Wow, it's January 22, and this is the first post we've done all year?? YIKES!!
Well, we have something post-worthy now... In the wake of my mom's funeral (yeah, I'll get that up on the blog too, because it's certainly journalable and I don't want to forget it!), my brother Brian and his family spent the day with us, and it was about as nice as a Saturday in January ever gets in Western Washington!
We did some stuff, moved some furniture (piano and couch swap), ate some food (pizza, hot dogs, tacos and home made ice cream), and then it was time to reward our efforts with some fun in the sun...
So we grabbed the Aerobie an headed to the park. The little kids played on the big playground toys while Brian, his wife Daphne and their daughter Kaley and I played frisbee with it for an hour or more. Then Cindy showed up in the van, with all kinds of kids toys, including two PlasmaCars. If you haven't heard of PlasmaCars, google them. Seriously. I don't feel like linking them, I'm trying to tell a story here!! Oh, fine. Okay, click here to learn about them, but then you have to come back here!
I could try to write up a play-by-play of what happened next, but videos are way more fun... So here ya go, click play!
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
When the Old and New Collide!
The 2010/11 Soccer season has begun!
Our first game of the year was against "The Fury", the funny thing is that this team used to be called "The Storm" when Kaylee played for them. The last season Kaylee played with this team they were "The Barracuda's". We have known almost every girl on the opposing team since kindergarten! It was so fun to see all the girls grown up, and they had a blast playing each other.
My favorite moment from the game was at the end when the team does their cheer for the opposing team. Our girls couldn't remember what the new name was and had to double check with the coach, one of Kaylee's team mates yells out "it's The Fury, ya know like balls of fury"... I had to walk away :) I love this age.
Our first game of the year was against "The Fury", the funny thing is that this team used to be called "The Storm" when Kaylee played for them. The last season Kaylee played with this team they were "The Barracuda's". We have known almost every girl on the opposing team since kindergarten! It was so fun to see all the girls grown up, and they had a blast playing each other.
My favorite moment from the game was at the end when the team does their cheer for the opposing team. Our girls couldn't remember what the new name was and had to double check with the coach, one of Kaylee's team mates yells out "it's The Fury, ya know like balls of fury"... I had to walk away :) I love this age.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tyler At The Championship Game!
For many years now, Tyler has played several sports. Typically, as soon as one ends, he's right there for the next one, ready to play. It's given him a well rounded appreciation of athletics, as well as the voice of experience when saying whether or not he likes a particular sport.
After two or three years of Soccer, he decided it wasn't the game for him. Basketball, he's done for two years now, and loves it. Volleyball had its first turn at the beginning of this past school year, and he really liked it. And for at least three or four years, he's done some form of baseball - tee-ball, coach pitch, underhand-slow-pitch, and finally this year, fast pitch hardball!
Pretty much all of Tyler's teams have had a few things in common. They were all rec league teams, and he was always on the same team with a bunch of his friends from school.
Oh yeah, there was one other thing they all had in common, and I truly mean no disrespect to Tyler, his teammates or coaches, but the common thread was that they all stunk. Last place finishes were the norm. Occasionally they'd get lucky and win a game or two, but really, it was like watching the bad news bears - before they turned it around and got good.
Well this year for baseball season, Tyler's mom decided she was tired of "looking for the positive" and "playing for the experience" and decided to move Tyler to a different league - the CVAC - with a different group of kids and different coaches.
Tyler landed on the Athletics, or the A's, with uniforms modeled after Oakland's team of the same name.
And wow, what a difference! The A's won a lot of games. When the playoffs started, not only was Tyler's team in them, they were the top seed!!
After mowing down the first couple rounds, last Saturday was the final, championship game! (I had to miss it because Comcast is pure 100% unspeakable evil, but that's another post on its own)
I'm very lucky that Cindy was able to go to his game, and take the camera to catch some of the action for me.
Tyler gave it his all!
Sadly, by the end of the game, the A's had wound up suffering a rare loss. But as Tyler put it, they completely slaughtered a team that then beat the team that beat his team, so in a roundabout way, he's still pretty sure that his A's are the real champions.
I'll go along with that!!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Kids @ Play
Tyler wrapped up his Basketball season last week, and I missed the last game of the year, thanks to a baby girl who decided - right as we were about to leave - that she was hungry, and needed to be fed RIGHT. THAT. MINUTE.
But I did make it to the team banquet after the game! Tyler forgave us for missing the game, on the condition that he got to hold his baby sister...
There was one thing his team did this year that I really liked. Instead of giving the kids yet another trophy to collect dust on some shelf, they made up T-Shirts with the team logo! That, along with a certificate made for a bunch of happy kids, including our own Tyler!
We mentioned a couple weeks ago that Water Polo season was upon us, and that Ellysa made the cut and is on the Varsity squad! It's a huge accomplishment for her, and we're very proud! Time for a fresh batch of pics to capture the 2009 Varsity Water Polo experience.
First, here she is, with some teammates, coming out from the locker room to the pool.
About to jump in, looking relaxed and happy.
