Day 28: The World's Smallest Birdhouse

It rained again today. 

::gasp!:: ::shock!!:: ::horror!!::

It's rained for the last like month straight. Seriously. 

Are we in California or what??

Luckily, the last time I was at Target I stocked up on some rainy day activities, courtesy of the dollar bin. I saw these super cute birdhouse kits for only three dollars and thought what a great idea! 

We pulled these little kits out this morning and I was a bit shocked - they're REALLY small. For REALLY small birds, I guess. 

Either way, the kids didn't notice that they were tiny and had a great time painting their own designs on their birdhouses , then let them dry while we went to a second showing of The Lego Movie 2 at the base movie theater (for $5 for the whole family, you can't NOT go). 

Then when we returned and the paint was dry, Daddy pulled out his wood glue and helped build their little masterpieces. The next time we go to the store we will buy some bird seed to entice the world's tiniest birds to come hang out. 

They turned out so cute!

Day 27: The Milepost

It's Thursday! You know what happened today? NOTHING. 

Nada, zilch. We just weren't that interesting. 

But this bad boy came in the mail today! The "Bible of Alaska traveling"

Look at how big this is compared to that pencil!!

This thing is a beast. 700 pages or something crazy like that, covering every milepost (get it?) from every Canadian border to (and in) Alaska. 

Since most of our drive will not have internet access, this has become our Google of the Yukon. Where to pee, where to eat, what the road conditions are, what kind of wild animal is going to eat us on what stretch of road. 

It's actually been a fascinating read. Did you know there's a Chicken, Alaska?? Because I didn't. 

Time to start planning!

Day 26: Shenanigans

It's Wednesday night and Wednesday night for the past 7 months means hockey practice. I thought that, since Camden's two best friends are at practice every Wednesday with him, that maybe we could do something fun one of these nights. 

I mean, we spend every weekend together, and "vacation" together to whatever destination travel hockey takes us, why not add even more?

Post practice, we all headed to Chick Fil A for a late dinner and some free time in their little playground. 

We used to go here all the time for the kids to run and play, but according to the ruler on the door, Calen is officially "too tall" to play in there, so this was a great opportunity for little Cam and his little friends to go play while Calen was at home with Dad. 

We took up two tables, let the kids be loud and absurd and have complete UN-restaurant etiquette, and play in the play area to their hearts ALMOST-content. 

Oh, to be a kid again. 

Day 25: Our Boat In The Future

Calen came home from school today with some artwork he did during free time. 

As of late, Calen is always coming home with artwork. For a "quick to finish" little lefty, he's a pretty great artist. 

Today's masterpiece was a pencil-drawn stick figure schematic on a slightly crumpled piece of notebook paper. The perfect medium for a nine year old boy, of course. 

He titled it: "Disney Cruise. Aka: Our Boat In The Future"

As if it needs a description, it is of course a cruise ship, of the Disney variety (is there really any other variety that matters?). 

Calen of course is the captain, located on the bridge happily sailing (see the smile on his face?). Daddy is on the bow deck of the ship, playing basketball. I am parasailing off the back of the ship. His buddy Donovan is swimming in the pool, and his other buddy Mason is in "Video Game Land" (the arcade) down below, playing Pokemon to be exact. 

And Camden? Camden (labeled "Bam-Bam" on the map) is up on deck meeting Mickey Mouse. "Because that's his happy place, being with Mickey Mouse" Calen says. 

He's spot on when it comes to Cam and Mickey. 

Of course, there's a helicopter above to scout out anything interesting, and an "emergency gun", just in case your perfect Disney Cruise goes to hell in a handbasket right quick. 

I thought this was super cute and definitely worth keeping. 

Day 24: After Dark

You know what the best part of living on base is? Letting the kids basically run the base. They roam like feral lost boys, only coming home to eat, and when it's dark. 

Except, tonight it got dark, and we were still getting knocks on the door. 

I was surprised at the knocks past the "witching hour", but when I answered, it was Calen's best buddy, and his light up lightsaber. 

Well, obviously they need to go outside and have a lightsaber battle!

So the boys of course ran upstairs, grabbed their light up lightsabers, and thus ensued an epic battle worthy of a galaxy far far away in my front yard, with only the porch light and some epic flashes of green, blue and purple sparking up the night. 

Stay young and wild, Lost Boys. 

Day 23: Field Day

Because we hadn't had enough of youth sports this weekend, today was "field day" for Calen's baseball team. 

This is how it works, isn't it? You think life is going to get easier the older the kids get. But then, they get all involved in all this extra curricular nonsense and suddenly you're eating dinner at 3:30 and your fantasy of "sleeping in" on the weekends is completely erased and replaced with all day hockey tournaments, or mid-day baseball games, or 5:15am practices, or field days. 

I'll sleep when I'm dead. 

