June 2024

Sunday we had Tatum over for the day. We initially went to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and then came back to the house for a swim. Jack and Tatum were very sweet to include Millie in their activities for the day. Stuart left for Gallup in the early afternoon. We took Tatum home around 10 pm. They watched movies most of the day. 

Monday Millie started the Casteel volleyball camp. Jack had weight training and I call Grammie because it was her birthday. Most of the day we just hung out in the pool. It's too hot to do anything else. Jack had practice at Brophy that evening, so I took him to the carpool house and the. The mom that drove brought him home. 

Tuesday was another day of volleyball camp for Millie and weights for Jack. Before his weight training, I got Jack up early to go and mow Pop's lawn. This would be his summer job. I helped him a bit, but not a lot. He did most of it on his own. 

Tuesday I sold my car and they took it away on Tuesday evening. It was such a relief to get it gone. Jack spent the afternoon at Tatum's house. Millie was a bit jealous as she doesn't quite have the freedom he has because of her age. So all I heard all afternoon was how bored she was. Oh the troubles of a spoiled pre-teen who has a pool in her back yard. 

Wednesday was Millie's last day of volleyball camp. She said she had fun, but she may not be convinced to play school sports just yet. Millie got her hair cut in the afternoon by Maytee, and once I had her home I had dinner with Kristi. We seem to be making a weekly thing of this. 

Thursday Jack had weights and Millie slept in. Jack had club practice and Kristi brought him home. Stuart actually got home around 5 pm because he didn't have to work on Friday. We hung out with the neighbors for a while. He is working further into the summer this year. It is helpful for all the financial woes we have had in the last 3 months we have had. 

Friday morning we were up and sorting out the house to start painting. We went to Home Depot and bought stuff to prime the walls. What a mess we will have for quite sometime. 

Primer on the front wall. Everything is in the middle of the floor. Ugh! This project is going to take a while. Friday evening we made quesadillas and had the neighbors over for some swim time. We have decided we will work to get the painting done, but won't sacrifice our fun for the entire summer. 

Saturday morning Stuart and I went to Costco and spent more money than we needed to. We then went to get a pedicure and came back to take the kids to lunch. Around 3 pm we headed to Tatum's dance recital. It was so wonderful. She is a really good dancer. There was a video put together for her that was shown during the recital. She had won the senior team scholarship for 2024, which is a huge honor and meant she would get an entire year free at her dance studio. 

The video made me cry, not because I know her that well, but because Jack was in it and it dawned on me that he is not my baby anymore. It was an emotional event for sure. Jack stayed for her last show and then we went home to have dinner at the Hills' house. We didn't stay long as the previous night had been a late one. I didn't go to bed early, but Stuart did. I just love to stay up to watch television all by myself. 

Sunday morning we took Jack to Tatum's as they were heading to Arizona Grand Resort for the day. They had invited him to stay the night as they had a suite, but we weren't terribly comfortable about that, so we said we would collect him later that evening. 

After we dropped him we headed to the dealership to see if we could get our car. We had some issues with the financing that would end up having to wait another couple of days. I made enchiladas for a friend's family who had an emergency surgery in the family. I ended up making a double batch so we had it for dinner with the neighbors. 

Monday, Stuart went to work about an hour and a half outside of the valley. The kids had their sports physicals in the morning. 

Millie painted windows. 

Jack painted the high parts. We got the front room primed, which was huge! 

Tuesday we didn't paint. Jack decided not to go to weight training this week. He said he needed a break. So the kids didn't do much of anything on Tuesday. I had Melinda and Heather over for a pool day. It was so good to catch up. Stuart got home around 4 pm and we waited for the call to go get our new (to us) car. In the end, it wasn't meant to be until the following day. 

Wednesday we got up and Stuart went to work. I started painting while the kids slept. Then at 9:30 we went and got our car. It's a massive Ford Expedition. It is beautiful! When we got back to the house the neighbors came over and the five kids and I painted the kitchen and dining room. They made a mess, but did a great job. I ended up taking them to lunch and Elise came along. 

