Day 98: Preschool Graduation

Even though it's not the last day of school yet (that's confusing), we had Camden's preschool graduation ceremony this morning. I've been excited about this all year. When Calen graduated 3 year old preschool in Cape May, it was the cutest little performance I'd ever seen in my LIFE. And here we are, 4 years later, watching our BABY take the last step from little toddler-preschoolerdom to for real elementary school little big kid-dom. No more tiny tots in this house, we have a house full of grade schoolers now.

I can't even. 

So I dropped Cam off at school this morning and walked over to the cafeteria/auditorium to get a good seat for the ceremony. 

Bonus points #1 for getting front row seats. 

And then this huge class of tiny little kids came out. Camden isn't even the shortest in his class, and he's short, they were so little. 

Bonus points #2 for Cam being in the front row on the same side I was sitting on. 

They sang three songs and to my great surprise, Cam actually sang and participated in the hand movements and wasn't screwing around the whole time. He was definitely the most animated of the class which was hysterical and had the whole crowd laughing. 

Bonus points #3 for Cam not singing his death metal version of everything like he does in the car. He actually pretended to be a nice sweet boy and sang nice for once. 

When they handed out the certificates, they waited until their names were called to walk down the steps, in front of the stage to shake the teacher's hands and accept their certificate. In true Camden form, he ran (not walked) to the teachers, shook their hands super violently, and then threw himself into the arms of his third teacher (his favorite) for a hug instead of shaking her hand. 

Then they announced the "preschool class of 2016" and none of the kids really did anything, except Camden, who threw his hands in the air and yelled "YES!!!!" because of course he did, he's Camden. 

On to great things, this one is. 

Day 97: Take Me Out To The Ballgame

It's important for everyone to know, first and foremost, this "holiday" is not for us. We can barbecue and go camping and drink beer and enjoy our three day weekend, but it's not for us. It's for them. The ones that never made it home. The ones that threw themselves in the line of fire to protect our way of life. It's for the families, the wives and children left behind. 

That being said, that doesn't mean it's not okay to have a good time this weekend. Just remember what the "Memorial" part of Memorial Day is. 

The Bay Area is a really unique place to live. It's takes up a gigantic geographic region, engulfs several major cities and lots of small ones, yet we (being in North Bay) still feel completely removed from the city and feel WORLDS away out here on the farmlands. The great thing about it is that within a 2 hour radius, there's something to do. And because the Coast Guard is so small and we know people basically everywhere, there's someone we know nearby.

Our next door neighbors from Cape May live just an hour or so across the bay near Alameda. They're moving out of the bay area next week, so we wanted to make sure to see them one more time while they were close. Because of the generosity of Operation Care and Comfort (a non-profit that benefits military families), their family and ours received free tickets to the San Jose Giants game this afternoon, a single-A (advanced) minor league affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. And what better way to celebrate an American holiday than a baseball game with friends?

San Jose Giants!

Calen's big buddy Kyle

I prefer attending minor league games. You're closer to the action, so it's more intimate and easier to watch. The stakes are higher for these kids playing, and a "routine" double play really isn't routine, which makes it more exciting. Plus, they have all sorts of activities for the kids on the field in between innings which makes it that much more fun. 

For military appreciation, they had a WWII era jeep. Cam made sure that Calen wore his helmet.

The downside of today was that it was easily 90 degrees in the direct sun, and we didn't get into the shade until around the 5th inning. So we spent no less than $400 on water, gatorade, icees, and any other cooling-down device. Calen started to feel weak and nauseated; he takes after his dad and can't handle the heat the way Cam and I can. But even I got light headed at one point. But once the sun went behind the stadium it was very pleasant. Calen even got to race the mascot around the bases in the middle of the 5th inning. 

Calen about to race around the bases! He's 3rd from the left, the one waving to us.

It was a great venue and definitely somewhere our family will go again. The kids had a blast despite the heat and we had so much fun visiting with our friends before they transfer onto their next adventure. 

Awesome awesome weekend. Can't beat it. 

