Summer Blog 2015

Summer is flying by. I spent a week in Chicago in June and a week in Pittsburgh in July for work so that made things a little crazier than normal. 

Usually by this time in the summer Brian and I are counting the days until school starts up again, but this summer has been a lot easier on a lot of fronts. With my work being way busier than normal we knew we’d need to adjust expectation. We told them up front that they would be making their own breakfast and lunch and entertaining themselves most of the day. The trampoline is in full use most days, Tanner is spending lots of time playing baseball with neighborhood friends, and Jake is doing a basketball training program. 

Jake spends most of his days out and about in the neighborhood. He is old enough to go to the pool himself and he is often hanging out with friends from 9-9. He also started a pet sitting business with our neighbor and they have been really busy walking dogs, feeding bunnies, keeping fish alive, etc… They are making a ton of money and earning a great reputation in the neighborhood. He also has a weekly babysitting job which he loves. He spends time the night before planning things to do with the kids and apparently he is the kids’ favorite babysitter ever! One week it was making kazoos; another it was rice crispy treats and bouncy balls. Last week he let the girls “do his hair”- which was pretty funny. 

Faith has been really loving swim team. Practice is daily from 830-930 and she has had 4 meets so far with one left to go. Halfway through the last meet she was so sad because she didn’t want it to end. As soon as we got in the car to come home she said, “I can’t wait until Monday for swim practice!.  It’s been so amazing for her confidence and stamina and strength. She plays with her friend Abby a lot during the week and uses her two hours of video game time daily to play Minecraft. She is still in gymnastics once a week and just mastered a skill she’s been working on for months.  

Once All Stars ended Tanner started daily hitting practice with Brian- which they both love. Tanner also hangs out with our neighbor, Tyler, and rides bikes, builds forts and plays at the creek.  The Xbox has gotten some use, too. The kids are often up until 10PM, playing outside or watching movies with friends. This makes it a little hard for Brian and I to get any time alone- with the kids home all day with us as we are working and then frequently awake until after we go to bed. 

Fourth of July was really fun this year. We delayed in planning anything and realized a few days before that the Hawks weren’t in town- which is our usual place to watch fireworks on the 4^th. So we opted to brave the annual event at Ann Morrison Park downtown. Slide the City was in town so we bought tix for that, loaded up the car around 5PM and hung out at the park throughout the evening and through the fireworks show. Jake brought his friend Dillon and we all had a great time! The waterslide at Slide the City was pretty tame- but I went behind the kids on my tube and kept running into them to keep them sliding and twisting. After the slide Tanner and Faith used the inner tubes in all manner of play- building forts, creating ball toss games, stacking and hiding in them, etc… They had a blast. There was live music and food trucks and chalk art festival.

We had a big heat wave at the end of June/early July and we used one of the 105 days to raft the river. We left in the evening and packed a picnic dinner. We have our own boat so it was easy and free. Faith was scared again and she literally cried all the way there but once we got on the boat she was fine and had fun. It is very tame but at one point Jake was swimming behind the boat and I got distracted and Brian couldn’t keep us out of the trees on the edge and I found myself face to face with a very large tree limb. I ducked in time to avoid another concussion but got pushed off the boat and it was a little scary. It was a great way to spend a hot evening, though, and we stopped on the way home for milkshakes to round out the night. 

Sheila and Wayne finally arrived on July 7^th and we’ve been enjoying hanging out together like usual. On Friday night we have an evening of Bocce and cocktails planned with another couple friend of ours, Rich and Kim.  

One week of work left then we leave on our much-anticipated summer vacation. We are spending a week in CA- 3 nights in the Bay Area and then 5 nights in South Lake Tahoe for Eric’s wedding. CAN’T WAIT!!

All Stars

We just finished Tanner's 09/10 All Star season. Jake played All Stars at this age as well. Just like with Jake's team I helped coach and just like with Jake's team we got a pretty quick beat down. 

The Outlaw team in a prior post, the Roadrunners, was a 9U team that was pretty good against other 9U teams. Most of the best players in this age group are 9 years old. For All Stars they combine with the 10 year olds to form the 09/10 team. The 10U players weren't as good as the 9U ones across the board AND now we're playing the 10U's from every other team as well. 

We played in a couple of outlaw tournaments with the AS team; Diary Days in Meridian and the East Boise Classic. We lost our first game in Dairy Days to the Mustard Seeds (a really good outlaw team, with a lot of NBLL 10 year old All Stars from the prior year, who weren't playing All Stars this year on it). We figured we would lose that one. Then we won our next game against the North West Ada Royals pretty easily. We then went on to lose every other game we played. 

We were out by Saturday morning in Dairy Days. Didn't win a game (didn't even get close) in the East Boise classic (and were also done by Saturday) and went 0-3 in the District All Star tournament to end our season. 

The tournament stuff is kind of to be expected. The competition is Cal Ripken teams, who are just generally more talented than Little League teams and play together, in tournament format, all year long. These two tournaments are in the heart of summer. It was 110 degrees for a couple of these games and the Little League kids just aren't used to playing double headers in this heat everyday of the tournament. The Ripken kids are. So by the second game of the weekend our kids are toast and start playing like it, making physical and mental mistakes that we just couldn't overcome. But, like I said, that's kind of expected. Some of the teams in these tournaments are Little League teams in disguise (like we were) and a couple of them were really good, so that didn't bode well for our future either. 

