Our Great Big OC Trip

It's summer vacation!  And that means a trip to Orange County to visit Mop and Pop!  The girls look forward to this trip so much.  It means a change of scenery, some sun, and quality time with Mop and Pop.  Now that Pop is retired, it means more time than usual with Pop, too.  I'm thinking he started second-guessing his retirement about two minutes after we got there ;)  

We took a lot of pictures, so I've made an effort to make this blog post a little more concise with some collages.  One of these days I'll figure out all of the HTML code to display pictures side-by-side.  For now, though, I've been playing around with picmonkey to create very simple collages, and then importing them as pictures into the blog.  I'm probably the last person to figure out how to do this, but it's new to me!  

Our little OC trip started with a very long road trip, and we left immediately after Megan's last day of school prayer service.  We were all packed and ready to go.  It worked out perfectly.  This trip could take 7 hours...without five needy children in tow.  Why oh why do they insist on being fed and entertained?? So demanding. We stopped more than a few times, and one of those stops was a picnic lunch at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere.  

The stop did everyone good.  Before we knew it, we were there, and we started enjoying some Southern California sun the next morning with a little park visit.

We had to venture beyond the playground, though, where we stumbled upon a hill and some cardboard scraps...pictures can explain this further.

Next up?  The ever-popular "Buckets of Fun."  I'm pretty sure we're the only ones to call it by that name.  Most would probably just call it the water feature next to the neighborhood pool.  Buckets of Fun is so much more descriptive!  The girls had a blast having buckets full of water overturn above them.  They got soaked, enjoyed the pool, took a break poolside, and then took a really nice nap.  You can't ask for a better day than that!

Our next treat was a fun surprise from Mop and Pop.  Matt and I experienced (anew) the pleasure and normalcy of having just two kids.  Matt, Megan, Bridget and I saw Peter Pan together, and our two girls loved it!  The show was magical, and it was a nice departure to do something that just the big girls would enjoy.  At different points in the play, Matt and I each had a girl lounging on our lap.  (We experienced the other extreme when we took all of the girls to see Brave last weekend!)  It was an added bonus to feel positively anonymous.  We blended in with all of the other 2-kid families, with no one pointing or staring at us :)

The real highlights of this trip, though, were the swimming lessons that Mop arranged for all four big girls.  They all improved tremendously with lessons three days in a row, under the direction of Mr. Matt, who should be called the swimming whisperer for the magic he worked with the girls.  Without our own Matt there (someone had to leave on a plane right after the Peter Pan show to go back to the real world and teach summer school.), Mr. Matt was an acceptable substitute, and had all of the girls doing things they've never done before.  Megan was even diving for objects on the bottom of the pool by the end of third day.  I know this is not earth-shattering for a 6-year-old, but it's been a challenge, logistically, to expose the girls to swimming lessons on a consistent basis.  These three lessons in a row were just what they needed to kick-start the summer.  They were giddy with excitement for each lesson.  As a side note, it took two people (Mop and me) way too long to french braid four heads of hair in any timely fashion.  It's a personal goal of mine to do it myself for just one of their future lessons here in the city! 

Last, and certainly not least, was our much-anticipated visit to Pretend City in Irvine.  We went last summer, and we have been asked over and over if we could go again.  We had some happy girls when this activity was announced!  This was Mary's first trip, and she's a fan as well!  It's a heaven for any kid who likes to pretend.  Just as it sounds, it's a whole pretend city, complete with a post office, library, grocery store and (most popular this go-round) dispatch center.  This last spot occupied Megan and Bridget for a loooong time, as they pretended to field calls with all types of disasters, and then notify the correct emergency department.  Lots of button pushing and hilarious one-sided telephone calls!

Too soon, it was time to go home.  A girl can get used to a couple more hands and a Mop to do all of the laundry and dishes and a Pop to run to the store for anything we needed. Lucky little girls can get used to being spoiled (more than usual), especially when they get away with things they don't do at home, like sleeping in the "fort," four girls to a bed.

We took one last photo before hitting the road.

In case you missed that part about Matt flying home solo, I was left to my own devices with these five for a long ride home.  After many, many stops, we finally arrived home....12 hours later.  That's a day I'll never get back.  It wasn't all bad.  They were actually very good.  We had no pee emergencies, the DVD player cooperated with me, and I kept my cool.  But, no one slept, unbelievably!  I mean, these girls fall asleep on the way back from the park down the street, but somehow did not sleep a wink for a 12-hour car ride!  (Okay, Mary slept for about an hour.  But, that's it.)

