Rainy Morning

I declared to Ben that for my birthday this year I wanted to celebrating by going somewhere warm. After dismissing flights to Mexico, Florida, Texas, and California, I looked closer to home and decided on a local hot springs resort. Mt. Princeton Hot Springs was only a few hours drive from home, so we could make it a quick one night, 24 hour vacation.

Once again, we left the kids alone to fend for themselves, and once again, they had a snow day!

All the creek pictures are from the second day, when I brought my music and phone/camera. The first day we were still figuring out the options and etiquette. The creek was my favorite pool by far, but they had many different pools of different sizes, temperatures, age restrictions, and water content.

I know, I’m terribly behind on journalling our family. I’m trying to catch up as quickly as I can, so here’s a random assortment of photos from the past half year.

Highlights = lots of cello, some board games, roller skating, Jack baking a lot, my car got hit in a parking lot = easy repair and no injuries, but a lot of inconvenience and hassle. Christmas card photos, pre-Christmas trip to GJ, meeting Andy’s new dog, Christmas break and gifts. Working New Year’s eve, Ben’s quiet birthday the next day. Seeing musicals at the DCPA, date night on a random free weekend, Outdoor Lab, archery, Jack getting contact lenses, Cheyanne Mountain Zoo, and costume parties with friends.

Here are a collection of orchestra concerts the kids performed this year. Sorry I don’t have song titles, some of them were so long ago!

First, this is Jack’s December concert.

Sam was invited to perform with the Jeffco Honors Orchestra. He spent two days rehearsing and then played a concert. He did marvelously!

Next we have spring concerts! Sam performed recently with this 6th grade orchestra (it’s a huge group!). Although it’s unofficial, I noticed he was seated in the first cello chair!

Tonight I attend Jack’s Spring Concert, I think his last performance with this group. He auditioned for next year already and made it to the top orchestra level! I think he will enjoy playing with an elite group next year.

Many moons ago I convinced Ben to fly to Los Angeles with me to see Seventeen for a quick weekend getaway. We left the kids alone, gasp! It’s so great that they are mature enough for these short trips. It turned out to be a snow day that Friday, so they got to stay at home despite from school and relax too! We got out of Denver before any flight delays and basked in the California sun.

Our hotel in Downtown LA was a curious 1970s design with round rooms arranged in separate towers. We dropped off our luggage and took a car to Santa Monica, arriving just as the sun set on the beach.

I wanted to visit the pier because there was supposed to be a Seventeen event. Some fans had won a lottery to see a performance. We didn’t know the schedule when we tried peeking over the fence. Later when the video came out, it seems we had just missed the performance. Never mind though – Ben got a strange Japanese hot dog, we admired the Seventeen lights on the ferris wheel, and even got up close to the mascot Bongbongee! It was a thick frenzy of fans, so we quickly left after snapping a few pics. Then I took Ben to that great bibimbap restaurant I found the last time I was in LA with Amanda and Andy. Oh man, so delicious!! If only they would franchise in Colorado!! It turned out to be colder than expected in California, so I grabbed a couple sweaters from Uniqlo. Then we tested out the lightrail to get back to the hotel. Before bed I had one more destination – Salt & Straw for the most delectable vegan ice cream! The last time I ate it was in Seattle, walking back to the hotel in the rain at night. This time I insisted we sit inside so I could savor this rare treat!

Saturday we stepped out into the shiny sun to try explore some Korean/Japanese neighborhoods. The bus ditched us on the curb 10 minutes short of our destination, but we didn’t mind walking the rest. One of the restaurants we missed on our Japan trip was CoCo Ichibanya, a popular curry chain. Ben was pleased to hear we could fill that void here. Koichi later confirmed from our pictures that it was exactly the same (except, I’m sure, for the unlimited soda fountain refills and inflated California prices). We walked to the main section of Koreatown to browse some K-pop music shops and get special Seventeen promotional bingsoo. I was absolutely stuffed, but we did our best to eat some of this mountain! Next we wanted to see the “Japantown” and Japanses temple gardens, but they were both kinda of bust. Our driver was wary of letting us off in the temple because it was right next to skid row and he didn’t think we knew where we were going. The temple garden was very small and completely gated. The other garden marked on the map was a small museum patio, and it was locked for reserved event. We continued walking to Japantown and it was terrible! The crowds were the worst so far, shoulder-to-shoulder. Every shop was packed and mostly had chinese knock-offs of Japanese products. There was a Book-Off, that used goods store I enjoyed in Kyoto. This one was, logically, mostly goods common in the US. We tried to enjoy shopping but gave up. After a short rest at the hotel we popped out to Grand Central Market food hall that wasn’t too far away. We both picked out some tasties to take back to our rooms. I tried another vegan ice cream place and it was disappointing and in a super sketchy neighborhood. LA is so WEIRD!!

