Monday, June 21, 2010

Fathers' Day weekend 2010


Friday night Tim and I went out for a dinner party by our employer.  Great food, many entertainment performers, fun Karaoke to watch.  No camera, so no pictures to show off...

On Saturday we all went to a Beavers baseball game.  Again, courtesy of our employer.  We had fun doing "waves", saying hi to the "Lucky" the Beaver and watching out for the fly ball.

Sunday was a Fathers' Day.  We didn't do anything crazy.  Just a nice quiet dinner at home with a strawberry cake, decorated by the kids.
We also got a flower.  The name escapes me (something in the onion family), but we all agreed that it must be a "Horton Hears a Who" flower.

Friday, June 18, 2010

June 12th weekend and more.

(Gabe, Lucas & Will)




Once again, end of the school year is here, and I am caught unprepared.  Seems like just about everything comes to the finish this week.  Gabe's lacrosse tournament, my race, swimming classes and graduation from an elementary school.

On Saturday we had to split into two groups.  First group is just me, and the second group everyone else (except for Miranda who went to her friend's house for a sleepover).  Of course, the night before we all knew that we needed to get good rest, but there is so much to get ready.  I had to make sure that I didn't forget ANYTHING!

Both groups left the house at about the same time.  Gabe's first game was at 8am, and considering the predicted parking situation, Tim aimed to be there by 7am.  I had to check in for my half-marathon by the same time as well.

My run went fairly uneventful.  Started off in cool temperatures, then sun came out and the heat went up and by the time I finished they were approaching upper 70's.  I knew by mile mark 4 that this was not going to be a non-stop run and there was no reason why I would need to push myself, so I started alternating runs with the uphill walks.  I finished with 2:11:17 time and it looks like I am going to loose two toenails :-(

Gabe had three games.  First was pretty miserable, his team lost with a score of 2:11 (or some similar score, just as bad).  Second game was better, and they lost at a less dramatic difference.  Third game was the best though.  They played against a fairly strong team, and had some great plays, but lost at 3:5 (although referee recorded that as 2:7...)

On Sunday we tried to recover from the day before.  We stopped to play in a water fountain, then watch a few movies.

Monday was Gabe's class picnic.

Tuesday was Larissa's class luau.  She volunteered me as a parent helper...

Wednesday was a much slower day and I spent the night making sure I made enough "Thank you!" cards for the school staff, have enough flowers and gift cards.

Finally, Thursday!  Last day of school and Gabe's graduation ceremony!  I can't believe my little boy is moving on to a Middle school...

Gabe was always lucky with having great teachers.  Ms. Marshall was another wonderful teacher.  We will surely miss her!

Larissa said her goodbyes to Mrs. Smith.
and we all said goodbye to Ms. Amber (not pictured).  She is moving to New Jersey.  She promised to change her hair style (a lot more hairspray) and get a fake (orange) tan.  She has been my school "rock" for the past two years.  I hope her replacement is at least half as good.

We then had to go an celebrate end of the school year!  Krispy Kreme it is!
so many choices...
By then we were ready to finish the day, but there was more..  Gabe's last swimming lesson.  He had to dive at a 12' side of the pool and retrieve a plastic egg from the bottom.  Success!  I am told that there is only one more class that he can take.  After that, he is done with all the swimming lessons.

Just as we headed home, Gabe reminded me that Larissa's friends were coming over to decorate a cake.  Oops, I almost forgot.

I made a cake the night before, but I didn't prepare cake icing ahead of time. Not good.  I quickly whipped sugar/water concoction, thinking that it didn't matter since all girls really wanted to do was decorate...  Wrong, they actually ate the cake.  I felt bad because I wasn't going for a taste, it was more of a play-cake, but kids seemed to enjoy it...

Monday, June 7, 2010

June 5th weekend

Friday night was a Disco Night at kids' school.  All the money raised went toward a new playground equipment, so it was for a good cause too.
Kids danced the night away to the music of my generation, with a sprinkle of a modern Disney dance music, enjoyed a jump-house, and the cotton candy.

Oh, I haven't posted Jonathan's funny face in a while, so here you go!