Heading home. Love my two "big" men

Day 96: Because You Have to Barbecue This Weekend

It's Memorial Day weekend which means a mandatory barbecue is in order at some point, duh! And I love any excuse for a good barbecue. 

We chose today instead of tomorrow because we have plans tomorrow, and because we didn't need to be concerned about the kids staying up late and having to go to school the next day. 

We hosted (as usual) because we have a great set up. A larger than most back yard on the end of the building so we only have to worry about annoying one neighbor. And we can't annoy said neighbor if they're at our barbecue, now can we? 

It wasn't a big to-do or anything, our next door neighbors plus our friends on the other side of the base came up and we ate cheddar-jalapeno stuffed cheeseburgers and a million sides while we watched the kids have a water balloon fight, climb the big tree barefoot (ouch) with weapons in hand (of course), have an epic lightsaber battle and then a pickup game of backyard baseball with another neighbor boy. 

We ended the night with s'mores again, because obviously! And then the kids bathed and left a ring of dirt and grass and watermelon around the tub and went to bed while the grownups stayed out for a few more hours and chatted the night away under my redneck patio lights devised of white Christmas light strands with ping pong balls stuck onto the bulbs. 

Awesome day. Love this time of year. 

Day 95: Can I Have S'More?

Now that my laptop is actually working again, I can post a real blog post! Yay!

Even though Memorial Day weekend has much, much more important meanings, it's always seemed like the kickoff of summer to me. The weather is (usually) decent, the days last a long time, and the kids are restless for summer vacation. The boys have 4 days left of school (WHY would they even bother having another week of school after Memorial Day?!) and they're antsy. 

We had a bunch of errands to do earlier today, but this evening our neighbors asked if we wanted to come over to their backyard for s'mores. 

Now THAT'S how you kickoff summer! S'mores in the backyard. What could be better?

So we spent the evening having beers while the kids roasted marshmallows over the bbq (fire pits are strictly forbidden in Coast Guard housing after some dillweed burned his house down on base several years ago, but no one said you can't roast a marshmallow over your grill!) and laughed as they set them on fire, then ran around the yard in their socks playing laser tag and chasing the baby kittens my friend is fostering. We stayed out well until the sun was setting before Cam hit some ridiculous epic overtired cranky five year old that just lost at laser tag meltdown, so I walked him home to bed. 

But really, there's no better way to kick off summer. 

Day 94: Don't Add Water to Laptops

I actually had something to blog about today, but instead Brad decided to knock his entire cup of water on top of my laptop. And now it's not working properly.

I still can't get either mobile apps (android or apple) to load photos on the blog posts without giving it a fatal error, so it might be a couple days of boring "I'm still here but can't post properly but counts as a daily blog" posts.

Super.

Day 93: What My Evening Looks Like...

....after spending the evening playing softball when you're in your thirties (and still putting in 100% effort even though I'm still dealing with a calf injury from Monday's game). 

What can I say, I am incapable of half-assing it when I play ball. 

I did get a hit even though I couldn't run for shit today. We lost but it was still a great time. 

Day 92: Not Drawing With Cam

Camden is not an artist. 

This attribute (or non-attribute, as it were) is by choice. He hates art. Loathes it even. Breaks down and cries at school when the preschool teachers say it's art time.

He has gotten better about the last part. Now according to the teachers he just slams his fists down on the table and whines "NOT arrrrrrrtttttt!!! I hate art."

Progress it made through baby steps with this one. 

To be clear, it's mostly "drawing" things he hates. He loves coloring in books and painting. But if his teacher asks to draw a picture of (fill in the blank), jump into your tantrum bunker, here comes a meltdown. 

So when Cam does decide to participate and bring me home a finished piece of art, I make a big deal of it, show everyone in the house, hang it on the fridge and do nothing short of throwing a parade for a single piece of paper with paint slapped on it. 

This week Cam brought me this. It's very specifically a not-drawing of flowers.

