Gap Days

What's going on? Oy. If I tried to tell you, say, an issue that we were facing, by the time I'd write about it on here it would already be ancient history. So one solution is to stick with generalities. Another solution is to try to write what's going on with the caveat that it may be out of date by the time any given person may read it.

I guess I could have posted at some point about worrying about losing our favorite babysitter ever. Lauren got engaged and moved to go to graduate school and live near her fiance. Could it have been a huge mess without a reliable babysitter? Definitely. But we have been blessed with amazing, wonderful caretakers, and as soon as Lauren left, the amazing Kiara stepped right up and filled in without missing a beat on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Kiara, you may remember, was one of the counselors at Zach's beach camp who kept telling me every day how much she loved Zach, until I finally asked if she would babysit.) So what could have been a mess turned into a smooth and easy transition, and the boys absolutely adore her.

It's a good thing, too, because Dave has been super-busy (and happy) gaining a near-monopoly on local real estate. The amazing thing about Dave is his super-human discipline, and even though he works insane hours (up answering emails by 6am; continuing to work through 10pm) he still manages to keep on top of things like running and just recently completed a half marathon.

Meanwhile, I've been holding down the fort managing the little stuff like laundry, grocery shopping, playdates, and bill-paying...plus the occasional blog event or farm trip that keeps me entertained. Our weekend in the casita at Terranea was spectacular, of course, and two friends of Luke's were able to join us on the second night for dinner and s'mores by the fire. Incidentally, it could have been a disaster with Zach hanging out as a third wheel to the 10-year-old boys. But that night we happened to run into the family of one of Zach's best friends who were also staying at the resort. We got both Zach and his friend Strider into the kids' club that night, and they had a blast. Couldn't have worked out better if we planned it.

So right now, Zach is... a social butterfly. When it's time to go to school he cannot be contained; he runs ahead of the rest of us to make sure he gets maximum playground time with  his friends before school starts. Last weekend a friend invited him over to play on Saturday. On Sunday, the mom texted me to ask sheepishly, "Could Zach come over again? Jimmy wants to play with him more." This week he met up with his friend Chase at the park a few times, and they promised each other they would hang out on Saturday. Saturday rolled around and they had a play date that turned into a movie...that finally turned into a sleepover because they were having too much fun to break it up. Part of it is his go-along and get-along personality; he's happy to jump up at a moment's notice or latch on to a last-minute cobbled-together plan. When you consider all of the events we've had to drag him to on his brother's behalf, it's no wonder that he's the most laid back and easily entertained of any of us.

Luke is...focused. He is extremely driven to stay in good shape, eat healthy foods, and stay on top of his work. He finished his report on Mission Santa Cruz with great aplomb; he's been building a model on Minecraft (yes! a school-approved use of Minecraft) to finish the assignment. Has he mentioned to you that he wants to be an architect? He's been studying the houses around us with as much rigor as his dad, and will solemnly tell you that he prefers Spanish or contemporary styling. One of my friends told me that she thought ever since she first knew him in kindergarten that he would be a great architect. "He's a great builder, of course, with all the Legos...But he's also a great listener and I can really see him talking to clients, listening to all of the things that they say, and then delivering what they want."

Luke is also car-obsessed and will spend hours building models of cars online. When Dave's client told him that she was going to need to buy a car, Dave put Luke on the task of researching and finding the perfect car for him. And...one of the three cars that he finally presented to her was the car that she wound up buying. Dave gave Luke a little "commission" for his good work, and the client has promised Luke a test drive. 

So I'm going to wrap this up by saying, tentatively, cautiously, that...we're happy. Everyone is doing pretty darned well. Of course there are big and small things we'd love to change. But as far as a once-a-month check in on this forum goes, things are good. Let's keep it that way.