First Day of School and also some stuff that the parents did this past weekend

Well, we made it to the First Day of School.  Both kids popped out of bed bright and early.  Outfits had already been decided on the night before.  Backpacks were mostly packed and while there was some slight indecision, concerning footwear, everyone was dressed and ready to go about 45 minute before we normally leave the house. I don't expect that to happen again for the rest of the year.  

Obligatory 'stand in front of the flowers on the front porch' picture.  

What's a first day picture without Coco?  Will briefly thought about grabbing Tootsie and Trigger for the photo but then figured that would get out of control quickly.  

 Will seems excited about his teacher and 6th grade class.  He reminded me several times this morning that it was his first last day of elementary.  (Muffled sob.)  I did not need to be reminded. I've also already made plans to take next year's first day of junior high off (preemptive muffled sob.)  He has several friends from last year in his class and flag football practice starts tomorrow already.  Bring on 6th grade! 

Reina has the same fourth grade teacher that Will had and she also has several good friends in her class this year.  She had a little attack of the nerves this morning but was slightly mollified when I told her how I threw up on the first day of school a few times and a little anxiousness was perfectly normal.  Or runs in the family at least.  She was full of stories tonight and enthusiastically attacked her homework so she's off to a good start, too.

On an unrelated note, but before I forget to post these pictures - Glenn and I ran a trail race this past weekend.  We did this same race last year and had so much fun that we decided to give it another go.  This year, I ran the 4-mile course and the much faster Glenn took on the 8-mile.  We were both happy with our times and didn't break any bones.

Isn't this a great picture of a handsome man?  I didn't take this picture - this is from the official race photographer. I was miles away when this picture was taken and probably breathing so hard I couldn't have stood up straight.  But look at Glenn attacking that hill.  He's a natural.  

And then there's me.  I have a remarkable flair for always looking like I'm standing completely still in races but hey, I'm ahead of that older guy behind me!  

A night at the ballpark and back to school shopping

On Saturday, the kids and I zipped down to Denver for a Rockies game and some back to school clothes shopping.  Glenn stayed in Wyoming and helped out a ranch that's managed by one of our friends.  A friend and her two boys joined us and down the interstate we went.  

We picked a great game to attend. It was Wyoming night at Coors Field so we were surrounded by UW fans and fellow Wyoming-ites.  Well, the game wasn't great to start, but it definitely ended up that way.  https://www.mlb.com/rockies/video/share/must-c-mcmahons-walk-off-homer/c-2375037483?tid=47074596 

The Rockies were behind the entire game and in the bottom of the 9th, down 2-0, a rookie hit a 3-run walk-off homerun and it was one of the most fun sporting events I've seen in person. Will was screaming his head, the other mom and I were astonished and even Reina was yelling.  It was so fun.  What a great memory.  

Our seats, way up in the altitude.  Great view of the field and homeplate.  

Purple and silver hair - it ended up being rally hair.  The little kids started it off.  Reina and her friend were getting restless in the third inning so I took them for a walk around the stadium.  A barber shop was set up and giving out free hair color.  Reina was all in naturally and opted for purple and glitter.  When we got back to our seats, the big brothers wanted a turn.  It ended up being rally hair and obviously the key to the victory.  

Post-game victory picture.  Great game!  

 

The kids and I spent the night in Denver and woke up to shop on Sunday.  We headed to the mall and had a pretty good time, all things considered.  Sometimes shopping is a trainwreck and other times, we find what everyone needs with few tears and little bloodshed.  Sunday was one of those days. 

The register at a girls-centric store was having technological difficulties so we had to stand in line for a long time.  Reina kept herself amused easily but Will had to get creative.  That's a blob of hair extensions, although it could easily be his hair.  

Not to be outdone.... 

