Keith, Jenny, Oliver & Zaeda's Blog: November 2011

In September we went to the happiest place on earth, conveniently located in Anaheim, CA. Jenny found a Mr. Incredible costume for Oliver – who became Mr. Incredible’s son, Dash, the fastest kid on earth. He loved that costume so much! He demonstrated his Dash speed by pointing to objects in the distance, then sprinting to them and back. While it was fun to see him do this in the morning, but the end of the day walking around Disneyland, the kid was bushed.

It's the REAL GUY!

Zaeda wore a Disney princess costume, which she loved. “Princess” is a word she says about 20 times a day. There is herself in the princess costume, any number of princesses on TV or her princess toys, and often just any picture of a girl or lady in a fancy dress.
The kids wore their costumes every day, for 5 days in a row. The frilly trim at the bottom of Zaeda’s dress came clean off. They picked up some food and spilled juice and general dirt and dust. But the kids had fun. What kid doesn’t have fun at Disneyland?

Dale and Zaeda

Princess pooped

There is gold on treasure island!

Since our last post (too long, I know) this family has been busy going through some major changes. In the month of October we moved twice. At the beginning of the month, we left our old house on NE 23rd. It was bittersweet walking through that empty house at the very end, cleaning it up and thinking about all our memories there. I wonder how well Oliver will remember that house and that neighborhood. Zaeda is too young, I think, to remember it at all.
Without a new house ready, our temporary home was an apartment at the west side of town, near the hospital where the kids were born. We rented month-to-month, not knowing how long it would take to close the purchase.

Killing time in the apartment. Improv robots.

Meanwhile, the realtors, lenders, and everyone else involved in the home sale transaction really came together to move a difficult sale through a myriad of complicated regulation and banking requirements. So, just 4 weeks after moving into the apartment, our new home was ready and we were moving out of the apartment!

This is home

I remember what I thought 10 ½ years ago: I NEVER WANT TO MOVE AGAIN! All that packing, living out of boxes, changing your contact info for mail and utilities….. it turns your whole life upside down. I’m so glad to be done, except that we’re not quite. Now a week into our new home, we still have plenty of unpacking to do. This is the stage where we run across something we’ve packed and moved twice and ask ourselves “Do we really need this??”
In our new house, we have a great deal more space to spread out. It takes the kids no time at all to redistribute their toys from the spare bedroom we’ve designated “The Play Room” to all the other rooms of the house.

My good friend Danny, a home theater/networking expert, helped me get some new equipment and set it up in the house. He did quickly and correctly what would have taken me many hours of cursing. Next we’re shopping for some furniture. This is home! The cats are exploring, the dog has a nice bed in a comfy spot, and we are starting to actually cook meals again.

Oliver and his best buddy Nolan at their school halloween party.

All the kids in Oliver's class

Just after moving in we met some neighbors walking along with their kids. They invited us to a Halloween party up the street, followed by trick-or-treating. It was nice to discover that we live in a neighborhood full of families and kids the same age as ours. And the neighbors were nice as well. I was invited to join a regular poker group – a game I haven’t played much, so I had to study up. It's good to feel welcome.
With all these changes, we had one more hurtle in terms of big events: we hosted the first birthday party for Oliver where his daycare friends were invited. The Burgerville near our new home has a designated party room downstairs, which we filled with balloons and dinosaur-themed games. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by noisy 5 year olds popping balloons, spilling milk, and tearing into cake. Everyone had a good time, but perhaps Oliver most of all.