Ten years ago, there was a huge Tivo meet in DC. While we weren’t at the original party, we were still invited to the reunion! :p (We were on the Tivo forum but didn’t attend our first meet (and meet people in person) until New Year’s Eve 2006-2007.)
We don’t take nearly as many pictures as we used to and the parties start dying down around 11p instead of 2a…but we still have fun!
With two of my favorite peeps—Andrew and Sheryl.
Most of the attendees:
Tom grabbed the first apron he saw. 🙂
She isn’t loving the lessons as much as Owen but she’s doing them so we’re happy.
We knew the weather was going to be a crapshoot, but we figured we had to try since they were just three miles from our house!
It started off well enough…Tom and Owen went off to check out the food offerings and Katie and I had a picnic (oranges, string cheese, cheddar Chex, and a juice box) which she loved: “Mama! This picnic is the best ever!”
And even though it was sprinkling, she was running around in the grass and having a blast…until she realized she had a boo boo on her foot and then she turned into a hot mess drama queen as seen here.
Then as soon as daddy came back 15 minutes later, she was all smiles and amazingly forgot all about her boo boo.
As soon as daddy laid down, she copied him. 🙂
Then I jumped in for a picture.
Owen had been off playing football with some kids but he came back to check in and said “We’re tackling and I knocked two people down!”
Since we had everyone, we took this shot. A lady behind us actually offered to take it but I said “No thanks, this is how we do it!” And it was perfect—done in one shot!
And then it started to rain harder. And it was chilly. And we had already been here two hours and still had about 45 minutes until the fireworks were going to start…do we stay or do we go?
The show was happening rain or shine and I hated to miss it after being there so long already…so we decided to go sit in the car and potentially watch from the tailgate or through the moonroof if it was a downpour. Thankfully it didn’t do much more than a light rain.
We had the car on to listen to music so the kids were having fun in the tail lights…
Owen: “This is burning my face!” 
…and playing to the music…
Owen being a lamppost:
And then the show started! They both immediately covered their ears so we got out the noise-canceling headphones for both of them.
Yes, I was happy we had the minivan so we could do this!
Both kids said it was the BEST DAY EVER and they wanted to know if we were going to go to the fireworks next year. Ha HA! I’ve created fireworks monsters!! (Tom doesn’t really care for them, but now we outnumber him three to one! And he really did enjoy watching the kids loving everything!)
P.S. Wow, this is post #6000!
What a dad! Tom spent most of Father’s Day adding steps to the patio!
We’re still doing our approximately monthly dinners—and tonight was #4! We had two sets of friends on their second appearance…and one newbie couple (neighbors)! It was a bit crazy as the kids outnumbered the adults (just barely) but it was fun as usual!
The kids were super excited!
Ta da!
A free-standing deck (to avoid needing permits) that lets us use the useless, steep, root-infested ground for our table and chairs! It’s awesome!
In progress:
I am SO glad I have a handy hubby!!
Owen really wanted to go to the school dance tonight so since I wasn’t feeling well, Tom took him (meaning there weren’t many pictures taken, LOL). This was taken by a friend and posted on Facebook:
I asked if Owen was having fun and Tom said yes! At the moment, he was learning how to line dance! I asked if he was getting a video and he said no because he only does things for about 39 seconds and then chases a kid around for 2 minutes. 🙂
And a special treat afterwards:
We sold our brown leather hideaway couch because we don’t really need the extra bed anymore, we wanted to ditch the weight before our next move, it was starting to get a little worn, and we wanted to get some money out of it before it died.
We still had our old L-shaped couch in the basement, so for the time being, we’re just using part of it. The kids LOVED it.
Achievement awards and game balls being handed out after the game.
Now we start the countdown until fall t-ball! Owen can’t wait!!
The Workhouse Arts Center (just up the road from us) was having their first ever carnival! We’ve been wanting to take the kids to one to see if they like the rides, so figured the timing and location was perfect (we went as soon as they opened for the weekend)! Of course, the tickets are outrageous ($1 each or 48 for $40) and each ride takes 3-5 tickets (!) but since this was their first time, we went in for the whole hog.
