Watch Out K!

After twenty-some-odd years of being nice, Lara is up in arms and feeling primeval urges to beat up a sibling again. 

Grrrrr.....    Come on Kristina!  You know I can still take you. 

PS#1: The purpose of this post is to intimidate a certain someone whose name starts with "K" and ends with "ristina"  with physical injury, so that she'll be so terrified with fear, that  she won't be able to resist coming to visit ASAP.  Siblings seen in the above picture (as well as Matt, Heather, and Tim) are blameless for my wrath.

PS#2:  Nate, count yourself lucky that you popped on over from visiting your Ghanian "friend" when you did,  or you would be on my hit list as well. 

PS#3:  No siblings were maimed or disfigured in the making of this post. 

************

In Yellowstone: What Goes Around, Comes Around

Almost thirty years ago, a cute little family piled into their Volvo station wagon and drove half-way across the country to visit some long-lost relatives.  Along the way, they stopped at a quaint little place called Yellowstone and visited the trusty Old Faithful geyser.    They gave the bubbling geyser its due by oohing and aahing at the right time, but mostly they wondered when it was going to be lunch time.   

Fast forward to 2011. 

Now that cute family is all grown up and living scattered between California and Maryland. 

The oldest in the group (the one in the picture who was already practicing for her future calling as nursery leader) grew up and decided that she wanted her family to see some of nature's wonders as well.  Never mind that they lived an additional 1000 miles away. 

This new family piled into their gray Toyota Sienna and drove 2000 miles to the same bubbling locale where they found cars from many places....


and animals large...

and not so large...


They hiked...

and posed....



and gazed in awe...



And when it was time to see the bubbling geyser, they steeled themselves in readiness...

got distracted by a little critter....

then oohed and aahed with proper devotion....

then promptly started whining about when it was going to be lunch time. 



**********

Getting to Know Spence

Since Spencer is my firstborn, he gets the lucky privilege of being the first child for me to spotlight here on the blog.  Over the next few weeks, each child will get their turn...

Age:  16

Grade:  11

Sports:  Golf, Indoor Track, Lacrosse, Extreme Nachos

Job:  Lawn Mowing, Snow Shoveling

Favorite Foods:  Tortilla Chips, Pepper Jack Cheese, Turkey Wafflewiches

Hobbies: Reading, Texting, Watching Episodes of Psych

Driving Status:  Learner's Permit until his Eagle Scout requirements are complete

Talents: Telling jokes without punchlines and actually getting people to laugh.  Here's a sample of his work....A polar bear and a seal are sitting on an ice floe. The polar bear turns to the seal, says "raaaawrrgg", and eats him.

Aspirations:   Never having more homework than can be completed in homeroom. 




NOTE:  If you are one of the few people who checks the blog between 11pm and 6am and you noticed that this post is completely different than the one I posted last night, then congratulations on being awesome!

Memories of September 11, 2001 and Why I've Never Been to Institute

I may be a day late with this memoir, but lately I've been feeling like I need to document, in writing, how our family experienced that terrible day 10 years ago. 

*************************

 We'd officially bought our first (and current) house just a few weeks previously and on that beautiful September morning, we were just beginning to reestablish a daily routine again.   I had just dropped Spencer off at school for his second week of first grade and I was on my way to bring Cami to her first day of co-op preschool.  When I turned on the car to bring Cami to preschool, the first sounds I heard blaring from the radio were, "Oh my God!  Oh my God!  Another plane just hit the second tower!"   I remember my heart jumping into my throat in panic as I waited impatiently for the announcer to calm down and explain what on earth was going on.   I continued driving and felt a little relieved when a few minutes later they said something about it all happening in New York City.  I was horrified, but somehow it all still seemed far away. 

After dropping Cami off, I drove off with my ten-month-old baby, Emma to try out Stake Institute for the first time in my life.  We hadn't been at the church very long, when someone interrupted the lesson to inform us that another plane had just hit the Pentagon.   At this point, it all got very personal very fast.  People gasped out loud, a few started crying, and many ran out of the building to try to call their loved ones.  At this point, although Glen's office was a mile or two away from the Pentagon, no one knew how many more planes there were and what was going to happen next, and everyone, including me, was panicked that our city was under attack. 

We didn't have cell phones at the time, so I raced home to try to touch base with Glen. As often happens in instances like this, the phone lines were jammed and I couldn't get through to him at all.  All the while I kept trying to get a call through to him, I sat there with my eyes glued on the television to watch the horrible imagery unfolding before me.  As horrified as I was watching the towers fall, I was equally as stunned when I realized that it was commercial airliners that were crashing into the buildings, rather than small personal planes that I had been envisioning up until then.   

Eventually Glen was able to get a call through to me on his co-worker, Steve's cell phone.  He informed me that he and Steve were fleeing the city together and that they were definitely not setting foot on the Metro, since they worried about it being another potential target for the terrorists. Glen and Steve tried to flee in Steve's car, but it didn't take long to realize that traffic was not going anywhere fast.  So they decided to walk. 

