In-Plane Sight

This afternoon, we set off on a three-flight excursion (a three-legged race, if you will) to Portland, Oregon, the central location of our week-and-a-half vacation in the Pacific Northwest. My mom is joining us once again—proof that she is an awfully good sport and/or has completely lost her mind.

On this opening day of the Olympics, I’d like to award a gold medal to Olivia for her patience and cooperation throughout this very long day of travel. Given our child’s frequent inclinations toward turbulent temperaments, we were pleasantly surprised when she displayed a champion’s form in the terminals and aboard the planes.

Sees and Resist

Olivia’s first trip to the eye doctor (who happens to be my good friend and her good friend’s dad) was marked by the same sort of trepidation normally reserved for interactions with people with whom she’s not as familiar. I suppose the eye-relaxing substance the assistants sprayed her with prior to the exam may have calmed her tense eye muscles, but it did little for her nerves.

Our daughter had to be convinced that A.J.’s dad is as nice in his practice as he is in person. Of course, by the end of the exam she was begging us for glasses—we assured her that having been born to parents with such tremendous four-sight, corrective lenses were a virtual and visual lock—and the chance to peer through the “eye machine” again.

Facial Networking

You’re looking at the founder members of the Facebook group, Kids Who Get Their Face Painted Anytime They Are in the Vicinity of a Face Painter.

Nature Nurtured

Olivia and the other students of their summer nature class are taught to care for their friends of the natural world. On this day, they learned about the varieties and importance of flowers. The kids spent the last fifteen minutes of class buzzing like bees around the grounds of the nature center in curious and careful pursuit of the flowers they'd just studied.

Wall-Mannered

Olivia shows us that she'll climb toward outer space in search of adventure.

Able in a China Shop

We'd signed Olivia up for a calligraphy class at a local nonprofit organization that is committed to supporting area families who have adopted children from China. Beni first found out about the group quite randomly nearly three years ago—she’d dropped in their business during a chocolate-themed tour of downtown businesses, at which time she coughed up her e-mail address for a piece of cake.

They send her all sorts of information regarding Chinese adoptions, but also a calendar of events they hold at their headquarters. Based on the positive experience Olivia and Beni had while participating in their Chinese New Year celebration back in February, we decided to try our hand—rather Olivia's hand—at the art of brush and black ink.

Our burgeoning artist proved to be a quick study: she was able to produce a boscage of bamboo shortly after receiving instructions from the teacher.

Kicks Some Grass

By the last days of soccer class, the instructors are tired of instructing and the kids are tired of being instructed, and so they tied down and pulled up their bootstraps to get to work playing what’s known around the world as the Beautiful Game. Olivia got tapped for goalie duty in the first half, a role she cherished for its frequent breaks from the action, but Ronaldinho-inha did show some flairs of interestedness and skill on the other end of the field when she was forced to roam the pitch as a field player in the second half.

Read Meat(balls)

Our town’s library runs a summer reading program for the lil’ ones. The kids can earn weekly prizes—coupons for DVD rentals, ice cream cones, personal pizzas, and the like—on their way to the grand prize—their very own book—at the end of the session. This year’s book selection was fairly extensive, but Olivia locked in on one book in particular upon spotting it.

Our meatless munchkin picked up the classic “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” a book which she told me she’d first heard a “long, long time ago” in preschool. Well, she must have wanted to make up for lost time because she had me read it to her at least five or six times over the course of this day, including once during our playtime at the park.

Jogging Her Memory

I was loathe to have Olivia participate in our local running club’s fun run­—see here and here as to why­—but ultimately ran counter to my intuition by taking her to the race site this evening. I figured it was a new year and that there was no way she’d pull off the trifecta. As you can see, she happily scampered around the track this time and even let her old man join in on the fun (run).

Women in Trees

I never watched an episode of the now-cancelled TV show “Men in Trees,” but I do know it starred Anne Heche playing a character whose first name was the same as Olivia’s middle name.

Olivia plays herself in "Man vs. Child," a show about us trying to survive parenthood. In this episode, we find our adventure seeker up in a tree as her nervous parents try to figure out how she got up there and when she might fall. (Spoiler alert: She doesn't fall. In fact, she convinces her mother to pose with her for a picture.)

Crash into Me

Tradition dictates that during water breaks at soccer practice, Olivia runs over to where Beni and I are sitting to playfully run one of us over­—usually me—before rehydrating and heading back out to the pitch.

At the end of class this evening, I just assumed that my having the camera out to capture her gleeful expression would indicate to her that she was to mow down her mother, but as you might guess from the extreme close-up I was able to capture, my assumption was off base.

The above shot was taken the moment before Olivia collided into me like a free safety teeing off on an unsuspecting wide receiver. Her head hit the camera, which then smashed into my face. The multiple impacts sent my daughter, my body, and the camera flying in different directions. Miraculously, neither of us (or the camera) was hurt, and unlike European soccer professionals, we didn’t exaggerate our pain by writhing around the ground in agony.

All A's

By day, she’s walking hand in hand with A.J. around the arts festival; by night, she’s accompanying Aiden in his wagon on their way to the park; and in between, Olivia’s observing during our bike trip up to Aiden’s that her best buddies’ names start with the letter A.