This past Tuesday I had my first substitute job! It was actually the first day of school for the school district so I thought it was kind of strange that somebody would already need a sub but that was okay with me cause it meant I had work.
It was just a half day and it was for the resource room teacher, who nobody seemed to really know. And when the secretary showed me the classroom there weren't any kind of decorations on the walls. So she said since it was the first day of school there wouldn't be any students and I could just decorate the class a bit and then help out where needed.
Fine with me! I actually really like doing bulletin boards. I put up a cute little welcome bulletin board with die cuts and then went out and tried to help direct parents and kids to their classrooms. (Although I really wasn't that best person to ask since it was my first time at the school.)
I loved seeing parents drop their kids off for the first day of school and take pictures of their kids. It was especially cute seeing dads with their kids. I might have teared up just a bit.
The rest of the day I helped out in the office and loved it. The office staff was so nice and we just chatted away us I helped file things and helped get bussing figured out.
When I left the main secretary said thank you and let me know she'd be putting my name on their preferred sub list. It was a relief to work somewhere with kind people and feel good about what I was doing :)
It might be a couple weeks before I start getting regular sub jobs since the school year just started but I'm glad I could catch that one and feel good about it.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Alex's 2nd Birthday
Last weekend was my first nephew's 2nd birthday!! I love that little boy SO much! I am so grateful to have been able to see him grow up. It was amazing just seeing how much he has grown in his personality and physically in his second birthday versus his first birthday.
He had his friends at this party that he interacted with and played with in the kiddy pool and on the slip and slide. He opened presents. He hit the pinata. Last year when the Elmo pinata head was knocked off he just burst into tears. Haha silly boy. He received tons of cars and trucks which are his favorite things right now.
On Sunday my mom was sneaking into his room to grab some monster trucks to put in the bag for church so he could be entertained. Alex immediately opened his eyes as she was opening the toy chest to get the trucks out and said "Monster Trucks!!!" He says it so darn cute and probably says it hundreds of times a day.
My dad has a red Ford truck and Alex calls it "Pop's monster truck". My dad will back it in and out of the garage with Alex on his lap and Alex thinks it is the coolest thing EVER.
Alex calls me "Oso" which means bear in Spanish. The story behind that is my dad would call me "little bear" growing up cause apparently when I was born I looked like a little bear. Then when I was in college I went to volunteer in orphanges in Ecuador and the program was called Osso. So then somehow I started being called Tia Oso. So Alex just calls me Oso :) He calls Thomas "Tomas" the Spanish way of saying it.
My mom said that a few days after we left she was downstairs with Alex when somebody walked in the door. He immediately thought it was my dad and said "Pops!" but my mom said "No it's Mommy and Daddy". So that got him thinking of all the people he knew and started saying "Mommy, Daddy, Pops, Oso, Tomas".
Love that little guy!! He's so smart and I love the stage he is at.
His birthday was a cars theme. My sister did a cute little photo op with the kids and a toy car and checkered flag background. The kids all had a great time playing in the water and the adults enjoyed ourselves chatting while watching the cute kiddos.
Bea also did the cake and my mom did the cupcakes. My sister Bea has started a photography business and all the pictures are taken by her and are so great. She captured the day perfectly.
And I can't wait to see this little guy grow up and develop his little personality too. He is such a cute laid back little cuddle bug so far and we love him. Alex calls him "baby Emmett-t-t". He repeats the "t" sound a few times at the end and it's adorable.
He had his friends at this party that he interacted with and played with in the kiddy pool and on the slip and slide. He opened presents. He hit the pinata. Last year when the Elmo pinata head was knocked off he just burst into tears. Haha silly boy. He received tons of cars and trucks which are his favorite things right now.
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| I love my parents backyard and the view. |
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| Look at that big boy! |
On Sunday my mom was sneaking into his room to grab some monster trucks to put in the bag for church so he could be entertained. Alex immediately opened his eyes as she was opening the toy chest to get the trucks out and said "Monster Trucks!!!" He says it so darn cute and probably says it hundreds of times a day.
My dad has a red Ford truck and Alex calls it "Pop's monster truck". My dad will back it in and out of the garage with Alex on his lap and Alex thinks it is the coolest thing EVER.
