There’s been another change in Asher’s artwork since I last posted about it in May here, and before that, here. This one above is “Zombie Blood Splats, Explosions, and Chemicals.”

“My Creature Owl”

“Doggy”

Untitled

Asher’s Writing (left-handed, right to left)

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“Just Scribbles”

“A Game with Gold”

“Asher, Alex, and Noah Fighting a Black Monster”

“It’s About Swords”

“A Game” This one looks like a form drawing! Something he won’t be asked to do in school for another two years. This stuff is fascinating to me.

“BattleBetween a Fire Octopus and a Blue Guy”

A little over a week ago we went blackberry picking with friends at a u-pick farm in Auburn called Amber Oaks Raspberries. In a word, yum!

This sweetie will be in Asher’s Kindergarten class, and my boys and the two girls got on very well together, while my friends and I picked and chatted. We came home with 7 pounds of berries.

There were two types for picking that day: one a little tart, perfect for jam. The other was for eating.

Peekaboo!

Asher picked about two berries. He proudly told me he ate them, like he put one over on me. Lucas helpfully picked two and a half baskets.

We had a wonderful picnic lunch with our friends after we were done picking. The kids played.

Then we came home and made jam! Beautiful, beautiful jam.

Isn’t it pretty? We got ten 8-oz. jars from our full sugar recipe. This was my first time canning by myself.

We froze some of the berries for using in smoothies. Then we made blackberry cobbler with the rest. It was fabulous!

Last month we got to go to Calaveras Big Trees State Park for a weekend camping trip. It was as magnificent as I remembered it from when we camped there a few years back (before we were four).

The boys had a wonderful time. Our campside was bordered on three sides by very large fallen logs, which created a kind of parkour paradise for all of us. We balanced and climbed on those logs a lot, moving from one to another without touching the ground. There was a sweet little creek behind our campsite and some kind of old building whose purpose we couldn’t fathom.

Lucas got to try chopping kindling with the ax, with Ian close by—but not too close! It is both exciting and terrifying to see Lucas learning to perform more dangerous tasks, such as chopping wood and lighting fires. It’s good for him, though. He is learning how to be careful, capable, and confident and that is priceless. We all negotiate risk every day of our lives.

We had campfire fun, including s’mores, of course.

We were joined by our dear friends Mars and NoNo for this trip and it was particularly awesome to have some quantity time with them. Life for the grown-ups has been so busy these last six months or so. In the woods, there are no work emails to check. Amen.

There are, however, plenty of sticks that can instantly become weapons for little boys—especially if you find a random, discarded wire cable that can be dismantled by two quick 9-year-old hands. “Here, Mars, hold this so I can wrap this wire around to make a proper hilt.” The boys were on their best behavior for our friends, and worked hard to limit their sword fighting to slo-mo bashing and movielike derring-do.

We hiked through the North Grove of Big Trees state park together. It’s a short, gentle hike, but the kids got tuckered out before we were done nonetheless.

This is what they call Discovery Stump. It’s the giant sequoia that was first chopped down to prove to the world that giant sequoias existed—and to make a buck. They used to hold dances on this tree stump; they built a school room on it; they used it as a stage for theatrical performances. Now it’s where park volunteers teach tourists about giant sequoias, California history, logging, how stupid people can be, and forest conservation.

A living Sequoia Sempervirens. The trail leads past a dozen or so of these magnificent trees.

Rest stop.

Giant redwood cones.

Wild yellow irises.

Sweet Uncle Mars and tired Asher in need of lunch.

Mmm, lunch.

There were plenty of card-playing giggles with NoNo.

Lucas taught Asher how to play War.

Daddy cooked our baked potatoes in a stone oven/grill thing and they were lovely. We had steak and wine and other goodies. Sometimes when camping, it seems like we go from one meal to the next, with little in between. Our kids are always starving, it seems, no matter how much we feed them.

After our friends left, we also had a lovely hike ruined by moodiness and a picnic that made it better, a splash in a creek with butterflies all around, and then we met this awesome bug!

Scene: 1:38 a.m., two boys, led by the older one, pad into our bedroom.

“Dad! There’s a wasp in my bed, and Asher’s burning up with lava!”

“Mmmrffl—What?”

