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I really missed the girls after they were out of town for a week.  With a day of vacation costing as much as the discount from a complete week out of daycare, spending Friday with them was a no-brainer.  Beckie fluffed for me, and G couldn’t wait for our Special Day.  We started with the Zoo (Alana’s first time as a bipedalist), then to the El Dorado Pool for some new water features, and finally lunch at Lolo’s.  Lolo’s was a heart attack waiting to happen, but other than 16 incredibly sticky greasy fingers and 4 incredibly sticky greasy thungs, we had a great time.

Saturday we had a birthday party at Pump It Up, followed by the pool, then a 2-bike ride.  Sunday was pool and *another* party at Pump It up, on the heels of a 55 mile beatdown on the roadie through Phoenix and Paradise Valley courtesy of Doug. After that I got pretty drunk and passed out with exhaustion, but i think there was more playing and a bbq.

I’ve been religiously trying to get G and Alana to the pool 2x a week after work.   Its only for about an hour since the pool closes at 6, but its the best i can do.  Kids in AZ need to get wet and cool regularly or they go insane, and though its a ton of work going 2:1 with Monsters who are in entirely different places in the water, its vital for me too.

I’ve got our pre-game ritual down: grab em out of class and into the bathroom, make a pile of clothes to swap with a pile of swimwear, slather on sunscreen and surfshirt and shoes, potty and swim diaper, then jet into the car.  They too have figured out the routine, so we can go 25 min from the time i walk in to the time we hit the water.  This is probably the most difficult part, especially when i commute home and continue to slow-roast until we finally get wet.

Each day is a new adventure, some days they get better and some days they get shy and scared.  Some days I deal with tinyMeltdowns.  Most days are very good and very inspiring.  I bought G some brightly-colored rubber squids that sink to the bottom and waggle at her, and within 1 session she mastered kicking her legs to propel herself downward to fetch them.  She can pick up all 4 at once, she keeps going deeper and holding her breath longer, learning to use her arms and legs to swim underwater.  She jumped off the low board and swam to the side. She swam with me 6 feet to the bottom of the lap pool, and let me lifeguard-carry her across the 25 meter length and back.  She taught herself to dive by following up on her natural instincts to throw herself headlong into whatever she is doing. And she’s started recognizing the other little boys and girls and playing with them.

Last time at the pool, Alana waltzed down the zero-depth entry up to her neck, smiling and holding the squids. Only after falling under when the ripples in the water knocked her off-balance did she get scared. Some days she is afraid of the water and of me, other days she can’t wait to get swung around and tossed in the air.  I wish she had the benefit of our old backyard pool to ride in wings and floaties and lose any fear of the water like G did, but romping and stomping 20 yards at a time has its own benefits.  She hangs on the side and pulls herseff up with remarkable motivation, and just started flopping over the  edge and in on her own.  I’m surprised she does not seem to freak when she actually goes under, maybe its ignorance instead of fear, maybe I should give her more credit.

“G, be careful its not a toy!“

I kept saying this, but it was without conviction from either of us.  It looks like a toy, its fun to fiddle with like a toy, and I kept asking “hey, where’s my new toy” while we played with it for awhile.  Thanks KennyB for turning me onto this.

This was far more complex an endeavor than the video makes it look. Alana in the backpack, Kila somewhere, G afraid of the narrow sidewalks at night, and me walking her bike most of the way, with a beer in my hand, and a water bottle.  good times were still had.

They both collapsed after a bath.

There was this magician at the daycare.  I gather by G’s incredible enthusiasm that he had quite The Prestige.  She showed me each thing she colored, and explained how the magician did tricks.  Normally the kids cant remember a whole lot after about 4 minutes, but she was gushing about it to Beckie later that night.

We scored a victory for the forces of anarchy and happy children over the evil gatelockers of Snottsdale!!

The gates are everywhere.  I sorta get it, but mostly i don’t.  The security and privacy is trivial compared to the low-level noise waiting to get into and out of my neighborhood, occasionally almost getting run over by someone coming in the wrong way, having to explain to a 4 yr old, going an extra quarter mile through crickers to the trail. The ambient temperature here is 2 degrees cooler than the rest of the Valley, the chill coming off the neighbors.

