Kai's besties birthday / new friend dinner / rejoining the fancy gym

 Let's see.. what happened this past week :)

We've been hard pressed to keep the house orderly over the last year, mostly because Amy and I have not had the wherewithal to dedicate ourselves to cleaning.  But last week, we finally did some spring cleaning and got the house back in shape.  

Kai also had a birthday party this Saturday with his friends from church.  Four families got together and it was really nice to see all the kids running around together.  I thought they would just play Switch all day but actually much of the day was spent running around. 

That's a brownie and  mangos Amy arranged into his name :)

A friend of mine from work also invited us to their house for dinner.  It would have been easy to say that we were busy but Amy and I both consciously made an effort to go.  Honestly, we haven't been to a new friend's house in many years so it was really nice.  Rohit has two teenage boys who were just so caring and engaging towards the younger kids.  Hope our kids are like that when they are older.

They also had a hammock which the kids rolled around in

One sad thing is that Kai's jujitsu class is ending.  I think there were just too few students who had come back and his coach had to move to another job.  Sad because we really liked him.. sigh, another toll of the pandemic. 

Lastly, we joined the nearby gym for the summer because they have a pool and we wanted the kids to be able to get back into swimming.  It's more expensive than the 24hr fitness but we figured it would be worth it as the kids aren't in any summer camps (which are expensive too!)  The kids have gone swimming a couple of times already and they love it.  The other good thing is that a lot of our  neighbors and friends have joined too so we can meet up with people there.  Also, I've restarted working out myself which feels really good after a whole year of low physical activity.

They are old enough to be in the hot tub now!

Take care, everyone!

Some pictures to augment Nik's post

First day of school jitters.. in April

Top of Bald Peaks on my 2nd MUTT Half try.. I ran the open course 3 times :)

Zoom classroom birthday celebration for Covid times

Neighborhood birthday cupcake celebration

In-person extracurriculars are back: Sora is back to piano and Kai is back to BJJ and soccer. Dining indoors and going to the gym for the first time felt transformative, complete with many selfies to document the momentous occasions. We also went to an indoor church service.

A Case of the Mondays (and Tuesdays)..

 Looking at the title, you would think maybe something bad is happening but actually this is good news :) 

I have just recently begun to work more in the Kaiser minor injury clinic.  This means that about two days a week, most Mondays and Tuesdays, I'm working in the clinic .. the schedule is more consistent, it's not as stressful as the ER and the clinic staff is great to work with.  As an added bonus, since the clinic is about 6 miles from home, I can bike to work!  I'm still in the ER but about half as much as before and no more overnight shifts.  It's a bit of change but I think it'll give me more time to focus on Amy, the kids and myself.  

Since I'm in front of the computer more now, I'm also going to try to update the blog weekly.  Though this last year has been tough, things are looking up.  Amy finished the trail half marathon that she had been training for and is already looking forward to the next one.  Kai's 8th birthday was last week and we had a good time celebrating with friends, family and neighbors.  Kai and Sora are back in school for two afternoons a week.  It's short but they really enjoy seeing their friends and teacher.  Jad remains rather opinionated for a 3 year old but we're trying hard to be firm and not indulge him too much.  The weather is basically perfect right now here, warm in the daytime and brisk at night.  We're trying to keep getting outdoors and took the kids rock climbing outdoors with some friends this past weekend.

Take care, everyone!

-Nik

My (shared) office with commute bike

Learning the ropes, literally