“There was a wasp in my room. I saw it. It flew by my head and I trapped it in my covers.”

“Mama, I need a drink of water.”

I get up. Lava?  “Um, OK. I’ll go look. Here’s some water, Asher.”

gulp, gulp, gulp

“More.”

“OK”

gulp, gulp, gulp

“More, please.”

gulp, gulp, gulp

“Asher, go potty now, please.”

In the boys’ room, “Lucas, your room is dark. How could you see a wasp?”

“Um, I don’t know. But I did.”

Light on, shaking out covers, “I don’t see anything, honey. Your bed is safe. I think it was a dream. Why don’t you go in and go potty?”

“But I saw it…. I’m glad it’s not in my bed.”

“Sometimes when we have to go potty in the night, we have strange dreams to wake us up.”

“Oh.”

Everybody goes back to sleep immediately, except me. I’m awake for an hour.

Breakfast dishes, with two small helpers.

Putting away laundry, also with help. Halleluia!

Chicken care and feeding.

Kitchen science, on the cheap.

Safetytown USA, where we learned about fire safety, bike safety (“Wear your helmets, kids,” says Uncle Mario), and how to be safe near electrical wires and power stations, stray animals, strangers, and assorted other dangerous things. Safetytown is a mini town, with scaled-down buildings, working traffic lights, and a little pretend railroad crossing. We practiced crossing the street a lot.

Ours was a self-guided tour, which gave us some map-reading and reading practice. Lucas did a great job!

It also gave us lots of opportunities to sit and watch DVD presentations play. :-/  Still, the kids were mostly engaged.

We learned about not playing with matches or lighters, about “Don’t Hide! Get Outside!”, about crawling on the ground if there’s a fire, and having a family fire escape plan and meeting place. Although Lucas already knew a lot of this stuff, I think it was Asher’s first introduction to “Stop! Drop! Roll!”

There was a boring trip to the grocery store, made somewhat less boring by buying crummy Chinese potstickers, chow mein, and egg rolls for lunch.

We watered the garden where it was looking thirsty.

We watered the boys, who raced through the hose spray.

I fetched 17 glasses of ice water for thirsty humans. That water cooler idea is looking really good in the heat of summer.

We made mango, orange, yogurt pops.

The 4 p.m. tantrum came right on schedule.

Two storybooks.

Some math and language arts practice.

Piano practice.

Lucas tried on his new gi to show me. He looks so handsome and grown up.

Quite a day, no?

You know what’s great?

Having buddies that are into the same kinds of things you are into …

Having some time to sit and imagine and build and laugh, side by side …

Enjoying the play without thinking about the fact that you’re learning stuff …

Sometimes there are setbacks. Stuff breaks, but when friends are there to encourage you, it’s OK.

There’s always a new way to try it, and sometimes new environments to play in. Why not?

And the delight in achievement is so very nice.

Asher and I are spending more time together lately, which means I have to come up with things to do for us to enjoy the days. Meaningful work is one of the keystones to happy preschoolers, so I’ve been roping Asher into some household activities for some fun and frolic.

That’s his own dirty clothes that he’s washing. The novelty of this activity was very appealing to him, and he likes that he got them clean. It didn’t take long for him to figure out the best way to have fun was to stomp the clothes clean. I showed him how to rinse them and then hang them up on the patio chair backs to dry. Presumably he did that before he sat in the basins to splash and play because when I came back to him (I was gardening), he had hung all the items up to dry.

Earlier this week, we decided to bake some muffins together. I have a lovely strawberry bread recipe that works well as muffins, too. And since we have zucchini from our garden we grated some to add to the recipe. Asher took to this task beautifully as well.

The muffins are yummy, and now I know to cook them 22 minutes instead of 25. We ate some right away, as soon as they came out of the oven and were cool enough to eat.

Strawberry Zucchini Bread

1 c. strawberry puree (2 10-oz packages of frozen berries or two pint baskets)

1 c. grated zucchini

4 eggs

1 c. vegetable oil (my next task is to figure out if I can substitute coconut oil)

3 c. flour (all-purpose or a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat)

1 1/2 c. sugar (you can use less if you want)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Note: If you want to make these muffins extra healthy, you can add a couple of tablespoons of ground flax, protein powder, or a 1/2 cup of rolled oats. These all make good additions.

