finishing off April

Thank goodness for handy husbands!
My van has been a pretty noisy beast lately.  The serpentine belt would squeak while I was driving down the road and when it was time to stop, the brakes would add their chorus.  Monday after work, Dode and Isaac tore into it and fixed all my problems.  My van runs silently now.  Hooray!  A whole "new" vehicle for less than $30.

new brake pads installed, ready to put it back on the car

working together

I'm so glad Isaac will leave our home with skills he can use to save lots of $$$ for his family and use to serve others.  

 Zaycon in the rain
Murphy's Law sure seems to be in force when it comes to Zaycon deliveries.  Zaycon is a company that delivers bulk meats to different locations throughout the Western United States.  We're the pick up location in Arlington.  They've come in the snow, the slush, the rain, the heat.  Why not on a nice overcast normal day?  Thursday was pouring down rain.  Elizabeth and I did traffic control.  It's impossible to hold a walkie talkie, a traffic control sign, and an umbrella so we stood in raincoats in the rain.  By the time the 1 1/2 hour delivery time was finished, we were both frozen.  It took me about three hours before I felt warm again.  They distributed 70 cases of meat this time, which means by the time they go up the driveway and come back, that's almost 140 driveway trips, making for a very muddy driveway.  One of these days we have to give in and buy a few dump truck loads of gravel.

Miriam and Mom evening
Thursday night was also Miriam and mom evening.  We started off by going to Toys R Us so she could use the gift card she got for her birthday from her Grandpa.  She thought it was pretty rough to be in a store filled with toys and have to pick just one.  She went back and forth  between a few things and finally settled on a karaoke machine.  Boy do I ever love kids shouting nonsense into scratchy cheap microphones!

maybe another big stuffed animal for home?

Sorry, not enough money

Strawberry Shortcake dolls sure smell good.....

Which Barbie princess should I choose?

This is just what I want, a Karaoke Machine!

I had a free entree to Qdoba Mexican Grill burning a hole in my pocket so I got a veggie burrito to go.  Miriam got just what she wanted for dinner too, a chicken nugget happy meal from McDonalds.  We ate together in the car.  I asked if I could have her apple slices and she said, "All I really want is the nuggets and the toy".   Good thing I paid $5 for four chicken nuggets and a plastic toy she'll never play with again!

classy dining at its finest!

She'd wanted to see The Lorax again but once we got to the theater, she saw the sign for Mirror, Mirror and decided that's what she wanted instead.  We only had to wait another 20 minutes for Mirror, Mirror so it worked fine.  She'd been  having stomach problems all day and was going through waves of feeling good and feeling lousy.  Part way through the movie, she handed me the popcorn and said, "No matter what I say, don't give it back to me."  She sounded so grown up!  She really lucked out in the lobby.  While I was getting our popcorn, she was playing with the claw machine.  We never put any money in but it worked and she won a ball.  I think someone must have done a random act of kindness and put money in because the person after us had to put money in to play.

after the movie, holding the ball she won

sick
We've had a bit of flu virus visit us this week.  It started with Elizabeth, moved to Anastaya, then Miriam and finally me.  Being the good mom that I am, I share my food and drink with all the kids so when they get sick, there's not much chance of me missing it.  What sickness hit us?  It started with a bad stomach ache, followed by dizziness, headeache and fatigue.  It seemed to strike each of us the first time at night, making for a miserable sleepless night.  Miriam was the only one to actually throw up.  She just hates taking any form of medicine.  I've tasted the kids' liquid pain relievers and think it tastes just like candy.  But, call it medicine and there's no way she'll take it.  She was miserable enough Friday night, rocking back and forth and moaning while jiggling her foot (something I do too when I'm hurting), so I convinced her to take some medicine.  It took less than five minutes for the medicine to come up as well as evertyhing else in her stomach.  There goes getting her to take medicine any time soon!  The kids all think our bed has magical healing properties and Miriam spent most of Thursday in it.  Miriam and I took a glorious four hour nap with sunshine streaming down on us in bed on Saturday.  I wish I could say that cured us but soon after getting up, I was back to the full body goose bumps and headache.  Yuck!  I felt like I was living the reverse of Shel Silverstein's poem Sick,

"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye......
You say today is Saturday?
Goodbye, I'm going out to play."

It's Saturday and Miriam and I were stuck being sick, I cry "Foul!"

Dode says he's moving out until everyone is better so he doesn't catch it but I'm not too worried, he'd miss us all too much.

