Adventures are not all pony-rides in May-sunshine.

We had a full day today.  Very full.  Full of family time doing things that our kids love.

The last thing today was the local minor league baseball game, for which we were given free tickets along with vouchers for free hot dogs and sodas.  You know how I love a free adventure.  So after a bit of back-and-forth about Do We Really Want to Go Somewhere Else Today? we ended up going for it, and the kids were all excited.

But we arrived and there was a long line to get in.  This was surprising considering the last time we attended a game at this stadium, you could have counted the number of people in attendance on fingers and toes.  (Practically.)  But we got in and headed straight for the concession line because we were all already very hungry.  And the line for concessions was ridiculously long.

I waited in line for almost an hour while Ben and the kids watched the game standing up behind the nearest seats.  By the time we got our food and drinks, I was really tired.  And the sun was going down and it was getting chilly.  And we'd already been at the game for as long as I'd planned on attending, seeing as it was bedtime for the kids and we had to do baths, etc.  But I tried to be happy and enjoy what was left of our adventure.

We sat down long enough for everyone to eat their hot dogs and watch the game for a bit before we gave in to our fatigue and our desires to be warm, and left.

And when they were going to bed, the kids said that the baseball game was one of the best things we did today.

Now, I like to think of us as a fun-loving family.  Not in the extreme, but we do like to go out and do fun things when we can.  But after reflecting on today's events, and the last one in particular, a quote from The Hobbit, which I'm currently reading (listening to) for my itty bitty book club, came to mind.  The first weeks of Bilbo's adventure with the dwarves consisted of riding along on a pony, enjoying the sunshine and experiencing no turmoil whatsoever.  But eventually the weather turns, and the discomforts and the dangers and the challenges pile up.  He soon realizes that "adventures are not all pony-rides in May-sunshine."

And so it is with life.  Just because we go on an adventure doesn't mean it will be all wonderful, and we shouldn't expect it to be so.  But the dangers and the challenges and the discomforts are worthwhile too, and help us to enjoy the times when our adventures are more abundant in pony-rides and May-sunshine.  (They also make for great stories, i.e., "Remember the time we waited in line for an hour for free hot dogs?"  "Yeah, that was crazy.")

I wonder what our next adventure will consist of?

It Pays to be Good

Last year I took one of the kids to a local dermatologist to see about several warts.  A PA named Jim gave us a treatment that worked great, and the warts haven't come back.  Another child later developed one large wart on a toe so we thought we'd go to the same office to see Jim again and probably get the same treatment.

We did see Jim again and he was immediately smitten with the kids, and thank goodness they all behaved well enough that we didn't change his impression.  It's not that they were being perfect, but they were on good behavior.  They were talking and joking with him, and just being themselves.  Jim wanted to talk to Luke, and he told us that Luke reminded him of his son, who is 15 now, but is still a lot like Luke.  "Hard to understand him?" Cat figured.  Jim laughed and said yes, and commented about how girls were so much more mature than boys, and Cat quickly said that it was the same at school.  Whenever a "girl" song like "Let it Go" comes on, the boys freak out and wine and complain about having to listen to it, while the girls secretly don't like it either but aren't saying anything.  Then the kids started talking about "Let it Go" and who likes it and who doesn't, and Eliza told Jim that Luke sings the song when he hears it, so of course we all started singing it to try to get Luke to sing it, which he didn't.  It was great.  During the serious part of the appointment, the kids continued to jabber here and there, and Jack was fidgety, but nothing was really disruptive.

Upon examination, Jim recommended a different treatment for this case, since the child is younger and right now has just one wart.  He wanted to treat the wart with beetlejuice (no joke), which would take several treatments at 3-week intervals.  When I asked him about the charges for the many office visits and told him that we have a high-deductible plan that won't pay for specialist visits until we meet our deductible, he completely switched tracks.  He sent the kids out of thee room with a nurse so that they could look at the treat drawer while we had a chat.  He said he felt like we missed a step and we should try something else before we spend $1000 on beetlejuice treatments.  He told us to try Compound W, an over-the-counter treatment that would at least help to reduce the size of the wart.  We should use that for two months or more, then check in with him again.

When the kids came back in the room, Jim doted on them and said again how we made his day and what a great family I have.  As we were leaving, in passing he gave us a sample of a lotion to use on the dry spots on Eliza's face.  And we walked out without paying a dime.

When I got the kids outside and we were standing by the car about to go in, the reality of what just happened set in.  I was overwhelmed.  We could have potentially spent one thousand dollars to remove this wart.  One thousand dollars.  And Jim liked us so much that he came up with an alternative that would cost a tiny fraction of that amount.  Now, perhaps he's such a nice guy that he would have done that even if I'd been difficult and the kids had been hellions.  But in that moment I was so overwhelmed with gratitude for the way Jim handled the situation and the fact that the kids had been so good that I immediately wanted to thank them and reward them.

So once I got control of my emotions, I suggested we go out for lunch, something that is a real treat for us.  They were thrilled at the idea and we enjoyed a lovely lunch at Chick-Fil-A.

I'm pretty sure I have the best kids in the world.

Also, this was about 2 1/2 months ago, and the OTC treatment has worked really well on the wart.  Hallalujah!

Reflections on the Close of Summer, Part II

But we're in school-mode now, and this year will be a whole new ball game.  Mostly I anticipate that it will just be more full.  Which is kind of hard to fathom, since I thought last year was full.

We'll have three kids in school.  Two going full-day, and one going in the afternoons.  That means three people to get ready for school each day, three people having to complete homework assignments, three sets of teachers with whom to correspond, and three classes of children to try to understand.  Whoa.  That's a lot.

Add on top of that the six extra-curricular activities between them, and you'll see what I mean.  All three of The Bigs are now taking piano lessons, so they'll need to be at lessons (weekly for Cat, bi-weekly for Jack and Eliza) and practice daily.  Cat and Jack are playing soccer, which means 1-2 practices per week and 1-2 games per week for several weeks in the fall and several weeks in the spring.  Eliza will be taking a dance class one morning a week and a music class one morning a week.

I'm tired just writing about it.

But this is good, right?  This is what we want for our children.  I think it's worth the sacrifices so that each of them can begin to learn piano - our family's chosen method of teaching kids to WORK - and so that they can each have a fun activity that gets them moving and helps them to manage their time well.  I just hope that I can juggle all of this without going absolutely insane.  Check back with me on that in a few weeks.

At least all of the kids were really excited about school to start; Cat, to the extent that when Ben asked her if she was excited on the way to Back to School night her response was, "That is a ridiculous question."  She got the teacher she wanted and is already ecstatic about all of the great things they'll be doing as a class.  Jack admitted that he was nervous the night before school started, but he's enjoying school so far.

Jack and Eliza are excited to get started on piano, so much so that after their initial lesson, which was shorter so that the teacher could get both of them started before they begin trading weeks, Jack asked if he'd be able to have a long lesson like Cat next time.

And they're all thrilled about their chosen fun activities.

So, hopefully it will be a fantastic year with lots of great learning and horizon-expanding.  Hopefully we will learn to handle this level of full-ness well.  And hopefully

Reflections on the Close of Summer, Part I

So, summer is officially over for us.  Cat and Jack started school on Monday, and Eliza begins later this week.  I am both relieved for the 6-hour break during the day and mourning the beginning of early, hectic mornings and long, full afternoons and evenings.  I honestly don't know which emotion wins at this point, but I guess it doesn't matter.  The school year has begun, so we're going with it.

As I reflect on our summer, the only word that comes to mind is "busy." But it was a good busy.  We weren't busy shuttling kids back and forth to camps and classes (with the exception of soccer, but that was manageable).  We were busy doing things we wanted and needed to do a lot of days, and busy with family and friends who were visiting us a lot of days, and busy traveling to spend time with family the remainder of the days.  Probably the best kind of busy.

I had aspirations of being very routined this summer, and being much more deliberate with how we spent our days, and doing a better job of taking time to just be with the older kids in the afternoons when Luke was napping.  I wanted the kids to be more responsible, helping with cleaning every day.  I wanted them to learn or improve on various skills such as folding laundry, cooking, cleaning, and sewing.  And I wanted them to have lots of fun experiences.  I made a series of beautiful visuals that were displayed in the house, outlining these goals and expectations.

How did it go?

So-so.

We were not so great about being routined and getting all of the things done each day that I would have liked to get done.  But I was okay with that.  I think that having the days outlined in advance helped us anyway, thinking about things we would do as the day progressed.  And we were deliberate about what we chose not to do when the schedule was altered, because we knew what the rest of the day could look like.  It worked out fine.

I think each of the kids established or built on some good habits/skills.  Jack and Eliza had only folded laundry a few times before this summer, but now I know that I can count on them to get their laundry folded and put away in a timely manner.  Jack learned how to cook frozen chicken nuggets this summer, which he was really excited about; Cat began acting as Deputy Babysitter and might be ready to take the reigns in a year or so; and Eliza started helping to empty the dishwasher every day.  Progress.

Did we have fun experiences?  Yes.  We had lots.  I'll share those... eventually.  But I was disappointed when I checked out our summer bucket list last week and saw the many, many things we didn't do.  I'm not just talking about the fun outings we were hoping to experience as a family (including going to a rodeo...) but the things I thought I'd be able to do with the big kids during the second hour of Luke's nap each afternoon, which I dubbed "Big Kid Mommy Time."  I had aspirations of doing lots of sewing and arts & crafts with The Bigs, of writing stories together and doing science experiments and baking and cooking and playing games.  We did some of those things, but I didn't take advantage of that time like I could have.  I should have done better.

To be continued...

Before School Resumed

(originally published February 14th, 2016)

After the big reunion in Herriman and before school started, we had a couple more adventures.

1. My sister and her family stayed a little longer after the reunion, so we had some more time with them.  One day we took the kids to a cool playground and splash pad in Spanish Fork (North Park).

2. Ben took the Big Three on a fun day trip to the railroad museum in Ogden.  They traveled there on the commuter train that connects Provo to Orem.

3. We attended a wedding reception.  A young man who was a youth in our ward in Georgia got married in August and had a wedding reception in the Salt Lake area.  We had a great time catching up with friends we haven't seen in several years, and the kids really livened things up by taking on the dance floor before everyone else.

Family Reunion, Part 2

(originally published February 12th, 2016)

As part of the reunion, we rented out an event space at This is The Place Park in Salt Lake and hired a photographer to follow us around for a couple of hours.  These are almost entirely her photographs.

This was a really fun afternoon with train rides, panning for gold, riding ponies, quasi-shaves at the barber shop, school, geode smashing, and more.  And when our fun in the park was over, we ate a yummy pizza dinner and Oma gave us all a wonderful gift: a copy of her personal history.  We had a really great time, and I love the picture the photographer got of my kids and me (Ben being out of town on this day).

Family Reunion, Part 1

(originally published February 11th, 2016)

Once our Preunion was finished in early August, we joined up with the rest of my extended family on my Mom's side for a fun reunion based in Herriman, UT.  There were about 45 of us there, give or take, and almost everyone stayed in this beautiful 9-bedroom house.

I don't have very many pictures from this week because my camera was on the fritz and I wasn't in a happy place with my phone either.  We had lots of fun in the house, with lots of kids running around and playing, watching movies in the theater room, and sneaking into the hot tub.  We went on walks and runs and hikes.  At night we played cards (Up and Down the River is a MUST at these family reunions) and stayed up talking and laughing.  My Great-Uncle Jerry traveled from Maryland to join us and we enjoyed having him there.  Ben and I stayed up late talking to him one night, and Luke seemed to really take to Jerry.  He even had his own pet name for him.  He called him Coach.

We spent one day at Temple Square.  It was really cold outside, though, so we didn't tour around as much as we might have.  We saw an organ recital in the Tabernacle, perused Deseret Book, and took a few pictures.

My grandmother was celebrating her 89th birthday during the reunion, and received some special attention from the Salt Lake Bees' Mascot when we attended a game one night.  A birthday salutation showed up on the scoreboard as well, but my camera being as uncooperative as it was at the time, I didn't get a picture of it.

The Preunion

(originally published February 4th, 2016)

My Mom's family had a big reunion in August and my Mom, a niece, two nephews, my sister, and my brother-in-law were all coming into town a few days early so we got to have a fun Preunion together before we joined up with the rest of the extended family.

Both traveling parties arrived within minutes of each other, so we had a little fun with a welcoming sign at the airport.

Minions Movie

Cat and the Little Boys

Got Wheels?

A pizza picnic and a walk to Bridal Veil Falls

These guys climbed the rocks all the way up to where the lower
waterfall landed.  (Is that called the base?)  So much fun.

The rest of us were happy to hang out at the bottom.

Little Boys and me.

Almost at the top.

Why walk back to the car when you can get a ride?

The wave pool at Seven Peaks Salt Lake

This was SUCH a fun morning!  Great weather, fun water stuff, and not very crowded.

That's Jack.

We took Grammy, Will, and Drew to Antelope Island
to take a dip in the Great Salt Lake.

Jack, Cat, and Drew

Floatarific.

From Syracuse we drove to Clarkston for the Martin Harris Pageant.
It was a well-done play that managed to keep the kids' attention.
We really enjoyed the play, and the adults appreciated quiet time in the car
on the long drive home while the kids slept.