Tournament Time! - Part 1

This weekend marked the first tournament weekend for Jacob's travel lacrosse team this year.  Last year he played in two in the fall--one locally (if you recall, he was so freezing he hardly played) and another in Maryland over Veteran's Day weekend (I stayed here because Mary was coming into town for a long-awaited concert).  But many months later he's stepped his game up quite a bit, and it was exciting to see how his team would fare in their first real outing of the season.  We had back-to-back tournaments in Syracuse in one weekend, so at least we got to start the season with a slightly shorter trip!

On Thursday night, a day before leaving, we gave Craig his early Father's day present, which had been hiding in my trunk for a couple weeks.  He got a collapsible wagon that is a staple of tournament life!  No joke, 90% of parents appear to have one of these.  You load it with chairs, coolers, equipment, and whatever else so you're not looking like a pack mule walking from the minivan to the tournament tent.  He'd been asking for one, and while I wasn't sure it was necessary, it turns out it is!

Even though one of our later trips is going to be our "vacation" this summer, we still managed to tack on a couple additional activities to this trip.  I'd had my eye on the Chinese Lantern Festival at the state fairgrounds for a couple months, and once we found out a Saturday tournament had been added on top of the Sunday one that's been on the schedule for months--and confirmed an early start on Saturday--we opted to get a hotel for two nights to eliminate endless driving and early (earlier) mornings.  I did my best to keep it cheap, but stopped short of the cheapest one because some reviews were a little too sketchy.  We ended up with a decent one--pretty updated, basic free breakfast, and in a convenient enough spot.  Not bad for the last minute!

I took a half day from work on Friday so we could get on the road sooner.  Due to a few circumstances we ended up on the road around dinnertime, which was actually fine because we could eat a little something at home and still get to Syracuse in the early evening.  We quickly checked into the hotel and arrived at the festival right at sunset.  It was great timing because you could see the creations in daylight but also see the effect of the lights inside them, then enjoy it all in the dark.  They were definitely easier to photograph in daylight, but being there at night was wonderful, too. 

 

It was really hard picking pictures for this post, and I still ended up with 29, I think.  I took about 100, though some of that was toggling between photo settings to see which ones worked better with the lighting.  But here's a sampling...

The sky was really pretty as we arrived!

Even in daylight the entry gate was gorgeous!

A canopy of lanterns as we entered the grounds

Elephants

Penguins!

The dragon was so cool!  It was so long!

The moon rose and it was pink!

Guessing these are lotus flowers?  The colors were so pretty!

I liked the flamingos' reflection more than the real things, I think!

Silliness with the giraffes!  Jacob is feeding one...

Fish!

More pretty stuff in the pond

What would a Chinese festival be without pandas?

 

Loved the colors on these

Lion on the lake

Silly boys!

Tulips

Flower basket

Jacob getting silly with a lantern

Dragons

The dragons' bodies were jeweled and I was shocked I could get a close-up like this!

Sea life!  The shark reminded me of Bruce from "Finding Nemo"...

They had ones like this for all of the Chinese zodiac.  I liked the dragon best.

Full view of the entry gate and lantern canopy

So pretty!

The dragon in the dark

These lanterns were even more breathtaking on the way out!

The gate was so pretty...so colorful and grand!

There were some other animals, lots of flowers, and some other artistic forms, and there was also a cultural performance with music, dance, and other special talents.  We only saw that from afar as we wandered around the grounds.  Keeping the kids in check wasn't easy, and dealing with the begging for kettle corn and slushies wasn't ideal, either, but it was a nice walk.  I'm sure the kids didn't appreciate it as much as I did (although I know Carter liked it), but t's not like you get to do something like this every day, so I'm happy we did it.