Here is a wide-awake Mary showing off what she worked on all week --- 2 new front teeth!

What a great start to our summer!  Thank you Mop and Pop for a wonderful trip!

Let's Get This Summer Started

It's summer!  Time for all of the things we don't have time for during the school year! We've put the girls off so many times with, "We'll add that to our summer list," that we really had to follow through and make that list.  We all sat down together and everyone contributed ideas and coloring...and some doodles.     I think it's a pretty fun list, but the summer is already seeming shorter as I think about trying to fit everything in.  Days can escape us very easily, especially when Mommy stays in her pajamas until noon.  So much for the first part of the day ;)  And, if we want Mary to experience any sense of normalcy, we let her have a nap at home in the morning every few days.  And then it's lunch and nap time for all five... yes, we could just stay in all day, every day, especially on days like today.  Everyone is playing nicely while Mary sleeps, and disrupting that peace would be akin to waking a sleeping baby...I'm not gonna do it!  Little Ponies are galloping down the hall upstairs and Little People are sleeping in their houses, and Barbies are trying on all of their clothes, and my little girls are happy.  I can sit down for a minute and blog.

I have managed to get dressed at a normal hour a few times this summer, which meant we could check some items off our list.  For the first time, we were able to enroll Megan in a sports camp at SI.  The kids have to be incoming first-graders, and while I don't like to admit that we have a first-grader, I was glad she could take advantage of soccer camp!  She loved it, and it was a good chance for her to brush up on her rusty skills.  She even earned Camper of the Day status one day!! Hopefully, she'll be more prepared when soccer starts in the fall.  Per usual, it was a scramble to get her there on time each day that week, especially when Mommy insists on taking pictures of every mundane thing we do:

We've also been swimming wherever we can.  The girls are quickly becoming fearless, and Megan is more and more independent in the water.  It's a relief to worry about one less child, just as Mary is beyond excited to be in there too, of course.  Pictures of our most recent outings are scarce, mostly because all hands are holding or helping kids stay alive ;)  But, the girls have really enjoyed Auntie Anne's pool...

and loved swimming with Joey, Clara and Molly at their cabana club where they're quickly becoming Olympic swimmers.  As for our girls, the club pool has a perfect shallow area that is just the right height for even the twins to tip-toe around in and still have their head above water.  And, I used a very un-waterproof baby carrier to bring Mary in with me, and that worked out well, too.  Notably, Megan jumped off the not-so-high-dive many, many times, and swam to the edge on her own.  I'm so impressed, and can't wait to see what she can accomplish with some more lessons under her belt starting next week.  Bridget stood on the board, but her knees were literally knocking against each other with fright, and as desperately as she wants to be just like Megan, she only jumped once.  We wanted to get a big cousin picture, but didn't.  I think another trip to the sunny east bay is in order very soon to capture all of the little blond swimmers in action!  The only picture from the day was me with a squirmy Mary.

We also hit up the new playground at Dolores Park yesterday, which was amazing!  I didn't bring along my camera then, either, but we'll be back there soon enough.  There are sweeping views of the city for the parents to enjoy, and the kids fell in love with the huge slides there.  It will now be known as the "big slide park" in this house.  We could probably go to a different park in the city every day, and never go to the same one twice.  For all that I don't like about San Francisco, this is one thing I love!

We have a huge list of things to do with the kids, but we should probably have one for Matt and me.  Summer is the time we can actually accomplish things around the house, and I could fill up two posters with projects we need to do.  Matt would be very excited if I did that ;)  Even without a list, though, we've managed to do a few things.  We re-organized in the little girls' room last weekend, and eliminated a bulky bookshelf that Matt and I actually built together, a long time ago.  Anyone need a bookshelf?  Can I interest you in some kids to go with that?

(no children were harmed here, and Mary had two firm hands around her waist!)

No?  That's fair.  Stay tuned for Matt to build a dollhouse from this wood!  Who needs a poster with a honey-do list when I have a blog that gets it in writing all the same?

