September 31
After a remarkable weak at sea, Kassie and I returned to reality on Friday evening and reunited with the kids. They had a pretty good time with Kassie's parents as far as we could tell and had successfully done all their various activities and scheduled events while we were away.
September 19
Things at work have been pretty busy as I'm adding 2 more people to my team, including a whole new team of 6 part-time people that will report to a team lead that will be on my team. Lots of stuff going on there!
Greyson had a blast on his second day of preK, and I realized Hinckley was about this same age when we moved to Arizona. I can’t believe it! He is so big now and it really doesn’t feel like much time has passed since then. Greyson and Kassie came home from Target with new undies for the kids and some candy bars. He was over the moon about his PJ Masks undies and wanted to demo them for me in multiple poses. He has been getting more into Legos and this week he created his own “rocket ship” with and was very proud of a “playground” he made as well.
Greyson hurt his toe really bad later this week, looked like a bunch of skin was scraped off when a large bucket of water landed on it. He was screaming in agony but managed to say that he thought his “bloody ouchie looked like candy”. We got it all patched up and then he was overjoyed when a package arrived for him on the front doorstep....his very own baby toy music player haha. That was the prize he wanted for filling up his sticker chart by staying in bed all night. So he is back to running around with that thing pressed to his ear. It is really hilarious.
Mid-week Addie got it into her mind to play soccer and needed to find a soccer shirt, and get on her shin guards and cleats and everything to go out in the backyard. She wanted me to coach her and Greyson (“Tell us what to do!”) and it was really cute seeing them run around the yard and get all red in the face. She is really enjoying school and happy to have a friend at recess that she can have extended 1:1 time with.
Hinckley continues to build remarkable Lego creations from everything he can get his hands on (including Addie’s set during evening storytime). I love seeing what he whips together and gets into full flow mode. A few days ago he finished gathering all the sunflower seeds from our one and only Sunflower. He was pretty excited about that. His Zelda toy thing arrived in the mail this week from eBay that he has eagerly been waiting for for a week or longer. It allows him to unlock treasure boxes in Breath of the Wild (video game) which he is really excited about. I played the game with Hinckley Friday evening per our agreement to do so each Friday and he was pretty excited. It is a great activity to do with him because he is so much better at it than me and gives him a chance to demonstrate his knowledge and skills and coach me a bit.
Saturday was jam-packed. The older kids and Kassie had primary program practice at the church so after chores I took Greyson down to Lowe’s jump park in Provo for a date and we finished up at Roxberry. He went nonstop for a full hour! Jumping and running and cheering. His whole head was covered in sweat by the time we left. He was pretty worn out and grumpy the rest of the day. After we got back from that it was about time for me to take Hinckley to the Museum of Natural Curiosity for a date. We had a blast building a fort out of these maze blocks and also trying out a number of other areas. It was really fun actually! We went and got Swig junk food after and listened to some really funny Weird Al songs while waiting in line.
The end of the day was the neighborhood “Games in the Park” activity which I’ve been preparing for with the ward mission for quite some time and it turned out pretty good I think. What was hard was that all three of our kids had pretty dramatic approaches to handling the many kids and things going on and it wasn’t very great on that front. Greyson fell on his face and Kas took him back early as he was screaming and nearly had a breath-holding spell. Addie threw a big fit because her friend Brooke was playing with everyone and not just her. Hinckley sulked and glowered because not many kids his age showed up. Ah well.
September 12, 2021
This was a full but great week! Greyson started Pre-K and it was pretty crazy to see him running out the door! He was very excited and he had a lot of fun. He talked about how he learned how he needs to raise his hand and not yell, but that he didn’t do that yet haha. We are so lucky that it is just right behind our house at our neighbor's. He was a little disappointed that he didn't learn all the letters yet, but we encouraged him with the fact that such things take time haha. He has really gotten interested in warning labels everywhere he sees them, often pointing them out and asking "What's that say?" I've realized how blind I am to the sheer amount of warning labels everywhere!