We got back to the hotel later than I would have liked for our wake-up time, but not terribly late.  The kids are always completely wound up at hotels, so I knew it would take a while to settle them down.  We watched a little basketball on TV while Craig and I checked email and social media, and then it was off to sleep...sort of.  Craig never sleeps well in hotels when he has to wake up early (paranoia from one time he missed his flight), and I was sleeping next to Carter, who decided to be an acrobat in his sleep.  He flipped and kicked and made me generally nervous, particularly because we were in a double bed--rather than a queen--and things were tight.  And of course he seemed to finally settle a bit more by about 5am, so I think I got one decent hour of sleep before I started anticipating my alarm.  We still ended up rushing through getting ready and barely had time for breakfast before we feared we'd be late for the strongly suggested arrival time at Jacob's first tournament.  We probably didn't plan as well as we should have, but at least we got there mostly on time (an hour before game time).

That marked the beginning of a very long day...and an exhausting--but generally good--weekend!  More tomorrow...

Leaving the Nest

This weekend started a busy month of weekends to kick off our summer.  We have lacrosse tournaments all but one weekend from next weekend until the weekend after July 4th, and this weekend was Jacob's training camp for his travel lacrosse team.  It would be his first time away overnight (without any family), for two nights away from us.  It's a great opportunity, both to learn and to get better acquainted with his teammates.  We had to drop him off Friday afternoon at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), which is literally down the road from my office.  You may otherwise know it as the place I used to run the Corporate Challenge each year, though that is moving downtown this year.  Anyway, as excited as we were for him, we were also excited to have a weekend alone with Carter.  Jacob had more than four years of weekends alone with us, and Carter has had pretty much none.  A few hours here and there, but a whole weekend?  Unheard of!

It was definitely a different experience taking my almost-nine-year-old to what felt a lot like college move-in day.  We checked in, got his room assignment and key, then visited with the nurse to drop off medicine and discuss the gluten-free situation a bit more deeply.  We sent him with a few snacks just in case, but it appeared they had it covered.  As we were leaving check-in, we ran into one of Jacob's buddies, a kid who is a year older than him but currently plays against him in house and who goes to our church.  His mom was Jacob's lunch monitor for years, and his dad is a lacrosse coach.  It was nice to stroll over to the dorms together.

This is the sundial we walked past (from the other direction) on the way to the dorms. 

The mood outside the dorm was festive and a little chaotic.  There were kids of all ages--from a year younger than Jacob all the way up to high school seniors.  Most of the kids were dressed in their team gear, and there were still a number of parents milling around. 

 

 

It took us a while to get up to his room as the elevators were busy and the stairways were mysteriously locked.  But eventually we got up there and I suddenly felt very fortunate for my residence hall experience.  The hallways were cramped and dark.  A larger than expected freshman class a few years ago forced the conversion of common lounges into quad rooms.  And the individual rooms were tiny!  My corridor rooms were at least a third bigger, and my suite rooms were probably just a bit smaller but it mattered less with a connected living room.  The furniture didn't even really fit, as the dresser was taking up most of the hanging space in the closet.  It was probably comparable in size to the single I stayed in at Dartmouth two years ago, but that one seems so much nicer!

 

Here's the thing--and I told Jacob this when he was talking like he'd be staying at a hotel--dorm rooms are like prison cells.  They are the most basic, horrible little rooms.  You walk in and they're so bare.  Our excitement every year was what awful institutional color it might be (our freshman blue was amazing, though) and what the desks would be like (one year we had these amazing hutches).  But the moment you walk in, the flaws jump out--nicked up furniture, marks on the walls, cold cinderblocks, gross tile.  But then you make the bed, put your stuff on the desk and shelves, hang up some posters, and get a cold beverage out of your fridge, and suddenly it's home.  I refused to take down my posters or other decorations until the very last minute every year because there was nothing more depressing than studying through exam week in a sterile, sad room.  Despite my warning, Jacob was still pretty surprised by how empty it was!

 

I quickly made his bed and he got changed to get ready for his first practice. 

 

Like any good parent, I had to take the move-in picture!

Note how high the bed is, and remember that...but doesn't he look like such a big kid?  Could be doing the real thing in nine years!  (Oh, and those were my college sheets--figured the XL twin was a good plan!)

