Topless Adventures

Undressing to get in the shower this evening, she says, "You know, taking your shirt off is like an adventure. When you pull it over your head it's like you never know where you'll go or what you'll see." Long pause and then, "Most of the time it's just the inside of your shirt."

Literally

I have an abundance of happy, summertime childhood memories. Nearing the top of that list would be our almost daily visit to the lakefront park. There we had access to two pools, a small beachfront, boat docks, tennis and basketball courts, a playground and picnic area. Two or three times a week my mother would pack up whatever she made for dinner (no matter how complicated or ethnic the meal) and we'd take it to the park. After dinner, we'd swing for an eternity. As an older child, my brother Matthew and I were allowed to ride our bikes there. We would spend the day playing at the pool and beach. In my late teens and twenties my friends and I would perfect our tan poolside.

I wanted Julia to have that connection and love for the park. She is a water baby, so of course she loves being there. As the home stretch of summer is upon us there is an urgency to get there as much as possible. Before we all know it cruel winter will be upon us. And what is taken for granted in July is cherished in August. Even the August bees seem to be agitated by summer's plan to exit.

In the last week or so Julia has come into her own on the diving board. She loves both the low and high dive. She walks to the edge of the board, adjusts her goggles, contemplates whether she should do a real swim class dive (elbows locked above her head, palm over hand, fingers arching toward the water below) or some crazy one of her own design (one bears a striking resemblance to the Karate Kid's crane technique) and then she just goes for it. After a few dives, the swim to the ladder in the 12' area can get tiring for one as small as her. She was climbing up the ladder and looked like she needed a minute. Already heading back to the board, I stopped her and said, "Take a minute and catch your breath." She looks at me with her condensation filled goggles and nods approval of my suggestion. She cups her hand an inch or two in front of her mouth and loudly exhales. The cupped hand then closes into a fist and she continues walking to the board. It takes me a moment to realize that she literally caught her breath.

WDW

Each summer we take one big family trip. Big in terms of size of the group traveling (10 people) and big in terms of the duration of said trip (11 days). Two years ago we went to Walt Disney World. Julia was three and just loved the whole grand affair. After that Bobby and I decided that we would commit there after to an every other year vacation schedule, in other words, Disney, somewhere relaxing, Disney, somewhere relaxing, Disney, for at least a little while. The following year we traveled to Mexico. Polar holiday, but revered by all for its profound level of relaxation.

A few weeks ago we returned from Disney. It is astounding to me what a very different trip this was from the one we took two years ago. My saucer eyed baby who was amazed at her first glimpse down Main Street and happy to ride Dumbo, Small World, and Peter Pan had added "thrill seeker" to her repertoire. She rode everything that her height allowed. She eagerly climbed in each cart, strapped in a threw both hands in the air long before her cart left the loading area. Those hands remained up until she climbed out at the end. She departed each ride proclaiming, "That was GREAT!" Her 43 inches made her just shy of the requirement for Space Mountain and Expedition Everest and quite shy of Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller-coaster. She is chomping at the bit to get back to this and has vowed they will be among her first ridden. I watched in amazement and wonder. Of course I know this is where her father's genes come into play. I loved watching their shared excitement at all of these adventures.
At Hollywood Studios they have updated the Star Tours ride. It is a simulator ride that takes you through various scenes of the Star Wars movies. The new ride is a collaboration between the Disney Imagineers and George Lucas. The many sequences create 54 variations of the ride. It is so well done. Outside of the ride is a stage where children can sign up to participate in Jedi training and then ultimately fight none other than Darth Vader himself. We had watched the show a few times so Julia knew what to expect. The children are given the brown cloaks and a plastic light saber. As a group they practice a few moves with a Jedi master. Cue up the Star Wars Vader music (da da da na da da na) and doors slide open, smoke pours out and a large Darth Vader appears. He warns the Jedi master that he is there to recruit as many as he can to the dark side. One by one the "younglings" are lead to fight him. In the end they all gain status from "youngling" to "padawan." Julia was beside herself with excitement to give it a try. From the audience I watched her excitement to turn to slight fear as Vader got on stage. Isaac was the first of the cousins to go up. Once she saw that he survived, relief washed over her face and she was eager once again. Watching her tiny frame going saber to saber with Darth Vader was my highlight of the trip.

That said, she did still cherish all the character meetings and little kid rides. Peter Pan's Flight was her first ride of the trip. There is such a wonderful balance to her personality and spirit.

Wildly Independent

This post was originally written back in January; I just came across it while writing another.

Every Tuesday and Wednesday, Isaac and Isabel are dropped to my house after school. Our routine on those days is pretty much, well routine. On Tuesdays I drop older two to catechism. Wednesday is homework and snack and then up for showers.

From the day Julia was born, Isaac and Isabel have indulged her every need. Isabel was four when she was born. I joked that she was my au pair. As Julia has gotten older and her personality has developed (i.e. her mouth and attitude have gotten saucier), both Isaac and Isabel  will now challenge her, argue with her or even tease her.  For the most part the little one can hold her own. When she can't she cries foul and tattles to the nearest adult.

Isabel and Julia always go up first for showers. They get in together and Isabel washes Julia's hair and lathers her up. They love it because they giggle and do silly stuff. I love it because I can get dinner on and visit/help Isaac with his homework. It usually works well. Their greatest offense is taking too long and draining the hot water before Isaac showers. This is probably the part where I should admit that Deanna and I allow the kids to pee if they are in the shower. Not only is it greener than flushing the toilet, studies show that it's really good for your feet. So the girls get in, and I am upstairs getting their towels out and hanging them near the tub. I hear Isabel announce that she has to pee and Julia should back up. Julia is listening to none of this. She's too busy directing Isabel to position one of the shower heads at her. Isabel complies (sort of) and accidentally sprays Julia in the face with the water. This in turn causes Julia to lose her footing and slip to the ground. I pull the shower curtain at the back end of the tub  to look. Julia is on the floor of the tub with various soap pumps surrounding her complaining that Isabel sprayed water at her and peed on her. I tell her that I'd be happy to step in and shower her instead. They both protest and promise to make up and get on with it. I go back downstairs. It seems fairly quiet up there. After a long while, they call me up and ask if I would brush out their hair. When I get into Julia's bedroom they are both laying on the floor across from each other long hair out of the towel dripping wet, bodies curled in the fetal position wrapped tightly in their towels. They are practically hissing and growling at each other like two wet cats. I always start with Julia first. Normally her hair brushes out so smoothly; Isabel washes and conditions very well. I take the brush to it. It is an absolute rat's nest. I ask Isabel if she maybe forgot to condition it. This is when she tells me that Julia insisted on washing it herself. Really, a four and one half year old washing her own waist length hair? Isabel tried to reason with her but when Julia's mind is made up, that's that.

Later that night, Julia is laying stomach down across my lap reading. I lift her pj shirt to kiss and bite her lower back and squeeze (and bite)  her buns. And then it occurs to me. I ask her, did Isabel scrub you today or did you also wash your own body. She casually turns away from the book she's reading. "I did," she tells me. I reconsider biting any part of her that she washed.