The first Little League All Star game was a disaster. We were playing the South West Ada All Stars. This was their "B" team. The more powerful leagues generally field two All Star teams; an older one (mostly 10's) and a younger one (mostly 9's), to make a really good team and a team that is getting experience for the next year. As we were a combination team, we should have been able to handle this team pretty easily. But the All Star tournament is a different beast. Everyone lines up, they play the Star Spangled Banner over the PA system, they play the Little League pledge, each kid gets introduced over the PA system, they shake hands with the opposing player and exchange commemorative pins....it's a big deal. So it made all of the kids a little nervous and threw them all a little off their game. Tanner was supposed to start that first game on the bench, but the starting catcher was so nervous he threw up in the dugout heading out to warm ups, so Tanner was the starting catcher. The other kids were such a mess that we made seven errors in the first inning and were down 8-0 when we came back into the dugout. 

They tried to fight back, Tanner's friend Evan hit a grand slam out to straight away center field to pull us even, but we couldn't hold it. Next we played a Nampa team, more errors, more of the same. Infield defense was one of the strongest parts of this team, but we just lost it at some point. For the last game we played the South West Ada 'A' team that we played in the tournament and they just beat up on us 18-1. 

Tanner really enjoyed the experience. He struggled to hit a little, but played really good at catcher and did such a good job defensively that he ended up being our starting first baseman, even though he had barely played any first base previously. He also was one our most consistent pitchers, throwing a ton of strikes, some of which got hit, allowing our defense to make some plays and some of them didn't. He did really really well overall and came out of the experience loving baseball more than ever. 

I have already signed him up to play Fall Baseball as he doesn't want to play football anymore, so he is looking forward to getting back out there and putting his new experience to use. 

Second Generation Swim Team

Faith’s best friend, Abby, joined the HSES swim team this year and we somehow convinced her to join, also. I remember loving swim team as a kid and I thought it would be awesome for Faith to experience so I pushed but didn’t insist. Between Abby and I we ended up getting her to join. From practice on Day 1 she was hooked!! She joined with the caveat that she would NOT do any of the meets; just the practices. And I agreed that was fine, secretly hoping the coaches would get her pumped up to try a meet at some point. 

I was shocked when she came home Thursday from practice and told me she had decided to do the swim meet this Saturday. She signed up for two events: 25 yard breaststroke and the Medley Relay (breaststroke).  My childhood memories of meets came flooding back and so I told her all about my countless Saturdays spent at the pool with towel spread out, surrounded by my friends, with a bag of snack foods to keep me “nourished” between events. I told her about the ribbons that lined my shelves in my bedroom, and about what “heats” mean in swimming, etc… We went out Friday evening to get snacks and packed her bag so it was ready to go for Saturday 745AM.

She woke up nervous and I worried there might be tears… but once we found her friend at the meet she was good to. I signed up to be a timer so I kissed her, wished her luck,  and headed to my lane. It was such a fun day! She swam the relay with no problem and then came in 2^nd in her 25 yd. breaststroke.  I was so proud of her for participating as she is not a real competitive spirit.

The boys slept in but when they woke up at 8:40 they remembered that Faith’s first event was at 9 and so they rode their bikes to the pool on their own and were there in time to watch her swim. Jake put his arm around her and walked her to her lane. They cheered her on alongside Brian and I.  I was so proud of them that, on their own, they decided to support their sister in her new endevour. In between events Brian took them across the street to hit some balls.

Toward the end of the meet the coaches realized they were short a swimmer for the final relay so they asked Faith to do it. She was nervous because it was freestyle and she hasn’t quite mastered the breathing thing yet… but she stepped up and did it and they did awesome! After the meet she said it was so fun and that she couldn’t wait until the next one. I guess my summer Saturdays just got a little more complicated!!

Midweek, Mid-day Game

One of Tanners Christmas presents was Yankees v. Mariners tickets in Seattle for him and I. Originally, the plan was for it to be part of a larger family trip, but with all the back and forth with Pete, the vacation days ended up having to be used differently than planned, so Tanner and I went alone. We had bought tickets to the mid-day game, flying up the night before and back after the game. 

We left after school on the last day of school and flew to Seattle. We got Smashburger in the airport for dinner which was just awesome. Tanner was very excited and as always liked the plane ride because he got soda. We got to the hotel in Federal Way just in time to watch the Mariners manager get thrown out of the game on TV before we hit the sack. 

We were up early the next morning (being back a timezone) and left the hotel to go have breakfast at Dennys. Tanner got his usual chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream and bacon. After breakfast we headed up to Seattle and found a place to park (free parking is a HIKE), and got to the park prior to it being open to the public. We found the gate that opened the earliest, which was out in the bullpen and hung out by the Yankees bullpen to kill some time. We stood there and watched Andrew Warren throw a pretty long bullpen session, which Tanner was really impressed with (A. because you are SO close, and B. because the kid threw SO fast). After they finished, we were just standing there talking and Larry Rothschild, the Yankees pitching coach walked up and gave Tanner a ball. Souvenir gotten, a game used, official MLB ball. 

We went to the bullpen store and looked around and as we were coming out, ran into Tanner's friend Evan and their family. We knew that they were going to this game also, but figured finding them wouldn't be as easy as running into them on the concourse. By then the rest of the stadium was opened and so we all went to the BIG Mariners store. Tanner got a new (and 50th or so) Yankees hat. I got a vintage Seattle Rainiers shirt and we picked up a program and scorecard. The big highlight of the trip was I was going to teach Tanner to keep score. 

We went to the "speed pitch" booth and Tanner was able to hit 46 on the gun and throw two out of three for strikes. 

We went to our seats and I showed Tanner how to set up the scorecard; getting the line-ups straight, the weather, first pitch time etc. He sat there with his pencil at the ready while they opened up the roof just in time for first pitch. We ended up sitting right in front of a bunch of other folks who had come in from Boise also. We got some nachos prior to the game getting started and then settled in for a really fun game. Mark Texiera hit a two run home run and there was some good pitching. Tanner kept up his scorecard the whole time. We ran out between innings to get hot dogs and then again to get candy (it's hard to tell with me whether the big draw is the game or the food) but didn't miss logging a pitch. I taught him how to close the book on the pitchers, what the positions were numbered, how to handle substitutions etc. and he seemed to have a really good time. He finalized his scorecard on the plane ride on the way home, figuring the game statistics for each player for both teams. 

