Bike & Truck Day

Preschool has been going really well for Kelton.  He comes home singing goofy songs and skips through the parking lot telling me everything they did in class.  I can't go in and volunteer but I'm really glad when they invite the parents to special events.  Kelton was so excited for bike day at school.  The kids all took their bikes to school and were able to ride around in the parking lot through their little city.  The teachers had set up a car wash, a gas station, a decorating station, a police station, and gave each kid a license plate to put on their bike.  Not all of the kids were zipping around on two wheels, but Kelton wasn't the only one flying around the track.  His favorite station was cruising through the car wash as fast as he could.  

Once the kids were done riding (or really, when time was up because those kids could have spent another hour out there), they headed down to check out some city vehicles.  They were able to sit in an excavator, 

race car, 

police car, 

and snowplow.  

Kelton's favorite was the snowplow because the driver let the kids ride up and down on his adjustable chair.  

Daxton did not want to be left out and kept asking, "Sit!"  "Sit!"  The gentlemen were friendly and let Daxton sit in the smaller trucks too.  

Here's a picture of Kelton's class.  The kids were all smiling until one of the smaller sibling pulled the horn in the cab and sent them all scrambling away from the truck as fast as their little legs could go.  I couldn't help but laugh.

No brakes, no good

I've decided that driving without brakes is absolutely terrifying, and I was only going 5-10 mph!  McKenzie and I were driving home from gymnastics and were stopped at a red light.  I turned around to talk to her and when I looked forward again we were inching forward.  I pushed on the brakes and they weren't working.  I crept closer and closer to the car in front of me before I put the car in park, hoping that would immobilize it.  It did.  But now my brain was frantically spinning, "Is there something stuck under the pedal?"  "Can I not feel the brake through my sandals?"  "Was I imagining it?"  "What is just some weird glitch?"  As the light turned green I crept through the intersection slowly.  The narrow road I was turning onto was already back up with rush hour traffic and I didn't know if my brakes were working or not.  I veered off onto a side road and tested my brakes.  They were squishy.  I could hear a hissing sound.  It felt like they wanted to go farther to activate, but I simply couldn't push them hard enough to actually work.  I pressed and pressed those brakes so I could stop on the shoulder, but ultimately I think it was the slight incline that stopped my momentum.  No brakes?  What do I do now?  I thought about driving home with my emergency brake, but it was still too far and there were too many cars.  I called our insurance to set up a tow...wow that was a process.  I was routed to some central call center so when I tried explaining where I was the operator had no idea I was even in Colorado.  Twenty minutes later he finally sent out a dispatch for a tow truck.  Their ETA was 55 minutes.  Ugh.  Luckily it was only McKenzie and I so it was an easy matter of waiting.  But we still had to wait an hour.  The tow truck finally arrived and we took the car to a shop.  It wasn't until after Jeremy came to pick us up that I realized how lucky and blessed we were.  My brakes could have gone out when I was traveling at 60 mph.  They could have been lost when I was surrounded by cars on all sides and had to suddenly stop at a light.  There could have been people on sidewalks that I would have had to avoid.  I could have been on an overpass with nowhere to go.  I could have had a serious accident.  The fact that they went out when I was already stopped was a huge blessing. The dealership called and it sounds like the brake booster failed.  Apparently this has been a problem for 2011 Mazda CX-9's and there is an extended warranty on them.  Unfortunately for me, I have too many miles on my car so it may not even qualify.  We'll see.  In the meantime a saint of a friend has an extra car we can use.  One who's brakes actually work!

#TOFW

Yea for Time Out for Women.  I swear the event comes when I need it the most.  This year there was an event in Logan so all of the women folk, my mom, Camille, Hannah, and my Grandma Stratford bought tickets.   I decided to leave Jeremy home with the kids for the weekend so they wouldn't miss all of their activities, and I drove out by myself.  It's a very different drive when I am all alone.  I never had to turn around to pass out snacks, resolve disputes, or expertly time potty breaks.  I could stop for gas, take care of business, then be back on the road again in six minutes.  That's record time.  I also realized that not talking for eight hours is a really long time.  I listened to NPR and had people talk to me, but it's a little strange if I try talking back to the radio.  