So, after that we took him down to his team and shortly after they were off to the bus to practice.  And that was it!  He was off for his weekend--well, until Saturday morning when we had to grab him for his lacrosse game, but more on that in a minute.  We ran off to get Carter from daycare, then went out to dinner at Carmine's, one of our favorite places pre-Celiac diagnosis.  Craig and I had pizza, which is so good there, and Carter got his kids' meal (they're so cheap that it's nearly the same price as buying a drink for him alone), and we all had a nice dinner.  We stopped at the Walgreens next door to look at the Redbox (no luck that night), and then went home to let Carter pick a movie of his choice.

It was amazing to not have to yell or separate the kids or get annoyed with potty talk.  I missed Jacob, of course, and thought about him constantly.  But it was a nice break to not have to worry about the kids battling.  Carter was a good boy, too, and overall the whole thing felt a little too easy!  It actually gave me some insight into families with only children.  We only knew life with a toddler only child before Carter came into the picture.  But it turns out that when they're older things get much easier and much quieter.  I can see where things almost get boring!  I guess I'd like more of a happy medium--not having to scream but having enough action to keep it interesting!  I was grateful for the break, though, and we had a really good time with Carter.

The original plan for the next day was to take Carter to the zoo.  However, we found out that a big part of the zoo was closed to prepare for their big fundraiser that night, and that was the first crack in the foundation of our day.  We'd also had a back-and-forth debate about Jacob's Saturday morning game with his house team.  We really wanted him to stay at camp, but he really wanted to play.  We should have just laid down the law, for a lot of reasons, but in the end it was actually good he played because they had a few no-shows and might have forfeited if he or two of his other teammates who were at the camp didn't leave.  But the game was in the middle of the day--we left at 10:15 and didn't drop him back off until about 1:30--and by the time we grabbed lunch ourselves (Carter's choice--Wendy's), it was after 2:30 and we'd only have a little bit of time at the zoo anyway.  He'd also been a little challenging that day, so we opted to go toward home and visit a playground instead.  We went to the one at Jacob's old school, as he sees it when we pick Jacob up at the afterschool program and I knew it was a good one for his age.  He had a lot of fun running around and climbing everything!

 

He did so well climbing across this step bridge!

He is a great climber!

We sat on these little step things and he said we were on motorcycles.

He's riding on this motorcycle and I'm riding behind him..

There was a little girl who I think was probably less than a year older than him running around, as well, and they had a great time together.  I actually felt a little bad for her, because her parents were a bit overweight and didn't play with her at all.  I was glad that she and Carter had fun together, but it was sad when she had to leave and started crying.  We stuck around for a bit longer and Carter wanted to play hide-and-seek...though I think his hiding skills need some work!

This was his spot, and Craig was standing just to my right!  Haha!

We had to stop at Wegmans and pick up a few things, and the boys picked a movie that they knew Jacob wouldn't watch.  After dinner, we all started watching it, but I decided I needed to run out and do some yard work since the forecast for today wasn't great.  I trimmed bushes, which turned into tree trimming and pruning away dead stuff from the underside of another bush.  I got a bunch of bug bites, tweaked my shoulder, and still pushed through to clean it all up.  I didn't have enough arm strength to get through everything, but I did a bunch and was happy it was done.  Of course today I discovered more aphids on some bushes I already sprayed and pruned, but it's definitely a process (albeit one I won't have much time for in the next month).

Today the weather was rainy and cool.  We were trying to figure out how to do church and make it to the last program at Jacob's camp, but in the end the timing just didn't work out for both.  We did church, grabbed lunch, then took off early because we wanted to hit up the county's electronics recycling event nearby RIT.  Little did we know it would be a very long wait--45 minutes in a long line of traffic--but in the end we offloaded an old TV, a broken toaster oven and portable DVD player, and a bunch of old cell phones.  And they presented Carter with a giant popsicle for his patience (although I'll spare you the full story of the potty emergency in the car...but thank goodness we had an empty bottle!).

And yes, it is as big as it looks!

He was already pretty messy by the time we got to RIT, but we managed without a terrible mess in the end!  We grabbed all of Jacob's stuff and headed home.  And of course, once we got here the usual ridiculousness commenced once again.

