We are back from a fun family trip to Southern California. On the last day, I asked the kids what their favorite parts of the vacation were. Their answers were as follows:
William - Seeing his cousins. All the us enjoyed hanging out with the Royal family of Yucaipa, California for a few days. We had a blast with them. The kids stayed up late every night, we played games and we played on the Wii. They have a cute little dog named Belle who my kids loved. Tessa found a kindred spirit in Sydney and they played Barbies for literally hours at a time. On Tuesday, we all went into Los Angeles for the day. We went to the California Science Center and saw some of their exhibits, including a cute IMAX movie called Born to Be Wild. We also went to Univeral Studios City Walk and ate lunch (Jay really wanted to go to Pinks, a hot dog place) and shopped for treats. To wrap up our day we went to the Griffith Park Observatory and saw the giant telescope and enjoyed the planetarium exhibits. Although we were sad to leave their house on Wednesday (William actually cried), we are so grateful to them for playing host to us for a few days! We had so much fun.
Henry - Sea World. On Thursday we went to Sea World and the kids really enjoyed it. Henry found his favorite ride - Journey to Atlantis - which is a cross between a water ride and a roller coaster. He would have ridden it all day if we had let him. We saw all the fun exhibits, rode some cute rides and saw three shows - One Ocean (the Shamu show), the Dolphin show (I can't remember the name of it now), and Pet's Rule. Tessa and I saw Pet's Rule while the boys were riding the water rides and I thought it was silly but Tessa loved it. Anyway, Sea World is a great way to spend a day in San Diego. On Friday, our last day in San Diego, we hit a few sights around town. We went to Old Town, saw the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center (we highly recommend it) and had lunch. Then we drove to Coronado Island and went to the beach for a bit. Finally we drove to Point Loma and saw the old military base and took in the view and the lighthouse. San Diego is a beautiful area and we would definitely head back there someday.
Tessa - The hot tub. Yes, of all the things we did, Tessa's favorite thing was swimming in the hotel pool every night and hanging out in the hot tub. I think she had fun during the rest of the activities as well, to be fair, but this is the first thing that came to her mind.
All in all, we had a great trip. Poor Jay got home from Australia at 3:30 pm Friday and we left for California at 6 am Saturday morning but he seemed to recover from his jetlag well and had fun hanging out with the family. I celebrated my 43rd birthday while we were there and it was nice - Carol even made a carrot cake to mark the occasion.
I'll post pictures in the next day or so when I get a chance. For now, I've got laundry to catch up on. Lots and lots of laundry.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
When The Cat's Away.....
....something unusual happens. Not bad. Well, sometimes bad. Not catastrophic. Just unusual.
The last time Jay left the continental United States, Tessa broke her arm and required minor surgery. It wasn't a pleasant experience. The day before he was scheduled to come home, William became the first victim of what I like to call Vomitfest 2011. Good times.
So he left last week for Australia. "It's another beautiful day in Queensland," he crowed to me on the phone the other day. It's winter in Australia, but winter in Queensland means highs in the low-70's with lows in the 50's. He's loving it. Our weather is a bit warmer, but doable. Today was quite pleasant. It only got up to the low 80's, which for early August I'll take any day of the week. It stayed cooler today because of the rain we had this morning.
So, now to the "unusual". It doesn't usually rain quite as much as it did in August. April, sure. May and June even. But August 1st? We had what can only be described as a deluge for a good part of the morning. I put on my thinking cap and plugged in our sump pump, thinking that with all the rain in such a short period of time I should be proactive. Good, right?
Well, yeah. The sun came out around 1 pm and it was fine. I needed to use the outlet for something - you see where I'm going with this, don't you? - so I unplugged the pump. I didn't give it a second thought until about 5 pm, when I asked Tessa to go down in the basement to our food storage and pick out a package of pasta for me to make for dinner. The conversation went as follows:
Me - Tessa, how come you didn't get the pasta:?
Tessa - Because of the water.
Me - What water?
Tessa - The water in the basement.
Sigh. I quickly plugged in the pump again and it promptly went off and has continued to go off every few minutes. We had water in our cold room and storage space. Luckily our basement isn't finished so it was just concrete. I was able to soak most of it up with towels and I'm letting the rest sit and hopefully I'll be able to dry it in the morning. There isn't enough to really try and use a wet-vac on and since there is no carpet it should be fine. I had to move around some stuff in the cold storage room and in the crawl space but I only threw away a couple of things that should have been thown away a while ago anyway. Crisis averted.
But seriously? I sooooo need a vacation. To Southern California.
Oh yeah. That's next week.
