Japanese-style to express thanks for the lesson. 

The proper way to hold her violin.

Another component of the Suzuki method is regular group classes.  The other teacher I interviewed teaches the traditional method and didn't put much emphasis in the group classes.   I never did group lessons when learning the piano - and maybe it's harder to do with that instrument - but I'm all for it if it accelerates Simone's interest in the violin!  

Miss Laura played most of "Pop Goes the Weasel" and the kids got to pluck a couple of notes.  

Simone was not interested in the group lessons!  She complained so much before we arrived and voiced her preference to stay home at the bus.  I told her she had to follow through till the end of the month and she went begrudgingly.  But when she got there, her mood was pleasant!  Her classmates were two 4-year-olds.  I thought there another student, 9 years old, would attend but so far Simone is the oldest.  She had a motivating effect on the little girls, but I doubt she was inspired by her cohorts.  She did like being praised by the teacher and the attending pianist (who happens to be the teacher's mother and also a music teacher).  I think Simone also liked the game-like exercises Laura introduced to the kids.  They went over rhythm and note identification with a bunch of little ditties and much movement.

Tomorrow we're off to Simone's second class.  She hasn't been practicing enthusiastically - I hope it changes soon and she can take off with her passion.

  

Simone's New Book Idea

Simone had had a prolific morning drawing and writing.  She apparently was working on a new book idea.  Here's something you may find at your Barnes and Noble in the future.

"How to deal with Brother"

When we asked her about it and what advice she had to offer, she said she couldn't think of anything yet.

Outdoor World

We traveled to North Carolina this past week and, on our way there, Michael saw an interesting structure peaking out from the trees that lined the freeway.  Up for an adventure, I agreed to detour to find this possible cultural expedition.  What we found doubling back about 2 miles was ...

O U T D O O R   W O R L D ! ! ! !

What I saw stirring about the boats and entrance looked just like regular white people, but there was something different about them compared to the Northern Virginia folk we were used to.  We were still in Virginia but there was an air of ruggedness to these patrons of Outdoor World.  Maybe I was influenced by the rustic lodge decor and thought anyone who entered had to match.  Regardless, I was intrigued and did not care that I, the lone person who looked  "not from around these parts" , was about to fulfill the stereotype of Asians who love to take pictures.

How could I not take a picture of the interesting sights to see.  Even their crosswalk was different here in Outdoor World.

That may look like any crosswalk, but look more closely to find the subliminal message!

Fish!

The entrance within was quite the event!

This was indeed a sportsman's paradise - on steroids!  Architectural steroids at that!  My first thought was that this place was the Disneyland for hunters.  But that didn't quite fit.  This contained building of enjoyment reminded me of the casinos in Las Vegas in which the environs within were transformed to give you the illusion that you had entered another planet, another world.   Because Disneyland is more of an outdoor experience, you always have a hint that you are on earth, or in LA or Orlando specifically.  You see the sky in Disneyworld and there's a reference to they world you come from.  Within Outdoor World and other casinos, you are enveloped by the architect's and interior designer's vision.  You have     t r a n s p o r t e d !!!!!!!  (I sound like a madwoman, don't I?)

I did feel a bit delirious exploring this new place with these interesting people who looked as if they belonged farther south of the country.

One might think that this is a store purely for adults.  Nay, it is inclusive of all ages.  They, in fact, get their younin's started early with the camouflage.

Simone and Max found many of the taxidermied animals interesting ... except for one.

"Hey, make sure you get my good side."

The selection of the store was as spectacular as their show pieces.  They had an entire aisle dedicated to cast iron cookware!  We bought little things like armguards for archery, cast iron conditioner, candy, and Michael-wear (read: flannel).  When it gets colder and we get more into archery or when I get better with camp cooking, we will most likely return and make a real dent in their inventory!

Max and Uniforms

Max is starting preschool in one week and we have to get him uniforms!  It's a simple dark blue shirt with either khaki or black shorts.  We can get them anywhere since this is the preschool's first year doing a uniform and they didn't have time to get the logo on a big number of shirts.

Max was not pleased to hear that he would have a uniform, but I have a feeling he was just protesting to protest.  He does that a lot - and with a smile on his face as he observes how we react.  To make him feel better, Simone suggested he wear a tie since he loved doing that when dressing up in our old house.

Max again protested ...

"Noooo!  If I wear a tie, then all the girls will want to marry me!"

Max is modeling some dress shoes his mommy is trying to make him like. At least he does it with style!

Max Is in Preschool!

When Simone was going to school, Max was eager to do the same.  He got a backpack and was not enrolled in anything other than gymnastics.  I think Max was intrigued because he would accompany me to pick up Simone and she would always come home with treats for being well-behaved.  Sometimes she would cater her treat to be for Max, who must have thought that school is all about handing out prizes.

This September, Max will only be 4-3/4 years old, not old enough to begin Kindergarten.  I asked him if he wanted to do preschool and he was very excited!  After some research I found an affordable half-day, half-week preschool with the YMCA.  He luckily got in at the partial schedule, which was on the verge of being dropped by the Y.

This past Saturday, we attended an open house for the preschool!

It will be in the basement of a church about 13 miles north.  I had fully intended to take him to school in the morning, but we realized that the place is somewhat on the way to Michael's work.  Now Michael will mostly take him in the morning and then Simone and I will pick him up after lunch.

Max was now not interested in going to school!   On the way to the open house, Max kept expressing his newfound disdain for school.  As we entered the room in which he would be staying, his anxiety was assuaged and the toys that lined the walls peaked his curiosity instead.

The classes start on September 8th, but we won't be in the state because we'll be accompanying Michael on a business trip.  So his first day of preschool has been delayed until September 15th.  I'm crossing my fingers he likes it and will hopefully learn to eat new things from the other kids.

Promotion!

Michael was promoted!  He is now a Lieutenant Commander!  The more syllables in your title, the more important  you are!  No, that's not true.  But he is higher on the ladder of officers!

Luckily, Diana and John were with us when it became official and were able to celebrate with us.  Where did we go?  The Officers Club for a steak dinner!

Congratulations, Michael!