This is so classic Cam. I'm sure the teacher said "paint some flowers" and he said to himself, there is no way I'm going to paint actual flowers. He can never take orders/advice/a gentle nudge to anything, and has to do things his own way, march to the beat of his own drum on the soundtrack of his own personal anarchy. 

But he said it's "Flowers For Mom" which of course makes me melt into a puddle of "awwww my BABY!!" mush on the floor. 

Most artists that have pieces in museums are not-drawings anyways. 

Camden's beautiful Not-Drawing

Day 91: That Is Not An Ice Cube

I was tired last night. 

Like, really. A combination of over-exercise tired and mom tired. Every mom knows what mom tired feels like. 

So I get home from my softball game and I'm gassed, totally. I pull out my tumbler (a stupid name for a plastic cup with a lid and a straw) to get a drink. My refrigerator makes ice but doesn't have a door dispenser so I open the freezer and mindlessly grab a handful of ice and toss it into my cup. Add water, drink a few sips, but I'm so tired I just end up going to bed. 

Fast forward to this morning. I'm in a hurry (because parenting) and I need to get out the door to take Cam to preschool. I actually remember to take my allergy pill (because the neighboring farms are plowing and I'm allergic to the air here) so I run over to my tumbler from last night to get a quick drink with my pill. 

The water tastes foul. I mean beyond iffy. A combination of old, skanky, and weird. But I'm in a hurry, so I don't really think about it, except "goddamn, that cup needs to be bleached when I get home, yikes!" and run out the door. 

Fast forward again to this afternoon. I'm folding laundry on the sofa. My cup is still on the table next to the sofa and I glance at it to make a mental reminder to clean that sucker when I'm done. But something catches my eye. 

Why the hell does it still have an ice cube in it? After being out in room temperature for over 12 hours?

Except it's NOT ice cube, it's a mother effing potsticker that had somehow crawled out of the bag of frozen ones in the freezer and hopped into the ice dispenser and I somehow didn't notice that's what I grabbed along with ice cubes last night. So there's a thawed out uncooked potsticker in my water that I drank.

Ewww ewww EWWW. 

This puts a whole new twist on the "worm at the bottom of the tequila bottle". 

I would like to blame being "mom tired" on this one, but I really can't. I was duped. By a potsticker imitating an ice cube.  

It might take me a while before I can eat potstickers again. 

That is not an ice cube.

Day 90: My Heart Is A Shark

Since the school year is almost over (holy crap!), Calen came home with the majority of his artwork and his writing journals that they've worked on all year. There were themes depending on the time of year. I got around to February, and found some Valentine's themed work.

And now, for a poem by Calen. 

"My heart is a shark with two fish. This shark is 11 feet big."

Feel free to contemplate just what on earth "my heart is a shark" means. 

Also please appreciate the shark fins on his heart. 

My heart is a shark also Calen.

Day 89: Thank You For Not Giving My Tballer A Trophy

This might come off funny, after bitching about Calen's team last night. But to be clear, that was directed towards his coach, not the league. I love the league the boys play in. One coach won't ruin it for me. 

The season is over but we went to Camden's tball team party this evening at Mountain Mike's Pizza. It was the usual fare: pizza, drinks, 20 kids (including player siblings) being wild and crazy in the arcade room while the parents gossip. 

But then it came time for the "awards". You know the drill. The "every kid gets a huge trophy for picking dandelions in the outfield and hitting a ball off a tee" award that seems to be almost required in today's youth sports. Normally, I cringe. Call me crazy, but I am not on board with everyone getting a big trophy merely for "participation." As if we need another reason to fuel the fire of the era of the entitled generation, where kids expect a trophy just by showing up to their games and not being required to put in any more effort than kicking the dirt around. What does this teach these kids later in life? That they are expected to be given a raise in their job just by showing up, that the hard worker is rewarded no more than the lazy bum. 

I wish I could get a participation trophy just for showing up out of bed each day. 

So as I'm rolling my eyes waiting for the box of shiny gold humongous trophies of "participation" to come out, I was thrilled to see a manilla envelope full of small, adorable, medals. 

