Could you possibly...

Seth, Alicia and P on the beach.

Pack more Joy into one week?  For this six year old, no way. The child basked in the attention and love of his Aunt and Uncle, while having fun adventures, equalling the end all be all of his existence :)

First, the weekend getaways.  (After the previous week's trek to the mountain lake left me so swollen and slightly grumpy, E and I agreed that more than my rock climbing days were over.  Thus, much to my dismay, (but undoubtedly to the comfort of everyone else;) I stayed behind for both road trips...)

Saturday brought blue skies and Mount Hood hiking.  I have no stories for this, but the kid said he had a blast :)

Sunday saw a foggy beach day with the same lovely hike we had conquered the month before and the same solitary beauty of Crescent Beach - but this time with the added bonus of Seth and Alicia :)))

One day, Seth and Alicia escaped for a romantic drive down the coast.  The child was moved to melancholy ;)  But ever the optimist, he grabbed the cat tightly after breakfast and declared, "Well, at least I can cuddle the cat today!"  (Uncle Seth, being highly allergic to our Feline Wonder, can't tussle with the Little Man after he's held the cat.  And the child, loving to tussle, begrudgingly gave the long suffering kitty a week's reprieve... except for that Tuesday;)  He also found solace in his jewelry collection, creating masterpieces of bling...

We hit the river one afternoon.  P quickly found some wood to set sail for BB's boat.  And then took to launching rocks at it.  Uncle Seth aided the attack.

We hiked a little in Forest Park one afternoon, too.  Per usual, the child was consumed with the ginormous slugs (yes, there was one gruesome SPLAT!), the fallen trees and speeeeeeeed (racing Uncle Seth down the trail was a supremely satisfying way to satiate that particular need:)

After Uncle Seth flew away (sob) we had one lucky afternoon left with Aunt Alicia - yay!  We traipsed around the Japanese Gardens, loving the shade on such a sunny day.  Turns out, these gardens have a little sculpture based treasure hunt for their wee-est visitors. They also mentioned the word "prize" for completing said hunt.  Well, the child typically likes to visit gardens just for the joy of the garden, and they certainly screwed that with their ulterior motives and prize!  He was obsessed with finding the next item on his map and checking it off... but he did have fun ;)

 As soon as he discovered a hidden treasure, he'd drop to the ground and mark it ;)

All in all, the child's week was short on sleep and long on fun.  (There were lots of other adventures that... his mommy failed to photograph....)  He awoke (early) every morning, So Very Excited to see his Aunt and Uncle.  And every night he felt sleep a time-wasting curse :)  E and I just hoped and prayed they had a good visit - that he didn't smother them with the intensity of his love (combined with his unbelievably strong need to be physically touching (or squishing, as is often the case...) those he connects with)!  But thank goodness they did visit, because I dont' think the child could have gone much longer without them - the distance from his beloved Uncles (and Aunt:) being the only thing he claims to not LOVE about Oregon.

Happiness is...

The attention of those you love.  And dirt.  

Seth and Alicia watch P's dirt show on Mount Tabor.

The sheer glee of tossing tons of dirt into the air.  He scooped and flipped, over and over again...

And was very impressed with his dust clouds.

A few minor injuries required even more undivided attention.  That inevitably transitioned to tickling ;)  The child has been in a state of sleep deprived bliss for three days running now.  Because there is nuthin' like fabulous family!

Insanely Excited

Its finally arrived.  Uncle Seth's and Aunt Alicia's visit.  P knew they were flying in Friday night (post bedtime) and that he would see them Saturday morning.  What did this mean (beyond an hourly countdown for the last week)?

It meant rolling around in bed, attempting to get to sleep for over an hour.

Then, it meant waking up at 2 AM and rolling around, unable to sleep until 7 AM.  Then a light doze for 2 and a half hours and the declaration that he couldn't possibly consider staying in bed another second :)

When he got up, he counted his hours.  3 + 2 1/2 = 5 1/2.  He figured this sufficient ;)  Then he provided me with his theory on why the night had been so terribly difficult.