I managed to make it through this entire post in one sitting!  That's a record for me!  Girls are still playing nicely, and Mary is just now waking up, so I'll leave with this gem:  Girls have been amazingly well-behaved this morning because of a little rating system that Matt started with them this weekend.  I'm sure they'll be forever scarred academically, but for now, they are earning grades for their behavior.  They will do just about anything for an A+, and I am seeing helpfulness I never knew existed in these girls.  It's an A+ or nothing in their minds, even if they have to claw their way back from the abyss of a C earned after a time-out.  We'll disappoint them in a few years with the mathematical impossibility of that kind of improvement.  For now, I'm enjoying my little over-achievers, even during the summer!

Last Days

School's out for the summer! Wahoo!

I know some moms shudder at the thought of kids home all day long during summer vacation, but I am definitely not at that point yet.  I am loving our new "schedule," if that word is even appropriate for what our days look like now.  Matt is teaching summer school, but he leaves the house at 8:30am.  I'm feeling pretty spoiled by that alone!  But, when you add in the whole no-rushing-out-the-door-at-the-crack-of-dawn-with-five-kids-tow thing, I'm on cloud nine!  

In honor of Megan's last day of school, I have to include a picture of our last morning.  I think I've posted about my tendency, if we're running late, to have the girls eat breakfast in the car (banana and a bagel; waffle in a plastic cup; toast and scrambled eggs in a plastic cup; muffins).  However, I improved a little bit as the year progressed, and we actually sat down to the table quite a bit the last few months of the school year.  

What a difference nine months make!  Here is Megan and the gang on her first day...

and her last day of school!

We can't forget little Bridget's comparison, either! Her pictures aren't quite as full of sisters, though.  Megan was already at school by the time I thought to document this first day shot, and I was too lazy to get Mary out of the Ergo to join in the fun.

Bridget's first day...

 and last day...her graduation from preschool!

In a couple short months, we'll have two little girls in uniforms, going to the same school.  These before and after pictures will look more...uniform :)  I'm not thinking about fall right now, though.  I'm just enjoying our summer vacation!

On Having Five Kids

I don't think I fully realize just how crazy our life is with five little kids until I see it through others' eyes. Running errands with five girls hanging off of me, or delivering Megan to school everyday with our small entourage can be an exercise in avoiding eye contact, all the while listening to whispers of, "That's the lady (just when did I become a lady?) with the five girls," or the more audible and still popular, "Are they all yours?!"

Meaning well, most people ask just how chaotic our life is. These people usually have two children, and can't imagine adding to their already full plate. I can relate to that. After all, we did have two kids at one point, and I thought our life was crazy then. But, as I typically respond, we have just slowly become used to more and more chaos. I guess we've adjusted to our surroundings ;)  I'm not sure when five kids became such a huge number -- I never thought it was before having five kids myself --  but I'm definitely made to feel that way most anywhere we go.  In response, I feel an added pressure to exude calm and cool at all times, and to give having five kids a good rep.  This is especially true when anyone is going to be spending any time with us or observing us in our little house, doing what we do. I'm very aware that we have more kids than most people do, but I want to prove that we're still very normal.

My need to justify this five kid thing extends to our little playdate guests as well. In anticipation of one of Bridget's little preschool classmates coming over to our house, I actually spent an extra 20 minutes that morning tidying up the house...yep, I'm officially ridiculous for needing to impress a 4-year-old!  Who knows what she would have gone home saying had I not cleaned up?  I did not want details of a messy house getting back to her mom!  Well, as it happened, I'm glad I tidied up.  After we'd picked up Bridget and her friend from preschool that afternoon, and before we'd even pulled in to the driveway, this little playdate announced that she wanted a tour of the house.  "I'm BIG on tours," she added as we walked in the front door.  The tour didn't take long, I can assure you.  Everything seemed to pass inspection, as we have two rooms entirely dedicated to little girls.  As always, the big girls' bunk beds were a huge hit. But, the bigger hit was our very modest backyard.  "This is AWESOME!" she yelled as we all paraded through our master bedroom and out the back door.  It doesn't take much to impress the 4 and under set. A hot tub is a good start, though.  Everything was going swimmingly so far.  I envisioned our little friend returning to her home and declaring that our house was the coolest, everyone was laughing and smiling the entire time, and Bridget's mommy was incredible!

I think everything started spiraling downhill about ten minutes after I had that thought.  While I was plating out our gourmet lunch of chicken nuggets, french fries and strawberries, Tessa was complaining about an "owwie" and Mary was crying for food in her high chair.  It was a little loud.  Our observer looked from one end of the table to the other, lifted one eyebrow at me and asked, "Is it always like this?" 

