LIB 2016

Skipping ahead to almost the present...

This year over Memorial Day Weekend, as a family we attended Lightning In a Bottle (LIB). Every time Ben and I go to a music festival, Adelyn and Odin lament the fact that they are not old enough to come with us. And for a few months they started asking when we can go camping. LIB was a perfect solution! LIB is a music festival crossed with art crossed with workshops crossed with camping... and they have a very family friendly attitude about everything too. They even have a special camping area for families. We thought this would be a great intro to camping (free water and food trucks available). And we had a blast!

The event started on Thursday and it was about 6 hours away. We had heard from others that the family camp filled up fast. With this in mind we headed to Bakersfield, CA on Wednesday so we would be closer on Thursday. We did manage to get everything in the car, but it was a tight fit! Thursday we got to the festival around 9:30. After slowly making our way through the gates, we got in about an hour later. First complaint (there aren't many): the guy directing traffic made us go down a road that did not lead to Family Camp. We knew we were going the wrong way, but he insisted. We ended up having to turn around and get on the correct road. Finally we made it to family camp. We were surprised at how many people we already set up. We found a spot that we thought would be good at got to work. We set up our tent, shade structure, and inflatable couch and then took a break to look around and grab some lunch.

The first food truck we came to was a chicken and waffles place. They had a low table and cushions set up under a shade. We went no further. And man! Am I glad we stopped! I haven't had that many c & w's, but this was by far the best I have ever had! The chicken was fried to perfection... not too much breading, a bit of zip, and juicy and delicious. And the waffle. So. Good. It just melted in your mouth. So good. We had nice conversations with the other people eating at the table.

After getting beds and everything set in the tent, we went exploring. We quizzed Adelyn and Odin about where we were and where our camp was as we went. We came to a stage with music. We stayed on the outside and had a family dance party. When the sun set everyone cheered. The kids thought this was great. We headed back to camp shortly after this because it was getting cool fast! We got back to Family Camp and were shocked... so many other tents appeared while we were out. They were crammed in every possible space. That left finding a path to accommodate our wagon a little tricky. We got the kids all tucked inside their sleeping bags. They were asleep pretty quickly.

The next few days were a blur of activity. We would wake up and eat breakfast at camp (breakfast bars for the win!). And then set off. There was a Family Love Village with a lot of kid activities, and lots of other things to see and do. When we got too hot or hungry, we made it back to camp for a lunch of crackers, cheese, nuts and summer sausage. Then we hung around, played and talked with our neighbors, took naps or whatever else we wanted to do. We would head out for a early dinner at the food trucks. After that depending on the kids we would try to stay out late or head back to camp.

Highlights for the kids were the Ferris wheel, the Woogie stage (they liked the bright colors and name, we didn't actually spend much time there), face painting, watermelon and sleeping in sleeping bags. (Doesn't take much!).

The second complaint is a huge one - leaving. We left camp around 11:30 and made it to Bakersfield (2 hours away) at 9 pm. The logistics leaving the camp ground were terrible!

All in all we had a great time. The kids are already talking about next year.

Pictures in a different post. Stay tuned!

Lights Out!

I can't believe that I forgot to mention this in the last post... the last week of October we were without power!

It was a lovely Friday afternoon. I had just gotten home from the grocery store and the pizza store. I opened the refrigerator to put away the food and I noticed the light didn't come on. Weird. So, I checked the lights in the kitchen. Nope. Checked the circuit breakers. Those were fine. Hmmm.... Then we heard a bunch of sirens and watched as several fire trucks pulled into our building. That's not good. The alarms weren't going off on our floor, I figured that was a good thing. I ended up calling the front desk to see what was going on. They didn't know much, so I went to go visit Sonya in the office. Apparently there was an electric arc on the electric buss for that caused a fire and knocked out the power to floors 37 and above. Hm. Not good. Since it was Friday, she went ahead and booked the theater room for us. Ben was able to grill our pizza and we were able to watch Peter Pan on the big screen. The kids were impressed by that! We got a note that night that the soonest the power would be restored would be Monday.

We needed electricity just for a few things.... WiFi and the refrigerator (and an occasional charge for phones and laptops). We bought an extension cord and used the hallway power (that still worked, strangely) to power these things. And we had a fine weekend.