In the afternoon, I took the boys to practice. This would be their last practice before the SoCal cup. Jack didn't practice as his coach wanted him to rest his knee. I just wish he would ice it consistently, but we are stupid and know nothing. When we got home, Stuart had done the trim that we had missed. We loaded the car and started finishing up laundry. 

Thursday morning we were up at 4 am getting everything put together and in the car. Stuart made sausage sandwiches for our journey to Los Angeles.  

Millie had her snacks ready to go. She had a candy salad and a snackle-box. She is a clever one 

His first real freeway drive. He's driven around the valley, but this was going to Cali. 

We left early so we could spend time at the beach in Santa Monica. The Meyns and the Hurleys were there before us. We had lunch and then played on the beach for a few hours. 

Owen and Jack went for a swim. Jack said it was really cold. 

Chris, Vicki and I wandered on the pier. 

Millie enjoyed an ice lolly!

We left the beach around 2 pm and headed to the hotel. We got there and settled in. We met everyone at the bar around 5 pm. While we were in the bar, Millie sorted her air mattress out. She's so self-sufficient. She amazes me. Jack would have never blown up his own bed at her age. We decided to go to dinner at the Yard House. We had drinks back at the hotel and then hit the hay in order to be at the convention center by 8 am the hay. 

Friday morning we were up early as Jack's team had the early wave. They played the best team in the country and lost both sets, but played really well and kept within five points. I think the team was pretty pleased with their play. 

In between sets, we went and had breakfast.

The couple with us are Christie and Jeremy Holmes. This is Carter's dad and step mom. When we were finished with our matches for the day, we went up to our room for a rest while the boys went swimming at a different hotel. I actually had a bit of a nap. 

After my nap, I went down to the Moxy bar to meet up with Kristi, Carter's mom, for a beverage. Then we went to dinner with Hurley and Holmes parents. 

When dinner was finished, Tom and Chris went back to the convention center to watch their oldest son, Hayden, play. Christie, Jeremy, Stuart and myself went to the 8th floor of the hotel to check out all the entertainment. We had never been up there. It was super! There was a speak easy, so we sat down at the bar and all of a sudden the wall ahead of us spun around and there was a guy playing the piano. We sat there for over an hour. He was fantastic. 

Saturday we were up and at the convention center early. Jack's team had a tough go. They lost all three matches but not by a lot. However, these losses would push them down into the Bronze bracket for the final day. It wasn't exactly the result they had wanted, but in order for them to get to the Gold bracket some things will have to change. 

The boys! Jack, Carter and Owen went to support the older boys in the afternoon wave. 

We to 33 Taps for dinner. It was a new restaurant just by our hotel. Then we went back up to the 8th floor, speakeasy. We all hate LA so much. However, the 8th floor has made it more tolerable. 

Our speakeasy pals. 

Sunday was the last day of the tournament. Jack's team struggled quite a bit the entire weekend. They played their last two matches Sunday, winning one and losing the second one. Jack was super disappointed. 

We started the drive home around 3:30 pm. It was uneventful and Stuart and I decided that driving seems like a great idea when we are going and a horrible idea when we start home. 

Monday Jack got his hair cut. During the tournament he was so sweaty. He decided less hair would be good in the Florida humidity. We had dinner with the neighbors, which seems to be our summer theme. Our AC went out that evening. Thank goodness the company was scheduled to come the next day. Boy, I hate adulting most days. 

Stuart slept in the guest room because the unit that went out was upstairs. We had thought about going to my mom and dad's house, but that proved to be more trouble than it was worth. I ended up sleeping on the loft sofa. It wasn't that bad. 

Tuesday we had our AC guys come in and there was bad news. Boo! Our house was hot as hot. Millie had her friend Bentley over for the day and they managed but it was super hot upstairs. Jack went to play pickle ball at Gilbert Regional. Stuart and I went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. We had cooled down my parents' house but decided to stay at our own house. The downstairs was tolerable. Jack slept on the sofa downstairs. Stuart slept in the guest room again and Millie and I slept in the loft. 

Wednesday we had several AC guys come over for second opinions. Boy am I glad we did. The company we use had told us we needed a new unit to the tune of $13k, but our second and third opinion pointed out that the compressor was under warranty, so we would just need to pay for labor and our unit would likely go another 3 to 5 years. Do not believe the first quote you get, as there are always people who might be able to do things for less money. The larger companies often upsell because they get commissions, which was the case with our regular service people. 

