Amusement park and New Tae Kwon Belt

Baseball game & bunnies

 These are our resident bunnies.  I think Kat named them both Cinderella?

Kat's school had a  fundraiser last week, so we went and she had a great time.

On Father's Day we took mom and dad to the Bisons game and Jerry & the kids & John-girl met us there.  We got to play catch on the field and the kids got to run the bases.  We had a beautiful day (a little hot till we moved to the shade), and while the Bisons lost, at least there was some action that kept things exciting.  And the kids, as members of Buster's Kids' Club, had coupons for 1 free hot dog, ice cream, cotton candy & popcorn.  And since 2/3 of them couldn't be sure they would make it to another game, they used them all up during the game!  Kat (who already used her cotton candy coupon) attached herself to her cousins to help them eat theirs!  It was a great day.

working like a dog...... or three

 running the bases.  She spent a full week with just me and so when Dan took her to get ready to run the bases Kat cried (sobbed for 1/2 hr).  I went down to watch the base running and as she was leaving Dan to queue up, I saw her wiping her eyes.  There is, as you may no, no crying in baseball!  And then as soon as she finished, she picked up where she left off!  Goofball.

If only she could ham it up for me (or a camera) once in a while.....

spider nursery and baseball game

 

Spider nursery?  This was in our garden as I was clearing it out and rototilling it.  There were HUNDREDS of baby spiders!  I left this grass alone.  But they were all gone the next day.  I don't know to where....  I have never seen anything like this before.  I didn't know there were spider nurseries.

 Kat and I went to the Bison's game today.  Kat has her own jersey as a member of Buster's kids.  Today was a fundraiser.  They had bouncy houses, tattoos, craft stuff, lunch, snow cones (it was 91 degrees.....we each had 3 during the course of the day).  And she got to run the bases afterward.  She did great thru the heat and the long (and I have to say very boring game) and the long walk back to our car.  Luckily we found a few of her friends there for her to play with, so she didn't care about the game and had company in the bouncy houses, etc

 This is Ben after 1.5 weeks.....apparently growing his beautiful locks back will take some time....

 I still don't know what kind of critter this is.  But, of course, Kat loved it and hugged it every single time we ran into it.....at least 5 times!

This is what the blue raspberry sno cone does to your tongue.  And that's just one!

This busy weekend......

    I know it looks like Ben had a drunken encounter with a razor wielding felon, but I paid for this haircut!!  I took him to the spa to get him all cleaned up (he's already been panting so much and it's barely been hot so far) and they took poetic license and really, really cleaned him up!  Well, it's a good summer 'do for him and it will grow back.  Eventually.  It's even shorter than his military do back in YYC!  He was tan then, but this cut is even shorter and shows his dark underspots (the malamute in him).  I love how the tail alone retains some original flair...it looks like he was the donkey in a game and the kid stuck it on in the right place!  He rather looks like a formerly abused rescue dog that has just been cleaned up.  Poor dude.  

    When I brought him home, Kat asked, "Is that Ben?"  She didn't even recognize her Benjy. The real question was.....why did that haircut take 5 hours???  Anyway, Boo even recognized his long lost buddy (he spent the day in mourning) and was overjoyed at Ben's return.

 

 Kat took this pic of Grandpa & Grandma. I didn't even think to take any pics today of the walking gang.  Oops.  Love the perspective of this pic.....

Well, we are exhausted.  On top of the munchkin giving up sleeping for lent (her sense of time is a little bit off), we were up and at 'em at 6AM today for the Walk4Hearing in Rochester.  And yesterday was her Tae Kwon Do tournament, followed by her Florida grandparents and the entire family (including the cousins) here last night for a cookout.  Two nights this week, she was up for the day at 3AM (but of course, we didn't realize that and spent hours begging, pleading, bribing and anything else we could think of to get her to go back to sleep).  In the end, at 6 or 7, I gave up and told her to go play downstairs.  And she did. 

We raised 1,000 for the Walk4Hearing, and walked 3.1 miles today along the Erie Canal in Fairport (well, Mom & Dad rode their criket & scooters respectively....and so did Kat).  We brought the wagon, but I was relieved when she hopped on the criket at the very beginning and I didn't have to haul the wagon 3.1 miles.  She got out once in a while and ran around.  But mostly she sat next to Grandpa and said "faster, Grandpa, faster".