Alex calls me "Oso" which means bear in Spanish. The story behind that is my dad would call me "little bear" growing up cause apparently when I was born I looked like a little bear. Then when I was in college I went to volunteer in orphanges in Ecuador and the program was called Osso. So then somehow I started being called Tia Oso. So Alex just calls me Oso :) He calls Thomas "Tomas" the Spanish way of saying it.
My mom said that a few days after we left she was downstairs with Alex when somebody walked in the door. He immediately thought it was my dad and said "Pops!" but my mom said "No it's Mommy and Daddy". So that got him thinking of all the people he knew and started saying "Mommy, Daddy, Pops, Oso, Tomas".
Love that little guy!! He's so smart and I love the stage he is at.
His birthday was a cars theme. My sister did a cute little photo op with the kids and a toy car and checkered flag background. The kids all had a great time playing in the water and the adults enjoyed ourselves chatting while watching the cute kiddos.
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| Is he not the most perfect gentleman! |
The Nanny Diary
This past week and a half was possibly the worst week of my life. I learned some hard lessons that I could have avoided but that I want to write down now so that I don't repeat the same mistakes.
While on vacation in Colorado I got a phone call about a possible nanny job. The weekend we got home I went and interviewed and was offered the job.
I had a nagging feeling the whole time that this wasn't a good choice but I blew it off because I thought it made logical sense since it was the highest paying job I had found and was a job I could go to and enjoy and then leave work at work. One kind of warning sign too was in the interview when she asked me when we were planning on having kids. I just kind of laughed and said I didn't know and she said "Well hopefully not in the next two years." First of all potential employers aren't supposed to ask that kind of question, and second I don't want to be told when I can and can't have kids. I later called her and let her know that it could be a possiblity that I could get pregnant in the next two years but I would want to continue working. I was actually kind of hoping that she would just say "Okay well that's not going to work for us." But she was fine with it so I continued on against my better judgement.
The first couple days before the kids went to school were great. I took them swimming at the country club, we played outside, played games, and did crafts. Once school started for the kids I realized I was SO wrong.
I would arrive at 7am and get the kids ready for school and then take them to school. Seems easy enough right? Well apparently not when you have a five year old who throws raging tantrums. And I mean INSANE tantrums. I've worked in a special ed pre-school classroom and seen some pretty crazy tantrums but they don't even compare to these tantrums.
The first one was when 5 year old didn't want his sunscreen put on so he ran all over the house to get away from me. I used love and logic techniques and gave him choices "you can either walk outside yourself to put your sunscreen on or I can help you outside." He chose to continue running around screaming. So I picked him up and took him outside while he kicked and screamed and tried to get away. After a few minutes of this I just gave up and went inside. I asked the mom "Is this normal? Does he act like this for other babysitters?". I totally didn't mean this in a rude way I was just curious to know what gave. But later I found out this really upset her. She told me no he had never acted that way before (I would later see that was a bunch of B.S.). So after that whole fiasco we took the kids to school and I was just kind of quiet, digesting what had just happened. The mom would later tell me "I was at Babies R' Us for so long because I was talking to my girlfriends about you and telling them you were kind of moody and pouty." Anyways, on the car ride back from taking the kids to school she told me that she liked how I talked to 5 year old and gave him choices but he responds better to just being told what to do and raising your voice and making it firm.
So that night when it was bathtime and he didn't want to get in the bath I just got my strict teacher voice on and said "You need to get in the bath now and for every minute you waste getting in is a minute that will be taken from your bath time and given to your sisters." And it actually worked but his mom would later tell me she thought I was being too mean.
Basically the mom has no discipline and lets the kid scream and cry and she'll say stuff like "okay you just lost your webkins" and so the kid will scream and cry more and so she'll give webkins back.
The eight year old daughter suffered the consequences mostly of the 5 year old tantrums as he would rage out against her and hit and scratch. Or in the case of my last day she gets things taken away just to get her brother to shut up. For example, she had been up sick all night and so that morning her mom put her in her bed and put the t.v. on. When the five year old saw this he started screaming "I WANT TO WATCH A MOVIE!!!" over and over and over. And rather than just tell him that his sister was sick that's why she got to watch a movie, the sisters movies was turned off and she got to listen to him continue to scream for literally a half hour til finally his dad grabbed him and took him to his room. And yes, I would be there while both parents were there.
I just had to kind of smile to myself while I watched this all unfold. There were three adults in that house and this five year old was controlling everyone by his misbehavior. And I laughed to myself that his mom said he "never acted that way" when I had seen it every single day and many times when I had nothing to do with the situation. Big time parent in denial right there.
