I'm a Hippy Chick!

Today was the Hippy Chick half marathon.  I signed up for it months ago, but was feeling a little unenthusiastic about it as of late for a couple of reasons.  I've cut back on my running a bit to fit in Poekoelan.  I did something to a muscle in my hip flexor about 6 weeks back and it still bothers me - I was playing a game sitting on the floor when it happened.  During my taper this last week plus, I've not been feeling particularly rested.  I got all of about 4.5 hours of sleep Thursday night and Friday was a late night due to taking pictures at Davan's dress rehearsal (a post on that to come).  To top it all off, I was practicing a Poekoelan hold with Anthony yesterday and aggravated an old toe injury when I caught my bare toe on his shoe.

All-in-all, I could have been better prepared.  I went anyway.  Anthony drove me over there this morning.  Davan went back and forth about going, but ended up staying home to get some sleep for her big weekend this morning and to sub at Do Jump for Lena who had a meeting.

I was feeling pretty iffy before the start this morning, but it was a lovely morning, which helped.

The starting/ending location for the run was at a sport's complex with a playground in a style that Davan loves, so we took a picture to taunt her.

I realized when I asked my Garmin to sync up that I'd made a mistake by not charging it.  I was pretty sure it was going to give out on the run.  I had, though, charged up my MP3 player and loaded it with a playlist that I was really hoping I wouldn't have to repeat.  It was three hours long.

Shortly before the start, I decided to hit the bathroom one more time, feeling like I could easily go.  The line was quite long, though, so I decided it was probably just a nervous bladder and I'd be okay until a port-a-potty.

It's a popular race and there were a lot of ladies there, so the start took a while.  Anthony tried to get a picture of me at the start, but several things happened to challenge him, one of which was the camera cord flying along.

We ran mostly on back roads with no traffic at all.  At the beginning, as usual, there was a lot of passing and being passed as people found their pace.  I started off a bit fast, but it didn't feel like I was pushing at all, so I went with it.

After a mile or so, I found myself well ahead of the 11:30 pacers, but behind the 10:30 pace, which was about right for what I predicted for myself.

The first water station was 1 mile in and the first mile flew by with lots of distractions.  I got a quick sip of water, but decided I could wait until the next one to use the port-a-potty, as there was a line.  I ended up making that same decision at each water station right up until mile 10 when I decided I could make it to the finish and did.

My injured toe only hurt the first mile or so, then it subsided quite a bit and other pains took over.

I really enjoyed the flat course with all the other runners.  While there were a lot of us, I didn't feel like we were having to jockey for position too much.  It was entertaining seeing everyone's running outfits - some were dressed as hippies, some just plan wore odd combinations.  There were times you could see the people ahead for quite a while and a couple times to see people behind.

The course was kind of like a snake that had eaten a large meal for the half marathon.  There was also a quarter marathon and, for them, it was just the snake. On the way out, you did the bump out for the half, then to the turn around, then straight back.  So, the turn around was well over half way.  I was quite pleased to get there.  That tail end of the snake was fun both ways, watching the runner passing.

Speaking of passing, the winners of the quarter marathon passed me going back to the start when I was on mile 2.5.  Wow.  Some people are really fast.

Just before mile 10, my watch's battery gave out.  So it wouldn't feel bad about itself, my body started giving out, as well.  Mile 11 was tough, mile 13 was positively brutal.  I know my pace dropped off a lot, but I also passed a lot of people in those three miles, as a lot of runners were walking by then.

I was really glad to see the finish line.  Really glad.  Nearly teary glad.

You can see that I'm not exactly sprinting along here, just before entering the stadium where the finish line was.

Still, I ran the whole way and really left it all out there.  I was so very tired after crossing the line.  Throwing up occurred to me, although I did not.  Passing out also crossed my mind.  I did not to that, either.  I did resort to slow, slightly confused stumbling about for a bit, though.

I'd projected I'd take about 2.5 hours.  My official time was 2:24:51.  I was pretty happy with that, although, prior to mile 10, I thought I might do even better.  Ha!

I was 185th out of 395 in my age group and 849th out of 1860 overall.  Both of those total numbers include the walkers, who did not have a separate category.  I averaged an 11:06 minute mile, which I was happy with, but was not a lot faster than the speed walking pacer who was advertised as 11:30ish.