Combine strawberry puree, zucchini, eggs, and oil. Blend in sugar, cinnamon, and baking soda. Add flour(s) and nuts, if using. Batter will be pinkish! Pour into greased and floured loaf pans (9 x 5 inch). Bake 40-50 mins. at 350 degrees. Cool completely before removing from pans. Makes two loaves.

Muffin variation:

Pour batter into greased muffin tin (or use papers). Bake at 350 degrees for 22 minutes. Watch closely. Makes about 18 muffins.

Although I don’t think he has ever seen one, I can’t help but think of this as Asher’s iPad. He calls it his “video game board,” chooses games, and pushes buttons while wearing a serious game face.

Asher has copied Lucas in this practice of making up his own “video games” out of paper. Lucas recently made paper DS-style handheld game devices for both himself and Asher. They hold these and push buttons and make wicked-cool sound effects. Both are masters at leveling up in these games.

Some might say my kiddos are deprived since they don’t have real video games of any sort. I say they are creative.

1. Receive bill. Gape.
2. Consider bank account balance.
3. Write check. Place in provided, stamped envelope and seal envelope.
4. Place envelope into mail box for mail pickup.
5. Check one small task off very long To-Do list.

“Mama, I got the mail. You got a check!”

“Thank you, Asher. You are very helpful.”

6. Find new envelope.
7. Write recipient’s address on envelope. Add return address label.
8. Carefully peel off provided stamp from ripped-up provided envelope.
9. Place salvaged stamp on new envelope.

“Asher, please take this letter to the mailbox. The mailman will come and take it away.”

“I did it, Mama!”

It’s Wednesday. The first one since Asher’s preschool let out for the summer. Today I have babysitting starting at 2-something so that I can work this afternoon and hopefully meet my deadlines this week. The day is stretching out before us.

To be honest, we are having some ups and downs. Lucas is not around, so Asher’s attention is focused on needing my attention. And frankly, I’m out of practice. I am now trying to remember how to spend long summer days with a rambunctious 4-year-old.

The Ups

A forty-minute walk on the American River Bike Trail, under shady live oaks and with wildflowers along the trail, was a nice start to the day. Asher was less into it than I was, and kept wanting to talk about monsters and Batman villains. Before we went very far, he was ready to go home. I must remember to adjust my expectations. And walking with a 4-year-old is not exercise.

A shower with a spray bottle. Yep, a little cold water in a household spray bottle in the warm shower with a 4-year-old is a great time. He gets to spray me all he wants, and I still get to shower. If I squeal a bit about the cold water he’s spraying on my skin, his delight is magnified. Plus, there are slippery, wet kisses to steal, too.

Making popsicles with what’s on hand. Today we made orange juice, blueberry yogurt pops with mango chunks—using the blender, so there were shiny buttons to push. Asher carefully carried each popsicle mold to the freezer and wedged it between the wires of the top shelf to freeze. He’s excited about these. I find it fun to use the same popsicle molds that were my mother’s. We are missing only two bottoms and handles. I must keep an eye out for these at the thrift store.

Harvesting spent calendula flowers from the garden. Oh, Asher didn’t actually want to help with this, but he wandered around in the yard with me while I did it.

The Downs

I learned that I can’t playfully spray Asher with a gentle spray from the garden hose. He doesn’t want to get wet, and assumes that if he gets wet he’ll be ITCHY! Hysterics ensued and, despite my apologies, he said he hates me and thinks I’m the worst. He sneaked up on me to poke me with things. Oh, and he said he is going to break all of my things.

There were tricks played on me, too. “Mama, please come and wipe my bottom! Please.  … Ha-ha! I didn’t even go poop! I tricked you!”

“Mama, I put the pillows away.” No, he did not put the pillows away.

“Mama, I’m gonna kiss you.” Then he licked my face. Later on, “Mama, I want to tell you a secret in your ear.” Then he licked my ear.

There are more, but I don’t have the energy to go into it. He is a rascal. Suffice it to say it’s time to rev up all those coping skills of mine. Nine and a half more weeks of summer vacation in which to focus on the ups and try not pay too much attention to the downs.

Hmmm … Look! The canas have arrived!