Then it's like a bunch of sharks in a feeding frenzy, only it's high school girls instead of sharks, and they're not fighting over a wounded seal, but a volleyball-looking ball... and they have to tread water the whole time! (Ellysa is #9, on the right)
As she pulls herself out of the water, you can see the exhaustion on her face. But her eyes remain glued on the ball!
At the end of the game, it's all worthwhile. Another opponent bites the dust.
And since these days, it feels like a post isn't complete without a picture of Jasper sleeping on something not meant for him. He's upgraded from the boring old recliner, to Danee's vibrating bouncy chair! Next time I see him sleeping in there, I'm totally turning on the vibrating feature...
But I did make it to the team banquet after the game! Tyler forgave us for missing the game, on the condition that he got to hold his baby sister...
There was one thing his team did this year that I really liked. Instead of giving the kids yet another trophy to collect dust on some shelf, they made up T-Shirts with the team logo! That, along with a certificate made for a bunch of happy kids, including our own Tyler!
We mentioned a couple weeks ago that Water Polo season was upon us, and that Ellysa made the cut and is on the Varsity squad! It's a huge accomplishment for her, and we're very proud! Time for a fresh batch of pics to capture the 2009 Varsity Water Polo experience.
First, here she is, with some teammates, coming out from the locker room to the pool.
About to jump in, looking relaxed and happy.
Then it's like a bunch of sharks in a feeding frenzy, only it's high school girls instead of sharks, and they're not fighting over a wounded seal, but a volleyball-looking ball... and they have to tread water the whole time! (Ellysa is #9, on the right)
As she pulls herself out of the water, you can see the exhaustion on her face. But her eyes remain glued on the ball!
At the end of the game, it's all worthwhile. Another opponent bites the dust.
And since these days, it feels like a post isn't complete without a picture of Jasper sleeping on something not meant for him. He's upgraded from the boring old recliner, to Danee's vibrating bouncy chair! Next time I see him sleeping in there, I'm totally turning on the vibrating feature...
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Commenting on Your Comments
It's time once again to turn this whole blogging thing inside-out! Normally, we post things, and then you respond to them. But every now and then, your responses are so great, that we want to respond back - but don't know whether or not you'd actually check back to see if we had, so we do a post like this. Got it? Good!
First up:
Last week I posted some info about Ellysa playing Water Polo. My cousin Amy responded...
Thanks, Amy! We love it too! Ellysa had tried Soccer and Softball, but she is a true Water Baby. Her sports are Swim Team in the fall, and Water Polo in the Spring. Also, she just received her lifeguard certification, and hopes to spend this upcoming summer down at the neighborhood pool, working as a lifeguard!
Also last week, I posted a picture of our Jasper kitty snuggling in our (his?) recliner. There were a couple noteworthy responses to that, from my wife and my sister...
Yes, as Cindy stated, he is the best Mighty Hunter Cat we've ever had - which is cool, although it is kinda unsettling that those vermin are around in the first place... And Susan.. Oh Susan... Rusty the guinea pig is no longer with us... But don't worry, he's in a better place. A much better place! One of last summer's daycare kids has a dad who fell head over heels for Rusty, and they adopted him from us! He's so spoiled now that he even goes to grandma's house every day so he's not home in an empty house all by himself. The only downside in this situation is that I don't have any pics to put up here for you!
I'm sure by now, all of you went and entered my niece Heidi's contest, where the winner will receive a mythical Box o' Awesome! Her rules stated that I had to promote it on my blog, which I did. I didn't think I did anything special, but Heidi said...
Thank you, Heidi. I look forward to opening the Awesome! The unboxing ceremony will be shown here!
Heidi also asked a good question about our upcoming trip to the Temple, where Cindy and I will be Sealed...
Like I said, it's a good question! We don't have a set date yet, but we're getting close. What we can tell you, is that we'll be doing it at the Seattle Temple, and that's a good thing because there appear to be a lot of people who want to come with us, and we've been told that Seattle has a large Sealing Room! We're waiting until the adoption is finalized, and it's looking like it'll be sometime in April.
My cousin Debie just had a baby of her own last week! I've been thinking for a while, that it would be really nice if we lived in the Tri-Cities so that Danee and her Emma could be friends. What is it they say about great minds??
Yeah... Some day, hopefully not TOO far down the road, we'll get a chance to be neighbors!
My sister Susan, always willing to give out loving, sisterly advice, was very concerned that we let Danee fall asleep in our bed...
Oh don't kid yourself Su!! I could NEVER forget the terror that was Brian being weaned from Mom and Dad's bedroom! I shared a room with him at the time, so when they locked him in the room, who do you think got to hear the screaming the loudest??
First up:
Last week I posted some info about Ellysa playing Water Polo. My cousin Amy responded...
Thanks, Amy! We love it too! Ellysa had tried Soccer and Softball, but she is a true Water Baby. Her sports are Swim Team in the fall, and Water Polo in the Spring. Also, she just received her lifeguard certification, and hopes to spend this upcoming summer down at the neighborhood pool, working as a lifeguard!
Also last week, I posted a picture of our Jasper kitty snuggling in our (his?) recliner. There were a couple noteworthy responses to that, from my wife and my sister...