We got home pretty late after the game and Tanner proceeded to crash out for the next couple of days.  It was such a short turn around, and so packed full that it took him some time to recover. It was a lot of fun for both of us and time away from the family together is always special. 

Naming the Hooligans

Our school had their annual auction a few months ago and we bid on an item donated by a local farming couple, the Whitings, who are both retired MIT Professors and now own and run a farm about a half mile from our house. They donated the naming rights for their three newborn calves. Perfect.  We have three kids... they have three calves that need names. And even better? No one outbid me when I started the bid at 40.00!

It took us awhile, what with all the chaos of dad's many moves, but we finally arranged the visit to the Whiting farm and visited them last Sunday. The Whitings are just great and they greeted the kids and took them on a gator ride around the farm (after doing donuts in the driveway) and not only did they get to name the calves (Tanner's is called Captain, Jake's is called Clutch, and Faith's is named Oreo) but they also go to hold baby chicks, feed the chickens, and fed the horses apples while nuzzling their necks. It was pretty awesome.

We drive by the Three Hooligans (as they are lovingly referred to by the Whitings) almost daily so the kids can wave and say hello and can stop by there to visit anytime they want. It was a pretty awesome way to spend a Sunday morning!

Baseball, Spring into Summer

So as usual this time of year, we have been consumed by baseball. Both boys played North Boise Little League again, Tanner in AAA and Jake in Majors. I managed Tanners team again and continue to serve on the NBLL Board of Directors.

AAA - Tanner was on the Yankees again this season. This was the first year that he needed to be drafted as he hit the magic 9 year old season. I wanted him to play with as many of his friends from the prior year as possible, so I used most of my first round picks on 9 year olds in a division that spans from 9-11. End result was that he played with his buddies, but the 11 year olds that were left when I started drafting them weren't the greatest players, so we struggled. We started the season at 0-5 before we were able to win our first game. We ended the season at 2-8, but won our first tournament game which was a lot of fun, but then lost the next one and our season was over. The team definitely got better towards the end, but the coaches and I had to work our butts off to get them there. We have a VERY young team and our 9 year olds were good, but they couldn't carry us against older and bigger teams. We just finished the AAA season yesterday and Tanner and I went and handled the field prep and watched the game. 

Majors -  Jake was hoping to get drafted up into Intermediate's this year, but ended up staying in Majors due to the number of 14 year olds that we had this year (it's a long story, just trust me). He got drafted by if not THE best, one of the best managers in the league and had a VERY good season. His team ended up winning the championship, meaning he has been on back to back Majors Divisions Champions. He played a lot this year, pitching, catching and playing second base. He got better, but decided NOT to play more baseball this Summer and use his Summer Athletic Budget for basketball camp. 

Outlaw -  Tanner didn't get enough baseball during Spring and is playing on an Under 9 "Outlaw" (meaning non-league affiliated team) team this Summer. One of the other AAA Managers and I put a team together for this Summer call the Road Runners. We played a two day tournament over Memorial Day weekend finishing third overall. We played against a lot of league "All Star" teams (they just can't be called that yet) and did really well. We won our first game on Friday night 15-0, they won our second game on Saturday morning 10-0. Then we played a Nampa team who had a really good pitcher, and by that time our kids were struggling with their third game and second in the heat and we ended up losing. If we had played them again, I'm convinced we would have won. That loss put us in the 3rd/4th place game. We beat the Twin Falls Cowboys to take third place in our first outing. Tanner and his friends (there are several on that team as well) had a great time and really loved the experience, although he was a little disappointed because he thought we were going to get to stay in a hotel for the tournament. When I asked him on the way home, what his favorite part of the experience was, he said, " that everyone else on my team could play". It is a TOTALLY different experience that regular season where there are 3-4 good players on each team and the balance of kids struggle to this were the whole roster is full of kids who are good and can play (and love) baseball.  Tanner caught (his favorite position this season) and played Center Field, he hit a couple of RBI doubles in the tournament also. We are hoping to put the Outlaw uniforms back on after All Stars to finish out the Summer and roll into Fall Baseball. 


All Stars -  The Outlaw team is a run up to All Stars. The same AAA Manager and I are running the All Star program at the 9/10 age group for the league this year. We have tryouts next month and then play two run up tournaments in June prior to starting the Little League District tournament in July. It's tournament baseball which is tough, schedule-wise; two to three games per day in the Summer heat in hot baseball uniforms, so it will be interesting to see how they handle it. It's a bit of a bear from an organization standpoint, so getting it up and running is a lot of work but it should be a lot of fun and again a situation where all of the kids will be really good players. We have quite a bit of talent at this age group and will actually have to make cuts to get down to the 12 person roster. That hasn't been the case the last few years. I'm looking forward to a fun Summer of baseball and will get better about posting updates and we continue to play this summer. 

