Floods and family.

Hello all.  Jip here.  I decided that I should contribute at least a little to this blog once in a while and since I'm home for a change on a Sunday, I'm here to catch you up on our week.

I only worked two days this week and have been on leave since Tuesday evening.  I took advantage of a little time in port to make a quick trip to Colorado to visit my parents and to get reacquainted with my beautiful home state.  I hadn't been back to CO for almost two years so it was absolutely wonderful to feel the dry air, see the big blue skies, and drive in the mountains once again.

Mother Nature tried to prevent me from going, though.  We had a tropical thunderstorm swoop into the Norfolk area on Tuesday afternoon.  By the time I got up in the morning at around 3:30 a.m. to head to the airport, our street was flooded.  Now, we've seen it flood before but it's only been in the area near our driveway, so I didn't think much of it as I eased into the street.  As I turned my car into the street and my headlights lit up the street, only the following words entered my mind, "Oh crap."  The entire street was under water and not a little bit of water, a ton of water.  I started up the street hoping that my car was not going to drown out and stall.  I ended up driving nearly a 1/2 mile out of our neighborhood through the flooded streets.  There were times that the water was splashing up onto my headlights and once it went over my headlights as I slowly continued on.  I was nervous that I would be missing my flight and spending the day trying to get my car back to my house.  Luckily, I got out of the flood and was able to navigate my way to the airport around a few more flooded streets and intersections.

As a result of the flooding in our neighborhood and many other neighborhoods in the area, school was canceled on Wednesday -- a rain day!  Another "day" we can add to our list of reasons for school to be cancelled -- snow, heat, and now rain.  The rain remained through the day and the water was slow to recede.  On Wednesday night, it rained again and reflooded the streets prompting another day of school cancellation for RJ on Thursday.  Ryleigh did end up going to school that afternoon, though.

Meanwhile, the weather in Colorado was great with temperatures ranging from the 30s to the 80s depending on where I was at.  I had a great visit with my parents and in fact, brought my mother down to Denver with me on Friday to fly back together to Virginia.  My Mom is here to visit the kids for a few days and will head back to CO on Tuesday morning.

Since my Mom in town, we've been maximizing kid activities so she can spend some time with them.  Yesterday, we went to the Norfolk Zoo and despite the heat (90s) and humidity (nearly 90s), RJ ran around like he had never been to a zoo before.  He flat wore everyone out, even his sister.

Today, Mom and I went with RJ to Ninja Zone and then this afternoon took the kids over to Chesapeake City park to let Ryleigh work on her bike riding sans training wheels (it was going well until she just stopped and refused to ride anymore) and to let the kids play in the wonderful wood playground in the trees at the park called Fun Forest.  The kids again wore themselves out -- yay for us -- bed time was easy!

In the end, Ryleigh was successful in riding for a couple short distances without my assistance.  I asked that RJ make the following video as proof.  Don't mind the videography!

As an added bonus and completely unprompted, RJ decided to make his own video for our viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!

The kids are back to school tomorrow, and I'm off one more day to visit with my Mom.  After that, it'll be another fun filled week of work and preps to go back to sea.

Have a great day/week/month/year (I should be back on the blog before a year!).  Happy Fall!

-Jip

Busy Weekend

We packed it in this weekend!

On Saturday, we motored to Richmond to go to BrickFest, a Lego convention.  But, first--we enjoyed a trip to Which Wich.  The kids miss having a Which Wich nearby.  So, when I told them there was one less than a mile from our destination, it became a must-do.  After lunch, we headed to the Convention Center and entered the ballrooms full of Lego people.  Lots of people were selling Legos.   There were people giving presentations on how to become a YouTuber (is that a real word?) about Legos.  Guinness was there to see if any world records could be broken.  Kids were in various play areas, building Lego cities and more.  Though Jip and I were expecting more Lego displays and people showing off their Lego ideas, the kids had a great time.

RJ was inspired by our visit.  He asked if he could be a YouTuber.  "No."  Then I said I would allow him to have a private channel that we'd share with a select few.  I haven't set up the channel yet, as I want to see if he really wants to do this more than once.  But, below is his first stab at doing a presentation about something he built (with a little assistance from Jip).

On Sunday, RJ had his usual Ninja Zone.  Then, it was off to the Symphony for a little Cirque Musica.  Before we enjoyed the show, the kids did the instrument petting zoo.  They are still pretty enamored with the string instruments.

For the performance, acrobats and jugglers performed to some great classical pieces of music played by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, including Bolero by Ravel and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.  The performers were amazing!  Even RJ said "Wow!" a few times.  I don't think Ryleigh understood the strength and talent the performers showed us, but I think she still liked it.

As for the grown-ups, the table and dry sink are done.  I spent a little time each day this week putting on clear wax or dark wax.  Today we buffed the pieces, reassembled the dry sink, and brought the pieces in.  They still need to cure for a few days before they are hard enough to eat off of.  So, the table will have to wait a bit.  But, the dry sink is back in its spot and looks great!

This week should be a pretty normal week for the kiddos.  Jip will head to Colorado for a couple days, and then his Mom will be coming back with him to spend a few days with us in Virginia.  We're looking forward to Diana's visit!  I just hope I can get the kids to keep her room/the playroom clean until she arrives.

As always, pics to come.  Until next time, cheers!

Back to ... Everything

It was a busy week in the Mosman House this week.  The first day of school for both kiddos was on Tuesday.  Both kids were nervous, but excited about the school year ahead.  But, first we had to get the requisite first day photos in.

RJ also had to oblige Mom a little and take another photo in his Class of 2028 shirt.

And, a side-by-side with last year's photo.  You can see his knees this year.  Yikes!  RJ grew so much!!

