The last Saturday of February we got to celebrate Maisie’s 4th birthday with cupcakes for the humans, a rawhide for her, and a nice long dog walk with Hubby and I. It’s hard to believe she has been a part of our family for so long because in many ways she still seems like a puppy.
Hubby and I were able to squeeze in another date, this time brunch at First Watch. It is so great to be able to spend time with this wonderful man!
Michelle finally got to go ice skating this winter! We lucked out with the weather and it was even free because we were able to go the night of the post adoption support group party. Lucky us! Pro tip: wear two pairs of socks. Makes the rental skates so much more comfortable! Danny was uninvited due to spraining his ankle while playing basketball at the rec center with his friend J. The orthopedic couldn’t tell if it was a minor fracture or a severe strain but either way he is supposed to wear a boot for the next 4-8 weeks. Danny saw this as further proof that 8th grade was not meant to be a good year for him and had me meet with his counselor seeing if he could have a redo. More on that later (probably). It only took a week for me to find him playing basketball with J again. Lol.
For weeks we had Natalie and Madeline’s science fair project in our house. A small price to pay for Madeline’s family purchasing all the supplies. The had four containers: 2 with salt water, 2 with fresh water and trash in one salt water and one fresh water. The idea was to test the water quality of all 4 containers over time with hopes of seeing the pollution caused by the contamination. The girls were disappointed when there was no deadly water in our house. We decided the trash was too clean and not in there long enough. They were so glad to just be done with it they didn’t even want to take a picture with their trifold and containers. So here’s one of their test result photos just to give a little glimpse into their hard work… and a picture of their trifold I grabbed out of the recycling bin without them knowing.
Less than one week after ice skating found Kate, Hubby and I flying to a place that had lovely mountains and palm trees: Las Vegas for Kate’s last out of state volleyball tournament for the season. She is having a whole lot of volleyball every weekend. I was so happy C could come watch her play while I took care of the younger 3. Kate and C are so cute together!
We flew out Friday night and stayed at an Airbnb rental with one of her teammates and her parents. We love the H family! On Saturday the girls played really well, especially considering neither one of their coaches were out of town with them and another one of the club coaches filled in at the last minute. I think everyone was super proud of them. They took third place in their pool on day one, setting them up for cross pool play the next afternoon. After showering and resting a while the team (and parents) went out to eat dinner together and at the beginning we had the entire restaurant to ourselves. It was fun to hear the girls laugh together. The H family and our family then took Ubers to go see Fremont Street and the Bellagio. My favorite part was the Lunar New Year installation. I can’t imagine how much time and effort it took.
The next day the girls spent plenty of time resting up to win their pool in the afternoon. Hubby and I went for an hour walk because we had been doing too much sitting around and I was going crazy. We did try to go to a Sacrament meeting close to where we were staying but it was in Spanish so we didn't actually stay. (Turns out I was actually getting sick but I didn't realize it until Monday night.) If I had thought of it sooner, I could have found out where Hubby's aunt & uncle or cousins went but I hadn't known when the games were going to be until the night before and somehow it didn't occur to me until right before 11am. I don't know why I have great ideas when it is too late to act on them. Oh well. Anyway, I had seen on Facebook that a dear friend of ours, J, was visiting Las Vegas and he was able to come to Kate's first game of the day. It was a fantastic one to come see because it was so close! The game kept going on and on while each team tried to win by 2 points. And a bonus was that our team won!
I was sad we didn't get a picture with J (or the team dinner) but at least it is written down here. Their next game didn't go so well but they got to be runner's up in the silver division. I think they all had a great time and played well. I am glad Kate has had this opportunity to be on a travel team again this year and proud of these girls for working hard, improving, and handling having a new coach in the middle of the season with apparent ease. Although I was sad to leave the desert, I was happy to see the mountains out our plane window. I do love warmth but if you look at it logically, Hubby has picked out a truly wonderful place for us to raise our children.
While we were gone I was so sad to miss Michelle’s first ever quartet performance. Luckily the girls practiced at our house the day before our flight so I could have my own performance and other moms at the ensemble sent me videos and pictures. I know really nice people! P.S. The friend in green had a piano solo, just in case you don't think I can count to four properly. (:
Michelle was also able to participate in a writer's workshop while we were away. The bookstore's blog post made me smile when I spotted my favorite participant!
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