Thursday we went to the Arizona Grand with the Hills. 

Mitch joined us later in the day. It was a hot one for sure. 

You have to love resort prices. A mere $12 for each of these beers. But you can't float down the lazy river without first having a beer. 

We had dinner at Rustler's Rooste. The food was very reasonable for the portion size. 

They came out and gave me a large piece of cake and this cool hat in celebration of my retirement. 

We spent most of the day at the water park after we checked out of the room. On the way home we stopped at Port of Subs. Millie actually ate a sandwich, which she never does. Mind you, it only had turkey and bacon on it, but she actually liked it. 

Before we left for the resort, Millie had dumped all of her clothes out of her drawers. Once we were home, I helped her to sort out her clothes and put them away. She actually helped me, even though the neighbors and Jack were in the pool. Liz had come into town on Thursday evening and actually stayed with the dogs that evening. She didn't get back to the house until around 8 pm that evening. We sat and visited for a while and then called it a night. 

Saturday Liz, Stuart and I did some shopping and then returned home to get into the pool. The twins came to spend the night with Millie.  In the evening, we made steaks for the neighbors and Liz. Jack had gone with some buddies to see Inside Out 2. They had scootered to the movies, which is what they do now. They swung back by the house and ate some French fries and steak, then escaped again to Asher's house for a sleepover. After dinner, we tried some martinis. It wasn't as dirty as I normally like it, but it was okay. 

Sunday Liz left in the morning and Stuart and I got on with painting. Millie made a cake and the twins went home in the morning. Jack got home and went upstairs to his cave. At noon I went to pick up a friend of mine from high school. Her brother lives in Queen Creek and she was visiting him. We had lunch and talked for about 3 hours. It was so great to see her. We had a planning meeting at the Holmes' house for our Florida volleyball tournament in the afternoon. No kids were invited. We swam, planned and ate dinner. We also borrowed a huge ladder from Jeremy, as we were planning to paint the ceilings up the stairs on Monday. 

This is the ladder of death. We are NEVER painting this house again. Monday was full of painting and running kids around. Millie went to Lexi's in the morning and was due to spend the night, but in the end decided not to.  Jack had his last class of driving lessons and then had volleyball practice. Stuart and I went to Chandler to pick up some chairs we had bought on Marketplace. I love Marketplace! Jack had volleyball practice and Millie was returned at 5 pm. She shopped, had lunch and hung out with Lexi. She had such a great time. 

Tuesday I took Jack to weights. I now know why he doesn't want to go. It seems they cater to the football and baseball players, doing no helpful drills for the volleyball team. When I dropped him off, I headed to see a sofa we were interested in. I ended up buying it, but going to look at it made me late to pick up Jack. I arranged to pick it up the following afternoon. Now to get rid of my current sofa! Once I dropped Jack at the house I ran to Costco. I then headed to lunch with Melinda but stopped at Nordstrom Rack to get a backpack for our volleyball trip. I pride myself in being able to cram as much into a day as possible. No time to waste time. Lunch was delightful. We went to North Italia! Yum! 

Wednesday Stuart and I were up early and he found this little guy hanging onto our vacuum hose in the pool. He took the net and captured him, returning him to the grass on the other side of our wall. 

I went to breakfast with Sherry, Mary and Julie. Mary had sent me a message to say that the Farmhouse in downtown Gilbert was going out of business on Sunday. So we decided to meet there for breakfast. The farmhouse has been an instrumental restaurant to all of us and it was amazing to spend one of their last few days with some of my buddies.

When I got home, I tidied up the house and did some of the needed chores we would need to do before our time away in Florida. I also had a carpenter come and give an estimate for rebuilding our cabinets or creating a pantry in that space. 

