Sky rockets in flight

What do you get when you combine a kid who loves explosions with a whole bunch of engineers with too much time on their hands? The annual rocket launch day at Boeing, of course. Zach built his soda-bottle rocket, filled it with water, and...BLAMMO! Off into the stratosphere. Well, at least into the air for a few seconds.

For Mother's Day, we did something a little different. Instead of driving to brunch in a, you know, regular car...we headed out in a limo. The fact that we were limo novices was readily apparent once Dave poured Zach a glass of ice water from the pitcher...and it turned out to be vodka. Happy Mother's Day indeed.

We came back down to earth and lived a somewhat normal life for a few days... and then got all gussied up again for the epic "Godfather" fundraiser on Saturday night. This was a glamorous Monte-Carlo-style bash at one of the biggest houses in town. What to wear...what to wear...I decided to represent New Jersey with a glittery top, lots of gold chains, and five-inch gold heels. (This pic is for my mom, who can't believe I walked around like this all night, and who wanted to make sure I let people know that I most certainly did not come from that part of New Jersey.)

When we walked in, we were surrounded by tuxedoed men, women dripping in fur and jewels, and this attractive (and surprisingly delicious) cake:

Dave was riding high at the blackjack table, but sadly we left before he could cash in his "winnings" (raffle tickets for a midnight drawing). But he did parlay at least one of his dinner conversations into gaining some new clients, so it was all good...

...Except for the lowest moment of my week, which came at 5:00 am the next morning. I jolted awake with a splitting champagne headache, and got hit with the sudden realization, "I'm throwing a party at the beach for 28 kids today." (cue long, slow sad trombone). I never was able to get back to sleep so my long day started early and painfully.

Zach had originally wanted his party to be a crystal hunt at the rocky beach. But I could never quite wrap my mind around the logistics of setting up a party there, so we had arranged the next best thing: a crystal hunt at our closest beach, with crystals that we would bury ourselves.

We set it up by creating a special crystal hunt area, marked off by Dave's "open house" flags, and some glittery mesh ribbon. The astonishing part about this whole crazy scheme is that it worked, beyond our wildest imagination. It actually functioned as a kid containment area on the beach, so all of the parents could hang out and relax because the kids only wanted to be in the crystal area.

Of course it helped that we had an enormous Mexican buffet (not pictured) set up right next to the crystal hunt, so everyone had a chance to chow down before going back for more. And it helped that we had the most beautiful afternoon of the year so far. And it helped that we had some extra hired hands to help with kid wrangling, setup, and cleanup. People stayed until well after 5 pm, and as we left, one of the moms gave me the most glowing compliment I could have asked for: "Best. Party. Ever."

And then, finally, I came back down to earth... and slept.

Rx

Our household has been through a lot of stresses in the past year, and we're constantly on the lookout for ways to make things a little kinder and gentler. Luke in particular has had a rough time. It's a shame that it's taken us until May to get a handle on things, but that's apparently how long it takes to  address problems around here.

Prescription #1: A cat.

This cat loves Luke more than anyone. I come in a close second; Dave's a close third, and Zach lags behind a short distance at fourth. (In fact, the other day Zach was rather circumspect about the whole thing after Kaya ran away from him: "Maybe I love Kaya a little bit too much.") But the bottom line is, Kaya loves Luke, Luke knows it, and it makes him proud and happy.

Prescription #2: A bike.

Luke hasn't been especially excited about bike-riding, and after we gave his old bike to Zach, Luke spent several months without a bike and didn't miss it at all. But this week I insisted that we get him a new bike, which we did, and it has the side benefit of being super-cool, with 21 gears and all of the bells and whistles (er, except no actual bells and whistles). When he had his old bike, he was still a little wobbly on it. But once he sat on this bike, he had every incentive to turn into a confident rider. After just two afternoons riding around at the school playground, he's a pro. When we ran into some friends of his, he proudly showed off his bike while riding in cool, laid-back circles. And the other day he actually complained about not wanting to do his homework because he wanted to ride his bike. That sounds like it would be a typical kid complaint, but it's truly a new one in our house.