Yes, as Cindy stated, he is the best Mighty Hunter Cat we've ever had - which is cool, although it is kinda unsettling that those vermin are around in the first place... And Susan.. Oh Susan... Rusty the guinea pig is no longer with us... But don't worry, he's in a better place. A much better place! One of last summer's daycare kids has a dad who fell head over heels for Rusty, and they adopted him from us! He's so spoiled now that he even goes to grandma's house every day so he's not home in an empty house all by himself. The only downside in this situation is that I don't have any pics to put up here for you!
I'm sure by now, all of you went and entered my niece Heidi's contest, where the winner will receive a mythical Box o' Awesome! Her rules stated that I had to promote it on my blog, which I did. I didn't think I did anything special, but Heidi said...
Thank you, Heidi. I look forward to opening the Awesome! The unboxing ceremony will be shown here!
Heidi also asked a good question about our upcoming trip to the Temple, where Cindy and I will be Sealed...
Like I said, it's a good question! We don't have a set date yet, but we're getting close. What we can tell you, is that we'll be doing it at the Seattle Temple, and that's a good thing because there appear to be a lot of people who want to come with us, and we've been told that Seattle has a large Sealing Room! We're waiting until the adoption is finalized, and it's looking like it'll be sometime in April.
My cousin Debie just had a baby of her own last week! I've been thinking for a while, that it would be really nice if we lived in the Tri-Cities so that Danee and her Emma could be friends. What is it they say about great minds??
Yeah... Some day, hopefully not TOO far down the road, we'll get a chance to be neighbors!
My sister Susan, always willing to give out loving, sisterly advice, was very concerned that we let Danee fall asleep in our bed...
Oh don't kid yourself Su!! I could NEVER forget the terror that was Brian being weaned from Mom and Dad's bedroom! I shared a room with him at the time, so when they locked him in the room, who do you think got to hear the screaming the loudest??
I love Brian dearly, but that was a kid with issues, man!! You weren't around for some of the worst, but Janice and I could tell you stories - oh, the stories!! Anyway, Danee doesn't ALWAYS go to sleep in our bed, but it is her favorite place. She also does a good job of laying down in her crib and putting herself to sleep. Right now, as I type this, she's doing that. I hear her in the monitor occasionally pretend-crying, but she's been quiet for five minutes now, so I think she's asleep!
And finally, to top off my blogging week (and this post) my cousin Kendra, a long time lurker, first time commenter, had this to say about my Friday Funny post this week:
THANK YOU!! Obviously, I already had the funny pictures... But I love sharing the fun, and all it takes is an occasional comment like that to remind me that it's worth doing. When a comment like that comes from a normally silent lurker, I know that the Friday Funny post serves a vital purpose and must continue!
So there you have it! Your questions and comments have been answered, Danee went to sleep without snuggling in our bed, and I actually had enough time on the computer to put up a post about all of it! AMAZING!!
And finally, to top off my blogging week (and this post) my cousin Kendra, a long time lurker, first time commenter, had this to say about my Friday Funny post this week:
THANK YOU!! Obviously, I already had the funny pictures... But I love sharing the fun, and all it takes is an occasional comment like that to remind me that it's worth doing. When a comment like that comes from a normally silent lurker, I know that the Friday Funny post serves a vital purpose and must continue!
So there you have it! Your questions and comments have been answered, Danee went to sleep without snuggling in our bed, and I actually had enough time on the computer to put up a post about all of it! AMAZING!!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
She Works Hard For It, Honey!
Water Polo Season is upon us again, and Ellysa is representin' well!
After the initial "Hell Week" of practices at 5:00am as well as after school, I picked her up last Monday with a great big smile on her face - as a second year player, as a sophomore in high school, our Ellysa has made the Varsity Water Polo Team!!
This is a BIG deal, because Curtis' Water Polo teams pretty much rule the league in general, and the Varsity squad quite literally owns the competition. I talked to one of the opposing coaches last year after a JV game, and he said that he likes to come play us because it gives his girls a serious reality check, and they play harder against their next opponents.
That was JV. The Big-V is a whole other level of play!
Last night was the first game of the season, an away game at Rogers High School in Puyallup... When I picked Ellysa up at the pool after the game, I asked her how the game went. Her reply was, and I quote, "We slaughtered them!"
Now, I've learned that the term "slaughtered" can imply various degrees of slaughtitude, so I expanded my questioning to include the actual score.
Try 25 to 3. Yeah, that's a slaughter in any vocabulary I've ever encountered!!
And to top it off, Ellysa scored one of those 25 goals!! She needs to score 8 goals to Letter in Water Polo, and with two more games coming up this weekend, she's well on her way!!
We are so incredibly proud of her!! So proud, in fact, that rather than get mad about this...
or this...
or even this...
...we just shrug it off with a smile, and marvel at the fact that she still gets up (mostly) without incident every morning and lugs her 75 pounds of gear (books, flute, water polo bag, lunch, etc, etc) off to school.
The season will end all too soon, and then we'll get back to being concerned about whether or not her bedroom has a floor!
FYI - In case you forgot what Water Polo looks like, here's one of my favorite pics from last season, where Ellysa refined her skillz.
