Merrit Starts Back to School

After a month off and a month of homeschooling, we got Merrit back in school (had to know our new address before we could enroll him). Today was his first day at his new school. His attitude going in was very positive; he was saying things like:

"I bet I'll have a nice teacher."

"I know I'm going to meet lots of new friends."

"I'm excited to go back to school! I've missed it."

In some ways, this school seemed a bit like school in England. It's a small school, with less than 500 kids, plopped right in the middle of a neighborhood, so there were lots of kids walking to school (aided by sidewalks, crosswalks, and crossing guards). Nice.

Our house will be right across the street and down about one block, so Merrit will be able to walk to school, which is great. Yay, no bus for him or carpool line for me.

There were some things that he told me at the end of the day that made me miss the U.K. school system. I knew, when we were there, that it was special. Not perfect, but they emphasized non-academic things as much as academic things that, I think, made for a balanced, less-stressful, healthier school environment.

Ready for my rant? Not to be a negative Nelly, just keeping it real.

Merrit didn't get enough time to eat his lunch. He said the bell rang and the teachers were shooing him out the door, but he hadn't finished his meal yet. Because he took all his time to eat, he didn't get to go out for recess afterwards. (No four playtimes/day like in England.) Oh this just made me mad; rush 'em through lunch or they don't get time outside when there's obviously not enough time to eat OR play in the first place.

He said the outdoor playground was for little kids. There weren't any balls out or field areas or games set up. I wonder what the kids DO when they're out there for their 10 minutes of post-lunch fresh air? I hope that this was just an off day.

When they gave him a snack in the morning, it was Goldfish crackers. (So long to whole carrots, pears, plums, and cucumbers like they gave the kids in England for snack twice a day.)

Of course I knew the lunches would be processed crap, so we packed his lunch. And predictably the hot meal for the day was crap: a pressed chicken patty on a white bun, tater tots, chocolate milk, and apple slices (score one point for the fruit, though it was probably doused in chemicals to keep it from browning). Merrit brought cut-up oranges, cukes, cherry tomatoes, and carrots with an egg salad sandwich on whole grain bread. He also had two Trader Joe's pecan sandies in there, too, so don't worry...he's not the kid with the totally weird lunch.

He had to go to the bathroom, but [not sure who] told him that his chance to do that was during recess, which he didn't get to do because he was eating. Poor thing, he held it for about an hour until I picked him up at 12:45 (Wednesdays are early release days); we got to the Rite-Aid for some school supplies his teacher told me to bring in tomorrow and he scooted into their bathroom as soon as we got there.

When I picked him up, his teacher felt compelled to tell me that he'd overheard some swear words at lunch and that he'd had to witness her "get stern" with those boys. I don't think he heard (or understood?) what it was that they said, but he was surprised that she got so "mean with them." When pressed as to why he didn't stand up and insist that he needed to go to the bathroom, he said he didn't want his teacher to get mad at him like she did with those other boys. Okay, so we had to have a conversation about that...an issue close to my heart since I was too "obedient" in fifth grade (two years older than Merrit is now) to insist I had to pee EVEN THOUGH we were getting ready to take that states-and-capitals test and...so I wet my pants...in the FIFTH grade. Horrifying. I told him that story and his eyes were as big as saucers! I told him he had a right to go to the bathroom, and that if the teacher got mad at him for it, we'd handle it.

Well, I'm sure all of this is his side of the story and I know he needs to get with the program re: how things are done here, but taken in totality alongside the crap food, the short recess, the swearing, the rushed lunchtime....I guess I'd have to say I was pretty disappointed with how his first day went.

If he had come home with a backpack full of heavy books and loads of busy work/homework, that would have been the icing on the cake, but thankfully, he had a skinny folder with a few looseleaf sheets of paper and an assignment to read aloud for 30 minutes by way of homework. Score a few more points for the school.

...end of rant...

On the upside, he said that the library was "awesome." And he was beaming when he told me he got his very own library card, could check out up to three books at a time, and could use the self-checkout scanner to check out and check in books. I think that library card was probably the highlight of his day.

I do like that every Wednesday is early release day. I am already thinking about all kinds of fun outings to do together with Ollie on Wednesday afternoons: the zoo, hiking trips, museums, the Seattle aquarium, the indoor climbing wall, the Ranger station near our new house, the park, and so on.

And I like that we can walk to school like we did in England.

I think his teacher was very attentive to him; she spent some time talking to me at pick-up time about how he did, she complimented his reading with expressiveness and reading for comprehension and said that she had spent some time observing his math skills and felt that, at first glance, he is up to speed with the rest of his classmates. His teacher is probably in her late 40s and seemed very welcoming and friendly to both Merrit--as well as to Mike, Ollie, and I when we all went in to drop him off this morning. I have a good feeling about her and I'll be interested to see how it all goes over the next month or so, as Merrit gets more settled in.

