Life Lessons Learned at Seven Peaks

I Went to Seven Peaks with the family tonight and came away with more than a sunburn. Here is what I have learned:

1. While I do not have the most confidence in my physical appearance, I feel pretty darn good about myself right now.
2. Leotards DO NOT equal swimming suits.
3. There are some really flattering swimsuts for girls who have curves (and/or rolls).
4. Nobody at Seven Peaks seemed to be aware of these.
5. Maura is somewhat of a thrill-seeker. Even while trembling with fear, she will still go down the big slide.
6. Collin sees imaginary fish in the water and likes to hand these to people-people who weren't very appreciative of his gift.
7. Don't get a tattoo of a martini glass or a playboy bunny(or the two together). You might as well tattoo "Tramp" on your back, it gives the same message.

For those about to Rock Band

We entered a Rock Band competition and we are currently in last place! We sorta thought everyone would suck as bad as us. We were wrong. If it were a contest to see who looked coolest playing their instruments, we would smoke the competition. Unfortunately, you must know how to play to win.

Meet the Band:
Lead Guitar: Steve, or as Keiko lovingly calls him, "Frankenstein" (his hand had an unfortunate encounter with a table saw)
Bass: Keiko, aka "Birthday Cake-o"
Vocals: Cathy, C-Durf
Drums: Me, I have no nickname, I just kick butt on the drums

Sally? Is that you?

So...I just moved into a new building at work and I am not exactly thrilled with my new surroundings. I sit all alone in a corner and it has forced me to talk to myself a lot more than usual. But worse than that, there is this noise that is driving me insane and I can't find out where it is coming from. It sounds like that wheel they spin on "Wheel of Fortune." It is probably a good thing nobody sits by me because they would have seen me crawling around under my desk putting my ear against everything to try to figure it out. I really wish somebody would come and talk to me.

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July this year celebrated with some old traditions

• BBQ
• Fireworks
• Kids having complete meltdowns (okay, it was just one of mine)

And some new traditions:

• Riley leaping over the fireworks (thanks a lot, now my 2 year thinks its cool to run through balls of fire)
• Played some Rock Band (although I was banned from the microphone)
• A (mostly) friendly game of wiffle ball. The old man pulled through and hit the scoring home run. Pretty impressive for a grandfather of 7. I came darn close to pelting Riley in the goodies a few times. Nobody wanted to pitch for me after that.

Fishlake

After many fun days (and some not-so-fun-moments) we made it back from Fishlake. The kids had so much fun with all of their cousins and second cousins and some other more distant relatives (I'm not really sure how that all works).

Best part about the trip:

1. Seeing my long-lost cousins and aunts and uncles
2. No work, no cleaning
3. Caught up on some reading
4. Maura and I got to go birdwatching (one of our favorite things to do) we found Pelicans, woodpeckers, mountain bluebirds and one fat, smelly marmot (at least we think it was a marmot)
   

Worst parts:

1. Maura throwing up in the tent (seriously, she couldn't lean her head outside??)
2. No shower for a few too many days
3. I shined the flashlight in my eyes and then tripped and fell on a rock (don't ask)

The kids at Goblin Valley

My cute kids by the Lake

Apparently Rand caught me reading some porn

Uncle Dan's (a.k.a. "dude's") magic show with his lovely assistant

Maura's Birthday Extravaganza

So...I went a little overboard with the Birthday activities. It was one thing after another this year. I guess you only turn 5 once so I gave in to everything Maura wanted to do this year. She requested a "Rock" themed birthday so she had to wear a guitar shirt, have a guitar cake, and she handed out her own "Monster Mix" CD to everyone that came to her party (along with inflatable microphones to sing along). While she was picking out songs for the CD, I almost shed a tear when she said she "had to have Purple Haze" on it. I am so proud. Anyway, here is a list of the festivities in order:

Breakfast in Bed (but she let Collin join in)

The Aquarium

Family BBQ

The awesome cake I made

At Thanksgiving Point with her friends

I think I just kept the activities going so I wouldn't stop to think about how my baby is 5 years old. How is it possible? It has not been five years!

How did she go from this:
To this?
Anyway, I love you Maura! Just stop growing already!

Sally's New Home

Some of you have asked for an update on Sally, so I will give it to you. Although, it seems that my own REAL children aren't as exciting as Sally. This hurts a little. But anyway, here is the latest on our resident invisible friend. Turns out I was not a good enough mother to Sally, so she went out to look for a new one. She found one and she was recently adopted. Her mother is also invisible, so it is probably a better fit anyway. It was hard for me to be there for Sally when I couldn't even see her. It created some tension in our relationship. But her new mother seems quite nice and so Sally moved out last week. Maura says she is doing well. I know what you are thinking...that this means no more Sally. But Sally always seems to find her way back into our life. Tragedy follows that girl wherever she goes, and I can almost promise that she will be back and she will have some more traumatizing events to deal with. The Sally saga continues...

Maura, the Karate Kid

So May was a big month for Maura. She graduated from preschool and then this past weekend she received her yellow belt in Karate. I have to admit, I was against the whole karate thing at first. I was afraid it would crush Maura's creativity with all the "Yes Sir" and "Attention!" But she loves it and is doing so well, so I guess I'm on board now. And her creativity seems to be well intact. Congrats Maura!

Maura with her preschool teacher, Miss Jeanna

Maura with her Karate class