Wow. It's been almost two years since I've written. It's interesting reading the last entry. I'm amazed things at all levels (kids' schedules, my interactions with Marin, Marin's temperament...) are still so much the same, but different. Marin is one month shy from being 8 and Jack is a little over 5 1/2 yrs old.
Both are still at MSNV, with Marin in 3rd grade (3rd yr Lower El) and Jack in Kindergarten (3rd yr Primary). It should be the best year of their student life at MSNV because they've already been in the same class for 2 years, based on the typical Montessori classroom structure that encompasses a three year age span. They should feel very comfortable, familiar and secure with their environment. Everything taught and learned in the past years are reinforced; what they've mastered they would teach to the younger classmates.
The kids have taken on more activities after school: Kumon reading and math since summer 2011, Piano with Ms. Melody for Marin (since 4 1/2 yrs old) , Guitar with Mr. Nick (Melody's younger brother) for Jack (began over summer 2012, 5 1/2 yrs old), both at Keys to Creativity, swimming at JCC, and soccer with BRYC (their first season!). I am SO proud of their enthusiasm and joy for soccer. Jack's team is U6, the "Scorpions" and Marin's team is U8, the "Soccer Stars". They practice once a week and have a game every Saturday. I have to say I really love the game and want to play myself!! :D I enjoy practicing and having small scrimmages with them. We even got ourselves a nice set of goals with cones and all to create our own little soccer field in the front lawn. Marin is more of the aggressive and good player in her team; so she's rarely taken out of a game, which means more playtime!! Coach Laurie Coughlin is very impressed with Marin's ability given this is her first season. From day one, she told me Marin has great potentials and to continue to work privately with her on her foot skills. Jack has an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm when he plays one on one with me. He manages to keep the ball away from me and shoot goals frequently. I hope they continue to play for many more seasons - mostly for the fun of the sport and to keep healthy. In his first game, many kids didn't show up so he played the entire game, since there was no sub. In the first half of the game, he was shy and uncertain (which he felt guilty and admitted -unsolicited- when we were in the car), but the latter quarters he woke up and began to play offense and defense aggressively. He even scored a goal!
In the past two summers we've taken major trips to Europe. In 2011, we took a giant leap of faith that we would be able to navigate around Italy, a country neither of us has been to in our adult years nor speak the language, and drag 2 young kids, with one still in a stroller! Definitely was quite an experience - and very well worth it. Both trips we went in June right after school was over. We flew into Venice, with a brief layover in London, and stayed for almost a week. Then, we rented a car and drove to Florence, Rome, Sorrento and ended the trip staying in Capri. We stayed about 2 to 5 nights in each of the city. While stationed in Sorrento, we braved through the Amalfi coast with our car to get to the most quaint and romantic city, IMO, Positano. In 2012, we had the Europe itch and went back again. This time, without a stroller, we visited four countries: England, France, Monaco and Italy (back for more). We flew into London, then took the chunnel with Eurostar to Paris, and then another train ride to Nice. We stationed in Nice and rented a car to go to Eze, Monaco and Antibes. We never made it to St. Tropez, where movie stars are known to hang out. After about a week, we flew to Venice (not at nice as we remembered it. They even had a transportation strike on the one day of the two of our stay. That meant lots of walking without working vaporettos). Same as last time, we rented a car, but now headed to the Italian Riviera, Liguria region of Italy, for the last leg of our trip, with our destination point and home base in Portovenere, south of the Cinque Terre. We took the boat and visited 3 villages of Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore, Manarola and Vernazza. We were too tired to explore Monterosso and you couldn't get to Corniglia (perched high up on a cliff accessible by hiking or train only). We took day trips to Lucca (my ultimate favorite city.. so cute, small, quaint, interesting and the home of Puccini) and Pisa. Florence was on our itinerary, but, as much as we LOVE Florence, we were all too exhausted by this time to go. We ended our trip flying back up to London for a couple of days to catch the returning flight back to US, with a brief layover in Iceland.
The kids have become seasoned travelers. They're used to picking up and going and roughing it. They didn't complain having to walk long distances and even helped us with carrying all the luggage. We couldn't have done it without them, especially during tough transitions like from dock to boat in Venice and platforms to trains in London and Paris.
