Sunday afternoon we got in the pool. Jack played on his game system and there was a kerfuffle regarding money he allegedly spent on his account. In the end, we discovered there were other devices attached to our account. Stuart deleted those devices and all was right with the world again. I really don’t understand the technology of the day, which is a bit concerning, I must admit.
Our time in the pool was fun. It was just the four of us. We had a great afternoon.
Monday I had a math professional development in the morning. In the afternoon, Jack was off to weight training and Millie was off to gymnastics. Stuart and I went for a bite of lunch before going to visit my mom and dad. Jack was at home working on his school work and then was picked up for volleyball practice. Stuart went to pick Millie up from the gym while I made her dinner. Stuart and I ate leftovers, as did Jack when he returned from practice. The rest of the evening was spent watching television.
Tuesday we were up and headed to Costco for some needed supplies. The same routine took place as the previous day. The difference was that Jack went home with a friend after weight training. He was having a sleepover. He and his friends are really just little boys in bugger bodies. They still seem a bit innocent, which I love.
Wednesday while I was at a data dig at the district office, Moose was being altered by having his testicles removed. Poor boy!
I picked Jack up from weight lifting after his sleepover at Owen’s. He worked on his health class. Millie and I went to see Little Mermaid. When we returned, Jack was off to volleyball practice. The rest of the evening was spent doing nothing.
Thursday we had coffee with my parents. We then came home and Millie and I went to 5 Below and spent some money on things we didn’t need. We came home and Stuart and I took Jack to his weight lifting class. We had lunch at Skippy’s and then picked Jack up. Once we were home, I made our bed and Stuart took Millie to gymnastics. We picked her up early as she had an awards banquet that evening.
Millie’s gymnastics award night. She received an award for being a member of the Arizona Silver gymnastics team.
Friday morning Stuart and I went and ran errands. We were quite productive. We love our errand days. I am so happy we love to do things together.
Millie didn’t get up until noon and then had to go to gymnastics at 2 PM. I actually made her cry because we told her she needed to apologize to her coach for being rude the night before. She is so stubborn. She finally got her award for a clean sweep at state. It meant that she got first on every event in that meet.
This is her male coach Ryan and I have to admit he can be a bit intimidating.
Saturday morning we went grocery shopping. I took Jack to AJ’s house in the early afternoon and her dad brought him home later. I went to meet the girls for dinner. It was our celebration for July birthdays, which is Mary and myself. I only see these lovely ladies every once in a while, but the history of our friendships and what they mean to me is indescribable.
Once I was home, the Hills came over. Our kids went to their house and did this stupid Tik Toc challenge which resulted in Jack making himself pass out and hit his head. He is an idiot and it scares me so much. I had a huge conversation with both the kids about how stupid those challenges are. I hate social media so much!
On Sunday we celebrated Father’s Day a week early as we were going to be at a volleyball tournament in California the following week, the actual Father’s Day. We decided to take Stuart to Top Golf.
Because of this, Jack has decided he is going out for the golf team. When we lived in the Middle East, Jack had formal lessons in golf and actually played in a couple of tournaments. It will be good for him to be active in the first part of the year.
Once we were home from Top Golf, Maytee and Ken came over to hang out in the pool. We seem to be having them over on Sundays for pool time, which is nice. We probably drank too much, but had a great time for sure. They ended up leaving one of their cars at our house.
Monday morning we got up and returned Ken’s car to his work. We then went home and did some work around the house. In the afternoon, the Lloyd family came over for a swim. My parents came down to see the kids’ rooms, but Jack was at weights so they missed him. They ended up seeing Millie’s room and then were back to their house. My dad is getting along pretty well with his knee, which is a relief to all of us.
Once the Lloyds left our pool, Jack was picked up for volleyball. Stuart and I sat on the front porch and watched Millie ride her Jetson. When we told her she could no longer ride it without her helmet, she had an epic meltdown. She ended up going inside, angry. When she had calmed down, we tried to explain how much we love her brains and needed to protect them. The rest of the evening we did a lot of nothing.
Tuesday morning I was up just before 7 am. I came down and did some editing before Jack got up to do his work for his health class.
Jack went to weight training and then to golf with Stuart before heading to volleyball for an unexpected practice. The coach decided to change it from Wednesday to Tuesday since some of the families were leaving for the tournament on Wednesday. That was not terribly helpful to us, because I had allowed Millie to have a friend over for a sleepover but my carpool night was Wednesday. Fortunately another mom said that she could take them on Tuesday. This only meant that I have to take them both nights the following week.