In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't actually sigh when I realized we had water in the basement. I'll let you use your imagination as to my actual response. I don't think the kids heard me. At least I hope not.
The last time Jay left the continental United States, Tessa broke her arm and required minor surgery. It wasn't a pleasant experience. The day before he was scheduled to come home, William became the first victim of what I like to call Vomitfest 2011. Good times.
So he left last week for Australia. "It's another beautiful day in Queensland," he crowed to me on the phone the other day. It's winter in Australia, but winter in Queensland means highs in the low-70's with lows in the 50's. He's loving it. Our weather is a bit warmer, but doable. Today was quite pleasant. It only got up to the low 80's, which for early August I'll take any day of the week. It stayed cooler today because of the rain we had this morning.
So, now to the "unusual". It doesn't usually rain quite as much as it did in August. April, sure. May and June even. But August 1st? We had what can only be described as a deluge for a good part of the morning. I put on my thinking cap and plugged in our sump pump, thinking that with all the rain in such a short period of time I should be proactive. Good, right?
Well, yeah. The sun came out around 1 pm and it was fine. I needed to use the outlet for something - you see where I'm going with this, don't you? - so I unplugged the pump. I didn't give it a second thought until about 5 pm, when I asked Tessa to go down in the basement to our food storage and pick out a package of pasta for me to make for dinner. The conversation went as follows:
Me - Tessa, how come you didn't get the pasta:?
Tessa - Because of the water.
Me - What water?
Tessa - The water in the basement.
Sigh. I quickly plugged in the pump again and it promptly went off and has continued to go off every few minutes. We had water in our cold room and storage space. Luckily our basement isn't finished so it was just concrete. I was able to soak most of it up with towels and I'm letting the rest sit and hopefully I'll be able to dry it in the morning. There isn't enough to really try and use a wet-vac on and since there is no carpet it should be fine. I had to move around some stuff in the cold storage room and in the crawl space but I only threw away a couple of things that should have been thown away a while ago anyway. Crisis averted.
But seriously? I sooooo need a vacation. To Southern California.
Oh yeah. That's next week.
In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't actually sigh when I realized we had water in the basement. I'll let you use your imagination as to my actual response. I don't think the kids heard me. At least I hope not.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Double Digits
Henry has officially hit the double-digit club. A decade. Ten years old. Sometimes I look at him and think, "how is this kid 10 already?" Then he does something Henryish that drives me absolutely nuts and feel like he's been around for a lot longer than that.
He has had a nice birthday. Since his birthday (today) is Sunday, we had his party on Friday. In years past, Henry's birthday parties have been easy. I just get a Slip N Slide, a pool, or a blow up water slide and throw the kids out in the back yard, give them a snow cone and some cake and call it good. Not this year. He wanted an Amazing Race themed party. Our friends Melissa and Trevor hosted an Amazing Race for adults about a month ago and Henry thought it was awesome. He got to ride around in Trevor's truck and help clean up or organize some of the tasks and he felt incredibly grown up and cool. So we invited about 10 kids, divided them into teams and had them race around our little neighborhood. They had do do things like count the windows on our house, solve a secret message, complete a 60 piece puzzle, and fill up a cup with water using only spoons. They had pizza and cake and ice cream. They played basketball and had a Nerf war. A good time was had by all.
On Saturday Henry asked if we could go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch so we did that and got cupcakes that we had after church today. Jay called from Australia and spent some time on the phone with him. The kids at church sang Happy Birthday to him. He's getting Happy Birthday phone calls today and I think he feels special.
He wanted a cake commemorating the University of Utah's foray into the PAC 12, but I couldn't find anyone who had a license to make a cake like that. He had to settle for this:
He has had a nice birthday. Since his birthday (today) is Sunday, we had his party on Friday. In years past, Henry's birthday parties have been easy. I just get a Slip N Slide, a pool, or a blow up water slide and throw the kids out in the back yard, give them a snow cone and some cake and call it good. Not this year. He wanted an Amazing Race themed party. Our friends Melissa and Trevor hosted an Amazing Race for adults about a month ago and Henry thought it was awesome. He got to ride around in Trevor's truck and help clean up or organize some of the tasks and he felt incredibly grown up and cool. So we invited about 10 kids, divided them into teams and had them race around our little neighborhood. They had do do things like count the windows on our house, solve a secret message, complete a 60 piece puzzle, and fill up a cup with water using only spoons. They had pizza and cake and ice cream. They played basketball and had a Nerf war. A good time was had by all.
On Saturday Henry asked if we could go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch so we did that and got cupcakes that we had after church today. Jay called from Australia and spent some time on the phone with him. The kids at church sang Happy Birthday to him. He's getting Happy Birthday phone calls today and I think he feels special.