I have a few things I want to change for other long events.  I found I could not eat even Shot Bloks while running, although I did force two squares down.  I need to get my in-run calories via liquid, which means a fuel belt, which I've been eyeing for a while anyway.  I also need a new sports bra, as I've got a spot that's rubbed raw.  Anthony told me to get what I need and call it my Mother's Day gift.  ;)

I'm signed up for the Portland Marathon in the fall...but I can't imagine running what I ran today twice.  I tell you, I was done in at the end.  Nothing left.  I suppose more training and a slower pace would help, but it seems really far fetched.  I feel like I need to give the marathon a try, but I also feel like 10Ks are my event.  I really enjoyed that length.  13.1 is kind of obnoxious.

I was pleased to enjoy a Jamba Juice sample at the finish.

However, the pancake breakfast didn't work so well for me.  I ate some, gave the rest to Anthony and then went back for a second Jamba Juice sample.

I was barely able to handle the stairs up to the condo when we got home, but a shower and a massage, courtesy of Anthony, for the calves, quads and hips helped a lot.  I was able to walk to Veggie Thai, a local favorite restaurant, for a celebratory lunch.

I am tired this afternoon,

but doing well overall.  I'm glad I did the run.  I felt stronger than expected for most of it, even if it didn't exactly fill me with confidence regarding running a marathon.  I'll be glad to hit the hay this evening, but first, I've got Davan's opening night to attend.

Another Collage

This one is from Picasa and I like it, but...well, I still need to figure some stuff out.  I'm still open to suggestions for collage programs.  This one is all of today's pictures.

Afternoon in the Yard

For whatever reason, Davan and I have been finding ourselves in hibernating mode, even as the weather is turning nice.  Part of it is that Davan has had a cold, but it wasn't a really bad one.  She was really only feeling laid low on Monday.  Part...I don't know.  Bad screen habits mostly, I think.

It's not that I haven't been getting outside.  The dog does need her regular walks, after all.  It's just that I've been feeling like I've spent an awful lot of time sitting on the couch in front of the screen in one way or another.

This afternoon I announced that we were going out to the yard.  I gathered up some entertainment, encouraged Davan to do the same, which she was happy to do, took the dog and headed out for a couple hours.

We had a lovely time.  I took my book, but it was boring me, so I didn't read much.  I asked Davan to work some of my Poekoelan moves with me, which we did at several points over the course of our afternoon.  I got set one on video.  Mind you, I don't do the hold all the way to completion with Davan - I almost never throw her to the ground, though you will see her roll once here.   It's usually just to see if I have the idea of it rather than doing the whole thing to finish.  Any-who, here you go.

Davan spent some quality time with her notebook when she wasn't being my attacker.

After a while, a dancing mood overtook her.

Ranger enjoyed being in the yard, sniffing about, snoozing, watching the world go by and getting tangled up in her tether.

As I mentioned, my book was boring me a bit, so when I wasn't doing Poekoelan with Davan, I took a bunch of pictures.  Then I decided to play with making collages.  Here are some results of that endeavor.

Face shots:

Around the yard shots:

Ranger shots:

Action shots:

Davan and Ranger shots:

After messing with a couple of online photo collage programs...I haven't found one I'm thrilled with.  I like Photovisi the best so far, but it's not easy to change around pictures once they're up and that's frustrating.  I think I'll need to keep looking around.  Any suggestions?

Davan Prepares

One of the things Davan likes best about traveling is preparing to for the trip.  She's spent a lot of time this last week doing just that.  Getting her entertainment together can be a long process.  She likes best what she's prepared for herself.

She likes to create activity workbooks for herself including word games, drawing games and puzzles.

She likes to prepare her own audio entertainment.  Unlike most people, though, this doesn't mean creating a playlist or stocking up on audio books.  No, this means a lot of time spent recording.  She truly creates her own.

So, for much of this last week, she's been in her room with the door closed, talking.  She used to do this on a cassette recorder, but she now has an MP3 player with sufficient recording memory to do it there, which is much more convenient and also gives her a lot more entertainment for the size.