3rd week of April

Monday
The Monday after National Camp School I was absolutely tuckered out.  I had an all day tired headache and had a hard time getting my brain to concentrate on anything.  The whirlwind of getting ready to teach at camp school followed by the four days at the school had really depleted me.  I spent a lot of time sitting on the couch reading a fluffy book and even snuck in a nap.  I got off easy on dinner plans because we went to the Golden Corral Buffet to celebrate Dode's grandpa's 94th birthday.  I could cobble together a tasty vegan meal of tacos and salad, the kids all got their favorites (six pieces of pizza for Miriam!), and everyone enjoyed dipping things in the chocolate fountain.

Tuesday
Physical and mental batteries somewhat refreshed, Tuesday I went on a field trip to the Seattle Aquarium with Miriam and William.  Since William is in a K-5 classroom, they can choose what field trips they attend.  It worked out great that they went to the aquarium on the same day and same bus as Miriam's class.  

Miriam was really excited to get to ride on a full sized school bus.  Because William is in “special programs” and Miriam is his sibling, they ride a “short” bus to school.  There aren’t many other children on the bus, maybe 6 or 7, so it’s often one child per seat.  On the short bus, everyone buckles up.  Miriam learned when she rode a full sized bus to the pumpkin patch for a field trip that big buses don’t have seat belts.  She was excited for that freedom again.  We hadn’t made it 15 minutes down the road before she started complaining that the bus was way too loud.  It was pretty full with 2-3 happy children talking in each seat.  My MP3 player came to the rescue.  I cued up some Piano Guys music and she tuned out the noise.  

showing off their treasures from the gift shop, an octopus ring for Miriam and a wind-up submarine for William.

eating lunch in the underwater dome is quite a treat

When we got to the aquarium I got off pretty easy, the only children I had to chaperon were my own!  We usually spend about 2 hours at the aquarium when we go as a family so I was worried how we'd fill the four hours we'd be spending there for the field trip.  Kids like to do a mental "check" at each place and hurry on to the next.   I held the kids back a bit at each exhibit, asking them lots of questions to get them to peer into the tank and stretch out their visit.  It helped the time go by when we attended an octopus feeding and learned about them.  I'd not realized that they change color but we got to watch it in action.  A sleeping octopus is grey and an awake one is a more reddish color.  

Wednesday/Thursday

We'd gotten the scary news Monday night that Dode's brother Brent had a brain tumor and would be having surgery on Wednesday.  Dode was able to take sick time from work and took the drive with his siblings (Randy, Sheri and Janice) to Spokane to be with Brent.  They were there when he got out of surgery and were able to spend much of Thursday with him before making the five hour trek back home.  It turned out that the tumor was actually a fluid filled cyst the doctor had never seen before.  They sent it to pathology and when they get the report back, they will know how to proceed with his treatment.

Saturday
The co-op went smoothly Saturday morning, which is wonderful because I got stuck doing traffic.  Everyone came at once and there were times when we had seven cars on the street waiting to come in while I tried to direct people where to park.  You’ll notice I said “tried to direct people”.  Even though I’m standing there in an orange vest giving directions, some people just don’t get it and park helter skelter.  Then there’s the people who figure, “If it’s on the ground, it must mean it’s OK to drive over it.”  Dode has some big pipes on the driveway that he’s bending into an invention he’s working on.  They make quite a commotion when someone drives over them.  Then there’s the roofing that we bought to re-roof the back of the garage.  Dode stuck some saw horses up to keep people from parking on the roofing.  It’s a good thing too because the saw horses have been run over more than once.  I guess people are so excited to see what they’re getting in their baskets that they can’t stop to see where they’re driving!  

Some people are in and out in a few minutes but others stop to socialize.  It seems like those are the ones who are parked funny, taking the space where 2-3 cars could be parking!  When I ask for volunteers, the traffic people are always the last to sign up.  I don't know why, it's not complicated!  I've been tempted to barricade the driveway on days when no one signs up to help with traffic and make people walk in.  I had a bit of a heart attack as the co-op was winding down and I saw a fireman walk in then turn around and walk out.  The next thing I knew, a fire department ambulance was pulling in.  I thought they were there to yell at me and tell me I couldn't be backing cars up on the road for safety reasons.  When he got out of the ambulance, I saw the bags in his hands and realized he was just there to get his produce.  I gave a huge sigh of relief.

Elizabeth thought it was so cool to have an ambulance pick up produce that she snapped a photo

Saturday we celebrated Miriam's friend birthday party.  Last year, I'd purchased a family membership to the Everett Children's Museum that came with 10 guest passes. I figured those passes would work great to give her a free birthday party with her friends.   We’d purchased a year membership in the beginning of April 2011.  I'd originally scheduled her party for the beginning of April but we had to reschedule.  When we changed the date, I checked the guest passes and saw that they were good through the end of the month.  I knew that by then our membership would be expired but I’d planned for everyone, including Dode, Miriam, and me to use the free passes to get in.  

getting a group of girls to pose for a photo when they'd rather be playing is tough

silly girls!

