Author, Braces, Dare, Heritage, Minecraft, Race, Work (in alphabetical order)

If you know us, you probably know that we are a family that likes to read.  So, when one of our favorite authors came to the library, we made sure to be there.  Apparently Brandon Mull is a favorite author of many because 500 people showed up to hear him.  The librarians had to split the time into two sessions and Brandon Mull valiantly signed every book put in front of him.  He was there until nearly 12 am. He signed our books at 10:20 pm.  That's right.  We were at the library until very late just to have an author sign our books. I only had to break out Star Wars Angry Birds on my phone for the last 45 minutes.

He was very personable and asked each boy what they liked to do.  James was in the middle of Fablehaven so Mr. Mull signed that for him, D.J. had Candy Shop Wars signed and Spencer brought his copy of The Beyonders.  I just thanked him for writing books my boys love to read.  All three boys were very excited to see him!

Spencer's big change this week (as if the increase in hair product wasn't enough) is the addition of metal to his mouth. He has finally made it out of the sore stage where he would only accept smoothies and pudding past his lips.  He even suggested we blend up all his food just so he can have the taste of regular stuff.  After considering blending up a cheeseburger just to watch him sip it through a straw and observe his reaction, I decided in favor of less waste and assured him that it would just not taste the same.  Be careful about what you say to him about his braces, or he might call you "bracist."

Spencer also graduated from D.A.R.E this week, receiving a bright green t-shirt and a certificate signifying that he knows how to "say no to drugs," communicate better with people, manage anger and stress and respect law enforcers. I think it's great the community and school provides programs like this.  Spencer actually wanted me to pull over the other day so he could say hi to the officer that taught him.

 James completed his "heritage project" wherein he made a doll that represented one of his ancestors.  He chose to represent Great, Great, Great, Great Grandpa Joseph Astling who was a confectioner in England (signified by the marshmallow in one hand, blue taffy in the other and a white apron).  This was one of many projects where James follows the direction of his teacher, Mrs. Roy, to the "t", and of course he does a great job with all of them.  James has other good news: he was accepted into the Spectrum program (the same gifted and talented program that Spencer is in) for his 3rd grade year.  He is very excited and so is everyone else in the family for these reasons: Mom and Dad think James need more of a challenge in school.  Spencer is happy someone else will have the teachers he's had.  D.J. is happy he won't have to wait for James to walk home from school.  James is happy to go where Spencer went to school.

D.J. made a Valentine box this year representing a current passion of the Astling boys: Minecraft.  How do I describe Minescraft?  Cyberlegos? Cyber-mining? Cyber-creating? The boys say, "The goal is to mine, create, and avoid monsters."  You should ask them about it, if you have an hour to spare.  D.J. used three boxes and duct tape to make this likeness of a Minecraft character that now stands in his room and scares me every time I walk in.

I do not have a picture of the race yet because it hasn't happened.  I actually got up the nerve to sign up for the 60 mile ride for the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure  on the first weekend in June.  Why not 100 miles? I'm realistic. And I'm afraid for my rear end. Last July we talked about doing hard things and making goals.  This was my goal.  Now that the weather is good to ride in, I am training and hoping to work up to a 60 mile ride.  It is not as easy as I thought it would be because I get a little bored after a while.  Also, I am not used to vigorous exercise for over an hour and I'm finding my blood sugar level lower more often, both during and after the ride (which is another reason I'm just going for 60).  But, that's all part of the challenge.  It's helpful to have my Continuous Glucose Monitor on rides so I don't have to poke my finger every time I stop and bless the person who made glucose tablets and liquids.  I plan to listen to many audio books while training (with only one earbud in of course) to help relieve boredom.  This ride is a fund raising ride, so I have a minimum amount I must reach in order to be admitted to the race, so if you would like to donate you can go to my Tour de Cure website and give a buck or two.  There will of course be a blog post when I complete the ride!

I do not want to leave out an update on Mark.  He continues to be extremely busy at work because people love him so much, both for who he is and the quality of work he produces.  On top of the busy-ness of work, he manages to make it home in time to be an 11-year-old scout leader, give me a night off every week, help people move, go to piano recitals, flag football games, help other people with finances and taxes and through it all makes me smile and laugh.

We're a busy, crazy bunch of people, but we're happy!