She records all sorts of different things from stories and poems she's made up to ones from books and magazines.  She gives herself tasks to do while traveling - something to find, for example.  She talks about the excitement of the trip.

When I sneaked into her room to take pictures, she wasn't thrilled with me, complaining about messy hair.

It's 3:30 in the afternoon kid!  You've had plenty of chance to take care of your hair if it was so important.  Ah the life of a homeschooler.

Ranger, who isn't preparing for a trip, seems to be settling into her new look.

While wondering what the heck I'm doing and if it might be dangerous.

Just a picture, Puppy, it's pretty safe.

So, guess which trip Davan is preparing for with all the recording?  If you guessed our upcoming Colorado trip, you'd be wrong.  Nope.  She's working on entertainment for traveling to Circus Smirkus in August.  Yes, really.  She tells me I should be amazed at the fact that she isn't preparing for the Switzerland trip in December already.  Why, though, isn't she doing that yet?  It's not because it's too far away, no, not at all.  It's simply because she's decided to make herself wait until after Lena leaves.

She sure loves to prepare.

Camp Preparedness

It turns out that Davan is going to go to two away camps this year after all.  I say "this year" rather than "this summer" because one of them is nearly in the fall.  

While we'd heard of it before, for some reason, we both thought about this new camp addition just recently and spent some time checking it out.  The camp is Not Back to School Camp, run by Grace Llewellyn, the author of The Teenage Liberation Handbook. 

We know a couple of people who've gone and have been interested since long before Davan was old enough to go.  I guess we've been a little preoccupied with circus camps not to think of it again.  However, as we're not paying for her to go to Montreal, we decided we could probably swing sending her to this one.

So, in the last week or so, a chunk of our time has been taken up by various camp stuff.  Davan spent a good portion of Thursday reading every scrap she could find on the NBTSC website before deciding that she wanted to register, then registering herself.  There's also been printing out of forms and sending them in.

Meanwhile, we're coming up on the deadline for Circus Smirkus for the various forms they require for camp which included release of liability forms, a camper information form for each Davan and I to fill out, a health form each for me and Davan's doctor and a picture of Davan.  We chose this one:

The health form for the doctor turned out to be quite the exercise resulting in us probably looking for a new primary care provider.  I dropped the form off at our nurse practitioner's office, ended up with a bit of a run around about what they were supposed to do with it, including clarification in person and on the phone and finally, when I went to pick it up, there was an odd comment.  

Davan is a healthy kid who, obviously, has the strength and endurance to train a lot, as that's what she does.  However, she sometimes has tummy issues and (as I've mentioned before and why she and I tried going gluten free for a while) sometimes feels tired more often than she thinks she should.  When we mentioned this to our nurse practitioner, she seemed not at all concerned.  She was fine with us trying gluten free, but when that didn't make any difference and she knew about that, she still wasn't concerned.  She didn't suggest anything else to try.  Okay, then.  It's not like it's greatly impacting our lives, so we're just moving on, but, ya know, if we could have fixed the issue, great.

What's odd is that she put on Davan's form "a history of fatigue and diarrhea."  Davan was not thrilled about that being sent to Circus Smirkus where she is wanting to apply for the rigorous 10 week troopers program next summer.  Um, yeah.

So, I took her to Zoom Care and had a new exam done.  They filled out the form with "cleared to participate with no restrictions" which seems to me to be what it should have said in the first place. 

Then we ended up with a little back and forth with them in regards to getting her vaccination record filled out - I had to take the form home, fill it out and take it back.  Plus, there was a space for results of some lab work and they decided that meant Davan should have that lab work done, so we had to go and get that done, as well.  Turns out that Smirkus doesn't need it done, but has a place to record it if it has been done in the past.  

All this has been keeping us busy with appointments and paper work, but the Smirkus forms got mailed off today and the ball is in NBTSC's court in terms of paper work for them.  

Oh, and I almost forgot that we're also having to make arrangements for getting Davan to and from Smirkus.  My mom very kindly offered use of frequent flier miles to fly her there and her tickets are all arranged.  She has to stay two extra nights - one on each end - because of flight times and the shuttle to and from the camp is proving to be both a little bit of a challenge to arrange (email isn't solving the issue, so I'll have to call) and expensive.  The camp is 50 miles from the airport, but a 1.5 hour drive.  Whew.

