More Doc

Recently Joshua and Clara have been branching out in the shows they want to watch. They have gotten a bit bored with the same old thing and who can blame them. We gave Thomas a try and I really couldn't handle it. Unfortunately, Joshua loved it. So I started taping Chuggington instead and he seems satisfied with the switch. This has opened the world of Disney Junior to us. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Doc McStuffins have been clear winners on this channel, especially Doc McStuffins. Clara and Joshua now ask for "More Doc". Hannah doesn't yet really enjoy tv, but she does like to do what Clara and Joshua do and she likes songs a lot. So this is her enjoying a show (very briefly. For about as long as the theme song lasts) under her blankie, just like Clara.

Deanna Rose Season Drawing to a Close

Fall is so lovely and as a stand-alone season, I love it way more than Spring. However, the reality is that with every day getting shorter it's always in the back of your mind that winter is coming, whereas in the Spring, you have the whole summer ahead of you. Nowhere do I feel that more than at Deanna Rose because they actually completely close after Halloween until April. So today we went there, probably for one of the last times this year. We had a great time.

The kids were really excited to feed animals today. Most of the time when we come here, they just want to play at the playgrounds and don't even care about the animals, so that was surprising. But they had a lot of fun doing it.

They especially enjoyed feeding the swans. I have no idea why because look at their gross long necks (the better to reach you to bite you) and their disgusting feet. But they liked it a lot. We ran into the Keelers again (Which seems unlikely, but I am really surprised we don't run into each other more. We are totally making the same rounds on the parks on mostly the same days of the week because of preschool) and they were nice enough to share their duck feed after Joshua was done with ours so he got extra swan time.

Also today, the bobcat was actually moving around. I am not sure I have seen him walk around before, so that was exciting.

Even with all that action, Clara's favorite activity was splashing in a puddle she found. She did it for quite some time. 

Hannah didn't really enjoy the animals today except the swans, but she was pretty excited to play on the playground. We don't know that little girl, but she was very interested in the rhinestones on Hannah's headband. We had a fun day out today and hopefully we'll make it out to the farmstead at least a couple more times before it closes.

36!

Today I turned 36 and had a really good birthday. First, I had a relaxing morning because Jason watched the kids and I got to take a super long time to get ready. I really like to take my time in the morning, but I often end up doing things like letting my hair air dry due to time, so it was really nice to be leisurely. Then we got lunch from Chili's and then did cake and birthday time. The cake was super great. I had forgotten that at the K-State Open House, we had tried samples of "Nothing Bundt Cake" and I had said it was the best cake ever and I wanted it for my birthday. But Jason didn't forget and so that's what I got. It was super great. Then I opened my gifts. I got a serger, which I am excited about because that really allows you to sew items that you could potentially wear or that will last over time. I hope I can figure it out in time for my Christmas sewing.

In the afternoon, the kids went to Ron and Peg's, and Jason I ate at J. Gilbert's. I had never been there before, but I love a good steak, so I was excited to try it. I got the filet and scallops combo. The steak was super great and very enjoyable. The scallops were okay, but I felt they were more cooked than I prefer and not that flavorful so I would probably just get the steak if I were going again. It was a really nice dinner and a great way to wrap up my birthday!

A Disinterested Mighty Tiger

Joshua had a reasonable amount of fun during his previous soccer sessions, all of which were indoor sessions with Little Kickers at All American Indoor Sports.  This fall, we wanted to try him in outdoor soccer, which we did through Johnson County Parks and Rec.  He's older, so it's more advanced, as they actually need to wear shin guards.  The format is similar to how tee ball was, where they spend the first part of the hour practicing, and then the second part is a game against another team.  They have reversible red/blue jerseys, and here Joshua is in his red jersey.

Joshua is lucky enough to have Peyton Manning as his coach.  It's impressive that Peyton can be here on Saturdays and then make it to the Broncos games on Sunday.  Here Peyton coaches the kids, having calmed down a bit from how he coached on SNL.  Okay, maybe Joshua's coach isn't not Peyton, and is instead Coach Travis, but he looks and sounds just like him.

At this level of soccer, there are no positions or concept of spacing on the field.  They just want the kids to learn to kick the ball and maybe sometimes pass it.  So it's called bunch ball or bumblebee ball, or whatever else.  And that works, because of course all the kids want to do is get in on the action and kick the ball.  On the left you can see shortly after kickoff how everyone is around the ball.  As play continues, as you can see on the right, most kids stay right with the ball.  But you can see one kid off to the left in that picture.  No big deal, you think.

