Summer 2017 -- Week 10 -- Transitions

We had a week full of transitions.

Well, maybe the eclipse wasn't exactly a transition, but more of a celestial transit.  But, that counts, right?  Anyway, I ordered a 10 pack of glasses on Amazon, thinking we'd keep three and the rest would be shared on Jip's ship.  Wrong.  Only 1 of the 10 were certified by an American lab.  So, the kids and I took turns going outside and looking up and Jip got to borrow someone else's glasses on the ship.  Thankfully, Amazon intervened when the vendor wouldn't respond to my demand for a refund and a full refund was granted.

We also saw something cool when we looked down--the eclipse could be seen on the floor of our entry.  The first picture is before we got to our maximum of 86% eclipsed, and the second picture is a couple minutes after the maximum.

The next transition was Jip's end-of-tour celebration put on by his Department's officers, chiefs, and chief-selects.  They were gracious enough to include the kids and me.  We enjoyed a great lunch at a Brazilian steak house (the kids ate at home ahead of time), and Jip received some nice gifts, including wine glasses that we already put to good use.

And, the last transition was RJ moving from the white level to the yellow level in Ninja Zone.  The coaches did a little ceremony after the trial to remove the old headband and put on the new headband.

And, now our kiddo is going to have to work even harder--his coach warned us that the transition from yellow to green is very difficult and RJ is going to have to put in some serious work at home on his own to get the upper body strength needed for some of the skills.  His parents *may* have secured a practice bar and mats that will be set up in the garage so he can work on various upper body exercises and his sister can use to practice her gymnastics bar work.  We'll see if our Craig's List search and our willingness to drive 4.5 hours each way to pick the items up will actually yield the equipment.

And, finally, enjoy a couple of videos welded together that really aren't transitions--unless you count the transition from top to bottom.

This week is the last week of freedom (for kids) before school starts (freedom for Mom).  We have open houses, a baseball game, and whatever else we need to pack in the last few days of summer.  As always, pics to come.  Until next time, cheers!

Ryleigh's Ballet Recital

We just received the professional recording of Ryleigh's dance studio's annual recital, which was in June.  I've trimmed it down to just her class doing their sweet dance to Lavender's Blue.  Enjoy!

Summer 2017 -- Week 9 -- Colorado

We discovered that Southwest has one direct flight from Norfolk to Denver per week on Saturdays.  So, we decided to take full advantage and made this year's vacation a trek to Colorado.  It is the first time since December 2014 that all four of us have been to Colorado at the same time.

We headed to Granby Saturday night and got in late.  But, our bodies were still on East Coast time, so it wasn't too hard to get to John and Diana's at a respectable time.  The weather was just so beautiful, so we spent a ton of time just hanging out together in the clean, crisp air.  We enjoyed lunch at the Mosman house, played some Uno, and spent more time outside.  We had delicious pizza from a little place in Fraser for dinner.  On Monday, it was more of the same, with the kids "helping" Diana in her greenhouse and taking Chico, the dog, for walks around the yard.

Monday afternoon, we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was RJ's second time through the Park, but of course, he doesn't remember the first time, which was when he was almost 13 months old.  We placed a bet on the temperature at the top.  I won, with a balmy 52 degrees.  It was awesome!  I love wearing shorts and a light jacket--something about it just feels right.

RJ, Ryleigh, and Jip climbed the steps to the top of the mountain at the Visitors' Center.  RJ was not happy about the climb, as you can see in the picture below.  But, he survived.  We got stamps in the kids' National Parks Passport books.  We got to see herds of elk on both sides of the Continental Divide.  And, we timed it beautifully, as the rain rolled in right after we got back in the car to head down to the Front Range.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday were family and friends days.  We got to see Amber, Eric, Mackenzie, and Maggie a few times.  We met Stacy, Zoya, and Vera at Spring Canyon Park for a really fun afternoon.  Jip and the kids rented bikes to chase Grandpa on the Poudre River Trail while I took it easy with Mom at Amber's house.  I enjoyed a lovely breakfast with my friend Paula and we got to break bread with the Hossfelds.

Thursday was a day just for us.  We took the kids to Denver to see dinosaurs and whatever else the museum had. Denver has a couple more dinosaurs on display than the Natural History museum at the Smithsonian, so the kids were in awe.  Getting to see an IMAX about predators and doing a couple interactive exhibits, including trying to use a wing to make a person move and seeing what the kids would look like when they are 30, were icing on the cake.

It was a great week in Colorado.  We wish it could have been longer.  Colorado still tops the list for location of post-Navy life.  But, we still have some Navy life to get through.

