Why you should totally NOT feel sorry for Hadley

August 17, 2014 By

Do you remember my previous post about Hadley’s rocky reentry into the real world after a month-long vacation and most recently getting spoiled by Grandma J.?

One of her complaints was about her eensy-weensy twin bed. I blow off first-world whining like that. I didn’t get my first queen-sized bed until I was in my late-20s and wasn’t going to run out and buy her a bigger bed. I figured when she was a teenager, it would be great to upgrade to a Queen so we could boot her out of it when we have guests.

Case in point: my parents stayed with us last week and I certainly couldn’t have them stay on the twin bed in my office that doesn’t even have a bed frame. So, Jamie and I gladly gave up our bedroom and slept on the couch in the basement.

But then two days later, my friend Ratna posted on Facebook that she was giving away a queen-sized bed. I hesitated. What kind of message would that give to Hadley if she whined and I delivered? The last thing I want is an entitled, spoiled tween.

Then I remembered how I really don’t want to sleep on the couch again so I jumped on it. We’ll buy a headboard and new bedding later.

Fat Kitty & Hadley, sitting on a bed

She, of course, was thrilled.  But part of “earning” the bed was helping me move her old one to my office/spare bedroom and finish decorating it while also cleaning out the disaster zone under her bed.

In the end, everyone is happy. Hadley has a bigger bed, Jamie and I have something to sleep on the next time the grandparents come, my den has an actual bed for my friend Vikki who’s coming to visit this week and it didn’t cost us a dime.

“It’s not really my fault,” she defended, referring to the mess under her bed.

“Oh really? I’d like to hear why not?”

“It’s like there’s a magnet and everything just ends up under there.”

Just think how many more treasures that “magnet” will attract under a queen-sized bed.

Filed Under: Hadley, Humor

Why you should totally feel sorry for Hadley

August 12, 2014 By

Hadley’s reentry into “the real world” has been a bit rocky. Not that I’m surprised. The girl loved every moment of our 3,000-mile road-trip. Reconnecting with cousins. Stampeding in Calgary. Her free reign at the lake to roam and do whatever the heck she pleased. An extra week and a half with Jamie’s parents in Utah where yes, she worked hard helping Aunt Tammy move and watching the twins but there were shopping trips with Grandma, fancy wedding receptions and outings to the museum.

She arrived home last Thursday to much fanfare. How we missed her!

And how she apparently needed a Grandma Detox because she complained about what we had for dinner (chicken quesadillas, though we redeemed ourselves with red velvet cake), having to do chores and that night as she was going to sleep, she announced she needed a bigger bed. Grandma’s spare bedroom had a Queen.

Sorry, dear. You’re a princess-in-training and you’re stuck with a Twin.

She starts school on Monday, which will be an even more startling transition.We’re simply not ready. We’ve had a busy, fun holiday and the summer doldrums never hit.

But apparently it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. As she was reflecting upon the last few months, she observed.

“Mom, this summer has actually been really hard.”

“Really! HOW?”

“All the packing and unpacking.”

Filed Under: Hadley, Humor

Vernon, British Columbia: A week walking on water

August 5, 2014 By

My entire family hasn’t been together since our glorious trip to the Outer Banks four years ago (how could you forget our poetic and HILARIOUS crabbing by moonlight adventures)?

My brother Pat and his family are big boaters, have top-of-the-line everything and are so generous with their time and expertise with our family of newbies. The kids and I joined them in their lake house in Vernon, British Columbia for the second year in a row. New this year were Jamie, my brother Jade and his boys. It was surely a week to remember.

Though I’m just trying to forgot those 100+-degree temperatures. Remember how I like to spend July in Canada to cool down?

Regardless, if you’re going to have searing heat, 135-km-long Okanagan Lake is a good place to be and what a fun week we had full of crazy adventures.

