Grandparents' Visit, Part One: Paca

 This past month we've had the pleasure of hosting several of the grandparents in our home. For starters, we got Paca stay with us for a few days in May.

 It was a short visit, but we packed in some play time at various playgrounds . . .

 . . . and went on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park.

 (Uncle Dan came along, too)

This was how Ramona was carried for a good portion of the trip

"Paul Bunyan's Boot"--or, as Ramona described, a sock with a hole in it

exploring

 We got rained on a couple of times as rain clouds rolled in, but our girls handled the less-than-ideal weather conditions quite well. Paca showed Ramona how to hide behind a big rock to escape the strong gusts of wind.

 Upon seeing Gem Lake at the top, Ramona declared: "What a day at the beach!"

 It was almost clear again once the wind carried the dark clouds away.

Family Photo

The girls got to see Paca for about an hour on Memorial Day as he swung back through on his way from Utah. They spent the time on the couch reading books.

Thanks for coming to see us, Paca!

Mika-Squid

Giving birth to Mika last August felt a lot like having a long, rubbery squid pulled out of my body. Since that day, nine months have quickly passed by--and although she has grown considerably, she is still my long, rubbery squid-baby. At her doctor's check-ups, she has always measured around the 95th percentile for length, 25th-35th percentile for weight, and 85th-95th percentile for head size. This body stature has been less than ideal for her ability to sit up, pull up, and crawl, (head = orange on a toothpick) but she is making progress. Today I found her doing this:

 Oh, and another day I found her doing this:

 

Those long arms are definitely figuring out how to reach things they could not get to before.

Little Mika still looks wobbly when she sits up on her own, can only pull up in a kneeling position, and still hasn't figured out how to crawl forward (backwards is her direction of choice) but when it comes to smiles she is certainly not lacking. Her whole 18-inch head circumference seems to light up every time she grins. We love you, Mika-squid.

Five Years of Forever

Marriage makes life interesting. It takes two flavors of person and mixes them up like a high-speed blender for as long as the two stay on board. It provides an experience that is more complicated and more meaningful than they would have otherwise had on their own. Five years of that may not seem like much to an outside observer, but it has been life-changing for me. It's given me two baby girls and a graduate degree. It's brought me from moist, green Illinois to the wild west of Colorado. It's taught me a lot of gushy, sentimental things that don't really belong on this blog. But at the risk of gushing, I will say these five years have given me a taste of Forever--specifically, Forever with Forest--and I've decided that isn't such a bad thing. (Read: It's awesome.) I'm staying on board.

Orchestra Nerd

On Wednesday of last week I met with a couple of string players (both of them 70+) and played violin. We sightread some easy ensemble music that we would never perform anywhere. Why in the world would someone do that?

On Thursday of last week I volunteered in a 7th grade orchestra class, then played double bass with the group in the concert that night. Really?

On Friday of last week I sat next to a pile of brochures in a local art gallery and played background music on the cello to promote the Loveland Orchestra. Okay, that sounds a little more normal, but . . .


Explanation #1: I am a wannabe orchestra teacher. I suffer from the fear that I will forget how to play my secondary instruments if I don't practice them periodically. I sometimes end up in middle school classrooms, tuning instruments and pulling students out for sectionals. I don't wince at the notes played by a beginner violinist--they actually sound kind of sweet to me, sort of like infants babbling or toddlers learning to talk.

Explanation #2: Since the Loveland Orchestra closed out its 2011-2012 season and won't start up the next season until Fall, I miss our performances and our weekly rehearsals. Perhaps to fill this void, I seek out other opportunities to play music, even if it is playing the Mission Impossible Theme on a double bass in a middle school cafetorium.

With that said, I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to perform this past year--the three concerts I played were unforgettable.

The Mozart concert in January: First orchestra concert I played since May 2010. As I excitedly unpacked my cello to warm up, I saw that all four strings and the tailpiece were loose on the instrument and the bridge had completely popped off. Poor cello was still getting used to Colorado climate, I guess. There were about 15 minutes before I was supposed to be on stage, and the thought crossed my mind that I may not be able to play this concert after all. Thankfully, the sound post hadn't tipped over, so I carefully laid my instrument on the floor, tightened up the strings, set the bridge, tuned it up, and walked on stage in time for the overture to La Clemenza.

The Czech concert in March: First time playing the Moldau--a piece that has always sounded magical to me. Coincidentally, this concert was scheduled on Smetana's birthday, which made playing the piece even more special somehow. Although there were no "exploding cellos" like in the previous concert, my stand partner's bow experienced an explosion of sorts right at the end of the Moldau, so sadly, he didn't get to finish out the piece. I've never seen someone's bow hairs all pop out during a concert--I guess he was really "shredding" it.