The Kids Visit Papa

I flew to CA last week to move dad from the skilled nursing facility in Pacific Grove to his new home in Sunnyvale at Belmont Village.  I took the kids and they stayed with Bill, Abby, and Aidan while Kim and I got dad settled in.  We drove down to Pacific Grove, packed up his things that were there, and headed to his new home.  He didn’t really understand where we were going or why. He alternated between thinking we were in the army and thinking we were on a family vacation. It was hard but overall he seemed OK with the move so that was good.  Brian had to coach baseball so he wasn’t able to come with us. I was bummed, as it has been a really long haul- emotionally and physically- going through this with my dad, but I understood. Imagine my surprise  when it was10:00PM in CA and I received a phone call from Brian telling me he was right down the street.  He had coached his game from 9-12 then gotten in the truck and driven straight to San Jose- 11+ hours- so he could be there with me on Sunday when I brought the kids to see their Papa.  That man is good with the “grand gesture”!! I was pretty happy to replace my partner in bed (Faith) with her daddy.  I was touched and the kids were absolutely astounded that Brian drove 12 hours there and 12 hours back so he could spend about 10 hours with us in CA!

After getting Dad settled on Saturday evening, I took the kids to see him Sunday morning. He was really happy to see them and I experienced a very touching moment with him and all three of them.  He had pulled them all in close to him (after asking Tanner and Jake what their sister’s name was) and had them on his bed and proceeded to tell them how very proud he is of them and how much he loves them all. I got it most of it on video and I know how special this moment will always remain to me and once they are older and rewatch the moment on video I know they will appreciate it on a deeper level.

Jake was awesome with Papa. He was the only one not really afraid of dad. Tanner and Faith were a little nervous around him (understandably so) but Jake was really able to be natural with him, talk to him, make conversation,  and joke with him. He lovingly hugged him and held his hand throughout the visit.  When Dad said something that was “off” Jake was able to roll with it. When the nurse tried to get dad to shower and change clothes and he refused Jake was able to get him to change his mind. It was pretty special to see. 

Quincy and Jessa had gotten Papa some Captain America PJs when they were there last month and since Tanner’s favorite tshirt is his Captain America shirt, he decided he would wear it when we visited Dad. Dad happened to be wearing his shirt, too, and I got some great pictures of the two them together in their matching shirts…but I somehow deleted them and despite great efforts to recover them, it appears they are gone for good. I will try to recreate the pic when we return in June!

Despite the sad circumstances the cousins all had fun together over the weekend. Jake made friends with some of Abby’s friends and, in fact, now has his first “girlfriend”.  He has been “instagramming” and “face timing” with her, as well as texting with her since we got back. Apparently he asked her to be his girlfriend and she agreed but also said, “To be honest, I’m not really sure what that means…”.  He’s pretty excited for our June trip out to San Jose because now he gets to spend time with Papa AND with his girlfriend!

On the way airplane on the way home Jake wrote Brian and I a letter describing why he thinks he should get to go visit Papa more often. We had talked about how expensive it is to get there and had told the kids that I will be visiting frequently but they will probably not get to see Papa anywhere near as often. Jake’s essay is below:

Why You Should Let Me Visit Papa Often

First of all, he loves having kids there and I personally think he is better with kids there.  So far four people have commented on how good I am with Papa.  If I do such a good job with Papa, and he likes kids there, why can’t I help him get better?  I think he is not as depressed when I am there. I understand how how much the flights cost but do other flights cost more than the antidepressant pill?

Second, Papa and I get along really well- almost like best friends. We talk about sports and joke around. I have made him smile and laugh.  Many people say “laughter is the best medicine”. 

Also, I feel that I am really good at convincing Papa to do something (like taking a shower) and also making him feel useful, which is very important.  Is it just a coincidence that he is much stronger and eating way better since I came? This is one of my strong suits.

If you think this is because I want to see Ava, you would be wrong. I want to help Papa and I think I can do that with what I have seen.  Seeing Ava is just a bonus J  I know that family comes first and you know that, too.  If I’m helping family, then what’s the big deal? Why can’t I go see him more often?

Things I Would Help Papa With

·         Papa likes a little competition so we could play Wii together or play a quick game of trivia

·         I can just take him down to the courtyard to talk. We have endless topics to talk about

·         We can walk down to the courtyard to get exercise

No offense to Tanner, Faith, Abby, or Aidan, but they get kind of nervous around Papa and don’t talk, while I am up fron t and talk to him and ask questions he can answer for me to make him feel useful, like “Papa, I really like 60’s music, can you recommend anything?” or “I am just wondering what it was like being a pilot”.  Just little things like that I think would help.

I have a big heart and want to help Papa and I kind of have to be there to help him. Let me put my heart into this and help. It’s not just grown-up business.  Think about what would be best for Papa.

The Middle Place

Yep, I stole the title from Kelly Corrigan. But it exactly describes the month of April. It's been a journey into The Middle Place as my dad continues to decline in health and my kids continue to need me just as much as always. I find myself smack dab in the middle between taking care of my dad and taking care of my kids.And, oh yeah, a full time career and a husband.

The other day I had Tanner and Faith in the car on the way to the doctor (one turned out to have pneumonia, the other strep throat) and was making phone calls on the way ordering a hospital bed for my dad's new room at Belmont Village (where he will be moving this week for their Memory Care).  I've made 5 trips to CA in 8 weeks and have learned more about Alzheimers, the difference between Memory Care and Assited Living, Physical Therapy, Occupational therapy, brain diseases like NPH, than I ever cared to imagine.  When I'm not in CA with my dad I am thinking about him, or talking to his doctor, or researching possible drug interactions that could be causing his symptoms.

I would say it's been a roller coaster of a month, but this roller coaster really seems to just go downhill and I'd say that I want off but I know that means that I wouldn't have my dad anymore so I am happy to continue this ride because I'm just not ready yet.

On the home front, despite several weeks of sick kids, all is well. I find the nightly evening baseball games a perfect antidote to a rough day and sitting in the sunshine watching the boys play continues to be my favorite way to spend the evenings. As crazy as baseball makes our daily life, I wouldn't trade it.

It's hard to believe, and more than a little scary, that school is out in 5 weeks. Jake will be moving on to Hillside Jr. High, thus ending our three years of  luxury in which all attended the same school. Still, he is excited for the change and I am excited for him.

