Cedar Point

To celebrate this 40th birthday, Greg and five friends (including his two brothers) flew to Sandusky Ohio to ride crazy roller coasters at Cedar Point, the "roller coaster capital of the world." They took a red-eye flight on a Thursday night, grabbed some breakfast, and drove straight to the park to ride coasters all day. They crashed back at their vacation rental house Friday night and did it all over again Saturday. They splurged on the green bracelets that day to minimize their wait time, basically Cedar Point's version of a Disney "fast pass." Greg said it was the best $80 he ever spent, worth every penny. Those guys had so much fun. It was great to see the pictures and hear that they were having a blast. It's not often that hardworking, 40-year-old men with families get to spend two days just having fun. So glad he got to go, and so glad Eric had the idea in the first place.

Bathroom Prison and Fresh Paint

We were heading up to bed last night when we heard knocking. Greg went to check it out and discovered Joel was stuck in our downstairs bathroom due to a broken door knob-turning mechanism. 😂 He was turning the knob but the latch was not moving. Greg called a handy friend who suggested playing cards or a credit card. It took 10 minutes (and a little marital strife), but we were able to free Joel from his bathroom prison! It was not convenient, but it was funny, and if this hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have the freshly painted doors, trim, and baseboards I have today. It was reminiscent of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” I decided to paint the dingy-looking door before installing the new knob, and once I painted the door, I noticed the door frame needed some paint...and all the baseboards (thank you, Hoverboard 😏)and the doors next to the bathroom...and the walls and the stairway. Sparkly white trim around here! 😄

4th Tallest

Joel passed me up in height, a feat of which he is extremely proud. Busted out the level and mancala board to prove it. I’m only taller than two people in our family now.

This kid also made the honor roll again with a 4.0 GPA. Proud of him!

Tennis

Kari made the high school tennis team at Barlow and had a great first season. The weather didn't cooperate for the first month or so. The week of try-outs, they actually had snow! Several matches got rained out and had to be rescheduled. Coach wasn't kidding when he said flexibility is key in tennis! The weather dictates when they play and when they don't. She really did have a fun time during the season and is looking forward to next year already.

Piano

Kari spent months preparing for Syllabus, a rigorous piano theory "test." She did very well but was glad when it was done. Then she and Aubrey both participated in the piano Junior Festival, and both earned "Superior" ratings. So proud of them both and their hard work. They have an amazing piano instructor, too!

Braces for Aubs

Third kid in braces!

Spring Crazy and Easter

The month of April was a whirlwind for our family! I ended up subbing 16 days in April. One whole week for a teacher who was at conference all week, and then just a lot of other days at all three kids' schools. That, on top of track for Joel, Hoopsource basketball for Joel, tennis for Kari, volleyball for Aubrey, and piano lessons, syllabus, and jr. festival for Aubrey and Kari made for a nutty April.

Easter crept up on us again this year. We did manage to plant our Easter grassy hill in time this year, and we squeezed egg-dying Saturday night. I also managed to make the hot-cross-buns I was determined to have again this year.

The kids busted out their kindergarten paint-shirts for egg-dying this year. We were laughing at how the shirts actually fit them now. In kindergarten they were intended as a cover-all and went down past their knees. Our kids are getting all grown up! But not too grown up for dying eggs.

Our church had a Good Friday service this year, and I was so glad. With our hectic schedule, it felt like we didn't have a lot of time to mentally prepare for Resurrection Day. The service was the perfect start to our weekend. The whole family was able to go, and our hearts were prepared to celebrate.

Just Grant

All the big kids were gone one tonight, so it was just Greg and I with the little man, watching a movie together on the couch—a glimpse into our future when the others are grown and gone. (Just my hair in this photo, ‘cause I was already in my pj’s, face washed and no makeup. 😄Happy Friday!

Spring Break

The past few years we've headed to Sunriver for a few days over spring break, but this year we decided to save vacation days and money and stay home. We usually go with the Wilsons, and sometime others, but they have a big trip planned this summer, too, and wanted to save money and vacation time, as well. Greg did take Monday and Friday off to give him long weekends with us. He took the kids to see a movie Monday (I was sick with yet another sinus infection. Boo.) and enjoyed a free day with us on Friday. It truly felt like a break. We relaxed, read books, watched movies, spent time together as a family, and just enjoyed being home, not running every direction for activities and sports. Russell and Ellery spent a day with us, and Kari had a couple tennis practices, but that was about it. After a hectic winter of basketball, it felt great to have some down time. We went for a little hike with Grandpa and Grandma M. on Saturday at the end of the break. It was a beautiful day, a great day to get outside for some fresh air and sunshine.

Joel Basketball

Joel finished his fourth season of Barlow Youth Basketball with pretty much the same team as the previous years. This season was much better than last year. He got to play more minutes, had more confidence, and felt more a part of the team. Every member of the team was able to contribute, and it just made the whole experience feel much more more positive. Dan Stump and Isaac Eivers coached, and they did an awesome job with the boys. They qualified for state early in the season, and we decided to take the whole family to Bend this year. We stayed with Ryan and Michelle in Sisters, and the kids got to spend time with their cousins. A couple weeks before the tournament, Sisters had four and a half feet of snow dumped on them. The middle school girls' tournament the weekend before the boys' got cancelled because there was just too much snow.  By the time we got there, some of it had melted, and the roads were cleared and drive-able. The snow drifts, though, were over 5 feet in some places on the sides of the roads. Ryan and Michelle's front yard had so much snow piled up that they kids had snow caves and carved out tunnels--pretty fun for our kids who rarely get to see that much snow. We watched a lot of basketball, hung out with friends and family, and just had a really great weekend together. Great way to end the season. Joel's team went 2-2 in the tournament. They would have liked to win at least one more, but it was a respectable finish in the gold bracket.

Photo credit: Lynette Fay Photography

Greg's 40th Birthday

Greg ordered and picked up his own birthday dinner and ate it alone. He decided he wanted sushi, but no one else in our family cares for sushi or even to try it. Aubrey tasted at California roll and declared it "okay." Greg enjoyed his sushi, though, and the rest of us ate some cooked dinner. :-) He requested yellow cake with lemon filling and chocolate frosting, though, and everyone enjoyed that. His big birthday celebration is in May. He, Eric, Andy, Mike, Paul, and Ryan are heading to Cleveland, Ohio to Cedar Point, "the roller-coaster capital of the world." They'll have a blast, I'm sure. Tickets and flights have been purchased and housing secured.

Aubrey Basketball

Aubrey played competitive basketball for the first time this year with Barlow Youth. Greg was an assistant coach for her team. They learned and grew a lot over the course of the season. Aubrey had a lot of fun but also had a few tears, most of which were in the second game of the league tournament at the end of the season. The second game of the day that Saturday was very intense--close score the entire game, the crowd hyped up and yelling, overtime, and an unkind ref--and the girls cracked under the pressure, our girl especially. At one point at the end of the game, Aubrey was playing point guard, crying as she tried to dribble up the court with a girl screaming, "BALL, BALL, BALL, BALL!" in her face. They ended up losing the game, and every single girl on her team was crying afterward. Thankfully, the next day of games to finish the tournament went much better. They were able to end the season on a high note with back-to-back wins.
Photos credit: Lynette Fay Photography