(thanks to Jan for the inspiration behind the post title!)☺
After the initial "Hell Week" of practices at 5:00am as well as after school, I picked her up last Monday with a great big smile on her face - as a second year player, as a sophomore in high school, our Ellysa has made the Varsity Water Polo Team!!
This is a BIG deal, because Curtis' Water Polo teams pretty much rule the league in general, and the Varsity squad quite literally owns the competition. I talked to one of the opposing coaches last year after a JV game, and he said that he likes to come play us because it gives his girls a serious reality check, and they play harder against their next opponents.
That was JV. The Big-V is a whole other level of play!
Last night was the first game of the season, an away game at Rogers High School in Puyallup... When I picked Ellysa up at the pool after the game, I asked her how the game went. Her reply was, and I quote, "We slaughtered them!"
Now, I've learned that the term "slaughtered" can imply various degrees of slaughtitude, so I expanded my questioning to include the actual score.
Try 25 to 3. Yeah, that's a slaughter in any vocabulary I've ever encountered!!
And to top it off, Ellysa scored one of those 25 goals!! She needs to score 8 goals to Letter in Water Polo, and with two more games coming up this weekend, she's well on her way!!
We are so incredibly proud of her!! So proud, in fact, that rather than get mad about this...
or this...
or even this...
...we just shrug it off with a smile, and marvel at the fact that she still gets up (mostly) without incident every morning and lugs her 75 pounds of gear (books, flute, water polo bag, lunch, etc, etc) off to school.
The season will end all too soon, and then we'll get back to being concerned about whether or not her bedroom has a floor!
FYI - In case you forgot what Water Polo looks like, here's one of my favorite pics from last season, where Ellysa refined her skillz.
(thanks to Jan for the inspiration behind the post title!)☺
Sunday, December 14, 2008
A Busy December Week!
Sunday again? Wow... How do the weeks blow by so fast? Tomorrow Danee will be two weeks old, and her progress has been amazing. I know it's been a couple days since we've dished out an update, so there will be one soon.
But first, here's what else has gone on this past week...
Last Sunday while Cindy was up at the hospital, the kids and I went down to the park for the annual Fircrest Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.
As in years past, the ceremony began with the mayor welcoming everyone out, and then an opening prayer was given. Yes, you read that right. I love Fircrest!! Our town is small enough that they can keep Christ in Christmas, right there in a public ceremony. After the "Amen," was a countdown, followed by the throwing of the switch.
And then there was light! I wanted to get a picture of all the kids in front of the tree, but Ellysa's friend was singing in the choir down at the Rec. Center, and she ran down there before I could get everyone in one place. So just imagine her standing here...
Tuesday is a blur.. Stuff probably happened, but ummm... we didn't document it well!
Wednesday was Andy's 16th Birthday! His mom and stepdad joined us for dinner, cake, ice cream and presents - Andy got a new, really nice bike to make his already epic rides even epic-er!
Thursday night was...
Featuring...
This was the first concert since her special concert dress arrived!
The band looked and sounded great!
Then Friday night was the Christmas Party at Church!
Saturday morning, Tyler had a volleyball tournament.
And Saturday night was my Christmas Party at work... no pictures necessary.
In the midst of all that other stuff, we've been up at the hospital spending as much time with Danee as we possibly can!
But first, here's what else has gone on this past week...
Last Sunday while Cindy was up at the hospital, the kids and I went down to the park for the annual Fircrest Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.
As in years past, the ceremony began with the mayor welcoming everyone out, and then an opening prayer was given. Yes, you read that right. I love Fircrest!! Our town is small enough that they can keep Christ in Christmas, right there in a public ceremony. After the "Amen," was a countdown, followed by the throwing of the switch.
And then there was light! I wanted to get a picture of all the kids in front of the tree, but Ellysa's friend was singing in the choir down at the Rec. Center, and she ran down there before I could get everyone in one place. So just imagine her standing here...
Tuesday is a blur.. Stuff probably happened, but ummm... we didn't document it well!
Wednesday was Andy's 16th Birthday! His mom and stepdad joined us for dinner, cake, ice cream and presents - Andy got a new, really nice bike to make his already epic rides even epic-er!
Thursday night was...
Featuring...
This was the first concert since her special concert dress arrived!
The band looked and sounded great!
Then Friday night was the Christmas Party at Church!
Saturday morning, Tyler had a volleyball tournament.
And Saturday night was my Christmas Party at work... no pictures necessary.
In the midst of all that other stuff, we've been up at the hospital spending as much time with Danee as we possibly can!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Fall is a wrap!
The fall sports have wound down and our family is enjoying a leisurely Saturday together. As I write this Mike and the kids are enjoying a game of Doctor Mario!
Last Saturday was the soccer party for Kaylee's team "The Barracudas". We ate Pizza and the girls were given their trophies. Kaylee was a high scorer for her team this year and was 1 out of only two girls to have a "hat trick" (three goals in one game) this season.
Kaylee will start basketball in December for the first time. I am not sure what to expect but I do know with Kaylee it will be a lot of fun!!
Ellysa celebrated the "Curtis High School Girls Swim Team" season on Thursday night. She had another great season cutting her times with her best at 1:09 for her 100 freestyle. She started the season with a 1:13! Way to go! She is now timing for boys' swimming while she waits for girls' Water Polo to start.