I found myself immediately nodding in approval. Okay, medals! I can do participation medals. Sure, to some people it might not seem any different than a trophy. They're still getting awarded for participation. But it felt different. It felt appropriate. You get medals for running marathons. You get trophies for winning the state tournament. Small, memorable, but not putting these kids on such a pedestal for playing tball in a daisy field where they don't even keep score. 

And you know what? Camden was thrilled. He's seen his brother's countless participation trophies, but he didn't feel like he needed one himself. Maybe because in his first season of sports, his league did it right and didn't create another entitled kid. He got a medal. And a cupcake. And he was on cloud nine. And really, what more does a 5 year old tballer need?

Cupcakes. Medals. Need they anything more at this level of play?

I'm crossing my fingers that when Calen's team party rolls around, he will also receive a medal in lieu of a trophy. If he wants a trophy, he needs to work hard enough to make the All-Star team. Then give the kid a trophy for actually going above and beyond the norm. Hard work=bigger reward. And in the end, everyone takes home something, but it doesn't get to be the biggest award available. In fact, it shouldn't be. If you want a trophy, earn it. 

So thank you, Rohnert Park Cal Ripken Youth Baseball League, for not giving my tballer a trophy. I hope that this is customary for not just your Peewee divisions, but for all your younger baseball divisions as well. 

2016 Rohnert Park Peewee Orioles at their team party

Day 88: The Bitter End

Today was Calen's last game, which means, since Cam's team finished last week, the spring baseball season is officially over. 

Normally, I'd be sad about such things, but this year, I'm relieved. 

We forfeited today (...for the 2nd time...) because only 6 players showed up. Out of 14. On a Saturday.  (We scrimmaged anyways, but the game counted as an automatic loss for us)

This bitter way to end a season is unfortunately kind of the theme of this team. A team full of parents who don't find it important to show up to games (or bother to tell anyone ahead of time). A coach who, though very nice, is rarely on time to his team's games, has no expectations for these kids (and thus they're so unskilled and undisciplined I started secretly calling them the Bad News Bears), who didn't want to participate in the Playoffs (so he cancelled our team out of it), and who didn't deem it important to hold a single practice. Ever. This group of boys didn't grow at all from the first day of the season to the last. In fact I feel that Calen regressed, a product of his environment where he sees everyone screwing around, so he should, too. 

It's sad when you show up to the designated baseball field half an hour early (customary for most sport teams, to warm up and maybe do a few quick drills), to find that you're the only one there. Every single game. So I'll play catch with Calen or throw grounders and meanwhile on the other side of the field, before every game, every opponent team we faced is all there, full team and coaching staff at least 30 minutes early, warming up, drilling, coaching. We're the only team that doesn't. And it shows on our record (we only one 4 or 5 games out of 18). 

I know, I know, "don't complain until you volunteer." So that's what I'm going to do, volunteer. I might not be able to coach (I don't want to show favoritism of coaching one kid over the other, and I've already coached tball before - no thanks), but if by some unfortunate circumstance the same coach drafts Calen again in Fall Ball, I'm volunteering as an assistant coach, which on his staff, means I'll be doing everything. Fine. Maybe these kids will learn something. 

Here's to hoping he makes the 9u tryouts and we just don't have to deal with that coach again.

And now for a 2 week break before flag football for both kids begins! Oh and swim lessons and summer vacation and and and.....

Great season, buddy

Day 87: How to Watch Deadpool With Kids In The House

Disclaimer: READ the content of this post before assuming that the title meant I actually allowed my kids to even be in the same room as us while watching Deadpool. We didn't. And you shouldn't allow your kids to either. It's seriously no-shit NOT FOR CHILDREN EVER. 

Not for kids. No. Never. Ever. 

So our friends came over for dinner and suggested that we rent Deadpool on Amazon. They've seen it but Brad and I hadn't yet, and with our powers combined, we were going to find a way to successfully watch it without having to outsource for babysitters. So here's the step by step on how to watch a horrifically graphic, violent, sexually charged action hero movie while your kids are still in the house. 

