Bocce

One of our favorite activities with friends is Bocce!  We had a really fun group and the girls were victorious yet again.  The problem is that it is a pretty short evening and there's not much time to sober up.  I had 3 glasses of wine and it crushed me.  I got sick and was out of commission the entire next day.  Never have I been so affected by alcohol...I guess I'm getting wimpy as I age.

Clearly too much wine!

Yard project

One section of our backyard has always been a bit of a disaster.  We partially fixed it two years ago, but our path was cracking and the slate rocks were broken so dad cleared it all out in March and there was nothing but dirt left.  Under the trampoline and by the tree was looking pretty miserable as well because the bark was no longer covering the ripped weed barrier, so when I looked out my kitchen window, all I saw was weeds, dirt and ripped black paper.  So, after all the sports stopped, we had a few weekends at home and it was time to take care of the mess.  We decided to do artificial grass since its forgiving and pretty easy to work with but we had one problem...the trampoline was too big to move anywhere, so it was tricky.  The trampoline took all 4 of us to lift and even then it barely came off the ground.  We somehow made it work and I can't tell you how much nicer it is!!!

 The neighbors tree is a little bit of a problem, dropping stuff all over the place.  We never used to see it since it was bark and dirt, so now we have a little maintenance, but I don't mind blowing.

Christian Alliance for Orphans

My church asked if I wanted to go to the CAFO conference this year in Louisville, KY and it took me a whole 2 seconds to decide to go!  Although I did have second thoughts when I found out it was on our 20th anniversary, but Ryan insisted, so I went.  I left very early Tuesday morning and came back very late Friday night.  The sessions were so powerful and it was just what I needed to be refreshed and give me some hope.  Tim Tebow made an appearance and we were the live audience for a radio show that was interviewing the governor of Kentucky...wow...is he sure amazing (and his wife too).  I hope he runs for president some day!  It was inspiring to hear the stories of how these speakers overcame their circumstances....terrible, unimaginable circumstances.  God is amazing!  He can turn ashes into beauty :).

Maui

Ryan and I had our annual trip to Maui in early March and it never disappoints.  We go to the beach almost everyday, but try to do one new thing each time.  Ziplining was it this year and although it was a long day, the last zipline was amazing!

We had another first this year...we met a couple from Oregon on the beach and struck up a friendship.  We even went out to dinner with them.  There's a pizza place that was on Diner's, Drive-Ins, and Dives that we went to and none of us would go back (I think it was the gluten free crust).  We usually just keep to ourselves, but our paths were meant to cross....they sure had a lot of fun stories!
Ryan out looking for his Apple Watch.  Oops.  He was lucky enough to retrieve it from the lake but not the ocean!  It's been a very good thing for him to have a regular old watch :).

Lots of whales this year:

Mom and dad were having lots of fun with the kids while we were gone!  Reggie had a swim meet and Ainsley had a trampoline competition.  Thankfully, no volleyball tournament because that would've been a little much!  The weather was terrible again but Khalif and Ainsley put on a jumping show for grandma.  The trampoline we got off Craigslist is super bouncy.

 Uncle Yu's for my birthday dinner :).  It's amazing how many people fit around a round table.

Dad and Ainsley play these funny games (rock, paper, scissors too) and she just laughs and laughs.

Grandma came back in May when Ryan was in Asia and I remembered to take a few pictures (I'm not as on top of it as I used to be).
Enjoying the 1st market of the year.  It was pretty quiet but very lovely.

 Grandma got to play Bocce!

Driving range

We tested out our golfing skills and we still have a very long way to go!  Ryan should've been there as I know nothing about how a golf swing should look but he was in Asia so we did the best we could and at least by the end were making contact with the ball some of the time!  Khalif was visiting his aunt so he wasn't there to experience our amazingness.  It seems important to say, "keep your eye on the ball."  We had lots of laughs :).