Saturday turned out to be absolutely gorgeous!  Sunny and warm.  Not hot, just perfectly warm.
Gabe had two lacrosse games separated by an hour long break.  Kids took advantage of a playground right next to the field.
Both games were just training for the upcoming tournament and against fellow HALO members.
I think Gabe was more comfortable being a more aggressive player against friends than strangers.  That is one of the things he needs to work on, not being so darn polite...
During a second game we noticed a hawk circling the field, looking for prey... shoo, bird, shoo!

After the game we spent a quiet afternoon at home.

On Sunday Larissa went to her friend's birthday party.  Somehow weather changed from sunny to pouring down rain.  All the better to be inside, rollerskating.

In the afternoon we all went to see Shrek 3-D, compliments of my work.  Not only we got to see a free movie, we also got a free drink and popcorn!  Again, beats being outside in the rain!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Jon's Graduation


Today Jon graduated from pre-school.
A little silly, since he is going to continue going to the same school and the same classroom for another year, but it's a milestone, I guess.
At the graduation ceremony all the kids were so darn cute, giggling, waiving to their parents. Every kid had something funny said about them and their future (in their own words), now that they are graduates...

Gabe and Larissa were a little jealous, since they have two more weeks of school left, but the cake back at Jon's classroom made it all feel better.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Last week in May (continuing)

Here is how the rest of my crazy week went.

On Thursday night Miranda played in a Powder Puff game.  Seniors vs. Juniors.  Game started off a little slow, but soon enough adrenaline kicked in, a few cheats were discovered and a few minutes before the end of the game hair pulling/punch throwing started and the game was stopped.  Done!
From what we gathered, this marks third year of losing for the Senior class :-(

Friday night was a little slow, just perfect before a busy weekend.  We enjoyed playing basketball outside.

Saturday started early.  I volunteered to help at the Children's Cancer Association Caring Cabin.  When I signed up I neglected to look up it's location, so it came to me as quite a shock that in Cloverdale, which is roughly 80 miles drive!  Instead of bailing out, I took extra helping hands alone (Larissa and Miranda) and we made a Girls' Day Out of it.
Weather threatened to get us cold and wet at first, but by our arrival time, it warmed up, and the sun picked out.  We had a great time cutting and cleaning overgrown vegetation off the walking path by the cabin.  It was so peaceful there.
Before we headed back home, we stooped at the beach.  Of course we didn't expect it to be warm, so none of us was dressed to play in the water...  That didn't stop Larissa.  She quickly disconnected her insulin pump, and run into ocean.  Clothes and all!  After a while we were able to get her back on dry land and headed to the next destination.  We did have to get Larissa's pants off of her and hold them out of the sunroof to get them to dry out...

We planned on stopping by the Air Museum, but got distracted by a rummage sale to benefit Search and Rescue organization. Most of the stuff was junk, but we managed to find some "hidden" treasures. LOL
At that point we decided to skip the museum and go straight to our next point.  Tillamook Cheese Factory.
A quick run through a sample line, long stop at the gift shop, then some ice cream.  Yummy!  All the nuts too, since Gabe wasn't there.

Across the street we came across a vegetable stand next to a seafood restaurant.  There was a giant pile of oyster shells
When we finally got home, I found worried "boys" awaiting our return.  Apparently, my phone battery died and they weren't able to get a hold of us.

On Sunday we spent a nice family day together.  Shopping for new shoes, then REI, then Wild Buffalo's for lunch, then a movie at home.  Jon got a new basketball.  It is a little smaller and a little lighter than an official type.  He loved it and was able to score with it right away!
On Monday I felt that I really HAVE been taking it too easy with my not-training and not-running.  I don't have a good excuse, just a lack of free time.
(Larissa with a mouthfull of gummies)

So, I loaded Larissa's and Gabe's bikes into my truck and drove us to my work.  It has a nice 3.8 mile loop around and not usually crowded, so it's perfect for the kids to bike and for me to run.
Kids lasted two rounds, and I (according to my phone pedometer) was able to finish 9.3 miles :-)
After that, some yard work, some grocery shopping and my long weekend is all gone!

BTW, Jon thinks high heel shoes are really funny and Mommy should get a pair with the highest heel there is: