5 Weeks

Today was a rain out so we went to the movies to see Night at the Museum 2. We first saw this preview at Christmas time, and I knew without question that we would be seeing it opening weekend. Time does indeed fly by though, as Memorial Day weekend seemed so far away then. But here we are, and we saw the movie as intended. It was definitely not as good as the first one, but there were lots of funny parts and the kids both liked it a lot. What it did most for me was make me even more excited for our upcoming vacation and the part where we will visit DC.

Here are the promised details on the first week of our vacation. We fly into Asheville, NC and will spend three nights there while James attends and speaks at the rock mechanics conference. We've booked this downtown loft so that James can walk to the conference and we are paying the same amount per night as a hotel but here we will have a full kitchen. We traded a pool (that a hotel would have) for the kitchen so we can cook. I'll try to find a local pool or maybe take a day trip to Lake Lure (about 30 minutes away by car). And we will have a pool every other place we stay, so it's not a big deal. Okay, so upon leaving Asheville we drive to Blacksburg for one night. I can't wait to show Quinn where he was born, and both kids the campus where Mom and Dad went to school. It's the first time we'll be back since we left almost 6 years earlier! Next is the reason the movie today made me so excited because we drive to Washington where it was filmed. We stay there for 3 nights and also are joined by Nana, Papa and Annie! We are staying at a hotel downtown right near a Metro stop and within viewing distance of the fireworks since we will be there for the 4th. Once again, this is a trip down memory lane showing the kids where Mom went to college and the first time I have been in DC since 2000 or so. On Sunday, we drive 6 hours or so south to the beach house for the remainder of the vacation. Details on that can be found here.

So that is the scoop. Five weeks from now, we will be in Asheville. I hate to wish away a month of summer but I am SO looking forward to this trip....to each and every part of it for each very different reasons. I sure hope it can live up to expectations, but I know that the time spent with family, both our family of 4 and the extended family, will be worth every ounce of anticipation. :)

The End of School

Yesterday was the last day of school. The last two weeks have been a little more laid back, with more free dress and fun activities like field trips and field day. Quinn went to the zoo with 1st through 4th grades, and Keely went to the dinosaur museum with her class and the Kindergarten class. Their last day might as well have been Wednesday, with field day on Thursday and about 2 hours of "school" on Friday.

Quinn ended the school year on a high note, with his best grades of the year. He either stayed the same or got better in every subject. Obviously, he was promoted to 2nd grade :) He also lost his 6th tooth last night, and the tooth fairy brought him $3.

Keely's report card was also really good. She even got a little better in "playing with others". Her teacher said that academically, she has progressed so much this year. She is definitely starting to read more, and can sound out lots of 3 and 4 letter words by herself. She just has to work on practicing the "golden rule" and that will round out her social skills.

So that is it, I cannot believe another school year has come and gone. The kids will be home with James next week and then summer camp starts on June 1st. It is already so nice not to have homework and to relax a little more in the evenings with later bedtimes. I'm sure summer will fly by but we're going to enjoy it while it lasts, that's for sure :)

Pre-Kindergarten Graduation

Yes, I think this is a bit too much pomp and circumstance for children progressing from Pre-Kinder to Kindergarten but I digress. This morning, Keely officially became a Pre-K graduate. It was a cute ceremony and program, and a bit like deja vu since we saw it last year when Quinn graduated from Kindergarten. The classes each sang three or four songs, and then a few more together. My absolute favorite is "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High". It brings tears to my eyes when I hear the little ones sing it, such an uplifting song! I was singing it all day :)

We will miss Mrs. Luna, she is such a sweetie and has the patience of a saint! James took a ton of good videos, but unfortunately they are all way big files. I need to work on compressing them, but for now here's a quick video of Keely receiving her certificate. I especially like the way she looks at it, like she is carefully reading each word :)


And here's a funny from Quinn this time. The older siblings are allowed to leave class and come watch their brothers and sisters perform and graduate. Quinn was glad to come in and sit with us, and enjoyed watching Keely. He remembered participating last year and singing some of the same songs. But as the program was obviously nearing the end, he looked at me and deadpanned, "Can I go back to first grade now?" :) Even punch and cookies couldn't keep him there!

Keely's Alphabet

I had another post planned for tonight, but I have to interrupt the regularly scheduled programming for a funny story from Keely. We were discussing homework this week, and both kids have none this last week of school. So this discussion ensues:

Keely: We don't have homework this week because we did x, y, and z last week.

(Background: Her homework each week in Pre-K was a different letter of the alphabet. The first sheet was practicing the letter both upper and lower case and the second sheet was coloring pictures that started with the letter.)

James: Yes, you finished up the whole alphabet so there's no more homework.

Keely: But wait, there's supposed to be an "n" in there.

James: What do you mean?

Keely, singing: A, B, C, etc., X, Y, n Z.

James: No, Keely it's not the letter n, it's the word and. X, Y, and Z.

Okay, now she can graduate Pre-K. We are officially clear on the alphabet :)

Lower Bell's Canyon

This little lizard was the entertainment of our hike today. The final tally was 11 lizards spotted, along with 2 squirrels, 1 bunny, 2 fighting ducks (yes, a duck fight in the air between two males) and 2 quail (but Quinn did not count those, apparently birds are not worthy of counting). All of this and a partridge in a pear tree :)

This weekend was glorious, almost summer like with good sunny weather and warm (actually hot) temps. There was only one thing to do today, embark on our first hike of the season. We chose one of our favorites, Lower Bells Canyon Reservoir (actually, Quinn and I chose -- James wanted to try something different but he caved). It was actually quite hot, and it took us all by surprise. I got quite sunburned on my arms, and even my legs -- the sun was probably an 11 on a 1 to 10 scale! Keely wore her bathing suit even though swimming is not allowed in the reservoir. I have a feeling she will be in one of her bathing suits from now until Labor Day if I let her!We found a nice shady spot to lay out our blanket and have the picnic lunch I had packed. Turkey, ham and cheese sandwiches, peanuts, fruit juice snacks and fresh cut watermelon :)
James is getting pretty good with setting the camera on a rock and setting the timer. This family picture came out really nice!
As is our tradition on this hike, we make the loop around the reservoir and then get to cross the water at one point. I don't think we've ever been up there when the water level was this high!
The kids took their shoes off, and the water was not too cold.
Then we were on our way, and Keely was complaining about being behind the rest of us so Quinn went back to get her. I had to snap this photo of the sibling love :)
And then they wanted me to take it from the front...
So that was our first hike of the 2009 season, and I am sure there will be many more to come this year. Keely did really well, walking almost the whole time. And the lizards and other animal sightings kept us all busy :)

Picnickin'

I can honestly say that this was my very favorite Mother's Day. We started off the day with a home cooked breakfast, and I enjoyed cooking most of it myself. I really do like to cook and I like when I make things people like to eat, it makes me feel good. We had scrambled eggs, bacon, and cinnamon bread french toast. It was all very yummy! Then I got my annual Mother's Day gift. While I am being honest, I can also say that I really believe Mother's Day is a Hallmark holiday. I don't believe in spending a lot of money, and I don't need gifts. What James does for me is amazing, and he tops himself each year. For the past 5 years (wow!), he has made a video montage of all of the previous year pictures of me and the kids. He puts music behind it, and he always picks awesome songs that I have (mostly) never heard before. The past couple of years (probably 3) he has had the kids record a video clip saying "Happy Mother's Day" and whatever else they want to say and that is how it opens. It always makes me remember all of the great memories we have made in the past year, and this year it made me really excited for all of the memories we will make in the coming year! This year's video was also in widescreen so it would be fit for our new TV and it also had video clips inserted into the video as well, another addition that he's never done before. He swears it's not hard to do, but it really looks professionally done and I really cherish these videos!

In addition to his creativity on the video gift, he came up with the idea for what to do on Sunday. And I must say it was a great idea, and we all had a fabulous day. We packed a picnic lunch in our new cooler, complete with roasted red pepper hummus & pita, bean dip & tortilla chips, turkey and ham deli meat, rolls, cookies, bananas, strawberries & whipped cream, and tomato feta salad. Oh, and wine & beer of course! So I would honestly say it was not your average picnic :) We drove into Big Cottonwood Canyon and then into the Storm Mountain Day Use Area. I never knew these places existed, and for just $6 we got our own little picnic site right on the river. They even have a playground, and there is a dam & spillway creating all the more ambience. Here is a picture of Space #14, where we settled in for a few hours.
The kids enjoyed playing on the little playground that was just around the bend from our site.

Then we all went hiking down the path a little, and came upon the Storm Mountain Amphitheater. This first picture is for perspective, just look how big the mountain is behind the seating. You can barely see us!
Then James set the timer on the camera and we got this awesome family shot!
We explored the area above the seating, and Quinn liked climbing on the rocks.
All he needed here is a few carribeaners and a rope, and he'd be a serious climber :)On our way out, we walked over to this overlook to see the spillway (about a 100' water drop in the creek). James is actually standing on the concrete edge of the spillway when taking this picture, which is why we are all laughing. Actually I am not laughing but telling him to get off there because I am scared he will fall in the creek!
There were about 100 pictures to choose from, so obviously I couldn't post them all but this was a cute one of both kids. Quinn told me this was "the bestest day ever" :) Being up there for the day makes me want to go camping something fierce and I intend to make that happen soon!
After we left the picnic site, we drove over to the other main canyon, Little Cottonwood with the intention of seeing the mountain goats. Mid-May is the most perfect time for goat watching, but you have to be diligent in searching the mountains above to spot them. After more than a few minutes, we did indeed see a couple. It's amazing how they can traverse such steep slopes! See if you can spot them in this picture...
While we were looking, the kids climbed this big rock next to our vantage point and I was able to snap a rare picture of James with the kids. He is usually behind the camera, so I took advantage and got a good picture!
So that was Sunday, oh except for one last funny. When we got home from the Canyons, Keely had a meltdown because she hadn't gotten to go shopping and she thought all the stores were closed. She told Annie that she hated God because it was Sunday (God's day of rest) and all the stores were closed early! I reminded Keely that we don't say "hate", it's not a nice word and then told her that Target was still open. An hour later armed with a new outfit, bathing suit and jelly shoes, she was a happy camper! Quinn got some toys and swim shoes, and I got a new work shirt...all courtesy of Nana & Papa, so thank you to them! And shopping at Target on Sunday at 7 PM is so great, there is no one there :)

Las Vegas

And now, a funny story about Keely to cap the sort of sad story from yesterday.

I arrive at work this morning, take my cell phone out of my purse and see that I have a missed call and voicemail. The number is the kids' school, so it's always a bit alarming at first (who is sick?). The message is from Keely's teacher, first assuring me that Keely is perfectly fine and then telling me that Keely has said she is going out of town and will not be in school on Monday. And will I please call her back to let her know if this is the case, so she can send home some papers for her to work on while she is out of school? Ah, my Keely. She has such a vivid imagination, and loves telling stories.

I call her teacher back immediately, and assure her that no we are not leaving town and yes, Keely will be in school on Monday and every day until school ends barring an unexpected illness. Her teacher then explains further that Keely had announced a trip to Las Vegas that we are taking that will remove her from school on Monday! Oh, how she loves that city...I swear she will live there when she grows up. So I guess we'd better plan another trip to Vegas to appease her (we were there in Sept. and I can only take Vegas about once every two years).

In any event, she made me laugh on an otherwise boring Friday morning at work :)

Papa

One of my favorite times of day is the quiet time before the kids fall asleep. This is the time when their minds wander and you really never know what they will ask or say. Last night, Keely had me in tears (literally, and yes I do cry sometimes!). The conversation went something like this:

Keely: "Mama?"

Me: "Yes, Keely?"

Keely: "I wish Great Poppy was still alive."

Me: "Me too, sweetie."

Keely: "If he was alive, what would he like to do?"

Me: "He liked to read, play golf, travel...and he loved to be with his granddaughters...and he would love, love, love to spend time with you and Quinn."

Keely: "Would he tickle me?"

Me: "He probably would."

She has obviously never met Poppy, but we talk of him often. I do so wish he could have met his great grandchildren because I know he would have doted on them and loved them like he loved me and Annie. So now before I start crying again, I need to get to the actual reason for this post.

Tomorrow Nana, Papa, and Annie are coming to visit. Keely always, always asks for her Papa to come visit but he doesn't come as often as Nana. Last Mother's Day, it was a surprise to all of us that Papa was at the airport. This year, I have known but the kids did not know. Keely kept saying maybe it will be another surprise like last year. Tonight Quinn eavesdropped on the phone and found out for sure that Papa will be on the plane tomorrow night. They were so excited, and both cheered. They are always excited to see Nana and Annie, but they got an extra added dimension of excitement to know that Papa is coming too. I guess that was the point of mentioning the story about Great Poppy, because Papa is his son and he's starting to look more like and act like Poppy. I do hope that the kids continue to have that special bond with their Papa, and it will make me have more fond memories of my childhood spending time with Poppy!

Party, Party, Party

It seems as if late summer, like July and August, are popular times to get pregnant or at least they were in 2000 and 2001. Quinn is on a whirlwind birthday tour of late. He had one in April (Keely had one too) and then two last weekend alone. Then he has one more on Saturday. I've gotten gun shy about opening the mailbox, for fear that there will be more invites :) It seems to be drawing to a close but you never know. The first was a reptile party, and next was the sleepover last Saturday. He got about 4 hours of sleep, played a soccer game and then went directly to the next party which was a swimming party. Too bad someone threw up in the pool (we have the worst luck, it's either that or someone poops in the pool!) and they had to get out early but they all seemed to have a fun time. This next one is a karate party....that's a new one, so we'll see how the boys like it. Let's hope these parties are at least taking a small reprieve because these gifts are killing my weekly budget (well not really, but with so many in a row...) :)

Book Review: A Wedding in December

I am a bit behind, but I finished this book during TV Turnoff Week (which went fabulously well by the way, and some of the changes have become permanent in our house namely the new rule that the kids must be dressed before the TV is turned on in the mornings). I had bought this book just after Christmas for about $4 and finally picked it up to read. The title is fairly self explanatory, as the main plot of the book is a wedding happening in December. It is a group of friends that get together for a wedding of two people that were a couple in high school, but they split up and married other people and then met at their 25 year high school reunion and got back together (and we will ignore the fact that he was still married when they reunited). So the group of them who were so close in high school get back together, some of them not having seen each other for 27 years and you can imagine that things are mildly different. The twist is that one of their friends died in high school, and the details of that fateful night have never been revealed completely. Also the bride has cancer, and is unsure of the future with her new husband. It's a good enough story, but takes a while to get into it. I have never read Anita Shreve before and this book was good, but I would not run out and buy any of her other books (unlike for example Jodi Picoult). Good thing it was a $4 book, because that's about all I would have paid for after reading it. Might be a good library book to borrow because it's not even really worth lending to family and friends.

Sugarhouse Park

Today we took advantage of a pretty nice spring day, and went to Sugarhouse Park. We had intentions of flying Quinn's kite, but all of the wind that was blowing at our house was nonexistent at the park. Oh well, there was still fun to be had. We packed a light lunch and enjoyed the sunny weather while it lasted. Here are some photos of the kids on the playground.I just love Keely's facial expression in this one...
And here she is, sweet as pie :)
And again, hamming it up for the camera...
Quinn was running full speed down a big hill, I guess to see how fast he could go.
We walked down by the creek, and the water was freezing cold and flowing really fast. This is the snow melt, and it will run off for several months until all of that mountain snow is (mostly) gone.

One last shot of Keely on the playground...
We got to enjoy the park for a couple of hours and then a storm rolled through, so we went to REI to browse. It's nice to have at least a few patches of nice weather -- we really hope all of those April showers will bring nice warm Spring May weather! Of course, I will ignore the weatherman who on Friday night said that May is our wettest month of the year :(