Tyler recently started a rec league volleyball team. He has never played before but seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit. He says he has a "Killer Serve," and we are excited to watch him play in December. (since we haven't seen him play yet, here's an artist's rendering)
I have been busy restoring this!
This baby cradle was lent to us by our sweet friend Heidi. Her babies used it and Danee will too. It has been a lot of work scraping and sanding what I would guess is 28 years worth of paint, but I am pleased to announce the cradle will finally move into the house this weekend.
Please continue to pray for a good outcome with Danee... We hit a wrinkle with the biological father. Although our attorney is certain "pigs will fly backwards in Australia" before any court would give him this baby, it does sit in my mind as a possibility. I toured the NICU on Thursday night and met with the charge nurse. Danee will be in good hands! We are close to being ready for her arrival and are praying that her biological Mom will continue to eat. Danee's weight estimation is 2.5 lbs, we are hoping for 3.5-4.0 when she is delivered on December 5th at 8:00 am. I will be in the delivery room to welcome our daughter into the world. I know that Heavenly Father is working this out and in the process my faith is being made stronger. All in His time, right???
Last Saturday was the soccer party for Kaylee's team "The Barracudas". We ate Pizza and the girls were given their trophies. Kaylee was a high scorer for her team this year and was 1 out of only two girls to have a "hat trick" (three goals in one game) this season.
Kaylee will start basketball in December for the first time. I am not sure what to expect but I do know with Kaylee it will be a lot of fun!!
Ellysa celebrated the "Curtis High School Girls Swim Team" season on Thursday night. She had another great season cutting her times with her best at 1:09 for her 100 freestyle. She started the season with a 1:13! Way to go! She is now timing for boys' swimming while she waits for girls' Water Polo to start.
Tyler recently started a rec league volleyball team. He has never played before but seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit. He says he has a "Killer Serve," and we are excited to watch him play in December. (since we haven't seen him play yet, here's an artist's rendering)
I have been busy restoring this!
This baby cradle was lent to us by our sweet friend Heidi. Her babies used it and Danee will too. It has been a lot of work scraping and sanding what I would guess is 28 years worth of paint, but I am pleased to announce the cradle will finally move into the house this weekend.
Please continue to pray for a good outcome with Danee... We hit a wrinkle with the biological father. Although our attorney is certain "pigs will fly backwards in Australia" before any court would give him this baby, it does sit in my mind as a possibility. I toured the NICU on Thursday night and met with the charge nurse. Danee will be in good hands! We are close to being ready for her arrival and are praying that her biological Mom will continue to eat. Danee's weight estimation is 2.5 lbs, we are hoping for 3.5-4.0 when she is delivered on December 5th at 8:00 am. I will be in the delivery room to welcome our daughter into the world. I know that Heavenly Father is working this out and in the process my faith is being made stronger. All in His time, right???
Monday, October 13, 2008
Ooooooh, Barracuda!
This past Saturday was a perfect example of a nice October day, with blue skies, relatively warm weather, and of course, a home game for Kaylee's soccer team, The Barracudas!
A couple years ago, Kaylee was named "Best Ball-Handling" at the end of season award ceremony. She showed that she still has the mad skillz at this game!
She also showed some of the fearless aggression that we love to see!!
And finally, looking somewhat similar to leading the Bunny Hop at her school dance last week, here she's leading a pack of purple opponents to the ball!
Great Game, Kaylee!!
P.S. In case you didn't notice up above, Kaylee picked today's Song of the Day, specifically for her Aunt Susan!
A couple years ago, Kaylee was named "Best Ball-Handling" at the end of season award ceremony. She showed that she still has the mad skillz at this game!
She also showed some of the fearless aggression that we love to see!!
And finally, looking somewhat similar to leading the Bunny Hop at her school dance last week, here she's leading a pack of purple opponents to the ball!
Great Game, Kaylee!!
P.S. In case you didn't notice up above, Kaylee picked today's Song of the Day, specifically for her Aunt Susan!
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Ellysa's F.A.S.T.
Today was the last swim meet of the summer. The "Fircrest Amateur Swim Team- Champs Meet" is a 10 hour meet with all the local teams competing. Ellysa swam the 100 freestyle, 100 back stroke and the 100 meter relay. She did quite well and is very tired and looking forward to a break from the pool. I wish I had her energy and stamina, it is exhausting just watching her go! In two weeks she will be back in the pool gearing up for the high school girls swim team, GO Curtis!
Friday, August 01, 2008
Wild Wednesday
Our busy week continued on Wednesday... We had planned a week earlier to take the day off on July 30, and take all the kids to Wild Waves for the day! We bought season passes this year, and wanted to make the most of them, so it seemed like a great idea. I arranged to get the day off, Cindy arranged for her assistant to work the entire day, and we were set to go!
However...
During Tuesday night's Dishwasher Olympics, it started raining. And Wednesday was getting conflicting forecasts, with some saying it would clear off and hit the low 70s, and others saying the clouds and cold would carry on. We decided that if we woke up to clouds and cold, we'd scrap our plans, but if we woke up to the promise of a blue sky, we'd stick to the plan.
