Growing Up Fast

Laura and I got pedicures to celebrate the end of summer and freshen up our pigs before we head back to school. While getting a thorough Asian inspired calf massage, Laura leaned over and asked me why the lady was punching me and if I liked that.

The pedicurists would talk to each other in their native language as Laura and I got rubbed, punched, and polished. At the end of our service we were handed a card to rate our experience and provide comments. I asked Laura what we should write for a comment and Laura suggested "Hola". Thank you, Dora the Explorer. 

I went to work again on Friday and within 4 hours of Laura being at daycare she lost 3 teeth. When Dana texted to tell me Laura lost her third tooth, I told her that if  Laura starts her period today, I'm out of here.

Laura starts first grade in less than a week and this will be Sam's last year in daycare and preschool. Why do I have a feeling that I'm going to blink and they'll be driving?!

GG and Papa Camp

It was another successful GG and Papa Camp experience for Laura and Sam. We met at Williamsburg on Friday and the Roadmaster took the kids the rest of the way to the land of oz.

Fishing, four wheeling, playing in a fallen down tree clubhouse, picking produce from the garden, sleeping in the cabin in the woods, & sewing a shirt were all events that happened during their stay. They lived off the land for the long weekend and loved every minute of it. It was like the 2016 version of Little House on the Prairie. Talk about blessed!

The Play

You know the summer is winding down when you decide to direct a readers theater with your children and the neighborhood kids. To have an authentic purpose, I contacted the local retirement village to ask if we could be put on their activities and entertainment calendar. Good news, they had room!

The play was called The Wind and the Sun. Basically the Wind, played by our neighbor Kyle (age 8) and the Sun, played by neighbor Ingrid (age 6) were competing to see who could get the traveler, played by Sam, to take off his coat first. Laura was the narrator.

When we arrived Sam started to get stage fright and told me multiple times that he no longer wanted to be in the play. I'm sure wearing a coat, hat and gloves for his role on a 90 degree day didn't help. I reminded him that the play wouldn't make any sense if he dropped out at the last minute. Reluctantly he put on his blue fleece jacket and his reindeer hat and mittens and joined the other kids. Sam's line of, "It's getting warm in here." was said in a whisper, but it was very believable.

The residents were delighted and were very grateful for their performance. The visit made me think of Sam and Laura's great grand-parents and how many of them were living in a home like the one we visited at the end of their lives. I know if they were there they would have been in the front row cheering them on. Who knows, maybe they were there...

Even though the play was short, nobody could probably hear, and Sam didn't totally participate, the energy in the room was very much alive and vibrant. To them this was better than Broadway.

The Cast

After the play, the kids read a book aloud to the residents.

Kyle read a book that he wrote.

Showing the pictures.

Ingrid's sure to point out details the illustrator included.

Sam was bored to tears.

My cup runneth over.

Women, Wine, & Running

Every once in a while you just need to get away. I was "due" for a girls getaway and last fall my friend Autumn invited me to join her for a destination race in wine country in July. I love running and wine so naturally my answer was yes and my bestie from college, Rachel came along too.

We started in San Francisco and rented bicycles to ride over the Golden Gate Bridge. We landed in Sausalito, shopped, ate, and rode the wrong ferry back to San Francisco which left us riding bikes throughout the very crowded streets of San Francisco.

We met up with Rachel's brother, Jeff, and sister-in-law, Patti (a mom to be) and they drove us to Santa Rosa with many amazing stops along the way. Apparently I'm becoming prone to motion sickness as I age and ended up needing to ride shotgun which pushed pregnant Patti to the back. When did I become such a grandma?!

On Sunday we ran the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon. Northern California has the best weather for running. I didn't set any new time records for myself, but I did set a new personal record of drinking wine and Guinness during the race. When in Napa, right? A festival of wine tasting afterwards followed by a winery stop on the way home made for a runners high times 10. 

The next day we were picked up in a senior citizens type bus for a wine tour with a curly gray haired driver that may or may not have been a former Beach Boy. I have not perfected the use of the "dump bucket" as I feel that spitting out good wine is absolutely ludicrous. After 9 hours of wine tasting though I learned its smarter to dump out the wine on your own terms rather than your digestive track's terms. Next time I'll be smarter.

Overall it was a fantastic trip and the kids did a great job without me at home too. I laughed a lot, exercised a lot, and drank a lot of wine. Those are the key ingredients of a perfect girls getaway in my book. 

