Parental Exhaustion

So you know it's going to be a good week when Grandpa stops by with bacon and a "Bacon Makes Everything Better" sign for you.  Aaaahhh bacon.....how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.  About the only good thing mom sees in my new bacon obsession is that it is getting my to branch out from nuggets and noodles.  If it has bacon on it, I'm willing to try it and that ain't so bad!

Our chair that we bought about 2 months ago finally arrived.  Mom and I love it- it's the perfect curling up to read chair.  Dad doesn't love it because he has no place to put his feet so he gets the super comfy leather couch.  At least that is one less person to fight over the "curling up to read" chair.

Saturday was the kick off to my softball season.  It was a fun day with a DJ, a jumping castle and a hit-a-thon for a fund raiser for the league.  All the girls in the league got to hit 7 balls off a hitting machine.  While mom wasn't there to see it (she had a very important appointment with her hair stylist- can't miss that!), dad said it looked like I was putting on a hitting clinic.  I don't think he's biased or anything but apparently, I was the only one to hit all the balls and I hit them the farthest.  Yeah me!  Now, hopefully, that will translate to a game....
We had a scrimmage against another team from our league in the afternoon and I was a bit nervous because these are the big girls you know.  I played left field, center field and third base and hit clean up.  Sadly, no one on the other team could pitch so I didn't get a chance to show off ma skillzzz but there is still some season left.  We won 11-3 and were super excited.  I didn't actually get a play at any of my positions but I was paying enough attention that I could go after balls that were close.  That is an enormous improvement for me.

Sunday was off to a slow start.  Mom may have a bit of a hangover.  You would think after 27 years on this planet, she would figure out how not to do that to herself.  Apparently, a long morning run, not drinking or eating much that day, spending all day out at the softball field and then coming home and having two beers doesn't work so well for the next day.  So it was kind of late by the time we got rolling.  I finished up on my big Tucson history project, mom got started on the spring yard work and dad spent %$#&^% hours putting up &^$$& porch lights that turned out to be defective.  So, in true dad fashion, he took them back and started all over again.  But we do have nice new porch lights.

After all that, mom and dad headed out to go to mom's Christmas present.  Dad got her tickets to see Alton Brown Live- the Edible Inevitable Tour.  Neither of them quite knew what to expect but it was really, really fun.  You know any show that starts out with belching, farting yeast hand puppets is going to be good.  There wasn't really any cooking unless you count making a gallon of ice cream in 10 seconds with a fire extinguisher cooking but lots of good stories.

He even took a picture of them for his Twitter feed.  Mom and dad are somewhere on the right about 1/4 of the way up, 5 seats in.  See them??!!

It was a great night but kind of late for a school night.  By the time they got home, it was almost 11.  4:45 comes early.....  So between a bad night of hangover sleep and a late night last night, everyone (except me!) is ready for a 6 PM bedtime tonight.
Have a great week!

Kind of a Fun Week!

Lots to report this week!  I had my first full week of softball practice.  Mom and dad weren't entirely sure I should be up in 10U but my coach seems to be looking after me.  I have some things to work on on the off days and so far, it hasn't been much of a battle to get me to do it.  We'll see how it goes over the next few weeks.  

On Thursday my class went on a really awesome field trip and mom was actually able to go on this one.  One of my classmate's mom is the AP teacher for environmental sciences in the Vail School District.  She takes her students out to the Empire Ranch Nature Preserve and they monitor an endangered species of frog.  My class got to go out and help for the day.  It. Was. Awesome.

We started out at the ranch house that was built in 1886.  We got to tour that and see what ranch life was like back in the day.

After that, we headed down into the wetlands and started with some bird watching.  We heard lots of birds but didn't actually see to many.  Mrs. In-Albon said something about us being a little loud and scaring them away but I don't believe her.

After the bird watching, we tested the water pH, pulled water out of the creek and looked for creatures.  We found a big ol' water scorpion- he was kind of scary looking.  We didn't see any frogs.  Mrs. In-Albon said something about us being a little loud and I think you know how the rest goes.

When we got done with our science experiments, we ate lunch at the hugest old cottonwood tree.  It was an open invitation for climbing and we all took it.

We finally got back to school about 1:30 and spent the rest of the afternoon at the book fair at school. It was such a fun day!

