The Legend of Lobo

In April of 2018, we took an amazing journey to the United Kingdom.

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(62 Photos)

Logan and Gavin have been good buddies a long time, but we haven’t seen him for a while. A list minute invitation to the zoo somehow worked out and we got the spend the day with this little maniac. Naturally they had a ball and exhausted me in the process.

This week Logan fell headlong into a new passion — making designs from Perler “fuse” beads.  This craft is similar to mosaic-making, but with plastic beads instead of tiles. I had signed him up for the fuse beads class on Wednesdays in Kids Club, hoping he would take an interest in the projects the other kids have been so excited about.  The first week he came home with nothing, saying there wasn’t enough time to finish.  The next week he had still nothing to show for his efforts, except a handful of loose beads in his pockets.  I was annoyed and lectured him to try harder to focus.  Privately I was dismayed that such a simple craft seemed to be beyond him.  This didn’t make sense given his strong building skills.

Then last week, after the lecture, he completed a small project.  It was a two-color design he had seen on a boy’s hat and reproduced perfectly. He was proud of the accomplishment.  He carried around the little object in his pocket for several days, and on Saturday morning he begged to make another project at home. We set out for the craft store and came home with a huge tub of plastic beads and several peg boards.

Logan went straight to work making Pokemon creatures — he knocked out two small (very pixelated) ones right away.  But he wanted something with more detail, so by the end of the day he outlined a large Vaporeon covering four peg boards.  By bedtime he had spent five hours placing hundreds of tiny beads in precise designs — all without counting  squares or using a  template. He just looked at a printed picture and duplicated the pattern intuitively. After an rocky start at school, whiny frustration gave way to assured competence at home.

Logan is coming into his own as a big kid. He’s more thoughtful and independent, and much more perceptive. He’s also dressing like the big boys now. Sometimes I have trouble recognizing his cool new clothes, giant shoes, and hipster haircut. Second grade seems to be a watershed year, and so far it’s a good one.

Here’s a picture of this weekend’s fuse bead mosiacs: Ghastly, Charmander, and Vaporeon

In just a little lover a year, Logan has earned three kung fu belts.  This last one, the green belt, took six months to master.  With this accomplishment, Logan advances to the intermediate-level classes, with many older students.  Best of all, he’ll start training with a sparring sword!

We love his awesome shifus, Master Sunny and Master Danny. They set high expectations, but they are also kind and supportive.  Thanks to their encouragement, Logan has come a long way in just one year, developing strength, coordination, and confidence. Next goal — purple belt!

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This year the Northern California Dragon Boat Races moved to Lake Merritt.  We could see the race course from our living room window, and we had a perfect view of the finish line!  Lakeside Park has been transformed into a temporary village, and the acres of pointed tents make it look like a medieval fair.  We walked over yesterday to get closer to the fun.

The race was opened with a traditional Buddhist blessing on the dock.  Next came a rowdy lion dance to wake the dragons!  There were stilt walkers, ribbon-and-fan dancers, kid drummers, and even a full gospel choir (diversity, Oakland style!).  The drumming continued all weekend, as drummers on each dragon boat beat out the time to synchronize their rowers.  It was a memorable event and yet another reminder how lucky we are to live in this very special place.

Today was the first day of school, and it’s the start of a very big year for Logan.  First grade in 2016 is a lot tougher than it was back in the 1970’s, when Ash and I were kids. Last spring the kindergarten parents all received a letter describing the big academic leap between K and 1st. So today the adults are feeling at least as nervous as their kids! And Logan’s teacher is Ms. Thomas, who is known for her very high standards.  Logan and his classmates are jittery with excitement and just a bit anxious.

But it’s great to be back a Cleveland, seeing our old “breakfast club” pals, and sharing news about summer adventures. This year Logan starts attending an after-school child care program two days a week.  It’s going to be an exciting year, filled with hard work and many “firsts!”

This year Logan once again received his dearest wish — to have a Texas birthday and a California birthday.  His loved his two parties, even though he did not want anyone to sing to him, nor to eat a bite cake.  But he enjoyed lots of pizza, and balloons, and inflatable swords, and played with many friends and loved ones.  So he was a very happy boy. Tonight, after a long, fun day at Roberts Park, we’ll try to get to bed early because tomorrow is the first day of first grade!