We started Katie on this basic car carousel. She seemed to think it was fun but was glad to get off.
Then we walked around to see what else there was, and ended up at the actual carousel. Katie wanted NOTHING to do with getting on a horse and Owen was over the weight limit to ride a horse, so they both sat on the bench. Six dollars for them to ride around in a circle. NOT EVEN ON A HORSE! They didn’t LOVE it but they didn’t HATE it.
All they wanted to do was play the stupid games…which of course take CASH and not the tickets we’d already bought. GRRRR. So we made them try the mini roller coaster. Owen seemed to like it, but Katie DID NOT. She wanted to get off within the first three seconds…but she wasn’t screaming so we just let her ride it out. (Tom was going to ride it with them, but his legs wouldn’t fit!)
So then we said they could go to the games and that was all they needed to hear.
Katie wanted a duck. So $3 later she picked a super cheap plastic sword (you’ll see pics later).
Owen did a shooting game that was over so fast I didn’t even get a chance to record it or even take a picture! (It was a shoot until you knock a cup down game, so I thought it would take a bit longer than six seconds. It didn’t.) Owen didn’t get the choice of toy, but was happy with what he got.
Katie didn’t want to ride ANY more rides so it was all Owen. He didn’t want the ferris wheel (which I had no problem with since I don’t like them) or any of the bigger kid/adult rides. Part of me is glad we don’t have an adrenaline junkie, but I LOVED all those rides so I kind of wanted him to like them…but he IS only six. 🙂
Owen wanted to go in the Monkey House (basically a small mirrored maze, some fun mirrors, and a curly slide) and got a little turned around so Tom went in with him. Cost? $10. TEN DOLLARS. Breathe. Breathe. 🙂
Katie’s sword!
We convinced Owen to try the swing. He seemed to enjoy it at the start, but as it went faster and higher we saw him tilting his head to the side and Tom and I both thought he looked like he was going to puke. He never did, and it turned out it was just from centrifugal force. (We did ask him if he had felt sick at all on the ride—if his belly hurt or if his head felt woozy—and he said no. Phew.)
Of course there’s no refund on tickets and both were pretty much done so we wasted another $8 in tickets on a three-minute train ride. Sigh.
And to spend the remaining $10, Owen went down this slide twice. He did love it, though. 🙂
In the end, their favorite thing? The games. Owen wanted to go back, but we were busy the whole weekend. We will probably skip carnivals until they’re a bit older and may like some of the rides more.
Katie off playing with her friend (it’s grainy/blurry because she was so far away). 🙂
As soon as we got there, Katie and her friend were two peas in a pod. (They know each other from t-ball games.)
Half of the kids:
We met some more great people, the kids all got along (who doesn’t love a bounce house?!), and the food was amazing! The kids stayed awake until we got home after 10 and even though they looked tired they didn’t want to go to bed!
Today we went to a friend’s BBQ (t-ball/40th birthday party)—they have a super awesome house with a great deck and huge back yard. So I spent the afternoon listening to dance 80s music with a cool breeze blowing while I sat in the shade. The kids all played happily. I drank some wine and ate some good food (the grilling meat smelled divine). I got to visit with friends…and relax. In short, I was in heaven. The kids had a ball, too, playing with all the other kids, running around the yard, playing on the playset, playing air hockey in the basement, and snacking on chips and cake! 🙂
Tom was out mowing so neither could go outside. 🙂
We went from this:
To this:
Ahhhh. Much better!
I’d get rid of them completely but then we’d have to pay to put something else in. No thanks. (I hate the other lower bushes, too.) GRRR.
I finally remembered to take a picture of our group at dinner. Tonight we had my good friend Ruth (and her daughter Emily) who came down from Maryland, Frank and Beth (and their two girls) who have attended before, and a t-ball mom Kate (and her daughter) that I befriended recently (unfortunately, her husband had to stay home with their three boys because their behavior had been lacking).