"What it was, Mama, is I don't think I was adequately hydrated and so my eyes were dry and they kept popping open.  I just couldn't even keep them closed!"

I was going to go with plain ol' excited, but I like his explanation better :)

Still snowy...

Wow.  This winter is serious.  The child feels no need to exit the house.  It seems the cold has soaked into our bones.  The chilly top floor flat may have something to do with it ;)  He is laying in his bed now, waiting to drift off, murmuring, "Its so good to be home.  I love being at home..."   Umm, no, we didn't even leave the house today...  I'm not sure what is inspiring his night-time dedications :)

But he can be occasionally lured outside.

Yah, it even feels a little pathetic to me.  Climbing over the trash heaps to play in the snow...  I love Brooklyn and all, but ;)  (Fortunately, the child knows no difference!)  We were en route to book club and he kept flouncing down into the fresh snow.  The joy and simplicity of being six is simply gorgeous to behold.  I will seriously miss it.

But, if the motherly guilt (about the dirty snow and even dirtier looks from passers-by) gets to be too much, at least there can be the occasional (official) Snow Day that takes the child and his Aunt to the park.  Yay!!!

Entering the winter wonderland...

Racing through the snow filled forest...

The building of the first snow-man.  And Igloo.  And second snow-man...

Logically followed by... the burying of the Aunt.  The donning of a stick belly-button and... the energetic flopping on of said Aunt...  Logically.  Can you spell c-h-a-m-p?

No snow play day is fully formed without attempting to force the Aunt into the Igloo...  After (an impressive) relocation of the snow-man, I might add.

This was all a bit ago (though the snow still stands piled by the stoop), and the child, who had no interest in ever,  never, ever leaving the park that day, has yet to acquiesce to another trip in...  At least the snow will still be there when he's ready ;)

The Christmas Story: A Pogo Stick

Sweet P, Christmas morning, digging the magnetic darts from Uncle Greg....

(Pretend its just late December...)

So, the Little Man had a lovely holiday season.  He wrote a lengthy letter to Santa this year, with detailed descriptions of his desires:

A dog.

A mouse for his cat (Danda).

A car.  A real car.  That goes invisible and can drive on the city streets.  And can morph into a submarine.  It should have a special seat for his cat (and future dog) and a nice little spot for his cat's mouse.

In desperation, I asked if there were any items, something typically found in an elves' workshops, say?

Oh, yeah.  He wanted a Pogo Stick.  But one that bounces better than the grown-up kinds.  

Phew ;)

So, the child left out cookies and milk under his over-decorated ficus tree.  And awoke to find a pogo stick.  

In a definite detour from Christmases past, he didn't try and pry the Santa story wide open.  Perhaps he felt my new determination to lie through my teeth for the greater good.  After declaring last year that he wanted to believe, I was sure the hell going to make good on that this year.  And, as I actually tossed those cookies in the trash and the soury-warm milk down the drain, it was not a complete lie when I promised I had not been the one to eat the cookies and drink the milk....

Granted, a Pogo Stick is not the world's wisest gift to a child residing in a fourth floor flat....  But, as we have the world's kindest neighbors, they indulged the child in an afternoon of thunderous practicing.  The subsequent snow-storm has derailed his hopping hopes, but come this spring, he'll be ready...

His comment at the end of this video seriously cracks me up.  Talk about a positive freakin' outlook....  "Didn't quite make it..."

That night, Seth and Alicia joined us for a low-key dinner (the full family fandango being the following night) and play.   The child was, as always, in heaven with them.  My camera battery died pretty immediately, and the phone couldn't handle the low-light, but I loved watching P and Seth play at human jungle gyms.... After, of course, bow-hunting BB....

Let it snow...

Family keeps calling and (kinda gleefully) asking if we're freezing...  Is there a bit of snow?  Hehe.  Vewy Funny.

The city has been (surprisingly) slow to recover (we've been here for a number of blizzards, but this one takes the cake on rebound time).  Which, since we've been really, horribly, terribly busy totally chill-axing, has worked out just fine :)

The snow didn't pack at all.   You step, you sink.  And yup, that drift? Its a car.  Here, Alicia is saving Phoenix, sunk up to his arse.

