First Day of Kindergarten (Take Two)

Jake has been beside himself with excitement over the last few days. We took him out to buy first day of school clothes yesterday and he picked out plaid shorts, a skateboarder t-shirt, and new basketball shoes. He came right home and laid them out on his bedroom floor, as if he were wearing them- shirt smoothed out at top, shorts under the shirt , socks coming out from each pant leg, shoes at the bottom. He then laid on them and said, "Yep, I think they will all fit me!". He was so anxious to pack his lunch, pack his backpack, etc... Tanner, meanwhile, has been copying everything Jake does. He packed his own backpack (with diapers) and packed his own lunch box. He laid out his clothes next to Jake's and talks about his "new school" and "new teacher". He will start at his new daycare next Monday and I am praying this enthusiasm lasts.

So the morning came- after a LONG night of restless sleep for our big guy. He woke up excited and showered, ate breakfast, and got dressed in his new duds ....but he began to show signs of nervousness during the walk to school. He said he didn't want to go. He said there were too many people. He clung to me on the playground and anxiously asked if we were going inside with him. We did, of course, as did most of the K parents. Surprisingly he was one of the only kids that got teary. More moms were crying than kids, I think. I never, ever thought of myself as a mom that would drop her kid off at Kindergarten and worry. But that's what I did today. Worried if he was OK. Hoping he was happy. And feeling comfortable. And was making friends. And wasn't feeling lonely or sad. So many years I spent in classrooms as the teacher, telling parents not to worry, to just let go, leave, "He'll be fine!" I'd say. I hate to admit I was the last one to leave the room this morning. I did, however, stop myself from going by to check in on him after my workout (which is directly across the street from his school)!

Brian and I picked him up at 3:00 on the nose, along with every other K parent. He looked tired and it took a few minutes for him to talk to us, but when he did he told us that he loves his Kindergarten teacher, friends, and classroom. We took him over to the Merc and treated him to an ice cream and drink and we talked about his day. It was so great to get that one-on-one time with him. He told us happily that there was "nothing about K that he didn't like!".

Road Trip Wrap-Up

Well, I was right about Faith being excited to see her crib. She was in it for 15 hours last night. She didn't wake up until 10:20 this morning. We kept checking on her to be sure she was still breathing. Poor little thing was obviously just worn out!!!! She woke up happy as a clam, however, ready to face the day. The boys were exhausted, too, but they woke up pretty early. We only got 11 hours out of them -and they probably could have both used the 15 that Faith got!

It is (mostly) good to be home. Whenever I am on vacation and return after a short absence I am reminded of how much I love where we live. Our house, the hills, the Merc, the people... But, I am sad that our vacation is over. It was so much more fun than I had even anticipated. The kids were such good sports about the driving- in fact both Faith and Tanner insisted on climbing back in the car and playing in it last night after baths. Very funny considering we had just finished driving 3000 miles in it! I wouldn't hesitate to do a similar trip again-maybe to the Southwest next time- a repeat of the National Park tour I took on my own in a rented little Ford Focus when I was single. But that will have to wait until 2010. Next year's vacations are already spoken for: Clear Lake for a family reunion with Brian's Dad's side of the family in August, and the Delta with my family in July.

So... what did we learn from our first road trip with the three kids? Let's see....

1. Crocs are really the only shoes you need
2. Even five year olds get sick of fast food
3. There are very few Starbucks between Boise and Minnesota, but every little one horse town has some sort of espresso shack
4. Bringing lots of car toys is a good idea- only if you want to be continually up out of your seat, crawling around in the back seat, picking said toys up from the car floor and handing them back to various children
5. Bikers are good traveling companions
6. Car Bingo is a lifesaver
7. Sometimes you need to be smarter than the GPS
8. High brow political commentary is like heroin- we kept wanting to listen to more and only narrowly stopped short of drugging the children so we could actually HEAR it
9. Honeycomb cereal rocks as a car snack
10. A loaded iPod (and children that like to sing along/rock out) is essential to sanity

We're Home!

We're hungry. We're dirty. We're tired. We'll post more later.....

Second to Last Day

Departure City: Billings, MT

Arrival City: Missoula, MT

Driving Time Today: 6 hours

Total Miles Traveled: 2,662.28

Number of Times This Morning that Someone Looked at Me and said, "Looks like you've got your hands full there!": 3

Best Part of the Drive: Getting to play DJ with the 8700 songs on the iPod (It IS my birthday, after all!)

Tanner's Quote of the Day: "Please, Mommy, I eat these mash 'tatos all gone?" (He was referring to McDonalds hashbrowns)

Jake's Quote of the Day: "Peace, Yo!"

