Spiderman and Ironman

 

Spiderman = because he got tangled in these webs at a birthday party.



 

Ironman = because he tried to color himself red, you know... because Ironman is red.

Enough of This Costume Already!

 

I really do appreciate the frugality of Cali's dance teacher and the wisdom behind using the same costume for the entire year. However, my blog/camera/phone/facebook is now all full of this fuzzy stripey little number. The girl however, I cannot get enough of!

Denver Day Three

 

Now, this is more like it. Julie and I didn't hang around for game three, instead, we hit up the shopping at Cherry Creek. Lots of walking, lots of shopping, lots of laughing. We joined up with Christian and Kurt for dinner at the famous Morton's Steak house that evening. Much eating ensued!

 

 Christian and Kurt had some bats engraved with the saying, "Yankees for life". For real? I am still laughing about it. Being around these two is like being around your annoying older brothers. Julie and I are the only voices of maturity and sanity, which is a little scary in and of itself.

We had such a great time, the perfect spring break after a long winter!

 

Denver Day Two

 

Our second day in Denver happened to fall on our 14th wedding anniversar, May 8th. After soaking up the freezing rain the night before, Christian and Kurt decided that they needed a new approach. So, off to REI we went to purchase "rain pants". We took a little stop to try the camping chairs before moving on.

We tried to take a cute "it's our anniversary and we are so happy picture", but Christian is the most difficult picture-taker of all time. If he'd just smile and act normal the first time we could avoid the multiple attempts, and the ornery/annoyed face. In honor of our anniversary, and his lack of photographic cooperation, I chose to post this one. I don't even care that I look awesome and he looks lame!

 

This is as close as I got to CC Sabathia, he didn't pitch the first or second game. I tried to put my arm around him, but it went much better in my head...

 

After standing in the rain for game one, we got smart and hung around the indoor restaurant at the top of the stadium. It was warm, the food was good, the view was good, and I thought about trading my ticket with someone so I could stay warm.

 

 

Eventually we had to leave the suite and head down to our seats, which were just a few rows back from one of the baselines... which ever one most of the foul balls are hit down. What is wrong with this picture, how have we survived 14 years? In freezing temperatures one of us drinks hot cocoa and one of us gets a couple ice cream cones. Seriously.

 

Denver Day One

 

In early May we took a trip with our friends, the Hunter's, to Denver to watch the Yankees play some baseball. According to those who really care/follow baseball, the Yankees only play in Colorado every three years or so. Why? You ask. Well, it has something to do with inter-league play and something about something about baseball stuff...

Christian was still pretty gimped up from the famous Achille's injury earlier this spring. Thankfully, we were able to secure a handicapped pass so he could gimp less far that he normally would. Julie and I had a lively discussion about which of one of the two male adults featured in the photo above was actually more deserving of the special pass.

 

We drove most of the morning of May 7th to get to Coors Field. Of course we had to be the first ones at the gates. What would a baseball game be without 2.5 hours of waiting to watch 3.5 hours of playing? 

 

These two guys were not quite as goofy as they were upon entering Yankee Stadium in New York, but if you want to get Christian's goofy grin to make an appearance... take him to a ball park. 

 

The kid or small man with the "Jeter" jersey on was standing on Christian's seat. Had we waved our tickets around and thrown him to the ground, as Julie suggested, we too would have Robinson Cano's autograph.

 

Around game time we settled into our seats and got ready to eat some ball park food, I mean, watch some baseball. Upon closer examination of our tickets, we found that Christian and Kurt had conveniently booked mine and Julie's tickets about seven rows behind them.

It worked out just fine, once the rain started pouring, Julie and I headed to the concourse for shelter and more food.

 

Soccer

 

Carter had a really great soccer season. According to his calculations (they don't officially keep score at this age) their team won every game. He's a quick little thing, and I was surprised to see how much stronger and faster he's gotten since last fall.

Soccer isn't his passion. Which is unfortunate, because he's showing some very promising signs of a good soccer player. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, our conversations go like this...

Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Carter: A major league baseball player...

Mom: Ok, what's your second choice?

Carter: An NBA star...

Mom: What if you decide not to be a professional athlete, then what would you choose?

Carter: Mom, (eyes rolling), don't make me go to the NHL---he's never played hockey a day in his lfe.

This conversation has led me to a series of mind blowing thoughts about raising children, just one of them being, "what do you do when your kid is really good at something.... and the kid only kind of likes that certain thing." Follow-up question, "what do you do when you and your child's interests vary so much that you don't know how to reconcile their talents from yours...?" There's just a couple brain busters for you!

In other good news, Caleb spent most of soccer season NOT running away. I hate to say that we've turned a developmental corner, because I don't want to jinx myself, but Caleb seems to be more interested in playing on the playground than running into the road. This is a welcome change from last season. In even better news, he managed to play on the playground without tackling any other children to the ground.

Finally, if that wasn't enough good news for one 3.5 year old, he figured out that peeing in the "blue poop" is almost as fun as behind the tree!

 

Scissors

This picture shall serve as a reminder that I should never, under any circumstances, cut my own bangs! What seems relatively simple, is actually not. Thankfully, hair grows and the difference between a bad bang trim and good one... is only about two weeks. Eeek!

On the other hand, Carter got a pretty handsome haircut at the mall. Scissors should stay in the hands of the professionals!

There's Nothing Like a Trophy

Cali has participated in several dance recitals and dance competitions this year. From these experiences I've learned that; (a) Cali really enjoys dancing and is pretty good at it, (b) I am the worst dance mom in the history of the world. 

The particular dance competition featured in this photo took place in Green River on a Saturday afternoon. The studio gave us the times that our tiny dancers would be competing, and then suggested that we arrive an hour (or two...depending on how the competition was going...) before their scheduled performance time.

Christian was gone to the temple with a group from our ward, so I was determined to make this experience as easy for me as possible. It hasn't taken long to figure out that seven year old boys and three year old boys, don't love dance competitions. I really can't blame them. My plan was to arrive as close to the designated time, assuming that the competition wouldn't be running ahead of schedule, as possible.

We made it to the competition with about 3 minutes to spare, apparently sometimes said competitions do run ahead of scheduled... We stood up on the track overlooking the gym floor and watched their dance number, then watched several other teams as we waited for their second number. Carter was content to zone out on the iPhone, Caleb is a little be trickier to entertain. However, two bags of Doritos and a rope of licorice seemed to do the trick. 

As soon as she was done we high tailed it out of there, so fast in fact, that I had to snap these pictures after we got home. Cali was disappointed that we didn't stay for the "dance party" i.e.hundreds of girls flailing around on the dance floor while waiting the results of the competition. But the participation trophy seemed to soften the blow. 

Later that day, via Facebook, I saw that one of their dances won a major award. I am still confused about the categories and the scoring within the categories, but with all the congratulations flying around on the Facebook, it was apparent that they did pretty well.... Like said, worst dance mom ever.