1. Have a two story house. Which we do, so win! If you don't better start construction on that attic-extension. Make sure you are watching the movie on a separate floor than your children.

2. Double Date it, with kids too. We invited our friends over for dinner, whose son is one of their friends. When kids are entertained by friends, they generally ask for less snacks/boredom fixers/can I have-fill in the blanks. 

3. Feed them dinner first. So that they're not hungry and come down asking for food. 

4. Send them upstairs with Netflix and a ridiculously gigantic baseball stadium souvenir-sized popcorn bucket. In case they get hungry anyways. Which they will. 

Objects in mirror are LARGER than they appear. Seriously. That bucket is humongous.

5. Make explicit rules that they may NOT come downstairs. Ours are old enough that they understood and actually followed the rule that they were allowed down to the landing of the stairs and needed to SHOUT if they needed one of us. 

6. Barricade your stairs. In case they can't follow #5 (we didn't have to). Use chairs. Or trip wire. or a snare. 

7. Have the TV power-off button at the ready. If they break rule #5 and manage to pass through the barricade, turn the TV screen off. There is no good place to pause this movie. 

We successfully made it through the movie and only had to pause once when the kids shouted from the stairs landing. It's graphic but hilarious. 

Day 86: If I Could Just Sneeze, That'd Be Great

Even though it was a stupidly busy day, there wasn't a whole lot to note that was blog worthy. Baseball games, staying late to help clean up after baseball games, coaches' fighting after baseball games...

okay, that might be worth noting. Calen's coaches and the other team's coaches got into an argument at the end of the game that the game was called too early (the other team was right, our team decided we were done a good 15 minutes before the game should have been over). Another tick against the Indians' coaching staff and here's to hoping and praying we're never drafted on this team again. 

Not to mention the whole county is mowing their fields which means I'm allergic to everything and suffering miserably. Or almost miserably. I feel like those cats in those memes that are about to sneeze, except I never do sneeze, and I feel that way all day long. 

You know, like this:

Really, that's it. I got nothing today. I feel like we were so busy all day and didn't accomplish anything. 

There's always tomorrow. And an extra dose of Claritin D. 

Day 85: To Be a Kid Again

The best part about being a kid is when the toughest decision of the day is:

Whether to jump down the slip n slide on your butt, or your belly.

Oh, to be a 5 year old kid again.

Summer is almost here people. 

Day 84: Chivalry Is Dead

To hell with opening doors for women, picking up the check, standing up when they're leaving the room. 

Real men have lightsaber battles with the ladies. 

I'm sure feminists everywhere are rejoicing. 

However, he's still a gentleman, and wouldn't hit too hard, and basically got the crap beaten out of him by a 2 year old girl. 

Poor Cam just doesn't have it in him to hit a girl. 

Epic lightsaber duel. Who will win?

Day 83: I Hate Driving In Fields!

It was a travel day back to California today. 13 hours of driving, throwing food at kids, changing DVDs on the head rest player (while driving, thank you very much), and stopping only to pee and get gas (and throw the football around for 5 minutes at each rest stop). 

Today's highlights were Cam suddenly screaming from the back seat: "USE THE FORCE REY!!!!!!" as he watched Star Wars, and Calen announcing "I HATE driving in the fields!!! They're so boring and there's nothing to look at."

We weren't driving in the fields, just so you know. 

But really, the drive is pretty until you hit California. 

And now we're home and safe and basically dead at 5pm until we have to wake up tomorrow. 

Thanks for the memories Washington!

Outside of Shasta, OR

Day 82: Down Time

Today was our last actual day in Washington, since tomorrow (tonight?) at 2am we will be leaving to set out on our 13 hour drive back home. So we spent the day in Leavenworth, WA, where my mom and grandparents live.

It's been a long week and the kids (and me) were definitely strung out by the end of it. So, surprisingly, they took it upon themselves to entertain themselves without devices or TV (okay, TV came later in the day). 

