ToothFairy – Pellegrini Page

Happy 9th Birthday Ava!

Celebrating Ava’s 9th birthday with Nana

Today Ava is officially halfway to becoming an adult. That’s a bit hard to believe, but as all parents know, time flies when watching your kids grow. Birthdays are so exciting when you’re a kid and she has been looking forward to this for quite a while. Unfortunately due to the new Covid lockdown we’re unable to have a traditional birthday party for her, but she got a very special present in the form of a visit from her Nana.

Last night I picked up my Mom at Paine Field, brought her home, and she proceeded to spend the next few hours showing the kids all the things she brought them. They were ecstatic to be getting all kinds of trinkets from Nana, but most of all just to be spending time with her. She will be with us until Sunday, and although we can’t go many places, we have plenty of fun crafty projects to do at home. While I’m always thankful for a visit from family, I’m even more thankful than usual to my Mom for making this trip, mostly because it means so much to Ava for her birthday. There’s been plenty of letdowns for the kids this year, so a visit like this from their Nana means so much to all of us.

The kids spent the night in Nana’s room last night, and they were up late, so we let everyone sleep in, then came downstairs to a table full of presents for Ava to open. Before I go further I just want to say thank you to all of our family and friends who remembered Ava’s birthday and sent a gift. It meant a lot to her and we appreciate it so much!

After opening presents Ava got to do something she’s been wanting to do for a while, which is smash a pie in Mom and Dad’s faces. We let Elise film it and put it up on the Pellegrini Kids YouTube channel (be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already). Since we’re so limited on things we can do this year, Jessica and I were trying to think of funny memorable things and smashing a pie in our faces was at the top of Ava’s list. I’m sure none of us will forget it.

Obviously a shower was in order after that, then my Mom and I took Ava to the sporting goods store so she could pick out a Pro Scooter. I did the same thing with Elise on her birthday, except she got a longboard. Ava already has a longboard from her 8th birthday, so this time she really wanted a Pro Scooter like some other kids in the neighborhood. I like having this tradition of taking the kids out shopping for something special on their birthday, and having my Mom with us made it even more memorable.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home and letting the kids play with all the new toys. It’s going to be a quiet week at home, but we’re used to that these days and having Nana here to hang out with us is a nice treat, especially considering we haven’t seen her in over a year.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and it will be the first one in my life where I don’t eat any turkey. I’m fine with that, as the turkey has never been my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner anyway. I’m more of a stuffing guy and we’ll be having that. Jessica and I ordered the Thanksgiving box from Purple Carrot, which will feature the following:

Hasselback butternut squash with cider glaze and a rosemary pistachio dukkah (“An entree so good that no one will miss the turkey”)
Rustic ciabatta stuffing with root vegetables and herb “sausage”
Roasted brussels sprouts with oyster mushrooms and garlic kimchi butter
Cranberry sauce
Traditional vegetable gravy
Pear cranberry crisp with walnut crumble

I think it sounds really good, and we’ve never been disappointed with the food we’ve gotten from Purple Carrot, so no concerns at all. Here’s Purple Carrot’s photo of the meal:

Before all the cooking gets started Jessica will be going to her workout class and I’ll be going to an open mat at my Jiu Jitsu school. Technically exercise activities like this aren’t supposed to be going on right now due to the lockdown, but in both of our cases the groups are so small that we’re just flying under the radar. We both realize there is some risk anytime you leave the house these days, but we’re always with the same small groups of people, exercise is proven to strengthen your immune system, and a little bit of exposure to other people is good for building antibodies. That’s how I’m justifying it anyway.

I forgot to mention this in my post last month but Jessica has really found her thing with this exercise group she’s been going to. It’s run by a friend of hers that she used to work with and it’s pretty intense. In all the years Jessica and I have been together I’ve never seen her so committed to a physical activity like this. She does 3-4 classes a week, including at least one early morning class each week, and has gotten into great shape. In both of our cases we really thrive on the activity and always feel great at the end. I’m just glad that with all the limitations in our world right now we have something to get out and do. The same goes for the kids too, as hockey has been suspended for at least a month, but we still have Jiu Jitsu and they love it.