Friday night and Saturday day were quiet- mom spent the morning cleaning and the afternoon grocery shopping.  The evening was much better though.  Our camping friend, Mr. Mike, turned 40 and his wife had a little party for him.  All the adults went out to dinner and left us girls behind with a baby sitter.  The babysitter kept saying she could handle us because she had babysat for boys before but she bolted out of the house pretty quickly when the grown-ups got back.
The grown ups had a fabulous time at dinner and came back for cake and ice cream.  By the time we got back to our house it was almost midnight.  That is pretty much the hour mom and dad turn into pumpkins so we were cutting it close.

We tried to sleep in on Sunday but our favorite Monkey would have none of it.  She was up and raring to go at 5:30 in the AM.  On the plus side, mom was able to get her workout in by taking Monkey for a really long walk while the rest of us slept.

Mom had big plans to take us to the Book Festival that we go to every year but she was too dang tired to even think about it.  We spent a quiet Sunday making pineapple sorbet and because Monkey has a sensitive stomach and mom had nothing better to do, she made home made doggie treats.  Ginger seems to like them and mom feels all organic and pinterestry so it was good day.

We are all hitting the hay early and hoping for a good week.

Ginger's First Camping Trip!

We've had a little bit of a fun week/weekend.  The highlight of mom's week was getting to work out on her new spin bike.  We all loved the ease of exercising in our basement in Colorado- everyone had bikes set up on trainers and it was so easy to pop downstairs for a nice spin.  Ever since we moved back, mom has been struggling to find something that was easy as that.  After trying videos, iPhone apps and just winging it, the fitness gods intervened.  Our neighbors were having a garage sale when a light broke out from the clouds and shined directly onto THE SPIN BIKE sitting in the driveway.  Mom wandered over, asked a few questions and because we are neighbors, she got it for $100 less than asking price.  And it's almost brand new!  We really have no place for it but those are just minor details.  Everyone needs a spin bike in their living room, right?  Mom got in two workouts and is much happier because of it.

After the excitement of the spin bike, the rest of the week was pretty much a let down.  Ha!  Just kidding!  On Thursday, Grandpa Vern took us out to dinner and because he was paying, we let him pick.  Keeping in mind his favorite grand daughter in Tucson, he picked IHOP!  It was a stellar Thursday for me- I had pancakes for breakfast, waffles for lunch at school and then PANCAKES FOR DINNER!!  Oh.  And bacon!  It was a spectacular night!  Made even better by the fact that mom ordered the Cinnamon stack pancakes, which was basically eating a huge cinnamon roll for dinner.  Not the best nutritional choice but pretty dang fantastic if you ask me.

On Friday, after recovering from our sugar overload, we headed out to our favorite, close by camping spot and we got brave and took Monkey with us.  Everyone was a little on edge because she is still a little bit of a wild card but we were pleasantly surprised!  There  were a few episodes of barking at strangers but for the most part, she just took it all in and had a fabulous time.  We went for a hike and found a series of waterfalls and ponds that Monkey just loved and got herself nice and wet and dirty, just like a dog should.  The only small issue we had was her restless at night.  Mom heard her all night rustling around, scratching, licking- you know all that awesome stuff dogs do.  It's bad enough during the day but at midnight in a 24' RV, it's really bad.  No one else heard it so maybe, it was just mom's imagination.....

We came home Saturday, got unpacked and just hung around, resting up.  Ginger was tired and that is what was important.  We all headed to bed early and had a relaxing Sunday.  I practiced my pitching, we did a little hot tub sitting and fired up the grill for dinner.  All in all, a good day.  Have a great week!

Spring Break Fun!

Aaaaah- another fantastic vacation week in the books.  We love vacation.  We wish we could win the lottery so we could be on permanent vacation.  For my spring break, we headed back to our favorite happy place- the California coast and Disneyland.  We headed out on Saturday for San Diego and spent the afternoon exploring the sea caves and the beach.  We found the Cave Store and for a small fee, we could walk down a big tunnel, right into the cave.  It was pretty cool.  We found a tour company that will take us out on a sea kayak to see the caves from the ocean, so that is on the agenda for our next trip out.

We made our way down to the beach and ended up hanging out there for quite a while.  There were several seals that were relaxing and enjoying the sun and then we watched a poor baby seal come ashore, looking for it's mom.  She was no where to be seen and the other seals were being really not very nice.  Luckily, Sea World or Scripps Aquarium or someone who knows something about sea life came along and rescued the little one.  Hopefully, she is in a good place now.