Cam spent like 2 hours playing with his Army men on the dining room table:

And Calen spent a good 45 minutes cutting, coloring, and taping together this totally elaborate and super cool 3D Minecraft dragon guy WITH a guy riding it. 

Color me impressed. 

And that's that for this trip, until we return in August. 

Day 81: Because It Always Rains at BBQs

I'm still posting on mobile devices until I'm home Monday, so bear with me. Then I'll be able to do fun things like add pictures, because blogs really are boring without pictures. And I have good ones.

So today was the main reason I came up for this super short impromptu Seattle visit. My "twin" Jake (1st cousin, raised together, a week apart in age, have weird twin mind-reading tendencies) and his fam are PCSing from Seattle to Anchorage AK in a few weeks. Since Alaska isn't necessarily on the way to anything ever and it will be larger chunks of time between visits now, I wanted to make sure to see them before they moved. Plus, my other cousin Angie (his sister) had a baby a month ago and since I'm done having kids I needed to go snuggle a baby nephew like immediately.

My aunt (as always) opened up her home and we had a big "Hey Jake is moving and Ashley is in town" BBQ. Which was a ton of fun and involved a bounce house and lots of food and hanging out in the backyard.

Until it rained. For the first time in like two months. Because it ALWAYS rains at BBQs. Especially in Seattle.

For a while the drizzle didn't stop us. The kids stomped rockets (stomp rockets.....google it. Then buy it.) and played baseball and ran around the bubble machine and ate everything in sight. And then it really really rained and we all surrendered and went inside. But it was a great visit. And I got a SPECTACULAR photo of all six kids belonging to Jake, Ang and myself together, that I can do NOTHING with until I get back to my laptop on Monday.

There are two morals to this story:

1. A 10% chance of rain in Seattle really means a 100% chance of rain IF you have a BBQ planned, and
2. Pack laptops with you on vacation. An iPad is not enough.

Day 80: I Bet You Haven't Named Your Biceps

Now that we are in Seattle for a few short days, my BFF decided that spending a weekday with us was WAY more important than something as stupid as sending her kids to school, so they played hookie, and we spent the day together at Alki beach in Seattle.

This is especially special to Calen, who is best friends with her son Cameron, and they only see each other 4 or 5 times a year.

Let's see how confused people can get when we are shouting "Cam! No, little Cam! Wait, my Cam or your Cam? Bam Bam! No, the other Bam!" What can we say, we have good taste in kid names.

Even though Calen and (big) Cam have been BFFs since diaperhood, I find that the older they get, the funnier their conversations get. You know what two seven year olds talk about? I have no idea. They ramble on and on about shit us totally uncool moms know nothing about, like Minecraft and Pokémon  (can you believe that's still a thing).

And now that they're older and competitive, combined with being shirtless at the beach, it became a manly "who's muscles are bigger" conversation.

And then they both named their muscles, because that's what seven year old boys too. They name their muscles.

FYI, Calen named his biceps "Stone Crusher" and "Firestorm." I'm not even kidding. Cameron named his "Gollum" and something else I can't remember.

Kendall named hers "Skinny" and "Nothing", because she knows like the rest of us we can't compete with those two body builders. Who are so skinny themselves you can see their ribcages.

I bet you haven't named your biceps. Or maybe you have and you're that cool. As a 7 year old boy.

It really was a great day. Even though we don't see each other often, it makes these times that much more meaningful.

Endnote: the stupid mobile app still won't let me add pictures. I'll go back and edit these once I get back to CA.

Day 79: Technical Difficulties

Apparently this website does not like updates from mobile devices, because I can't get it to save on my phone (android) or my iPad. I'll try again tomorrow. In three meantime this totally counts as a post and my post every day for a year is not interrupted ;-)

Day 78: A Tip On Traveling With Kids

We had a big travel day today in the form of a 13 hour drive. 13 hour drives are not fun for anyone, but especially when kids are involved.