Friggin Blogger won't let me upload a new video.....this one is what it did look like.  I wanted to upload the video of what it SHOULD have looked like. 

Kat got 2 medals at the tournament yesterday.  She had practiced her kick/punch combinations, but the actual setting of  the gymnasium, the multitudes of people and the tremendous differences in how things were done compared to how they did it in the studio led to confusion.  And she had to go first, next to another kid, not like they had done it in class.  And there was no one there to hold the target for her, like they had done in class.  So she and the other kid both stood there confused and then she did super-lame punches.  So she got a medal (everyone won something).  And when it was time for flag sparring, they had to wear these foam helmets (never did in class) and the small one, had such poor visibility, I was amazed that she could see anything at all.  So she got another medal......

Summer? Then winter again!

 Well, Friday was summer, all day.  It was 75 degrees, maybe more.  we cooked out and the girls had ice cream for dessert.  The next day was 45 degrees and rainy......summer will return.  Someday, I'm sure.

 We got TX to a box at the Bisons' game on Thursday. Chris is in town from Alaska and the 4 of us went.  Kat got to meet and hug Buster Bison.  And he signed her Mariners hat, which is what she's showing us here!  SHe LOVES to hug mascots and people in costume for any reason. 

 Kat slept over at her cousins' a few week ago.  She doesn't travel light.....

And here with everyone's favorite Benji!!!!

Kat's first concert, some TKD, Easter, etc

Kat & her cousin Jessica on Easter.
Our Russian visitors...we always try to do a group shot and the dogs...well, we usually get their best sides.
Tonite at the Imagination Movers concert/show. She was waiting for the guy who's just stepping into the pic on the right. She was NOT going to be denied the chance to high five Smitty!!
I got this look today. She appears to think that she can give me a stern face and yell at me as I do her...... she's wrong, but the face made me laugh.


At the Vikings on Saturday. She LOVED the Easter bunny. She followed her around and wouldn't leave her alone.

This is Kat showing off her punch/knee combination. Her knee strikes are fearsome!

This is her fighting her way through the crowd of kids to get in there and high five Scott. Again, she would not be denied.

The pic for the last post

This pic was there, but now is gone. Anyway, this is the outfit that Boris brought for her.

Tae Kwon Do

We have Russian visitors this week. Boris brought this outfit for Kat and the other AM, when I wanted to sleep some more, I told her to go get dressed. And she did!!!


This is Kat doing her punch/kick combination at TKD.

Her TKD school is competing in a tournament in a month or more. So they are starting to work on the "presentation", what the contestants will say to the judges. I love how she needs a prompt for her name!!!!

Belt Testing at Tae Kwon Do

She had her belt test yesterday and moved up to a 'low yellow' belt. She looks more than a little proud in the video.

Diving.... No make that jumping!

We watched the class before us conclude with diving. And then Kat's class did the same. Except the girl in front of her took her time....and eventually settled on jumping instead. And then Kat jumped! I think she would have tried the dive, if not for the other girl chickening out. I was really excited to see (and record) it. Next time.

Summer.

Well, you can see who else is happy it's summer(like) out there. And, btw, I cut the grass today. It's been taking off with all of this crazy sunshine, so I had to cut it. I power washed the patio today ... We are ready!

Who needs spring?

Look who else thinks it's summer!!!

Well, I think we are in week two of summer! Spring...who needs it? I have the patio stuff out, the grill (used it twice already!), the shorts & flip flops are all out an in use! If, after this next warm week, spring does arrive with cold and rain, I might be crushed! I slid right into summer mode....we will see what the weather gods bring us....I know we are not the only ones enjoying pre-summer. Much of the country is, but the other side of the Rockies might not be. Dan talked to someone in Seattle recently and they had snow! While we had 70s or something crazy like that!

Summer?

Well, it sure felt like summer here today. It was 73 degrees when I went to pick Kat up! Then I decided that it was way too nice to go to swimming inside and we met Derek and the kids at the playground! Course I took the video at home before we left, so don't have any pics of the others.

The new improved DiningRoom....It's FINISHED!!!