Despite a relatively quiet drive- except for the huge, loud, slightly scary hail storm in Butte- we were all pretty tired by 5:00. It could have been the lack of food (it had been a long time since lunch) but I think it was also the cumulative exhaustion of unloading all of our stuff each night, setting up our cabin, finding dinner, trekiing to the nearest bathroom to brush teeth, putting out small sibling fires,etc... that finally sunk in.

For my b'day dinner I chose to take the kids to a McD playland- only because I didn't want to chase after Faith -who for some reason has taken to refusing (loudly) to sit in a highchair, preferring to crawl up on all fours onto the dining table. So, Brian and I got take out Chinese and snuck it into the local McD's (rebels that we are) and gritted out teeth while allowing the kids to eat approximately their 15th fast food meal in the last 10 days. It was a decision that saved us. Seriously. The kids played, we ate and recuperated, and felt ready to enjoy our final night together in our "cabinet" before setting off for Boise tomorrow AM.

The KOA campground in Missoula is rather funny. It is literally 500 yards behind a Ross Department store, bordered on one side by a condo development and on the other by a major highway. The positive side of that is that there is a Coldstone Creamery right next door to Ross which will be my b'day dessert just as soon as we can get the boys to close their eyes and surrender to the sleep that they so desperately need!

Downtown Missoula was really pretty with a huge playground right on the river next to a restored carousel. The kids loved it - Jake loved riding it, and TJ and Faith enjoyed watching Brian and Jake as they spun round and round (supposedly the fastest carousel in the U.S). Although I had really wanted to wander the streets of old town Missoula, shopping and drinking an iced coffee- with the tired kids it was not to be. "Next time," we said as we pushed the stroller with TJ and Jake riding on the back and Faith falling asleep in the seat.

We are all kind of sad that the trip is coming to a close. When I asked Tanner if he was ready to go home and sleep in his own bed and see Milo again he said, "No. I want to go sleep in cabinet again!". Jake, too, commented to me on the way to the campground restroom this evening that he was sad that we were going home tomorrow. Faith is another story- although she has held up amazingly well, I will bet that she will be ecstatic to see her crib tomorrow evening!

Happy Birthday, Love of My Life

I am hastily trying to type this (by flashlight) in the dark in our cabin as you and the kids are sleeping all around me. I have no gifts to give you as Tanner blabbed and gave them to you two weeks ago. We shopped while you were in CA and Tanner kept telling you that we got you coffee cups, and you finally figured out what he was trying to say. So, all I have to give you for this birthday is the memories of this trip, our life together, and the knowledge that I will never stop striving to be a husband and father that you deserve.

I love you honey, I promise another year of me trying to be better than the last, learning from my mistakes, and constantly trying to improve the man that I am, the man who loves you more now than on the day we said I do.

Go Mustangs!

Departure City: Bismarck, ND

Destination: Billings, MT

Miles Traveled Today: 416.01

Total Miles: 2316.90

Number of “stops” to get out of Bismarck: 4

Unnecessary souvenirs purchased (in dollars): $127.95

Healthy Snacks: 0

Home Runs: 2

One of the more anticipated stops on our trip, we had a baseball game penciled in. The Twins were on the road, as was the Missoula Team, but the Billings Mustangs happened to be in town on the same night we were. The Mustangs are in the Pioneer League, and are a minor league franchise of the Cincinnati Reds.

As has been the case with every minor league baseball game we have attended, this was just an awesome experience. The Mustangs play in a brand new stadium in downtown Billings, a truly beautiful park, with grass areas down the foul lines by the bullpens. The bullpen pitchers sit on the other side of a low concrete wall right at the edge of the grass. Jake and Tanner both watched a lot of the game there, cheering and shouting for the Mustangs. They each got several high-fives and fist bumps from the players, DURING the game. Needless to say they were thrilled.

Tanner, as last time, was also thrilled by the foul balls. Jake was able to follow the game and knew what was going on, Faith was happy to roll down the hill, which brings me to one of the more embarrassing confessions in my life as a parent: Faith is almost 18 months old and this was her 1^st baseball game. Both Jake and Tanner were at games in an infant snuggly. We have photos of each of them will ballpark dogs that were bigger than them at the time, not so of Faithy. So her “hotdog” photo was high on my agenda for this game. Even more embarrassing was her total disdain of the ballpark dog. She wanted nothing to do with it (thus the only photo we got was of her drinking a Diet Coke in the vicinity of the hot dog).