Actually, my kids are exceptional travelers. They entertain themselves and each other and are quiet and keep complaining to a true minimal. But by the last hour of today, we were all complaining. Including me.

Luckily for you, I have tips on how to travel (by car) with kids for hours on end!

1. Technology, technology, technology.
     - throw away those hippy articles about "screen time". You're on a road trip and this is survival, man! Get those dual screen DVD players for the head rest. Teach yourself how to change discs one handed without looking (I did). Give the kids iPads  (or don't and call them ipads....my kids have a Kindle Fire and a Leapster, respectively. They think they're ipads. So I call them ipads. We all win). Bring chargers and batteries for said ipads. Let them play for twelve hours straight. Who cares, if it means you and the radio and some sanity.

2. A passenger seat full of food.
     - This pertains to the crazies (me) that do these road trips by ourselves because our husbands can't get leave. Put a Costco shopping bag full of snacks and meals on the passenger seat. Seat belt that sucker in. Make sure it's easy food that can be used as projectiles, like apples, granola bars, those unscrustables PB&Js. If they start to say they're hungry, snatched something out of the bag and throw it at them. This prevents stops. And complaining.

3. Change seating assignments.
     - This is a new tip I discovered just today! Add extra excitement by swapping the kids normal seats. We swapped the boys this morning for the first time in like 3 years. They claimed the view was "SO different!!" And were completely excited about it. Ooookay. Whatever works.

At this point, we are pros at this road trip stuff. We only stopped to pee and get gas. Period. It was exhausting and we were DONE by the end of it, but in my opinion it's better to just get there instead of stretching it out any longer than necessary.

End note: I did this blog on my phone. I have no idea how it will look or turn out and it keeps crashing when I add pictures.  Bear with me the next few days.

Day 77: Milestones

Here's something completely off topic. Our tired, worn down SUV hit 200,000 miles today. 

That beast has driven lengthwise across the United States twice, a dozen times up and down both coasts, and has brought home two babies (technically one, because the one and only day it's ever broken down was the day Camden was born.) 

Though she's a bit louder now than she used to be, and not as smooth a ride, and has a pesky engine light on (a non critical issue. We already know the problem and are fixing it once we get a break from the kid's sports seasons), she's still going strong. 

Really, there's nothing else of note to talk about today. Calen had a game and had two singles and an RBI. He got the ball defensively several times and should have had two or three outs but the basemen couldn't handle the throws. Only two more games left in the season, so sad to see it end. 

Day 76: That Rare Moment...

That rare moment where both boys are doing something together, silently, without it being a competition. 

(Coloring Jurassic World coloring books).

That's when you take a picture and silently slip away before they notice that YOU notice they're playing nice and do something like yell at each other or something. 

(disclaimer: actually, my boys fight very little. But everything is a competition, so there's always some sort of whining (Camden) or bossing around (Calen).)

Day 75: Happy Kid Survival Day

It's Happy I Live With Tiny Humans That Drive Me Crazy And We Need To Celebrate My Survival Day!

Also known as Mother's Day. Because it's easier to say. Less syllables you know. 

I normally don't like to be fussed over at all. I'm pretty low maintenance and as long as I didn't have to deal with any major drama in kid-form today, I was happy. But, I did have some very specific requests for today. I wanted a family outing of some sort in the morning, Brad's homemade cheeseburgers for lunch/dinner, and an entire afternoon on the sofa in front of my Playstation uninterrupted. 

Chocolates and flowers be damned. Give me an adventure and a game controller. 

This morning we got up fairly early and went to Muir Woods (redwood forest) near San Francisco. I've been wanting to hit up this place since we moved here and it finally worked out where it was a coolish day on the weekend that wasn't raining or had previous plans. And it was Mother's Day so it was the perfect adventure I was looking for. 

Being from Washington, I have high expectations for forests. But these seriously passed the test. They were so green and dense and the trees were HUGE, even though they aren't the big drive-your-car-through-the-trunk redwoods. We spent about 4 hours hiking through the trails, and the kids never complained once. They loved feeling the moss and trying to wrap their arms around the trees and listening for woodpeckers. The whole time I kept thinking, "We're 15 minutes from San Francisco and you wouldn't even know it," because we could have just as easily been somewhere in the middle of Canada on an episode of Survivorman. 