As I mentioned last month, we had really hit our stride with homeschooling, and that continues to be the case. Certainly there are times that can be difficult for everyone, but overall it’s going so well. Jessica does a great job teaching, and we have been fortunate enough to receive regular weekly lessons from Auntie Dana and Uncle Brad. They have taken such an active role in teaching the kids everything from human anatomy and physiology, geography, or anything else the kids request. We really appreciate all the help they have provided and the kids love seeing them.

This past weekend Enzo lost his first tooth, which was the last of the firsts in terms of losing teeth in our family. He was such a champ about it too – he never got freaked out at all, making it the easiest tooth I’ve pulled yet. That night the tooth fairy delivered him a $5 bill and a red guitar pick. He told me the next morning that the money was cool, but that the guitar pick was more special, then he said “Maybe you should have the guitar pick Dad”. It was super cute and thoughtful of him. I told him to keep it as inspiration to start playing when he’s older.

Since school photos weren’t a thing this year, we ended up taking things into our own hands by hiring a photographer to do our own. We recently got them back, which you can see below.

Overall I’m very proud of how well the kids have adapted to our new circumstances this year. It’s hard to believe 2020 is nearly complete, and although it’s been a tough year for a lot of people, I continue to feel like our family has very little to complain about. The most notable thing for us is that Jessica no longer has a job to go to, but she’s busier than ever as the kids school teacher. Life has slowed down a lot, but we’re still able to do things we love, and we get so much more time together as a family. The cats have been an awesome addition to our household, and switching up the way we eat has opened up a whole new world of food to us, which has definitely added an element of excitement.

I know a lot of people will look back negatively on this year, but I refuse to do so. The holiday season is now upon us, and I’m just around the corner from a 3 week staycation to finish off the year. I did the same thing last year and felt like it would be a nice tradition to keep. You can only carry over 120 hours of vacation into a new calendar year and I have well over 200, so it was a no-brainer. I’ve never been very good at using my time off (it’s been 2 years since I’ve taken a sick day), but this year especially I haven’t felt like I’ve needed it. Not commuting to and from the office every day definitely reduces stress for me, and allows me to sleep a bit later, so I haven’t felt like I’ve needed it. That said, 3 weeks at home with my family, cats, and guitars will be very nice!

Before wrapping it up I just want to again wish Ava a very happy 9th birthday. Mom and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She’s such a loving and caring kid with a very bright future. I just wish she would slow down with all this growing. I can’t believe how tall she is now, and how mature she is becoming. Halfway to adulthood is crazy, but I expect the second half to go even faster. We love you Ava!

Presents and doughnuts on her birthday morning

I love how Ava wears #13 in hockey because she’s the first of three

Elise wearing her new shirt from this morning

Getting our pumpkin carving on for Halloween

Enzo’s first tooth pulling experience was a success

Elise “The Tooth” Pellegrini’s 2nd grade photo

Making Plans

If you’re reading this post around the time it was written, then you surely know these are crazy and often scary times we’re living in. Just as it appeared that we were transitioning out of the Covid-19 quarantine, the biggest racial protest in a generation broke out, sending the entire world into such a frenzy that even the pandemic barely made the evening news. It’s an unprecedented time that none of us will ever forget, so Jessica and I are more focused than ever on staying out of harm’s way and placing our entire focus on that which we can control.

As far as the racial protests go, I think it was long overdue, but I also feel the lockdown from the pandemic, and all the tensions surrounding that experience, helped it reach a boiling point. People were getting fed up on so many different levels that it was easier than normal for things to implode. I agree wholeheartedly with the peaceful protesters and want their message to be heard, which is why I hate seeing their message overshadowed by violence, destruction, and theft. In some ways I feel like we’re in the middle of the perfect human storm, and that we should all be afraid to a certain extent.