There's some potential

Reggie:

After practice

And me:

Reno

Ainsley's trampoline state was in Reno at the tail end of Spring break so I thought we would make a little vacay out of it.  When I was talking to my friends about it, they were wondering why we would spend any time there, but since we've never been there, I thought it made sense.  Well, I understand now why the reaction....there really isn't much to do there and the city is absolutely dead except for the weekends when the sporting events are held.  They also have a bit of a homelessness problem. We found things to keep us busy and we met Grandma Peggy there (and Holly too), so that helped.
There thrift stores were great!  Sheel's and Virginia City were great!  The kids did an escape room with grandma and they loved it, so we found things to do and it was fine (no they did not make it out!).  And I almost forgot the tour of the Kimmie Candy Factory and the buffet!  It just so happened that Ryan's college roommate was there for his sons wrestling tournament, so we went to that for a bit and it was fun to see them after 10+ years!!!

 $1 Ferris wheel in the store!  Along with a toy shop, candy store, talking presidents, huge fish tanks and lots of outdoor things.

 It was a little chilly here...

Ainsley and I had so much fun, we went back the next weekend for a volleyball tournament!  She had tons of fun with her friends but it was exhausting.  Oh and someone brought their dog to the hotel and didn't clean up after it and I rolled through poo as we were packing up, but I didn't know it.  We all got it the car and it was so fragrant we couldn't hardly breathe.  Found it later and it was all stuck up in the wheel...lovely!

All electric

I loved the electric portion of my Prius so much that I started researching all electric cars.  Turns out they have an all electric RAV4 that was only made for a couple years during a partnership with Tesla, so only a few thousand were made.  It was hard to find one even close enough to test drive and the day before we were going to make the trek to Oakland, one popped up in Pleasanton for several thousand dollars less.  It's peppy like a Tesla and was 1/4 of the cost so we bought it!  It needed a good cleaning but is good as new now.  It goes about 100 miles so sometimes I can make it several days without charging it.  I'm glad we have solar and hopefully, we won't have a tru-up bill and need to get another panel, but it has been really nice not having to pay for gas at all!  The only downside is it only seats 5 so no more trekking lots of kids in my van.  It was somewhat thought out since Ryan has a 7 seater and if he isn't around Reggie is close to driving and if we need 2 cars, he will soon be able to help with that.  It was very sad to let me Odyssey go....that was tough for me because I LOVED my minivan but it was just sitting in the driveway, not getting any use at all and we have a women's Shelter in Livermore that I knew could rehome it.
I got a little added bonus when I called PG&E to figure out how to read the solar portion of my bill.  The gentleman was nice enough to tell me about the rebate for electric cars and I proceeded to tell him that it was used, but he said it didn't matter.  Each car was eligible for an $800 rebate and and he looked up the VIN and didn't find anything associated with that vehicle, so I applied online and poof, the check came a few weeks later.  Not only was that car eligible, but my Prius was too and no one claimed that rebate either, so I got another $800!

High School Swimming

Reggie has been practicing with the high school team for about a month now and it is pretty chill.  He still gives us a little grief about going, but it is much less strenuous than the tennis club (where he had to pack his shoes and do weight training and conditioning out of the pool!).  It will be good when their meets start because, hopefully, he will get to know more of the kids and it will be a social thing too!  We had time trials this morning in the pouring down rain and he did a great job...swam hard :).  They have this internal meet to see where the kids are so they can put them in an appropriate heat when meets start. 
They have carb up Fridays on meet days and he will be happy about that.  Parents bring pasta, pizza, mac and cheese, along with a bunch of other stuff to school and the kids pig out!  He might like swim season after all!

School finals are next week, so he's been working hard this weekend to make sure he is ready.  He has 3 A-'s, so its critical he do well to maintain his grades.