Prescription #3: A bro.
Anyone who's been around our house on a weeknight knows that I am tired of being Luke's punching bag when he's frustrated with homework. What he really needed was someone who could inspire him to get his work done, and who would be someone Luke wouldn't want to dump on. Enter Trace, our 15-year-old savior. Trace, the son of a friend of mine, is a total gem of a kid who is a patient and inspiring homework pal. Trace has only been here twice but he's already made my life so much easier and Luke's life so much better that it feels like we've known him forever. He's going to come on Tuesdays/Thursdays and he'll work with Luke on homework for about 50 minutes, then shoot some hoops and hang out for the rest of the hour. He has some street cred with Luke because he likes Halo. And he has all of the street cred in the world with me, because he helps Luke get his work done with no pain and no tears.

Zach's class spent last month working on "persuasive writing," and even though Zach is pretty persuasive as it is, his writing shows some surprising demands. Here are a few samples, spelling corrected of course:

Dear Mom: Please can I have more minutes of screens! I really like awards. I will do anything for you. Love, Zach

Dear Mom: Could I have a cat and a sleepover with Justin at my house with three iPads. Please please. Because I want it I need it I really need both so badly. Love, Zach.

Dear Mom:
Please return your car so I can buy my six month year old cat. Love, Zach

(Backstory: When Dave sold his red Volvo, he got cash for it and he gave each of the boys a $100 bill. Ever since then Zach has been bugging me to sell my car so that he can get another $100, because that's how much you have to pay to get a cat at the cat rescue. He wrote these letters before we got Kaya, so apparently getting Kaya saved us $100.)

And then the finishing touch:

Dear Luke: Please, triple please, stop fighting me. Because you do it all the time. Because you get in trouble. Love, Zach.

Sigh. Kindler and gentler, people. That's where we're trying to go. Maybe Zach needs a bro too.

Deep Inside the Phone Vault

I've got this nice, nice camera that I use to shoot pictures of food...standing still...on the dining room table. So the camera doesn't leave the house much, and the camera doesn't take that many pictures of fast-moving kids or cats. When we're out and about, and I'm inspired to take a picture, it's almost always with my lousy, barely functional phone camera. And then those photos linger in my phone library, almost never to be seen by human eyes except my own. It's a shame, really. So this week I decided to empty out a recent sampling from my phone. Yes, the picture quality is terrible. Please talk to my IT department about that.

(Actually, I'm thinking this is the start of a new Catskills routine: "These pictures are terrible! And there aren't enough of them!")

The boys feeding the chickens at our friend's house on Easter morning (yield: one egg):

Zach showing off one of the finds (I believe it is the innards of a slot machine) that he used to build a spectacular art/machine masterpiece at our local trash-to-art warehouse:

Zach in his "straw door" costume after the Three Piggy Opera:

A bunch of lazy sea lions lounging on the dock as we cruised the marina in Marina del Rey on a friend's boat:

Luke carving out his place at the beach (this is moments before we all got completely soaked by a rogue wave):

Luke, at his favorite restaurant, demonstrating his cherry-stem-tying skills (Who knew that he was a closet Twin Peaks fan?). He specifically requested that this one go on Beach Bucket.

Zach at the same restaurant about to eat a "messy sundae." (Yes, of course that is redundant.) To make this sundae they actually roll the glass around in chocolate sauce so it is coated all the way around the outside, before they put the actual ice cream and chocolate sauce and whipped cream inside the glass. No one gets out without a napkin. (Confidential to my mom: Yes, they give out napkins.)

Kaya the cat, having finally figured out how to get to her favorite spot in the house: Luke's top bunk bed. Once she's snuggled up in the bed, she is officially her happy place (and by extension, Luke's as well).