After a really nice evening in La Jolla, we headed north to the magic kingdom.  Since we've been so often, we can stop and enjoy the stuff you can't if you are on a schedule.  We started the day with pictures with Minnie Mouse, which then became mom's profile picture on Facebook.

I rediscovered California Screamin' and dad and I rode it about 10 bazillion times.  It's my new favorite ride.

We of course hit Cars again and as usual, it broke down a few times so we really couldn't ride it.  When finally made it onto the ride, it of course broke down.  If you remember, a couple of visits ago, it broke down while we were on it but it was fixed pretty quick so we got two rides in a row.  This time, it broke down but it never got fixed.  That was OK though because it led to a new adventure of being walked out of the ride.  We were instructed not to take any pictures but dad being the rebel that he is snapped one of me and the Hornet.  It was a pretty cool walk out and we got Fast Passes to ride again so it was all good in the end.

We even made to the Frozen ride- it was a bunch of snow and a toboggan race.  Seeing as mom doesn't have a fondness for snow, she could do without this ride, but I loved it!

We rolled back into town on Wednesday afternoon and mom and dad had to work on Thursday so I had a nanny to hang out with.  On Thursday afternoon, mom and I headed out to pick up Monkey from the Waggly Tails Bed and Breakfast.  It also happened to be Ginger's first birthday so Ms. Kay (the owner) and Ashley (her helper) made Ginger a cake!  We sang happy birthday and had a little doggy party and Ginger had a fabulous time.  Isn't this how everyone wants to spend their Thursday afternoon??

On Friday, I had to go to work with mom.  It ended up being a really good day for me.  First, Ms. Diana, the office manager at the Spine Center took me over to the hospital to drop off co-pays and while we were there, she bought me breakfast.  Because I was starving.  For real.  I got eggs, bacon and a biscuit. Mom was a little embarrassed but I ate it all and was a happy camper.  In the afternoon, mom had her last patient at the hospital so we packed up and headed over there.  She introduced me to Loretta, one of the awesome therapy assistants she works with and next thing mom knows, I'm headed off to the gift shop with Loretta and come back with some Junior Mints.  I love this thing called work!

And finally, as you may or may not know, I really want to pitch in softball.  Our spring season starts tomorrow and I have been bumped up from 8U to 10U.  Dad and I have been practicing my pitching a lot and I'm throwing super hard.  We had mom stand in as a batter on Wednesday so I could get used to pitching to someone.  It turns out, I pitch hard but I don't pitch with much accuracy.  This is mom's knee after she didn't get out of the way fast enough.  So maybe it is her reflexes and not my accuracy?  Dad had her stand in for a few pitches tonight but she got kind of freaked out and bailed on us.  Maybe she'll come back if she has full protective gear...

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Checking In.....

 We had a busy weekend and that is our excuse this time around for being late.  We sort of had two separate weekends with the boys off having their fun and us ladies having our own good time.
Nana D and Mr. Walker rolled into town on Thursday so Mr. Walker could ride in his 2nd annual 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo Mountain Bike Race with my dad.  He had such a good time last year that he couldn't wait to come back for more!  Dad headed out at the crack of dawn Thursday morning so he could get a primo spot for our new RV.  The boys had a sweet set up this year with plenty of space in the courtyard.  Dad got the carpet set up, the solar panel set up, the satellite dish set up and they were ready for 4 days off the grid.  Oh yeah and then there was the bike race.

Everyone wised up a bit this year and decided to do 2 man teams instead of 6 man teams.  This way, no one got stuck riding a 2AM lap.  Dad and Mr. Walker both got good nights sleep and completed 3 laps each.  That wasn't a record by any means but everyone felt good (except dad who may have caught a cold from me.....)

Mr. Walker- getting ready to sign autographs

This is how most of the weekend was spent



Meanwhile, back in town, Nana spent her Friday relaxing while mom and I were at work and school. 2 guesses as to what she did.  Shopping!  In her defense though, she didn't buy herself anything but did find a sweater for mom.
On Saturday, the three of us headed down to the Gem and Mineral Show.  This is a huge deal here in Tucson and I think the biggest one in the world.  It last for 3 weeks and you can find all sorts of stuff. There are vendors and people from all over the world.  I gave Nana's shopping a run for it's money- I had my wallet and was ready to roll.  I bought a Trilobite fossil, 2 glow in the dark minerals and a slice of a geode.  It was a fabulous day!

