Strike School = Mom School

The teachers in LAUSD went on strike and I chose to keep my kids home and have Mom School for as long as it took until they were ready to come back into the classroom. I'm rarely political and not nearly as educated as I should be on anything, but I love the teachers at my kids school and if they felt passionate enough that change was needed then I wanted to be there for them. The strike ended up lasting a little over a week and as silly as this sounds, I was sad to send my babies back to school. You know me, always up for an adventure and with them home I was planning one every day. In just a week we went to the Peterson Auto Museum, the Autry Western Museum, the LA Zoo, the La Brea Tar Pits, Franklin Canyon, the Annenberg Space for Photography, the Vasquez Rocks and the Abalone Cove Tide Pools...plus a few parks, the library and lots of play time here at home. I planned daily lessons, projects, reading and tests for formal education and the boys and I continued our Harry Potter reading (which we've called our Harr-athons). Quite a few times during the week I wondered whether pulling them out and homeschooling them would actually be a better experience for our family because I loved having them home so much, but I think at least one of them was definitely missing the constant stimulation that a school atmosphere provides. Anyway, school is back but I'll always have the sweetest memories of our random week in January when we pretended like it was summer and played all day, e'ry day! 

The Peterson with pals.

We had a constant flow of children and friends in our home whose parents had to work during the strike but didn't feel comfortable sending their kids to school. I kept telling my boys how lucky they were that I was at home to watch and teach them, and I know they were grateful. 

Quinn goes to a private preschool so she still went to school during the day while the boys were home. She kind of hated having to leave them, but if I wanted to get anything done with the boys academically then it was better for her to be at school with her friends. I tried to keep the big adventures to when she was there, but on Tuesday we went to the Autry and I was all sad seeing Quinn's dairy without our little Quinn with us. 

My little flamingo with some of her flamingo friends. 

This is the best swing around and T pumped Cora for almost an hour, bless him! All she wants to do is swing, swing, swing when we are at the park.

Cutest birthday cake!

We put the training wheels on this bike and Quinn and I went on all sorts of rides around town.

James' first time to Franklin Canyon and it didn't disappoint. It was so clear we could see the ocean from the top of the hike!

Annenberg Photo Exhibit was amazing!

Vasquez Rocks

The day after Talmage came home from Catalina he was pretty down in the dumps. Believe me, I get it. Post-vacation blues are the worst. We decided the best way to jump back into real life was to have a Saturday family adventure, and James had the perfect spot: Vasquez Rocks. I had never heard of this place, and how is that possible because it was massive and gorgeous and not super far and so impressive?! It was a little hard for T to remember how to follow parental directions and be a good example for little ones after being on his own for a few days, but it was still such a fun trip and I'm so glad we got in a few hours of hiking before the rain. (I know, rain...random, right?)

I felt like I was in St. George with the stunning rocks. The kids, they felt like they were in heaven!

I love her guts so much. That girl is alllll adventure and fun and keeping up with her big brothers.

T wanted to do all the dangerous things, because "it's not fun if I'm not hanging off a cliff." Yep, so there's that.

This sweet little baby just begs to be held. I try and tell her that when Quinn was her age she was a big sister of a 1 year-old, but it just doesn't phase her! Oh well, stay little my little.

We nicknamed Everett the mountain goat because he was jumping from rock to rock and having so much fun hiking around. He's getting so big and his love and concern are being met with such a great sense of adventure recently. I'm loving it, and him, so much!

Cora was watching her siblings carefully, carefully, carefully. I thought she'd stay on the bottom of the boulder but...

Off she went! Loved seeing that baby grit.

And then came rain, SO MUCH RAIN! So grateful for the morning spent in nature, and equally grateful for the hot cocoa, popcorn and movie afternoon.

T's CIMI Adventure

I often talk about miracles on this blog because I believe in them, I see them, I know that they're real. Miracles can manifest themselves in great and marvelous ways, but I also see them in ordinary life: my children getting along, my extra dose of energy around dinnertime and a few weeks ago, in my oldest getting to go on a field trip we were sure would be cancelled. Recognizing miracles makes me a happier, more grateful person so I choose to see them and praise them always. And to me, Talmage's adventure at CIMI was a miracle.

