No Sleep 'Til Richmond!

Nigel and I leave for Richmond one month from today! (Tim will be joining us one or two days later.) We're getting really excited about seeing our family and friends.

I'm also looking forward to meeting with my RVA clients and working on a travel story for Cleveland magazine! Thanks for the super cool suitcase, LaLa!!!

Little Fish

Nigel's swim lessons wrapped up on Thursday. He was in the pike/eel class — the first class that kids do sans parents. His teacher Miss Callie was super nice and patient. Nigel had a blast learning how to jump into the pool (see video below), kick his feet, blow bubbles and paddle his arms. We still need to work on floating a bit, but much progress was made. We plan on working with Nigel ourselves over the summer (at the Y, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Dan's pool, and PaPa's lake) and doing another round of lessons right before preschool starts.

Uncle George Comes to Texas

Last Sunday we picked up Uncle George from the airport for a 3-day visit. (Nigel's sour face to the left is because an older man had just said to him, "Thanks, I'm glad to be in Texas, but my name's not Uncle George.") The weather wasn't super the entire time, but we did have fun. We took a trip to the Stockyards, played at home and went to swim lessons.

One evening, George, Tim and I went to our first Texas Rangers game. It was so much fun. The stadium is really cool. We got to see two home runs and former President George W. Bush up on the Jumbo Tron (You can see it here.)! George and I also did a 9.5-mile hike along the Trinity River.

We're looking forward to seeing Uncle George — and the rest of our family and friends — this summer.

We're Alive!

Texas weather has thrown us for a loop! We knew we'd be facing some severe storms, but we never could have imagined what this spring has blown our way. Tuesday's storms were the scariest by far, though! There were a series of four or five storms — each with hail, tornadoes, rain — that pelted us over a five-hour period.

My oldest brother George (he was in town for a few days; more on that in a later post) and I went downtown to Sundance Square to look around when we heard the tornado sirens. It was my first time hearing them outside of the weekly test period. It was freaky, especially since in 2000 a tornado wiped out a part of town about three miles from where we were. But the freakiest part was that nobody else seemed phased; they kept going about their business.

I called Tim, and he said the storms were 45 miles from downtown. George and I cut our trip short anyway and headed back to the car. On the way home, Tim called to tell us the storm was now 10 miles from downtown. The five-minute drive back to our house seemed to take forever; to my left I could see some spooky clouds forming. We also saw a news chopper pass overhead; we later saw the tape of a tornado he shot. By the time we got inside, the sirens were sounding again. There was wind and rain followed by a lull. The pattern repeated for a few hours while we were watching the news. I got really spooked when the weather guy speficially mentioned our street. When the hail came, we decided to wake up Nigel so he could see it since it melted before we could get outside after another storm the previous afternoon. Up until this point, Nigel was sound asleep. (If you click on the video below you'll be able to hear just how loud the hail was.) Many areas of D/FW got softball-sized hail, but as you can tell from the picture to the right, ours was smaller. The sirens went off again, and we made the decision to get into the hall. I was so proud of how brave Nigel was. I guess all of our drills paid off! Turns out that final siren was sounded by mistake, so we just put Nigel back to bed.

We're very grateful for the way things ended, and we hope it'll be a long time until we have to hide in the hallway again.

Dragon Boat Festival

On Sunday afternoon we went to the DFW Dragon Boat, Kite and Lantern Festival in Irving's Las Colinas. I kind of have a crush on Las Colinas's attempt at mixed use. The large lake/canal system where the festival was held is lined with housing, trails, green space, businesses and shops; DART will soon extend here, too.
The festival was really cool. We got to watch a few boat races (I forgot my camera, so you'll have to settle for a crappy BlackBerry photo), but the best part of our afternoon was walking around the lake and watching the kites while we had a picnic. We didn't bring Nigel's kite, but next year we will. He really enjoyed seeing all of the different shapes and watching the trick kites.
Of course there was also the ubiquitous festival junk for sale as well as food. Tim and Nigel had a smoothie while I cooled off with pistachio almond kulfi by Dallas-based Kaurina's. I first had kulfi in 2008 while covering an Indian wedding. It is so tasty!

My First Solo Race

I was feeling pretty down after my first race in Texas Easter weekend. I wanted to redeem myself, and I also wanted to see if I could do it alone. Motivate myself. I'm totally grateful for the running coaches and partners I've had since January 2010, but I was feeling like I had lost some of my internal drive. Many of my issues with running are simply mental hurdles. So, on Saturday I did the Run for Sarah 5K.

I was unfamiliar with the course, but it turned out to be beautiful. We started at an enormous high school football stadium and ran through a neighborhood and around a lake. The weather was mostly ideal for running: the temperature was in the low 50s, but the wind was easily 15 mph.

How did I do? 38:56 (vs. 41:17 last time). I still have a lot of work to do to get back down to my personal record of 30 minutes, but it felt really good to complete this race all on my own. (A HUGE thanks to my cheering squad of two!!!)

Dallas Zoo

On Friday, our friend Lea and her son Oliver took us to the Dallas Zoo. It's about 35 minutes from our house by car, but there's also a train stop right in front. It was one of those rare magical days of perfect behavior. Nigel and Oliver had a great time, and Lea and I actually got to talk a little bit.

There's a really neat kids' area with things to climb on and a petting zoo. Nigel got to feed giant fish and goats, as well as ride a pony and a carousel. The magic died a few hours later at the grocery store, but it was a blast while it lasted!

Nigel's New (yet old) Jam

For about two years now, Tim and Nigel have ended the day with two short videos on YouTube. It's a good way for Nigel to wind down and transition before bath time. Some of his favorites are Lovely Love My Family by The Roots on Yo Gabba Gabba, Elmo's Ducks and I Like Sandwiches by Reeve Oliver on Yo Gabba Gabba.