So besides the horrible behavior of this five year old, the main problem I had with the job was that I really wasn't working with kids at all. I was a full time housekeeper. I would have a typed out page with a full list of things to do each day such as: scrubbing kids flip flops with a dish brush to clean them, wiping down with a wet cloth all of the stuffed animals (I don't know how that helps clean them. I would just put them in the dryer on high heat), wiping down pillows with a wet towel, and other seemingly pointless household tasks. I consider myself a perfectionist but this woman took things to the next level. I think it probably took more time for her to come up with a list of things for me to do than for her to just do it herself.
Every night I went home with a headache, couldn't sleep because I was so miserable, and proceeded to get a mouth full of canker sores from the stress. After many a counseling session via telephone call with my mom and discussions with Thomas I realized I couldn't do this for two years (which is how long they wanted me to commit to).
On Thursday after putting the kids down for bed I asked to chat with her. I told her that I should have asked before starting more about what the responsibilites would be. I told her I am passionate about working with kids and didn't realize how little time I would be working with kids and how much housekeeping I would be doing and that I dind't want to do that for the next two years. I was really nervous leading up to the chat. It totally felt like a break up. I practiced multiple times what I would say with my mom and Thomas. I let boss lady know that it just wasn't a good fit and that I would be happy to continue working the next two weeks until she found a replacement and I expressed how sorry I was for the inconvenience. She let me know how she talked to her girlfriends about me and how I was "pouty and moody" and that she was thinking it wasn't working out either. I did defend myself and let her know that in no way was I trying to be pouty and moody but I do know that when I get in stressful situations I tend to shut down and just not talk as much as I normally do (all my family and closest friends I think know this about me). But hey, that was her perception, and I of course apologized. She did say though that she felt that I probably just wasn't happy with the job (which was true) and she could see that I would be a good teacher. She also said that she could probably get by with just having me come in the mornings for the next two weeks. So I was really relieved that it ended well.
Except.... the next morning I show up and she let me know she didn't want the kids to know I was leaving so I agreed to not say anything (not like I would have anyways). Well later that morning the eight year old asked me if I was coming back that afternoon. I was kind of shocked that she even asked because I always came in the morning and afternoons so why would she question that? I was caught off guard and just said "I don't know." and then asked boss lady "Am I coming back this afternoon? I wasn't planning on it, but I can if you need me to." Well boss lady had me take something out into the garage and then just laid into me. "How could you do that in front of my daughter!? I thought I told you not to say anything? I think you have a character flaw that you can't fulfill your commitments to people! You agreed to finish the whole two weeks." I was totally taken off guard and started shaking. I hate it when people yell at me, it scares me. I told her that I just thought we had discussed me just coming in the mornings but apparently I misunderstood.
So then we go back into the house and act like everything is normal. I leave when I am supposed to and call Thomas crying. I had no idea how I would be able to go back to her house and work for her. But then I got a text from her (real professional right?) saying "I think we should just cut our relationship now. I will send you a check in the mail. Good luck in the pursuit of a teaching career."
Halle-freaking-lujah!!!!
The whole thing was just a mess. I felt like I was dealing with a Real Housewife of Boise.
I am happy about the way I dealt with the whole thing. It felt like breaking up with someone and I felt like I did so respectfully. The biggest lesson I learned was to listen to promptings that I get and to pray about major life decisions!! I'm glad that I have learned that lesson now and will hopefully not make the same mistake when it comes to even bigger life decisions that might be harder to resolve.
So I will now be substitute teaching and could not be more thrilled!
While on vacation in Colorado I got a phone call about a possible nanny job. The weekend we got home I went and interviewed and was offered the job.
I had a nagging feeling the whole time that this wasn't a good choice but I blew it off because I thought it made logical sense since it was the highest paying job I had found and was a job I could go to and enjoy and then leave work at work. One kind of warning sign too was in the interview when she asked me when we were planning on having kids. I just kind of laughed and said I didn't know and she said "Well hopefully not in the next two years." First of all potential employers aren't supposed to ask that kind of question, and second I don't want to be told when I can and can't have kids. I later called her and let her know that it could be a possiblity that I could get pregnant in the next two years but I would want to continue working. I was actually kind of hoping that she would just say "Okay well that's not going to work for us." But she was fine with it so I continued on against my better judgement.