Alarm goes off... I glance at the window... YEAH!! Blue sky, sunshine streaming in, a few white puffy clouds, but nothing to worry about. Radio says it's gonna burn off and hit 70. Alright, we're gonna do it!!
A few hours later, everyone was up and ready to go. Our blue sky had become largely obscured by overcast, but there was still enough blue showing that we had hope for a nice day.
And Bad Omen Number One was only seconds away.
First stop of the day, the bank to make a deposit and pull out some cash for the park. Before we even turned off our street, we almost got run into by a car that wanted to make a left turn and apparently couldn't be bothered to notice the large blue minivan in the way. I hit the horn and shot the driver the best Look of Contempt I could muster on a nice, sunny day off work... He retreated and let us pass undamaged.
Unfortunately, Bad Omen Number Two was only a minute away from there.
As we went through our second intersection of the day, going straight, doing nothing to attract danger, someone in the oncoming direction blew threw a red light in the left turn lane and turned left, aiming directly at us. I punched the gas and swerved to the right, only to see a car on that side, about to turn right, which would result in a sandwich collision with us in the middle. Somehow, I managed to pilot our van with surgical precision to avoid both cars and wind up in the lane we would have been in anyway if we hadn't had multiple heart-attack inducing incidents in that 200 square foot area.
We managed to make it the next quarter mile to the bank without anyone else trying to hit us. Made our deposit. Had a family prayer for protection, safety and FUN. Cautiously made our way to the freeway to continue our day of fun...
And the closer we got to Wild Waves, the darker the skies got. What had been mostly overcast in Tacoma became completely overcast in Fife, and was full-on black clouds of doom by the time we got to Federal Way, home of our destination. Still hoping for clearing, we parked and decided to just play on the dry side of the park for the first few hours of the day.
I'm not sure we needed another Bad Omen, but we got one... The first ride we got in line for was the Wild Thing, a fun twisty-turny-upside-downy roller coaster. We were in line, watching the train go by, noticing that the crowd levels were low enough that they were letting each train go through the ride twice! Yeah! We got to where we were halfway up the stairs that lead to the loading dock, and the train swooped around behind us, and turned to the climbing chain to start another run. Clack, clack, clack, it goes up the hill as we watch, eagerly anticipating our turn...
And then it stopped.
The motor driving the chain just shut down. Leaving a fully loaded train just standing there, on the big climb, motionless... it took about five seconds for Cindy to say "after the morning we've had, there is NO way I'm getting on that now..." We all agreed and went back out to find something else to ride on. Several other line waiters followed...
That all worked out okay, and the kids enjoyed a handful of rides with very short lines. Then Kaylee and Chelsey went on the "Ring of Fire" which is like a roller coaster, but it's on a circle loop frame, and just goes around and around. Not one of my favorites, as I like my roller coasters to go on a track with lots of different sensations, not just around and around. About 20 years ago, something in my body switched and I discovered I couldn't do the "spin 'n' barf" rides anymore. I've coped by just not going on them, since they were never really my favorites anyway.
But Kaylee and Chelsey were saying how fun it was, and how Tyler should go on it too... Tyler LOVES rides like that, but the problem is that he doesn't KNOW he loves them until he's gone on them. Prior to that first time, he is quite the little scaredy cat. Knowing he would truly love it, I tried to convince him to go. Ultimately, the only way he was going on that ride was if I came with him.
Being a contender for the 2008 Dad of the Year award, I put my personal preference aside and got in line with him. Kaylee was beside herself with the joy that Tyler and I were going to ride with her. We got on the ride as Tyler was fighting back tears of terror. As the ride started, it took a couple back and forth sweeps for his terror to be replaced with cautious excitement... A few passes later, he was screaming the happy screams that said he was loving the ride like I knew he would. At precisely the same time, my stomach sent a message to my brain. The message was:
And that was that. For the rest of the day, and well into the evening, I was nauseous. On top of the queezy feeling, I was incredibly irritated that the FIRST ride I set foot on that day would also be my last. I never had motion sickness as a kid, and to suddenly be dealing with it really ticked me off. I tried all the things I hoped would help...
Walk it off?
Eat some lunch?
Drink lots of water?
No, there was no fixing it. Plus, the black clouds were still looming above, and now the frigid arctic wind had joined them in sneering at us. The kids didn't mind in the least, and were all set to go hit the waterslides. Cindy and I made the decision to let them go right ahead. We also made the decision to leave, go home and get sweatshirts, and come back, lay on the grassy hill where we'd set up camp, and take a nap.
Amazingly, we didn't have any near-accidents on that round trip, and we got back to the park feeling somewhat better about the day... although for the record, I still felt very, very queasy.
The kids had a blast on the waterslides, and the dry rides. Kaylee and Tyler went on the Wild Thing (which was working again) four times, the ring of fire another couple times, and had what I'm sure to them, was a near-perfect day. The bigger kids all had fun too, but soon it was time to go. Chelsey had to work at 6, so we headed home so she could get ready. Oh... Interesting note... When we ran back home for warmer clothes, it was still mostly sunny and warm in Fircrest. In fact, it was 7 degrees warmer than it was 15 miles up the freeway. And when we got home again, it was still nice, and right around 69 degrees... (it had warmed up to 63 when we left Wild Waves...)