The summer lays out in front of us- we have a few trips planned (Eric's wedding in July, a family reunion trip to Redfish Lake in August) but mostly we will be at home enjoying the long days of no homework and a calmer schedule. Of course, with Dad in Sunnyvale there will be many more trips to CA in my future too.

One Year Closer to Teenhood

Jake’s 12^th birthday was right on the heels of Faith’s big 8^th birthday and being that it was a hectic time with trips back and forth to CA to see my dad, etc… I was less than ready to plan it. So, because he was raring to go, I gave him a time period (10-1 on Saturday) and a venue (our house) and set him to it on Evite. Did I feel a little guilty making him plan his own party? Yes. Did I feel so badly about it that I took it over? No.

So that’s how we came to have 18 kids at our house from 10-1 on Saturday March 10^th.  I have to give him credit- it was a really fun party. The mixed gender group arrived and spent the first 15 minutes in segregated groups with Faith in heaven hanging out with the gaggle of sixth grade girls. But within a few minutes they were intermixed  and spent over an hour playing in the backyard on the trampoline, playing basketball on our mini court, and some flag football on the grass. My only job was to provide snacks and water and not embarrass Jake in front of the girls (considering I wore my overalls for the event the latter did not happen).  

Brian and I provided the pizza and ice cream. Jake planned to have the kids play a game called “Bigger or Better” in which three teams of kids each start with a paper clip (or in this case, a broken crayon) and then have an hour to go through the neighborhood knocking on doors trying to exchange the crayon for something “bigger or better”. The teams meet back at the starting place after one hour and the judges (Tanner and Faith) decide which  team wins. Jake decided the winning team would get to pick pizza and make ice cream sundaes first.  After the game concluded the kids all ate and then it started to rain so they all decided to go on the hill behind our house and play Kick the Can. So they did. No one wanted to leave when parents arrived at 1.

 

It was the easiest and best party we’ve  ever done for any of the kids.  I love this age.

On his real birthday (Tuesday following the party) we did a quick after school family party with Cayden and Mom. Jake opened presents from all of us and Brian took him out to dinner at his choice of restaurant- Buffalo Wild Wings- where he had spicy wings and they sang happy birthday to him. I think his favorite part was wearing the “Wing Man” hat and being with Dad alone.  For a present from us the only thing he wanted was a night away with Mom. Last year he asked for a night away with Dad and they spent a night in Boise downtown. This year it’s my turn and as far as I’m concerned he can have that same present every year for as long as he wants it.  I’m a lucky mom.

Faith Turns 8

When we made the trip to CA for Jake’s 8^th birthday and he spent the weekend with The Warriors, Uncle Eric, and Auntie Sue, we didn’t quite look ahead and realize that meant that we’d probably need to do something extra, extra special for the other kids’ 8^th birthdays, too. But last year Tanner got his Big Day and this year Faith asked about 6 months prior to turning 8 what she could do for her special day. After much considering and investigating we decided to take her to the Bay Area, too, and see Auntie Sue and Grandma Mary but instead of basketball, the focus would be on two of her favorite things: shopping and animals.

Things were a little crazy the week prior to Faith’s birthday. Mary was in the hospital for almost a week (she’s home and fine now) and I ended up flying to Monterey to spend some time with my Dad for most of the week due to him feeling poorly. Also, it turned out this weekend was the biggest, busiest time for North Boise Little League (of which Brian is on the board) and he had to be gone all day Sat and Sun. Also turned out that Jake’s basketball team had a tournament in Nampa with games on Friday and Saturday and possibly Sunday. To say it was a group effort to get all things taken care of and all kids to the right place is an understatement. Neighbors and friends really came to our rescue to help make this trip a reality.

So, we adjusted our plans somewhat and Faith and I ended up leaving Boise on Saturday morning and arrived in Oakland airport in time to pick up our rental car and drive to Sacramento to meet Auntie Sue and Mary. They had the house ready to go for the “party” and Lisa and Kylie met us there to take us to the mall for a girls’ day of shopping. Faith had money from Auntie Sue, a Visa giftcard from Brian and I, and a Barnes and Noble gift card from Nana burning a hole in her pocket.  Between Justice for clothes, B and N for books and book paraphernalia, and a toy store for Beanie Boos, she spent most of her money, leaving just a little bit for a souvenier at our next destination: Safari West.

After shopping we returned home to hold a fashion show where Faith and Kylie modeled their new clothes and the new hair stuff (color chalk and fake braids for Faith), play party games , eat dinner, blow out the candles on the birthday cake, and watch a movie before bed.  As always, Mary and Sue made every moment special- even after the chaotic and tiring week they had beforehand.

The next day we woke up early and after spending a few more hours with Auntie Sue and a recuperating Grandma Mary, Faith and I got on the road to Safari West.  Safari West is an animal preserve in Santa Rosa with a “glamping” experience there so you can sleep amongst the animal sounds. We took a 3 hour safari tour in a jeep and learned all about the gazelle, giraffes, cheetah, monkeys, rhino, and other animals onsite. Faith loved every minute of it and I loved watching her face light up with excitement. We got very close to many of the animals since the jeep tour went inside most of the many-acre enclosures. We loved our “tent” (if you can call it a tent- it had laminate flooring, running water, and two huge beds) and, after venturing into town for pasta,  we were snuggled up reading our books by 9:00 that night and snoring by 930. 

The next morning we awoke to the sounds of the birds and bundled up (no heat in the tent!) to head down to the Elephant Room for breakfast where we dined on all things chocolate:  hot cocoa, chocolate muffins, and chocolate croissants. We spent another few hours looking at all the animals- especially the monkeys which were Faith’s favorite. There were baby monkeys in most of the cages and she fell in love with one named Jasmine who had just learned to chase her tail and put on quite a show for us.