I finally made it to Utah and I was ready for some girl time.  My mom and I went on a hike Friday morning with her Likin' Hikin' ladies.  We headed up to Cinnamon Creek Camp to watch the salmon run.  I have never seen salmon running before and it was so cool!  We stood next to a small drop and watching the fish trying to jump up and over was inspiring.  Sometimes they'd make it and we'd all cheer.  Sometimes they'd almost make it and we'd groan.  Sometimes they'd be washed back over and I felt really sad they had to do it all over again.  

After we watched them swim for awhile we hiked up to Rosie's mine.  It wasn't a long hike, but the rains from the night before made it muddy and pretty slick.  It was beautiful though.  It was exactly what I needed to start my weekend out right.  

An old ramshackle building that collapses a little more each year the ladies hike up.  

Once at the mine we realized we hadn't really planned on going inside so we didn't have flashlights.  We did, however, have our cell phones so we used those as we wound our way over the old rail tracks and through the low-hanging ceilings. The end of the tunnel wasn't too far in, and unceremoniously ended at a spring and dead end.

We came back into town a little later than we had planned, but we did have time to hit My Girlfriend's Quilt Shop for some shopping before meeting up with the rest of the ladies for dinner at Tandoori Oven.  So this place apparently has some of the best Indian food in Cache Valley, and it's located in a gas station!  In fact I literally lived across the street from that gas station for two years and didn't know that tasty food was inside.  Right now they are temporarily at Blue Square (a new fancy complex next to Old Farm) while their gas station undergoes renovations.  I'm sorry mom, but this view of you and Grandma just made me smile.  You were both so engrossed in your menus.  Dinner was delicious and just what we needed before heading up to the Spectrum for TOFW.

I wish I felt like this was the right place to share every impression and thought I had during the two days we were there.  Instead, I'm going to keep most of those insights to myself and explain more about how the weekend felt.  The presenters each had their own gifts: funny, light-hearted, doctrinal strength, strong personal testimonies, and they were all inspirational.  City of Enoch and Mercy River both performed and they did a wonderful job touching our hearts and making us cry.  Yes, cry.  I once heard that if you laugh and cry in one day that it is one amazing day.  It's true.  We alternated between laughing and crying so many times that I felt completely wrung out by the end of it.  But it was such a cleansing experience.  I also felt the spirit so strongly in that auditorium that I wouldn't have been surprised to see the room glowing.  I received so many promptings and answers to problems I've been having that it was exactly what I needed.  

Interspersed between all of these moments of the spirit were also moments of fun.  Mercy River had each generation stand up as they sang a hit song from different decades and we had a dance party.  

The ladies of Mercy River

We laughed at goofy pictures of kids, food, and club mottos (Like the "Netflix is where all my good intentions go to die Club").  I couldn't have asked for a better girls' weekend.  

To top it off we visited Alan and Hannah's new house!  They are so excited to be there and make it their own.  And we had makeovers at my mom's.  Faye was pretty excited to see that we matched with bangs and denim jackets.  That's a pretty complete weekend wouldn't you say?  

Frozen

Back in March I saw an advertisement saying that Frozen was coming to town.  I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale and saved them as a surprise for the girls. The girls really liked Aladdin and the whole atmosphere of the evening.  McKenzie was worried that she was going to be the only one wearing an Elsa dress.  I knew better.  I wished I could have accurately counted just how many girls were dressed up.  There were a lot of dresses that I had seen before, and others that were brand new.  McKenzie loved it.  We were surprised to see some familiar faces at the theater.  The Marsh family was there and so we snapped a picture of Lydia and McKenzie in their dresses.  