Millie‘s friend Coco came over just before 2 o’clock. They went out to the pool and then decided to sunbathe for a little bit. I cleaned out the linen closet and got rid of a bunch of old sheets. Stuart and I had gone to Walmart earlier in the morning and got some brand new bedsheets for our bed so there was no need for the other sheets. I loaded all those things in the back of my car to take to Goodwill at some point.
Millie and Coco just swam and played around the house, then settled in with a movie. All children stayed up way too late, but I guess that is a part of summer vacation.
Wednesday was filled with trying to get things done before we left for the volleyball tournament in LA on Thursday. We took Coco home mid morning. Stuart and I took Jack to weight training and then had lunch. Once we picked him up we were home for the night. We swam for a bit and then the kids came out and we played basketball with them in the pool.
The Hills came over for an evening swim. These kids are more like siblings than neighbors.
Thursday we were up just after 6 am to finish up cleaning and getting the animals sorted for Jennifer’s stay at our house. We left around 8:15 am for our 7 hour drive. We stopped to get food in Quartzite. We were going to stop at the outlets, but since it would be close to rush hour time, we decided against it. We got to our hotel in downtown Los Angeles just before 3 pm. The other families trickled in throughout the afternoon. Jack instantly hooked up with his buddies. We took a bunch of kids to eat at Tom’s Watch Bar. It was tricky, as we had kids who had tagged along but their parents didn’t come with us. The money can get to be a thing, but our friend Tom has an acquaintance who has developed an app that lets you select the food you had and pay one person. It is called Splyt and it is brilliant. When we left the restaurant we went to the La Lo La rooftop bar and had some drinks before calling it a night.
Our volleyball family!
Friday we had volleyball games all morning. The boys had difficulty warming up in the first match. The morning wave is rough on most teenagers. We decided to get food at the food trucks. Since we were their captive audience, they were freaking expensive. Jack’s team easily won all their matches on day 1.
These boys are so kind, all of them. What a rare group. The team had a team dinner at a pizza place. It was a short walk. After dinner we were back to the hotel for many drinks. We got to know some of the other parents quite well. It seems that during the season, and having tournaments at home, doesn’t lend itself to getting acquainted as well as these travel tournaments do.
Saturday morning we were up and at the convention center by about 7:30 am. It was such an unorganized event and venue. They had vending machines and water stations they did not refill the entire weekend. It was such a missed opportunity for money making. We had lunch at the Yard House. We had decided to walk away from the convention center between matches. The team lost their last match of the day. They just didn’t have the luster they had the previous day.
A number of players and families went back to Tom’s Watch Bar. It was good food and convenient. There was a concert at the Crypto Center so it was a bit more busy than the previous time we were there. After dinner we went back to the hotel bar. We ended up going to bed relatively early. I had a conversation with Jack regarding his countenance. I told him he was the leader of his team on the court, whether he liked it or not. I told him when his team was down, it was because they were feeding off of his emotions. I told him that his mental game would need to be more hyped the following day in order to win. I may have also said that he would need to have a bigger set of balls than the team on the other side of the net in order to win. Half of the battle is mental!
Sunday we were up early and kind of packed up before heading to the courts. We saw a very different team on Sunday than Saturday. Wow! They fought to the finish and came home champions of the Gold bracket. Jack was named to the all-tournament team. It was a very stressful day for me. I am not sure how I will withstand this for the next four years.
We were finished just before 3, headed to the podium for the awards, went back to the hotel so Jack could shower, then were headed back home. Jack was starving so we stopped at Jack In the Box. We got some food and then carried on to the house. We got home around 10 pm and put some laundry on. The kids went to bed and we followed shortly after that.
Monday we chilled most of the day. Jack was really sore. He had played hard for three solid days. Millie had gymnastics and Stuart and I met up with a friend from Ryan for happy hour before picking Millie up from gym. We then returned to the house for dinner with the Hills. The evening was chilled for sure. We were all tired from the weekend.
Tuesday we were up and took my mom and dad to Skippy’s for breakfast in celebration of my dad’s birthday. His birthday wasn’t until Saturday but they were leaving for Branson the following day and would be gone until October. They had never been to our local dive, but loved it.