The first couple days before the kids went to school were great. I took them swimming at the country club, we played outside, played games, and did crafts. Once school started for the kids I realized I was SO wrong.
I would arrive at 7am and get the kids ready for school and then take them to school. Seems easy enough right? Well apparently not when you have a five year old who throws raging tantrums. And I mean INSANE tantrums. I've worked in a special ed pre-school classroom and seen some pretty crazy tantrums but they don't even compare to these tantrums.
The first one was when 5 year old didn't want his sunscreen put on so he ran all over the house to get away from me. I used love and logic techniques and gave him choices "you can either walk outside yourself to put your sunscreen on or I can help you outside." He chose to continue running around screaming. So I picked him up and took him outside while he kicked and screamed and tried to get away. After a few minutes of this I just gave up and went inside. I asked the mom "Is this normal? Does he act like this for other babysitters?". I totally didn't mean this in a rude way I was just curious to know what gave. But later I found out this really upset her. She told me no he had never acted that way before (I would later see that was a bunch of B.S.). So after that whole fiasco we took the kids to school and I was just kind of quiet, digesting what had just happened. The mom would later tell me "I was at Babies R' Us for so long because I was talking to my girlfriends about you and telling them you were kind of moody and pouty." Anyways, on the car ride back from taking the kids to school she told me that she liked how I talked to 5 year old and gave him choices but he responds better to just being told what to do and raising your voice and making it firm.
So that night when it was bathtime and he didn't want to get in the bath I just got my strict teacher voice on and said "You need to get in the bath now and for every minute you waste getting in is a minute that will be taken from your bath time and given to your sisters." And it actually worked but his mom would later tell me she thought I was being too mean.
Basically the mom has no discipline and lets the kid scream and cry and she'll say stuff like "okay you just lost your webkins" and so the kid will scream and cry more and so she'll give webkins back.
The eight year old daughter suffered the consequences mostly of the 5 year old tantrums as he would rage out against her and hit and scratch. Or in the case of my last day she gets things taken away just to get her brother to shut up. For example, she had been up sick all night and so that morning her mom put her in her bed and put the t.v. on. When the five year old saw this he started screaming "I WANT TO WATCH A MOVIE!!!" over and over and over. And rather than just tell him that his sister was sick that's why she got to watch a movie, the sisters movies was turned off and she got to listen to him continue to scream for literally a half hour til finally his dad grabbed him and took him to his room. And yes, I would be there while both parents were there.
I just had to kind of smile to myself while I watched this all unfold. There were three adults in that house and this five year old was controlling everyone by his misbehavior. And I laughed to myself that his mom said he "never acted that way" when I had seen it every single day and many times when I had nothing to do with the situation. Big time parent in denial right there.
So besides the horrible behavior of this five year old, the main problem I had with the job was that I really wasn't working with kids at all. I was a full time housekeeper. I would have a typed out page with a full list of things to do each day such as: scrubbing kids flip flops with a dish brush to clean them, wiping down with a wet cloth all of the stuffed animals (I don't know how that helps clean them. I would just put them in the dryer on high heat), wiping down pillows with a wet towel, and other seemingly pointless household tasks. I consider myself a perfectionist but this woman took things to the next level. I think it probably took more time for her to come up with a list of things for me to do than for her to just do it herself.
Every night I went home with a headache, couldn't sleep because I was so miserable, and proceeded to get a mouth full of canker sores from the stress. After many a counseling session via telephone call with my mom and discussions with Thomas I realized I couldn't do this for two years (which is how long they wanted me to commit to).
On Thursday after putting the kids down for bed I asked to chat with her. I told her that I should have asked before starting more about what the responsibilites would be. I told her I am passionate about working with kids and didn't realize how little time I would be working with kids and how much housekeeping I would be doing and that I dind't want to do that for the next two years. I was really nervous leading up to the chat. It totally felt like a break up. I practiced multiple times what I would say with my mom and Thomas. I let boss lady know that it just wasn't a good fit and that I would be happy to continue working the next two weeks until she found a replacement and I expressed how sorry I was for the inconvenience. She let me know how she talked to her girlfriends about me and how I was "pouty and moody" and that she was thinking it wasn't working out either. I did defend myself and let her know that in no way was I trying to be pouty and moody but I do know that when I get in stressful situations I tend to shut down and just not talk as much as I normally do (all my family and closest friends I think know this about me). But hey, that was her perception, and I of course apologized. She did say though that she felt that I probably just wasn't happy with the job (which was true) and she could see that I would be a good teacher. She also said that she could probably get by with just having me come in the mornings for the next two weeks. So I was really relieved that it ended well.