And they walked and walked and walked all the way to Steve's house in Arlington, passing right by the smoking Pentagon on the way.    In Arlington, Glen borrowed Steve's bike and rode the rest of the way home--in total about 15 miles.  It was a long, exhausting, and terrifying day and I was so relieved when that afternoon, our entire family was all back together again. 

In the weeks following that day, I remember with pride, the unity we felt in our community and our country.    Although the terrorists had caused unspeakable tragedy, they couldn't rob us, as a nation, of our American pride. 

Now ten years later, I still have one big gaping scar from that day that I've never been able to overcome.  It may sound silly, but for some reason, the whole experience provided enough of a strong negative associative memory for me, that I've never (not even once) set foot back into an Institute classroom again since that day.   September 11, 2001 was the first and only time I've ever gone to Institute and it is forever emblazoned in my brain as a place of bad news, tears, and fearfulness. 

However, I'm putting it here for the whole world to see...that in celebration of a decade of healing, I'm going to change all that tomorrow.   

My pep talk to myself: 
Institute ≠ Unspeakable Horror. 
Institute = Spiritual Enlightenment. 

*******
UPDATE:  I overcame my phobia and went to Institute yesterday and loved it.  I plan on being back often.  :)

An Ode to a Soggy Day

It's been four whole days of rain, rain,  rain
with nary a glimpse of the sun, warm and bright.
And I long for the day when the sky and my brain
are not the same color, so gray like the night.  

But even in the midst of the heavy barrage
that somehow even seeped into our garage,
we were happy to be safe, warm, and dry
up on our little hill, where our house is perched high. 

Through the soggy days,
normal life has marched on,

despite me searching for ways
to stay in the house and avoid being gone. 

When Cami informed me, her mother,
that her sport would go on in this weather,
I exclaimed in a loud voice, "Oh, brother! "
"I'll have to change out of this leather!"

Then Ellie and me, we jumped in the car,
to go get our Cami, an upcoming cross country star!
We got there with no trouble or strife
But the way home made for one frustrated wife! 

Bumper to bumper the soggy cars did sit
And we barely did move-- bit by tiny bit. 
Ellie watched an entire movie and still,
we'd barely made it over the hill. 

Then she announced in a desperate, loud voice,
that she had to pee in a horribly bad way. 
What do you do, when you're stuck with no choice
but to pee in the car or hold it all day? 

After a little convincing and fair bit of yelling
she finally did allow herself to pee in a bag.
Although the tears in her eyes were welling
I, for one, cheered at not having to scrub and gag.

Nearly three hours had passed,
and we were hungry, wet, and a tad bit weak,
but we finally got to our neighborhood at last!

A mere block-and-a-half from our home,
we passed this swirling, swollen creek,
normally tranquil and shallow as this poem. 

Nearby the creek was this dreaded sign. 
Luckily it was not the way we needed to go
Or I probably would have wielded a pine
and started sailing to and fro. 

Now we're all home safe and sound,

and school for Friday is already called off.

I'm sure hoping the sun will soon be found

and the rain will stop, because enough is enough. 

Hope you all are safe, warm, and dry

and not shedding a tear

for the painful poetry which on this page doth lie

because, my dear friends, never fear....

This is the end of all of this rhythm and rhyming

and horrible timing. 

Good night! 

**********

Memories of the Cabin

The cabin. 

That's all you have to say in Glen's family and everyone knows what you're talking about.  Glen's Grandpa Loughton built this cabin, along with his brother,  in 1973.    It's located in the serene woods of Island Park, Idaho, which in addition to boasting of some of the best fly-fishing in the world, is also close in proximity to Yellowstone National Park. 

Glen's family spent a week here every summer as he grew up and he carries fond memories of fly-fishing and endless games of chess with his Grandpa and exploring the area with his brothers. 

We've been there a few times since we've been married, but only as part of bustling family reunions with several families at a time.  Earlier this year when I mentioned possibly wanting to attend my high school reunion, he immediately concocted the idea of just continuing on the drive after the reunion in Minnesota and going to the cabin.    I wasn't so sure about the long drive,  but it didn't take too long of Glen reminiscing about the cabin before I was on board 100%. 

It was the first time our family had ever been to the cabin without lots of other people there and while we love seeing everyone at family reunions, I do have to say that it was wonderful being our own bosses while we were there.  Waking up when we felt like waking up, cooking what we wanted to cook, and going where we wanted to go each day--it was truly the vacation we'd been craving.  

  After seeing how many hours our family spent in the hammock... just chilling, reading, or even horseplaying, it was easy to see why it's been replaced several times over the years.    It definitely made me want to get a hammock of our own for here at home.  Now if I could just find the right two trees...