But as the pack moves down the field, one kid remains, uninterested, or possibly unaware, that there is a soccer game going on of which he is participating as one of only four members of his team, causing his dad to have to take a super wide shot to even include him in the same picture as the team.  Yes, that kid is Joshua.  Similar to tee ball, he likes the idea of the sport, but when it comes to following instructions and rules, he's not really into it.  As soon as Coach Peyton/Travis notices Joshua is away from the rest of the team, he'll run back and say in a friendly and encouraging voice, "Hey Joshua!  Come on, buddy!" and wrangle him in.  I hear that so many times throughout every game.  But the coach can only do so much.  I try to prep Joshua for the games by telling him about how we need to run wherever the ball is and kick it, and he agrees at the time, but once the game starts, he has no interest in kicking the ball.  This is confounding to me, as it goes against everything in my personality (my love of sports, competing, winning, etc.).  But I realize he's only three, so I'm not too worried about it.  But it's something we'll continue to work on as we go forward.

Here's their team picture, though for some reason Coach Travis not only doesn't looks like Peyton here, he doesn't even look like Coach Travis, to the point I'm almost wondering if this was a different coach, but I don't think it was.  It must just be a weird facial expression.  Anyway, these are the Mighty Tigers.

A Crazy Travel Week

Although I travel a lot for work by most people's standards, I'm generally not gone that much.  On average, I'm gone one night a week.  It's been a little more than that in the past month or so, but this week was one of the heaviest travel weeks I've ever had.  I left on Monday to go to Connecticut, and then on Tuesday I flew to Columbus, OH.  I had four meetings in Columbus on Wednesday and then flew to Louisville that night.  I had three meetings in Louisville on Thursday, and then flew home today.  The meetings were everything from basic business meetings to demos to POCs to a BI and Big Data Analytics Meetup.  All told, I had meetings in CT, OH, IN, and KY, and I also drove through parts of NY and NJ.  Not to mention my three trips to Atlanta for layovers, meaning I stepped on a plane seven different times this week.  Other than Kickoffs or Bootcamp, I don't think I've ever been gone that long for one trip.  But most of the meetings were productive, and I did rack up the frequent flyer miles (or in my case, segments), so that will help me in my efforts to get my Platinum Medallion status on Delta again this year, which is good.  Here I am this morning in front of a Kentucky Derby statue as I prepared to board my last set of flights to bring me home to KC.

An Unoriginal But Fun Trip

I feel like our lives have been very predictable of late since we have had a ton of trips to the park and today is the same. However, the weather is gorgeous so we would be crazy not to take advantage of it and today was a little different because Halie took the kids to have a picnic lunch at Antioch Park, which is a great park that is slightly further away so it's somewhere we don't go to that often.

The kids had a lot of fun playing on the playground.

One of the fun things about Antioch Park is the little buildings/town it has. This is super fun for big kids to play hide and seek and other games in, but even though my kids are too young to play those types of games, they really had a fun time with that area.

They wrapped up their afternoon with a visit to Baskin Robbins. It was a fun outing for them.

Spider Killer

Even though we definitely live in the suburbs, this area hasn't been developed for all that long so I feel like the bugs and other small pests tend to be a little worse here than in places that have had people living there for 30 years. Regardless, we have major bug issues in the spring and fall and Jason does have to spray even though I'd prefer to avoid that. He's probably about due to spray again because we have had a recent infestation of some spiders and also a ton of rolly pollies and a few crickets. Today I smashed a fairly large spider by the back door with my shoe. I generally don't like killing bugs, but when it comes to spiders in my home, I do kill them because I don't know if they are harmful and my children and pets lack common sense in this area. So Hannah saw me do that and thought, "Hmm, I guess today we are smashing the floor with shoes". And went over there and hit her shoe against the floor for awhile.

Fashionista in Training

Like I said yesterday, Joshua generally doesn't care what he wears. Clara also really doesn't mind with the exception of really liking her flip flops this summer. Neither of them have ever been excited about getting dressed either. For them, it's a chore that they aren't really going to help with unless forced. Hannah is different, though. She cares very much what she wears and also has strong opinions on dressing herself. Unfortunately, her skill level is not quite up to par, so it can take her literally 20 minutes to put on a pair of pants and we don't always have that kind of time. So she has a lot of anger at times. But that doesn't keep her from trying again at her next opportunity. She really loves dressing herself so she tries to do it anytime she finds clothing items that could be hers.