We went to pick up the sofa I bought off Marketplace. Blake and Jack went with me and we took it to my mom and dad's and stuck it in their garage. Stuart, the kids and myself went to see Inside Out 2 when Stuart got home. What a clever movie. It is a perfect film for teenagers. We came home and the kids just hung out. Stuart and I got in the pool for a while. Movie popcorn was our lunch and for dinner we just ate leftovers. Stuart went to bed as he had one more day of work. I stayed up and watched television and the kids were in their rooms. I told Millie to go take a shower. About five minutes after she went into the bathroom, she came out and was still fully dressed. She looked horrified. She started crying and then I knew. She had started her period for the first time. I just hugged her and told her it would be alright. I took her into the bathroom and reminded her of what I had showed her and how to use pads. She continued to cry and tell me she didn't remember. I reminded her and left her to shower and take care of things. To be honest, I really thought she would be much older because of her gymnastics activity. But, here we are. You want to know something worse than having a period? Having a child who gets her period. It kind of makes you relive those first few times and some of the horrible experiences around the entire issue. It also reminds me of the injustice of females having to pay for feminine products and males never having to do so. They aren't cheap! We will get throw this, I am sure.  

Jack went to Owen's for a pool workout on Thursday morning. I checked in on Millie while we were at the Hurley house. She said everything was fine and her period was more like having a cut. I was hopeful this first time would be light and we could easy into it. 

We got home from the Hurleys and decided to go to Fat Cats to bowl. We had a good time. Once we were home from Fat Cats, Jack got ready for practice and I took him to the carpool house. I then met Stuart and his colleague, Brandy and her husband, Brad, at Fuzzy's Taco Shop for happy hour. Once Stuart and I were home, we got in the pool. It was so humid and yucky so the pool was a refreshing relief. 

The bowler!

The clown!

Friday morning we were up doing the jobs we needed done before we left for Florida. Tony, the remodeling contact that Sherry had given me, came by to give us his estimate for our kitchen rebuild. It was incredibly reasonable, so we told him he was hired. It was such a relief to know we were moving forward and starting to get our house back together. He was going to start the job upon our return from Florida. 

We knocked off quite a few chores before we met Julie and Steve for breakfast at the Farmhouse, one last time. Years ago, when Julie and and I were single, we would meet at the farmhouse for breakfast on Fridays. Then when we met our significant others, they came with us. Then when Jack was born, he would come with us. We did this for a number of years. So it seemed fitting that Julie, Steve, Stuart, myself, and Jack meet there one more time before they closed for good. Millie didn't want to go and was still asleep when we left the house. 

When we got home, we got on with jobs and such. We went to Wal Mart to get some rolls so Stuart could make sandwiches for the plane ride the following day. We then took a dip in the pool and the Hills came over. Millie, of course, couldn't swim, which bummed her out. Her first period was not the 'easing into things' period I had hoped for. When we got out of the pool, I noticed that Moose's left ear was infected. He has this ear infection regularly, and usually just as we are heading on vacation. Our vet didn't have an appointment so we went to Gilbert Queen Creek Emergency and Urgent Care Veterinarian Center. There was a two hour wait, but we really didn't have a choice. So I stayed with Moose and Stuart went home to get on with all we still had to do. When Moose was finally doctored up, we headed home. Jack went down to Grammie and Pop's to mow their lawn and I went to get food for everyone. We finished up cleaning the house and washing clothes. We attempted to go to bed early, but you know how that goes. 

The alarm Saturday morning came way too early. We were at the airport by 4:15 am for our 6 am flight. Initially it was delayed due to weather, but about 30 minutes before the time we were originally supposed to depart, they boarded the plane as the weather had lifted. Chris and Tom picked us up in the van we had rented for the eight days we would be in Orlando. We dropped Ryan at his hotel as he was being paid for since he was coaching in the first wave of the tournament. We carried on to the Marriott Harbor Lakes vacation homes. We got checked in and headed to our room. It wasn't huge, but it was nice and would be our home for the next three nights. 

The weather was muggy but then it rained in the evening and cooled off quite nicely. 

We spent the rest of the evening in Tom and Chris's suite. We had spaghetti and we played card for the evening. We headed back to our room, across the complex, around 9:30 pm. We were all in bed by 11 and asleep, even though that was only 8 pm in Arizona. This is sure to be a fun week in Florida with friends and a lot of volleyball. 

Our view of the lake.