Overall, Jacob had a great time.  The first night was rough because Jacob and his roommate (a house teammate of his) couldn't get in their high beds.  Apparently neither figured out to pull a desk chair over!  Then the kids were loud in the night, and a knee hockey game broke out around 1am.  I'm not clear on how many hours of sleep he even got, but based on his performance in his game, I think he was a little sleepy.  It sounded like last night was better.  We were worried about the food, and while it seems like his choices were limited, he really liked what he ate.  Practice was "boring" and this morning he was freezing, but he really seemed to enjoy the music and guest speaker, a former NFL player.  He also got his official FCA Bible, which has athlete-based devotions and notes in it.  I really liked that he got a great character-building experience this weekend in addition to the lacrosse experience.  I think he probably learned a lot about being on his own, which is good for him, too.  I think he'll be looking forward to doing it again next year!

The experience was unique for us, too, I think.  It was a little tough to wrap my brain around.  I mean, I was only as comfortable with it as I was because I knew he was happy and taken care of.  It was a relief to not have to yell and keep the kids apart, and I didn't miss that part, but there was definitely a void without him here.  It was a nice change of pace for all of us, but hopefully we all have a greater appreciation for what we have.

Onward to our first tournament next weekend! 

The Journey

Every Tuesday and Friday morning I go to the allergist for my allergy shot.  I'm trying to do two per week, even though technically I could go as little as once every two weeks.  The sooner I get through the first 20 shots or so, the better off I will be, apparently.  I'll be a third of the way there this week.  It's a bit of a commitment to get up and out a bit earlier to get to the only two days of morning walk-in shots, but in the end it should be worth it.  It means, however, that I've had a randomly itchy arm at any given moment, as the shots alternate arms and the itching is pretty rough for 24-48 hours after the shot.  It will only get worse, presumably, as things ramp up further, but for now it's annoying but manageable.

Anyway, being in the allergist's office for about 45 minutes twice a week is definitely interesting people watching.  I haven't really spotted any regulars quite like me, but you definitely see all sorts of people--young, old, and in between.  Every person you look at looks pretty normal, but clearly they've been through something that's brought them to this point.  For me, it's chronic allergies and a lack of smell and taste.  For others it might be life-altering reactions.  My heart breaks a little every time I see a little kid there, and that's pretty much every time.  Some are getting shots, and others are going in for appointments.  Last week I saw the cutest little girl, probably no more than two, and when they called her back to the exam room by name, I was crushed to think of what her parents had already dealt with in her short life.  What kind of scary reaction might she have had that brought her there?  The other day there was a little girl who I overheard is going to Kindergarten in the fall, and her parents were scheduling food challenges to get a handle on what she might be dealing with.  That, too, broke my heart. She was such a cute little girl, but what craziness might she have been through that they don't even know what's actually causing her issues?

I have much the same feeling when we go to Jacob's behavioral therapist appointments.  You look around the waiting room at the families--some seemingly normal like ours, some clearly dysfunctional, and some with a kid who is visibly affected by something--and you just wonder what kind of journey led them there.  Is it a health issue?  A tough household environment?  Emotional or physical trauma?  Are those even their parents, or are they guardians or foster parents?  Are they looking at us with the same curiosities?

God knows we've been on our fair share of medical journeys.  From Jacob's rough first week of life, to his (and later Carter's) reflux, to Jacob's behavioral issues, Celiac diagnosis, and leg cyst, we have been through the wringer in the past nine years.  That's a lot of stuff in a short period of time, and that's only the major stuff.  What about Carter's cow's milk protein intolerance, his suspected rice intolerance, and his recent molluscum contagiosum?  Or Jacob's mole removal?  Recently I saw a picture posted online of a baby in a really odd position, stuffed in a tube with its arms in the air--and I think it was click bait as it was asking what was happening--but I already knew what it was as I instantly flashed back about seven years to the day Jacob had to get a chest x-ray and was placed on a bike seat in a clear plastic tube with his arms in the air, to immobilize him for the procedure.  He screamed the whole time, which was super traumatizing to me as a young parent.  There was another day around that same time where he had images taken of his stomach emptying, and had to lay still for long periods at a time, which seemed impossible with an infant.  And who can forget when I had a breakdown because I realized I had to allow Jacob to have formula when he was a newborn in the hospital, or another one when I had to stop nursing Carter six weeks in.  Those were hard moments.  This parenthood thing is no joke.