We did our normal thing and took Jack to weights. Millie then went to gymnastics. We went to the Holmes house around 4:30 pm to celebrate the school team championship. Their coach had t-shirts made and Jeremy and Christie offered their home to distribute the t-shirts. It seemed like a good reason to have a party. Jack ended up having a sleepover, which is pretty typical.
The dads all bought the same Slunks at the tournament in California the previous weekend. We felt a goofy picture should be taken. Ha!Wednesday Jack went to weights and Stuart and I made a grocery run. I heard from the guy about the truck the kids ran into with our golf cart. It seems that wouldn’t be cheap at all. $1567 later, all will be fixed. Ugh! Hopefully there was a lesson learned by all. The whole family went to volleyball practice. Millie stayed and played with Major, a brother of one of Jack’s teammates. Stuart and I went for dinner. Once we were home we sat out front while the kids rode their Jetsons, with helmets, and we had a chat and a beer with Elise and Mitch.
Thursday Jack had weights again and Millie had gymnastics. I took the boys to volleyball practice and then went to eat with Vicki and Maddox. I was going to edit some lesson plans, but getting to chat with Vicki was a nicer option. It just meant I would have to get up early to work the following morning.
Friday I got up to work for a bit. Jack worked on his Health class assignments and then we all put in the work to clean the house and get ready for our joint birthday/karaoke party that evening. It was a blast!
Christie and Jeremy were the only volleyball parents who could make it. We really enjoy hanging out with them.
Maytee was a hit on the karaoke front.
Saturday, after cleaning up the carnage of the previous evening, we went swimming for a while. The kids hung out with the Hills all day. Our cat litter mansion arrived midday. It is the most money I have ever spent on our animals, but so worth it to not have the smell of ‘cat’ in our house.
Fat Frankie loves the new litter box.
Saturday evening we went with the Hills to Creekside Taco for dinner. It was a lovely evening. The weather was actually quite nice.
Sunday morning we went to breakfast in Tempe with Russ. He was in town recruiting. We then went home and Ken and Maytee came over for Sunday Swim Day. The Hills came over later in the afternoon. I went to bed early. Too much sun, too many seltzers.
Monday Jack finished his summer school class. He was very pleased with his 96%. He actually did all of the work on his own. I was very proud of him as well. Stuart and I went to have lunch without the kids. We did some last minute shopping and then returned home for the afternoon. Jack had volleyball, but earlier than normal, so that was nice. Millie was officially finished with gymnastics for the summer, which was a relief for me. She needed a break for sure.
Tuesday Stuart was up at 3 am to go to work in Gallup for three days. Millie and I had a pedicure in the morning. I took Jack to weights and then picked Kyle up for a sleepover. I also picked up Millie’s friend, Brinley, for the afternoon. The kids all hung out and actually didn’t irritate each other, which is rare. I took all of them to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and then dropped Jack and Kyle at the movie theater to see Transformers. Brinley was picked up around 8:30 pm. Millie and I went to get Jack and Kyle just after 9. We were then home and everyone did their own thing.
Wednesday the kids had their med checks and Jack had his annual physical. Afterwards, Millie and I ran some errands. When we got back to the house we decided to swim. I had a ton of stuff to do but wasn’t motivated. I decided I would get up at 6 am the next morning and get everything done before leaving for the airport. Jack had volleyball and then came home to get his clothes washed and packed for his trip.
Thursday I was up at 5:30 an just to get everything done before leaving for LA. The Uber picked us up at 10 am and we were at the airport early enough to grab some food before our flight. Our flight was about 30 minutes delayed but we still arrived at about the same time as was scheduled. We got a cab to the hotel and checked in. Louise, Billy and Zoe should up about an hour later. We were staying in Hollywood for the first four nights of this two week trip. Louise had 275 people joining us the following day. This is her dance troop families who come to dance at Universal
Studios, participate in a dance camp in Vegas and dance down Main Street at Disney. I am sure I have mentioned this in the blog, but she told me about a year and a half ago that if I would help her, our trip would be free. Uh, okay!
We are missing one cousin, but he and Stuart will meet us ij Vegas on July 6. We had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen where kids ate free, which was awesome.