A few weeks ago we ended up in the McDowell Mtn Ranch pool, not the Aquatic Center, the hoa pool.  We were in the playground, door was open, swim suit was on…why not?  Its smaller and neighborhoody and kids can bring toys and its open late. Its a different vibe to the AqCenter, and G needs different vibes.  Both of them do, Alana also growing with each new pool, each new repetition of sideways learning and fun. You need a swipe card to get out, or a quick hello neighbor. I don’t necessarily condone these techniques, but it was damn fun!

Last week i moved heaven and earth to pick them up early and goto the pool, which was closed due to some toxic chlorine siteeation - some funk in da pool that Scottsdale opts to kill instant along with anything in its path - how can i complain for $120 a summer?  But the kids were so sad…  Again we poached an open door, and the new reactions from both of them to a new pool was amazing.  G was shook by the size, but soon went to the bottom with me when she figured out the dimensions.  Alana asceneded and descended Indiana Jones and the Watery Steps of Doom style. Toys, balls, romping little girls in a big pool making friends with all the neighbors. We got a look at the gate, we figured out how to crack it, it only takes a butter knife, we’re golden. I don’t necessarily condone these techniques, but it was damn fun!

and she found $20, floating in the pool. thats like a gift card, welcoming us to our swim. what a fathers day gifl!

G is a freedom fighter, developing her own system for making her own chocolate milk

Approximately 2 minutes after arriving at the pool, Genevieve walked determinedly up to me and announced that I should come help her make a friend.  As she marched me over to another little girl and her dad, I got a vision of Child Services coming and accusing me or G of stalking.  She then said in a very serious tone “Hi I’m Genevieve, do you want to play with me?“

I’ve been noticing how awkward people are saying hello to others, making casual acquaintances, generally greasing the wheels of human interaction with such simple gestures.  Maybe I just notice it more cause with kids you have to do it more.  And even more so in Scottsdale than in Mesa: people drive their cars straight to their garages and shut the doors, sheepishly shuffle by each other at the daycare even having done this dance for days in a row.  Three months later and we’ve only met 2 neighbors immediately adjacent to our house, and one neighbor who like us recently moved in with children and is desperate to make friends.  Solipsism, faster-paced, generation net, fear? Its part of Scottsdale’s low-level noise, in sharp contrast to all the yammering idiots in Mesa who couldn’t mind their own business.  Never thought I’d miss em.

So I introduced myself to the little girl’s dad, and the two of us enjoyed a bro moment of kicking back and watching the clock turn while our respective Monsters ran themselves retarded, swimming and splashing and pretending to be penguins.  Alana started flapping her arms imitating her big sister. Each time we go to the pool now, G gets a little bolder about making friends, and seemingly a little wiser about this being her route to success.  Its not happening in our neighborhood, so this is the best I can offer her, and hopefully she will start to see the same kids again and again and start to have a comfort-level about friends at the pool like she does about her daycare.

This week I twice left work early to get G and A to the pool for an hour, and every day now she asks me if we can go swimming.  Her swimming gets bolder and better each time, and just like riding with better riders helps me, swimming with other kids she forgets herself and her fears as her natural exuberance and athleticism take over.

note: commuting home at 4:30 to take the girls to the pool includes approximately 30 minutes of sunscreening and pants-changing and car-seating and heat exhaustion before life-giving cooling ensues.

this was the first one.  the first second and third ones were not all that when there were 2 adults (2.5, including Kila) per tinyHuman.  the fourth the ratio was still approximately 2.2 adults/tinyHuman.  2 is so much harder than 1, hence this is #1.

we was keepin’ it real to start the day yo: beckie mopped the floor and dealt with 2 screaming children.

and some of this

after nearly completing my Chore-A-Thon ‘10 choreathon for the weekend, i crossed off another and took everybody to the zoo: #8 - dad time for G & A