But then Monday happened. The office found out we were using power (and by we I mean everyone else in the building that didn't have power). They left notes saying we couldn't use hallway power and then cut the power. We scrambled and ran around town looking for a generator. We found one that was "as quiet as a conversation." Apparently that conversation is between deaf people who don't realize they are deaf because it was LOUD. We knew we couldn't run that without completely ruining the lives of those below us. So we borrowed some coolers from Bobby and called it good.

No power didn't prove to be too big of an inconvenience. Ben used his phone to hot-spot WiFi for his computer. The front desk would charge our phones. Eating out was a nice treat. We did have hot water, so we could still shower, wash dishes, etc. Laundry was becoming an issue, but my friend Rose came to the rescue and let us have a clothes washing play date. We grilled a lot. Ate meals by candlelight. In some ways, we didn't really miss it!

We got periodic updates. The unit was a custom one, so it had to be fabricated. Across country. It was hopefully going to be finished on Wednesday and over-nighted here and installed on Thursday. Fingers crossed. Well, it did get finished on time! And on Thursday power was restored. It was a huge relief on multiple fronts - mainly because Ben and I were leaving and I hated the thought of leaving Grandma, Grandpa and the kids powerless while we were gone. Phew!

October 2015 And An Odin Story

First off, a cute Odin story. The other day we were driving in the car. Out of the blue we had this conversation:
Odin: Mommy, do you want to go to jail?
Me: Um.... no?
O: Then you should love us. If you love someone, you're a good person. If you don't love people, then you are mean and you go to jail.
Obviously, this is not completely true, but I loved his 3 year-old logic. :)

October was the Las Vegas Greek Food Festival. We went on the first night (Thursday 10/1) because of scheduling conflicts the rest of the time. We once again, had great food (this year the kids were willing to try a few more things). We went to the kid area and were disappointed to find only a few bounce houses instead of the carnival rides they had last year. I wondered if they only rented those for the weekend? But aside from minor disappointment on the ride front, we had a great time! Adelyn brought her "jingly" skirt from last year and had a great time dancing around. She even got me to dance a bit with her. I like this little tradition that we started.

The next week the kids and I "joined" other homeschoolers at the Renaissance Festival. I put joined in quotes because we walked in with a bunch (in order to get in free) but went on our own way after we entered. They had a treasure hunt for the kids that we enjoyed doing (the kids got parasols for their efforts). We had a nice lunch. And we got to see some sword fighting. We ended up there for just a few hours, but I think that was enough... the kids were pretty tired.

At the end of the month Ben and I headed to California to go with Jake and Katie to Escape Music Festival. We had a blast!

Halloween was spent again with the Lantz's and our friends, the Brown's, joined us this year too (they just moved to town). Adelyn was "cheetah girl", Odin was the "one-eyed-one-horned-flying-purple-cupcake monster, Genevieve didn't dress up. I liked that the older kids thought about their costumes and didn't just go with a typical princess or something. Love their creativity!

Happy 14th Anniversary to Us!!

This year we went away for our anniversary. We decided to drive down to Sedona, AZ. It was so worth it!

Ben booked us at L'Auberge. Unknown to me, he booked us into a cottage. It was so cool! It was like a little house... no direct neighbors, outside cedar shower, tons of room... I am so spoiled!

After a lovely drive down to Sedona, we booked dinner at their creek side dining. It was so beautiful. After dinner we went for a stroll. And quickly discovered that Sedona is really a sleepy little town... everything closed at 9 or earlier! So after looking at closed up shops, we headed back to our cottage.

The next morning we woke up very early to hike up the bluffs before sunrise. It was hard to get out of bed, but I'm glad we did. The hike was beautiful and a bit challenging (mostly because we couldn't stop). Unfortunately, the sunrise was blocked by a lot of clouds, so it wasn't exactly the view we were looking for. But it was nice and peaceful. Once others started to get to the top, we decided to head back down. We got back to our hotel and did their stretch yoga class. That felt amazing after our hike! Then it was (finally!) breakfast time.

For year 14, the traditional gift is animal. I bought Ben an adult coloring book of animals. And colored pencils to go with it. After showering, we sat on our deck and colored. It was a lot of fun!