After dinner, we walked down Hollywood Boulevard and went to Target for a few items. When we returned, we went to our room for the evening. We had agreed that I would stay with the kids the following morning while Louise, Marcia and Katie went to LAX to collect the first group of dancers. Once Millie and I were back in our room, we decided to go back out as I realized I didn’t have a cable for my hand held charger to be charged. Also, Millie wanted to go to Sephora. Well, Sephora was closed, but Target provided my charging cable.
Friday morning I woke up to a knock on our door. My nephew Billy wanted cereal. Ha! I also discovered that Louise’s dancers who were in New York and supposed to be in Anaheim in the next couple of days, had flights canceled. Louise was stressed, to say the least. She did get the flights sorted out, thank goodness. How this country can’t cope with the amount of travel that takes place over the summer months is baffling to me.
I sat around and waited for the call that a bus was arriving to put their bags in a room and then head out for the day. I really thought I wouldn’t earn my keep for this day. Turns out, the loud American was needed at the hotel to insist things happen. I knew I was in the right place. Three buses in total arrived and stored bags by 11:30 am. The kids were in our room and I headed up to take them to lunch.
No trip is complete without a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe!
In the meantime, Stuart and Jack were headed to Florida for the AAU volleyball national championship, which ranked Jack’s team in first place. They were excited and nervous and I was sad to be missing this, for sure.
Carter, Jeremy, Stuart, Jack, and Christie (who is not pictured) were on the same flight to Orlando.
I took the kids to Dave and Busters after lunch and spent a small fortune. But at least Millie got her huge pixie stick.
Once the kids had blown all of their money and the silly cheap prizes were purchased with their points, we headed back to the hotel to get our swim suits on.
We went to the pool for a little over an hour. Then it was time to get the keys for the morning, or if they had arrived, so they could check into their rooms. Katie, Marcia, Louise, and myself, went up to the mezzanine level and pass out room keys. Katie is a friend of Louise and James from Australia. Their kids are best friends. Marcia is Louise, his childhood friend. So between the four of us we got the job done. There were still a few bags in the room when we locked it up, but we had told everyone they would just need to go down to the concierge to get their bags if they didn’t get them when we open the room.
Shenanigans prior to dinner.
Katie and her family, Ev (Louise’s mum), and Millie and I walked to In-N-Out Burger. I felt like Katie and her husband should experienced that at least once. It was crowded as usual, and Howie commented on how many staff they had working. We found a couple of tables, easily, once our food was ready. The kids got antsy so we headed back to the hotel. We got a message from Louise to say that the evening group had arrived, and she was on her way back to the hotel with them. The kids, Katie and Howie went to the pool for a night swim, while I went down to the front desk and retrieved all of the room keys. The group arrived at about 8:30 PM. That delivery of keys was seamless. I had stopped to get Louise some food, so convened in her room for a cup of tea before hitting the sack.
When we got back to our room, Millie took a shower. I then showered, and while in the shower, I leaned over as my back had been hurting most of the day. I, thinking I was a chiropractor, decided I could pop my back. It’s not like I haven’t done this kind of thing before. Well, I heard and felt the pop of a lifetime. It was so debilitating, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to stand up straight. I truly felt like I might be having a heart attack. It was so scary. Then my mind started racing as to how I would handle things should it actually be a heart attack. I was paralyzed with pain. So the water was running, and I had turned the heat way up, thinking that would help a bit. After about ten minutes I was able to stand, but moving my arms freely was not happening. When I was able to get out of the shower, dry off and get my pajamas on, I got into bed and just leaned up against the wall. It was so painful! I took some Tylenol as that was all I had. I slumped down into the bed and did not move all night.
I was awake at 5:30 AM, so I called Stuart just to see how they were doing in Florida. I then decided to walk down Hollywood Boulevard and get a Starbucks.
Drank my Starbucks with Donald Trump!
I sat up close to where I could see the Hollywood sign, but the fog of the morning kept me from seeing anything. I went back to the room and woke Millie, telling her I was going to run to Target for a few things. I bought snacks to give to Katie as she was staying with the kids all day while Marcia and myself took the dancers to two different workshops. It was simple. We just road the bus and counted children. It was easy. I was even able yo watch Jack’s tournament games on Facebook.
They won their first two matches. On to Day 2.
The Angels vs the D-backs. The D-backs won!
What a great time it was to see a baseball game with people who have never been to a baseball game! There were fireworks after the game, which added to the experience.
The ride home was long but well worth it. This has been an epic start to a wonderful vacation.
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