Looking back on it all, it's sort of overwhelming.  In the moment it was certainly overwhelming, then over time we found a way to just deal with it and keep moving.  But all together in retrospect, I wonder how I'm still sane (or mostly sane, anyway).  It's so much.  It makes our pre-kid life seem idyllic, actually.  How did I ever fill my time back then?  How did other stuff even register as stress?  It all seems (ironically, no pun intended) like child's play compared to what we've been dealing with since.  It's been such a journey, a truly tough one, though ultimately I know that so many have it so much worse.  I heard something once that if given the choice to trade problems with someone else, we would rarely ever choose to do so.  It appears the known is much safer than the unknown, I guess.  But this experience has given me a new appreciation for--and true empathy for--other families who have had their own lengthy, stressful medical journeys.  After you've dealt with a challenging kid or sat in the hospital room or otherwise walked in a particular pair of shoes, you never see the world the same way.  You know what it feels like to be judged, to feel helpless, to be at rock bottom.  You know how it feels to rearrange your life for your child and wonder endlessly about what their future holds.  Eventually you understand that we're all just trying to figure this out and there is no clear path.  You give everyone a lot of grace...even if they don't actually merit it. 

If we could go back in time and change things, I probably would.  I mean, I don't like that my kids have had to go through this stuff, either.  And maybe I wouldn't be such a high-strung parent sometimes.  But I admit that there are elements of this that have proved valuable--be it my empathy and understanding or a little bit more toughness when faced with a difficult situation.  Most challenges in my daily life that don't have anything to do with my kids seem pretty small in comparison, honestly.  They give you this whole new perspective about what matters.  I can definitely appreciate that.  But these medical journeys have definitely shaped me as a parent.  It's all a part of the process, I guess.  And so it continues...

Just Something Pretty...

Like I mentioned yesterday, sometimes I get a little out of sync when it comes to sharing stories and pulling pictures off my camera in a timely manner.  And as a result, things get lost and forgotten along the way, until I pull the pictures off the camera and realize that, no, I never shared that awesome thing.  And while I generally want most of the stuff here to have some connection to the kids or parenthood in general, sometimes I try to find myself again, most often with pretty pictures.

Well, a month ago I was cleaning up from dinner and realized that the sky looked...interesting.  The clouds were sort of cool and the colors were getting more and more vivid.  I tried taking a picture from the kitchen window, but decided this might be worth going outside with the real camera as I was having trouble capturing things with my phone.  This is the result.  The "lumpy" clouds were hard to do justice, but they were amazing.  And social media agreed, as a lot of people caught very similar shots.

A couple days later was our annual Day of Giving at work, where we try to raise as much money through as many donors as we can in one 24-hour span.  It's always a crazy day, and this year I got recruited to help deliver cookie cakes to our advancement partners on campus.  I love going on campus, and actually getting to go through academic buildings was a first for me.  I couldn't help but snap pictures as I ran, though since I was traveling light they had to be with my phone.  And I can't complain--the phone did well!  I just wanted to share this little journey because it absolutely made my day.

Inside the Interfaith Chapel.  I knew the windows looked like this but was wowed by them in person.  So pretty.  And you can't tell here, but there are four sides of them.

Looking up the Eastman Quad at Rush Rhees Library

Closer to Rush Rhees, with the gorgeous blooming trees!

Inside the library

Same view from behind

I'd seen a print of this painting at my last job, as it features prominent Rochesterians from the heyday of downtown, in the old Midtown Plaza mall that was attached to both buildings I worked in downtown.  The mall was demolished a handful of years ago, though the clock in the center is now in the airport.  My old job was at an agency that was a downtown mainstay for years, and we had a copy of this in the office because the original agency owner, who still worked in the office into his 90s, is in the picture.  Who knew the original was tucked away near the admin offices at the Memorial Art Gallery?

