For the first week, see here for the vacation trip journal.
August 8
We didn’t get out of bed until after 7am this morning, and then we made eggs and pancakes for breakfast. I got started on laundry...loads and loads of laundry since everything needs to be cleaned that was in a duffel bag. I didn’t finish by the end of the day. We went grocery shopping and got the girls’ cameras dropped off for developing. We were able to pick those up after our shopping was done. Ellen and Phoebe both got piano practice done before we went to visit Gramma. She was very happy to see us. While we were there, we got a call from our friend Pete letting us know not to worry about the broken plate. So that was a huge relief for me since I had been feeling really bad about the whole thing.
We stopped by the library to check out some books because the girls are out of things to read after the long trip. While we were there, they registered and collected their prizes for the reading program since Jada knew the lady running it, and she knew we were good for the mere 15 hours required to complete the summer reading program. I think Ellen and Phoebe beat that in the first 3 days of our trip. I’m not sure what they saw along the way other than their books.
Once back home, we heard from our friends who were taking care of Scarlett while we were away. They were actually volunteering to bring her over to us which was very kind of them (Thanks, Janet and Ned!). She adjusted to being back here pretty quickly and seemed to remember us. We had dinner, and Jada went off for a massage. I started downloading video and pictures to our home PC as well. As soon as I figure out what the whole migration from Verizon to Frontier means for uploading things to my web page, I’ll start getting that up to date too. We should get our held mail tomorrow as well as schedule appointments for haircuts, car tune up, new tires, get stitches removed, and chiropractic.
August 11
We've managed to accomplish quite a bit and my last week of vacation is nearly over. The girls are in soccer camp all this week in the morning, and Monday, Wednesday, Friday for swimming. They're staying quite busy. I've had my massage and chiropractor appointments, got the car tuned up and cleaned inside and out, and a new set of tires for the winter. I haven't been able to ride my bike. I rode it home from the car place after dropping off the car, and I kept hitting my stitches on my brake levers and the fingers for the bike glove come right to them as well, so it's a little painful to ride. I'm worried that it's not healing well because I keep hitting it on stuff as I put things away from our trip in the garage. I'll find out tomorrow what the verdict is.
I've also been sitting at the desk trying to get the journal all done with pictures.
Jada spent the early evening helping better the elementary school where she teaches with a bunch of other parents. One of them got a Lowe's Grant to put in raised flower beds and a huge chess board in one of the courtyards. Unfortunately, the "kids" (20 year olds with nothing better to do) have already started defacing some of the work. The woman in charge of the project has already alerted police and the principal so hopefully a few extra patrols through the area will help. If the criminally bored element can be kept away, it'll look really nice for the start of school.
August 12
I finally finished getting the pictures that I was going to post to the web done. Sure, I could use something like Flickr or one of the many online photo album options out there to just upload the lot and be done with it pretty much instantaneously, but I like going through the pictures and trying to pull out the ones I think capture the memorable moments for our trip and posting them individually.
I got my stitches out this morning too. Now I have steri-strips on it. The doctor thinks it'll heal well. I think I'll probably have an interesting scar for a while. I also got my hair cut so I don't look like such a hippie any more (instead he looks like a jar-head;).
I attended a coaches meeting for soccer too. We finally have practice fields sorted out, so we can get started. Games start at the beginning of September, and the field is bigger this year.
August 13
The honeydo list is getting shorter. I did some errands by bike this morning. Man, I'm out of shape. I got the stove top fixed today by calling in Sears home services. He was able to use the kits that I had bought, and I watched him do the repairs so when it happens again, I can save the money on the service call. I have also signed up for guitar lessons again starting next weekend. I was fortunate the person I chose had Sunday times available so I didn't have to worry about impacting work or soccer schedules. I found it through a site called www.takelessons.com. They do all kinds of lessons, and the prices are pretty good. I signed up for an hour a week this time. The 30 minutes with Mr. Bob just seemed to go by too quickly. There wasn't enough time to just talk about music and bands and styles and theory that I know he loved to talk about, and I loved learning about. We'll see how it goes. If I like him, I might see if Phoebe wants to do some guitar again and maybe do a session here and there.
This was the last day of soccer camp, so they had their World Cup game. Ellen was on Spain's team, and they even won this little tournament. Phoebe was on Brazil. Phoebe was so excited yesterday when she scored a goal against one of the boys.
I've realized that I've gotten used to summarizing my days every day. I'm back at work next week, and I'm sure I won't have time for that any more.
August 18
See. I'm out of time on a daily basis already. Ellen started horse riding lessons this week. She loves it. She talked non-stop about it on the way home from soccer practice which also just started on Monday night. Did I mention that between horse riding camp and soccer she and Phoebe have a swimming lesson? Thankfully, for Jada, this is the only week that all those things are happening. Soccer is only Monday/Wednesday for Ellen, and swimming is only Monday/Wednesday/Friday for 30 minutes. So, it's not horrible, but Ellen is quite exhausted by the end of the day. She has a friend from school in her class with her as well, so that's fun for her. Phoebe is also in a camp for art this week with a friend from school as well (who also happens to be sisters with Ellen's friend). And Phoebe has soccer on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's been a little crazy for Jada this week. Plus, I started back to work this week. Oh, and it's been a very uncharacteristic 100 degrees on Monday and still in the 90's on Tuesday and very muggy. Just odd weather for here.