The rest of the summer

Goodness. I step away from the blog for a minute and three weeks fly by.  Okay, actually four weeks.  This summer is just kicking my butt, pardon my french.  Work has been busy, family stuff has been busy, the kids have been busy.  Glenn has a big hunt coming up that's keeping him occupied.  The house is always teetering on the edge of somewhat clean/how can we live in this hovel. The yard has pretty flowers in one spot and hail ravaged raspberries and sunflowers in another.  The pets.  The pets are good.  We added a rat to the menagerie but he (Simon) deserves his own post.  A few weekends ago we coaxed a stray German shorthair into our yard.  He'd been in the neighborhood for about 24 hours so we knew he was lost.  We kept him for another 24 hours until we tracked down his owner.  Tootsie and Trigger were fine with the new addition.  The chickens and Coco were not.  Everyone survived.

So what have we been up to?  Reina had theater camp for most of July.  She was a UPS guy in the production of Twinderella - a fractured fairy-tale with a modern twist.  She had six lines and she rocked them all.  She also got to dance the Macarena with a few other kids during the show and she's spent the rest of the summer showing us how the Macarena "goes with every song mom!"  She had fun honing her acting craft for another summer.  Reina is done with camps for the summer and she has dance and piano to look forward to next month.

Will has been in a hodge podge of activities since the baseball season ended.  His team lost in the semi-finals of the tournament the night after my last post.  They rallied back from a deficit and played tough but lost on a throw out at third.  Since then, Will had a week of dodge back camp, spent some time at Frontier Days with friends and watched lots of movies.  He was going to do football camp but caught his sister's ear infection and was on the couch for a few days.  Now he's started football practice and has the first game circled on his calendar.

Glenn and I have been plugging along.  We've been working on the garden with my sister and a friend and growing some cucumbers, squash, peas and more dill than anyone can possibly use.  There are also some potatoes and beans growing while they aren't dodging the hail.  Oh and beets.  There are definitely beets.  We're both training for some races in August and September so we've had some long runs together which is a weird date but also a great way to spend some time together.  During Frontier Days we went to a great concert - Eric Church.  He was a terrific performer and I had so much fun.  Glenn even stayed up like two hours passed his bedtime on a Wednesday night even.  Frontier Days miracle!

So that's where we find ourselves in August.  Next up, the story of Simon the Rat. 

Scenes from the ballpark

This summer has been a whirlwind and it's already the middle of July.  Reina's softball season ended a few weeks ago and Will's baseball team plays in the semifinals tomorrow night.  I started this post in late June and I'm finally getting around to finishing it.  

Reina played on the Rockies this year and she had a great season.  She was on a team with 9 and 10-year olds with a mixture of experience.  On last year's team, they used a pitching machine but this year, the girls pitched.  For the first few weeks, Reina played some innings in the outfield and some at shortstop or second base.  Imagine my surprise when I looked up to see the team take the field and my girl head to the pitching mound!  I'm used to fighting the nerves when Will pitches but I wasn't prepared for #9 to pitch.  She was a trooper.  Many of the pitchers have trouble throwing strikes and I'll never forget Reina's first one.  She'd thrown a couple of balls and tossed the next one towards the plate and the ump said "strike!" and Reina looked up in surprise and gave a quick first pump before throwing another strike.  

That's my pitcher!  

Shortstop waiting for some action. 

Softball ready!  

Reina is still on the fence about whether she wants to play next year and she doesn't need to make a decision today.  It sure is fun watching her play.  On one of the last games of the year, Reina was pitching and the batter hit a soft liner right back to her.  Reina stuck out her glove and caught the ball for the third out.  I jumped up and screamed and wanted to run out onto the field but it was only the first inning. 

This is Will's first year in the Majors.  The league has all of the same rules as the actual Majors, with the only exception being that the field is smaller.  So kids can steal bases, including home.  Some pitchers are developing curveballs and sliders but most of them just try to get it over the plate as fast as they can.  Will's team had some ups and downs throughout the season.  They won the first game of the tournament last Monday, lost on Friday and then won two exciting games on a super hot Saturday morning.  They play in the semi-finals tomorrow night and I"m not sure who's more excited... me, Glenn or the actual ballplayer. 

Glenn taking his job as assistant coach very seriously.  

Look at that handsome pitcher!  

He was warming up in this shot because probably wouldn't tolerate me peering through the fence with my camera during a live pitch. 