Actually field day is great. (It's GREAT! Right?? That's what I'm supposed to say?) It's a league wide call-to-arms huge cleanup of all the baseball fields the league uses. Each team is assigned a certain field and time slot, and parents and players get out there and get dirty, raking, weeding, more weeding, and getting the fields just perfect for Opening Day. 

Brad took Calen to his team's assigned field and they worked their tails off while Cam and I happily stayed at home (Cam still has a full blown man-cold). Brad sent me some photos of Calen and his teammate dragging the field (a heavy job!) and weeding. I love that Calen was involved, to show how much hard work is involved in keeping these fields nice. 

After some hard work, you play of course! So Brad took Calen to the nearest playground on site. 

Later this evening after the big guys got home, the boys asked for a "play bath", and so I had them get in their swimsuits and tossed some glow sticks in the tub for bonus fun points. They used some test tubes from a science kit and were making "experiments" and then added a Lego Emmitt and his truck, and some underwater Lego critters for a glowy underwater adventure. 

They're still easy to please, and I like it. 

Day 22: Ice In My Veins

Today was the last tournament day for Camden and his Santa Rosa Flyers 8u (Mites) hockey team. This is NOT the end of the season, thank goodness, since the Mites have scheduled ice time through March, but it is the last official multi-game "jamboree". 

We made the trek to Livermore CA for his third tournament at this location. Livermore is a very unique place to play 8u (Mites) hockey, because instead of multiple cross ice games on one full size rink like most venues, this place has two shortened mini rinks, and the players get to play full ice "real hockey", which is a super exciting experience for them. 

Camden was suffering from a month long never ending cold this weekend and was very low on energy, but nevertheless he worked hard, played four games and even scored a rebounded back-handed goal. 

He scored himself a new stick at their skate shop there with the help of his assistant coach (that we left unaltered, and will cut down to proper size right before his next season this fall in Kodiak), and finished strong with a trip to Camden's favorite store in Oakland Hockey X to oogle at new gear (which we opted to not get). 

It has been such an amazing first hockey season for Camden, where he not only learned to play hockey, but learned a lot about himself on the ice - that is has wicked defensive instincts and has an explosive amount of ferocity and plays best after he is checked (literally, goes ballistic and skates 10 times faster, trips up plays, is a magnet to the puck on defense).

I have learned about the hockey family community, which before I joined the ranks, barely knew it even existed. But it is a thing, a big thing, bigger than Little League families or football families or any other kind of sports mom group you could imagine. We are at the rink at 5:15am draining our mugs of lifeblood (coffee) and having breakfast every weekend together. We are traveling all over the region together. We are staying in hotels hundreds of miles away from home together - and with that sharing meals, doing between-game activities, and carpooling together. We aren't just a bunch of moms and dads that happen to have kids on the same team - as I feel with the kids' baseball teams. We are family. 

And youth hockey, and the youth hockey family that I've created and that Camden has created with his now-best friends, has seriously ruined every other youth sport for me. 

Hockey rocks. 

See you at practice this week, Flyers!

Day 21: Everything Is Awesomer

We had a family movie night at the base theater tonight. Normally I'd say no to a 7pm movie showing when we have hockey the next morning however this was the much awaited much anticipated new Lego Movie (The 2nd Part)

Without spoiling it with um...spoilers, this movie is fantastic, the characters hilarious and the soundtrack is on point. 

This-songs-gonna-get-stuck-in-your-head!!

The boys LOVED the movie and are now convinced they need to buy every last Lego Movie 2 Lego set there is. 

Day 20: Weeknight Surgery

You know you're a mom when you spend your Thursday night performing surgery on your 9 year old's stuffed bear who's ear was halfway falling off. 

It was rugged, messy, back alley of South America type surgery, but his ear sure isn't coming off any time soon. 

Day 19: Written Languages

When the boys get home from school every day, the first thing they do is demand ask extremely politely for a snack. Lately it seems, they've been asking for two snacks, because they're definitely still hungry with food still in their mouths not even digested in their stomachs. 

Today, Calen asked for a popsicle to have after his animal crackers snack. I told him to ask me once he was actually done eating his animal crackers, because I'm completely unreasonable that way. 

So he ceremoniously stuffed every last animal cracker into his mouth to the point where tiny carb zoo animals were flinging themselves out of his mouth to freedom (just to be eaten by the chocolate lab at Calen's feet), and asked - with his mouth stuffed full - something to the crumbly, muffled effect of: "cabluaffuffobsffiblrf?"

..."What??"...

And instead of finishing what was in his mouth before trying to communicate, like a normal human being, he went over the white board, and wrote his question. 

"Can I have a popsicle? P.S. PRETTY PLEASE?"

Calen, your mouth isn't even empty yet. 

Then he laughed, and half-dissolved crackers spewed all over my wall. 

I can't even with this kid. 

He did get his popsicle though.