Recently we've stumbled upon a Sesame Street video that's a rendition of one of Nigel's original pop song loves. When Nigel was a baby, every time I'm Yours by Richmond's Jason Mraz came on the radio in the car he'd stop crying and become entranced. To this day he loves singing along to this song. I think it has a lovely message, and it's a huge plus that Mraz is a Richmonder. So when Tim found Mraz singing Outdoors on YouTube, we were in love. Another awesome message and a catchy tune.

Mother's Day

I joked with several friends last week that I didn't want to blow Mother's Day... didn't want to ruin the special day. I didn't want my Mother's Day to end up like Frankie's on The Middle. She wanted her hubby and kids gone for the day, so they left. Instead of relaxing without them, though, she ended up doing work around the house. And the kicker was, the kids and hubby had a picture perfect day off on their own. You can see the full episode here. Additionally, for various reasons, Mother's Day is always a tad bittersweet at our house. Plus, this is the first year that Nigel's old enough to understand appreciation and the concept of Mother's Day, so I knew there was potential for greatness.

So, Saturday was family fun day. First, we drove to Plano for an Asian American festival. On the way there, Nigel counted to 10 in Spanish and French. I got a "I did that!" feeling in my heart and was just overwhelmed with just how much I love being this little guy's mom. At the festival, Nigel got to play a violin and a drum, listen to Indian music, and have an egg roll during our picnic. It was refreshing to see so much diversity, something we continue to crave here in FW.

Next stop: the Cottonwood Art Festival in Richardson. It reminded me a lot of Arts in the Park.
Nigel enjoyed looking at some of the art — large sculptures are a huge hit with him — and he also made a plaster hand print. Of course, no festival is complete without ice cream so he had some of that, too.

After a brief stop at home, I chose Indian food for dinner. We went to Tandoor in Arlington. This is where the magic died. I'm not sure if Nigel had just been out too long or what, but he was wild! He refused to eat everything that was offered to him (despite the fact that he's been eating Indian food for two years), and he ran into the parking lot when Tim took him outside for a "chat." It didn't exactly leave me with a warm feeling in my mothering heart.

While I was with my running group on Sunday, Tim and Nigel made carrot cake cupcakes for me (I missed my mom's carrot cake over Easter). They also surprised me with three cards (the one Nigel picked out was in Spanish), a new sports bottle and a running shirt. After lunch, Tim and Nigel went to the YMCA to practice swimming while I watched something on Netflix. When they returned, I ventured off on my own. I went to the FW Botanic Gardens to read and get some sun, but I quickly realized it was way too hot and relocated to Starbuck's.

The weekend was the perfect balance of family and alone time. I really did feel special, minus the Indian restaurant episode. But really, I feel like that every day. I'm so lucky to have a husband who shares the responsibility of parenting, who recognizes when I need some down time and appreciates my style of parenting. And I'm super lucky to have a son who tells me "You're the best mother in the whole world. I love you more than all of the cupcakes, all of the ice cream and all of the hot dogs in the world."

Stuff Nigel Says

Nigel's love for pop music will live on, but here's a prime example of why he might listen to just a tad too much NPR:

Nigel to me while I'm watching 2 minutes of the news after breakfast: "Hey, I gotta tell you something. Do you have any T. Boone Pickens on this news?"

First Day of Swimming Lessons

Nigel's first swim lesson at the Y was Tuesday. I got to watch from a little room adjacent to the pool (thus the poor quality of actual swimming photos). He was a tad timid at first, but he did everything the teacher asked him to do. He kicked his feet, blew bubbles, put his head under the water, etc. His classmates are super cute, and the teacher seems very nice and patient! Nigel's looking forward to his next lesson on Thursday!

Stuff Nigel Says

We caught about 2 minutes of the royal wedding recap on Friday, so Nigel has been pretending to be king for a few days. This weekend I made a quick crown and used a lei as a sash. He wore the crown for a few minutes before saying, "I need to take my hat off so I can get some air in my head."

Rainy Day Fun

It hardly ever rains here, so we were kind of surprised when it rained pretty much all day Sunday. But never fear, we had some tricks up our sleeves to keep us all entertained.

We did finger paints, put together a puzzle, colored, made a crown and did some yoga. We also pulled out a bread baking kit I bought on sale after Christmas. Tim mixed two colors of bread and we let Nigel go to town. He made a "C," which prompted a classic Sesame Street song:

Stuff Nigel Says

Nigel: "Can I wear my Easter shoes outside to play?"
Tim: "No, you can only wear those for special things."
Nigel: "Like when we go to Starbuck's?"

Somebody please make this kid a spokesperson already!!!

Friends at Fair Park

On Friday Nigel and I joined our pals Amy and James on an outing to Fair Park in Dallas. Fair Park is where the Texas State Fair is held each year. In fact, some of the fair gear is there year-round, including the giant Ferris wheel. In 1936, Texas celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Texas Republic with a world's fair here. It's a giant complex with several museums and an aquarium.

On our outing, we took the TRE and DART, which was exciting for the boys. Then we just strolled around the park, taking in the fountains and checking out the swan boats. The boys climbed on a large sculpture that straddles a pond, and we enjoyed a picnic before heading back to FW.

James and Nigel forged a friendship at storytime. It's been a lot of fun to watch them interact. Most of the time, they're great pals... sharing, laughing and making up silly games. But there are moments that they act kind of like siblings. For example, at one point today James didn't want Nigel to hold his hand anymore. So of course, Nigel just had to hold James' hand. We'll chalk it up as great practice for preschool — and the beginning of a great friendship!