Monday 26 June 2017

A Week in Review (June 18-24)

A Week in Review (June 18-24)

Watched: Jack go nonstop at the College Basketball Experience in downtown Kansas City.  I had seen several post and I thought it sounded like something Jack might enjoy.  It was so much better than I thought it would be though.  He couldn't believe there was such an amazing space set up for just basketball and basketball games!  If you have kid who enjoys shooting hoops and you have several hours, I totally recommend by stopping by there.  It is a lot of fun.  Jack loved it so much that he even convinced Nick to take him back there for a couple hours on Saturday afternoon.

Read:  I didn't finish up Beartown but I made pretty good progress on it.  It's a pretty intense book.  It has hockey as a back story with it, but I think any family who has participated in any competitive sport will identify with.  Also, if you are from a small town, I think there are parts of the story that you could really understand.  I am pretty sure that I will finish it up next week.

Listened: Jack and Joe reconnect some more at what I think is becoming our annual trip to Worlds of Fun.  We are so blessed to have someone like Joe as role model for Jack.  He is such a polite and gracious young man!  And a young man he has definitely turned into.  I put their pictures, which were taken about 11 months apart, side by side and wow what a difference!  They did ride the Rip Cord again and both seemed to enjoy it a little more than last year.  Jack was finally tall enough to not have any restrictions so that made things better for everyone.  Who knows that next year's picture will look like.

Made: Trip a quick trip to Wichita to spend some time with the cousins and Aunt Valerie, Grandma Denise, and Papa Lee.  We woke up early on Thursday so that Jack wouldn't miss a thing and got into town around 10:30.  First we got a tour of the cousin's new home and then we headed over to visit Aunt Valerie and Grandma Denise.  It was Quentin's birthday so made plans to help celebrate him.  First we ate at Braum's and then we headed to the park to play large size chess.  It was pretty hot, so they were excited that swimming was on the menu next.  After swimming, everyone went to dinner together.  After Quentin opened his presents with his mom, they all came over and stayed the night at Valerie's.  The next day we ate more Braum's and visited the park and Exploration place before heading back to Kansas City.  It was a busy couple of days but it was worth it.

Felt: Bad.  I didn't really plan anything for Father's Day.  Everything that I wanted to do for him didn't really make financial sense or we didn't have time for.  We usually do a camping trip but his work has made that impossible this year.  Jack found these hilarious lights on Amazon on the Saturday night before Father's Day so we ordered him one of those.  It's shipping from Hong Kong so we won't see it for a month or so, but it will be interesting to see how it works out.  I told him that he gets a pass next Mother's Day too.  We spent actual Father's Day driving to KC, but made it in time to have dinner at Fogo De Chao for him.

Planned: On going to Microcenter to pick up a new computer because we have been having some issues with our old one.  I was just planning on picking up another lower end PC.  I should have known better.  Nick has been craving the switch to Apple and so we ended up getting a Mini Mac.  It's a tad bit slower in the processor than I am used too, but I think it will be fine.  It's going to take a little bit to get used, but I am sure in a few months time, it will just be second nature.

Loved: Being at the wedding of our old neighbor girl.  When we left for Utah, she had been dating Joey for about a year.  It seemed like they made each other quite happy.  About a year ago, he finally proposed.  I am excited for their sweet little family.  He has really stepped up and been an excellent step-father to Ava, as well.  She was stunning.  I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to get into the professionals way.  Luckily they released a sneak peek so I am sharing it with you.  We took a selfie so I posted that too.  Jack couldn't understand why I was crying to much.  I told him it's because before I know it he will be the one up there saying his vows.  It doesn't seem like very long ago I was watching Sarah kick around a soccer ball in the back yard.

Here are the pics for the week:

The Father's Day gift Jack found
 


The College Basketball Experience


Worlds of Fun photos


Man has Joe changed a lot in the year
 

He was so zonked he had to put down the arm rest and zone out.  Joe slept until 2pm the next day!


The nine-year-old club who all love Braum's Birthday Cake Ice Cream

  



Wedding Selfie
 

A Week in Review (June 11-17)

A Week in Review (June 11-17)

Watched: All of my Days on the days they were actually recorded. It probably doesn't sound like a much, but it's a rare treat during the summer. I also squeezed in a couple New Girl episodes. I think I'll be ready for it to go live next season.

Read: I finished up The Best of Adam Sharp. I read this book because one of my dear friends had such a huge dislike for it. I always think it's interesting to read what causes a strong reaction in others. I can see why she didn't like it, but I enjoyed it. Like the narrator, I have an emotional connection with music and song lyrics. I also understand how your relationship can feel flat after so many years. It's easy to wonder on the "what-if's". This book isn't anything like The Rosie Project, so don't read it expecting the same thing.  Next, I started Beartown. It had one of the most intriguing starts that I have seen in recent years. I didn't get very far, but I am really enjoying it.