It started to rain and we left mid-sixth inning to get three tired kids back to our cabin and in for the night. I tried to download the photos and video (all great of course) while trying to get them down and proceeded to delete everything accidentally, so no photos of this part of the trip.

Whole lotta nothin'

Departure City: Eden Prairie, MN

Arrival City: Bismarck, ND

Miles Traveled Today: 429.6

Total Miles Traveled:1900.98

Number of Minutes of the Barrack Obama book on CD That We Have Been Able to Listen To: 38 (A good idea in theory but between the three kids needing things, talking, screaming (Faith) it is really hard to hear more than a few minutes at a time!)

Worst Dining Experience: Lunch in Fargo, ND @ Space Aliens Bar and Grille. Seriously, it was the worst meal we have ever eaten. IN OUR ENTIRE LIVES. And it cost us a fortune. From here on out we will be sticking to cheap and easy fast food for lunch.

Our last night in MN Lisa found a bunch of old home movies from Brian and her childhood and put them on DVD. We all stayed up until almost midnight watching and reminiscing. It was so fun to see Brian as a little boy learning to walk, swimming, sledding, and playing with his sister and cousin Eric. It is a little scary how much Faith looks like him as a child. Mary and Auntie Sue were laughing so hard I was sure one of them would pee their pants. And Lisa and Brian talked and ribbed each other about old memories that I’m sure neither one had thought of in years! There was Uncle Rick in tight 70’s pants, Eric in a red Christmas dress that A.S. swore was supposed to be a “night shirt”, and Brian in his Speedo. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Daufel and Simonich, as well as great grandparents. It was so much fun that Brian and I have resolved to take more video of the kids- just little snippets that they can someday watch with their kids and laugh at the outfits we put them in, mom’s hairstyle, Dad’s goofy hat, etc….We both want to see the three of them (in 30 years or so) watching footage of our adventures and laughing together at the memories. It was a really special evening and one I won’t forget for a long time.

Not much to say about the drive from MN to ND. It was fairly uneventful- straight and flat. Really, the stop in Fargo and bad food was the most drama we had. After a quick swim in the campground pool last night and several hissy fits from a very tired Tanner, we got an even quicker dinner and were all in bed by 8:15. We are all looking forward to our time in Montana, especially the baseball game tonight: Idaho Falls vs. Billings, MT.

One of Ten Thousand

After spending most of yesterday indoors, we decided to spend today at the lake. It was beautiful and everyone had a great time swimming, building sand castles, soaking Auntie Sue to the bone (the only one of us NOT in a swimsuit) and playing on the playground. With 7 kids the refrain every few minutes was, "Where's KidX?" or "Uh-oh, where did Kid Y go???". Luckily we arrived home with all of them.

Besides the lake and mall, the highlight activity of the visit here has been the Wii. Jake loves the sports games- especially tennis and baseball. I have to admit.... it IS pretty cool. Brian and I had a competition last night and tried out all sorts of the games, including trivia (I got my butt kicked like usual but we laughed a lot!).

Tomorrow is Auntie Sue's b'day so we are celebrating with chocolate donuts for breakfast (her favorite) then we hit the road around 9AM. Our first stop is Bismarck, ND. (I know you are all jealous of our metropolitan lifestyle!). With any luck we will be there by 5PM.

So......it's really just a big mall with a play area, right??

Okay, so the answer to that question is a really big no. The Mall of America is HUGE, with a full blown amusement park built right into the middle of it. And an aquarium. And a water slide park. And a lot of really useless stores such as "Alpaca World" and "As Seen on TV". That being said, it is also someplace we never need to go back to. Amazingly, though, the only money we spent was on the amusement rides for Jake and TJ- and a few Diet Cokes (OK..... and ONE funnel cake to share!).

The kids had a great time, playing and riding rides through nap time. We took Faith and Tanner for a walk around the mall after lunch at Bubba Gumps, hoping to get them to nap. Faith fell asleep for about an hour but Tanner would have none of it. In fact, he insisted on pushing the stroller around himself- kind of the opposite or a nap! Auntie Sue let each of the 7 kids pick out something from the Nickelodeon Store. That's Faith wearing her hat from the store. Tanner and Jake both picked out Sponge Bob hockey sets.