It's amazing how much time the Smirkus camp particularly is taking and she hasn't even gone yet.  Between the audition stuff, forms, medical history, transportation...well, it's a journey.  I sure hope she gets a lot out of the camp.

I Love Where We Live

This is one of those weeks (months, really) that I'm really glad we moved.  I'm usually glad.  I love our neighborhood.  I love our condo.  I love not having yard work.  There is very little that I don't love about our new (as of last summer) digs.

This whole month, though, I'm especially grateful.  That is because Davan is into the season where she is spending time at Do Jump nearly every day each week.  Not only is she there to teach on Mondays, take class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but also to do extra rehearsals on Fridays.  Saturdays and Sundays are a hodge podge of extra rehearsal, teching and shows to perform.  All this started with Tic Toc tech two weekends ago and will last until the Zig Zag shows are over in another two weeks.

Prior to our move, I would have been spending a lot of time hanging out in the area, walking the dog, doing work trade, sitting at the library, ushering for shows, sitting at Fred Meyer, generally killing time.  There may have been a little back and forth driving, but most of the time, I found it just wasn't worth the time and gas money to drive back and forth.  I packed dinner for Davan and I a lot.  Sometimes Anthony would join us, but usually the Odyssey would start before he got home from work.

Now?  Well, now I just say, "Bye, Davan!  Have fun!  See you later!"  Then I do as we like.  I do still do work trade, usually from home, though, when I have the time/interest.  I do still walk the dog.  I will be ushering when it's the show weekends.  I do still go to the library....but I don't have to do any of these things.  I can hang out in the comfort of my own home, if I so desire.  This pleases me greatly.

Gymnastics Video

I took a bunch of stills on Wednesday at Gymnastics with Lena's camera.  I did get a little video of the tumbling part, but it's mostly a collection of stills here.  They did a lot of conditioning on Wednesday.

Safari Sam's

And now for the more later I promised some time back - a video of Davan and Lena at Safari Sam's for Lena's birthday outing.

More Sad News from ENC

We got the word today that Davan didn't get into the camp at ENC - The National Circus School in Montreal.  Davan, thus far, at least, has taken the news in stride.  She's busily planning out her summer, which now will include teaching camps at Do Jump, taking a camp there herself and probably taking the aerial intensive camp for teens at AWOL.

Me, though?  I want to go up there and kick some ass.  Don't they know what they're missing?!?!  And I know that Davan is sad.  She's just doing well with it.  But, I'm sad for her, as well.

These options that Davan is planning will be not as good for training, but she'll have fun while staying busy and that's good, too.  We're both thinking that being busy this summer, just after Lena leaves, is a good thing.

So, we don't know all the details of summer - the teaching schedule at Do Jump is far from solidified - but we do have a much better idea of what summer holds now and, for Davan, at least, it's going to be hopping.

We all go to Colorado in mid June to visit my parents.  Lena will be coming with us.  We get back on Sunday the 24th and Davan starts Pendulum's summer intensive camp on Monday.  Lena leaves that Friday.  Sigh.  We'll all miss her.  Davan will probably miss some of that day of camp to go with Lena to the airport.

Pendulum's camp lasts another week.  Then Davan is available to teach at Do Jump for two weeks.  The week of July 23rd is AWOL's camp in the afternoon and Davan has said she can teach in the morning.  Last summer the AWOL camp was a bit of a disappointment in skill level and I didn't know if Davan would even want to do it again, but once we knew she wasn't going to Montreal, we took a look at their offerings.  This summer's teen intensive has prerequisites, so it seems like it'll be more challenging.  We haven't signed her up yet, but I think she'll probably do it.

The next week is an aerial intensive at Do Jump in the afternoons that Davan is planning on, but she may also teach during the day that week.

Then she flies to Vermont for Circus Smirkus!  I still have to buy tickets for her and make those arraignments, but she'll be flying on her own.  She's excited to practice navigating herself through the trip domestically before she does it internationally when she goes to Switzerland.  I'm just sad I won't get to see the show at the end, but it's the most cost effective way to go and makes total sense, so there it is.  She's there for two weeks.