The guy in the lower right in the dark suit was the agency owner/namesake.  Classic Mad Men-era advertising agency guy, and he never lost his spunk.

And, finally, I have to include this, because the moments where he sleeps on me are so rare now.  My sweet little boy...THIS I will definitely miss.

I love little moments like this.  Little bits of beauty in the world are sometimes the thing you need to make it through the day.  They make the mundane, day-to-day stuff a little more special.  I am looking forward to our summer adventures, for sure, but I hope I get a few more of these moments, too.

 

Week-ish in Review

It's amazing how time flies when you're not paying 100% attention.  Once upon a time I tried to update this blog every day, or every couple days.  As I mentioned in my last post, that doesn't happen much anymore.  It seems like I usually have one weekend catch-up post--if something interesting even happened--and then something pops up during the week that I just need to talk about.  But often somewhere in there I hadn't pulled random pictures off my camera or phone yet and things get a little lost because enough time passes that I can't actually remember what I did and did not post.  I actually have one more catch-up post coming up soon, but for this one I'll just extend our "week" a little longer. 

A couple weeks ago we had a beautiful but windy day.  Ever since the windstorm in March, windy days sort of put me on edge.  Even though I know pretty much nothing can compare to what we had, it still stirs up those feelings.  Anyway, I went to pick up Carter that day and as we were grabbing his stuff he mentioned that he'd made a kite.  It wasn't a real kite, just one to hang on the wall, but he asked when we could fly it.  Of course that wasn't possible, but I told him that maybe someday we could go get a real one.  And then it hit me that it was a windy day and having a kite might make that windy day a little less annoying.  I had just been to the dollar store a few days earlier and I was pretty sure I had seen kites there, so I had one of those parental "Yes" moments and we stopped there on the way home.  We picked up an Iron Man kite for a buck and went home to try to fly it.  And while we didn't have any epic flights, I was pretty impressed that we got it in the air for a couple minutes at a time a few times.

Carter was so excited to hold it as it flew!

However, the wind currents weren't as constant as it had seemed, so we had trouble keeping it up there, but considering I'd never flown one myself before, I felt like it was a good first try.  And now it's there in the garage if the mood strikes again!

The following weekend was full of lacrosse.  We had a game bright and early on Saturday, a half hour away.  It felt SO early on our one day where we can normally sleep in.  But we made it.  With away games I'm always hopeful that there will be a playground, and thankfully there was.  It was a cold morning, but sunny, so we tried to keep warm by running around until the game started!

Carter has gotten to be quite the climber!

Pardon that I cannot get this picture to rotate, but this is Carter looking through the floor of the playset.  It lined up perfectly!

We also had Jacob's first lacrosse tournament of the season on Sunday.  This one was for his house team--unlike the rest for his travel team which will put us on the road all weekend--and was local.  It was at a high school complex and took place on three fields made from one football field.  The weather was pretty cloudy when we arrived around 8am, but it was just warm enough for us to not feel too cold.  The forecast had been iffy all week but had perked up a day or two earlier.  The sun even came out at one point and it looked like it was going to be a nice morning, but then we noticed giant clouds forming in one direction and it looked like we were going to get hammered with a thunderstorm.  Luckily the big cell that seemed to be coming right for us dissipated and we only ended up with a steady but not soaking rain for the last game, at which point I took this picture, which just makes me smile a bit as it seems to capture sports parent life pretty accurately.   

Under the umbrella!

Initially, last week looked like it was going to be busy.  Jacob normally has practice twice a week, and he had a game scheduled for Wednesday, as well.  He had a therapy appointment Thursday, along with his school concert, so we knew we had a lot going on.  But then because of the Wednesday game there was no practice, and then the game itself got canceled as too few kids were available, so suddenly we just had one busy night.  Initially Jacob wasn't very excited about his concert and would have much preferred going to practice that night.  But then they sent home the note that said to dress your best, and of course he jumped at the chance to wear his suit.  And yes, I am still completely perplexed by how a kid who refuses to wear anything except athletic apparel in his daily life is so into dressing up when he can.  But there is no in between.  No khakis and a button down.  No jeans and a nice sweater.  Either all athletic or all dressed up.  That's it.