Jake loved the bumper cars and the other car rides. In the afternoon he asked for me to take him on the 'Fairly Odd Parents' roller coaster, which I didn't think was a good idea, but I told Marisa, I didn't want to crush his spirit by saying I thought it might be too scary, so I took him on it. He was having a great time... until we got to the top of the first hill, then it was sheer panic for the rest of the ride. It was one of those rides that has a video camera in the car (and you can buy the DVD for $9.95 afterwards), but they preview it for you after you are done. The look on Jake's face was almost worth the price of the DVD. It took him awhile to get his sea legs back after that one! I took Tanner on a few rides as well- that's him on the ferris wheel in the photo. He loved it and waved to Mom and Faith down below each time we went around. Eventually, he and Faith gave into the exhaustion and we left around 4:00. I'm not sure who was more tired: them or us!

Halfway Point

Location: Eden Prairie, MN

Total Miles traveled: 1470.00

Tanner's Favorite Song of the Day: "Help Me Rhonda"

Most Embarrassing Artists to Admit My Husband has on His Ipod: Olivia Newton John and Christopher Cross

Most Inappropriate Song We Let Jake Rock Out To: "I Want to be Sedated" by the Ramones

Most Exciting Moment on the Road: Finding a Starbucks in Sioux Falls, SD (the first SB we have hit since Boise!)

Best Tourist Attraction of the Day: Wall Drug

It was a long day of driving through some flat and rather boring country that was littered with anti-abortion billboards, interspersed with advertisements for huge sex toy stores. Odd combination, to say the least!

The kids were TROOPERS. Well... Faith's screaming got rather old quickly and I did spend many minutes with my fingers literally in my ears as she protested loudly against the injustice of being confined to her car seat and having all her toys and snacks out of arms reach. But the boys? They were amazing. We woke up at 4: 15 and packed the car stealthily as they continued to sleep. We woke them up at 5 and they were cheerful and ready to start the day. Not the attitude we had expected at all!

Wall Drugs was a great pit stop for breakfast. Homemade pancakes, donuts, biscuits and gravy and 5 cent coffee. Mmmmm. I can feel my arteries hardening as I type this. The kids picked out the obligatory "huge lollipop" which we saved for the last hour of driving, as well as the cool sunglasses (ie: goggles) Jake is wearing in the photo.

We were greeted in Eden Prairie, MN by the four 1/2 cousins, Auntie Sue, Grandma, Eric and his girlfriend Mona, and Lisa and Clark. That is the entire Simonich Clan so we took a photo to commemorate the occasion. Jake jumped right in and got on the Wii (baseball, of course). Faith and Tanner warmed up quickly and played on the swingset all evening.

Tomorrow we head to the Mall of America. If we still have enough money for internet service after that venture, we'll post again tomorrow.

Traveling Companions

So, when planning this trip out, we calculated each days travel, what we thought the kids could tolerate. We calculated how best to pack, the best toys to bring, ways to entertain children in the car. We packed and repacked and planned out each day on a AAA TripTik in a big three ring binder. But, even with all that foresight we didn't count on the thousands of motorcyclists that we would be sharing our campsites with along the way! Sturgis, a HUGE motorcycle rally, starts tomorrow. We have been sharing the road (and the campgrounds) with more motorcycle enthusiasts than you can imagine. The picture above wasn't actually taken from our campsite, but it could have been!

We read up on the event- and found out that over half a million people are expected at the rally- and our road trip includes Sturgis on its route! Talk about diversity- man, the kids are getting a good dose of it. Besides the annoyance of LOUD motorcycle sounds while trying to put Faith to bed, and the minor issue of trying to get gas at the only station in town that was currently serving as a haven from the rain for a hundred cyclists (I am not exaggerating), it's been a peaceful coexistence so far.

The kids had a great time standing out on the porch of our cabin yelling, "Go motorcycles! You can do it!" while the cyclists were pouring into the campground.Then Jake started adding the words, "Is that all you've got???" and while we worried momentarily about offending the crowd, we found that everyone was very good natured and tolerated the three (very) enthusiastic kids quite well.

Okay, we've seen it....

Location: Hill City, SD

Miles Travelled: 933.51

Speeding Tickets: 1 - (WY State Trooper)

Top Speed: 86- (Immediately preceding the above)

# of times someone asked are we there yet: 8

Meals with vegetables served: 0 (unless you are the kind of person that counts apples as vegetables, in that case, 1)

Tanner's Quote of the Day: "My tummy hurts!" (This preceded him throwing up all over himself during our climb through the mountains of Wyoming)

Brian's Quote of the Day: "Hey, is that a cop up there?"


