Snarky math. Anya has a bit of a cold this morning, and on the drive to school, Jan asks if she wouldn’t prefer to stay at home. She’s clearly sniffling, but still torn: “But Mondays are my favorite school days — I have all the classes I like on Mondays!” She ultimately decides to forego math, science, and art classes and go back home to rest.
In the middle of the morning, Jan’s working at home and notices a post about a video on folded paper shapes called flexigons. Anya’s played with paper flexigons before, so Jan and Anya watch the video together.
Anya disappears, and reappears later with a folded paper flexigon. The paper shape has writing on it: “Daddy, I love you. Let’s play Dominion, okay?” Dominion is one of Anya’s favorite card/strategy games right now. (She usually wins.)
Jan: “I don’t know, honey. I’m kind of busy.”
Anya gestures at the paper. Jan unfolds it to reveal more writing: “What? Why not?”
Jan: “I have a bunch of work to do this morning.”
Anya points to the paper again. Jan unfolds it once more to reveal a final message: “Hmph.”
Jan rewards Anya’s cleverness with a game of Dominion but later, after lunch.
Bree’s pre-K class walk to nearby Volunteer Park for a field trip. (Bree’s in the blue jacket in the front on the left.)
Angela and Jan attend a concert downtown to hear Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto. We’re joined by friends Alex Nanba (whose mom originally hosted Jan at the beginning of his studies at Waseda way back in 1988) and Corey.
Bree’s doing soccer for the first time this fall. Her team is called The Sirens, and is made up of neighborhood girls. Like all the teams we’ve ever seen at this age level, The Sirens has exactly one girl on it who gets how to play. This girl’s name is Zoe. Every time the whistle blows, Zoe runs to the ball, steals it from whoever has it, drives it up the field, and puts it in the goal. She does this over and over and over for as long as she’s on the field. Here Bree gives Zoe a high-five after Bree did a throw-in to Zoe, who immediately drove it up the field and put it in the goal.
We’ve had amazing weather for months — barely any rain since the beginning of July. We celebrate a warm October Saturday afternoon with a paddle in kayaks on Lake Union, followed by dinner at Chandler’s Crabhouse.
We take Bree to see Dr. Fred Provenzano, the child psychologist who administers intelligence tests to kids looking to attend schools like SCDS. Bree is in a great mood, and happy enough to chat with him. When he meets her, she shows him her purple bunny named Peekaboo. He says, “I guess purple’s your favorite color! You’re all dressed in purple today!” Bree is wearing a purple shirt and purple socks. She replies, “My pants are black.” He laughs. Bree does great, and afterwards we take her to lunch at Blue C Sushi.
A nice drawing of a dragon Sabriya made with Anya’s guidance.
We say goodbye to the Tully’s coffee shop in Madison Park. Anya brings along the giant stuffed whale she received as an early birthday present from Grandma. (The whale’s name is Constance.)
It’s sort of sad to see the Tully’s go. The company is going through bankruptcy, and is closing a number of stores, including the one just down the block from us. In recent years we didn’t go there much — we often go to the nearby Starbucks because it has better food offerings — but we’ve always liked its relaxed atmosphere better.
We’re now playing our game of, “What would we like to see take its place?” Anya would like to see the Tully’s replaced with a Korean barbecue. Jan would like a Szechuan restaurant. Liya would like a small skyscraper shopping mall sporting a store selling Squishable stuffed animals and a Mongolian barbecue restaurant.
Anya’s 11th birthday! She’ll host a sleepover party for her friends in a few weeks, so tonight is just a family affair. She makes things very easy for us with her dinner selections: takeout from Cafe Lago, and a pan of brownies. (For some reason, her sisters want all the candles in a giant flaming bunch.)
When Liya spent a week at YMCA’s Camp Colman this summer, her counselors nominated her for an award, saying she did a great job embodying the YMCA value of “Respect”. Liya and the other reward recipients are lauded at a YMCA event at Seattle’s Town Hall auditorium.
Every Monday, Jan picks Liya up from school and takes her to her 4:00 Ballet I class. In between, we stop for a snack at Lama G’s Cafe. If the weather’s nice, we sit outside while Jan reads from whatever book we’re currently reading. (Right now: Peter and the Starcatchers.) Today is windy but surprisingly sunny, so we bundle up, sit outside, and soak up a bit of sun.
Anya and Liya’s school holds their traditional Halloween parade in the traditional rain. This year, Anya fabricated a mushroom costume. Angela had fun helping her make the giant mushroom cap.
The girls do the Madison Park village Halloween candy walk. This year, Liya goes as Princess Leia (or is that Princess Liya?). Bree goes as three different costumes at various Halloween events: the purple dress shown here; Merida (red-haired archer heroine from the animated movie “Brave”), and an adorable black kitten. (Angela makes a mommy cat costume to match.)