Addie enjoyed her school week and is loving both the Let's Play Music class and tumbling at the rec center. She announced to Kassie that school is her favorite thing in the world. She and Kas had a fun date to Fat Cats and Coldstone and all in all she is doing very well.
Hinckley had his first day of piano lessons with a new teacher and he is most excited about the fact that she offers candy rewards. When I asked what was good about his new teacher he said, “she is motivating”. He also had the first of a two-week swimming lessons program this week, something he picked to do instead of gymnastics this fall time. The class is pretty advanced it sounds like, and might be one of the last stages before swim team. The next oldest kids in the class are in the 5th grade! They swim across the pool multiple times and tread water for many minutes. Hinckley said it is really hard, but he seems to relish the fact that he is the youngest in the class and is somewhat keeping up with everyone else.
So we are into the full and busy schedule of the fall time now it seems and I think it is good for everyone right now as we aren’t overwhelmed but everyone is kept occupied in activities that are helping them grow and develop. I got a balance/weight thing for sourdough in the mail this week and tried it out. I've been pumping out 1-2 loafs each week and am LOVING the tasty veggie sandwiches and toast I can freely enjoy each day.
After a remarkable weak at sea, Kassie and I returned to reality on Friday evening and reunited with the kids. They had a pretty good time with Kassie's parents as far as we could tell and had successfully done all their various activities and scheduled events while we were away.
For our part, we had a very enjoyable time. We left Seattle last Friday on the Ovation of the Seas, a ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet. It took us to 3 stops in Alaska including Juneau, Skagway, and Sitka, and then on the way home took us by the Endicott Glacier. Everything was glorious! No rain at any of the stops, including leaving and returning to Seattle. We had amazing food (my favorite part), saw a very rare site of whales using the "bubble netting" technique (group hunting) to gather herring fish, did some fun dance classes together, played pickleball, and much much more. It was pretty epic!
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| Pre-cruise remote COVID testing adventure |
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| Arriving super early at the ship in Seattle |
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| Boarding the ship |
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| Successfully completing our first meal on the ship |
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| A shot of Seattle with the kid's creatures |
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| Kassie's bucket list item: Creme Brulee (sp?) |
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| Formal night dining on the ship |
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| View of the ship from Juneau downtown |
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| Watching for whales in Juneau |
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| On the White Pass railroad in Skagway |
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| Looking around town in Skagway |
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| Epic view from Skagway nature walk |
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| Biking in Sitka |
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| Hiking in the Sitka rainforest |
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| On top of "Castle hill" in Sitka |
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| A show onboard the ship in the 3+ million dollar room "270" |
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| Endicott Glacier |
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| View from our deck |
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| Rainbow exercising |
Things at work have been pretty busy as I'm adding 2 more people to my team, including a whole new team of 6 part-time people that will report to a team lead that will be on my team. Lots of stuff going on there!
Greyson had a blast on his second day of preK, and I realized Hinckley was about this same age when we moved to Arizona. I can’t believe it! He is so big now and it really doesn’t feel like much time has passed since then. Greyson and Kassie came home from Target with new undies for the kids and some candy bars. He was over the moon about his PJ Masks undies and wanted to demo them for me in multiple poses. He has been getting more into Legos and this week he created his own “rocket ship” with and was very proud of a “playground” he made as well.
Greyson hurt his toe really bad later this week, looked like a bunch of skin was scraped off when a large bucket of water landed on it. He was screaming in agony but managed to say that he thought his “bloody ouchie looked like candy”. We got it all patched up and then he was overjoyed when a package arrived for him on the front doorstep....his very own baby toy music player haha. That was the prize he wanted for filling up his sticker chart by staying in bed all night. So he is back to running around with that thing pressed to his ear. It is really hilarious.
Mid-week Addie got it into her mind to play soccer and needed to find a soccer shirt, and get on her shin guards and cleats and everything to go out in the backyard. She wanted me to coach her and Greyson (“Tell us what to do!”) and it was really cute seeing them run around the yard and get all red in the face. She is really enjoying school and happy to have a friend at recess that she can have extended 1:1 time with.