Memories of this day:

-Waking up with Faith, Tanner, Marisa and myself all in the same full bed, counting the minutes until we could end the restless night and get on the road!
- The summer rainstorm that had all of the motorcyclists (see next post for further info) hiding under the gas station canopies, while we were busy running out of gas, and not able to get anywhere near a gas pump.
- Mt. Rushmore being very massive and cool, but REALLY underwhelming as an end destination. We came, we saw, we bought stuff in the gift store in the space of about 15 minutes.
- The KOA water slide being, by far, one of the highlights of the trip, for both the kids and me.
- Going thru the wilderness of WY, driving thru gorgeous canyons and climbing beautiful mountains up to 9,000 ft high (of course we only noticed this because the kids were sleeping).
- Realizing that the best intentions for healthy food and snacks along the way, stand a snowballs chance in hell, once they meet up with the vastness of this part of the county, relatively few choices and kids who go from asleep to cranky at warp speed without properly applied meals and snacks.

Tomorrow on to MN (10 hours....God help us...) :)

The First 27 Hours

Started in: Boise, ID
Ended in: Cody, WY
Miles Traveled: 520.11
# of times someone asked, "Are we there yet?": 7
Hours of driving before this question was asked for the first time: 4
Number of snacks consumed: Countless

Tanner's Quote of the Day: (after seeing the huge buffalo along the side of the road) "Dad, you hold me so the buffalope don't get me?" From here until he dies that particular animal is a "buffalope".

Jake's Quote of the Day: (I bought him a little journal to write in for the trip, not really thinking he'd be too into it, but after seeing Bear Country he asked me for it. When we got to our next destination he said, "Mom, I've finished my first two posts. Can I read them to you at lunch?" Obviously a child of bloggers...

Worst Parenting Decision of the Day: Allowing the boys to pick souvenirs at Old Faithful, not paying close enough attention to the combination flashlight/carabiner thingies that they picked out to realize that there was an ear splitting whistle on the other end....they quickly got confiscated.

Memories (good and bad) of the trip so far:

• Jake having to stop to go potty 3x in the first two hours of driving
  
• The kids wanting to be snapped into their carseats a full 20 minutes before we were ready to leave the house
• Singing Kumbayah (spelling?) and Michael Row Your Boat Ashore for half an hour to get a very tired Faith to sleep in the motel room (a spot similar to the Psycho motel)
• Going to Bear World and having Jake hug me and say, "Mom, this is the best trip. Thank you for taking me here!"
• Watching baby bears wrestle at Bear World
• Arriving at Old Faithful exactly 10 minutes before it was going to put on its show. We told Jake it was karma because of all the trash he picks up so now he is even more motivated to clean up the world.
• Driving through Yellowstone and seeing the huge lake and several big forest fires. Tanner loved seeing the helicopters getting water in big red buckets hanging from them. He was cheering, "Go firefighters! Go helicopters!"
• Arriving at our campsite and finding a cabin (or as Tanner refers to it, our "cabinin" cleaner and roomier than we had imagined, along with a nice swimming pool, hot tub, trampoline, playground, and arcade. Yep.... we're really roughing it!

Off to Wally World

Okay, so today is the day we set off on our Griswoldian adventure. Three days on the road back to visit Lisa and Clark et. al. in MN, three days in Minneapolis and three days back. We will be camping in KOA cabins in Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore on the way there, and in Billings, MT; Missoula MT, and beautiful Bismarck, ND on the way back.

We load up the van this afternoon and head out at 4:30.







Night #1 will be spent in a hotel room in Idaho Falls

Day 2 we will spend exploring Yellowstone and possibly Bear World.

Day 3 we drive to Mt. Rushmore

Day 4 we arrive in Minnesota for a birthday dinner with the cousins, Auntie Sue, Grandma Mary, and Uncle Eric and his girlfriend (who Jake has a HUGE crush on!! You should see the kid blush when her name is mentioned!).

Days 5-6 we tackle the Mall of America , the lake and pond, and let the 7 (soon to be 8) cousins run around like maniacs.

Day 7 we are back on the road

Day 8 we'll be heading to a Billings Mustang baseball game

Day 9 we're in Missoula where Brian hopes to fish and I hope to check out the town

Day 10 we head home and collapse in heaps on the couch

We will be posting each evening- as long as we are not putting out small fires, trying to locate a lost child, or busy tearing our hair out.

Jake is beside himself with excitement, Milo is wary of the huge stack of luggage on our living room floor, TJ just is suspcious that I might leave without him again (I was on a business trip Sun-Thurs. this week), and Faith is clueless. Brian and I are both really anxious to get on the road and let the adventure begin. Wish us luck!