Rested and fed, we dressed for the main event. I cosplayed as S.Coups in their Monster stage . Ben had a Hoshi shirt. We looked good 😀

We took the train to USC and walked to the stadium. Now the trouble began. To make a long story short, the concert was already delayed, then delayed again. The security line was crazy long and disorganized and probably a third of the audience was still in it when the show eventually started. Plus there was a stupid loud rave at the arena next to us, so I had to wear earplugs during our hours of waiting, and you could hear the thumping from inside after our show started too!! Fans were stressed and everyone was mad, so the vibes were off. That, plus our nosebleed seats, made this one of the less experiences I’ve had going to K-pop concerts. I’m definitely chasing arenas and splurging on better seats next time.

Despite all that, we settled in and the group put on a great show. They had their back-up dancers (I recognized a lot of them, ha!) and there were fireworks. They performed Monster and I was so happy (lots of fans recognized and complimented my outfit – and I wasn’t the craziest costume by far). Incoming picture dump:

And one video:

All the delays made it a very late night. I grabbed Ben’s hand and we sprinted to the last train of the night, sliding into our seat moments before it left. A good night’s sleep, an uneventful flight home, and we came back to our kids safe and sound, their kind aunt having just delivered them with food.

Despite stadiums being terrible, I had a marvelous weekend with Ben. Looking back on these photos makes me want to go all over again!

Jack did a great job being part of the tech crew for the Fall Play – Murder on the Orient Express. They built an amazing set consisting of train cars on platforms that whirled around to show different views and compartments. He also helped with scene changes as part of the “shift crew.” This high school theater program demanded a lot of time after school. He worked diligently, even when he had to paint (he hates the artistic part but loves the wood-building part). The show opened on Halloween night and did three evening performances. It was a great way to meet new students and be a part of something bigger. He’s already considering applying for the spring musical, which starts in just a couple weeks!

The first pictures were taken by their photographer at a dress rehearsal. Then I got some bow pictures (poorly the first night – I was clumsy! plus more during the closing night director thanks). Last there are some post-show pics, coming out in the hall and at Denny’s with the crew (I wasn’t there). The last night they had a big cast party that Jack said was his first “real” party. It’s too bad theater is so much hard work for weeks, punctuated by only a couple days of high emotions and friendships 😀

I scored a table for our family to try out the new remodeled Casa Bonita. It was just like we remembered – but better! The air was clean, the lights were bright, and everything was clean and happy. Divers, musicians, puppet shows, animatronics – they were all all working merrily. The food was not amazing, but tasty enough. Jack sort of remembered going to Casa Bonita before it closed down, but Sam had no memories. It was packed with millennials – not many kids! I’d say less than half the parties, maybe even only a quarter, had a kid in their group. That’s a shame. I hope when the excitement dies down it can become a family hotspot again. I’m just gonna do a big photo dump to mark the event 😀

Jack has really taken to the kitchen this year. He started baking cookies over the summer. We recreated pasta from scratch, like he made in Italy. He relishes making his weekend lunches of ramen or cheesy melts.

Sam got Covid sometime while we were in San Francisco. Luckily it was just one day of feeling very sick, then it was like a mild cold for another few days. Also lucky – we were able to keep him isolated and no one else caught it! He had four teeth pulled to make room for incoming adult teeth. He also had his 11-year-old vaccines, together with the fall flu shot and covid booster he had 5 shots. Poor guy! He’s been loving video games and cat times. We spent some time cleaning and updated his room too.