Last night, the girls had sleep-overs. Phoebe's friend came over here, and the older sisters slept over at their house. It seems like everyone was nice. I had the easiest breakfast morning ever with the girls just wanting cereal. I still cut up a peach from the market to put in it. It was a little cooler today which was nice, though last night again just after turning on the fan, the smell of skunk filled the room. It gave me a headache something fierce.
This morning, Jada couldn't start the car. After bringing AAA over to get it started, she found that the battery was dead. It was the original battery for the Subaru, so we just missed another potential problem on the trip. She bought a new one, and she was off for her errands for the day. Fortunately, the friend's mom was able to pick up the younger kids to take them to camp.
August 21
The weather cooled way off but at least it stayed sunny. It was 49 degrees when I rode to work Friday morning. I had to dig out my arm warmers and a vest. I almost wish I had put my leg warmers on too. At least the afternoons are pleasant and 70 degrees.
The girls finished up their camps on Thursday. Ellen loved her horse camp, and Phoebe brought home a lot of art work for a 4 day camp that only lasted 3 hours a day. It's all really nice work. Phoebe also had soccer practice on Thursday evening, so I met up with them over at the field and found that even by bike, I could probably help out with their practices for at least 30 to 45 minutes. On Friday, after some errands, they got to go back to the art studio for a workshop time with some of their friends. From there, they went to see Gramma and do some watercolor art with her in the activity room. After that, it was time for their swimming class.
This morning, I was up early to go over to the school to help out with the big courtyard revitalization project. I helped out for 3 hours erecting a couple frames. It's all Intel volunteer hour billable too towards the school which is great since Intel will give money to the school for our volunteer hours. The person I was helping was also an Intel dad, so it's double.
My finger is healed enough that I don't have to wear my band aid as much, but I still do just to protect the new skin from too much sun yet. Plus I still bang it into things, so I'm trying to let it heal as much as possible before I let it run free as a bird (No, not that finger).
The afternoon was spent making pizzas for Porkfest 2010 the annual celebration of pork where all items served must contain pork...yes, even desserts. I made a Pork lovers pizza with Canadian bacon, pork bacon, and Italian pork sausage. One was regular white flour crust and the other wheat. The white flour crust was finished off, but I got to bring home almost the entire wheat one. There was a lot of food there. The most creative in my opinion was a pork parfait with pulled pork and mashed potatoes making up the layers topped with bbq sauce and a cherry tomato. Dessert was a couple different kinds of ice cream cookie sandwiches with bacon baked into the cookies and maple ice cream. You can't really taste the bacon much just the salt. A vegetarian was there too. She brought a pig shaped cake. There were a lot of kids from less than 1 up to 9. Ellen and Phoebe are the oldest now. Ellen spent most of the time as the leader of games for the other kids. The other big difference from when we first started going was the party was winding down by 8:30 when we finally left whereas when our kids were the only ones, it wouldn't even really be getting started until then. It didn't make it any less enjoyable as everyone seemed to still have fun.
August 25
We didn't do a lot on Sunday other than visit Gramma. The girls painted some more post cards while we were there. I had my first guitar lesson with my new instructor. It was more of a get to know you session, and I told him about what I had done previously. He emailed me a set of exercises to work on so I've been trying to do about 30 minutes a night. Then I had a massage therapy appointment afterward. I'm still trying to get my back worked out after the trip. It felt better afterward, but it's getting stiffer by the day. I'm going to go back a few more weeks in a row to try to get it back to normal.
Monday saw higher temperatures again after a fairly cool weekend. Ellen and Phoebe had a piano lesson with their teacher where they focused on scales. Swimming was in the afternoon followed by soccer. Soccer practice was pleasant though. Our head coach is on vacation for this week and next, so we assistant coaches are in charge. We were making up drills as we went along mostly focusing on basic skills and running. Tuesday morning the girls had their dentist appointments. They need to work more on their gum line and right side of their mouths. I guess it's often harder for kids to brush the side of their mouth with their strong hand. Ellen had a recommendation for an orthodontic consultation because her front teeth are flared. As they're coming in, they're at different angles from the plane running around the teeth plate so if she were to fall or get hit in the teeth, there's a better chance of one of them breaking. I think I explained that right. I couldn't go due to meetings, but Jada was there.
Then Jada spent time at school getting some work done in her classroom. She talked to some of the other teachers who were in early and the principal. They visited Gramma again too. Once home, Jada taught the girls how to cook salmon. Phoebe's soccer practice is on Tuesday nights so I found them at the field on my way home from work by bike.
Wednesday was hot again. Jada took the girls over to a friend's house to play with their new puppies in the morning. After lunch, she was hoping to go out to one of the few outdoor swimming pools, but when they got there it was too busy. They had to get to their swimming class by late afternoon, so they didn't try to get in. Their class learned how to do breast stroke and butterfly today apparently. Then it was time to go to soccer practice for Ellen. It was in the 90's by the time practice started. We mostly worked on corner kicks.