Speaking of storms, let us not forget that every year we set new records in Summer and Fall for natural disasters, and it’s not like those things are going to disappear or take a year off just because we’re dealing with all these other problems. The uncontrollable wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods will be here soon enough, and I’m worried about our ability to deal with them based on everything else going on. We seem to be in a bit of a downward spiral, so again I feel it’s more important than ever to do your part and find your own ways to make an impact.

For our family, there’s no question that making an impact starts at home. We have 3 little people that need to be brought up the right way. Simply not being racist is no longer good enough, so last week we started getting books that explain racism and race relations to children. We’ve watched videos on the Civil Rights movement, watched specialized programming explaining these topics to children, and engaged in conversations once thought of as ‘uncomfortable’. Who is it really uncomfortable for though? Certainly not the kids…

Beyond the children, I’m finding dialogs opening up everywhere. Certainly they are at work, but the same can be said for our Jiu-Jitsu school, which just reopened a few days ago. I’m one of the only adults in the school who isn’t involved in law enforcement or the military, and the conversations we’ve had there have been really interesting. One guy is ex Secret Service, two more guys are Seattle PD, there’s Marines, Army & Navy vets, and then you have someone like me from the tech industry. Everyone is super respectful of each other’s opinions, and hearing things from their perspective has been very interesting to me. Overall I feel like dialog via face-to-face communication is so much more powerful and constructive than anything you’re going to get from social media, but it’s difficult when you’re still supposed to be social distancing yourselves due to the pandemic. The resounding theme for me these days is to do my part, on all levels, and I find that everyone I associate myself with is doing the same.

Although the world seems to have recently drifted into unchartered waters, we still don’t see any harm in making plans for the future. Our Disney World trip, which was originally supposed to occur in early April in celebration of our 10 year anniversary, had to be pushed back to late May, then pushed back again. At this point we’re scheduled to go the last week in August, and as long as Disney follows through with their plan to reopen in mid-July, we should be in good shape.

In some ways it may even work out to our advantage because only people with existing reservations will be allowed to go this Summer, and that includes us. This means there’s a good chance that it will be much less busy than normal, but we’ll see. At this point we have learned to expect the unexpected and won’t be surprised if we have to change our plans again, but that’s fine. Every time we reschedule the trip Disney sweetens the deal even more for us, so soon enough they may be paying us to come.

While we’re confident in Disney’s ability to provide a safe environment, our biggest safety concern for the trip centered around air travel. Being in various airports and airplanes means a lot of exposure to people from all around the world, so we started kicking around the idea of extending the trip from one week to three, and turning it into a cross-country roadtrip. I have plenty of unused vacation time, and we don’t have any other school or work schedules to worry about. Plus we have a very comfortable van that is meant for long-distance trips, so we decided to go for it.

The biggest blocker to our roadtrip plans would be getting a refund on our airfare. We purchased the tickets last year through Orbitz, and they were non-refundable. I decided to take on the challenge of getting our money back, and started by calling Orbitz customer service. I went into this whole ordeal with two requirements: accept nothing other than a refund, and treat everyone I speak to professionally and respectfully. I assume getting screamed at is a common occurrence for these customer service representatives, but I’m simply not willing to go there. It doesn’t make me feel better about myself to yell at someone, and I feel like that type of behavior would only be detrimental to my cause.

As expected, no one was very eager to give me my money back, but each time I spoke to someone I would make some type of progress, setting things up for the next step. Again, I feel that being calm and respectful was crucial because eventually someone would level with me and tell me exactly what they could and could not do, as well as help me get one step closer to my ultimate goal of a refund.

After speaking with a couple people from Orbitz, I was led to United Airlines customer service, which is who we were flying with. Eventually this led me to filing a reimbursement claim with them online. I decided to use my work email address so they would know who I was employed by, and I explained the entire circumstances as eloquently as possible.

At the end of my explanation, I said that my employer provided me with legal assistance, and although it would not be my preference to utilize those services, I was prepared to if my refund request was denied. I’m not sure if that ended up being a factor or not, but two days later I had an email confirming our full refund for all five tickets, and the day after that the refund was received. So, it took a fair amount of effort and perseverance, but kudos to United Airlines for doing the right thing.