Then I got to come home, put on my sweatpants, and play my Playstation while the kids played upstairs and Brad made my requested cheeseburgers. 

Family time and me time? Super fantastic Mother's Day. 

I didn't bring my camera, but I'm really impressed at what my new cell phone can do. For a cell phone. 

Day 74: Roses For Mom

It's been such a long day. We woke up to rain, Cam had a tball game anyways, came home for two hours to eat lunch and throw our socks in the dryer from walking in the wet grass, drove back to the ball fields for Calen's game in the rain, came home and spent the rest of the afternoon and well into the night outside for our neighborhood block party. It was a great day, but I'm tired. 

Calen's game was forfeited today because not enough players showed up (8 are required to play, only 6 showed up before the umpire finally called the game and left. 1 more showed up later). But since both teams were there and dressed and ready and all the parents were sitting there in the rain, they decided to have a scrimmage game anyways. Even though it didn't count, it was way fun. Calen hit a single and had two more defensive outs, one at first and one at third. 

But the best part of the day was after the game, when the coach had all the kids line up on the third base line and invited all the moms/grandmas to the warning track. He had given all the boys a rose to give to their moms and in unison the boys yelled "Happy Mother's Day!"

For all my complaints I've had with this coach, I'll give him some major awesome points here. How can you not love a group of seven year old boys giving their mama's flowers??

Day 73: "My Mom Works Hard at the Mailbox"

Camden made me a mother's day card at school today. 

Preschool gifts are the best. Especially when the teachers ask them questions and they answer in their most knowledgeable 5 year old ways. 

I appreciate that Cam thinks I'm slightly younger than I am. 

I also like that he thinks I work at the...mailbox? I didn't know checking the mail every day was such hard work. And that I should be getting a paycheck for it. 

Day 72: Jimmy Hansen and Traci Robinson

While Calen was still at school this afternoon, Cam and I went to Costco. 

When Calen was about 3, he named Costco the "Hot Dog Store", since we as a family would always go to our nearly empty South Jersey Costco at dinner time and have hot dogs for dinner before we went shopping. It stuck and it's been the household name for Costco ever since. 

Now that Camden and I are usually the ones that go to Costco now while Brad is working and Calen is at school, we have a special hot dog lunch date before we go shopping.

Today, we were in the bathroom before we ate, and Camden goes (loudly, because kids don't know how to speak quietly in the bathroom ever):

"Mom, the hot dog store is MADE of hot dogs. That's why it's called the hot dog store."

Me: "No it's not. Does it look like it's made of hot dogs?"

Camden: "No. Maybe it tastes like hot dogs..." (sticks tongue out...remember we're IN THE BATHROOM)

Me: "DON'T LICK ANYTHING."

.........

Later, we are ordering our food and the lady at the counter told Cam he's cute.

Cam: "Hi, I'm Camden Hansen and I'm five years old!"

Cashier: "Hi Jimmy Hansen (Jimmy?? Which doesn't even rhyme with Camden) I'm Traci Robinson and I'm 47 years old!"

I couldn't help but love the fact that she introduced herself with full name and age just like Cam did. Bravo.

Then they shook hands and she gave us our food and she yelled "Bye Jimmy Hansen!" Which was even funnier because Cam was like "Who's Jimmy." We ended up sitting at one of those side tables that's up against the glass where you can watch the cafe workers. Traci Robinson kept coming over to the glass and tapping it to wave to Cam and he'd grin this shit eating grin and I told him "I think she likes you!"

He wrinkled his nose and yelled "EWWWW." and then said "I'm NOT going to let her kiss me like Rapunzel kissed me at Disney World. That's gross."

Well, sorry Traci, Jimmy isn't interested in pursuing a relationship. 

Cam's face when I told him Traci likes him