That night, we met Ms. Audrey and Madeline for a Valentine's Dinner.  Mr. Mike ( Madeline's dad) was out at the 24 Hour race too and we women weren't going to be denied a nice evening.

On Sunday, we headed to my friend Max and Claire's house to work on our edible car for the Edible Car Contest for school on Monday.  We named it Candy Joe and it was made out of rice crispies and fudge strip cookies.  It even involved Mr. Souveignier using a drill on the rice crispy treats.  It ended up being a pretty good car- we finished in third by just a hair.  That was kind of disappointing but we all survived.

I almost forgot our super fun Valentine's Day party- the parents and a fun photo shoot for all of us crazy third graders.....

Family Reunions of Sorts

So here we are again- two weeks behind.  We have a good excuse (but when do we not).  Last weekend, mom had a continuing education conference up in Phoenix that she had to go to on Saturday.  That would have been bummer enough except she had to drive up and back on the same day.  After sitting on her butt all day.  And we were in the middle of three days of record rain fall.  She is a bit of a white knuckle driver on I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix anyway but add rain, fog and stupid people and it's a whole new level of fun.  Good thing the course was good- she learned all about our vestibular system and got to practice it on Monday.  She left dad and I to fend for ourselves with over 2 inches of rain and a leaky roof.   Mom and dad were relaxing, enjoying their Friday night beer, listening to the rain when they notice water seeping in on the floor.  Then they notice our new paint job with a nice big water bubble half way up the wall.  Dad got up on the roof during a break in the rain on Saturday and thinks he got it fixed.  We sure hope so because otherwise, mom is looking at having to give her bathroom remodel for a stupid roof leak.  We made it through Saturday and woke to a beautiful Sunday morning.  The rain cleared out and we running rivers and fog.  It made for a beautiful run......

The rest of Sunday was spent catching up on Saturday chores- grocery shopping, laundry, all that fun stuff.  In the afternoon, we headed to our friends Brian and Christina's for a Super Bowl party.  We had a good time but left at half time because we are weenies and had to get to bed.  It was probably for the best since everyone at the party was Seahawk fans.  Poor Seahawks.


So, we sent Ginger to boarding school for a month.  Mom didn't tell anyone because she was kind of embarrassed that we  couldn't get our dog under control but it was getting crazy and super stressful and not fun.  So off to board and train for Monkey back on January 3.  I missed her bunches while she was gone and she came home Thursday night.  This is me waiting for her to get here.  At first mom was not so sure that it was worth the money because she still seemed crazy but things are much better now.  Ginger is calmer, doesn't jump all over us, doesn't maul us while sitting on the couch, doesn't constantly jump on the counter and actually listens to correction.  She is still very much a crazy puppy but she is a controllable crazy puppy.  We can manage that.

The second exciting thing over the weekend- we got our new couch delivered!  It is so awesome and we love it!  Our new chair still has a few more weeks before it gets here but we have all spent time sprawled on the couch and it is great.  I have already deposited crumbs between the cushions.  We are still deciding what to do with our old couch but we live in a neighborhood where if we put it out on the curb with a "FREE" sign on it, it will be gone in 20 minutes.

Remember a few weeks ago when we said we went to the RV show but were "just looking".  Well.  You know my dad.  He wasn't loving our current RV.  Not a great layout, no swivel seats, poor gas mileage, loud like the airport shuttle when we drove it.  While at the RV show, he found his dream RV.  And then he spent the next two weeks salivating over it on-line.  And then he found the exact one for sale.  In Sacramento, as in California.  Can you say ROAD TRIP!  He flew up to Sacramento Thursday afternoon, spent the night there and was picked up by the RV people Friday morning.  They then drove to Boom City, Nevada to complete the paperwork.  Apparently, you avoid paying hefty sales tax in California and then again in Arizona when you do it this way.  So, with a huge winter storm chasing him down the two lane highways in backwoods  Nevada, he headed out about 3 PM Friday afternoon.  After a stop at Walmart to wait out the 60 mph winds, he was on his way again.  He spent the night in our new RV in a casino parking lot in Tonopah.  He finally rolled in about 3PM on Saturday, tired but super happy.  He spent the rest of the day and most of Sunday morning organizing and playing with all the new buttons and switches.  We all like it and it is a better lay out.....
Mom's only disappointment is that it's maiden voyage is to the 24 Hour mountain bike race next weekend.  A bunch of stinky, sweaty boys hanging out in our shiny new RV before she gets a chance too.

Have a wonderful weekend!