There is one more week of camps at Do Jump after that and she's made herself available to teach again then.

She probably won't teach every week she's available to, so there will be some free time in there for camping or just hanging, but she'll also be kept busy.  It'll be a good summer.  Even though ENC has no idea how to choose good candidates.  Grrr.

I'm Whooped

Usually, I get up between 7:00 and 7:30 to go for a run or walk with Ranger.  Weekend days are more hit or miss, as Anthony sometimes takes Ranger out in the morning - sometimes being not at all one weekend maybe, but then three days the next if he's home on a Friday and that's how it works out or something in between.  And then, of course, there are Tuesdays, when it's Davan's job to do the morning walk.

This morning, though, I got up at 6:15.  I'd been toying with the idea of getting up early to run.  I needed to get in a two hour run this weekend for my half marathon training - it's two weeks from today!  I've found that Saturdays are the better day for me to run because then I get a full rest day on Sunday and Fridays are usually a lower intensity day or a rest day.  That makes Saturdays good for my long run. 

Any-who, this Saturday it was sort of looking like it wasn't going to fit in.  Part of that was because of Poekoelan.  I've mentioned Poekoelan in passing here on the blog and I've been meaning to dedicate a whole post to it.  I'd been holding out for pictures of me dressed out for it, but that just seems to keep not happening, so I'll just go ahead and talk about it anyway.

It's an Indonesian martial art form of Karate that I started doing in February.  I'd wanted to get into martial arts for a long time - years - but didn't for a wide variety of reasons varying from finances to schedule to just plain inertia.  This studio is very close - about a 5 minute walk - from our home.  They ran a special in January to get started at a low introductory price.  This being prior to Ranger's surgery, we were feeling like we could handle the cost.  The schedule is good for me with lots of choices.

I've been going 2-3 times a week.  I go to noon classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Saturday class at 10.  Sometimes I hit the Friday evening class.  I have done all four in a week, but that really interferes with my ability/interest/motivation for running.  I've been trying for all but the Friday night class regularly.  On Saturdays, for the last couple of Saturdays, that's meant both a Poekoelan class and a long run on the same day.  That's worked about pretty well, given that I have a rest day after.

Poekoelan is no cake walk.  We do a lot of conditioning borrowed from Crossfit concepts, so I usually am pretty well dripping with sweat for at least part and sometimes all of class.  Still, I love it, partially because of that challenge, partially because of the learning, which is both mental and physical and partially because of the social aspect of it.

So, all that said, I really wanted to go today.  I also wanted/needed to get in a two hour run.  I've been coming home from Poekoelan, having a bite to eat, then going on my run for the last couple of weeks.  That's worked out pretty well, but today, I told Davan I'd be available for her and Lena between noon and 3:00 if they wanted me.

Lena's birthday party with friends from school kind of fell through for this weekend because of too many conflicting commitments.  So, it was just Lena and Davan for the afternoon.  Because of that, even though we celebrated with Lena last week, I told them I could chauffeur if they wanted to go someplace or get a treat or something.  They only have that window of time between the Do Jump classes Lena teaches and call for Tic Toc tech.

That meant that there wasn't time after Poekoelan.  Anthony and I are going to the Tic Toc show this evening and made other plans for the late afternoon, so there wasn't a two hour slot.  I debated switching out today's run and Monday's.  I debated just running tomorrow and not having a real rest day.  I finally decided that I really wanted to run today.  So, I got up early and just did it.

By the time I got myself up, had a small preworkout snack of 1/2 a banana (Ranger ate the other half) and a few walnuts, got out the door, ran a little over 2 hours, while stopping my watch for things like lights, Ranger's needs and drinking fountains, and took a quick shower, I was thinking maybe I wouldn't go to Poekoelan after all.  It was 9:20 by the time I sat down to have some breakfast with Anthony and Davan.

I found, though, that I was done with breakfast in time and feeling like I'd be regretful if I didn't go, so I gathered my things and went to Poekoelan.  Let me tell you, even the walk over to the studio was challenging.  And then there was training.