The hotel we stayed out was very dated. We thought Elvis was going to walk in at any moment.

Mile 10.5 of the race. I love this picture.

We did it!

My favorite winery, St. Francis with Jeff and Patti Anderson

Everything was so beautiful and fresh here.

At one of the wineries our server had a striking resemblance to Tom Cruise in Risky Business.

We toured Korbel Champagne Cellars. The Korbel brothers middle name is GRIT.

We visited Armstrong Redwoods. I saw a tree that was 1400 years old!

The roots of a redwood spread out and intertwine with neighboring trees' roots for support. Redwoods roots are like women friendships, they help each other grow strong.

Red White and Whew!

When GG said it was going to be a 24 hour Fourth of July blitz this is what she meant:
14 kids
15 adults
4 dogs
2 horses
Coolers lining the garage
Zip lining
Kayaking
Power wheels and "real wheels"
Jumping on the trampoline
Bean snapping
Horseback riding
Drone Wars
Produce picking
Rodeo pageantry
Dock jumping
Sand box digging
Baseball playing
Road apples
Fireworks
Enough food to serve an army
Whew!

 

 

God bless America (and GG & Papa)

This is Sam's happy place.



Sam kayaked nonstop for an hour!

Power wheels will never be the same after this experience.

Ellie is a rodeo queen inside and out.

Sam and Zach were inseparable. They're relaxing in Papa's massaging chair.

Cowboy take me away!

Watching the drone

Cowboy Hudson!



life.is.good

 

Mermaid Sightings

Oh Laura, how you crack me up and remind me of my younger years.

The other day Laura saw a girl at the pool swimming with mermaid tail. This was a GAME CHANGER!  Earlier in the summer we had asked at Cascade Falls pool if mermaid tails were allowed and were told that they are not so we assumed mermaid tails would also be illegal at the Prairie Ridge pool as well. Apparently the two pools in Ankeny don't have the same rules. A few days later we were preparing for an afternoon at the pool and Laura told me she wanted to put the mermaid tail on in the car so people would think she was a real mermaid when she arrived at the pool. I reminded her that I bring a lot of gear to the pool and it would be nearly impossible to carry her and my 31 bag full of stuff through the very packed pool parking lot. She figured all would be fine if she just transformed herself in the locker room. 
We got to the pool and there was a sign that said someone had pooped in the pool and it would be closed for the rest of the day, but the splash pad was still open. The wheels in Laura's brain started to turn and she said she would just change into her fin behind a tree. I asked her what her plan was once she had her fin on since the splash pad is just a bunch of fountains for kids to run through. She told me she would be fine just sitting next to a fountain. (Obviously the objective of this day was not get wet, it was to allow others to experience a mermaid sighting). After she turned herself into Ariel behind an evergreen, I carried Laura (Charles Ingalls style) to the splash pad while Sam struggled to haul in my 31 bag into the splash park area. (He's going to be a great husband some day.)
Lo and behold there was a daycare at the splash pad and all their eyes were on Laura the mermaid.  She just knew they thought she was a real live mermaid. Yeah, we're making memories this summer!

36

I turned 36 last Thursday. Perhaps having a math endorsement has permanently given me the math curse, but the number 36 automatically makes me thinks of the factors of 36. Such as:

Half my lifetime ago I was 18!

Laura is 6 and I've lived 6 times as long as her!

Sam is 4 and I've lived 9 times as long as him!

I've been teaching for a third of my life!

I was reminded over and over how lucky I am by my family and friends on my birthday.

Eric planned a whole day of activities including breakfast in bed, a family run to the beach, lunch at a park, a facial, a scavenger hunt of gifts, and Zombie Burger for dinner.

My sister send me the sweetest letter with a beautiful necklace that I've worn everyday since receiving it.

Two of my favorite neighbors left notes and gifts for me. 

Birthday cards from my parents and inlaws were in the mailbox wishing me another great year and reminding me of the great year it has been.

Endless texts and FB posts from friends and family filled up my inboxes.

The number 36 has a lots of factors, but friends, family and love are the common denominators in my life right now. Feeling blessed. ❤️

We can't celebrate anything without streamers in our house these days.

We went to the Iowa Speedway for Father's Day. One word: HOT!

At the race, we had a pageant queen sighting...Miss Iowa USA



She let Laura try on her crown.

We got lemonade for the kids. They each got a quart. Good Lord!

Happy Father's Day, Eric. Let's never come here again. :-)