The next morning we decided to do a nice, easy, quick, hike. Things didn't go quite as planned. We got to the trail head and started going the way we needed to get to the trail we wanted to go on. First problem was that the instructions weren't exactly clear. Secondly, the trails aren't marked very well. So, we made our way and kept going, enjoying the views. But then we started to get worried that we wouldn't be able to find our way back. Luckily, we stumbled into a volunteer and she told us to continue on the loop for more views and an easier (marked) way back down. We finally made it back to our car! But instead of an hour hike, it was close to 3, which left us hustling to get back to our cottage, pack up and leave to head home.

I am so glad we had our little escape. It was the first time alone in far too long. Here's to us!

September 2015

Yes, yes, I know. But life just gets crazy sometimes! But here is a recap of this past September for us.

This fall the kids and I joined a local MOPS group. I saw about this particular group on FaceBook and how it caters to homeschool kids too (typically once your kid hits school-age, there isn't a class for them anyway). Odin was NOT a fan of me leaving him in his class. But he was brave and kept his tears to himself. But, that made me not want to deal with leaving Genevieve too, so I kept her with me. Adelyn loved her class. Odin... didn't speak a word and was glued to one of the teacher's sides. The second meeting was easier. And in the second meeting I got my assigned table - Table 6! I am very blessed with awesome ladies at my table. Seriously. There are 8 of us and only 1 of the moms I don't think I would want to spend time with outside of MOPS. MOPS has been a nice escape for me and the kids have enjoyed it too.

We also found out about a weekly art class for homeschoolers. The lady (Mrs. Wolfe) is very nice and patient. She starts each class with talking about the artist and what is unique about him/her or the style of art. Then the kids get a blank canvas and they work to recreate the weekly featured art piece. Adelyn has been having so much fun with it. And... I have to say, I feel like the classes have improved her art.

Our Anniversary was also this month. That gets its own post.

The kids and Grandma Obert and I went on a field trip to the local dairy. We got to learn how they made ice cream! Best part was that after the tour, we got to eat some. So yummy! It was cool to be able to walk through and see the different steps in bottling the milk too. So thankful that there are moms out there that take the time to set up field trips for the homeschool kids!

We also celebrated Speak Like a Pirate Day. We had a treasure hunt. One of the prizes was a pirate game. We had fun playing that and earning our own gold doubloons. 

A Gift From Adelyn

For years I have been telling people that one great perk about being a mom is it is a great excuse to be a kid again. At the park with the kids and want to swing? No problem. In fact, going to the park at all is not a problem. Hear a song and you feel like dancing? Go for it! I love that I can act goofy with the kids.

At the beginning of the month Ben and I were in Argentina (more on that later). One afternoon we found ourselves at a Polo training camp. As we were walking the grounds and learning about Polo, I saw a bunch of purple petals on the ground beneath its tree. I paused. I thought, "Man, if Adelyn were here, she would want to make a snow angel in these pretty purple petals!" Then, "Maybe I should. Nah. That's a little weird." Took another step. "Wait. Why not?" And so I did. My friend Jeremy captured the moment.

Did I feel silly. A bit. Did I have fun? Absolutely! Any regrets? Not a one. Thank you Adelyn for reminding me to take advantage of the simple things in life!

Snuggles Turns 1!

Just over a month ago, Genevieve turned 1. As with everything she does, it was bittersweet for me. My last baby isn't much of a baby any more. :(

We were in Virginia for Jake's wedding. We were able to spend brunch together with the family (Grandma and Grandpa Obert, Grandma and Grandpa Roy, Uncle Jake, very-soon-to-be Aunt Katie, Auntie Krys and Uncle Pranob and Cousin Asher) to celebrate. The place I picked (forgot the name already) was good, but... it took forever! I felt bad for Snuggles because she was getting so tired and cranky. She didn't really enjoy her meal at all. She just wanted to nap! Poor baby.

She is 21 pounds and 31 inches. She can say "yes", "hi", and something that resembles Adelyn. She adores her big sister and brother. She will nod her head for yes, and shake for no. She has 2 teeth, but working on the uppers. She still loves to snuggle. She can almost sleep through the night. As long as mommy is near by, she is a happy baby.

We love you Snuggles!