I'm a sore and tired person this afternoon, but I feel really good about everything I did.  And really deserving of taking the rest of the weekend for rest and recovery.

Take Two

Remember how I said that Davan and Lena really wanted to see Ovo again?  Remember how I said that was so not going to happen?  Well, I was wrong!  We went to Ovo again last night!

A few days ago, we got the word that Do Jump had been given some complementary tickets for the show.  They didn't get very many tickets and, so, had to choose carefully who to offer them to.  I believe the order went something like this:  professional troopers, teachers who aren't troopers/office employees, Zig Zags who teach, other work traders.  No one was offered more than one ticket, so no one was able to bring a friend/significant other/child.  However, Davan, Lena and I each independently qualified for tickets, so we went!  Anthony stayed home with Ranger.

To make the evening even more fun, fellow Zig Zag, Tanner, also got a ticket and ended up coming along in our carpool for the festivities.  We had Tanner's parents drop him off at the gym ('cause it was Wednesday - gymnastics day) so he could go with us to grab a bite to eat before the show.

We sometimes eat at a place called The Hungry Tiger 2 and, on Wednesdays, they have $1.25 vegan corn dogs.  We've never gone for corn dogs, but Davan has wanted to for a long time, so we gave it a shot last night.  It can be pretty busy on Wednesdays and we've have a wide variety of wait times there, so I was a little concerned about if there was enough time, which was compounded a bit when we got there and had to wait for a table, but we did not wait long and the service was quick, so we were all set.

Everyone enjoyed their junk food on a stick with a large side of fries.

In fact, dinner went so quickly that I announced afterward that if they wanted dessert, I felt there was time to stop by Voodoo doughnuts, which is quite close to The Hungry Tiger 2.  They were just a little excited as they ran to the car, jumping up and down.

I sent them into Voodoo alone with instructions to get a Vegan Voodoo Dozen with no coconut (as most of us aren't huge fans of the coconut).  It's a lot of doughnuts, but I figured with three active and hungry teens we'd do okay and it's a lot cheaper to get the Voodoo Dozen, which means they pick the doughnuts for you, than it is to get even 6 individual doughnuts.

They emerged from the shop with a box of doughnuts that wouldn't close and a story.  While they were waiting in line, they watched as a worker emptied the display case of doughnuts into an overflowing box.  They had ordered, but hadn't had their order filled yet when Lena asked what they were going to do with those doughnuts.  The answer was that they sell them for $5 for the whole box.  A couple of times a day, they empty their display and sell those off cheap because they aren't as fresh.

The kids looked at each other and shouted out, "We'll take it!"  They were so very excited.

These pictures were actually taken after four of the doughnuts were already eaten, so the stash is already depleted, if you can imagine.

Tanner said, "We're like kids in a candy shop!"  Davan replied, "We're like kids who own the candy shop!"

There was a lot of sharing and plans for when each was to be eaten.  We each ate two on the way to the show, with most people feeling like they couldn't eat another then if they wanted to.

When we arrived, we found a contingent of Do Jump sorts hanging around the entry.  We joined them and chatted a while before going in.

Here're "my" three teens with Jack - one of the professionals as well as a teacher and an all-around great person - one of our mutual Do Jump favorite people.

Then we added Diana, a teacher and also a good person, to the picture mix for another shot.

The show was great again!  Sadly, one of the acts didn't happen last night - the slack line one - but all the rest were just as awesome.  We were on the opposite side of the tent from our previous viewing, which was fun for comparison.

I sat next to Jack and that was awesome because she was so, so excited by everything.  It really put a shine on the evening.  Lena was to my left for the first half and Davan for the second, as the teens shuffled about at intermission.

There was one more Zig Zag present, as well, Katie, who is a senior in high school this year and a really great teen.  She's been kind of a leader of Zig Zags for all the years Davan's been in the troop and it will be really sad to see her go.  We shuffled seats around so that the four Zig Zags were all sitting together, which was fun for them.

Afterward, those four asked me to take pictures of them in front of the big top.  They did some circus-y type stuff and had a great time.  Here are some of the pictures I snapped.  They're not great, as it was dark and the kids were moving, but they're still fun.

This one is blurry and you can really only see three of them, but they were all four doing handstands.