Within minutes of being home, Kaylee and Tyler crashed on the couches in the living room.. I mean CRASHED. We almost didn't want to wake them up, but it was City of Fircrest night at the Tacoma Rainiers game! So we forklifted them off the couches, managed to get them upright, and headed out to the ballpark. Since Tacoma had had a nice sunny day, it was a really nice evening to be at the stadium.
The game was great - Rainiers won 8-2, there were a couple of great hometeam homeruns, we ate way too much junkfood, and stood loudly and cheered when our little town was welcomed on the scoreboard.
OH! And we got a family portrait with Rhubarb, the Rainiers' mascot. Unfortunately, the girl who was taking pictures there had never been told that cameras need to be held still to get good pictures... So here's a crappy camera phone shot made even crappier by the shaky hands of a mascot handler.
One last note about Rhubarb - I'm pretty sure he's the greatest mascot anywhere in sports. The guy in the costume is new this year, and our local paper did a write up on him when he got the job. He LOVES his role, and it shows in everything he does. He was down on the concourse when Cindy and I were getting food, and he ran right up and stuck his snout in her nachos, pretending to gobble them up. Then he moved on to her Jumbo Pepsi. When we were down later, with all the kids to get ice cream, we saw him do the same thing to someone else. Cindy ran up to him like a woman scorned, and said "Rhubarb!! I thought you only stole MY food!" Rhubarb hung his head in shame, and sulked away, kicking over a garbage can in the process... Then he pulled himself together for the picture above. He also did a routine during a break in the game where he challenged a roving food vendor to a dance-off. At the end, Rhubarb grabbed the vendor guy's food caddy, started tossing bags of food up into the crowd, and running for his life from the vendor guy. It was slapstick gold, and it really made me wonder why the big leaguers up in Seattle don't let the Moose do fun crazy stuff like that.
It was only Wednesday in the Busy Week of Summer, and by the time I'd picked up Chelsey from work and got down to bed, I was so full of junkfood, and so tired... I felt like this:
By that time, my nausea had finally pretty much gone away... And I now know for sure, that the next time I go to Wild Waves (season passes, remember?) I need to take something for motion sickness. Anybody got suggestions for what works while allowing me to be awake enough to enjoy the fact that I don't feel like puking?
However...
During Tuesday night's Dishwasher Olympics, it started raining. And Wednesday was getting conflicting forecasts, with some saying it would clear off and hit the low 70s, and others saying the clouds and cold would carry on. We decided that if we woke up to clouds and cold, we'd scrap our plans, but if we woke up to the promise of a blue sky, we'd stick to the plan.
Alarm goes off... I glance at the window... YEAH!! Blue sky, sunshine streaming in, a few white puffy clouds, but nothing to worry about. Radio says it's gonna burn off and hit 70. Alright, we're gonna do it!!
A few hours later, everyone was up and ready to go. Our blue sky had become largely obscured by overcast, but there was still enough blue showing that we had hope for a nice day.
And Bad Omen Number One was only seconds away.
First stop of the day, the bank to make a deposit and pull out some cash for the park. Before we even turned off our street, we almost got run into by a car that wanted to make a left turn and apparently couldn't be bothered to notice the large blue minivan in the way. I hit the horn and shot the driver the best Look of Contempt I could muster on a nice, sunny day off work... He retreated and let us pass undamaged.
Unfortunately, Bad Omen Number Two was only a minute away from there.
As we went through our second intersection of the day, going straight, doing nothing to attract danger, someone in the oncoming direction blew threw a red light in the left turn lane and turned left, aiming directly at us. I punched the gas and swerved to the right, only to see a car on that side, about to turn right, which would result in a sandwich collision with us in the middle. Somehow, I managed to pilot our van with surgical precision to avoid both cars and wind up in the lane we would have been in anyway if we hadn't had multiple heart-attack inducing incidents in that 200 square foot area.
We managed to make it the next quarter mile to the bank without anyone else trying to hit us. Made our deposit. Had a family prayer for protection, safety and FUN. Cautiously made our way to the freeway to continue our day of fun...
And the closer we got to Wild Waves, the darker the skies got. What had been mostly overcast in Tacoma became completely overcast in Fife, and was full-on black clouds of doom by the time we got to Federal Way, home of our destination. Still hoping for clearing, we parked and decided to just play on the dry side of the park for the first few hours of the day.
I'm not sure we needed another Bad Omen, but we got one... The first ride we got in line for was the Wild Thing, a fun twisty-turny-upside-downy roller coaster. We were in line, watching the train go by, noticing that the crowd levels were low enough that they were letting each train go through the ride twice! Yeah! We got to where we were halfway up the stairs that lead to the loading dock, and the train swooped around behind us, and turned to the climbing chain to start another run. Clack, clack, clack, it goes up the hill as we watch, eagerly anticipating our turn...
And then it stopped.