We started a gut recovery program for P and E and their food allergies (I'm on it too, all for one and one for yadi yadi).  The Little Man's system is having some serious die-off issues, so we haven't made it back out since the first day, post blizzard.  But that day was a bucket of fun!  Made even more blissful by Aunt Alicia's school-break availability (and her child-lovin' awesome spirit;)

 Snow and sand, the sorta stuff that just begs for a great leap....

 Do you see the wonderful woman, on her knees, in the freezing snow?  Yah,  that's why the kid absolutely adores his Aunt.  She's a rock star.

So, he climbed, he sank, he tossed snowballs (with his trustee, Grams given snowball maker that he had lusted after for an entire year and could not wait for the snow to start so that he could use. So supremely happy was he with his little red bit of plastic that I've had neighbors approaching me this week, telling tales of his glee the night of the blizzard :)  He buried his Aunt, slid down tiny hills, slid down bigger mounds (but all just drifts by the side of the road, giving me flashbacks to my pregnancy and that little boy, with his piece of cardboard, sliding down a dirty snow mound between cars on Grand Street.  I swore my child would have pastures and ditches to sled.... umm... erm.... Well, he had fun anyway!!!)

Happy Solstice

Above and...

Below!

Oh, we're having the most lovely holiday week.  E is working half days to use up his last vacation days and... yum!!!  Granted, its been nothing "special," per se. (Other than getting to kiss the hubby hello before its dark!  Love it!!!)  We've yet to fight the crowds to see the tree, gone to a museum or even taken a brisk walk.  Nope.  The child is in hibernate mode, big time, so is E, and we've been happily "hanging" each afternoon.  E's even sneaked in a few - gasp! - naps :)

Meanwhile, P has been busy directing projects and play.  Sunday (E worked:( ) and Monday were full of holiday preparations, as we trashed our table, making our Top Secret holiday gifts.  Not satisfied at stopping there, the child pulled out every bit of building equipment he has and played construction worker.

The first tower was beautiful.  But he was antsy to demolish (see end of post for funny video...)  Then he took a lot more time, building a taller tower.  It had it all.  Parking garage, climbing room, sightseeing room, space room (that's a room with lots of s-p-a-c-e, for those non-New Yorkers ;), pyramid temple room, catapult, observation deck... playroom...  And BB's apartment.  

Parking in the parking garage..

BB and his Mama in their flat.

Then, we had to venture outside in the middle of the night (of course!) to see this epic eclipse.  Early in the evening, as I debated the merits of waking a 6 year old at 3 in the morning, my little brother assured me the kid would still be around in 2094 for the next one.  Ahh, well, always morbid, I woke the child :)

"P, do you want to see the moon celebrate the Solstice?"   If he didn't budge, I figured I'd go alone.  He popped up like a spring toy!  But, despite thoroughly wrapping him in a blanket, he didn't last long.  It was frigid.  

But gorgeous.  E and I stood under the starry sky before fetching the child, watching the shadow creep across.  Watching the red glow grow.  It was just too lovely to not wake the kid.  

Of course, it seemed much less beautiful, in retrospect, when the excited child woke early for Solstice ;)

He was so appreciative of his brown bag wrappings, tied up with pretty scarves.  After excitedly opening his first one, he got even more excited.  "Oh!!!  My presents!"  And he ran to the (ficus) tree and fetched the present he had wrapped for The Bees (my pointer fingers, his dear friends;)  Then he happily handed BB his package and then the cat, and then the large bottom one for me.  They were all handmade somethings (a group of arranged magnets for BB, a sewn mouse for the cat, a ribbon and bolts necklace for me ;) and he sat with rapt attention while we all slowly opened.  Only then did he return to the tree to get his other two presents.  Gotta admit, made my heart glow ;)

Determined that little BB would NOT sneak into the presents he wrapped, the child wrote notes on each one ;)

That night, he rushed to give Papa his present.  He had made and wrapped them all by himself, so I was curious with each opening.  I didn't see all of E's... but I did see a chocolate.  Which I thought was so thoughtful, cuz the kid knows his poor Papa (the hypoglycemic) can't have that stuff very often.