Spring Break Recharger 2013

I'm not really a superstitious person, but I was beginning to think that 2013 would be a very rough year.  We've got nine more months, so I'll let you know at the end of the year, but the first three months were a doozie!  I was busy, Mark was extremely busy and we were both getting worn out.  I asked Mark if he would be able to get away for Spring Break, but he didn't think he could, so I was planning a stay-cation for the kids that week.  But then two weeks before spring break, Mark called and said, "Let's get out of town for spring break, I'm tired of my office walls! Try to get places with no cell phone reception." Yee-haw!  We had planned to visit the four corners/Mesa Verde area for our family trip this year, so we figured doing it in mild-weather April would be better than suck-you-dry July. I was so excited I reserved and planned everything as quickly as I could so we would both have an excuse to say no to upcoming projects.  

We decided to camp in Zion National Park for two nights, maybe try to visit the Grand Canyon, then drive over to Four Corners/Mesa Verde.  There is really nothing better to recharge a person than to be in nature with people you love and being humbled by beautiful masterpieces that remind you that while you are a part of it, you are really just a part of it. Does that make sense?  In other words, standing next to a large mountain, you realize you are not the center of the universe.  Good reminder.

 Camping was cold, but I decided that I'd take a little cold at night in order to have a great hiking weather day.  However, in order to enjoy the hiking day, I must have a warm sleeping bag, thermals, hand warmers and ear plugs.  Oh, those lovely earplugs that help me enjoy the birds when I wake up, as opposed to wanting to shoot them with a BB gun when they wake me up.  Ear plugs help conserve bird species, in my book.

 While I planned and scheduled most things, Mark helped execute everything and made the food, the hikes, and travel time great.  I love this man! While I'm talking about execution, I must say that I hit a home run in the camping breakfast department.  The first morning we had hash browns, bacon and over easy eggs.  I have not been a fan of over easy most of my life, but three of the four males in my family love them so I gave them another try.  I'm telling you that an over easy egg, with yellow creamy yolk dripping over the hashbrowns and bacon sprinkled over it, while being surrounding by majestic, towering red rock, is a near religious experience.  You may go wipe away your drool and return.

 The Easter Bunny brought us Camelpacks, just in time for hiking.  James is sporting his on a cold morning, providing many-a-smile to passersby.

We're all ready too, though DJ was a little cold.  When I pack for vacation, I don't pack for the boys.  I write down everything on a dry erase board, set it in the hallway and tell the boys to pack everything on the list. That way if something is forgotten, they have to live with their mistake.  They have never forgotten underwear since one of the boys made that mistake for a Nevada trip. DJ did not pack a sweatshirt.  The conversation went like this:

Mom: DJ I wrote everything down on the list, why didn't you pack a sweatshirt?
DJ: I didn't know I needed to!
Mom: But it was on the list, did you get distracted?
DJ: No, I packed everything else, but James started erasing things from the list!
Mom: James, did you erase items off the board?
James: No!. . . ummmmm. . . well. . . yes.
Lesson learned: don't use a dry erase board next time as there were other items missing from Spencer's bag as well.

 Our first hike was to the Emerald Pools. Grandpa and Grandma Wheeler met us for hiking this day.  They probably didn't know that they were in for word-for-word rehearsals of Phineas and Ferb episodes, but Mark and I were glad they were willing to listen to non-stop talkers!  Yes. Spencer is almost as tall as me.

This is Spencer sporting his new hairdo. You can see he is not under the waterfall, because that would disturb his carefully manicured spike that was made possible by using the hair product he can no longer live without. As if he needed one more reason to watch himself in reflective surfaces. Pretty cute though!

Pay no attention to the man behind the camera.  Just kidding.  Grandpa is always good to record everything!

We also braved the quarter mile hike to Weeping rock. 

This view was one of my favorites! 

Our last hike of the day was along the river.  James wasn't too enthused about another hike, so we had to count how many squirrels and other living things we saw along the way and discuss the latest book he read, just to distract him and keep him walking.  By the end of our Zion trip, we saw almost 100 living things, though some were probably counted twice.

After hiking all day, we returned to camp for hot sandwiches and some play time with our campmates: Seth and Sebastian and their parents who came from California.  We are always happy to camp around other families as they occupy our boys with all sorts of fun!

The next day, we had planned to leave for the Grand Canyon, but discovered that the North rim was closed and the South rim would be too far to drive.  So, we decided to go on another Zion hike: Angel's Landing.  Well, not quite to the top.  We made it to Scout's peak, where you didn't have to grip onto chains for dear life.

 The resident condor.

Angel's landing is full of switchback trails.  The boys just couldn't believe switchbacks were the most efficient way to climb up.  Why can't we just go straight up?

Let's play "Where are the Astlings?" Can you find all of us?

 Resting at the top!