The motor driving the chain just shut down. Leaving a fully loaded train just standing there, on the big climb, motionless... it took about five seconds for Cindy to say "after the morning we've had, there is NO way I'm getting on that now..." We all agreed and went back out to find something else to ride on. Several other line waiters followed...
That all worked out okay, and the kids enjoyed a handful of rides with very short lines. Then Kaylee and Chelsey went on the "Ring of Fire" which is like a roller coaster, but it's on a circle loop frame, and just goes around and around. Not one of my favorites, as I like my roller coasters to go on a track with lots of different sensations, not just around and around. About 20 years ago, something in my body switched and I discovered I couldn't do the "spin 'n' barf" rides anymore. I've coped by just not going on them, since they were never really my favorites anyway.
But Kaylee and Chelsey were saying how fun it was, and how Tyler should go on it too... Tyler LOVES rides like that, but the problem is that he doesn't KNOW he loves them until he's gone on them. Prior to that first time, he is quite the little scaredy cat. Knowing he would truly love it, I tried to convince him to go. Ultimately, the only way he was going on that ride was if I came with him.
Being a contender for the 2008 Dad of the Year award, I put my personal preference aside and got in line with him. Kaylee was beside herself with the joy that Tyler and I were going to ride with her. We got on the ride as Tyler was fighting back tears of terror. As the ride started, it took a couple back and forth sweeps for his terror to be replaced with cautious excitement... A few passes later, he was screaming the happy screams that said he was loving the ride like I knew he would. At precisely the same time, my stomach sent a message to my brain. The message was:
And that was that. For the rest of the day, and well into the evening, I was nauseous. On top of the queezy feeling, I was incredibly irritated that the FIRST ride I set foot on that day would also be my last. I never had motion sickness as a kid, and to suddenly be dealing with it really ticked me off. I tried all the things I hoped would help...
Walk it off?
Eat some lunch?
Drink lots of water?
No, there was no fixing it. Plus, the black clouds were still looming above, and now the frigid arctic wind had joined them in sneering at us. The kids didn't mind in the least, and were all set to go hit the waterslides. Cindy and I made the decision to let them go right ahead. We also made the decision to leave, go home and get sweatshirts, and come back, lay on the grassy hill where we'd set up camp, and take a nap.
Amazingly, we didn't have any near-accidents on that round trip, and we got back to the park feeling somewhat better about the day... although for the record, I still felt very, very queasy.
The kids had a blast on the waterslides, and the dry rides. Kaylee and Tyler went on the Wild Thing (which was working again) four times, the ring of fire another couple times, and had what I'm sure to them, was a near-perfect day. The bigger kids all had fun too, but soon it was time to go. Chelsey had to work at 6, so we headed home so she could get ready. Oh... Interesting note... When we ran back home for warmer clothes, it was still mostly sunny and warm in Fircrest. In fact, it was 7 degrees warmer than it was 15 miles up the freeway. And when we got home again, it was still nice, and right around 69 degrees... (it had warmed up to 63 when we left Wild Waves...)
Within minutes of being home, Kaylee and Tyler crashed on the couches in the living room.. I mean CRASHED. We almost didn't want to wake them up, but it was City of Fircrest night at the Tacoma Rainiers game! So we forklifted them off the couches, managed to get them upright, and headed out to the ballpark. Since Tacoma had had a nice sunny day, it was a really nice evening to be at the stadium.
The game was great - Rainiers won 8-2, there were a couple of great hometeam homeruns, we ate way too much junkfood, and stood loudly and cheered when our little town was welcomed on the scoreboard.
OH! And we got a family portrait with Rhubarb, the Rainiers' mascot. Unfortunately, the girl who was taking pictures there had never been told that cameras need to be held still to get good pictures... So here's a crappy camera phone shot made even crappier by the shaky hands of a mascot handler.
One last note about Rhubarb - I'm pretty sure he's the greatest mascot anywhere in sports. The guy in the costume is new this year, and our local paper did a write up on him when he got the job. He LOVES his role, and it shows in everything he does. He was down on the concourse when Cindy and I were getting food, and he ran right up and stuck his snout in her nachos, pretending to gobble them up. Then he moved on to her Jumbo Pepsi. When we were down later, with all the kids to get ice cream, we saw him do the same thing to someone else. Cindy ran up to him like a woman scorned, and said "Rhubarb!! I thought you only stole MY food!" Rhubarb hung his head in shame, and sulked away, kicking over a garbage can in the process... Then he pulled himself together for the picture above. He also did a routine during a break in the game where he challenged a roving food vendor to a dance-off. At the end, Rhubarb grabbed the vendor guy's food caddy, started tossing bags of food up into the crowd, and running for his life from the vendor guy. It was slapstick gold, and it really made me wonder why the big leaguers up in Seattle don't let the Moose do fun crazy stuff like that.
It was only Wednesday in the Busy Week of Summer, and by the time I'd picked up Chelsey from work and got down to bed, I was so full of junkfood, and so tired... I felt like this:
By that time, my nausea had finally pretty much gone away... And I now know for sure, that the next time I go to Wild Waves (season passes, remember?) I need to take something for motion sickness. Anybody got suggestions for what works while allowing me to be awake enough to enjoy the fact that I don't feel like puking?
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