We spent Monday driving along the wine road through Calistoga, St. Helena, and Napa- stopping to take pictures with Flat Stanley- and after lunch we headed to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield for a tour and some “belly flops” before heading to the airport. I had one tired girl on my hands at that point but neither of us was ready for our special two-day adventure to end.  It would be hard to describe just how wonderful this time with my little girl was. We ate too many sweets, slept too little, and I spoiled her too much. But it was such an amazing time. In fact, I’m going to convince Brian that we need to do these special “alone trips” with each kid every five years. That would mean next year for Jake. 8, 13, and 18 would be perfect ages.  And if I have 13 and 18 year olds that want to hang out with me I will be one blessed Mom.

Of Basketball and Braces

A very hectic February is coming to a close this week. Both boys have been playing basketball, Faith has had gymnastics and play production classes and Jake has gotten his braces on. 

Faith is really doing well in gymnastics and seems to do new things each time she goes. At some point, once she is ready, she can test up to the next level. For now, she is getting stronger and much more confident on a weekly basis. She loves the gym she is at and is getting better about having different teachers and being in classes with different girls. She is also following up on her Peter Pan experience by taking a class at the library that is taught by the director from that play. She is loving that as well and seems to love the whole drama thing. 

We got Tanner into a different basketball league for a quick, short season before baseball really kicks in. He is playing Hoop Dreams, which is a league way across town, and is in the 3/4 grade group. He is really learning a lot, even tough the games are pretty disorganized. The drills and skills that he is learning will go a long way towards helping him as he continues to play. For 3/4 graders, then run a pretty involved offense and are learning some really good defensive techniques. This Saturday was his last day and baseball tryouts are this Saturday. So back to the Diamond for awhile. 

Jake has been playing on the 5/6 grade team at school. The regular season is kind of tough to watch as anyone who wants to gets to play, whether you have ever played basketball before are not. The rosters are huge, score isn't kept and a lot of the basketball is pretty unwatchable. After the regular season, they cut down to the tournament team, which is kids who have basketball experience and they play the other teams in the district in a single elimination tournament. Jake's grade has a bunch of really good basketball players. They all play in multiple league, multiple times over the course of the year, so this was one of the more talented teams the school has seen. They did not disappoint, mowing down the competition and ending up in the District Championship game tonight. They played Trailwinds Elementary, a team that regularly goes deep in the tournament. It was a really tough, close game but they ended up coming up a little bit short. They were in the game until the very end. Jake got to play some good minutes in the tournament and did well.  He is upset that they lost, but the team did the school and the parent group proud. 

This week, right before the semi-final game, Jake went in and got his upper braces put on. He had spacers for a week and the braces are on a timetable thing, so we couldn't postpone due to basketball. They will put the lowers on in a couple of months and then he'll have them on for the next couple of years. Luckily, there is an orthodontist in the neighborhood so it makes the regular appointments a lot easier than driving across town. In addition to getting braces, he signed up for his middle school electives for next year (computer sciences and Spanish) this week. He's getting old so fast, it's like instant teenager. 

Dad and Joan visited this last weekend. Dad got to come and watch Tanner's basketball camp and game. Joan, Marisa, Faith and Cori did a lot of shopping, both at the mall on Saturday and Downtown on Sunday. We went out to a couple of nice dinners and had a really nice visit with both of them. We are making plans to try to get over to England for Thanksgiving this year. So we'll see if we go international in the fall. 

We seem to be slowing down on the frequency of these posts. Some of it is that life is more complicated, some of it is that it starts to become somewhat repetitive (it's basketball season again etc.) but some of it is just that as they get older it's tougher to figure out what to write about. We'll keep it up, but it will probably be more infrequent as we all continue to grow up around here. 

Epic Cruise

Our last vacation was a whirlwind 10 day, 2,000 mile road trip exploring 5 Utah National Parks. It was so much fun- but also really tiring, so we decided to go with the opposite end of the spectrum for this family vacation and try out one of the laziest vacations known to man: A cruise.  Since Brian and I weren’t going to do an “adults only” trip this year, this seemed like a great compromise. The ship had a kids club and lots of activities for the kids, plus we could get separate rooms- one for the kids to destroy and one for us!  None of us really knew what to expect, and Faith was more than a little wary of spending full days in the middle of an ocean on a “big boat” (as she put it) but we hoped for the best and it turned out to be one of our best family vacations ever.

We left on Saturday afternoon and flew to Ft. Lauderdale where we spent the night at a Holiday Inn before our shuttle picked us up and brought us to port the next morning. Getting on the cruise was fast and easy and at 4PM we set sail.  Our cruise was two days at sea, a day in Ocho Rios, a day in Grand Cayman, a day in Cozumel, and then one more day at sea. It was pretty close to perfect.  Instead of a narrative about the week I think I’ll just go with a stream of consciousness on my favorite memories:

-Being in the hot tub on the top deck as the ship departed from Ft. Lauderdale. Faith was with us and not scared a bit. With her anxiety we were worried there would be lots of tears but she proved us wrong the entire trip!

- Moving into our cabins and having our own adult cabin with the kids next door. The decks were great and I loved looking around the corner at the kids deck and seeing Tanner and Faith in their deck chairs, reading their books

-Day 1 sitting in our deck chairs on level 2 of the pool deck, Faith found a friend to play with (she later forgot her name and she was referred to as "Friend X" for the duration of the trip ) and the boys used the water slides over and over while Brian and I read our books, drank pina coladas, and listened to the Jimmy Buffet impersonator. Heaven.