Well, Friday night before the party I decided to get the passes out and couldn't find them anywhere.  I looked everywhere I could think, sometimes 3-4 times in the same place (have you ever read Who took my Cheese? I felt like a mouse in a maze looking in the same spot for the reward that I just knew had to be there)  After a lot of time spent searching, I couldn't find them.  We ended up having to buy a new membership which gave us more guest passes, but the party which would have been free ended up costing me $100 for a new membership.  I usually like to let a bit of time lapse before renewing a membership because that way I stretch our money out.  I wait to renew until we’re going again to the zoo, aquarium, museum, etc.  Unfortunately I couldn’t do that this time.   I'd also realized Friday night that I'd forgotten to ask the parents to send a sack lunch for their child.  I had Dode run to McDonald's while we were there to pick up two 20 piece nuggets, another expense for our “free” party.  

the girls spent a lot of time in the pretend veterinary office

Miriam and Paige

would you trust these doctors with your pet?

Ellie, Katie, Miriam, Hannah, Ashlyn

Miriam, Katie, Ellie, Ashlyn

lunch break.  Us Dicksons are so cheap!  The windows behind us are where the official party room is where the birthday child gets to sit in a throne.  No thrones for Miriam but she still had fun.

Building a fort.  

They loved Dode's silly magic tricks where he'd "stretch" them.  Looks more like child abuse to me!

No Ellies were harmed in the creating of the magic trick

Anastaya was nice enough to make Miriam's birthday cake while we were gone (chocolate chip cake) and she put up a bunch of streamers in rainbow colors for decorations.  What a nice sister!  We were at the Children's Museum for 2 1/2 hours.  A few of the girls came up to me and said, "When can we go back to your house and play outside?"  I spent all that money so they could play there and what they really wanted to do was play in our yard.  While that would have satisfied the guests, Miriam would not have been so easily pleased!  To her, our house is boring and the Children’s Museum is the place to play.  t was a very nice party.  No one cried because their feelings were hurt, although one little girl did cry on the way home because she noticed she had a scratch (not a recent injury) on her arm.  

National Camp School 2012

I have been a cub day camp program director for 11 camps.  I really enjoy day camp and think it can be a fun time for the youth and the parents helping out.  Anyone running a camp needs to attend a training called National Camp School.  I attended as a participant the first time I was program director.  I'd been back two more times to teach at the camp school.  This year was my third time serving as an instructor.  In order to teach at the school, you need to have your name suggested by your local BSA council and then approved by the national office.  We're representing BSA and have to wear the full uniform.  I've borrowed a pair of pants before but this time I had to buy myself a pair of scout pants.  I'm really unhappy with how they fit.  Small were skin tight but medium fall right off.  So, I end up with a bunch of gathered fabric bunching up in the front giving me a nice tummy pooch.  I'd buy a skirt in hopes it'd be more flattering but they don't make them anymore.

Part of the fun of day camp is using a theme and creating a camp around that theme.  The national office suggests a theme each year for day camps to use.  This year's theme is "Jungle".   I had fun looking at Dollar Tree and Value Village for jungle type decorations I could use at camp school and at my own camp in July.  Dollar Tree puts out all their Luau stuff the day after Easter and I was fortunate to get there on day one to get the best selection.

The cabin I taught in.  

I saved the big tissue paper flowers my mom and Millie made for my surprise party and used them as part of the decorations.  Some of the things are from Dollar Tree.  The rest are from two big tubs of luau decorations a friend gave me years ago.  That blue fabric on the wall is a "sticky wall".  It's just ripstop nylon sprayed with mounting adhesive.  It works way better than a flannel board for putting things up while you're teaching.

Another view of the cabin I taught in.  I'd never seen it before and didn't know what I should bring.  Once I got there, I wished I'd brought more of my luau decorations.

There was a mantle in the room which worked great for displaying stuffed animals and silk greenery I've been collecting for the last year.

My costume.  I used the vest Elizabeth decorated and adjusted for Halloween.  I was a bit worried how I'd fit into an 11 year old's vest but she'd left it pretty big so I didn't have a problem.  There is a parrot on my shoulder and everyone loved it.  I wore a coat over my outfit for part of one day and I had a few people ask where the vest had gotten to.  Some even took photos for inspiration at their own camp.  The parrot is definitely looking worse for wear.  He's already attended two day camps and gone trick-or-treating.  In between those appearances, he's stuffed into the costume drawer.