August 28
Thursday marked the 15th year of my occupation of Oregon, and yesterday was my 15th year with Intel. Ellen also had a sleepover with one of her friends at our house. They went to bed at 9pm, but they were awake at 5am. Phoebe had a play date with Ellen's friend's brother earlier in the day. They went bowling. It sounds like Phoebe did ok. Friday was the final day of their swimming lessons. Both girls moved up. Ellen had moved up on the first lesson of the session, and Phoebe joined her just because their were so few kids. Phoebe officially moved up to that level at the end of the session. Friday night, we got a call from New Seasons informing us that Phoebe had gotten second place...again...in her age group for the latest coloring contest. Ellen gets really upset every time Phoebe wins a prize in that contest when she doesn't. On Saturday, after our trip to the market and grocery stores, we took the girls to Bullwinkle's Family Fun center in Wilsonville to use their coupons for a free round of mini-golf that they had received from the summer reading program at the library. The girls tied, and Jada ended up winning by a single stroke. I watched the first stage of the Vuelta a Espana which was a team time trial that started at 10pm local time in Seville, Spain due to the high temperatures in the day. We visited Gramma for a while in the afternoon. We followed that with a visit to Powell's book store for Ellen's reward for working hard at her multiplication tables this summer, and finally an early dinner at Burgerville. We don't got there much, but they're a Pacific Northwest chain using sustainable business practices and local ingredients where possible. Their specials were blackberry milkshake and Walla Walla onion rings. We had a nice and early bed time for everyone!
August 29
We got up to a late start today. After starting breakfast, we realized that we were out of pancake mix. I made a run for the Haggen's to pick some up. Jada made some potatoes to go with breakfast, and she chopped up some fresh basil from the market to add to the scrambled eggs. The girls got their piano practice done, and I started laundry while Jada cleaned the kitchen. I also finally decided to fix the sprayer on the kitchen sink which has been leaking. We really need a whole new faucet, but no one has the time to fix that right now. I picked up a new sprayer at Home Depot as well as new grates for the grill. Our old ones were really gross. It didn't take long to replace the sprayer. I also stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods to buy a goal net for our practices. The balls keep getting into the football practice on the next field. We didn't do much during the afternoon around the house except laundry and some cleaning. Jada went to see her mom for a while before I had to leave for my guitar lesson. It's only supposed to be an hour, but we went 30 minutes over talking about music theory, and how it relates to the guitar. I was late for my massage appointment where we continued to work on my back. It was early to bed that night. While I was gone, Jada got the girls fed and showered. Ellen had been ill with a stuffy nose all weekend, and Phoebe was starting to get it at this point. Ellen was down to a cough.
August 31
Monday the girls were off to their Nature Park camp for the week while Jada went back to work getting ready for the start of school. They got to spend their day learning about nature and making new friends. Some kids they already know were in the camp too. Jada spent all day at an off-site meeting discussing goals for the year and the basic beginning of the year information. At the end of the day, I met them for soccer practice and found that I was to be the only coach there. The other assistant coach's daughter had pneumonia, but he came out to drop off the bag of balls, emergency kit, and field information. I spent the time making up drills to work on goalie training, but luckily the girls seemed to have fun with them. By the evening, I was feeling tired enough to go to bed at 9pm. So was Jada.
Around 2am this morning, we were both woken up by Scarlett knocking at the door. Jada and I both woke with very runny and stuffy noses, headaches, and the inability to sleep. She went out to sleep on the couch when she started coughing thinking it'd help me fall asleep, but I was still awake when she came back in. She said she napped a little bit. I fell asleep for a while, but overslept. I rushed around to get ready to go to work, but before I left, I still felt drained and achy so I stayed home. I dialed into all of my morning meetings and tried to rest after that. Jada still had to go to work since she had parent meetings for some new students, but she was home by lunch time. We both tried to nap in the afternoon, but neither of us woke up feeling much better. I don't know what this is, but Ellen and Phoebe didn't complain about these kinds of symptoms. We picked the girls up from camp after stopping by the store to grab a couple boxes of Kleenex (the lotion kind). The girls had a field trip to the beach today where it rained all day. They still did their hiking. All of their things were soaked when they got home. They tasted a sorrel leaf. Ellen said it reminded her of a Granny Smith apple. They also said 4 kids threw up on the bus from motion sickness! Wow. That seems like a lot. I asked Ellen if she looked up when they got to beach to ask why they were there already since it's only a 2 hour drive, and she's used to our more epic 5-7 hour drives from the summer. We were happy Phoebe's soccer practice had been canceled this week due to her coach being on vacation. We did not want to sit outside in the showers.
The summer has been so odd, and I think it's the biggest reason for our illness coming on like this. It was close to 100 last week on Monday, but only upper sixties for highs by the end of the week. That's just too fast of a shift for our bodies to handle. I don't care if it's hot as long as it's consistently hot. Same for cold. This up and down is horrible for me.
I hope we can get better since school is just around the corner.
Journal entry: 8/31/2010