This is the dining room when we moved in and up until January when I finally decided that I couldn't take it anymore. I know, it will be sad to not see that wallpaper anymore. And the light. Some poor blind schmuck burned some rubber to come and get it for free. And I got rid of the hideous curtain rods and posts (you can see the huge round things in the pic below) also. I don't know who would want those, but I have gotten rid of so much CRAP on craigslist (for free)! The only thing that I couldn't get rid of was all of the original molding from the DR & LR. I don't know who wouldn't want 45 year old molding, complete with nails and the original lead paint. Pansies!





And the AFTER pics..... all that's left is to put a few more pics up in the rails, as well as a small mirror of some sort and to paint a few wooden chairs to match something else in the room. And to try to find someone to cook some dinners......

The latest

Though she has one more ski lesson, they were awarded their medals last week. She is on the far right hand side.



She was having a great time making her hair even harder to comb out. She loves 'crazy hair'!

Here are the 3 stooges. Sadie (the boxer) is a loaner....I dogsit/walk her frequently. When Kat is counting off members of our family, she always counts Sadie along with her own doggies and squirmy Hermy. And today, somewhat related, I heard her tell Ben to stay away from her stuff like this 'Not your business Benji-Sue'. No idea where she heard that....... I say it to both of them. Frequently. And I don't know which one of them walks into more poles/doorways/trees and various other things that they don't see because they are minding someone else's business!

Family camping weekend

This long weekend we went to the YMCA family camp. When we signed up months ago, we thought it would be a good opportunity to get out and play in the snow and meet some new families. Last week, there was no snow and there were 2 other families signed up. We weren't too thrilled about going, as it was a big hassle and we were tired. And we had stuff we wanted to do here, etc. But we were committed, so we went.

We had a really good time. And we got some snow for the sledding. Kat slept (far) less than .75 of her usual sleep time (so did we) on the bunks that are too short for adults. I whacked my head repeatedly on the Kat's lower bunk and the ceiling above me.

We had a little snow when we got there, enough for sledding on Saturday. And then got a few more inches on Saturday. We didn't sled on Sunday, as one of us was being belligerent and mouthing off, so we watched everyone else go. But she got better and we sledded again today. And she tried snowboarding, see the video below.

All of the kids were girls (except the 7 month old). Kat, the 5 year old constantly sugared up ADHD kid (who had a good week at kindergarten this week and just MAY advance next year and took Irish dancing and was asked not to return (my new measurement of whether our kid is a spoiled single child---so far we have not been asked to vacate a class/premises, etc). Then there were 2 great girls, one 7 & the other 9 and they were super nice kids (we were hitting their parents up for parenting tips). And there was a just turned 3 year old. Kat had fun eating from the suitcase of sugary snacks and pop that the ADHD parent brought along (she also brought a dvd player and made liberal use of her mom's phone and kindle unless they were put out of her reach) and playing with that girl and often the 7 year old, then she would wind down a bit and play with the 3 year old (who she knew from our Y). As the parent of the super-nice kids said, Kat has some behaviors to unlearn. But we did have a lot of fun. I think that Dan spent all day yesterday reading.

They do family camps over Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. They have all sorts of fun stuff, horseback riding, swimming, canoeing, ropes course, climbing wall, etc. I am pretty sure we will return. Kat was sad to leave camp today, but we were all looking forward to our own beds!! And I'm off to mine shortly! Poor Dan is teaching tonite. I asked her when we were leaving what her favorite part of the weekend was. I swear she said 'my favorite part was misbehaving.' Then she said no, but I never got the rest of her answer and probably wouldn't remember it after the first statement. I can only hope that she really didn't mean that, else her road to adulthood will be very painful for all of us.

The videos:
Her best friend Sadie.
Writing her name in the snow.
The end of Tom & Dianne's wedding last weekend (Dan's bro)
Kat's first time on a snowboard....crap, she does pretty well, I hope she doesn't become one!!!

Pic from the dentist

You can't tell, but she's posing on a big stuffed bison. She had an excellent check up and enjoyed her visit.

Breaking a board

Kat is breaking boards at TKD. Last night it was by kicking and today it was with an elbow snap. She looked a little proud of her first attempt.

Kat and her weapon

Kat's tae Kwon do had parents' night tonite. And it was free for us, except the weapon I bought her on amazon. The theme was nerf wars. There were at least 60 kids there, they divided them into teams (ages), painted their faces, tied on colored headbands and they were off! I think they had a ridiculous amount of fun.

We had to practice at home, make sure that she knew how to use it. She loved it.

The beauty of being an American!!!