The drive from Zion to Page, AZ was a beautiful one and we were treated with seeing the Glen Canyon Dam and a bit of Lake Powell.

After getting to a hotel and trying to get the campfire smell off, we journeyed to the Four Corners where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet.  Here are the three boys on the four corners!

On our way back to Durango, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant that was so delicious!  We were escorted to our table among brightly painted chairs and brightly painted table murals.  I was so enamored with all the colors that I didn't notice what table we were being escorted to until the menus were laid down for us.  When we were nearly seated I caught a glimpse of beautiful women painted on our table, but someone forgot to paint beautiful clothing on her! I quickly covered her up with a menu and asked for a different table.  The waiter looked at me like I was crazy, but moved us all over one table.  But seriously, pre-teen boys eating on a scantily clad woman? I think not.

 Bright sunshine!

 Happy sunshine!

No sunshine. 

DJ unfortunately wasn't feeling well that night, but rebounded with a dose of medicine.

Friday we entered Mesa Verde National Park (by this time our park pass paid for itself).  We were disappointed to learn that the more strenuous hikes were closed for another two days, until the summer season opened.  But we were able to get up close and personal to one of the structures and go on a great hike!

My friend Melissa and I discovered our families would be in the same place at the same time and so we let our boys be surprised at seeing each other when we arrived. We did not, however, plan to have them all wear red. DJ, Spencer, James, Seth, Theo.

We were able to hike to the Spruce Tree House and walk where people walked in 1200 AD.  Most of the Puebloans lived on the Mesas, but for about 100 years they lived in these cliff dwellings. It was amazing to think about how they lived and almost a little haunting. As DJ would have Mark say (in a low voice) "through the sands of time."

 DJ is on his way down inside a kiva - a circular area for ceremonies or social gatherings.

Having a social gathering in the kiva.

 We hiked the petroglyph trail, which ended up being one of our favorite hikes because we had to shimmy through rock walls, do a little rock climbing and descend narrow rock stair cases.

In the giddiness of planning, I assumed that we would stay just through Saturday, but it turned out that Sunday was pretty free too so we decided to stay one more day!  One of Mark's co-workers told him about a place called Ouray, CO.  We looked it up and discovered that it was called the Switzerland of America, a small town nestled in a valley of monstrous mountains and it had hot springs! What better way to end a recharging vacation!

Hahahahahahahaha! The outside temperature was 52 degrees.

 He looks recharged to me!

 Seriously.

We ended up going into a shop owned by a couple from Switzerland who sold items from there as well as photographs of the surrounding area taken with film and not a digital camera.  We had a great time talking with the couple and we were so enthralled with the scenery and the amazing mountains as we traveled to Ouray, that we purchased one of his enlarged pictures to put above our mantle. . and with a great story and great memories to go with it!

Other vacation memories:  Serious Texas BBQ.  We've been to a lot of BBQ joints, but this one is probably the best.  A regular hole-in-the-wall place with Texas license plates hung on the walls and great country music playing.  We could have filled our beverage cups with their BBQ sauce (which maddeningly has BBQ sauce listed as one of it's ingredients - what's that all about?).  It was so good that we ate there both Friday and Saturday night!

Spencer and DJ discovered they like cookie dough ice cream.  This merits mention because when we take them to Baskin Robbins "31" flavors, they get plain chocolate.

We read Michael Vey 2 during the road trip and all were enthralled, though it has an extremely maddening and cheap ending which can only be satiated by a third book. Cheap, I say!

There were many places with no cell phone reception :)!

Our last night in the hotel, DJ slept in a hide-a-bed.  At about 11:30, I woke up to slamming door sounds.  I wasn't quite awake, so I couldn't tell if the sounds were real or in my dream.  But then I heard knocking at the hotel room door.  I was a little freaked out when I discovered DJ was not in his bed. I looked through the peep hole and he was standing outside!  "What are you doing?!?" I said.  "I think I was sleep walking and I didn't wake up until I got outside," said DJ.  Sheesh! We put the swing lock on after that! 

Purple April Fool's!

We are evil parents.  Well, to be clear, I am the evil mastermind.  The guy with the head lamp was my very willing accomplice.

They were not happy.  DJ came downstairs with normal toes and acted like nothing happened.

Immediate removal. 

I'm still giggling.  The unfunny thing that morning was when I let Roxy out, she didn't come back.  We wondered if the kids had left the gate open on purpose as an April Fool's joke, but when James started crying about our lost puppy, we figured it wasn't a joke.  Thankfully, after wandering the neighborhood, she was just across the street at our neighbor's house "checking out some worms" according to DJ.