Ryleigh will get her Class of 2030 shirt next year when she starts Kindergarten.  2028 and 2030.  How weird does that sound?  So far away, but then again, not that far.

Anyway, after I bugged everyone with the camera enough, we headed out to the bus stop.  RJ was nervous.  He was pacing and fidgeting more than he usually does.

Of course, he did great!  RJ sat with his friend Aless and just did everything she did.  When he got to the school, he found his classroom completely on his own.  Way to go, kiddo!  His teacher welcomed RJ to her classroom with another first day picture.

Mrs. Purcell shared the picture with us through a very cool app that allows us to communicate via text with her as well as allow us to see RJ's positive and not so positive behaviors each day.  Thankfully, he had a week of all positives, and he earned points for participating, working hard, teamwork, and staying on task.  He will eventually get to spend the points he earns in the school store on pencils, erasers, and other fun stuff.

We have already had some bus hiccups.  The first two days, as kids and parents were learning what to do, the afternoon bus arrived later than scheduled, which made me late for picking up Ryleigh.  Poor RJ was afraid he wasn't going to make it home--he knew they were running late.  Then we received a text, phone call, and email on Wednesday evening that RJ's bus had completely conked out and that a different bus would be picking him up and dropping him off--after the bus had completed its first pick-ups and drop-offs.  So, I switched it up and picked up Ryleigh first.  The first day I beat the bus by about 60 seconds.  The second day, the bus beat us by about 30 seconds.  RJ had just started walking home with our neighbor when Jip and I pulled up.  We'll eventually find our groove.  And I'm sure once we do, RJ's bus will be back in commission and we'll have to find a new groove.  

Ryleigh also had a great first day.  She loves having lunch with her Mom every day and then going to school.  She also loves having only six kids in her class--three boys and three girls.  She went through a little testing this week and informed me that Ryleigh is ready to start her first phonics book.  I knew she was ready, but it is nice to have a pro tell you that!

After school, I took the kids to get a quick snack and then we went straight to ballet.  Ryleigh is the youngest in her class, but she did just fine.  She was so thrilled that ballet is back into her routine!  I'm not sure RJ is thrilled, but hopefully he'll learn to just unwind with his iPad and only ask once (instead of 20 times) when Ryleigh would be done.

This weekend, Jip and I tackled a little house project.  The table that I grew up with has been well-loved by us through Japan, San Diego, and now Virginia.  But, between our enthusiastic use and some deteriorating wax on the table top, it was in desperate need of a new finish.  I've been researching and researching, reading blogs, watching how-to videos, and talking to anyone who has ever used chalk paint about their experiences.  We finally took the plunge!  Saturday was prep day.  Sunday was paint day.  Monday and Tuesday (and maybe Wednesday) will be wax days while the kids are at school or in the evenings.  The dry sink will get to come inside the day after I'm done waxing it.  The table will have to wait until it completely cures so that it is food safe.  But, I'm willing to continue to eat on a card table for great results.  I think they are going to turn out great when they are done!

We also had family pictures done at the beach on Saturday.  We had to fit it in while Jip is home.  I can't wait to see how they turned out.  The weather was warm and the sunset was beautiful.  

So, there you have it.  We are back to school, back to life, back to everything.  This week should be more of the same.  As always, pics to come.  Until next time, cheers!

Summer -- Week 11 (The Last Week)

Summer is coming to an end.

Hip, hip hooray!  That's what this mama has to say!

Boo!  That's what my kiddos have to say!

We spent the last week of summer much like we did the first.  Jip was gone (well, for most of it).  RJ went to a camp at BrickHeadZ.  And, Ryleigh and I did a bunch of errands.

The last week of camp was a neat one for RJ.  They built Lego contraptions to be used by minifigure super heroes that they came up with.  Then the counselors took photos of the Legos and minifig in a white box and helped the kiddos write a comic book.  I don't have any pics of the final product, but I have a few pics of other Legos RJ made.  RJ took the photos with my phone.  :)

As I was uploading photos this evening, I found this gem.

Jip got home on Thursday and he had Friday off.  The ship should be in for just about a month.  We'll take that time and keep Jip busy!

We had the kids' school open houses during the week.  Ryleigh's was on Tuesday.  We met her teacher, played a bit, and learned there are only six kids in her class.  That's exciting!  I also learned I'm back to bringing snacks, and since there are six kids, that means bringing them 3 times a month.  That's NOT exciting!

RJ's open house was on Thursday, and Jip was able to make that one.  They had an assembly in the gym, then we got to go to RJ's classroom to meet his teacher, put his supplies in his desk, and learn about what his day will look like.  RJ's teacher loves to put an emphasis on reading.  That's what RJ needs, so we are delighted with that!

Tropical Storm Hermine wreaked a little bit of havoc on us on Saturday.   The storm took out our power for nearly three hours.  You would have thought the world was ending without internet/wi-fi.  Ryleigh made the most of it, though--she beat Mom and Dad in a game of Trouble.

On Sunday, Jip had duty.  Without Dad to harass, Ryleigh asked to do a craft and pulled out a bunch of activity sticks from the jar until she found one that she liked and that I had supplies for.  I made her some peanut butter play dough.  Once I mixed it up for her, she rolled it out and cut into shapes.  We let them air dry a bit before diving in.  They were good.  But, you can't go wrong with peanut butter, marshmallows, and powdered sugar, right?

The kiddos start school on Tuesday.  I'm looking forward to putting RJ on the bus, but a bit nervous for him, too.  I'm looking forward to Ryleigh being in a small classroom, but I'm anxious to see how her schedule really ends up meshing with RJ's as well as her ballet and gymnastics classes.  I know it is going to be a good school year--we just have to find our groove after a summer with very little routine.

Anyway, pics of the first day to come.  Until next time, cheers!