Of course, there was the boating where the kids tubed, kneeboarded and my sister-in-law Jane taught them to wakeboard while she tutored Jamie and me in surfing. We spent oodles of time on the boat cheering everyone on as we marveled at my family of experts…

Wakeboarding Hadley

Pat clearing the wake

My bro Jade and his boys

Perfect views, perfect day while getting her wakeboard on

Meet the parents

Sisters

The pumpkin man and me

Boat babe

Nerves before wakeboarding

With my technicolor nieces

I love boating over to the West Side where the water is calmer and the views prettier. We jumped overboard and splashed, played, dunked each other off the tube and competed. Least memorable was Jade’s “crack dive” (just say ‘no’ to crack; I’ll leave that up to your imagination).

Even more disconcerting was Jamie’s initiation into the family dive-off. I had high hopes for him. He’s the strongest swimmer in our family and I just knew he could dethrone Pat and my niece Ashton for being able to dive the longest and furthest.

Oh, how quickly my hopes came crashing down.

I’m not sure what happened. We counted down and everyone did their sleek missile dives into the lake. Everyone except my dear husband who unceremoniously plopped into the lake. Sadly, my brother Pat was once again crowned king of the dive-off.

Jamie represented himself in his defense case. “I was pushed!” he accused and I believed him. Until I reviewed the photographic evidence. He is on the left in front of cousin Connor and there was no physical contact in the previous photos.

There was only a man who apparently slipped and entered the water looking like a prissy school girl skipping to school.

Better luck next year, Honey, and remember: say “no” to crack.

Stay tuned next time for more Vernon adventures!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Family travel, Hadley, Humor, Jamie

A day to remember at Okanagan Lake

August 4, 2014 By

We’re coming off a week-long boating vacation with my family in Vernon, B.C. I’ll have many more details to come but it was on our second day I was so darn proud of my kiddos. They’ve never tried wakeboarding and have had a strange/unhealthy fear of it, which is surprising given how many adventures they’ve been on and what stellar alpine skiers they are.

But all the grandkids were given the same edict: you need to try at least three times. If you don’t want to do it after that, fine. But you need to at least try.

My sister-in-law Jane is the perfect teacher. Not only is she patient but she gets down in the water with them and walks them through every step.

Eleven-year-old Connor was first. An excellent athletic and superb hockey player (his team is nationally-ranked), it was no surprise to anyone when he popped up and boarded around the lake.

Next came darling 6-year-old Naomi who got up..and then down a few times, an awesome effort given how little her legs are.

My brother Jade’s son Jaxson had us laughing the most. Extremely cautious, he kept babbling to Jane over and over again “do you know how dangerous this is?”

Cousin Jaxson, the epitome of cool

Yep, how can you tell and Bode are related?

With each passing kid, we could see Hadley increasingly freaking out on the dock. “Get her on the board now,” Jamie called out. When she gets worked up about something, it takes her a long time to talk her down.

She dragged herself over to cousin Emily who set her up on the wakeboard and over to Jane.  After a few minutes of instruction, she yelled “hit it.” At first, Hadley’s expression was panic but within a couple of seconds, she popped up and was cruising around the lake. She was the only one who was surprised–I absolutely knew she could do it. By her second run, she was already carving back and forth and begged to go again after all the kids had their turn.

Wakeboarding Hadley

Bode was next. He was surprisingly nonchalant on the dock and started to look worried when he went in the water with Aunt Jane. His first attempt was a flop (literally) and that was when he got scared, realizing it was tougher than he had thought to get up. Then he had another failed attempt. By now, he was scared. Tears started flowing down his cheeks as Jane soothingly talked him through his final attempt. “This is it,” I thought. “He’s so freaked out there is no way he’ll be able to do it.”

But gosh darn if he didn’t muster every ounce of determination that he had in that little body. As the boat started to drag him, he leaned forward and fought, fought, fought his way up, almost falling several times but eventually regaining his balance and was standing. He proceeded to wakeboard for several miles until my brother called out to him that it was OK to let go of the rope. :-)

Bode fighting to get up

I’m telling you I’ve never been more proud of him. I want him to always remember this day. How he tried something hard, something he never thought that he could do. How he worked through his tears, conquered his fears and literally floated on water.

That day was one to remember.

