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On Wednesday I attended the wettest soccer game ever anywhere since the world began.
One VERY wet soccer player!
I mean, we folk in Seattle are made of a hearty stuff when it comes to rain. Being wet is an enevitable part of our everyday lives. Everything around here is “Rain or Shine”…. Come to our outdoor sleepover, rain or shine…. We’re having a Luau, rain or shine…. You are invited to our wedding, rain or shine…. If we don’t include the caveat of “rain or shine” on everything we do, we would sit at home watching rain drops run down our window panes. Depressing.
But Wednesday’s soccer game took the warning “Rain or Shine” to a whole new level. Let’s just say NOAH would have been intimidated. When I realized that the raindrops actually hurt as they fell, I had Dave call the assistant coach of the soccer team and ask if, perchance, this game would be, well… rained out. Oh no, that doesn’t happen, he said. And so off I went with a carload of 6th grade girls and Ty, who insisted that he loved the rain.
Mud Puddles
What resulted was 90 of the wettest minutes of my life. And I was on swim team. The girls were soaked to the skin within 3 minutes — aka the walk from the car to the field. The parents had various rain protection devices with them — aka, boots, umbrellas, and a stoic attitude. Ty and I huddled under our newly purchases “sports-brella” which is a giant, oversized umbrella designed to sit on its side, like a cave. Ty said to me, “If we had to live in this sports-brella, that would be so sad!” Agreed. When Ty realized that staying dry was hopeless, he headed straight for the puddles. Well, I thought, at least I don’t have to go to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.
The good news is that the players had a good time and that when we got home there were hot showers and chili dogs waiting for us. Processed meat never tasted so good.
When my Ty was born, Dave would actually try and compete with me on over who was the “most tired.” I would say, “I am sooooooooooooooooooooo tired!” and he would say, “Me, too.” And I would say, “But not as tired as I am.” And he would sorta squint and look at me and say, “I think I might be” and then I would say,”No, Dave. That is not possible. I am nourishing another human being from my (said in a whisper) breast every two hours.” I would say, “Dave, I am tired at my ROOT. I am tired at my CORE.”
In an effort to streamline things, we have now abbreviated the whole mess to I am “tired at my root-core.” And the phrase lives on. Oh, we can really throw down on this one. Dave has two jobs working with teenagers that require him to commute to two different cities and he usually works 2 weekends a month as well. Plus, when he walks through the door, he is expected to be daddy and uncle Dave and be smiling and happy and give me a foot rub. Me? Well, I am in charge of five kids ranging in age from 1-14. Enough said.
We’re tired.
Can I get a witness?
Most days I tackle our life with grace and aplomb. Not really. Most days I tackle our life with a gritty determination to do my best and not send anyone into therapy. To get all the hugs in. To make sure they are all fed. To listen to my gut. To pray. To breathe. To get a shower in, if not make-up on. To kiss my husband when he walks through the door. To call my mom. To parent with intention.
But April nearly killed me.
And it bled a bit over into May.
These last few weeks included a very sick one year old, three trips to the ER –two trips for head lacerations on two different kids and one of those trips was for me because I broke my toe. And if anyone thinks I am being a wimp about a broken toe, come on over and ram your toe into the mega vacuum cleaner we own. No? Okay, let me continue with my list. These last few weeks included sports for three of the kids — that’s Track, Soccer, and Martial Arts — a 1/2 dozen birthday parties to ATTEND and two to HOST, Dave starting a new job, and a huge project that I cannot even begin to tell you all about because it is just that top secret. I am also the room mom for preschool and for some reason I just signed a permission slip last night for Izzy to attend and help out at the school carnival. Whah? I know it is all just LIFE and I am not complaining. But last night I decided to up the ante on our “tired competition.” As I was coming home from a preschool board meeting after spending a total of four hours and 7 phone calls trying to restore our internet and a Costco run that had my broken toe throbbing, I looked over as Dave was pulling in the driveway from swim practice. I said to him. “Hey Dave, my root-core just BROKE!”
He stopped. Looked at me. “Well, okay… you win!”
A-ha!
I win!
I am the most tiredest of us all! I win!
I wonder what my prize is?
A while back I blogged on MeRa Koh’s site about handing my camera over to Ty and having him photograph his world. Well, during our recent Spring Break trip to Whidbey Island, I decided to try this again. I guess I just wasn’t in the space to get outside and shoot lots of pictures. But I didn’t want our wonderful vacation to go by undocumented (GASP!), either.
This time, I put some restrictions on their photos. I told them they could each take only ten pictures. I wanted to focus their eye — so instead of just random, scatter-shots, the kids would really think about what they wanted to document and preserve.
I think you will be pleased with the results. Here are some samples:
First up, Lily (10).
White Shell
"Destroyed" Crab in Pirate Fort (actually, its plastic)
Next is Izzy (12):
Shoes, Sand, and Seaweed
Self Portrait
Next up, Jade — our resident teenager (14):
Sunset over the Saratoga Passage
Sister at Sunset (sounds like a Magic Treehouse book!)
I’m actually really impressed with Jade’s photos. Due to a fluke, she ended up shooting her photos on “Aperture Priority.” Which means, the photographer sets the aperture or F-stop (or controls the BLUR in the background) and the camera will select the shutter speed. It’s not terribly advanced, but it is a step up from shooing on automatic. Here’s another one:
Garden Outside Bunkhouse (where the TV fell on her).
And last, Ty (4). Okay, so he was in a hurry that morning.
Jade's Leg and Back Patio Tile
What was the most fascinating for me was that each child took a completely unique set of pictures! So, I ended up with 40 pictures of our little vacation spot and I got to do THIS while they “Slaved Away”:
Picture by Grandma Bloo. Don’t you just LOVE my flirtatious pose?
I admit it, I am homebody. I really do like to curl up with a good book or a reality TV show. When Dave and I do manage to actually go out, it is usually to a familiar haunt where the bartenders know our names.
But, I will say, that a good vacation is still something that I look forward to. Even though with a baby it still means diapers and sleep issues, I find that dealing with those things without “life” is a welcome change. This spring break we went to a place that caters to hermits and recluses like me. Whidbey Island and our new found vacation home is only about 90 minutes door-to-door from our home. The part of the island we visited was near Langley and it is a sleepy little village town. Here is city hall:
Langley City Hall
It makes me want to move there!
We found a grocery store that mostly sold milk in glass bottles… from a DAIRY! Luckily we were able to find some in plastic jugs, so we were good.
We always hit up the local bookstore. There is nothing quite like a small island bookstore:
Here is where Dave and I talked about major life decisions (notice beach in background):
And here is the pirate fort on the beach:
This is the kind of place where the kids walk outside and play for hours. This is the kind of place where you actually have to watch where you step because of how many shells are littered on the beach. We say gray whales, herons, and bald eagles. We cannot wait to go back!
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