Marin continues to do drama camp every summer with Beth Bell-Leresche at MSNV. Her first musical was "Seussical" in 2010, with the role of one of of the Mayor's daughters and citizens of Who. In 2011, she played one of the Bimbette triplets in "Beauty and the Beast". Past summer, she had several roles in the musical "Wicked". She was Avaric, Ensemble, and an Ozian. She really enjoys it and hopes to overcome her shyness to have bigger speaking roles. Marin has a beautiful, beautiful voice!! I love to hear her sing. When she's comfortable and free at home she sings all various musical pieces and I am totally mesmerized. I sit there quietly listening to her sing and hope she never stops. I've been wanting to record it, but these moments come too quickly and sporadically I don't have the chance to do it. Most of all, I don't want to ruin the moment and just allow her to sing without obvious interference.
The kids enjoy seeing Broadway performances so we caught "Matilda" while in London and
"Wicked" up in NYC over the summer with Marin's classmates who were also in the "Wicked" musical for MSNV drama camp.
Jack continues to love art and draws beautiful castles and crowns. He has a great sense for mixing colors at a very early age. He'll be starting an art class this fall at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria. He has amazing attention to details and an incredible memory. He's organized and remembers where everything is kept. He reads and writes well, at the first grade level, even though he just started K. He's doing simple additions. He's focused when he does his homework. He has to finish everything before getting up. If there's a mistake he needs to fix it right away. His motto is definitely 'work before play'. He LOVES catching any insects, especially butterflies! He's fascinated with planets, moon and stars. We even took him stargazing with the NOVA Astronomy club. It was a cloudy night so we weren't able to see Saturn's ring or the moon. He loves different gems and mineral rocks. We went to the Smithsonian and the kids spent hours looking at different things. Jack is a very cute, loveable, peaceful and thoughtful person. In any program he attends, people tend to like him. He gets along mostly with girls. He puts up with the boys :) At home, he roughhouses with Marin all the time.
Marin is still as independent and strong will as ever. In fact, Jack is very independent, too. She's confident and self-assured. She LOVES animals, especially dogs!! She's been wanting a dog for several years. At first, I thought it was because all her cousins have a dog that she wanted one, too; but her interests persisted. Her love for dogs is very deep. She's very caring in the way she handles and takes care of them. She reads and researches on the different breeds and how to take care of them. I think she just loves all types of animals and is not afraid of holding or feeding them. She also loves math! She's able to do multiple digits multiplications and divisions. She loves reading facts, not so much fictions. Reading has sorta taken a back seat in the past year; but we hope she'll get back into it again soon. Past May, Marin had a Suzuki Book 1 performance in our home, with many guests including Ms. Melody, Nick, Nancy Davis, owner of Keys to Creativity, MSNV teachers, Ms. Catharina, Elizabeth and Suzie, her friends, Victoria, who also plays Suzuki Cello, Gabriella and Eddie, Ms. Suzie's son, Grandpa, Grandma, Dan, her dad, co Alice and all her cousins, aunts and uncles. It was a pretty big event which ended up with a presentation of a plaque by Ms. Melody to Marin of her big achievement. We were so proud of her. Chu Dzung was so nice to have videotaped the event and made a precious DVD!
Marin can be very focused, especially in things she's interested. It's book order time at MSNV, so our job is to collate the different forms and staple them together to give out to students. Over the years, Marin has seen me do this so she's gotten involved in the process gradually. This year she was so enthusiastic in doing it, she took over the entire process without me. Initially, she did want to do it with me, but I was so tired from work so I had her do the whole thing. She was methodical, organized and didn't want to stop until she finished - not something I commonly see, like doing homework. It was passed her bedtime and I had to repeatedly ask her to go to bed; but she was unyielding. I felt it was very important for her to go to bed on time to get a good night sleep before a big test tomorrow. She flatly refused and insisted on finishing. I was so frustrated so I went upstairs first. I thought for sure she was going to give up and follow me because she never wants to be downstairs alone at night. Nope! She went right on working until she finished! I was so amazed to see such determination and perseverance... Fifteen minutes later, she ran upstairs and proudly said 'I finished it, Mama.', not even mad she was left downstairs alone or even realized how much she didn't like the dark. Of course, I was still upset and didn't respond to her exhilaration. She continued and said "Gee Mama.. not even a 'thank you'". I just chuckled in my head and later did go say 'thank you' when I went in her room to kiss her good night.
It's amazing to witness the changes and growth over the years.... how independent, self-assured, self-directed, and self-motivated they are. Resolving conflicts peacefully, showing manners, and being respectful continue to be a work in progress. I'm so proud of the individuals they are today.
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