The camp school was held at a scout camp near Olympia called Camp Thunderbird.  It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from home.  I had to go down on Thursday to decorate, set things up and have a meeting with the other staff for camp school which began Friday morning at 8:00 am.  Once camp school starts, information is continually delivered to the participants from 8:00 am until 10:00 pm for two full days.  Someone told me it's like trying to drink from a fire hose.

I've been to a lot of BSA trainings over the years and many of them have left me feeling like I'd wasted my time.  National Camp School is the Disneyland of BSA training.  All the staff are excellent teachers with enthusiasm for their subject.  Everyone goes the extra mile with preparation, visual aids, doo-dads (fun  handouts).  As I was preparing, the entire kitchen was filled with decorations and visual aids for my classes.

just PART of the mess that was all organized by the time I left

The kids told me that the other teachers would be blown away by what I was bringing.  I wasn't feeling that way.  I was worried I wouldn't be up to teaching at the national standards.  I'd taught some of the classes before but I worried I'd be the boring teacher everyone couldn't wait to hear the end of.  The course director kept emailing me to check on me and make sure that I was ready and had noticed that the syllabus had changed.  I think she was as nervous about me and I was about myself!  I had noticed changes in the syllabus.  In fact, some of my suggestions from when I'd taught a few years ago had made it into the crafts and woodworking class I'd be teaching again.

I love teaching at camp school and sharing my enthusiasm for day camp.  A big problem for me is that we're teaching a national curriculum and aren't supposed to talk about what we do at our own camp.  Even if it's something you do, you're supposed to say, "I've seen .... done at a camp".  Although I realize they don't want you to share things that aren't national standards or to bore everyone with long stories about your own experiences, I think there's value in letting someone who has experience share some of the things they've encountered.

One of the classes I taught was called "Camp Morale".  I gave suggestions for ways you can maintain and revive camp morale.  I was a bit nervous because as part of my presentation, I showed a photo of myself from last year at camp.

Last year it rained every day.  I wore an umbrella hat over my costume as a way to get people to smile.  I showed a slide of the photo as an example of an easy way to boost camp morale and was worried that later the other staff would say something to me about using something for my own camp.  Instead, they said that showing that slide really caught the learners' attention.

Teaching camp morale.  I'm dressed like a doctor because you need to assess the health of your camp and look for symptoms of a "sick" camp.  Isaac is the cute cub scout on the slide.

I came home Sunday pretty exhausted.  The participants' days go until 10 pm.  At 10 pm the staff is cleaning up, getting ready for the next day, and having a staff meeting.  We never got to bed before midnight!  I couldn't even make it all the way home without a nap.  I got to the point where all my eyes wanted to do was the "blank stare".  I pulled off at a rest stop in Federal Way and was instantly asleep for a half hour nap.

We had 70 participants from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California.  I met some really nice people from around the Pacific Northwest.  One challenge  of the camp school  is that everyone there is a leader.  At times, we had "too many chiefs and not enough Indians" in the group.  Tensions were strong with some teams as individuals clashed.  One thing we got dinged on in the course evaluation filled out by the participants was that although we taught stress management (actually I taught it), we didn't always practice it.  I wish learning was as easy as teaching something and being able to apply it perfectly!  As we sent them on their way fully trained on Sunday morning, it was a nice feeling to know they'd be going out to run their camps, affecting hundreds of youth and hopefully have as much fun doing it as I do.

The participants get into it as much as we do.  They used decorations from around the room for their costumes during their final presentations.  I hope they invite me to teach at camp school again.

Whale Watching, Boat Watching and more

First up, Whale Watching
On Tuesday, Elizabeth and Dode got to go whale watching as part of a school field trip.  They started from the Everett marina for their 2 1/2 hour tour.  The tour company they went with guarantees you'll see a whale or they'll keep giving you free tickets until you do.  They saw six whales while on the tour.

They left the marina in Everett on a nice spring day.

The hospital my mom works at is the large white building on the left.

some of the wildlife, harbor seals

Dode says that whales aren't very photogenic

He also says they have a serious case of bad breath

When they'd exhale upwind from the boat, it was quite stinky

They were off to the side of  a group of whales when the announcer said, "We abide by the regulations about how far we stay away from whales but as you can see, not all boaters follow the rules."  Imagine Dode's surprise when he got a better look at the boat they were to referring to, my favorite Old Salt, my grandpa!

smooth sailing grandpa!

They found the whales near Hat Island, where my grandpa lives.