Bikes and Boats and Family Memories

There was a big bike race here this weekend. We ate our usual pancake breakfast out on the front porch so we could watch the bikers getting ready. It was a Criterion- which I learned is basically a bike race in which the bikers ride a short circular(ish) course several times in order to qualify for some other- supposedly more important- race in the future. The course went right by our house and there were LOTS of heats- from 8:45 AM until after 5PM. The kids LOVED it. They cheered the bikers on and used the "clappy hands" that our neighbor Nick handed out. All the neighborhood was out, enjoying the morning and socializing. Tanner kept yelling, " Go Bikes, Go!"
and "You can do it, Bikes!". We spent several hours doing this, then headed indoors for some much needed rest.

Later we headed out on a spur-of-the-moment exploration of a local reservoir about 20 miles away. We swam at the beach there, then checked out the marina and drooled over the ski boats and Sea Doos, already scheming on how we could make the summer ski lifestyle that I grew up with our own.

I grew up skiing from the time I was Jake's age. As I remember it, we lived on the boat during the summers, camping, RVing once, renting houses on the Delta, houseboating, etc... Some of my strongest family memories are centered around those trips. Even today I am moved almost to tears (No, I am not kidding) by that small whiff of gasoline in the summer air that reminds me of our old Evenrude engine, sitting around on the boat, docked at a gas pump sipping Diet Coke or Corona.

Over the last few months it has struck me how much I want my kids to grow up on the lake, or on the Delta, or on the Lucky Peak Reservoir. On a boat. Anywhere that they come back to year after year. I want them to bring friends and sit in the water making up new games like "Funoodle Ball" and wake up at the crack of dawn to get the "glassy water".

So, I am adding "buy a boat" to my longterm goals. Put the kids through college, retire... somewhere in there I want to throw in "buy a boat". It doesn't have to be anything fancy (Yes, I know there are many of you out there now thinking, "Yes, but think who you are married to!"). There are lots of things to figure out and learn: how to drive a boat, how to pull a boat, how to launch a boat, where to store a boat, how to finance a boat, etc... But there is no doubt in my mind that we will do it. Somehow and someday.

My dad started with a used boat purchased for $3000. It ran (well... mostly) for 12 years and sold for $3000 before buying a fancier model. It got lots of use and was the backdrop for more memories than I can count. That boat was just about the best 3000 dollars ever spent. Come to think of it, Dad was just about the age I am now when he purchased that boat. 37 years old. But he had 4 kids- two of them almost out of high school and two just starting Kindergarten. If he could do it, so can I, I guess.

Well, here's to making more family memories- on a boat or at a bike race. Enjoy the season!

Off the Dole

I have a new job! I am happy to say that the job search is OVER. My days are no longer ruled by multiple visits to Craigslist, Careerbuilder, Boiseidahojobs.com or any of the multitude of school district websites that were slowly taking over my existence these last few months. I am now a part of corporate America- OK, it is a small company, but still, a COMPANY and not a school district. Weird. A departure, for sure, but still in the education realm. For those of you that I haven't talked to, here's the deal: The State Dept. of Idaho recently adopted this program called SmartHelp Math for 45,000 students grades 5-8. The program's goal is to differentiate math instruction for students. It is designed and run by a company called Apangea Learning based in Pittsburgh, PA. I am working for Apangea, aiding in the implementation process. I will be training students and teachers on the program, so will be traveling throughout Boise/Meridian three days a week, and on the other two days I will be tutoring online using the program. I am really excited about the opportunity, especially since they are coming out with a similar program for writing later this year and the opportunity exists for me to move to that division at some point.

The company seems very family friendly and I have really connected with every person I interviewed with (there were 5 separate interviews- three of which were on the phone). Downside? I start TOMORROW and it is a regular business schedule: 3 weeks vacation/year plus the week between Christmas and New Years. No more summers off. That's going to be hard to adapt to, but hopefully with the flexibility of the schedule I won't feel it as much.

It was strange packing up my classroom, knowing that I would not be UNpacking my teaching supplies next year. OK... so I was close to tears. It will be my first year out of the classroom in 12 years. I know I will miss the kids (and the schedule!) but feel I am ready for something new, even if it is just for a year or two. Who knows? It could be for longer if I love it.

So, Brian and I got a babysitter and went out to celebrate the night I was hired. We are psyched because it is significantly more money than I was making the last two years, plus full benefits that are fully paid for all five of us, so we can stop paying the 500/month from Brian's check. Now I can go on vacation- our road trip to MN- with a light heart and fewer worries about the fortune it will cost us in gas!