Super Long Soccer Shorts

Today, like almost every day, we went to the park. Afterwards, we went to Target. Joshua does not typically have strong opinions on clothing. However, if ever there was a kid who likes athletic apparel, it's him. If this trend continues, I will save a lot of money by no longer buying him denim and sticking with athletic pants. Joshua and really any of my kids, very rarely ask for anything at the store. On the rare occasion they do, they don't mind at all when I tell them no. I don't really think they understand that you can buy anything at all that is in the store. Today at Target, though, Joshua really really wanted these pants. He talked a lot about how he wanted super long soccer shorts (also known as pants) and then he spent a long time debating between red and blue before he decided he really wanted blue. I also bought the shirt because I prefer complete outfits. He was so excited that he immediately ripped off the tags and put them on when we got home. It was super cute.

Picnic in the Park with Kellidley

 Today we went on a picnic at the park with the Keelers. We had lots of fun.

Hudson enjoyed the water and eating sand. Joshua wasn't excited about the water this time so he mostly played on the playground equipment.

The girls really enjoyed the water, though, and spent a lot of time pouring.

Later, everyone else played on the playground too.Clara pretty much though Hadley was the coolest person she's ever seen. However, she was confused about all the new names and just called both Hadley and Kelli the same name: Kellidley. So you could hear her yell, "Kellidley, look at me!" every time she thought she did something awesome, which was a lot of the time.

We had a fun time hanging out and hope we can do it again sometime.

Oliver and Company, With Me Being the Company

Tonight we went over to the Hansons' house.  It was really busy, as they had their foster kids back in the house as they pursue adoption.  But it was good to see those kids again, and they seemed to remember us.  As for the biological ones, Tucker is getting to be a big boy now and has big blond curly hair, which is adorable. Tucker was never good with people who weren't his family, so although I had always made an attempt to hold him when we saw the Hansons, Tucker usually protested.  But now Oliver is five months old, and I went to hold him tonight, and he was perfectly happy to have me hold him.  He even smiled at me quite a few times as we played together.  I sensed that Tucker did not approve of his little brother's excessive friendliness, but maybe it'll help Tucker build some trust in me, though I'm sure he'll grow out of it when he's older one way or another.

Cedar Lake Park

The weather has been really wonderful of late. I really am not a big fan of winter here, but the other three seasons really make up for it and make me super thankful to live somewhere with four distinct seasons. We wanted to take advantage of the nice day by going to the park, especially since my kids really start asking to go to the park from the moment they wake up each morning. I decided to try something new and go to Cedar Lake park. We probably won't be back. If I were looking for a park to walk or run in, this would be a great option because it was pretty and there is a nice path all the way around the lake. However, the playground was old and the swings were at a totally separate shelter than the playground and it was too far to walk between them. The kids still had a lot of fun though, so it was fine.

Football Frustration

Tonight was in some ways one of the biggest games in K-State's football history.  #5 Auburn came to Manhattan to play a Thursday night game on ESPN.  K-State is ranked #20, and with the new playoff system in place this year, beating the #5 team could go a long way to moving us up the rankings.  Unfortunately, it ended up being the most frustrating K-State football game I've ever watched.  We made several uncharacteristic mistakes, such as when Jake Waters threw a perfect pass to Tyler Lockett in the end zone for what would have been a touchdown, except it bounced off his hands and into and Auburn player's hands for an interception.  Combine that with a lost fumble on a botched hand-off and three missed field goals, and it didn't look like a team I recognized.  Aside from those individual frustrating plays, the bigger frustration is that we were playing great defense, and Auburn's vaunted rushing attack could do nothing.  So despite those mistakes, we could have, and probably should have still won the game.  But in the end, Auburn won by six points.  We could have taken down a top SEC team and the #5 team in the country, but we let it slip away.  All K-State football losses irritate me and put me in somewhat of a bad mood, but this one was extra bad.  Here's a picture that probably doesn't even really show how annoyed I am at the outcome of that game.

Number 37

Today is my birthday.  Apparently I turned 37 this year.  I really don't keep track that closely, as it doesn't really matter.  Or, using my Dad's long-standing argument: it changes every year anyway, so why bother learning it.  I'm in my mid-thirties, and that's all that matters, though that probably isn't going to be very reasonable to say next year.  Anyway, I had a nice day today.  I really tried to avoid traveling for work, which I was able to do, though I did have a web demo today, which isn't ideal, but was okay.  I've also been extremely busy overall lately at work while I'm essentially covering the territory of two sales engineers.  So it wasn't quite as relaxing as I'd like, but it was still good overall.  When I got home, we celebrated my birthday as a family.  Meghan had made me a lemon cake with raspberry filling and vanilla bean frosting.  It was as good as you'd think based on that description.  In addition to the cards and checks, I received a Sporting KC pint glass, a flexible work light, and a Chipotle gift card, all of which made me happy.  One of these years I probably won't be able to be home on my birthday, so I'm always appreciative when I can be here.