So we spent the afternoon messing up the house real good ;) and then hurried to toss it into place for Seth and Alicia's arrival.  Oh the joy of having friends we love so much so close!!!

The evening was So Fun, even if the Little Man was a bit out of control.  I pulled out a Facial Isometrics Exercises book (from the '50's) we'd discovered spelunking at a friend's a few days earlier... and we all rolled.  I'm shaking the bed now, giggling, looking at S and A's faces.  The book was a gut ripper itself, but make it a group exercise and forgettaboutit :)

Sticking to the theme of late (of darkness and parties), the kid started playing with our new on/off switch.  And Seth started playing with the kid's wand.  And the result was So Much Fun it hurt.  Of course, A and I had to start snapping ;)

Seth and E, debating the effect... So Schultz ;)

It looked so sweet!

The kid loved it.

Then, in the dark, I accidentally bonked the damn monument....  Honestly?  E and I had had the constant feeling of eggshells for the last three days.  Seriously.  A rambunctious child, an idiot cat and a 6 foot wood world.  And all of it right above our lovely neighbor's bed.  After my bump, it was now destined to fall in the middle of the night and take someone sailing on the river Styx, so the kid agreed to demolish.  I video'd (per instructions) but it wasn't anything fab.  The demolition of the one a few days prior, however, makes for a good chuckle.  I love to leave the learning to P, not predicting how things will go, but this one had me Mama muttering, and then laughing my ass off ;)

Happy Solstice!!!

I love how, upon removing the first block, the child just can't decide what to pull next.  Oh - and notice that after the fabulous fall, the first words out of the kid's mouth are:  "BB!  Did you see that?!"  Yup.  Regularly upstaged by the invisible monster.... ;)

The Tday Holiday

 P's been having a blast in Kansas.  He's continued his "fire and arson safety" bit, like a good little homeschooler ;)

Enjoyed pizza parties with Grams....

Finessed his nut cracking skills with Gramps... (Which he has been dying to do ever since we saw The Nutcracker a few years back.  I'm not sure why it took us so long to purchase some nuts in their shells and set to cracking...  He cracked a bunch, lovingly filling a bowl, saying they were his contribution on Thanksgiving.)

He's enjoying eating different foods, exploring new tastes and textures.  He finds the double fridge here super fab...

And then, it was the big day.  The child didn't sleep Thanksgiving Eve, he was too excited about the coffee cake we had left to rise and the following day of fun at Aunt Marielle's ....

F.U.N. ;)  (omg we love Bric!)

E's whole family was there.  It was a fabulous treat.  Even Aunt Alicia's family came (which thrilled us to pieces since we so adore them!  P can't get enough of Alicia's baby brother, dubiously dubbed "Rodney" by the Little Man...) And for the first time, there were other Schultz children!  I'd absentmindedly wondered in the past how P would react to losing the limelight at family functions (inevitable with so many relatives;).  I mean,  he really loves getting ALL of the attention, what could one expect when another rugrat hems in on the love?  

But the drama was only in my head.  He played a bit with his peers but mostly bopped around per usual.  When the adorable three year old brought down the house with his singing and entertaining abilities (preciousness!) the Little Man didn't seem to care and was content to climb the brick fireplace and play hide and go seek with his serious favorite, Courtney.  Maybe he wouldn't smother a sibling... 

E's wonderful cousin (a dentist;) missed a lot of the fun, fixing E's tooth and thereby killing the awesome hillbilly thing E had going on...

Phoenix always learns so much from his various Uncles, in this case: Contracts.  (We love Blaine!)

After a full day, (due to my dad's surgery, we skipped my family's turkey time for the first time ever, leaving us to luxuriate in one spot for the entire food filled day), the kid invited himself to a sleepover at Aunt Marielle's.  She sweetly agreed and the date was set for the following evening.  