Reina's piano recital

Before June is officially over, I have to capture Reina's piano recital which was on June 2.  This was her second recital and it is awesome to see how much she's learned in another year.  She's doing great.  She has both hands playing along and she can read treble clef and bass clef and she memorized her recital piece and knocked it out of the ballpark.  Sorry for the sports metaphor, I'm watching baseball while I write this.  

The theme for this year's recital was Americana, Old West & Wyoming.  Reina played a old-timey ragtime song called "Rowlf's Rag" (Rowlf was one of the Muppets.)  She started learning the song after Christmas and by recital time, she had it mastered.  

Serious girl playing the piano. 

At the end of the recital, all of the students sang one of my favorite songs, the UW fight song Ragtime Cowboy Joe and we all sang and clapped around.  Look a that cute girl knowing all of the words! 

"He always sings....." 

We are taking the summer off for lessons and then starting again in the Fall.  It's not always easy to get Reina to practice but boy do I love hearing her play. 

Father's Day Weekend

Today we celebrated Father's Day and my parents' 46th Anniversary!  Big day!  On the way to church this morning, I asked the kids a few questions about their Dad and here are their answers.

What do you like the most about your dad: 

Reina:  How he takes us camping. 

Will:  I like when Dad takes me out to eat. 

What is your favorite thing to do with Dad: 

Reina;  Go camping with him (there's definitely a theme here.)  Reina is sitting next to me right now and she also wants me to add that she likes it when she and dad roughhouse.

Will:  I like to go hunting with him. 

What is your favorite memory of Dad:

Reina;  I can see him at my wedding in the future.  (So she can see the future)

Will:  When I shot my first rabbit.  He also says when he hit his first home run but I questioned how that was a memory of dad and not just a way to mention his home run on the blog. 

Is there anything else you want to say about your dad?

Reina:  He is handsome, he also tries hard.   I also appreciate how when we goes hunting, he usually gets meat or something for us and even when he doesn't get anything, he says he had a good time.

Will:  He's my dad.  I'm glad he's alive.  (Side note, when Will signed his dad's Father's Day card at bedtime last night, he lovingly scrawled "happy birthday Dad."  So we have some to work to do in the holiday recognition department. 

Will, Uncle Glenn and Baby Cousin watching Will play video games.  

It rained buckets while we were at the movies on Saturday and these two bing-bongs ignored the dry deck or their cozy doghouse and instead got soaked in the backyard.  The house still smells un-lovely.  

I took Reina on a work trip

Last week, the day after the last day of school (more on that next time!), I had to travel to Riverton which is about four hours away for a work conference.  My duties at the conference were pretty light so it seemed like a good opportunity to bring along a kid or two.  The oldest kid opted out so he could stay home and practice baseball which also means hanging out on the couch and enjoying some quiet time.  So Reina and I packed up the car with work stuff and a swimming suit and headed west.  

We listened to music and a book on tape as we drove through central Wyoming.  Reina was a great co-pilot and it was fun to see that country through her eyes.  

Reina passing the time with my camera phone and captions.  

The first night, we had dinner with all of my colleagues who were also attending the conference.  Reina was amazingly patient during the 2+ hours it took for us to order, get our food and eat it.  We were at an old fashioned steakhouse, along with half of the county apparently.  

Posing in Hudson, WY

A mural outside of the restaurant.  Reina wanted to pretend that we were on vacation. 

"Mom take a picture of the restaurant and my teenager face!" 

 The next day, she was patient while I attended meetings and such.  That night, we walked to a pizza place with more co-workers.  The wait wasn't as long this time and the pizza was delicious. 

Pizza with eyes electronically added.  

Swimming after pizza 

 On Friday morning, I attended a few more meetings, we packed up the car and headed back home.  On the way back, we stopped at a site along the Oregon Trail.  Reina will be studying Wyoming history next year, plus I always stop for historic sites, if time allows. 

"Mom, are there rattlesnakes here?"  

Summer kicks off in full swing tomorrow with some day camps, more sports stuff and hot weather.  I'm glad my summer got off to a fun start with a cute traveling partner and a chance to show her more of Wyoming.