B-Ball

This summer Jackson is playing basketball for the very first time. I can't begin to tell you how much fun it is and how darn cute he looks out there! They have been practicing for a couple of weeks and had their first game last Saturday.

Pre-game instructions from Coach Frank:



I have watched Jackson play a few different sports, but I think basketball may just be my favorite. It is just so crazy exciting! I will now apologize for my extreme loudness to my husband and to Kim and Jon who were sitting right next to me. I am pretty sure I yelled the entire game.





Catching a pass:



Catching another one:




And another:




Defending, rebounding, and hustling:





My favorite part just might have been when they all lined up for foul shots. The referee's (who were so fun!) had tell them all multiple times where to stand. They just didn't seem to understand the concept.




They ended up losing, largely in part to the ginormous child who you can see in the pictures above. He stood at least a head and a half taller than any other kid on the court. The league is for boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 9, and I am thinking he must be 9 years, 11 months and 29 days old!

Although they lost, I thought it was beyond great! Plus Jackson had fun, which pushes it into the fantastic range.

Check Me Out

Jackson had a big day last week! He received his own library card! My little reader was overjoyed.

After arriving home with his books, he locked my bedroom door, climbed into my bed, and delved right into Harry Potter book 2. I have always resisted reading the Harry Potter books, but Jackson combined with his excitement convinced me to give them a try. I just finished book 1.



For the record Megan was also at the library, but when I asked her if she wanted a library card too, she responded in a bored voice, "not really."

Unfortunately she is just not a reader! And believe me when I tell you, I HAVE TRIED HARD TO MAKE HER BECOME ONE! Rest assured I won't give up.

While Jackson was reading I found her enjoying some technology.



Here is to a summer full of wizardry.

Scuba Anyone?

Recently Eric, Megan and I took a scuba diving class. I was reticent to take it since I am not so great in the water, but ended up pulling through.

 After finding the correct size equipment, we were ready to practice our breathing.

Eric and Megan picked it up right away, but it took me a minute or two longer to become comfortable with it. Along with the breathing there were a bunch (ok maybe only 3) hand signals we had to master before submerging.

After going down and coming up a couple of times to make sure we (ok actually me) were comfortable and would not drown, we were ready to submerge for a longer period of time. We went back and forth, back and forth, numerous times along the bottom of the pool.

Megan and I had the same instructor.

When we were finished she pointed to me and said, "You did okay at the end, once you stopped panicking."

For the record I did not feel panic, only mild discomfort!

Then she turned to Megan and said, "But you, you were perfect from the beginning. You are a natural!"

It's a good thing my self-esteem isn't hinged on my ability to scuba dive.

Eric of course had no problems at all. Except for the inability to smile in a scuba mask.

I later asked Eric if I looked that freaked out under the water. He informed me that I didn't exactly look very comfortable but I would get the award for effort. We all know what that means!

Too bad learning to scuba dive was not on my bucket list!

Disneyland Day 2

We started off Day 2 at California Adventure. Our first stop was the Grizzly River Run where we got sufficiently soaked.

After a few more rides like Flying Over California (which Sade actually said she liked a little bit), we visited a Bugs Life:








Then headed over to Tower Of Terror. Sade was big enough to ride Tower Of Terror, but I thank my lucky stars everyday that she didn't. We would have scarred her for life!




Next we checked out Paradise Pier. I love the swings.






California Screaming, which was a big hit with Meg and Jacks. They rode numerous times.



After riding all of the rides, Eric and I sat on a bench (to recover) while the kids played at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.




It was late afternoon at this point, and I was HOT, TIRED, and a bit ORNERY. I could have packed up and went home right then. But I bucked up, traveled back over to Disneyland, had some dinner, and luckily got my second wind.

We rode a few of our favorite rides, and then sat down to watch the Mickey's Soundsational Parade. Sade loved it.







After the parade, we rode a couple more rides, loaded up on ice cream, and left the park about an hour before closing time.




Megan had to be back at school, and Eric had to be back at work, so we drove straight home. It was kind of horrible, as we were so tired. Nevertheless, the trip on a whole was a fantastic success!

What I learned.

1. I feel like at least a 3 day pass is necessary to see everything. We were able to ride all of the rides, but missed out on seeing most of the shows and the Princesses (the wait was 2 hours long!).

2. Having a day to recover in between visits would be ideal. Especially if you are planning on staying all day. As we did. I found myself fading on Day 2.

3. Winning free tickets to expensive places is THE BEST!

See Day 1 below......