The LAUSD teacher strike was supposed to start on the second day of a three-day, two-night field trip for the fourth and fifth graders at our school, meaning it had to be cancelled. They were going to take a ferry to Catalina Island and stay at the Catalina Island Marine Institute (CIMI) for an adventure straight out of my nine-year-old's dreams. There would be squid dissecting, rock climbing, snorkeling, shark petting and night hiking and if that wasn't cool enough, there was juice and cookies at every meal and a campsite bedtime that was hours later than the one enforced at home. Yes, this trip was going to be everything. And up until the night before, we were convinced it was not going to happen. 

I don't know how we got so lucky, but at the very last minute the strike was delayed by just two days, two small days that made all the difference for hundreds of Westwood children. I know it's silly to think there was some divine intervention when in actuality it was just a legal hang-up, but I choose to be grateful for whatever miracle allowed this trip to happen. Sure, the day before the trip I was running around like a headless chicken trying to get him ready for what felt like a surprise adventure but it was worth it because I just knew he'd have the best time. And he did. 

Sending your baby into the world and relinquishing control is an interesting experience, and nearly ten years into parenting this was new territory for me. On one hand, I hated not knowing what he was doing every moment and missed seeing the joy and excitement on his face when he did something fun. Every night I fretted over whether he'd remember to put on extra socks if he was cold and was sure he'd lose every sweatshirt I sent with him, as he does. At the same time, I marveled that he was old enough to independently embark on a trip I know he'll always cherish and my heart swelled with pride at his growing goodness and sense of adventure. I was so excited for him! T has a big personality and our home was quiet and empty without him. We missed him BIG. 

When I picked him up at the Long Beach Pier late Friday afternoon he and his friends were abuzz about every detail of the trip--the tame bison walking around camp, the perfect location of their dorm room, the camp directors dancing in their onesie pajamas and playing human fusbol during free time. Leela told me about the constellations she saw on the night hike, Lucas A. saw some Garibaldi fish while snorkeling, Talmage couldn't stop talking about all the names of the rock walls (The Beast!) and Lucas B. talked about touching real live sharks. We took turns going around the car telling a memory and this lasted the whole two hours home, until Talmage could barely talk anymore his voice was so hoarse and all the other friends were giddy to get home and tell their own families these stories again. There was so much energy in the car and it was electric, oh I loved it!

After a shower and a few hours at home I found Talmage cuddled in his new CIMI sweatshirt crying. I was sure he was hungry and tired, but he said he was neither. Finally, I said, "T, what's wrong? I don't understand why you're so upset." He looked at me with sincere and tear-filled eyes and said, "Mom, isn't it obvious? I just had the time of my life and I want to go back!" I couldn't help but smile because I have felt those same emotions so many times, and isn't it wonderful to have had such an incredible experience that you just want to live it again and again? I'm so grateful T got to go to CIMI, just so sincerely grateful. 

These happy friends were so excited for the adventure awaiting them. I got this picture the morning Lucas' mom dropped them off in Long Beach and looked at it a million times over the next three days.

T taught all his friends gin rummy on the ferry and even had a pretty heated game with Mrs. Thyer!

I was standing on a bench screaming when I saw their ferry pulling up to the dock. I almost started crying. I'm clingy, it's cool!

Oh my gosh, I LOVE HIM!!! I may embarrass him with my squeals, but this smile is just everything to my mama heart. 

The triumphant explorers, back home at last. 

Pinkesh sunset, pinkesh people

This sunset is brilliant in and of itself, but when you realize that it turns your family pink? Well, that's a language that Wiggy kids clearly understand as amazing! Such a fun and simple moment shared on a January Monday.

"It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream."

--Bernard Williams

Visiting King Tut and a Cheetah

During the third week of Winter Break Talmage was finally feeling better after his long post-surgery recovery so we planned a couple of fun Los Angeles adventures. With just days to go before his belongings headed back to Egypt, a friend and I snuck our boys into the King Tut exhibit at the California Science Center. I stayed out with our little girls, but the boys were so impressed and excited by what they saw. I'm super glad they got that special opportunity. The kids and I also headed to see some dinos (and cheetahs, obviously) at the Natural History Museum, which is right next door. My babies are getting bigger and truly are at the sweet spot as far as adventuring ages. I love seeing the world with them. 