He wanted a cake commemorating the University of Utah's foray into the PAC 12, but I couldn't find anyone who had a license to make a cake like that. He had to settle for this:
It's actually quite a good replication of the Utah logo. He was happy with it. His little cake-loving friends got over their initial reaction to it being a Ute cake (most folks around here pull for Utah State or, gasp, BYU) and devoured it it short order.
So Henry celebrates another year of being on this planet and in our family. He's healthy (still cancer-free as of a few weeks ago), loves sports and Webelos and school, and is generally a great kid.
Happy Birthday, Henry! We love you!
Friday, July 22, 2011
40 What?
Jay turned 45 today. He doesn't like it - it feels just a smidge too close to 50. But he's generally a good sport about his birthday so it's all good.
He had to work today (summer at his job is crazy with a capital C) so we did a quick celebration when he got home from work.
As you can see, he is excited for his noise-cancelling headphones. Hopefully they'll allow him a little sleep on his 15 hour flights between LA and Sydney.
Today William saw an older type truck in the parking lot of a store and said it was a classic, from the 80's. Then he thought Jay and I were born in the 90's. When I corrected him to the correct decade, he thought I said 16th Century instead of the 60's. I guess to him there isn't much difference. They both seem really long ago.
Happy Birthday, Jay! We love you!
He had to work today (summer at his job is crazy with a capital C) so we did a quick celebration when he got home from work.
As you can see, he is excited for his noise-cancelling headphones. Hopefully they'll allow him a little sleep on his 15 hour flights between LA and Sydney.
Today William saw an older type truck in the parking lot of a store and said it was a classic, from the 80's. Then he thought Jay and I were born in the 90's. When I corrected him to the correct decade, he thought I said 16th Century instead of the 60's. I guess to him there isn't much difference. They both seem really long ago.
Happy Birthday, Jay! We love you!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Life, Normalized
I like to think we are back to normal here in the Wright household. We haven't had any medical issues in over a week, which isn't something that I could have said since early June. Jay has been in town. Summer is progressing. Life is good.
The boys both finished baseball. I missed William's last game due to the stomach flu, but he has had an awesome first year of coach-pitch. He got alot of hits and is getting better defensively. Henry's team finished 9-3. He had some nice hits and nice defensive plays as well. It was his first year of kid-pitch so it was a bit of an adjustment but he had a great time, which is the most important thing to me. Unfortunately they lost their first tournament game but he seemed happy with his season. Baseball is definitely the boys first choice of sports to play and we're happy to attend their games.
Today was the Hyde Park Pioneer Day Celebration. Our Primary kids rode on a float and had a good time throwing candy to the crowd. I was a little nervous, being a first-time Primary President in charge of the whole activity but the kids in our ward are awesome and no one fell off the trailer or anything. Jay was thrilled to be able to walk the parade with us and help monitor the float from behind for any shenanigans. I heard a rumor that he spent most of the time picking up candy from the street and eating it, but I have no independent confirmation of this report.
Henry and I went to see the last Harry Potter movie today as well. It was really good and we both enjoyed it. Poor William - he really wanted to go but I felt like I needed to see it before taking him, seeing as he's only 7 and quite a sensitive boy at that. It was a good choice. It was pretty intense and I think a few parts might have scared/bothered him. He's reading the books right now (on book 6, can you believe it?) and I think I'll let him watch it on DVD when it comes out.
Next week the boys start a two-week sports camp at a local high school. I need to sign them up for swim lessons as well. Now that Tessa is cleared for water activities, I'm going to try and get them in a session before we head out on our SoCal vacation. Which is after Henry's birthday and his Amazing Race-themed birthday party. Which I haven't even started planning yet. Which will occur while Jay is in Australia for work. What? You don't think Jay has had enough international travel this summer? Apparently neither does he. After this trip he will have missed a whopping 26 days of summer vacation.
Not that anyone is counting.
The boys both finished baseball. I missed William's last game due to the stomach flu, but he has had an awesome first year of coach-pitch. He got alot of hits and is getting better defensively. Henry's team finished 9-3. He had some nice hits and nice defensive plays as well. It was his first year of kid-pitch so it was a bit of an adjustment but he had a great time, which is the most important thing to me. Unfortunately they lost their first tournament game but he seemed happy with his season. Baseball is definitely the boys first choice of sports to play and we're happy to attend their games.
Today was the Hyde Park Pioneer Day Celebration. Our Primary kids rode on a float and had a good time throwing candy to the crowd. I was a little nervous, being a first-time Primary President in charge of the whole activity but the kids in our ward are awesome and no one fell off the trailer or anything. Jay was thrilled to be able to walk the parade with us and help monitor the float from behind for any shenanigans. I heard a rumor that he spent most of the time picking up candy from the street and eating it, but I have no independent confirmation of this report.