Next up, Boat Watching

While I was gone teaching at National Camp School, Dode was home holding down the fort.  He decided to take the kids to an RC boat race at Twin Lakes park, near our home.  Miriam was excited all morning and just couldn't wait to go.  Once she'd been there about five minutes, she was ready to go home.  Elizabeth was having a stomach ache and visiting the bathroom every ten minutes.  Good times for all!

the best part of racing is the crashes

The red boat did a 360 flip in the air, landed on it's bottom and kept going

and more...
Friday night while I was gone, Dode got up from the dinner table and helped push himself up by pushing down on it.  He was quite surprised when the table sank beneath his hands.  He got down on the ground to see what was going on.  One of the table legs that William sits in front of was strangely missing a bolt.  When Dode pushed on the table, the leg came loose and was falling off.  When asked, William wasn't sure what could have happened to the bolt.   The next morning when Isaac was picking up dirty clothes, he found the missing hardware in William's pants pocket.  I sew all the pockets in William's clothes but I'd left the little coin pocket that most jeans have, thinking it was just too small for him to put anything in.  I was wrong.  Isaac found the table hardware, a stamp and a pieces of wood jammed in the tiny pocket.  Time to go back through the pants and sew all the coin pockets as well!

On Saturday, Elizabeth went over to Haggen and came home with a  sample of cake.  She left it on the kitchen table but when she came back a while later, it was missing.  She knew right away who the guilty party was and started questioning William about where it could be.  After a while, he folded and said, "Maybe... you should look on the island."  She looked on the kitchen island but couldn't find it.  Under more questioning he said, "Maybe.... you should look under the newspaper."  She looked under the newspaper and getting more exasperated inquired some more until he said, "Maybe.... you should look under the other newspaper."  Voila, there was the cake!  He's such a psychic!

Triple Bummer
Isaac took his RC nitro car to a friend's house on Saturday and managed to seize up the engine and strip out the gears.  His car is so beat up now, it's not worth fixing so we're in the market for a new one.  He told us if we found one on craigslist now, we could put it away and call it a birthday present in June.  Monday night, Dode drove down to Mill Creek (40 minutes away) to look at one that sounded promising.  What he found was one as beat up as Isaac's.  He was told it ran but the person selling it just didn't feel like starting it up.  By that point, Dode had received enough conflicting information to decide that it just wasn't the car for us.  We'll have to keep looking.

Miriam accidentally knocked over the glass lamp in my room.  She came to tell me she'd broken it and she said, "it's just little pieces".  I finished what I was doing and went upstairs to assess the damage.  I figured I'd be using some superglue to put things back together.  Well, when she said "little pieces" what she meant was, the lamp was in little pieces.  The top absolutely exploded.  There were shards of glass 10 feet across the room.  I don't have the patience for that kind of superglueing!

Jacob had his primary mode of transportation, his bicycle, stolen a few months ago while he was volunteering at the hospital.  I've told the other kids to lock up their bikes so he doesn't borrow them, refuse to lock them up, and get them stolen too.  I'd been letting him borrow my bike which is no prize.  We bought it at a pawn shop about ten years ago.  Seven years ago, the kids left it behind Sheri's car when I was in the hospital having Miriam and she was babysitting.  We straightened out the damage the best we could but one pedal was always at a strange angle.    Well, Thursday someone near where Jacob works decided they'd like a bike just like mine, rusted, with a crooked pedal and ripped seat.  Now Jacob is down to walking where he needs to go (changing his commute to work from 12 minutes to a half hour) and I no longer have a bike.  I got home from National Camp School Sunday evening, totally exhausted and one of the first things I heard was that my bike was gone.  It was pretty aggravating!

April 7-8: A busy weekend

Dode was in Las Vegas for spring break and I was at the ocean with the kids.  We reunited at home on Friday night.  Saturday we were right back in the thick of life.  We started out the morning with produce.

Produce Snafus
The driver was an hour late.  You'd think that would mean that we'd get to sleep in an hour.  Unfortunately, I was awake and waiting for the call that he was here.  When he didn't show up, I started worrying that something had gone wrong.  When he finally called, I gave a sigh of relief, chaos adverted.  How little did I know!

I had plenty of volunteers and we soon had the baskets ready for people to pick up.  Then I got my first inkling that something was amiss.  One of the volunteers couldn't find her name on the check out sheets. I went inside and sure enough, she'd ordered.  She'd ordered the first day that ordering was available.  I have to download the information about the orders by date and I realized that I'd missed her day.  I looked and fortunately, she was the only one to order that day.  I had an extra organic and extra Italian pack to offer her, crisis averted.

Nope!  It soon became apparent that I'd not just missed the first day of ordering, I'd missed the first 3 days.  Yikes!  8 people had ordered during that time.   8 people that I had not purchased produce for.  8 people who would be showing up at my house with nothing for me to give them.  I sat down inside and started writing out refund checks.  I wanted to hide to avoid telling people what had happened but I stiffened up my courage and went out to face the music.  Most people were pretty understanding, but I could tell that they were quite disappointed.  I felt terrible.  One of the people picking up tried to cheer me up by saying, "Even if you're accurate 99% of the time, that still leaves one or two orders every time that you'll mess up."  I told him that it had been six months since I'd made an error.  He told me that's better than 99% accuracy.  While that was encouraging, it still didn't make me feel a lot better.  I guess everyone needs to be reminded that they're human from time to time.

