High on a Mountain Top

Lafe has taken to rock climbing. We would be very proud of him, but it seems that job is already taken. His ego is getting out of control. The only things he hears all day are: You are so cute, good job, way to go. I could go on, but you get the idea. He thinks he is hot stuff. As always I blame the older kids.

Hope everyone has a good week!

Brattonsville...

So the big news this weekend was Dave jumping out of a plane, but we also took the chance, while we were down near Chester, South Carolina to see Brattonsville--just another one of those Revolutionary/Civil War places we'd been meaning to go to for years and just...hadn't. (For those of you familiar with the movie "The Patriot", this is the home and battlefield where significant portions were filmed, I guess.)

Here are some of my favorite pictures from that part of the day...

Our whole family and a pig sty.

(This would make a very appropriate Christmas card picture.)

There's something about getting a picture of all three kids together,
especially when they don't know you're watching them.

Ainsley is cute.

I think Dave has a fan.

This one was when Ainsley just plunked herself down on the ground and waited for one of us to come back and pick her up. She seems to be reconsidering her decision to learn to walk in the first place... but then deciding that it might be worth it for the shoes.

And who cares about an old apple tree? I do.
I would rather take pictures of this then jump out of an airplane any time. I'm just sayin'.

You can go watch the skydiving video now.

Skydiving video

Here’s the video:

http://www.lifepursuitvideo.com/asppublic/Video29706.aspx?CLIENT=29706&VF=DavidRiding_082110-1743.flv

Berkeley Parks: Mortar Rock Park

Berkeley Parks: Mortar Rock Park: "I love this park. It is a perfect example of how places in the Berkeley Hills can suddenly make you feel like you are in the most peaceful ..."

Skydiving

Well I was successful in trying to skydive today, after a rain out last week.  It was really cool – hard to explain.  My favorite moment was when I first fell out of the plane and we went upside down for a few seconds. Staring straight at the clouds, accelerating quickly, falling down.  It all happened so fast – at least the free fall part. And by fast I mean I was moving 120 mph.  Going up it was kind of surreal. Realizing I wouldn’t be coming back down in the plane.  Becca and the kids were great. They cheered for me when I got back.  Multiple people commented to me on how cute Caleb was the whole time I was gone. “My daddy do SKYDIVING!!!!”  Ainsley: “daddy chute”

 

Launch

sweet face shot

The video is pretty cool. They said they’d send me an online version in a week or two.

Happy Birthday to the Man (Part I)

Cute, huh? I get the feeling he was a handful for his mom... but he's had some payback (ahem) so it all works out in the end. She liked to tell the story of how he beat her back to the front porch after she dropped him off at school on the first day... it's a good thing she didn't know then that it would become a sort of pattern. I have recently come to the realization that we don't have a baby picture of dad and that I have never seen one. Just last weekend I was reminded of a Cedar Chest that Arlene owned (I can only vaguely remember ever seeing it...) But supposedly it was put into "storage" underneath their mobile home when it was purchased. Smitty said that "they had all gone through it and thrown it away before I got there..." after Arlene died and the trailer was sold. I felt serious regret... I wonder what treasures went unrecognized and unappreciated at that time. Her wedding dress? Some of her parents things? Photos perhaps. I can only guess while acknowledging it is far too late to do anything at all about it.
Look at the promise in that young face- and drive, and energy. When asked about his life and his accomplishments Don could honestly quote the lyrics from a song by Frank Sinatra and reply simply "I did it my way-" and he has been good at it, too.

Look out, world, here he comes. Handsome, isn't he? How incredibly his life would change in just a few short months- all we want when we're young is to grow up. You know that you have the first time you regret not appreciating the freedom of your youth.

Happy Birthday to the Man! (part II)

I really like this picture of dad... he has always been one to get a day's work done no matter how long or difficult the task- this photograph shows that it has always been thus. Now that I am more familiar with some of his experiences while serving in the Marine Corp I have an increased admiration for his willingness to shoulder an unpleasant burden and see it through - Semper Fi Don- may we all prove as faithful as you have done!
I chose this photo over one taken on our wedding day to represent our early years together- as clueless and young as we were we had one thing going for us - he loved me like a rock, and I loved him back in the same way. We had not intended to wear these outfits for the photo session- I had taken our "sunday clothes", but the photographer saw us before we changed and invited us back as we were- when he heard that Dad had a cowboy hat out in the car, well- as you can see, that was quite a hat. The pose is a good one- I have always been surrounded and sheltered by dad and his love for me- far from feeling smothered, I have felt empowered, supported, and protected. Thank you Don, for helping me to grow and learn as I have been able to do.
I love this picture too, as I am sure each of you will. This was taken out target shooting with some of the fam- dad's delight is obvious, isn't it? Don has always been as rock solid for his family as he has been for me.... we have all been blessed by this man.
It was hard to chose a good grandpa Don shot, thankfully, we have quite a few. I love the relaxed and easy expression he wears here. I also love the sea star Ellie is holding, we have seen so much in traveling to see our far flung family- it's been an unexpected blessing in our lives.
This little kiss on my cheek is as sincere as the first he ever gave me, and there have been times when I have tried the man's patience sorely. Thank you, Don, for who you are and for how well you love us all- I hope you have a birthday as great and wonderful as you are!

I love it!

I love the new background for the blog! (is that what you call it? Back ground... side bars... ??? I don't know-) Any way- I love the new look- it brings back memories of Dick and Jane and the fall mornings when I was the one heading off to school. Thanks once again for this blog- it is my connection to all the people both near and far that I think about daily and love - family and the gospel are the only things worth anything. I love you all!