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Family, Family travel, Hadley

Fish Creek Provincial Park: A river-playing, mud-flinging, biking wonderland

July 22, 2014 By

When your childhood backyard is one of the largest urban parks in North America, there are endless adventures for discovering. I practically grew up in Fish Creek Provincial Park. If we weren’t biking, we were hiking, picnicking, bonfiring, and swimming in Sikome Lake.

The morning after I arrived in Calgary, Dad and I hit the trail for a resplendent ride through the park.

It truly is one of my happy places and who can blame me with views like this?

On another realllllly hot day, we took the PT Cruiser convertible out for a spin and hit one of Calgary’s hundreds of free Stampede pancake breakfasts.

Still trying to teach Dad how to do selfies. In his defense, he was kinda driving.

The kids then jumped right into Fish Creek fully clothed.

If you’re judging me for that, you’ll be exceedingly dismayed over our next display at the mud pits at Fish Creek.

We discovered them a few years ago. A few people splashing in the river would disappear for a while and then come back caked in mud. We decided to investigate and after a short, steep hike we discovered these pits tucked away covertly in the cliffs hugging the creek. Now, it is an annual tradition! We introduced my brother Jade’s family and my sister-in-law Jane’s little sister Diane’s family from Washington.

They were just as disgusted (and disgusting) as we were.

Quite predictably, most of the boys loved playing in the mud but these beauties, Hadley and Isabelle, took it one step further. Long after the boys had jumped in the river to clean off, these young ladies were milking it in. Or rather, mudding it.

Yes, that is a mud crown Queen Hadley made for herself.

I’m going to frame this picture and give it to her future husband.

Fortunately, our swimming hole in Fish Creek provided for a lovely respite as the kids jumped off the huge boulders, played in the sand and caught minnows.

Who’s in for Mud Pits 2015 next year?!

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Family, Hadley

It’s Canada Day (and that other American holiday)

July 9, 2014 By

I’ve long whined that no one ever comes to visit me in Colorado. I mean, how could they not? Colorado is gloriously gorgeous and one of the top tourist destinations in the United States. I now realize that it’s because I never actually invite anyone and having an “open invitation” isn’t enough.

Case in point: I invited my childhood bestie Stacey to come visit and she came. Imagine that! Not only did she fly down to visit me but she somehow agreed to accompany the kids and me on our two-day drive back to Calgary at the end of the week. Now, that is friendship.

And being the swell friend that she is, she brought the kids Canada T-shirts and I’m sure she bought out the Motherland’s maple leaf paraphernalia so we could celebrate Canada Day!

We kicked off the holiday by a glorious hike around Evergreen Lake and, of course, I converted yet another person to Country Road Cafe.

Evergreen Lake


One of the reasons why I love our summer hiking group is because it’s not just about the hiking, it’s about falling in love with the outdoors and truly exploring. It took us nearly 2 hours to hike the 1.3-mile loop around the lake because of stops like this by Evergreen Dam.

A visit to Colorado isn’t complete without stopping by Red Rocks, one of the most famous concert venues in the world.

I won’t mention how Hadley kicked my butt on a race up the stairs. Am I really getting that old or maybe she’s just getting that fast.

That night, there were revelries. Maple leaves. Red and white. Yummy food. Canadian geography puzzles. And a whole lotta fun.

I forgave Hadley for kicking my butt when she not only painted her face red-and-white but insisted on doing mine as well.

Fat Kitty was not impressed with the celebration.

Fat Dude wouldn’t even hold the hockey stick I tried to put in his paw.

It is just me or has Jamie never looked hotter?

A few days later, we threw yet another party with friends but this time with red, white, blue and pies….

Not to mention star-styled hair.

And since the fireworks are shot above our neighborhood, we had to throw another party.


Sadly, this is the only picture I got of the whole evening. No disrespect to the Americans but after a cram-packed week and throwing two fetes, I was all partied out.

There’s a first time for everything.

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Colorado, Hadley, hiking, Humor

Camp Chief Ouray = Hurray!