Except.... the next morning I show up and she let me know she didn't want the kids to know I was leaving so I agreed to not say anything (not like I would have anyways). Well later that morning the eight year old asked me if I was coming back that afternoon. I was kind of shocked that she even asked because I always came in the morning and afternoons so why would she question that? I was caught off guard and just said "I don't know." and then asked boss lady "Am I coming back this afternoon? I wasn't planning on it, but I can if you need me to." Well boss lady had me take something out into the garage and then just laid into me. "How could you do that in front of my daughter!? I thought I told you not to say anything? I think you have a character flaw that you can't fulfill your commitments to people! You agreed to finish the whole two weeks." I was totally taken off guard and started shaking. I hate it when people yell at me, it scares me. I told her that I just thought we had discussed me just coming in the mornings but apparently I misunderstood.
So then we go back into the house and act like everything is normal. I leave when I am supposed to and call Thomas crying. I had no idea how I would be able to go back to her house and work for her. But then I got a text from her (real professional right?) saying "I think we should just cut our relationship now. I will send you a check in the mail. Good luck in the pursuit of a teaching career."
Halle-freaking-lujah!!!!
The whole thing was just a mess. I felt like I was dealing with a Real Housewife of Boise.
I am happy about the way I dealt with the whole thing. It felt like breaking up with someone and I felt like I did so respectfully. The biggest lesson I learned was to listen to promptings that I get and to pray about major life decisions!! I'm glad that I have learned that lesson now and will hopefully not make the same mistake when it comes to even bigger life decisions that might be harder to resolve.
So I will now be substitute teaching and could not be more thrilled!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Privacy
Just wanted to let everybody to know that I will be making the blog private in the next couple days. If you would like to continue reading (and I would love for you to) then leave a comment with your e-mail address or e-mail me at lindsclement@gmail.com.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Last day of Family Reunion
Thomas and I had to take off half a day earlier than everyone else because we had the wedding of one of my best friends from high school to attend on Saturday.
Friday morning we went with most of the group to Fish Creek Falls along a little 1/2 mile trail to see the falls and take pictures.
Thomas and I then headed back to the condo to finish packing while the rest went to the alpine slide.
We got to Ogden, UT around 6:30pm and it was still light enough for us to go on a bike ride along the Weber river. We had just decided to turn around and head back when a firefighter came running up to us and asked if we had seen anybody in the river. We hadn't but offered to ride our bikes back along the trail and check. We found a guy alongside the river on his cell phone and he asked if the rescue team was on their way. We rode back and told the officer where to find him and then got out of there. Once we got home we found the newspaper article online about what happened. There were two daughters and a mom kayaking in the river and the mom had been dumped out of her kayak and got stuck in some trees and couldn't get out. She didn't have any injuries except for being cold. We were glad to be able to help out and speed things up a bit for the rescue :)
It was pretty fun camping out since we haven't done that at all this summer. After our bike ride we got in the tent and played a few rounds of Monopoly Deal and then went to sleep... or at least tried to. Unbeknownst to me the campground was RIGHT next to train tracks and I kid you not there was a training going by ALL night. Plus there was a little kid screaming their lungs out for the first hour or so I was trying to sleep (Thomas fell asleep immediatley).
The next morning I was worried we would smell like smoke from some campfires around us and I didn't want to go to the wedding smelling like I had been camping. But I gave myself a sponge bath using the spigot next to our site and Thomas found some outlets next to the bathrooms that I was able to plug my blow dryer and flat iron into :) I'm sure the people around us were thinking it was pretty dumb to be blow drying your hair while camping but whatever. I was just happy to feel clean.
The wedding was at the Twin Falls, ID temple which just happened to be on our route home to Boise so it worked out perfectly.
Lauren was so happy and I loved remembering back to our wedding day and what an exciting time it was.
Friday morning we went with most of the group to Fish Creek Falls along a little 1/2 mile trail to see the falls and take pictures.
Thomas and I then headed back to the condo to finish packing while the rest went to the alpine slide.