The show itself was great.  No one can quite compete with Idina Menzel for "Let it Go," but it was great nonetheless.  The play writers added a bunch of new songs to fill in some gaps on stage and I thought they were fun to listen to.  I liked the special events which made the whole stage frost over, and later turned Anna to ice.  That scene when they were walking through the storm over the fjord was probably the most impressive to me.  It was a great evening with my girls.

Preschool Dude

First day of preschool for this handsome kid!  Waiting these three weeks after his sisters had already started was pure torture!  He had picked out his backpack, his supplies, and was just waiting....  When I told him last night that preschool was today he was so excited.  He woke up, ate his breakfast, and wanted to get dressed as quickly as possible.  He wanted to hop in the car and go even though Daxton and I still weren't ready at all.  When he saw his shirt with lightning bolts he said, "Mom! I love that so much!  Thank you!"  And when I did his hair he said, "Mom, I look soo handsome."  

This kid was definitely ready to don his PJ Masks backpack and head off on an adventure.

Where adults see a bike rack, kids see a climbing jungle gym.  (This was on Wednesday when we met his teacher.)

  

At the preschool he couldn't wait to get started.  I was checking Daxton into child care while we waited, but after I finished up and turned around I saw that Kelton had already gone in the classroom without waiting for a kiss good-bye from me.  I am glad he's happy.

  He has a lot of church friends in his class:   Lydia, Katie, Ellie, Jada, and Madelyn.  You may notice they are all girls.  Yes, it's true.  Hoping as I was for a class full of boys there is only one other boy in his class.  Oh well, I tried.  Here's to a great year of preschool for a fearless kid.  

Labor Day Pool Day

The Werner's pool is finally open for business!  True there are a few issues with every soft opening, like a leaking hot tub, leaking water slide, broken cover, and broken water heater, but we didn't let any of that stop us from having some Labor Day fun.  While the parents stayed warm and dry, the kids simply played. 

Every now and then they'd appear looking for food, and that's where the snow cones came in!  I admit, I was tempted more than once to steal a couple bites from those cups I was supposed to be guarding.  

The wind was blowing enough to give us grief too, which is why I came up with this ingenious table idea for the boys.  They were warm, cozy, and the plate didn't blow away or tumble to the ground.  They went through many, many puffy Cheetos this way.  

The water slide was a big hit with all of the kids.  Waiting in line was chilly, but the thrill of the ride was worth it.  

Kelton and Madelyn were so sweet and would hold hands as they rode down together. 

Some times the game for the little girls was to see how slow they could go down the slide.  It's pretty tricky near the end because it gets steep.  

When Jeremy arrived after Labor of Love he apparently forgot to put on the parking brake in his car.  Chase came running to the backyard in a panic saying that someone's black car was rolling away.  By some miracle his car didn't hit anything as it rolled down the driveway and across the road.  It ended up in the Skinner's ditch and the easiest way to get it out was to simply ask all of our super strong friends to push it out.  I guess that's one way to add some excitement to the party!

Electric Light Parade in Alley B

Cambrie is pretty stoked about her new mountain bike.  She looks for any opportunity to ride it: to school, to soccer practice, or to avoid going to bed.  That's what happened Saturday night when the kids were supposed to be winding down, but instead hopped on their bikes and rode up and down the alley.  It's actually the first time all four kids have ridden their bikes out there.  Luckily none of our neighbors were coming and going so they had the whole alley to themselves.  They rode in and out of driveways, raced, and practiced their swerving techniques.  

I was really proud of Daxton for daring to pick up speed down our driveway.  

Each kid was having such a fun time that I just couldn't bring myself to make them come inside when it started growing dark.  Instead we pulled out the glowsticks, decked out their rides and kept riding.  Daxton did not want to be left out and insisted on every decoration that his siblings had, for which I was very grateful since he was so hard to see in the dark.  The kids wanted to see how they looked with their glowing bikes and I tried taking pictures of them, but the lighting was such that they looked like ghosts.  We had our own personal electric light parade.  It was great!