Every time I go to the Science Center I marvel that it's free. It's free...and so amazing! I'm really grateful for this place and all that it teaches us. 

Didn't see any ankylosaurus much to T's chagrine, but learned how to tell the difference between a carnivore and herbivore just by looking at a dino's jaw fossil so that's something. 

Natural History Docent: Do you have any questions about dinosaurs?

Quinn: Do you have any cheetahs in this museum?!

This scene is completely made of Lego and it's breathed a new energy into our Lego game.

T knows how terrified I am of running into a cougar in the wild so thought this picture would be hilarious! Honestly though, if I ever see a cougar in the wild I'll probably die of a heart attack before it can get near me. They are so dang scary.

One second you're taking a sibling picture, the next you've fallen into the dino exhibit! Oh two-year-old Cora, you're slaying life girl. Love this bunch!

Rose Parade Floats

Next year is totally the year that we camp out on a sidewalk in Pasadena to get front row seats for the Rose Bowl Parade, and I'm already giddy about the memories we will make. I love parades. And crazy ideas. And family moments that are hard to replicate. By next year baby Cora will be 3 1/2 and that's deeeeeeefinitely old enough to not make this miserable, right? I think right. (I hope right because it. is. happening.) 

But this year the best we could do was go see the floats the day after the parade. That's definitely a step up from last year when we did exactly nothing Rose Bowl-ish, and frankly it was such an awesome experience that I think it may have been better than seeing the actual parade. But I don't know yet because I haven't done my research. I'll let you know next year!

The floats were absolutely phenomenal. The flowers were fresh and the creative scenes immense and detailed. I can't imagine how much planning and work goes into making one of these, and it's mind-blowing to consider how intense it must be to get all those lives plants and flowers onto the float at the very last possible second so they don't wilt. I walked around in total awe of the process and the products. Seeing the Rose Bowl floats is definitely being added to the list of L.A. things I want to do again!

 Wells Fargo was passing out plush horses that instantly stole the show for all the little ones in our party. Sure, there are literal walls of roses and flower masterpieces all around but "Look at how cute my little horse is" and "Do you want to hear him neigh?" Wells Fargo knows what they're doing. They win!

I'm a sucker for carousels. They are so magical. 

I loved this one during the parade and somehow it was even more beautiful in person.

The kids loved the How to Train Your Dragon float.

This space one was out of this world. Ba-boom, ching!

We all loved the Big Bear float because we all love Big Bear.

I was floored by all of these roses. They looked and smelled divine.

Bring it, 2019!

James says that January is the Monday of months and I don't think he is necessarily paying it a compliment, but I don't know, I kinda like Mondays. And Januarys. 

There's something about a new start that is exciting to me. Refreshing. It doesn't matter what last week brought because it's a brand new Monday, a fresh page in the planner, and I can to-do list and schedule and organize and plan my week however the heck I want so that our family can be as happy as possible. I know I can't control everything in life, but heaven help ya if you think I'm going to be passive about it! In January I don't just have a fresh page, I have a whole brand spankin' new planner. If you know me, you know me, if you don't--I love my planner like some love their children so yes, a new planner means that January is basically a sparkly diamond in my eyes. I can make 2019 whatever the heck I want for me and for us, and isn't that exciting?  

The ideas are coming slow and steady and I'm deliberately light on the resolutions this go-around, but I have a feeling that 2019 has the potential to be one of the greatest years us Wigs have ever known. I'm so excited for the future and I'm walking into the new year with profound gratitude for life.  

Impromptu New Years game night with some friends and every treat we could think of! I love having kids that can stay up until midnight with me!

Replaced last year's calendar on my cork board and hung this gem of a Christmas picture so that I can admire these cute cousins all year long!

We traded in our 4x4 for a 5x5 and somehow it is already full of the boys books and treasures. I know it won't be organized and color coded for long but it looks so pretty right now and makes me so happy! There is NOTHING like New Years organizing to get me pumped on life. 

Grammie got the kids Lincoln Logs for Christmas and they happily worked together to build this cabin. I don't know what magic was put into these little wooden pegs but I'm not kidding--total peace on earth and in the Wigginton house for an hour. Wowzers!

New Years dinner at the swanky mall food court means Quinny can have her ramen, James can have his vegan fare and the rest of us can devour Shake Shack. 

Bring it, 2019. We're ready for ya!