We got to Ogden, UT around 6:30pm and it was still light enough for us to go on a bike ride along the Weber river. We had just decided to turn around and head back when a firefighter came running up to us and asked if we had seen anybody in the river. We hadn't but offered to ride our bikes back along the trail and check. We found a guy alongside the river on his cell phone and he asked if the rescue team was on their way. We rode back and told the officer where to find him and then got out of there. Once we got home we found the newspaper article online about what happened. There were two daughters and a mom kayaking in the river and the mom had been dumped out of her kayak and got stuck in some trees and couldn't get out. She didn't have any injuries except for being cold. We were glad to be able to help out and speed things up a bit for the rescue :)
It was pretty fun camping out since we haven't done that at all this summer. After our bike ride we got in the tent and played a few rounds of Monopoly Deal and then went to sleep... or at least tried to. Unbeknownst to me the campground was RIGHT next to train tracks and I kid you not there was a training going by ALL night. Plus there was a little kid screaming their lungs out for the first hour or so I was trying to sleep (Thomas fell asleep immediatley).
The next morning I was worried we would smell like smoke from some campfires around us and I didn't want to go to the wedding smelling like I had been camping. But I gave myself a sponge bath using the spigot next to our site and Thomas found some outlets next to the bathrooms that I was able to plug my blow dryer and flat iron into :) I'm sure the people around us were thinking it was pretty dumb to be blow drying your hair while camping but whatever. I was just happy to feel clean.
The wedding was at the Twin Falls, ID temple which just happened to be on our route home to Boise so it worked out perfectly.
Lauren was so happy and I loved remembering back to our wedding day and what an exciting time it was.
I can't wait to go to her reception this weekend and get a chance to chat with her more :) One thing I loved that they did was they had box lunches for everybody so that while the family was taking pictures, the friends and extended family could have a little picnic lunch on the temple grounds. Such a thoughtful idea.
I am so grateful for Lauren's friendship throughout junior high and high school. I think we first met when I moved to Yakima in seventh grade and she found out I was a member of the same church. We both played volleyball in junior high and the ran track together in high school. We are both tall and I remember borrowing one of her dresses for a dance I went to with a boy from another high school. She has always been such a positive influence in my life she is an incredibly hard worker and has achieved so much in her life because of her positive attitude and hard work. I wish her and her husband all the best in their new life together.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Family Reunion Day 3
Thursday started off early as we had a trip planned to go rafting. The drive was supposed to take 45 minutes and we were to meet at 9am. Just to be safe we left around 7:45am. Two of the three cars ended up getting lost and we stopped at every possible place where we saw rafting companies with no luck. There was no cell phone reception way out in the middle of nowhere so we couldn't get ahold of the people in front of us who were not lost. We finally arrived at the designated spot around 10:30am and were told we were too late and they weren't even going to be able to refund our money. The whole thing was kind of a nightmare cause we had people getting car sick and we had all just been in cars for 12 hours or me to get to the reunion so it wasn't our idea of fun to be in a car for an unexpected 5 hours total without being able to raft.
But on the bright side Thomas and I were able to spend time with Bob, Karla, and Amanda (Uncle, Aunt, and Cousin) and had fun chatting and joking about how we would laugh at this experience at our next reunion. We had some good laughs as Amanda would roll down the window and yell "Is that YOU!?" when we were looking for the other part of our group.
As soon as we got back to the condos Thomas and I took off for another bike ride along the river trail. We ended up biking to the alpine slide and decided to give it a try.
I was a little nervous at the top but the cool thing about the sleds is that you don't move at all unless you are pushing down on the brake to release it. So you are totally in control of your speed. Once I got started I just pushed the lever down the whole way and cruised down. I beat Thomas down :)
On the bike ride bike we stopped by a botanical garden for a little stroll. I love exploring places on our bikes because you find things that you normally wouldn't if you were in a car.
Once back at the condos we spent some more time by the pool til dinner.
The theme for dinner that night was western and we played minute to win games. This ended up the favorite night for everyone. We had BBQ chicken, pasta salad, watermelon, and corn on the cob. The resort had a big gas fire pit with a cement bench around it that was perfect for roasting marshmallows. There was a play area for the kids and picnic benches for us all to eat on with three grills that we used to barbeque the chicken.
Aunt Karla put the teams together for Minute to Win It. It was a pretty close game between the Sollar's and the team Thomas and I were on with my MIL, FIL, Grandma Golladay, and cousin Amanda. The Sollar's won in the end a $20 gift card to Wal-Mart.
The games included:
Hanky Panky- Using a designated hand for each box, remove all tissues from a tissue box.