With that out of the way, we were free to start planning “The Great American Roadtrip”. There are so many places and cities we’re excited to see, and while I’m sure there will be times where Jessica and I are cursing ourselves for making such a crazy decision, I’m equally certain that this will be something we remember forever.

The plan is to take a week getting to Florida so we can see Mount Rushmore, visit family in Cedar Rapids for a couple days, spend a day in Nashville, and see some other attractions in the Southeast before arriving in Orlando. We will then spend a week as planned at Disney World, then take another week to get home. We haven’t finalized our plans regarding which route we will take home, but we know we want to see the Grand Canyon, and spend a couple days visiting family and friends in Las Vegas. It’s going to be an epic trip, and we feel like that timeframe from mid-August through the first week of September is ideal on multiple levels.

So that’s the plan for now. We won’t feel like anything is set in stone until Disney World officially reopens next month, but again there’s nothing wrong with having a plan, and we’re willing to adjust as needed. I feel confident that it’s going to work out, so we just need to be patient and see.

In other family news, Elise recently lost her first tooth, which was exciting. She wanted me to pull it, so I was happy to oblige. She got a little freaked out and started screaming at one point, but to her credit she pulled herself together and we got it done without much discomfort. She was so cute carrying around her “Toothy” pillow the rest of the night, and of course the Tooth Fairy was kind to her.

Ava and Enzo are also both doing really well. All 3 of the kids are thriving under Mom’s home schooling, and their test results are now proving it. Ava has become quite the little skateboarder these days, and Enzo is constantly out there tearing it up on his bike and scooter. Also, Jessica is becoming a master at jigsaw puzzles.

In terms of activity, last month Jessica and I took up jumping rope as our preferred method of cardio exercise. I find it to be a really efficient way to get your heart rate up, and although I’m now able to go to Jiu-Jitsu again, I’m going to continue jumping rope because you get into such a zone when doing it.

It was humbling at first because you can’t get into the right rhythm, and you’re gassed in the first minute or two, but just like anything else if you stick with it you start improving rapidly. These days I go out there and do 600-700 reps without breaking a sweat. Jessica used to be a member of the “Iowa Skippers” and is definitely better at it than I am, but it’s all good. We were joking that we should start a neighborhood rope jumping club because it’s an activity that enforces social distancing – if you get too close to each other you get stung by the rope.

I think all this time at home caused me to start getting a little stir crazy because I recently decided on a whim to shave my beard. Last time I did this was at my Mom’s house for Christmas about 2.5 years ago, and all I remember is Ava crying and refusing to look at me. Due to that traumatic experience, I grew it right back and didn’t really think about shaving again, until now. This time around I decided to have the kids help me shave the beard, and it seemed to help, but they’re still asking me when will it be back.

One thing I’ve been enjoying since then is shaving with a straight edge razor. I’d never done it before, but I definitely understand why people get so into it. It’s much more of an experience than normal shaving, and if you do it right, you can’t possibly get a closer shave. This is because the number one rule when shaving with a straight razor is that you have to stretch the skin super tight. The combination of stretching the skin and shaving against the grain results in the closest shave possible.

Every time I tell someone I’m shaving with a straight razor I get some type of warning about being careful, and it’s true you have to go slow and be careful, but what that really means is taking the time to learn the technique behind it all. It’s not like normal shaving with a safety razor, so I had to watch a few videos on YouTube to understand it. Things like stretching the skin, maintaining a 30 degree blade angle, and using different parts of the blade for different areas of your face are crucial. I think the reason I like it so much is because it is very technical (like most other things I enjoy doing), so I usually just put on some music and take my time with it.

I guess the common theme these days is finding ways to stay engaged and happy when your normal routine no longer exists, and for our family it hasn’t been too much of a problem. We’re finding ways to stay informed, do our part, and make a positive impact however we can while always placing top priority on staying safe. As usual, we have a lot to look forward to, but not just about the big things like vacation. Simply getting together with family or friends for a Saturday afternoon will be such a treat once the time finally comes. I just hope it comes sooner than later.