Listened: To a bunch of voices drone on and on so that I could finish up the clock hours that I need to be able to work at preschool. It feels good to have something done for the busy school year ahead. Sure wish I could get working on the yearbook and the like too.  We've scheduled a PTA meeting, so I'll probably have plenty to work on soon.

Made: The trip to the North Pole to see my dear friend Jody and her family.  They were vacactioning in the area and we hadn't hooked up.  Luckily Jack didn't have camp on Friday and her family was free so we met there for several hours of fun.  Even some of her older ones came and they also had a good time messing around.  We took a selfie and I'm horrible at those, but I am glad to have captured the memory with her!  I wish we both weren't such busy people.

Felt: Bad for giving Jack the idea of working on his vertical by leaping onto the picnic table.  When he was going up, he leapt into banging his shins pretty hard against the front of the table.  The bruised up right away and he thought he was broken. Luckily our neighbors got home about that time so I called them over to distract him.  It worked pretty well, but he still wanted more ice when they left.   I thought it was funny that his face was so dirty that the tears left a streak on his face.

Planned: On my week without Jack home for most of the days.  He had basketball camp down at Colorado College again this year and really enjoyed it.  We picked up one of his friends on the way there and his mom brought them home.  I worked pulling weeds in the yard each day, working on my photo project that I started years ago and still haven't finished, and just taking it easy preparing for Nick's upcoming crazy schedule.

Loved: That Lee and Denise were able to stop by for a quick visit on Saturday.  We spent some time chatting, eating at Hu Hot, and then launching a rocket.  Of course, the rocket got caught by the wind and went into a far away field.  I really thought they were on a fool's errand looking for it, but the managed to find it.  Nick walked into some grass that caused his allergies to flair up majorly.  They are staying in Canon City for parts of the summer and we will look forward to them being closer!

Here are the pics for the week:

You can tell it's summer!
 

Jack and Coach JJ


Quite the introduction, right?


My good friend Jody and I

Monday 12 June 2017

A Week in Review (June 4-10)

A Week in Review (June 4-10)

Watched: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul with Jack on Tuesday before we headed home from KC.  We just had an awkward amount of time to kill and the movie filled it perfectly.  I am surprised to see it rated so poorly on IMDB.  I thought it was pretty funny and was a family friendly version of National Lampoon's Vacation.  It was hard to see Alicia Silverstone looking so old as the mom!  I'm sure I look just like I did when she was starring in Clueless.  Not sure why she is looking older.  Must have been good make-up artists.  ;)

Read: I finished up The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir.  This book was probably more like a 3.5 for me. The beginning was phenomenal and drew me. Towards the end, I felt she started getting pretty cyclical and didn't really know how to conclude the story. You can definitely feel her passion and pain on the pages of the book.  Next I tried to start Still Life, which is the beginning of my online book club series, but I just couldn't get into it.  I started The Best of Adam Sharp, but it isn't really drawing me in either.  

Listened: Giggles as Kate and Jack spent the afternoon hanging out.  They have so much fun together.  They spend about 10 minutes being awkward and then it's right back to normal.  We took her to Chuck E Cheese and then out for ice cream at Syla's and Maddy's.  I handed them my phone for some reason and they took some hilarious photos and videos.  I posted one of Jack that I thought summed them up pretty well.  So thankful for their friendship.

Made: A friend cook for me.  I really enjoy his food and thought it would be fun for the kids to just all be able to hang out without having to worry about the constraints of a restaurant. He was going to attempt to pay for it and I just couldn't let that fly!  We headed to the store while Nick stayed and hung out with the boys.  It was a delicious dinner and a great afternoon.  I wish we didn't live so far away so we could see them more often than once or twice a year.

Felt: After our fun day of seeing my friend Sarah for lunch and hanging out with Kate, we went over to the Zinn household for dinner.  Beth and I set out on the back deck and chatted while the kids hung out inside.  They played lots of Wii and talked.  At the end of the night, we had mom's and kid's Mario Kart race.  It was pretty funny to see all the different level of racers.

Planned: On dividing our Thursday at Elitch's between both the water park and rides, but we decided to just spend the whole day at the water park.  The water was a bit chilly, but it was warm enough that you could still get in.  Jack and I went right to the thrill water rides and did those all without waiting for a tube.  That was a pretty rare treat.  I decided to take my phone with me on the lazy river and got some pretty fun pictures.

Loved:  Our impromptu night with our friends at an escape room.  We failed to escape because we missed a step in the literal directions that we are all skipping over because it just didn't seem an essential step.  We also refused to ask for hints because we are stubborn like that.  They took a fun picture of us at the end.  Then we went out to Iron Bird for beer, pizza, and pretzels.  It was an excellent night and just what we needed!

Here are the pics for the week:

Love this face!
 


The goofs outside of the ice cream shop


Just what was he doing?  I think he was showing off his muscular thighs.


Lazy River Selfie


Still Headless!
 

Oh somehow the story of the giant water balloons didn't make my week recap.  But Jack and I had a competition to see who could get more water in a regular balloon and then release it on the other.  Nick wasn't game expect for helping with the filling and carrying.