Tanner was already up on Katie for a two high and Davan was climbing up Lena for a two high as well in this shot.

Ta-da!

All in one leg up bridges.

Helping Tanner after he fell into a bridge from a handstand.

Jumping.

Landing a jump - bad timing on my part.

All in the air!

They did not mind at all that it was wet and still raining.  Most of them were in bare feet.  A bunch of kooks they are.  :)

After the photo shoot, Katie came back to the van with us to partake in a doughnut and some conversation while waiting for her dad picked her up.  I had thought she was driving herself.  If I'd know otherwise, I'd have offered her a ride, as well.

Our ride home was filled with more doughnuts and statements as to the exact awesomeness that was the whole night.  For "my" three, it ranked as either the best night of the whole year spent outside of Do Jump or in the top two or three best nights of their whole lives, also spent outside of Do Jump.

That's an important qualification - the outside of Do Jump.  These four are all so enthusiastic about what they do at Do Jump.  They are stoked that they'll be there pretty much all weekend every weekend for the next four weekends.  They're all teching for the Tic Tocs, then they'll have rehearsal weekend for the Zig Zags, then it's two weekends of Zig Zag shows.  They couldn't be happier and only wish that that's how every weekend was!

I guess I know how to show teenagers a good time.  Friends, fried food, sugary food, good entertainment.  What more can one ask for?

Maybe doughnuts left over to take to Do Jump the next day.  Wait - that's all taken care of.

Davan's List

Davan just presented me with this list.  I believe she was inspired by Keilee's list over at HomeSchool Girls, but I knew nothing about her doing it until she just now handed me the list.

Things I Want to Learn More About:
(I can't remember if it's 10 or 15, so 15)

1.  history of circus
2. what its like to live in other counties
3. herstory about girls and women (and I did think of that before I saw Kei write it) Great minds think alike, I guess, and I also guess that we can see that she was indeed inspired by Keilee's list.
4. how language was created
5. inventors of popular games
6. authors
7. international affairs and laws that govern multiple countries
8. where food/parts of electronics/toys/clothes/books/etc. are made/grown/assembled/sold
9. what is the most common language to read in?
10.  from what country to what country are the most letters/emails/packages sent?
11. animals.  what they look like, where they live, eat, etc.
12. invention of the calendar
13. astronomy
14. what it is like to work in various jobs
15. anatomy
15 1/8. psychology

Earth Day Santa

Anthony's office is doing a secret Santa sort of thing for Earth Day this week.  For those who are participating, they're giving their recipient a particular item each day of the week.  Monday it was a plant.  Anthony actually ended up passing on a plant that was already in his cube.  That evening, though, we went shopping with him to pick up a couple of other items for the week.

While we were at the store, Davan was jonesing for a treat.  This is what she ended up with:

At our Fred Meyer's, they have a description of each type of apple.  Davan perused them all and ended up with a Pink Lady.  Then she got a Chocolate Protein drink, as well.

She enjoyed her snack after we got home while reading one of the stack of books she'd checked out of the library earlier that day.

We had fun shopping for Anthony's gifts.  Tuesday was organic fruit day.  He considered just taking one of the apples out of our fruit bowl.  I buy some organic and some not, but we did happen to have organic apples.  I talked him into doing something a little more unique and fun.  This is what he got.

A coconut, a red banana and a kiwi.  When his fruit was delivered on Tuesday, he got an apple.  The exact same type that is in our fruit bowl right now.  LOL

Today, Wednesday, is organic drink day.  He gave an Organic Farm's Blueberry Smoothie.  In return, he got a Marion Berry Soda.

Thursday is a while elephant gift day.  They are supposed to give something that they aren't using anymore but that their recipient might have a use for.  Anthony had really been hoping that his givee would be a bike rider as he has some bike related paraphernalia that he isn't using, but that is very usable.  That wasn't the case, though.

The person he's giving to has a daughter that's about the same age as Davan and more girly than she is.  So we found a head band that Davan had been given at Christmas with a pretty flower on it.  He'll be handing that over on Thursday.

He says it's tricky to deliver the items, as you have to do it when the person is away from their desk and, if they aren't in a cube close to you, it's hard to monitor.  He's doubly challenged because his recipient has a cube mate, so he's got to wait until they've both cleared out for something.