Junk in the Trunk- Wiggle a box that is attached to your waist filled with ping-pong balls until the box is empty.
Mega Bubble- Player chews one foot of bubble tape and must blow a bubble.
Magic Carpet Ride- Player must sit on a bathroom floor mat and use an inchworm technique to move around obstacles. This was a workout! Two days later and my outer legs were killing.
Defying Gravity-Tap 3 balloons to keep them off the ground for a minute.
Thomas won. But nobody could keep three balloons up for 60 seconds so we switched to two balloons.
Candelier- Stack 5 levels of cans, starting with 1 on the bottom and 5 on the top, with a paper plate in between each level.
Rapid Fire-
Player must shoot a squirt gun to knock a triangle stack of 6 cups completely off a platform.
A Bit Dicey- Balance five dice on a popsicle stick held in your mouth.
Dizzy Mummy- Unwind a roll of toilet paper by executing a series of 360-degree spins.
There was also one game where you had a straw and had to shoot toothpicks out of it across a line about three feet away.
Other highlights of the day included seeing Grandma Golladay chase the teenage boys down with a squirt gun.
This was the night we also took family pictures (always a joy). I think no matter what family you come from family pictures are something you dread. But we are glad we took them.
We were outside around the campfire til pretty late that night and some other guests came and joined us. I guess they saw how much fun we were having and couldn't resist :) Thomas and I loved talking with our teenage nephews Aaron and James about funny YouTube videos and having them serenade all of us with camp songs.
But on the bright side Thomas and I were able to spend time with Bob, Karla, and Amanda (Uncle, Aunt, and Cousin) and had fun chatting and joking about how we would laugh at this experience at our next reunion. We had some good laughs as Amanda would roll down the window and yell "Is that YOU!?" when we were looking for the other part of our group.
As soon as we got back to the condos Thomas and I took off for another bike ride along the river trail. We ended up biking to the alpine slide and decided to give it a try.
I was a little nervous at the top but the cool thing about the sleds is that you don't move at all unless you are pushing down on the brake to release it. So you are totally in control of your speed. Once I got started I just pushed the lever down the whole way and cruised down. I beat Thomas down :)
On the bike ride bike we stopped by a botanical garden for a little stroll. I love exploring places on our bikes because you find things that you normally wouldn't if you were in a car.
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| I first tried to sit on this turtle but it burned my bum. |
Once back at the condos we spent some more time by the pool til dinner.
The theme for dinner that night was western and we played minute to win games. This ended up the favorite night for everyone. We had BBQ chicken, pasta salad, watermelon, and corn on the cob. The resort had a big gas fire pit with a cement bench around it that was perfect for roasting marshmallows. There was a play area for the kids and picnic benches for us all to eat on with three grills that we used to barbeque the chicken.
Aunt Karla put the teams together for Minute to Win It. It was a pretty close game between the Sollar's and the team Thomas and I were on with my MIL, FIL, Grandma Golladay, and cousin Amanda. The Sollar's won in the end a $20 gift card to Wal-Mart.
The games included:
Hanky Panky- Using a designated hand for each box, remove all tissues from a tissue box.
Junk in the Trunk- Wiggle a box that is attached to your waist filled with ping-pong balls until the box is empty.
Mega Bubble- Player chews one foot of bubble tape and must blow a bubble.
Magic Carpet Ride- Player must sit on a bathroom floor mat and use an inchworm technique to move around obstacles. This was a workout! Two days later and my outer legs were killing.
Defying Gravity-Tap 3 balloons to keep them off the ground for a minute.
Candelier- Stack 5 levels of cans, starting with 1 on the bottom and 5 on the top, with a paper plate in between each level.
Rapid Fire-
Player must shoot a squirt gun to knock a triangle stack of 6 cups completely off a platform.
Dizzy Mummy- Unwind a roll of toilet paper by executing a series of 360-degree spins.
This was the night we also took family pictures (always a joy). I think no matter what family you come from family pictures are something you dread. But we are glad we took them.
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| Our whole group |
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| Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Giles |
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| All the grandkids |
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| The Soller Family |
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| The Tubb Family |
We were outside around the campfire til pretty late that night and some other guests came and joined us. I guess they saw how much fun we were having and couldn't resist :) Thomas and I loved talking with our teenage nephews Aaron and James about funny YouTube videos and having them serenade all of us with camp songs.
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