-Waking up (in our OWN cabin) each day and being able to get dressed, go workout, get coffee, etc… while kids slept next door.  They had an onboard app where the kids could text us so they just texted us when they woke up and then they would meet us at breakfast or  on the pool deck, etc… SO GREAT.

-Kids favorite part: Nutella toast for waffles for breakfast and nutella crepes for dessert each night. Oh yeah... and dry frosted flakes for breakfast each day. We let nutrition slide for the week (not that we are normally so good at it at home) and they survived mostly on the above foods plus french fries and chicken strips. 

-Cirque de Soleil Dinner Show- I wasn’t prepared for it to be so professional and so much like the “real” cirque shows in las vegas. The kids were mesmerized. We had dinner and drinks during the show and afterwards the kids couldn’t stop talking about all the cool stuff they saw.

- We both loved being without WiFi all week. It was so great to not have the option to use the internet or phone or email.  Surprisingly we both loved being completely disconnected.

- Our first stop in Ocho Rios we got off  the ship and wanted to get Faith’s hair braided. We found ourselves across the street from the dock behind an old green shack with a Jamaican woman braiding Faith’s hair. This was not what we had intended but luckily all was OK in the end. I’m sure we overpaid for the braids and the “braids” they insisted putting in Tanner and Jake’s hair were taken out almost immediately, but it made for an interesting morning in port!

-Hanging out at Margaritaville in Ocho Rios where they had a big water park in the ocean for the kids. And for the adults. Brian, Jake, and Tanner bounced on the trampoline together, Faith and I swam out to the toys and played, too. She was fearless.  The kids built sand castles and Brian and I luxuriated in the warmth.

-The kids were kind of surprised by the bartering in Jamaica. Jake caught on quickly that the vendor’s “opening price” was about triple what they were willing to take for an item. This was definitely not my favorite part of the stop, but Jake enjoyed it. 

-Faith really liked the  Kids Club on the ship and went there most evenings for an hour or two while the boys had the run of the ship (mostly the sports court) and Brian and I had nice dinners in the fancier restaurants.

-Blue Man Group was AWESOME! I’d forgotten how much fun the show is. Brian and I saw them in Las Vegas on our honeymoon and watching them again with the kids was a blast.

-Grand Cayman was beautiful and again we spent the day at a local beach. Faith and Brian spent hours jumping through the waves together. This from the girl that last time refused to go anywhere near the ocean! More sandcastles, more fruity drinks, more reading…. More heaven.

-Cozumel was awesome. I researched places to go before we left for the trip and so we got a cab to Paradise Beach. It was a great choice for Brian’s birthday. It had  a huge water park in the ocean and gigantic pool, beach chairs and waiters to serve you. The funniest part? There was this inflatable thing where Jake sat on the bottom and Brian climbed to the top and then jumped down and it forced Jake up into the air. It was so great! Jake “rode” this about 5 times in a row and caught some major air. Also I did the huge mountain climbing thing in the middle, got to the top (after some difficulty!) and then  had to jump from the top into the ocean. The kids and Brian were all cheering me on while sitting on a raft nearby.

- I took the kids to a comedy hypnotist show one day and while the kids really enjoyed it- I was amazed by it and now really want to be hypnotized!!

-The last day on the ship was colder and windy so there was no more waterslide fun to be had and Faith came down with a fever… but we made the best of it and played some SkipBo in the bar, some shuffleboard on the protected deck, and read in our rooms. No one was ready to go home.

-We got back to Ft. Lauderdale at around noon on Sunday. Customs was fast and easy and we spent the evening watching the Super Bowl in our hotel room with McDonalds for dinner (the only place nearby and we had no car!).

This vacation was just so great. The kids loved it, we loved it, we loved the family time and we loved the “kid free” time. I loved letting the boys be independent and also watching Faith come into her own. We are already trying to figure out how we can afford another cruise in the next year or two.

Christmas Cookie

What a great holiday! Christmas Eve was long and relaxing and even included a little dusting of snow.  The kids and I went next door to the Selvig’s house for their annual Xmas Eve cocktail party and visited with friends for an hour or so before coming home to start our own holiday festivities. We made individual pizzas and opened Xmas Eve Jammies (My Little Pony for Faith, Star Wars for Tanner, sweats and tshirt for Jake) and then opened the annual Xmas Eve Family Game(s). The first one was a bust- it was a country song singing game for the PlayStation which turned out not to work on our system, and even the second game- Tetris Jenga- only held our attention for a half hour or so. Luckily we had SkipBo to keep us busy! We watched Shrek the Halls again (Auntie Sue had never seen it) and then ended the night with How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The kids had a sleepover in Tanner’s room, Mary and Sue returned to their “home away from home” at the Merc, and Brian and I got ready for the next morning.

The kids were awake by 630 watching TV in the bonus room,  so Brian went down to the Merc to pick up Sue and Mary while I made a big pot of coffee. When they returned Brian got the kids together at the top of the stairs, made them close their eyes, and led the procession into our living room. The biggest hit of the day (from Santa) was our new friend, Cookie. Faith thought it was just an empty cage at first, as the guinea pig was of course terrified of the commotion, but once she saw that it was a REAL, LIVE animal, she couldn’t wipe the grin from  her face. She met him and instantly named him. They bonded while the boys checked out their gifts from Santa- a huge Star Wars lego set for Tanner and a EZRider for Jake. We took our time on stockings and by the end of the socks were surrounded by candy, small toys, coffee mugs, cozy socks, and SB cards.  No one was ready for breakfast yet so we had Faith flip the quarter at the tree to determine the first present to open.  We stuck mostly with the Simonich method of Christmas morning, starting with that first random present and then letting the person that opened the present pick the next one (no peeking at who it is for!). 