The Brahms concert in April: Second time playing the Academic Festival Overture--I believe the first time was in 10th grade at a district orchestra event. The music seemed SO much harder then. First time playing Symphony Four--my favorite symphony of all time. The symphony I intended to have on during labor with Mika, but she just came out too fast. Maybe we would have had time for a Haydn Symphony.

So far, Colorado has not offered me any of my own cello students, (which may have contributed to the aforementioned outbreaks of wannabe orchestra teacher syndrome) but I have already had more performance opportunities than I imagined. Perhaps reminding myself of this fact will keep me from doing anything too rash over the summer--like trying to teach my 3-year old how to play the cello. We'll see.

Playdough Picnic

On Wednesday, we got to celebrate the life of a little girl who holds a very big place in my heart.

 When Ramona came downstairs that morning and saw the balloons and streamers, she asked: "Is it my birthday now?" Then she continued with, "Did you get my birthday ready while I was sleeping? You decorated with red balloons? I love red balloons now!" I smiled at how appreciative she was.

The theme of her party was "Playdough Picnic." Part One of the party was at our house, making little lunches out of playdough.

Do not eat.

 

Ramona's only request for the party was: Party hats

Mika actually tolerated her hat quite well

 

Ramona was anxious for guests to arrive

 We had a crowd of about 10 kids attend our "pretend" lunch party . . .

 . . . which spilled out into the backyard before too long, once the playdough had lost its charm. After about 20 minutes of throwing rocks into the grass, going in and out of Ramona's play cottage, and some form of hide-and-go-seek, Part One of the party was pretty much done.

 Part Two of the party was lunch and playtime at the park--a REAL picnic this time, of course, with some edible food. The kids took a few bites, and then were off to the playground.

 

Usually when I take Ramona to the park, in an effort to avoid the dreaded nagging (and dragging) to get her off the playground, I set a timer on my phone and allow the alarm to dictate when it's time to go home--not mom. But this day was Ramona's day, so I didn't set any timer and let her play until she was almost sick of the park. It took a while.

 

The remaining afternoon just included picking out a birthday balloon and baking a chocolate cake with pink frosting. (Ramona's one request in regards to her birthday cake was that it should be pink. Simple! Is it possible that she was somehow aware of her mother's cake incapabilities?) When Daddy got home from work, he had a bouquet of flowers for Ramona--a gift from Paca. She gave them a hug.

 

Even after all of this, there was still cake to eat and gifts to unwrap!

Blowing out her birthday candles

 

  

Just when we thought she might fall asleep on her slice of cake . . .

  

. . . the birthday girl came alive again when it was time to open presents all over the living room floor.

 

She continued to "party" for some time afterwards that evening, even a little past her usual bedtime. I guess she wanted squeeze as much out of the day as she possibly could.

We love you, Ramona! Thanks for being a part of our family these past three years.

Hiking, ham, and hiding eggs

 Good Friday was a good day for our family to test out some new hiking boots and an upgraded child carrier at Devil's Backbone.

 

 

 On Saturday, Dan and Christie came to visit from Boulder. Together, we set out on another hike--this time at Horsetooth Mountain.

 

 When we got home, we put some ham in the oven (an hour or two past schedule), while the girls basked in attention from their aunt and uncle. Mika hardly ever left the arms of Uncle Dan . . .

 . . . and Aunt Christie accommodated Ramona's many "dress up" demands.

After a late dinner, she even read Ramona a bedtime story. We love having Dan and Christie close by!

Easter Sunday mostly involved various church responsibilities. For our sacrament meeting I was in charge of organizing and leading a group of 9-11 year-old girls in a short musical number. When it was time for the girls to line up in front to sing, Ramona grabbed a folder and went right up with them, then held her music in front of her just like the older girls. I didn't make any attempt to stop her, assuming it would have been even more of a disruption to try--but wondered if I had made the right decision when the front lights went out during the performance and I realized Ramona's little hands had found the light switch by the podium. Thankfully, the rest of the girls continued with their "Easter Hosanna" despite the flickering lights, and sounded lovely.

At home, Ramona hid several Cadbury eggs from Daddy, only to "find" them for him a few minutes later.

Then she found some chalk eggs for herself, and spent much of the remaining afternoon playing with empty plastic Easter eggs. My original intention was to carry out the customary tradition of filling them with candy and hiding them in the backyard, but I hadn't gotten around to it. Ramona was so eager to hide them herself (and she had already eaten a substantial portion of candy at church), I gave up and let her play her own way. Of course, this involved her tripping, spilling an entire bowl of eggs, and bursting into tears--but hopefully she had a happy Easter, overall.

My favorite part may have been hearing Ramona's little voice singing: "Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the most high God!" periodically throughout the day. Just like "big" girls.