Zumba tri
After the co-op was over, Anastaya and I headed down to the YMCA for a Zumba Triathlon.  It was a 2 1/2 hour event.  We did regular Zumba, Zumba toning, and Aqua Zumba.  They had door prizes and I won one of the best ones, a Zumba party for 25 people complete with pizza (better work hard to earn those calories!), t-shirts, and party bags.  How fun!  Dode wonders how I'm going to get 25 people together to Zumba.  I don't know that I will but it'll be fun to invite people.

with our finisher's medals and holding my prize

The instructors at the event were super energized and made it a lot of fun.  I'd never done Zumba toning or Aqua Zumba and enjoyed them both.

Dogs and Rods
While I was busy with the co-op and Zumba, Dode was busy preparing for a church party he was in charge of.  It's called "Dogs and Rods"  There's a chili and ice cream cook off and a pinewood derby race.  The race is open to anyone who wants to build a car.  During the planning stage, Dode had asked me what I thought would be a good way to keep the children occupied.  I suggested an extra track the little kids could play on without an adults saying "don't touch", "quit walking over the track", or "go down the track not up."

You would never see this at an official pinewood derby!

We had a track Dode built me last year for our covered wagon races at day camp.  We'd stashed it in the garage in case we ever needed it again.  Dode says someday he'll learn that when I ask him to build me something, it will end up getting used more than once and in different ways and maybe he should put a little more care into it.  It worked perfectly.  I heard one of the little boys run up to his mom and exclaim, "I'm having a blast!" Most of the kids didn't get to play with the track though.  Their dads wanted their cars set aside until the official race.  I told Dode that next year we'll need to supply some durable cars the kids can play with.  Miriam's friend from church and school, Wyatt, was allowed to race his car on our kid track.  After racing it down the track dozens of times, he decided to see how it would do going up the track.  It was quite exciting for the children to watch that car sailing off the top of the track into space.  Pretty soon he was down to three wheels, then two.  His car didn't make it through the night but it sure was fun for him to play with!

Dode thought that since he was in charge, he needed to participate in all the contests.  He entered a cast iron pot full of Nalley chili in the chili cook off.  He made a batch of vanilla ice cream for the ice cream contest.  He made a derby car.  He's a tinkerer so he made his unique.  He used acrylic, lined with mirror vinyl and put small LED lights inside.  Then, he added as much weight as he could to the car.  The thing was 2 1/2 times the traditional weight limit.  Dode was racing in the unlimited category where you could use extra weight and strange wheels. 

all the cars lined up and ready to race

Anastaya's is 5th from the left on the back row

Elizabeth's is 2nd from the left on the front row, #23

Dode's is lucky #13

Dode's car

three cars tied for best of show

Dode's car would have won if Miriam or William (or Dode) had voted for him!

the crowd at the race, notice how the children are kept at a

safe distance by the ropes

Dode put me in charge of the children recognition.  While stopping at Dollar Tree on our way to the beach, I'd looked for something I thought the kids would like.  I found small trophies in the party supplies.  The kids at the derby were thrilled with their small trophies.  At 8 for $1, it was an inexpensive way to make the children's night special.

Anastaya made a zebra car, Elizabeth made a wedge with lightening on the side and Miriam and Isaac collaborated on a rainbow car.  I would have enjoyed the event more if I hadn't started having an allergic reaction.  I sat there feeling prickles all over my body and soon my skin was covered with a rash.  I ran through what I'd eaten that day to see if I could figure out what had caused it.  I finally remembered that I'd used a new soap for my shower just an hour before the party.  It was a natural soap, with peppermint oil in it.  I really liked the smell but I don't think my skin liked the formula.  I couldn't wait to get home and take some benadryl but I didn't want to have to take the kids home early with me and have them miss out on the fun.  Once the race was over, I wanted nothing more than that benadryl but Anastaya reminded me that we had Redbox movies to return.  So, at ten minutes to 9:00 pm we dropped off a few of the kids at home, picked up the movies, and raced to Redbox where Anastaya cut in front of the line of people waiting to rent movies so we could get them returned in time.

Arriving home a little after 9:00 to finally take my benadryl and get my skin to calm down, our very busy Saturday finally came to a close.