Rats! Sorry Dave!

There is no excuse for not realizing until now that I had let Dave's birthday come and go without a post to mark the day. And what a day it was to be! Becca gave him a guys dream gift- Sky Diving! Holy cow- an experience of a lifetime, except they don't jump when it rains, and it rained- though barely, but it was enough to shut it down. humph! When I spoke with him later he was at his philosophical best... and that's one of the things I like about Dave. It took kids of his own for him to discover that he had any hint of a limit when it comes to temper. Kids can do that.
I remember when Dave and Becca were friends, each busy dating other people. Becca grew tired of me saying "but what about Dave?" She would reply "Mom, he just doesn't think of me in that way...". I am happy that when the time was right things changed.
I appreciate having Dave in our family - steady, devoted, well disciplined- he is an example to me in a lot of important ways. I love you, Dave, and hope you had a great birthday!

Mom Requested I put this video up on here for you all to enjoy. Yes you can hear our mother turn into her 9 year old self in the background. This is but a glimpse of the amazing fireworks Salem is becoming known for.

E.R.

Right.

Where were we?

Oh, yes.

So, Friday afternoon, Ainsley was sitting at the table and grabbed hold of this:

And sprayed herself in the face with it. *sigh*

We made a half-hearted attempt to rinse her eyes out. We put her in the bath and dumped water over her head.

But, as her eyes took on a shade that closely resembled that of the cleaner, we decided to run to the urgent care. At 7:52. 8 minutes before they close. (Yep, we're those people. The annoying ones that show up right before you lock the door.)

The doctor at the urgent care took a glimpse at her red, puffy, and weepy eyes and referred us here:

Lovely. (It is here that I am going to tell you that not two days before, Dave said "You kids better start getting sick! We have flex-plan dollars to use!" Thanks, Dave.)

So, at around 10:00 pm Ainsley and I troop into the Emergency Room and look for a section that looks the least germy. We settle in for a good.long.wait. But it was not without it's benefits. While Ainsley was turning intently through the only children's book in the lobby, Children During the Great Depression, I had time to people watch. My favorite? A very pregnant woman in labor came in with her husband, her parents, her in-laws, her grandparents, and SIX suitcases. They didn't just need a wheelchair, they needed a bellhop.

I snorted as I remembered the last time I came through these emergency room doors with Ainsley; I was on a gurney holding my newborn wearing nothin' but a sheet. Ainsley seemed to flash me a knowing look. It's a great shared memory we have.

When we were finally put in a room, our doctor walked in. Huge. At least 8 months pregnant, and exhausted. She told me she had a two year old, too. She asked what happened. I explained. Then she said off hand, "You know, I think having kids makes me a better E.R. doctor. Before I had kids, people would tell me what their kids had done and I'd think 'Nice parenting!' Now? I just nod and say 'Don't worry about it. Totally been there.'"

It was nice to know that I wasn't being judged.

I'd rather be the one doing the judging, thank you very much.

In the end, all is well. Ainsley is none the worse for wear. Her eyes have resumed their usual hue. But the pretty pink cleaner now has a new home. On top of the fridge.

Sports Camp

While in theory I think summer time should be time off and unstructured, in reality that turns into things like Addison taking the handles off the doors in the house or carving his name into his dresser, while we are all waiting for Lafe to wake up from his nap! So I decided I would try to sign the kids up for at least one week of something or other. Then the reality set in of the price of Robot Camp ($550) and Fairy Camp was a relative bargain at $250. Maybe enrichment was overrated.

What is a door handle or two I thought, but then a neighbor told me about the city of Berkeley's rec program. She said they had some fun activities for way cheaper. Hey I think to myself the diversity will be good for the kids. So when I found sports camp for $5/ week I decided to give it a try.

Adam dropped them off the first day. He came home and said I think they guy is just planning on having them run the whole week. And sure enough it was track week at camp. the kids ran their little hearts out. I can't say that they loved it, but they slept well. Week two the participation in camp dropped by about 90%. We missed Monday and by Wednesday Ellie said she didn't feel great, so I just took Addison. When I came back to pick him up, but he wasn't outside. I went into the community center--with a gym--not there I came back out and asked someone with a staff t-shirt on

"Hey do you know where the sports camper are?"

"Did you check the game room, " she asked?

I had not, so I ventured in and sure enough, here were the sports campers. I guess the theme for week two was billiards because there they were all bustled up to the pool table, stick in hand. To the sports camp coach's credit, the kids seemed engaged and he did have a lot of tips for them. Addison even won a game--I think on account of the other kid hitting the 8 ball in, but a win is a win. Now we just have to lobby the IOC to get it recognized as an Olympic sport and we are set.

Finally a post from the colo -RAD- ans

So we have been meaning to do a post for quite some time and we are finally getting around to it. We had a blast with Mom, Dad, Adam and the gang. We could probably talk for weeks on the things we saw and did, but a picture is worth a thousand words, so we will let them do most of the talking.

Our Charleston Trip...

True Love at 7 years.

Hey, Good Lookin'.

This picture captures not only Emily,
but exactly how good those smores were.

They were so good.

(My sister-in-law made me a gluten-free one by broiling a marshmallow and putting it in between huge squares of chocolate. YUM. Who needs the cracker anyway??)

Two of my favorite things:
Caleb in his chomper pajamas
and 300 year old Charleston cobblestone.
Not that I'd really ever expected to put the two together,

but there you have it.

Ainsley + books = happy girl.

Ainsley + sunscreen = devil child. *wink*