This week, we'll be working on getting back into our routines and finding RJ some pants and shorts that fit after the growth spurt that came on right before Colorado left him with with bottoms that were too tight and too short for the duration of the trip.  The end of our week will be busy with testing into the next level of Ninja Zone (keep your fingers crossed for our RJ), BrickHeadZ kids' night out, and dinner with friends.  As always, pics to come.  Until next time, cheers!

Summer 2017 -- Week 8 -- Dinosaurs and Dressing Up

I'm a week late, but I have a good excuse--I wasn't home and I've come to really dislike blogging from my phone.  So, everything had to wait.

During Week 8 of Summer, the kids went to another week of BrickHeadZ camp.  They are always delighted to go to BrickHeadZ, but they were super excited to go because it was dinosaur week.  The kids did tons of crafts and built lots of Legos all week.  I was able to sneak a picture of my two stegosauruses from the end of camp on the second day.

The heat temporarily broke and allowed us to actually have some outdoors playtime.  The kids were quite the monkeys and climbing everywhere and every way they could.

Jip was gone a good part of the week for meetings with other Engineering Duty Officer Captains and Captain Selects in DC.  But, he made it home in time for us to go to the Tidewater Engineering Duty Officer Ball.  The ball was held at a hotel, so we got a hotel room.  Our favorite babysitter met us at the hotel and Julie and the kids got to hang out for a few hours.  They ordered room service, played Uno, and had a great time.  Meanwhile, Jip and I put names with faces and enjoyed some good company, including that of Beth and Scott who were our awesome sponsors way back when we moved to Japan.

Saturday afternoon we took off for our Colorado vacation.  All of the pics and videos from our vacay are part of Week 9's post.  So, see you in the next post!

Summer 2017 -- Week 7 -- Giddy-Up

The first half of the week was pretty quiet.  The kids had some extended play time with Aless from next door.  We did our usual gymnastics.  The kids, at RJ's request, played their first game of Scrabble with their Mom.  Thankfully, they've watched me play Words with Friends over my shoulder enough that they understood that words had to be connected.  They each tried to make words on their rack and then I helped them find a place on the board for it or helped them find even better plays.  The game actually held their interest for a little while, so I'm hopeful more Scrabble is in their future.

Friday was the day GW moved from Norfolk to Newport News.  Jip left the house around 2:45 am to get everything ready for the tugs to push and pull the ship.  The evolution (Navy engineering word for planned job) went well and the ship was in the dry dock and water was draining away from the hull by late afternoon.

While Jip was having his excitement, we had our own.  I took the kids and Aless to Funville.  We got there shortly after opening time.  We discovered RJ is just tall enough to go on the Ninja Warrior course, so he did that 5 or 6 times.  The girls were on the other side of Funville running and sliding and climbing.  They congregated once to do the bumper cars, then they split up again to do their thing.  They were all having so much fun, we ordered lunch and ended up staying until 1:30.

Saturday morning, Jip had to go back to Newport News to do a final walk-through (including a walk under the ship in the dry dock) with the Ship's Commanding Officer and a number of ship's crew who were just curious about what GW looks like from below.  No pictures--yet.  Jip is hopeful that the ship's Public Affairs Officer will set up some times for official photos before he departs the ship.  Jip said not only were pics not allowed on Saturday, we wouldn't have wanted any--the dry dock still had some dead fish and lots and lots of silt from flooding the dry dock, and it was pretty gross looking.

While Jip was walking under the GW, I took the kids to the monthly Home Depot workshop.  This month's workshop was a Penske moving truck.  The truck is cute, but Ryleigh didn't think much of the yellow paint provided.  So, she will paint hers at home.

From Home Dept, we went straight to Calypso Farms for a birthday party for Aless.  The kids helped prepare the horses for the ride, got to know their horses in the ring, and then headed out on the trail.  When they got back, we had some pizza.  Then, it was back to the ring to ride bareback.  Ryleigh already had the horse bug, but it seems that RJ has caught it, too.  Calypso Farms is a cute little place trying to get off the ground and compete with some of the bigger places in southern Virginia Beach while providing refuge to horses who are rescued from kill pens around the country.  We're looking forward to going back there soon to lend our support.

Saturday night, the kids went to their first ever non-relative sleep over at Aless's.  We sent them over after dinner, already in their pajamas.  I'm told they watched movies and giggled until 11.  Jip and I were in bed before our children.  Needless to say, the kids were dragging a bit today.  But, we squeezed in a family lunch and a game of Uno before Jip had to say good-bye for four days so he can hang out in DC with other Navy engineers.

This week, the kids are back to BrickHeadZ in the mornings.  We still have gymnastics on Tuesday and Thursday.  Friday night, Jip and I will be going to the Navy Engineering Duty Officer ball while Miss Julie entertains our kids in our hotel room.  Uno and room service should keep them entertained until bedtime.  Then, Saturday we leave for Colorado for a week of family and friend fun.

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