Academically, this is a school that ranks very well on their national testing scores and within the Bellevue school district. I'm sure that Merrit will do just fine with the schoolwork. I'm trying hard to disguise my disappointment with all the other nit-picky things I'm bothered by and just keep it positive for his sake so that he's psyched about school. We will just focus on the positives. And, probably join the PTA.

P.S. Miss the uniforms, too. Always loved those uniforms.

Found Our Rental House!

We found our rental house! It's about five miles from Mike's work and is just what we were looking for. Here's the write-up that caught our eye: "This beautiful oasis offers over an acre of landlord-maintained landscaping and 148 feet of lake front. An escape within the city. Minutes to I-90 and downtown, yet a sanctuary where you can swim, fish, or watch the wildlife, cross the street to miles of running trails. You'll fall in love with the open concept captured in this understated 2010 remodel. Gorgeous hardwoods and open-beam ceilings. Grab your paddleboard, or pull up an Adirondack chair."

The front steps, porch, and door.

Merrit and Dad have a snowball fight in the circular,
gravel driveway.

Ollie explores the front porch.

While the front of the house is one story, the back half is two story.
Ollie walks toward the lake.

I am taking this picture about halfway between the house and the lake.

Mike walks down to the lake's edge, where there's a small
floating dock. The water is very shallow at the lake's edge.
Perfect for the boys to paddle about in come summer.

Phantom Lake. The water is very clear, nothing like most lakes I've seen
and/or swam in.

The house from it's prettiest angle, I think.

Seats six! Y'all come visit now,  y'hear?
(The upstairs balcony is off the dining room.)

Ollie in the side yard. Lots of mature evergreen pines
and large ferns and moss-covered rocks.
(And the landlord does the yard maintenance! Woo hoo.)

The upstairs is one big room: living room (seen here), kitchen, dining room,
and two other "spaces" that we can use for possibly Mike's studio/work space
and/or a little reading nook with bookshelves. Possibilities, possibilities.
Lots of windows...feels like a treehouse!

View from the kitchen sink, to the deck, and lake beyond.

The kitchen has a home-managers desk (I love those), gas stove, glass
tilework, big pantry. To the right: an island (see picture below).

Curved kitchen island, a full sink, smaller prep sink, and stainless steel fridge
and dishwasher.

View from the dining room across the rest of the open-floorplan upstairs.
Front door is to the left; stairs to downstairs in the center. Maybe Mike's
studio/office will go at left, behind the half-wall.

Gorgeous ceilings. Not crazy about the curtains. Already thinking of maybe
replacing with bamboo roller-shades? There's another deck off the other
side of the house; you can sort of see the railing through the windows.

 I didn't take any photos of the downstairs, but there is a full bath, a laundry room with washer/dryer, two small bedrooms, a master bedroom with sliding doors to a patio, and a common room with sliding doors to the other patio/hot tub. It's just our size...not too big, not too small.

Omelette Overview

Merrit and I just took the time to update his omelette blog with pictures/captions about the omelettes he made while visiting family over the holidays. Eat it up!

Black Mountain "Western" Omelette with Nanny and Papa
Christmas in New Bern Omelette with Gramma B and Cap'n John

Night Vision Goggles

These kids' night vision goggles were actually a Christmas present for Merrit from Aunt Kim and Uncle Gilbert but both the boys LOVE them. Here's proof. Hope you're laughing as hard as we are.

Snowstorm Hits!

Amid manic predictions of the biggest snowfall since 1969, today's snow was a bit of a disappointment compared to what was predicted, but it was still awesome that we got about six inches of the white stuff.

Mike walked the boys to a nearby park for a couple of
hours. I stayed home in my fuzzy bathrobe (love it, Tina!) and
read my latest book, "Gods in Alabama" by Joshilyn Jackson.

Merrit named this fellow "Snowman Frank."

First Time in Seattle

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Mike had the day off so, bright and early, we drove into town to see what there was to see in Seattle. True to form, Mike and I didn't have a plan. And true to form, the boys were like, "Where are we going? Where are we going?" 

We crossed over the bridge (not sure which one, to be honest). We programmed "Space Needle" into the GPS and followed the prompts.

We drove around the city for a while, just sightseeing and getting our bearings. After driving underneath the monorail a few times, I googled the Seattle monorail on my iPhone to see if it was open to the public, how much it cost, etc. Wow, only $2.25 for adults, less for Merrit, and Ollie was free. Sweet.