Old Stomping Grounds

While Tanner and Brian were enjoying their "alone time"Jake, Faith ,and I were loving every minute of our time with friends and family on our old home turf. Jake spent 24/7 with Auntie Sue and Grandma Mary being spoiled rotten- with hardly a glance in my direction. Faith entertained herself wherever we went, showing more independence than I've ever seen from her before. No stranger anxiety for this girl- she just made herself at home whether we were at Aunt Kim's house, Auntie Sue's, Shannon's, or Peet's. I had the luxury of babysitting services from Auntie Sue (A HUGE thank you!!!) so I could go out child-free for "quiet" dinners with friends. There was lots of catching up to do since I hadn't been back to the Bay Area for over a year and a half. It was a whirlwind two days and I didn't get to hook up with nearly as many people as I would have liked, missing the weekly Sycamore Staff party at Cindy's house by only a few hours . Still, those I did get to see, it was like old times.

Go Boise Hawks!

As mentioned previously, Tanner and I went to the Boise Hawks game last night. Leading up to Marisa's trip, this has been the highlight for Tanner. He has been asking for a couple of weeks now, "Daddy, go to baseball game right now?". So I could tell he was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, he refused to take a long nap to prepare, instead taking two short ones, the last starting at 5:30 PM, so I wasn't 100% sure how he was going to do at the game which didn't start until 7:15 PM.

We both had a really good time. Tanner got his 1st Boise Hawks hat, we sat on the third base line and had a heart healthy dinner of hot dogs, soda and a deep-fried snickers bar (God love minor league baseball parks!!!) for dessert.

Tanner enjoyed the game. His favorite part, and mine when I was his age, was the foul balls. He loved when the players hit the balls backwards over the screen out into the parking lot and dinged up someone's car. His big concern was that they didn't hit our car (I know better, and park WAY out there...). He did great, paying attention and really enjoying the game until Humphrey the Hawk (team mascot) decided to show up. At that point the focus of the game became the Hawk (and not in a good way). When he could see him, he kept his eye on him while he watched the game. When he was out of site....well that was just unacceptable. "Daddy, where big birdie go?" "Where big birdie at?". I tried to reassure him that the big birdie was friendly and wouldn't get too close to him if he didn't want him to, but Tanner was only okay when he could see him and knew where he was. I should have seen the signs...

About the 6th inning, Humphrey came over to work the 3rd base line seats while Tanner kept a wary eye on him. He would say things like; "Daddy that big birdie hugging that man." "That big birdie sitting in seat watching game". But seemed fine, until Humphrey came into the section next to ours and then he got this tone in his voice. Parents of young children know this tone, the one which means, 'you can't talk me down from this, I am deadly f*$^ing serious, get me out of here'. He said, with an eye on the Hawk, "Daddy, I want go home RIGHT NOW! I go home RIGHT NOW and watch movie. Me leave RIGHT NOW!" At which point, the only question is how fast can you gather your s@#t up before he starts screaming and get out of there.

We ended up escaping just fine, and his main concern is where all the balls in the parking lot were as we walked to the car. "Daddy, we need pick all dose balls up?"

Tanner Grows Up

Tanner and I had a really good morning on Sunday.

We got up and went out to McDonald's for some breakfast and a quick game of foosball (we have REALLY different McDonald's here...) Then off to the pond for his first real fishing trip (granted, it lasted about 1/2 hour from beginning to end).

Tanner caught his first fish! A little Bluegill, in the exact same place that Jake caught his first fish last year. This little pond has about 1,000.00 little Bluegill in it this time of year, and it's easier to catch them than to avoid catching them while you are trying to catch larger fish. Tanner had a good time, but is still a little young to really be fishing, so I had to help him cast and then he reeled it in. I unhooked the fish, but like his brother, he wanted nothing to do with it so that's why the awkward picture while I tried to take the photo left handed. It's a horrible picture of Tanner, but tell me that the fish isn't thinking, "What in the hell is going on here?" It's the first time I have ever caught an expression on a fish (he was released unharmed and swam back to the others with a great story..). After Tanner saw what was involved, he didn't want to fish anymore, but wanted to sit and watch me, refusing to leave until I finally talked him into it by promising a trip to the pool.

Additionally, he is starting to really develop his taste in music. We had the iPod on in the car and he kept saying, "No me like dis song". So out of curiosity, I kept fast forwarding, and he kept saying "Not dis song..". We did this for about 30 songs, until he got to one he liked and gave his seal of approval to.....the song....."Amarillo by Morning" by George Strait....it makes a Daddy so proud....

Daddy - Tanner Days

Once again circumstances have arisen where it is just Tanner and I for a few days. Marisa, Jake and Faith are back in CA visiting and Tanner stayed behind with me.