 Glen never did win any chess matches against his Grandpa until he was an adult, but he remembers well the patience with which his Grandpa always taught him strategic moves he might have made.  Spencer, Adam, Glen, and Emma played several rounds of chess while we were there, but definitely the "hot" game of our time there was, "Apples to Apples".  There was a whole lot of laughter as we played, especially at the random way with which Spencer seemed to choose his cards.  It must have worked though, because he seemed to have a knack for it. 

We were warned when we arrived to the cabin, to never leave any food or trash outside or the critters (namely racoons, porcupines, skunks, and bears) would get into it.  We remedied the necessity, simply by burning everything we could.  It was a great excuse for campfires and while the bags of trash were reduced to piles of ashes, the kids roasted marshmallows and made themselves s'mores. 

Somehow, though,  it seemed that the campfires were often followed by the necessity for bathing. 

  Another of Glen's fun memories from the cabin had to do with the swings attached high into the lodgepole pines that surround the cabin.  His Grandpa would give them underdogs while yelling, "WAZOWEE!"   Now there's only one swing, but of course the kids wanted Glen to demonstrate the wazowee underdogs over and over and over again.  I tried to do it a few times too, but I was quickly informed that the timing of my "WAZOWEE!"  was all wrong and that only daddy could do it right.   

I didn't mind too much though, since it meant I had more time for this and this...

A New Vision

It's here. 

It may be cold and rainy outside, but it is a day we've I've been waiting for with mixed emotions for many years. 

The first day that ALL of my kids are in school all day.    Don't get me wrong---I love my kids fiercely and think that they're pretty fun to spend time with....most of the time.  But the day is here and I am ready for this step....kind of. 



There weren't any tears (that's not really my style), but as I sit here a little lonely in the empty, quiet house,   I wonder what my days are going to be like now.   I know myself too well to know that it won't take long for the busyness to creep back in again, but still I wonder what it will feel like not to have any kids around here for 6 hours a day.      

At Glen's behest, I didn't sign up to be in the PTA presidency again, but I do envision helping in the kids' classes more regularly again. 

I envision being a better friend--being more aware of other people's needs and participating in and planning more social activities.  (This does not come naturally to me and it will be a challenge.) 

I envision blogging a little more meaningfully again. 

I envision exercising more regularly in hopes that I will eventually look a little more like this photoshopped version of me....

I envision answering people's emails within 24 hours of receiving them. 

I envision going to Institute every week for the first time in my life. 

I envision spending more time decorating my house and making it look cute. 

I envision making sure that my bathroom floors never again look like this for very long.    (By the way, this photo was taken approximately one hour after this bathroom had been scrubbed top to bottom as part of our Saturday chores.) 

I envision being better at planning fun/meaningful activities for my children. 

I envision at least starting the prep for dinner before the kids come home from school. 

I would also write about how I envision reading lots of books, getting my house perfectly organized,  submitting articles to be published, and always staying caught up on laundry, but that would be a stretch into the realm of wishful thinking and I am only trying to be real here. 


**********
 
If any of you other school-day empty nesters have any advice for me in my transition to relatively quiet days/chaotic evenings, please feel free to shower me with all the helpful tidbits you can think of. :)


*********

South Dakota in Silhouette

Oh the suspense!  


I've been fielding phone calls and emails all day from eager fans who just can't wait to find out the  #1 reason that South Dakota rocks.  


I was feeling kind of vindictive today and thought  about leading you on a little longer with another teaser post, but then I remembered that, oh yeah, I was just kidding about the phone calls and emails. 

So what could possibly be more exciting than the incongruous dueling flag house and pirate themed mini-golf course? 




This is....

The #1 awesomest thing about South Dakota, was happening upon this cool park just before sunset.  It's situated smack dab on top of a giant hill and boasts stunning 100-mile views of the thriving metropolis of Rapid City and surrounding badlands.  While enjoying the views (and the life-size dinosaur statues that reigned the hilltop), we also discovered that as the sun set, that it was perfect for taking silhouette pictures....something I'd always wanted to do, but never had found quite the right spot for it here at home.   

Pretty much these pictures are among the awesomest pictures to ever spew forth from the depths of my well-loved camera and I dare anyone to tell me otherwise. 

Unless, of course,  you want me to sic Superman on you for being so rude. 

**********

South Dakota Teaser

And to whet everyone's appetite and keep you in suspense about what the #1 coolest thing about South Dakota is,  here are a few more random pictures from our stay there.    

My favorite snapshot of Mount Rushmore

Taking a rest at Mount Rushmore                     Taking the ski lift up to the Alpine Slide


We were excited to eat the famous Culver's butter burgers and frozen custard while we were there.  Yum!  

Ellie and Emma completed the Mount Rushmore Junior Ranger program and got some cool badges

Ellie absolutely adores Spencer and wouldn't leave his side while we were there