We found a parking place and made our way to the Seattle Center monorail station which is right underneath the Space Needle.

In the shadow of the Space Needle, seen through the sunroof.

We'll come back another day to go to the top of the needle.
A sunny, clear day when we can really get a great view.

Our destination!

So we are all jazzed for our monorail ride. Tickets in hand. Ready to get a bird's eye view of the Seattle landmarks and sights. The boys were super excited. The engineer let them sit up front and even let Ollie blow the horn.

Getting ready to lurch forward on the monorail track, a good 20 feet above ground.

"Wow, this is so fun!" says Merrit. "Yay!" says Ollie, pointing at buildings and cars as we go by. Mike and I take it all in, curious and excited about our new city.

Scrrreeecchh, goes the train. We are at our first stop. Everyone gets off. We're sitting there and the driver, eventually, moseys over to us and says, "Did you buy a round trip ticket?" 

We're like, "Huh?" 

Yep, that was the end of the monorail. One stop. I'm not even kidding. As we walk away in disbelief Mike goes, "They should call it the 'minute-rail.'" Then Merrit chimes in, "Or the 'mini-rail.'" That got big laughs. That train ride was nothing but a big ol' case of anticipointment.

On a bright note, we did grab some hot dogs for lunch, and the boys made souvenir pennies.

This photo is almost too gratuitous, sorry. 

The boys are amassing quite a collection of these!

We set off on foot to who knows where. I sort of wanted to make our way to Pike Place Market, pretty much--aside from the Space Needle--the only destination I knew about and had heard of prior to moving to Seattle. Thankfully there were plenty of signs pointing the way and we were only 0.2 miles away.

The floor tiles all had names on them.
Does anyone know why?

Mushrooms, morels, and truffles are apparently a big deal around here. In
a magazine at the hair salon, I read all about a truffle festival that takes
place in Oregon later this spring.

Mike suggested we duck into Lowell's, an old-time
restaurant (three storeys high, inside the market) for a beer.

We watched the ferries come and go, the cargo ships unload, a plane or
two come in for a landing over the Puget Sound. This is truly a working waterfront.

We ambled back through the bitter cold (there's still snow on the ground, though the roads are just slushy), back to our parked car.

One more parting shot of the Space Needle.
We can't wait to go up!

Back over Lake Washington to the Eastside, where we live.

We met up with the realtor who's been taking us around to look at some rental properties. She showed us a great house...but, more on that later... :)

Snowflakes in Seattle!

We had a little bit of sleet on Friday, a few snow flurries on Saturday, and about a half-inch to an inch of big, flaky, wet snow on Sunday! What a weekend. People here say this is pretty unusual, so we feel really excited to have seen snow so soon after moving here.

Saturday...

We drove around a little with the realtor during the sleet accumulation
on Saturday. (Haven't found a house yet.)

Got my hair cut and highlighted on Saturday evening. (Self-portrait taken on the
walk home from the salon.) By early evening, all the snow had melted and the
roads were just wet.

Bellevue is a really pretty city at night.

Sunday...

We climbed into the car to explore the city a little,
rambled into Kirkland, which is about five minutes from Bellevue,
and ended up at a brunch hot-spot called Hector's. It doesn't look busy
now, but by the time we left, this room was packed. Merrit and
Ollie ended up splitting an order of pancakes.

Of course, Seattle is known for great coffee.

Sunny side up eggs to brighten a grey day.
Mike ordered the biscuits, gravy, and egg breakfast.

I had mini bagels with chevre, salmon lox, capers, and onion.

As we leave the restaurant, the snow is starting to come down.

Merrit Man is super excited.

Ollie is excited, too. The snow is starting to stick!

The flakes are big and fluffy--
and sticking to our hats, coats, mittens, and hair.

My Christmas present from Mike, Uggs boots.
Perfect timing.

Already we've seen lots of whimsical or funky sculptures.
Here's one example. Don't understand the significance
of the cow and dog, but I love that someone has given
them scarves! This is a real break from England, where
most of the sculptures you see are historical or memorial
in nature.

We drove north of Kirkland, to higher elevations. The snow was a bit
heavier here, and roads a bit more slippy. Washington is known as the
Evergreen State. Covered with snow, the trees look even more beautiful.

We parked at Houghton Beach Park to let the boys romp
in the snow.

Merrit's throwing snowballs. Lake Washington is behind him.
On a sunny day, you can see the shore and skyline of
Seattle from here.

Mike braved the elements (without gloves, even) and had a snowball fight with the boys. I stayed in the heated-seats comfort of the car and recorded the melee.