Volleyball and Trampoline

Most of our weekends these past couple months have been consumed by volleyball or trampoline.
Volleyball has been a beast!  We had no idea what we were getting into and its been way too much!  I thought I was signing up for snack mom, but when I had to attend a meeting for that position, I wondered what I had gotten into.  After that meeting and the "list" of things I was responsible for I decided it wasn't for me.  The goal was to tailgate at these all day tournaments and provide a hot meal to the girls and their families....CRAZY!  I guess its a volleyball thing. 
We should've ran when they switched the coach on us the night of signing.  She loved, loved, loved who her coach was going to be and her new one is young and has a bit to learn.  She is playing with several girls who have grown up playing volleyball and her learning curve has had to be tremendous.  Playing time isn't necessarily based on your ability....there's a political component and that has been frustrating for Ainsley.  She is used to sports where your performance is all you got.  So, she hasn't played as much as she would like and when she does play, there's so much feedback and she usually hears the negative, so we've watched her love of volleyball and her confidence go down significantly.  I got involved and tried to help the situation which I do believe was necessary and helpful, but told her she needs to stand up for herself and I'm out.  She has been doing a better job, but is so terrified to talk to her coach.  It's been a great learning experience and I'm hoping she can take that out of it at least.  We are about half way through the season and she has been getting more positive feedback lately from her coach and other parents, but her teammates most of all.  She has been enjoying her teammates a lot!  School volleyball starts in a week, so that will be interesting to see if we can juggle it all.  She is super excited about school because she will be able to have fun!

Trampoline is our safe haven!  I know when she goes there, she will be mentally and physically o.k.  Its hard not to start questioning if we are the problem, but when we have examples of sports and us not getting involved because things are the way they should be, it is a good reality check!  She has her level 8 skills on 2 events now, so will be competing one of those next weekend and maybe the other the following week.  She was in the belt last night working on doublebacks, both front and back! 
She finished with a 1st place on Double Mini and Trampoline and a 2nd place for Tumbling.

Weather

This winter has been rough!  We had some sun and 60 degree weather in January for a small bit, but then the rain came and hasn't stopped for any period of time.  We are all desperately needing vitamin D!  We also had some hail and the neighbor boy came running over and was so excited....wanted to play in the "snow" and he's 15!!!  We could see others out there throwing "snow" balls.  It did stay around for a bit.  It has been unseasonably cold and we were about 200 feet away from getting true snow.  The hillside was white for at least a week.

Getting out on the few days the weather cooperated.  Look at how full the lake is!

Khalif is finally a strong biker

Ryan and the boys enjoying a hike.  Lots of cows out this time of year.

Sharks Hockey game

This was on my bucket list and Ryan surprised me on Valentine's Day with tickets to the Sharks game.  We should have studied the game a little before we went because we had no idea 1/2 the time what was going on.  Thankfully, we had kind seat neighbors who were helpful!  That crowd was the most polite group I've ever experienced.  Instead of fighting over t-shirts that were thrown into the crowd, they offered them to others around who "went" for the shirt.  The game was super close and really exciting....went into overtime, but the outcome was disappointing for true Shark fans. 

New car!

I have wanted a Prius since Ryan had one for work several years ago.  The problem is that he didn't like it, so away it went.  My excuse was that Reggie would be driving soon and we needed to have another car, so there was lots of time over the winter break, so I started looking.  The plug in Prius's in our area are the same price as the regular Prius, so I thought, why not go that route?  In California, you get a carpool pass if the car is considered an EV vehicle, but those stickers are only good for 3 years, so people are regularly unloading these cars.  I found one that was a screaming deal, but guess what, we were in Washington, so I told the guy we'd like to drive it if it was still available when we got back.  The posting was deleted the next day, so I sent him a not and he said he had a potential buyer.  They got all they way to the end of the transaction and he didn't have the title because he paid off the car and it was in transit.  I guess that was enough to spook the other buyer, so it was still available when we got back. 
You can't insure a car without a title, so it wasn't going to work for anyone, but he was hopeful that someone would buy it without the title.  He had no takers and we were first in line, so lucky us, we got it for $12,500!  It has a lot of miles (76,000), but is a 2015, so is super clean and feels really new. 
It has been super fun to drive.  I like to see how far I can go and how many miles to the gallon I can get!  It was a bit all over the place in the beginning because it didn't like EV mode (the guys NEVER used it and it doesn't like when the heat or air is on), but once I refilled the tank and figured it out, it seems to be working much better.  It didn't start with a full tank so it was really hard for me to estimate what kind of mileage I was getting and I was a bit disappointed and frustrated when the gas tank kept going down and I was using electric only.  When it dropped to 1/2 tank I decided to just fill it up and start over....it took a whole 3.7 gallons!!!  So far, I've driven 450 miles on this tank of gas and I have a half a tank left.