Initially the concert was supposed to be at the high school performing arts center, but earlier in the week it moved to Jacob's school's gym.  It was a major downgrade.  Considering it was full when they had just the moms and their kids in there for the Mother's Day event, I couldn't quite fathom how they'd fit three grades worth of parents and families, along with risers.  And sure enough, it was packed and people were standing.  On the bright side, that meant we got to leave early once the third graders were done, but it definitely made the whole thing feel a little less special.  It's always interesting to see Jacob in his element, and see some of the fruits of his labor.  His concerts always crack me up, though, because when I was a kid I went to a Christian school so all the songs we sang were either religious, patriotic, or related to our school play.  This concert had a song about fairness, another about recycling, and another that was a German folk song translated into Japanese.  It never occurred to me when I was a kid what public school kids were singing, but perhaps now I know.

Jacob's at the middle left.  The snappy dresser on the right is a good friend of his.

The view from our seats.  As you can see, it was a bit of an odd setup.

Where did this big kid come from?  Holy cow.

I had a shortened work day on Friday and spent the afternoon running around trying to get some things done.  It had been a crazy day at work, for a number of reasons (including the whole situation I wrote about last week coming to a head--turns out no one got the job, but it came out in a meeting before they actually told my co-worker who applied.  On top of that, HR wanted to talk to me about the position to make sure I wasn't holding anything back when the manager had talked to me about it.  So my co-worker and I both spilled about everything, then had a number of minor but ridiculous calamities hit on a short work day before a holiday weekend when we were pretty much the only people in our department in the office.  NUTS.), so basically I needed a few hours to decompress.  I ended up starting the long weekend with a whimper and went to bed rather early, hoping I'd feel a bit more energized for the next few days.

This weekend we were really trying to make the most of the three-day weekend.  We knew we had a Red Wings game on Saturday night, a picnic Sunday, and needed to fit in mini-golf somewhere in there, as well.  The weekends for all of June and half of July are going to be insanely busy for all of us, and I'm already panicking about the yard work that won't get done, among other things (as I look at my filthy house that just got cleaned two weeks ago).  Sigh.

Anyway, we had a pretty low-key day.  I planted my garden, the kids played, and eventually we were off to the game.  The cloudy day turned to sun just in time.  It was a nice though slightly cool night, and overall we had a good time, despite Carter getting a bit difficult.  We didn't get to stay for fireworks because the game went into extra innings, unfortunately.  But we did get these funny pictures...

And like I said, it was a nice night...

On Sunday we had my family picnic and my aunt and uncle's.  They live here in town so it's one of the few parties we get to go to with a short drive there and back!  It was a really nice day--a little overcast at times but very pleasant temperatures.  Carter got to play cars, Jacob played outside a bit, and I got to see family and even meet my cousin's new girlfriend who was braving a family function for the first time!  We ate a bunch and had a very quiet night at home digesting food.

On Monday we had a lazy morning thanks in part to the rain.  I did manage to get Carter to try on all of his summer shirts and switch out his seasonal clothes in his closet.  After lunch I did some running around, and then we went to play mini-golf, as the weather had vastly improved by then. 

 

We had some fun with the arcade games and the boys spent their tickets (mostly candy for Jacob, and a car for Carter), and then we came home for dinner and s'mores.

After that, it was still a nice evening so we had some bonus time outside.  The boys rode their bikes, and I snuck around to the side of the house to capture the rhododendrons in their full glory.  They are so big I don't know what to do with them!

 

And finally, this is what happens when you shoot a bubble gun at the same spot of grass for a while.  Cool, isn't it?

Anyway, it was a pretty good weekend.  There was some productivity, some fun stuff, and a little bit of downtime.  Not enough, apparently, based on today, but I guess I should just get used to it because weekends will not be very relaxing for the foreseeable future.  But at least we had some fun.  And let's hope more fun is to come as summer gets into full swing...