After dropping Mom, et al. off at the airport, we ran a couple of errands (including getting Tanner his 1st fishing pole for Daddy - Tanner Day #2). Then home and a nap, then Tanner got to be in charge for the afternoon.

Tanner is becoming much more verbal and knows what he likes and doesn't. He gives you his opinions in a very straightforward way, so there is not a lot of guess work with this kid. So here is our afternoon told from Tanners perspective (match the photos with the captions.

"Daddy, I wuv dis water pawk"

"Daddy, I need west"

"Daddy, I wuv dis dinner pwace"

"Daddy, dis pawk is hot"

"Daddy, I wuv dis Batman shirt"

"Daddy, pwease me have my Sweck Pez, eat it all gone?"

Tomorrow we have a textbook day with Dad. Mickey D's for breakfast. Fishing at the pond. Swimming pool in the afternoon and a Boise Hawks game Monday night.

We truly do miss everyone else, but we're having a really good time just batchin' it!

Lots of "Firsts" on this Fourth

Kim, Bill, Abby, and Aidan joined us for a Fourth of July full of "firsts". The kids had a great time- and so did the adults!



Faith watched her first fireworks show.

We spent our first 4th at Lake Payette in McCall.

Tanner was mesmerized- and a bit nervous- by his first fireworks production.

Jake did his first trampoline/bouncy harness thing.







All the kids stayed up until 10:45 for the first time.

Faith discovered the beach- and the way that sand can infiltrate all body orifices- for the first time.

I rode a Wave Runner for the first time ( At the risk of sounding like my husband....I think I may need one!)

Tanner and Faith rode in a canoe for the first time.

Brian took Tanner fishing for the first time.


AND...

Jake rode his first bull!

Dad's 4th of July

So, there was so much fun stuff done over the 4th holiday on our trip to McCall that we broke the posts up into two parts, Marisa is handling some parts and I am taking care of the other parts. First of all, it's great that McCall is so close. It's a quick two hour car ride up there, so the road trips up and back were very uneventful (other than intermittent sleep - which would be a theme for the trip).

The house was great, across the street from the lake (sort of), but beach access nonetheless. This was the 1st time we have ever stayed in McCall and it was wonderful. As you can see, Faith amused herself quite well and didn't get too far off her sleep schedule. She did spend most of the trip as you see her here, in diapers and nothing else but sunscreen. She had a great time keeping up with her brothers and cousins, everyone matching snack for snack over the course of the four day trip.

Sleeping for the boys was worse than as home, which is no surprise. I swear to God, our first vacation without the kids, it won't make any sense to even leave Boise - we'll just check into the Motel 6 down the road, because I'll have six years of sleep that I will need to catch up on first, before I am even close to back to human again. Those Sandals Resort commercials; you know with the tanned, non-sleep deprived couples, para-sailing and scuba diving...those make me want to throw the hell up. Tanner slept with us one night, Jake another night and Jake and I switched beds the final night. The kids stayed up much later than normal (especially on the 4th to watch the fireworks), but in the logic that rules my life now, they still woke up at the same time in the morning. Thus the photo of Tanner and I crashing on the couch.
Since we had all the additional daylight hours, we were able to do a lot of fun stuff as well. I took Jake fishing in the Payette River, caught nothing - but that's going to be par for the course for a few years is my guess. I took Tanner fishing in the lake for the first time which he really liked. He told everyone, "I go fishing, I threw it WAY out there, but no fishies get it." He is in this phase, were the more tired he gets, the more he talks, so he was pretty much talking non-stop on this trip. "Daddy where you get that hat?" Daddy what you eating, open you mouth, let me see." Daddy, why you say that?" It gets old quickly and you find yourself saying things that, before you had kids, you swore you'd never say. "Tanner please just watch your movie please." "I'll give you some candy if you be quiet for 10 minutes..."

We also rented a Wave Runner for a day, which we had a blast on. Marisa had never ridden one, and neither had Jake, so they had a really good time. Jake is turning into some semblance of a teenager over night. He was fine on the wave runner as long as we didn't go too fast. He told the rest of the kids after, " My limit on the Jet Ski is 37, and we jumped some big waves." He was yelling to all of them as we came back into shore, "Awesome dudes, double peace (holding up peace signs with both hands), double peace, yeah!" So I think he enjoyed it. Marisa and I got to go out a couple of times on our own and she had a really good time as well. We got to explore the whole lake and it's much bigger, and much prettier that I thought.

On the whole it was a great trip and an great 4th. A couple of weeks of semi normal life then off on our midwest roadie. As Bon Jovi says, "I'll sleep when I'm dead".