She got me.  The facade cracked, and she saw that things are, indeed, a little crazy here.  I told her it wasn't always like that, which was true.  For every moment of true chaos, there are just as many other moments where I have to count the girls, and make sure they're all really there, because they're being so quiet and good.  And, for every bad day, there is another beautiful one, when having five kids makes it even better.  

To our playdate friend, and anyone else who wonders what it's like to have five kids, here are a few glimpses:

• The girls are never at a loss for playmates. If they tire of or are bickering with one sister (shocking, I know!), there are others to choose from ;) And, there are always enough kids to play tag, hide-and-seek, Ring Around the Rosie, soccer in the backyard, Mr. Fox, Duck Duck Goose, or any other game Megan picks up at school. She'll often round up the girls and announce that she has learned a new game. Without fail, she has three eager participants and one excited fan in Mary.  Yes, our girls do have many playdates with other kids, but I look at playdates as a way to build those particular friendships, not as a way to occupy the girls or keep them busy.  We have enough busy around here on our own.
• Most meals around here are a big production, with little reprieve from the daily exercise of meal prep/meal/clean-up times three.  Eating out is rarely an option, financially and emotionally.  But, we can catch a little break from our routine every now and then.  There are times that we can get away with this counting as lunch.  No plates to worry about, and out to a picnic blanket in the backyard we go. The girls attack the platter and eat like someone's going to beat them to it. Everyone eats better than usual, and Mommy has minimal clean-up --- a win-win!

• I know this is specifically a five girls thing, but I love the fact that clothes and toys get passed down and actually worn and used more than one child ever would. I can count on one hand the number of things we've actually purchased for Mary. It's so much more fun to dress her in an outfit from the mid-2000's (gasp!) and recall when and where each of her sisters wore the same thing!
• Another five girls thing --- girl hair times five.  Need I say more? Shampoo. Conditioner. Blow-drying if they're extra lucky.  Curlers if they're luckier still.  And, of course, doing their hair, assuming we want the girls to look presentable.  Five boys would be a lot easier in this regard.
• Laundry is no joke here.  Two loads a day is the minimum that must be done to keep us from being buried by dirty clothes.  If I skip a day, it's four loads the next day.  I'm breaking into a sweat just thinking about that.  And, I'm listening to the washer and dryer right now as I type.
• On the best of days, when the stars are aligned and the moon is positioned just so, we can marvel at a distance as they all play nicely together, absorbed as they are in their own little world. A few nights ago, Bridget was the cat lady, and the other three girls were her cats. They had each created a little cat bed and the floor of one bedroom was covered with blankets and books serving as cat food bowls. They were so immersed in this game, and they were playing so well for so long! It was a shame to disrupt it for bedtime.  Do two kids play like this together?  I'm sure they do.  But, a cat lady needs more than just one cat, don't you know? ;)
• There are enough kids to put on a show, anytime they feel the urge.  The planning of the show always occupies a good hour, and Matt, Mary and I are the happy audience to our little troop of performers.
• On a recent trip to the park down the street, the girls decided to have races. Now, I know you can do that with one sibling, but, c'mon, it's way more fun with more kids! These stripes on the concrete were perfect for their racing lanes. (It's a blurry cell phone picture, but each girl happens to be posed in a way that is just so...them. Megan is poised and ready to run, Bridget is posing for some odd reason, Annie is not even ready to run at all - she's just being silly, and Tessa is pointing out that there are people not following the rules.)

And, go!

Obviously, I'm not trying to convince everyone to have more kids.  For every awesome benefit to our larger-than-average family, there are definitely as many drawbacks, if not more. We are more tired, more stressed, and have less time for ourselves and each other.  I worry every day that the girls are getting enough of our attention, individually, and how they'll feel about our family size when they're grown.  Will they each love the fact that they're one of five girls?  Or will it be such a scarring experience that they'll write off having kids completely?  Yes, I'm probably overthinking this.

Sometimes, I just sit back in disbelief that we have these five beautiful, healthy kids. I have to pinch myself, count heads and remind myself that yes, we are in charge of all five of them. Photographic evidence helps tremendously, when we can get all five to sit still long enough. Often, a photo will be blurry because of my uncooperative camera, but I can't bring myself to delete it. It's perfectly blurry and and too cute to delete forever:

Other times, some kids are looking and smiling, and others aren't. But still, each shot is perfect in it's own way:

(yep. that's all five in the tub at once...we're green like that)

I'm not sure whether these pictures help or hinder my case in explaining that our normal is not so bad.  Does it still look crazy?  Oh well, I tried.  I'll try to stop worrying about what other people think, and I'll just be busy here enjoying what we have.  Having five kids is not for everyone, but it's perfectly and beautifully normal for us!