June 19, 2014 By

On Sunday afternoon, we dropped the kids off at Camp Chief Ouray at YMCA of the Rockies near Granby, Colorado. For six blissful days, they have been horseback riding, singing around the campfire, bonding with their cabinmates, hiking and having the time of their lives.

Jamie and I planned to do the same. I was originally invited on a press trip to Tennessee but my sweet husband asked me not to go and promised he’d make it worth my while to stay behind. We’ve had dates every night–from Downton Abbey marathons (we’re newly hooked) to steak dinners to a night at the temple to going out to eat at a Peruvian restaurant.

It has been wonderful  to reconnect as a couple–the first time we’ve been truly alone at our house since we started having kids 10 years ago.

While I was driving with the kids last week, I raved about the couple time Jamie and I were going to have and, trying to get a reaction from the kids, promised there would be lots of kissing in their absence.  They both protested and groaned.

“Hadley, what’s the big deal? Don’t you want Mom and Dad to be in love and not get divorced?”

“Sure I do but you don’t have to be all crazy about it.”

 

Filed Under: Family, Hadley, Humor

Father’s Day Celebrations and Camp Chief Ouray: Colorado’s best overnight camp for kids!

June 16, 2014 By

I can’t say enough how blessed I feel to have a wonderful father, father-in-law and be married to an amazing man who is a fun-loving, hard-working father to my children.

Father-son matching pumpkin-colored ties

Our Father’s Day was a whirlwind. The Primary kids performed a Father’s Day medley of songs in Sacrament Meeting and yours truly was the accompanist. This would have been fine and dandy if I was able to play one of the songs but ended up faking my way through and fortunately nobody noticed.  Turns out they were too enamored with all the cute kiddos, which is a very, very good thing.

In our Ward, we have the best tradition ever: a social after church where everyone brings pies and proceed to stuff our faces with them. Well, not literally. Though a pie-throwing contest would be a pretty fun tradition, too.

We then raced home and drove 1.5 hours to drop the kiddos off at Camp Chief Ouray at YMCA of the Rockies near Granby, Colo. I’ll have much more to come on that but I’m having very mixed feelings. On the one hand, I’m thrilled they are spending six days at the glorious camp, which is the longest-running and one of the most reputable in Colorado that is heaped in traditions and fun.

Bode’s counselors Andres and Kevin; Hadley was too cool for hugs and posing for pictures

On the other hand, I’m missing them terribly. Though Jamie and I have been on couple’s vacations, this is the first time we’ve been alone together at our house in 10 years. Fat Kitty is feeling it, too. He woke us up at 3 a.m.with “the meow of death” and acted like he was dying. When we saw nothing was externally wrong, we ascertained he’s lost without those two cherubs of his. As you can see, he quickly got over his angst-driven, sleepless night.

We all mourn in different ways.

That includes Jamie. As we were walking away after dropping off the kids, we followed the steady procession of parents walking to their cars.

Jamie: “Have you noticed something we all have in common?”

Me: “What?”

Jamie: “All the parents now have smiles on their faces.”

And believe me, so did the kids about spending the week in such a magical place.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor, Jamie Tagged With: , ,

Here Comes Summer!

June 9, 2014 By

Week 1 of summer vacation was two things: horribly unproductive for my work and indisputably fun!

Since the kids and I will be in Canada for most of July, June is our month for camps and friends so we’ve had a blast cramming it all in. To kick-off the week, we wrote down our summer goals–fun activities, keeping up on schoolwork and earning technology time. We decided they get an hour of free TV every day and beyond that, they had to earn it by reading daily and doing math four times week. Technology (i.e. iPod, video games, etc.) is four times a week after they get their work done. I put together a sticker chart with their daily responsibilities and my gosh, it’s working.

I’m as shocked as anyone.

Lest you think I’m a summer killjoy, I assure you I’m not but I wanted some kind of structure to our days in June. Particularly for Hadley who she has made awesome strides in getting caught up in math and we’ve poured  hundreds of dollars into a tutor. I’d hate to see it all go down the drain from slacking off this summer. So far, she’s been willing and I try to keep it simple and fun with a small handful of math problems that take her a few minutes.  Just say no to laborious summer workbooks. That may work for other parents but we fight enough homework battles during the year that there’s no way I’m doing that in the summer. We’re all about play like the kick-off to our summer hiking group at Red Rocks!