Easter
With just getting home from vacation and our busy Saturday, making a traditional Easter meal that the kids wouldn't really care for and I wouldn't eat didn't sound very appealing.  So, I took the easy way out and did an "every man for himself dinner".  Vegan lasagna for the vegans (Jacob, me and Anastaya as a vegan for the night), pancakes for William and Miriam, and English Muffin pizzas for Dode and Isaac.  It was a perfect Easter meal for our family this year.

We always do our egg hunt at night.  I've read about community egg hunts where organizers spend hours hiding eggs only to have them snatched up in less than a minute.  By doing the hunt at night, we spend 10-15 minutes hiding the eggs and the kids spend an hour looking for them with flashlights.  I like that kind of return on our effort!  It's always a laugh to watch the kids run right by an egg in the middle of the grass while chasing after their siblings who have just found an egg.  It takes a lot of years for them to learn to not run around in a big mob of children.  Our rule is, each egg they find is worth 25 cents.  The kids usually end up with about $5.00 each.  That's all they get for Easter; no new clothes, no baskets, no candy, so it's pretty economical for us.  Whatever eggs are found the next day (and they have missed eggs every year) aren't worth anything.

When we started the hunt Miriam found a few eggs and exclaimed in disgust, "They're in the same places as last year!"  It's kind of difficult to find new hiding places when you still live in the same house! Jacob helped with the hiding this year so there were some new spots.  He took half the eggs and Dode took the other.  They both laughed that they'd spy a great spot to hide an egg, go to set one there, and find an egg already there.

Spring Break 2012

It's our 11th year visiting Ocean Shores for Spring Break.  The first year we went, I was pregnant with Elizabeth.  We've only missed once, the year Miriam was born.  That year Spring Break was just a few weeks after our little preemie joined us and there was no way a recovering c-section mom was going to pack her tiny baby, pump, and all other baby items to the beach.  If you do the math, you'll realize that means my mom and I were bringing two kids with us to the ocean when we started.  Over the years, we've grown to eight kids.  This year, we're down to seven because Jacob has a job and didn't join us.

It was with equal parts anticipation and dread that spring break approached.  I can't stand to come home to a messy house and use the getting ready time to tackle some projects around the house.  Pack for everyone, deal with day to day life, why not clean both ovens, wash all the sheets in the house the same day, etc.  By the time it was time to go, I was pretty beat.  Here's part of an email I sent Dode Tuesday morning, "I just had the fun of trying to dig things out of the wooden bin, untangle kite strings, etc. while Miriam hollers from the house, "Mom, I need you to come tie my balloon!"  Life is a big chaotic here."  (We have a large wooden cabinet we keep all our outdoor toys in.  When the kids are sent to put things away, they just do a big shove and push and things are always piled up inside and in front of it.  I had to wade through a mess, shoving things out of the way, just to get to the bin!  And Miriam hollering from the house?  The distance between the house and the garage is about 150 feet and the wooden bin is way back in the garage.  Trying to communicate back and forth is not easy!  But at least what she was trying to get my attention about was really important!)  

We left on Tuesday morning, stopping at Elizabeth's favorite restaurant for lunch, Taco Bell.  As we were about 20 miles from Ocean Shores, we drove through brilliant sunshine.  I couldn't wait to get to the beach.  Then, we turned and started driving into a dark menacing cloud.  By the time we pulled into Ocean Shores, we were driving in a hail storm.  After about an hour, the clouds moved on and we were treated to a beautiful sunny day.

one of our traditions is to have pizza in town the day we arrive.  There are three pizza places in Ocean Shores and none of them are stellar.  Miriam used the time waiting for the pizza to arrive to watch a movie.  Seeing her standing in a shaft of sunlight, she looked like a little angel.

Fluffy skirt + high heels = perfect beach attire

In Washington, being at the ocean teaches you to live in the moment.  Whenever the sun is out, it's time to hit the beach.  We headed down to the beach and the kids started playing in the sand.  Pretty soon, all three kites were out and flying.  I try new kites each year and usually spend a lot of time fighting them.  This year, I tried to buy "easy fly" kites and they actually work.  Priceless!  The kids had great fun sending a little parachute guy up the kite string, shaking him off near the top, and chasing him down the beach.  I gave catching him a try and it is strangely rewarding to snatch that parachute out of the air.

All the Isaacs had to do was let go of the kite and it'd fly

our hotel, viewed from the beach

sending up the paratrooper

Miriam and Gabriel are good buddies

starting a sand castle

a kite kept William occupied for almost an hour, priceless!

the bigger kids spent a lot of time jumping off this log, trying to clear a pit they'd dug

Isaac has some pretty good aerial moves

The kids got to ride horses down the beach again this year. It was Miriam's first time and she was so serious about the job that she had a difficult time smiling for a photo. They went at the perfect time. It was raining, the sun came out, we seized the day and we hurried to the beach. They went on their hour ride, once they were done the rain started up again.   When he heard that the minimum age is 6 she said to me, "You mean I could have ridden a horse last year!?"  She was not happy.  I'm not a horse person and last year I would have had to go with her.  I'd  much rather hunker down on the beach and wait for her to return.