Easter 2012 (The Long-Lost Easter Post)

Easter morning at the Stecher house found some very sleepy girls.  That would have been fine on most any other day, but we had a busy day ahead!  We rushed bleary-eyed girls through finding goodies in the Easter baskets, including Mary's first Easter basket.  Luckily, the Easter Bunny brought plenty of candy for the girls, and the sleepiness was taken care of pretty quickly.

It wasn't too long before we were all dressed up and ready to go to mass in Lafayette with the Raley clan, with a beautiful buffet brunch afterwards at the Lafayette Park Hotel.

I promise Matt normally stands for family photos, but he had just pulled both of his hamstrings the day before at SI's annual alumni baseball game.  It was a feat for him to be present in this picture, and it was another few weeks before he had fully recovered!

Lucky us, though.  We had three very eager helpers and holders for the girls: Mop, Pop and Uncle 

Kyle. 

The girls scarfed down all of their favorite breakfast foods with their cousins, enjoyed an Easter egg hunt, and then --- treat of all treats --- went swimming in the rooftop hotel pool after shedding their Easter dresses in Mop and Pop's hotel room. It was such a nice way to relax after a hectic morning, and a good time-filler before we headed to the second half of our Easter festivities.  Even Matt's hamstrings benefited from some cool water, and we had the pool to ourselves (swimming on Easter, anyone? anyone?) as the girls reacquainted themselves with some dormant swim skills.  After extricating the girls from the water waaay earlier than they would have liked, we headed back to the hotel room to change back into Easter dresses and fix girlie hair, and then left for the peninsula to celebrate Easter evening with the Stecher family.

Easter egg hunts never get old, no matter how many you do in one day ;)

Megan at 6

Megan is 6!  

Turning 6 calls for a celebration...or four.  On Megan's actual birthday, she insisted on bringing donuts to her classmates.  No cupcakes for this birthday girl :)  She loved being the center of attention in her kindergarten class, but couldn't wait to get home to celebrate that night.  Grandma and Grandpa Stecher joined us for Megan's favorite dinner --- tacos!  She opened a few presents that night and we all enjoyed some leftover donuts.

Six candles fit perfectly on a birthday donut!

Later that week, we celebrated with the Cecchin cousins, and Megan had the best.birthday.present.ever when she (and Bridget) had a sleepover with Joey and Clara!  

Next up was the rainbow party!  

Can you say spoiled?

But that wasn't all.  She was also included in a big party for all of the March birthdays in the Stecher family, along with Tessa and Annie, at Aunt Carole and Uncle Roy's house.

I know this year's celebrations were memorable for her.  She is so happy to be 6, as much as I deny the possibility that she could be so old.  Try as I may to keep her tiny, though, she is growing, as evidenced by the growing pains she has complained of nearly every day for the last few months.  She's also becoming more mature every day, and coming into herself, learning how to be a bigger girl.  She has a tough job as the oldest in this family of little girls.  She has to navigate the big girl world at school and the little girl world at home.  I'm so glad that, as old as she gets and the more she is influenced by her classmates and new friends, she still has such a special and grounding relationship with her younger sisters.  I think it keeps her innocent a little longer, has her playing more babyish games further into grammar school than others, and maybe staying our baby a bit longer.  Maybe.  

Don't get me wrong.  This cutie has her moments, about 10 times a day.  But, her sweetness has a way of shining through in even her sassiest moments.

Megan's favorite things:

Food:  Tacos, turkey/cheddar cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, french fries, Daddy's chips, rainbow sherbert

Style:  She doesn't want to be fancy these days.  She wants to be cute, and her go-to outfit (when not in uniform) is a t-shirt, jean skirt and leggings, with her silver glittery Toms.

Activities: coloring, learning to read, playing board games with anyone she can round up, watching her shows on Daddy's iPad, leading her sisters in made-up games or plays, playing with anything tiny like Polly Pockets.  The more microscopic and more potentially dangerous to Mary's health, the better:)

Her Future:  She has decided that she'll be a waitress first, a kindergarten teacher next, and then a policewoman.  Oh, and a mommy.  Who says you have to commit to just one career?