Owen was at our table because we had extra seats and the kids table was filled with four girls. 🙂
Of course, it had started storming terribly at the exact moment Tom needed to be out grilling, but I had the foresight to have him put up our old umbrella so he didn’t get completely soaked. 🙂
We all had an amazing time with lots of laughs and can’t wait to do it again!!
Katie off playing with another friend!
Since it was a 6p practice, Tom took Owen and I stayed home with Katie. I think it was actually the first practice they’ve had since before the season started (they had others scheduled but they were rained out). Owen was excited because they got to practice hitting the ball from pitches instead of off the tee!
Holy cow. I’m still gobsmacked.
So, Owen gets terribly freaked out being on his back trying to float. We’ve been trying for two years to get him to do it and he hasn’t. So my thought was that if the entire 16 lessons were spent getting him to float on his back I would be perfectly happy with that.
And he did it in the first 30-minute lesson!! (Well, technically within the first 15 minutes… But by the end of the 30-minute lesson he had earned his yellow ribbon!)
At 14 minutes into the lesson. FOURTEEN.
12:19
And his swim cap which denotes his group (he’s a Minnow). When he advances to the next level (after he can swim the length of the pool by himself by doggy-paddling and flipping over to rest/float/breathe) he’ll be a Turtle 1 and get a new color.
Daddy was keeping Katie busy so they were walking around the complex. They stopped to wave down at us!
He had a great time and loved every minute! We are SO proud of him!
The only bad part was that Katie really wanted to go in the pool. But, we learned that she can go in the other end of the pool for free swim at the same time! So we’ll try that the next time.
One of Owen’s teammates (surprisingly, there’s not too much of this with his team):
Katie’s same friend was there with her purse—and an Elsa/Anna doll—again today which kitty quickly co-opted as her own. The mom had no problem with it because she was just happy her daughter was sharing. 🙂
Katie off playing with her:
Our little catcher!
Owen’s two at-bats:
(Click for full size.)
During the game, Katie made a friend with a furry pink purse. She was in HEAVEN carrying that thing around. 🙂
Both kids wanted to go ride bikes. I knew it would be a challenge because Owen has not ridden his bike since last spring before we moved—and at that point he was still just learning and wasn’t that great at it—and because Katie has never successfully ridden either of the tricycles we have for her.
And that was it for Katie. Grand total of time spent on the bike, 95% of it whining that she couldn’t do it while being pushed by daddy? Five minutes. However, she did love running! She spent the rest of the time chasing after Owen or running ahead of him or just randomly through the parking lot. 🙂
Taking a break to stretch…and take a drink.
Owen was a hot mess for most of the time. He’s grown so much that he is really way too big for the bike we have and we obviously didn’t have another one for him so he had to use that one. And it’s been so long since he’s ridden that it was, in essence, starting over from day one. I’m glad Tom was there to deal with it because I DO NOT have the patience. That said, by the end of our time, he had started to get the hang of it again.
So now I’m on the hunt for a cheap used bigger bike.
After bikes, the kids wanted to go to the “playground” even though I knew they hated this playground as it’s not a real playground. It lasted under five minutes.
We were looking at mistinted paint and I turned back around to see this:
Then while we were outside waiting fir a propane tank exchange, this happened:
Tom outlined the letters and the kids colored it!
This happened a few days ago on April 23.
So, Tom hurt his back way back in 2012 when he was at Quantico for Advanced Comm School. He got X-rays taken but was told nothing was wrong.
Fast forward to today when he hurt his back working out and went to the doctor. His X-rays had been digitized and attached to his account and as soon as the doctor saw them he told Tom he had degenerative disc disease! He was clueless how any previous doc could have missed it!
So, that sucks. But! He is now allowed to go to a chiropractor at no cost! He will have another appointment to determine the extent of the issue, but in the meantime, he’s taking drugs.