They were pretty cold from riding horses in the wind that preceded the rain, but not cold enough to forgo ice cream!  I don't let being a vegan effect what the kids get to do. We still made our yearly pilgrimage to Murphy's Ice Cream in town.  Everyone got their favorite kind but some of the kids had some interesting combinations.  My nephew Gabriel chose 1/2 root beer, 1/2 peppermint.  I didn't feel like I missed out too much on that one!

What do teenagers do during down time?  Play on their grandma's ipads (yes she has three!)

the patio outside the room was a great place for morning play

We always visit the bumper boats.  Our group of kids took up all but two boats.

One of the children's favorite "beach" activities is spending time in the hotel pool.  We try to bring them down twice each day.  Miriam and Gabriel got really comfortable in the water.  Too comfortable.  Anastaya would stand in the pool and let them swim to her.  A few times, they jumped in at the deep end without letting her know they were coming.  Anastaya would have to tread water while trying to save the little ones from drowning.  That is pretty impressive for a girl who literally had never been in a swimming pool before she was nine.   Once,  Miriam jumped in and while Anastaya was fishing her out, Gabriel jumped in behind her.  Thankfully Anastaya was able to talk to them and convince them that they needed to be more careful before diving in!

Las Vegas
While the children, my mom, and I were having a few days relaxing at the beach, Dode was at a work conference in Sin City, Las Vegas.  Dode thought the nickname was quite appropriate and has no desire to ever return.  Everywhere he turned he found pornography, drunkenness and gambling.  He was there for a work conference about Indian Land Laws.  Since most Indian Reservations make most of their revenue off casinos, I guess it's appropriate that they hold the conference in a gambling mecca.

Dode flew down on a Monday.  He left our house at 7:00 am in case there was bad traffic on the way to the airport, normally an hour drive.  He had to park off site and take a shuttle to the terminal.  Then, with the worries about security waits, he'd allowed plenty of time for his 11:10 departure.  He got to Vegas, took a shuttle to his hotel and after spending 1 1/2 hours standing in line to check into his hotel, he was finally able to get to his room at the Flamingo and put his bags down.  He was under instructions from me that if he was going to get several days by himself, he needed to be a tourist and enjoy it.  Monday evening he explored the strip on foot and went on the roller coaster at the New York, New York hotel. Tuesday when the conference was done he did a bit of walking around the strip, 6 1/2 miles!  Wednesday he ventured out on the monorail to the Stratosphere where he road the X-Scream.

"Ever played on a giant teeter-totter, 866 feet above the ground? With the X-Scream, you can! Its space age, yet simplistic design resembles a massive teeter-totter or a Vegas roller coaster unlike any other ever seen. X-Scream propels you and several other riders headfirst, 27 feet over the edge of the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower. Try not to scream when you go over the edge — you don't want to scare the other riders! After being shot over the edge, you'll dangle weightlessly above the Las Vegas Strip before being pulled back and propelled over again for more."


Dode thought the ride was fun but he didn't enjoy the walk back to the monorail after dark through a rough part of town.  He wondered if he'd make it there without a mugging.  Thursday night was much more to Dode's taste.  He went over and spent the evening with his cousin Wendy and her family.  


Dode says that if he wasn't under my instructions to be out having fun that after the first night on the strip he would have been huddled up in his room with some light reading (a technical manual).  He found that Vegas truly is "a city that never sleeps".  The nights were not peaceful.  People were partying down the halls all night long.  He didn't like that he had to walk through a casino to get anywhere he wanted to go.  He especially didn't enjoy walking down the street and having a dozen people on each block trying to hand him small cards with pornographic photos on them.  He could not look down (the sidewalk was covered in pornography), he could not look up (billboards with soft porn) and he couldn't get off the street without having to go through casinos.  There are no laws against public drinking, so everywhere he walked he was surrounded by alcohol.   He said that he will never be bringing his family or wife to Vegas.  

flamingos in front of Dode's hotel

Dode did enjoy the architecture of Vegas, just not the atmosphere

inside one of their shopping malls

he thought the fountains at the Bellagio were better than Disneyland's

He appreciated that it wasn't a replay of Disney movies, and he stayed dry

roller coaster at New York, New York that he rode

Dode's vision of the true face of Vegas

This dumpster is filled with alcohol bottles, look at the size of it next to the mini van

Yikes!