I have wonderful friends of all denominations whom I adore but my gosh, I’d be lost without my LDS Church clan. Someone who left the church recently commented the thing she missed most was the iron-clad LDS community…and that they haven’t been able to find anything that remotely compares. Anywhere you go in the world, you have a literal ward family where you belong–through moves, deaths, births, you name it. Having a religion so focused on the family and serving one another makes it all about love in its truest sense.

I adore all of the amazing moms who go above-and-beyond to teach my kids and love them as their own. These are truly incredible women in action, like my friend who organized our summer hiking group.

Sometimes I can’t believe I really live in this gorgeous place.

A mom who spent some time at the Carnegie Mellon University’s acting program also pulled together a weekly drama camp where my kids are learning about improv, developing their own skits and will be performing them later in the summer.

It’s nice to have drama that is actually good.

And for the fourth year in a row, I coordinated two weeks of summer swim lessons with several of my friends from church.

Bode with a water gun = no friend of mine.

We have an awesome neighborhood, too. Our neighbors’ three boys were all born within two weeks of each other so every year they throw a huge birthday blowout. It’s a highlight for not only the kids but for adults with oodles of food and activities.

The kids were still going strong six hours later and I had to drag them away for bedtime. They would have partied until midnight if I’d let them.

There was Hadley’s own birthday bash at the movie Maleficent, followed by a party in the rain.

I’m in the planning stages for Bode’s surprise party for his birthday in a few weeks because we haven’t partied enough.

Even the ladies are partying. We had a going away/retirement party for our dear neighbor Nancy who recently retired and is moving to Texas.

 I absolutely love these ladies and feel fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful, supportive neighbors. While I was playing with the girls, Jamie was at home with the kids. Hadley’s friend Alex somehow convinced him she was a great cook and could make an angel food cake with her sous chef, Hadley.

She lied.

I let Hadley redeem herself  by making tie-dye cake with her friend Alicia the next day. It turned out really cool…until they decided to take the decorating to the next level.The next level would be a downward spiral.

We’ve have plenty of backyard water fights and are cram-packed with playdates.


And we wouldn’t have our kick-off to summer any other way!

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley

Maleficent, the torrential downpour and a birthday party to remember

June 4, 2014 By

When we were at Disneyland at the Disney Social Media Moms Conference last month, we were treated to an extended preview of “Maleficent,” the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty.” To top it off, we sang happy 16th birthday to Elle Fanning who played Aurora a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty in the film and Maleficent crashed the party. Hadley knew then-and-there she wanted to see the movie on opening day for her birthday.

We arrived early to setup the popcorn and drinks and I think it was the first time I’ve ever been in an empty theater.

Girls behaving nicely

Girls behaving not-so nicely

Too bad it didn’t stay empty but it was, after all, opening day.

I just called all those uninvited guests party crashers.

Every single one of us LOVED the movie and it went in such a different direction than I imagined (no spoilers here–go see it!) Even Bode and his friend Nolan gave it a 9 out of 10. “It would have gotten a 10 if didn’t have those kissing scenes.”

We drove back to our house for cake, ice cream and presents. Hadley requested pineapple upside-down cake and after blowing out the candles, she got quite the reaction when she ended up with one boyfriend.

Apparently she was paying attention to those kissing scenes a little too closely.

After presents, the kiddos played in the backyard until parents started arriving. When the pick-up time came and went, only a few kids remained and that is when it started downpouring. Being the responsible mom I am, I ushered everyone inside I encouraged them to go for it and that they did. Singing, dancing, splashing, rolling, lying down in the gutters full of water.

They. Had. A Blast! And for those poor parents who arrived late? That’s what happens when this mama is in charge!

Everyone thought seeing “Maleficent” for Hadley’s 10th birthday was fun. Turns out the after party in the torrential downpour was even better.

Filed Under: birthday, Hadley, Humor
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