Hinckley continues to build remarkable Lego creations from everything he can get his hands on (including Addie’s set during evening storytime). I love seeing what he whips together and gets into full flow mode. A few days ago he finished gathering all the sunflower seeds from our one and only Sunflower. He was pretty excited about that. His Zelda toy thing arrived in the mail this week from eBay that he has eagerly been waiting for for a week or longer. It allows him to unlock treasure boxes in Breath of the Wild (video game) which he is really excited about. I played the game with Hinckley Friday evening per our agreement to do so each Friday and he was pretty excited. It is a great activity to do with him because he is so much better at it than me and gives him a chance to demonstrate his knowledge and skills and coach me a bit.
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| Greyson's music toy he earned for staying in bed |
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| Building an epic fort with H at the Curiosity Museum |
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| Jump park date with Greyson |
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| Hinckley's floating head at Curiosity Museum date |
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| Visit from aunt Liana, and her inventory |
Saturday was jam-packed. The older kids and Kassie had primary program practice at the church so after chores I took Greyson down to Lowe’s jump park in Provo for a date and we finished up at Roxberry. He went nonstop for a full hour! Jumping and running and cheering. His whole head was covered in sweat by the time we left. He was pretty worn out and grumpy the rest of the day. After we got back from that it was about time for me to take Hinckley to the Museum of Natural Curiosity for a date. We had a blast building a fort out of these maze blocks and also trying out a number of other areas. It was really fun actually! We went and got Swig junk food after and listened to some really funny Weird Al songs while waiting in line.
The end of the day was the neighborhood “Games in the Park” activity which I’ve been preparing for with the ward mission for quite some time and it turned out pretty good I think. What was hard was that all three of our kids had pretty dramatic approaches to handling the many kids and things going on and it wasn’t very great on that front. Greyson fell on his face and Kas took him back early as he was screaming and nearly had a breath-holding spell. Addie threw a big fit because her friend Brooke was playing with everyone and not just her. Hinckley sulked and glowered because not many kids his age showed up. Ah well.
This was a full but great week! Greyson started Pre-K and it was pretty crazy to see him running out the door! He was very excited and he had a lot of fun. He talked about how he learned how he needs to raise his hand and not yell, but that he didn’t do that yet haha. We are so lucky that it is just right behind our house at our neighbor's. He was a little disappointed that he didn't learn all the letters yet, but we encouraged him with the fact that such things take time haha. He has really gotten interested in warning labels everywhere he sees them, often pointing them out and asking "What's that say?" I've realized how blind I am to the sheer amount of warning labels everywhere!
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| Addie artwork |
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| We finished the Book of Mormon!! |
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| Greg and bros shopping in CA |
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| Greyson's first day |
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| Hinckley's sunflower spoils |
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| Green ninja Addie |
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| Dough boy cooking a dough boy |
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| Kays and Addie cooking doughboys |
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| Hinckley and Kays with doughboys |
Addie enjoyed her school week and is loving both the Let's Play Music class and tumbling at the rec center. She announced to Kassie that school is her favorite thing in the world. She and Kas had a fun date to Fat Cats and Coldstone and all in all she is doing very well.
Hinckley had his first day of piano lessons with a new teacher and he is most excited about the fact that she offers candy rewards. When I asked what was good about his new teacher he said, “she is motivating”. He also had the first of a two-week swimming lessons program this week, something he picked to do instead of gymnastics this fall time. The class is pretty advanced it sounds like, and might be one of the last stages before swim team. The next oldest kids in the class are in the 5th grade! They swim across the pool multiple times and tread water for many minutes. Hinckley said it is really hard, but he seems to relish the fact that he is the youngest in the class and is somewhat keeping up with everyone else.
So we are into the full and busy schedule of the fall time now it seems and I think it is good for everyone right now as we aren’t overwhelmed but everyone is kept occupied in activities that are helping them grow and develop. I got a balance/weight thing for sourdough in the mail this week and tried it out. I've been pumping out 1-2 loafs each week and am LOVING the tasty veggie sandwiches and toast I can freely enjoy each day.
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