Any-who, the whole thing sounds like fun and makes me want to work in a cube.  Okay, not really, but it does sound like fun.

By the way, Ranger continues to heal up well.

Catching Up

I see that my last post was about Ranger getting her stitches out.  A lot has happened since then!  I guess I've just been too busy to actually sit down and post about it....or, in the case of Friday, too busy taking a down time day.  So, let me catch you up!

Davan and Lena made peanut butter and jelly muffins from the Peas and Thank You cookbook.

We love her blog, too, by the way.  They liked them even better than some much less healthy chocolate chip cookies they made a couple weeks ago.  Fancy that.

We keep checking Peas and Thank You out from the library.  I guess we might have to break down and actually buy it.  Davan loves the book for reasons that go beyond just the recipes.

The girls had a substitute gymnastics teacher on Wednesday and did a lot of work on aerials, which they'd both love to master.  Davan was very excited because she actually managed to get it off of the mat a couple of times!  This is huge for her because she broke her arm doing one when she was 11.

They are both very close to getting them.  It's more a matter of confidence than anything else at this point.

That was all just Wednesday after the stitches came out.  Whew.

Thursday was much a normal day of activities - Do Jump, Lena time, Poekoelan, cooking, dog walking.  Anthony did snap this picture of me in the kitchen, making dinner.

I wasn't feeling great on Friday, so Davan and I took a down day.  We played games, caught up on Amazing Race, read, did Rosetta Stone...up until evening when Davan and I picked Lena up and went to see their friend and fellow Zig Zag, Tanner, in his middle school play.  It was fun, cheap entertainment with a wide variety of skill level that gave us a good deal to talk about after.  We joined Tanner and his family for some gellato after.  Davan and I both had a bit of raspberry and a bit of lemon sorbet.  It was really tasty.

Saturday was busy all day!  I got up, found a cupcake recipe and made cupcakes.  I went to Poekoelan.  I shopped for a missing ingredient for the frosting, finished the cupcakes, hopped in the shower and went to pick Lena up at Do Jump, where Davan met me after procuring Subway for all three of us.  The reason for all the hustle?

Well, it's Lena's birthday next weekend.  That weekend is jam packed, but I wanted to do something special for Lena for her birthday, particularly as she's away from home and all.  I offered to take the girls someplace for a treat and encouraged them to pick something that's not just routine for them, like Sky High is these days.  They chose Safari Sams, an indoor jungle gym.  I'll pictures from there later after I get them from Lena's camera.

Of course, though, a birthday celebration is only complete with cupcakes.

We had chocolate with peanut butter frosting.  Davan also decorated the van for the occasion.  You may be able to see the banner in the back.

After Safari Sams, we came home, picked up Anthony and went to Red Robin for dinner, Lena's choice.

It was a lovely day outside, as you can see.  I did manage to get a run in while the girls were at Safari Sams to enjoy it a bit, as everything else we did was inside.

We weren't done with dinner, though.  Nope, it was a bit of happenstance, as it's just how it all fit together and we were going to do this anyway, but we went to see a Pendulum production.  Pendulum is another aerial arts group in Portland.

The girls, waiting for the show to start.

They were good and we enjoyed the show...mostly.  Davan and Lena didn't love the piece they did from Chicago - The Cell Block Tango.  They didn't think it was very family friendly, but loved the arrangement of it anyway.

After the show, they were doing cartwheels down the side walk to the car.  I tried to get them in action, but it didn't go so well.  Here are some of the shots I did get.

Sunday, we had our pancake breakfast and then spent a lot of time outside in the sunshine.  Davan did enter the cave that is Do Jump in the afternoon, though, for Tic Toc tech.  The Tic Toc - younger kids performance troop at Do Jump - show is next weekend and Davan and Lena, along with several other Zig Zags are teching for the show.  It's her first time teching and she's pretty excited about it.

If you're local, you should come!  The show looks like it'll be lots of fun and it is also pretty cheap entertainment.  Check it out!

I have to call it quits for now, as I've gotta run to pick up Davan and meet a friend for a walk, but that's pretty much the scoop anyway.