Henry and I went to see the last Harry Potter movie today as well. It was really good and we both enjoyed it. Poor William - he really wanted to go but I felt like I needed to see it before taking him, seeing as he's only 7 and quite a sensitive boy at that. It was a good choice. It was pretty intense and I think a few parts might have scared/bothered him. He's reading the books right now (on book 6, can you believe it?) and I think I'll let him watch it on DVD when it comes out.
Next week the boys start a two-week sports camp at a local high school. I need to sign them up for swim lessons as well. Now that Tessa is cleared for water activities, I'm going to try and get them in a session before we head out on our SoCal vacation. Which is after Henry's birthday and his Amazing Race-themed birthday party. Which I haven't even started planning yet. Which will occur while Jay is in Australia for work. What? You don't think Jay has had enough international travel this summer? Apparently neither does he. After this trip he will have missed a whopping 26 days of summer vacation.
Not that anyone is counting.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Dear Stomach Flu
I get that you come to visit twice a year or so. Really, it's not a problem. You are not fun but typically come and go quickly so we just stay home and deal with you over the course of a few days. So what's up with camping out in my house for the past three weeks? You are seriously making every weekend a downer and I'm not happy about it.
William and Henry had you on Father's Day weekend. The next weekend you decided that Henry's case was too mild to let him off the hook so you came back, causing him to miss some fun activities with Grandma. The next weekend you bothered Tessa. She was already grumpy with the whole cast/broken arm thing, but you hung around her for a few days as well. Then, to put the icing on the cake, you decided that since you'd pestered the kids enough, Jay and I were next. For the record, the past four Fridays have seen a member of our little family throwing up.
I could understand if you came to visit in the fall and/or winter. We expect it. But summer? Really? You are seriously cramping our style.
So you won. We've all had it. Can we please have a break now? Just for a little while? I'll expect you again sometime after school starts. Until then, get out and stay out.
Sincerely,
Rhonda
William and Henry had you on Father's Day weekend. The next weekend you decided that Henry's case was too mild to let him off the hook so you came back, causing him to miss some fun activities with Grandma. The next weekend you bothered Tessa. She was already grumpy with the whole cast/broken arm thing, but you hung around her for a few days as well. Then, to put the icing on the cake, you decided that since you'd pestered the kids enough, Jay and I were next. For the record, the past four Fridays have seen a member of our little family throwing up.
I could understand if you came to visit in the fall and/or winter. We expect it. But summer? Really? You are seriously cramping our style.
So you won. We've all had it. Can we please have a break now? Just for a little while? I'll expect you again sometime after school starts. Until then, get out and stay out.
Sincerely,
Rhonda
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Cast Away
Tessa got her cast off yesterday. She's been looking forward to/dreading it ever since she broke her arm. On one hand - yay! No more heavy cast to drag around - bike riding will commence - swimming will be a possibility. On the other hand - how are they going to get the pins out? Turns out, they just pull. And from Jay's description (he rallied from his bout with the stomach flu to ferry her to the "bone doctor", which is only fair since by the time he got home from China she was hitching her cast around like she was born with it and he missed the misery that was her surgery and the immediate recovery from said surgery) it was ugly. They actually sent the pins home with us! My only question - why? Jay asked me if I wanted to keep them and I looked at him like he was nuts and threw them away. I mean, I don't keep cute things like baby teeth and locks of hair. Why would I keep a long, thin piece of hardward that resided in my daughter's arm for a month?
Anyway, I had high hopes for the days after Tessa was free from her neon pink cast. I thought we'd finally be able to talk her into going outside at least. Yet.....no. It's almost like we're back to square one. She's sooooo careful with it - she walks around holding her arm like it's made of glass and she spent most of yesterday lounging around with her arm on a pillow. She's moving it more today and I'm confident that she'll be back to using it in a few days. Perhaps I can bribe her with some Wii time if she promises to only use her right hand.
I knew the Wii would come in handy some day!
Anyway, I had high hopes for the days after Tessa was free from her neon pink cast. I thought we'd finally be able to talk her into going outside at least. Yet.....no. It's almost like we're back to square one. She's sooooo careful with it - she walks around holding her arm like it's made of glass and she spent most of yesterday lounging around with her arm on a pillow. She's moving it more today and I'm confident that she'll be back to using it in a few days. Perhaps I can bribe her with some Wii time if she promises to only use her right hand.
I knew the Wii would come in handy some day!
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