And then the child worked himself into an over-excited frenzy.  He couldn't go to sleep that night, talking about all of his slumber party plans.  He couldn't sleep in the next morning for all of the ebullience.   And so, before the day even started, he was exhausted :)

Chillin' before the slumber party.

As E and I were NOT invited to the slumber party (I believe the exact words were, um, "buzz off"...) we dropped the child off and left for two hours.  When we returned, he was lolling in an enormous fort with Grandpapa (my phone pics of it didn't turn out - boo!).  I climbed in and caught up on the evening.  Much fun had ensued.  Then people had shown up and... he didn't like them.  Hated them, actually.  I nodded and listened.  Apparently, they had yucky energy...

I was slightly surprised Seth and Alicia were hanging out with hobgoblins, so I just listened and got the exhausted child some cheese.  Then it all came out.  He was having the time of his life - until they showed up.  Then everyone started playing cards and ignoring him!  He was sure it was linked with their arrival, and he didn't want to take it lying down.  He was going to go tell them they were awful.  Maybe he would smother a sibling.... ;)

He was hungry and tired and cranky.  My motherly instincts wanted nothing more than to take care of him.  Bundle him up, take him home and get him to bed.  After he vented his frustration at losing Center of the Earth Status, I offered to take him home and cuddle him, we could try again a different night?

And so the child said to me, "Mama, I'm six now.  I really want to have a slumber party.  I'll be disappointed if I go home.  I need to do this."  

So we stayed ;)

We hung for a couple hours while fabulous family cycled through, very much not ignoring the child ;)  At one point, he was so tired he laid down with me to sleep in the fort.  After a few minutes he told me he thought I should go hang with the adults.  That he needed to be able to fall asleep by himself at his slumber party.  I think this is the part where people write the phrase "chest swells."  He sounded so big.

But before I crawled out, he told me this:  "Mama, I love Courtney.  I hope she sleeps beside me in the fort tonight.  I want to see her when I wake up in the morning."  The little romantic.  (Courtney is Ethan's college age cousin.  Phoenix has talked about her regularly since last Thanksgiving.  He has placed her, in his ever present ranking system, above his girlfriend Rose from across the street.  

E and I left soon after this.  The child was joyfully cackling and sneaking about with Aunt Alicia when we bailed somewhere around midnight....

Ethan retrieved a happy but exhausted child the next morning.  He had done it!  As the fam had big, gamey competitive plans for the day, there was no rest for the weary.  The boys did the rounds with volleyball and bowling, finishing it all off with an overthetop stop at the bowling arcade.  I met up with the child as he played some spinning wheel game that distributes tickets.  He asked me to take a turn and bam, we hit the jackpot.  Tiny red tickets poured out of the flashing machine.  The child watched with awe and happiness.  In my head, I heard chainsaws and falling trees  :)  

The child, feeding his (literally) one thousand and a few hundred tickets into the ticket counter....

Aunt Alicia, taking a turn at the wheel.

After exchanging his tickets for wacky possibilities, the child then went for a visit with Uncle Cash and Aunt Maria.  (This was a seriously long weekend for the child.)  Upon sipping her delicious tea with chamomile, he was practically falling asleep in my arms.  By bedtime, he had a fever.  

And so we've spent the day, recovering.  After feasting on foods his body didn't appreciate, the child repeatedly requested healthful nourishment (and raw honey for this throat;) all day.  To be perfectly honest, the last few days have been hard for me (parentally ;)  Ridiculously enjoyable in all other ways!).  I so love taking care of the kid that watching him eat unfab foods and sleep so little smarts.  Seriously.  Its tough (for me, at least) not to get in the way of his learning!  But not only has he had a blast, he also learned the limits of his body this week.  Something a lot of college kids are still working out ;)  Hopefully, this will give him a leg up on that business, while E and I are still around to make him chicken broth and tea following his "hard partying" days ;)  

All in all, it was a holiday full of thanks and happiness (thanks to such fabulous family) that the Little Man will remember for a long, long time.