Halfway through presents we stopped to make a big breakfast- bacon, pancakes, sausage, and cheesy eggs.Brian also took the time during our present opening hiatus to take the quarter used for choosing the first present, drilling a hole in it, and turning it into an ornament for the tree for many years to come. Mary, Sue and I downed more coffee while the boys sipped on their Monster energy drink (a once in a lifetime gift from Santa!). Oh, yeah... and Tanner finished off a giant sized box of Mike and Ikes without us realizing it. Oh, we were in for a huge crash later!

When Jake opened his gift from us- two tix to a Giants game in July for Brian and him- Tanner’s face fell, thinking he wouldn’t get to go since it was only 2 tix. So we bent the “order of presents” rules (see “Simonich method” above) and let Tanner open his present from us next: two tix to a Yankees game in Seattle in June for Brian and him. That kid is a huge Yankees fan and he was pretty excited. Faith wanted Lego Friends, Beados, and Glitzy Globes and she was not disappointed. Of course, for her, Cookie was the best present ever!

Brian and Faith spent some time bonding with Cookie, setting up her cage and supplies- in Faith’s room- and Faith read from the “How to Care for a Guinea Pig” book. At one point as I was doing dishes and everyone was sitting around the living room doing their own thing, Faith piped up, “Mom, what does A-N-U-S spell??”. That got a pretty good laugh and another giggle was provided when a few minutes later she turned to Auntie Sue and said, “What’s “inbreeding” mean?”.  Yep, this guinea pig is an education for my little girl!

We got a really fun game called “The Logo Game” from the Crebars and we spent some time playing that, but most of our day was spent listening to Apple Radio on the Tom T. Hall station and playing round after round of SkipBo with Grandma Mary and Auntie Sue. The kids would come play a round, then go upstairs and play with their toys or Cookie, then come back and join us for awhile. I think all in all we spent 5 solid hours in this manner. It was kind of idyllic. No fancy dinner for u (I hope Auntie Sue and Mary will forgive us this breach of Simonich tradition but there was nary a turkey or ham to be seen and no mashed potatoes or stuffing).  Brian’s request was hot pastrami sandwiches, so we took a break from cards to make a fast and easy dinner for the 7 of us.

It was really a great holiday. We were so blessed to get to include Auntie Sue in this special season and I think she really enjoyed being a part of our craziness and also seeing the Simonich tradition live on in her nephew’s house.  Grandma Mary taught the kids to knit and played countless games of cards with the kids. There was shopping and coffee and baking and chez mix and games and chaos and a whole lot of love. Merry Christmas 2015!

'Twas the Month Before Christmas

I’m really not sure how December is already almost over, Christmas is 3 days away, and the last blog I wrote was right after Thanksgiving. There was a whirlwind of holiday activity and kids sporting events mixed with work craziness that made the last 22 days go by way too fast.

We decorated the tree (purchased at the Merc again), ate the traditional pigs in a blanket dinner, and watched the annual showing of Shrek the Halls with Nana earlier in the month.  Most of our shopping was done early. I’ve enjoyed WAY too many Starbucks specialty holiday drinks in their seasonal red cup, but I feel like I haven’t heard enough Christmas music yet. I think I need to put on the new Elvis  Christmas album in the next day or two before it gets packe
d up for another year alongside last year’s album, Beach Boys Christmas.

Worst Parenting Moment during the Holidays:  That would have to be the night we were driving home through our neighborhood, looking at all the decorations, and Faith said, in all innocence and honesty, “Mom, why is Jesus around so much during Christmas?”.  I hesitate to even write that story here as I know it indicates a huge failing on my part to educate my children about  the true meaning of Christmas… but when we started this blog we did so with a goal to be honest and not just write the good stuff. So… there have been a few “lessons” about the history of Christmas since then!!

Mary and Auntie Sue arrived on December 17^th, just in time for the kids holiday music program at school. They were really excited about the event and Faith especially has been singing the songs for months. I admit I lost my mind a little bit when I received an email from the music teacher urging me to send the kids to school that day in “holiday colored western wear” for the theme. Really??? At this time of year I feel lucky if my kids leave the house with underwear on. So the idea of holiday themed cowboy shirts almost threw me over the edge. The concert was a lot of fun, though. 

This is the first Christmas the kids have spent with Auntie Sue since Faith was about 18 months old so they were really excited to have both their grandma and favorite aunt here to celebrate. Mary and Sue also got to join us for a very long but very fun 12 hour day of basketball playoffs on Saturday. It was a single elimination tournament and no one, including Jake, thought they had a chance of making it past the first round (an 830AM game) but they pulled it out and went onto play another nail biter at 130, another at 330, and played for the championship at 630 that night. They lost by one but played great and had so much fun. Jake played his heart out.   

Sunday night we got an early Christmas present- a night out at a downtown Boise hotel while the kids’ favorite babysitters of all time (Grandma Mary and Auntie Sue) watched them. There was gingerbread house decorating to be done and holiday movies to watch and the kids couldn’t wait for us to leave and probably never wanted us to return! More and more treats keep appearing out of suitcases- color crayons and coloring books, See's candy, holiday cookie decorating trays, games, etc… You never know what might appear next and the kids are eating it up. They have been playing cards nonstop (SkipBo and Phase 10) and learned to knit while we were away last night. Those two ladies have more energy and patience in their little fingers than this mama has in her whole body!

The shopping is done, the house is decorated, the cookies are baking, the cards have been sent. Tomorrow we will make the Chex Mix (Christmas just isn’t Christmas until the Chex Mix has been made!). We are all ready for Santa to come. The kids are already asking what time they will be allowed to come downstairs in the morning (Is 8:00 too late??) and are already making plans for who will be sleeping where for their annual Christmas Eve sleepover.