Oakley house

I got a text on January 29th that asked what I wanted our renter to do with the house keys???  I was so confused, but after I thought about it, I realized they were moving out on Thursday!!!  Whoa....she sent me a text in October stating they would not renew their lease, but I took that to mean they would go month to month since they wanted to buy a house (and we had a discussion the prior year about month to month vs. signing a lease).  Apparently, that was not their intention, so let's just say we kicked it into high gear!  I guess it was a blessing in a way since we didn't stress about anything until we had to!  We went up there to assess the house on February 1st, made several trips to get it back in mint condition, although they left it pretty darn good.  They forgot to do a few things, so I gave them the opportunity to do them, which I was hoping they would do and they did, so that saved us a little time.  We had a few people drop in while we were getting the house ready and I made a trip up there to meet a family that wasn't able to make it to the open house on Saturday, the 9th and before the open house, we had two awesome possibilities.  We had so much interest from Zillow and Craigslist that I couldn't keep up with the responses (over 100!).  We were expecting a flood of people at the open house, but I guess when push comes to shove, people didn't want to make the effort to show up.  We did have lots of colorful people at the open house and many groups of people were planning to live together, hmmm.  I guess that is how people can afford to live here, kind of sad.  We also had a lot of single mothers which was also sad.  Everyone who came absolutely loved the house and they all signed up to fill out an application, probably 25 people in all.

It was very hard to make a decision, but we did and feel really good about who we chose and Ryan went up there to sign the lease with them on February 11th!  It was fast and furious and exhausting, so we are hoping to not have to go through this process again for a few years!!!

Christmas break

There were lots of indoor activities over the break!  The weather was terrible.  Snow was in the forecast for several days, but it just couldn't do it, so we had a bit of cabin fever.  Next year, we may try to plan Great Wolf Lodge, but my guess is it would start snowing right when it was time to head there.  We managed to have lots of fun and eats lots of treats.
We decided to stay at Aunt Pam's the first night because we flew out kind of late and thankfully we did that because our flight kept getting delayed!  The next day we celebrated Christmas with her and had a nice brunch.

Ryan surprised me with tickets to a Seahawk game and I was not that excited about all that is involved in going....the drive, the terrible weather, the parking, etc.,  I guess I'm getting old!  But, I sucked it up and went anyway and it was such an awesome game and a lot of fun, so I have to say thank you, Ryan!

We had great seats and the weather held :)

Christmas day 

 Dad enjoying flank steak!

Before it got to dark, we sent the big kids out on a little adventure, girls against boys....this is what happens when you are stuck inside for days!

Selfie with someone on bamboo lane
Write message in the sand
Climb a tree
Picture with geese
Build a rock tower at least 6” high
Write a story problem and solve it
30 second dance routine or sing a 30 second song
25 push ups each
Put a puzzle together

Not exactly what I was thinking....it was interesting to see their interpretation.

Reggie's first time driving!

Maggie's birthday celebration at the Rinehardt's.  The hoover board was the big gift this year and the kids had lots of fun on them.  I tried and could not get my balance initially and it looked like I was having a seizure....no one got it on video!  I quickly figured it out, but it is a strange sensation initially.  Here's Reggie learning:

But here' grandma:

Look at the improvement!

Olive garden...my kids first time there and probably their last.  They were not fans...

Lots of screen time....I think we saw 3 movies, Mary Poppins, Aqua man and something else that I can't remember.  Must not have been that memorable!  Reggie brought his gaming computer.

The girls danced

They played board games

The kids think grandpa is so funny!

We visited Funko

We went to a fun place in Bothell that had almost everything (except trampolines), but was really pricey.

We spent a lot of time in the hot tub.  Ryan was trying to make his back feel better.  Reggie and I did a polar plunge and that was very refreshing!!!  The video is too big....

We spent some time with Grandma Peggy (the kids stayed there!) and had a nice time hanging out at her place with Anthony, Emily and Grandma Gloria.