The kids both started new schools – 6th grade middle school for Sam and 9th grade high school for Jack. Sam is doing great! He loves his classes. For electives he has Orchestra, Robotics, and World Languages & Cultures. For clubs he goes to D&D club on Friday mornings. He has a lot of great friends still from elementary school. Jack is having a rougher transition – all but one of his friends opted to the other high school that’s farther away (and more wealthy and less diverse). We seriously considered that school, but the local school down the street seemed to have the advantage in academics, choices, opportunities, and certainly convenience. He’s taking a heavy load of classes to fit in everything he wants to do by senior year, including Orchestra, Spanish, and Weightlifting for his PE credit. All his core classes are honors/AP. He’s also on crew for the fall play, Murder on the Orient Express. I’m glad he got in so he can meet more potential friends and get involved right away, but this group has a HEAVY workload. Three days a week he stays until 6pm to work, and every weekend has had a work day this month. He’s not enjoying being the small fry and hasn’t buddied up with anyone new yet, but I hope once performances start he’ll enjoy it more. At the very least, when the show is done he’ll reclaim a ton of free time.

Ben and I are busy with work. I’m slowly gaining confidence at the hospital and not sweating with anxiety the night before 😀 Right now I’m not working much – I only scheduled my 5 shifts for this 6 week term and they called me off on the 5th one for low census.

It’s allowed me to indulge in my old hobbies – dance and crafting. I barely made 1 class a week since July. This week I’ve gone twice and I plan to dance tomorrow too!! I got to work on Sam’s halloween costume this week. He’s going to be a pioneer from the game Satisfactory. I sewed the costume from thrift store clothes and cobbled together the accessories from here and there. The helmet was a big obstacle. After considering several methods I attempted to 3D print the design provided by a cosplay build channel. After days of printing, followed by painting and gluing, today it’s finished!

Because I’m crazy I started ANOTHER hobby – roller skating! A friend at Zumba told me about adult skate nights. I’ve been wanting to take up roller skating for years but never did because 1) I have enough hobbies 2) I’ll probably hurt myself. Well, I did it anyway. I found got another new friend, the mom of one of Sam’s friends, to be brave with me. We rented skates and went to the Belmar Roller City adult night and it was so much fun!! I was right though – I got hurt super bad. I fell on my tailbone harshly. I heard it crack-crack-crack up to my neck and had minor vision and hearing loss and my Apple watch dialed 911. Yikes. At least I had wrist guards that probably saved my arms. My friend helped me off the rink, we rested for a while, then skated a little longer before going home. Despite the probably hairline fracture in my tailbone I couldn’t stop thinking about skating again. I had to skip dance for a couple weeks. At work I passed out tylenol, ibuprofen, and lidocaine patches – while wearing a patch and swallowing meds from my own supply during breaks! It’s been a month and I’m ALMOST back to normal. I still can’t sit with my feet up or roll down from a seated position to supine. In the meantime I got skates AND a full set of padding. My friend and I have gone out three more times since that first night, with more confidence, skill, and less falling each time!

I’m too shy/nervous to take my phone out on the floor, but I snagged a short video of the heel-toe-manual I was working on that night (why did I have my arms up like that??):

The kids both performed on their cellos for orchestra class this month. Please enjoy some videos!

Sam’s middle school music program is overflowing! I had a hard time seeing him in the back. After the first song I got up to film standing in the back of the auditorium. My new phone has a x5 telephoto lens zoom and I put it through its paces trying to get good shots of Sam.

Jack plays in the “Strings” orchestra at high school and he’s first chair for cello! I’m a big fan of Mr. V so far. He’s calm, organized, and efficient. He got through four separate orchestra groups in less than one hour! Jack was chosen to give the introduction speech for their second song. He says this is first time public speaking to an audience this size. He did wonderfully!

Happy Birthday, Sam!!! I feel like he’s been 11 for a long time because he’s so mature and young in his class. It’s real now, and it was a special year – his birthday was on Friday the 13th, just like his original birthday!

He started his Friday with pancakes. This was also the first day of D&D club at school. He had a super fun time and is excited to play again before classes every Friday. He and his elementary gang are starting a new campaign. In class they sang to him in Spanish in his World Languages class.

After school we opened presents. He got a lot of cool tech this year! Not only did he get his first cell phone, but a new Kindle, a new headset, and a new keyboard. We also we set up a large monitor and organized his desk space. He loves gaming there now. We had (I forget…Chick fil A?) for dinner and then got Coldstone ice cream for dessert.

Saturday night Sam celebrated with friends at Thane’s Tavern – a gaming restaurant. I booked the Wynchwood Forest private room and Ben had his friend, a professional DM, lead a custom campaign. The kids had an absolute blast! (I made a chocolate D20 cake, but we ended up not serving it because it was pretty noisy and the service was a little hectic, so we enjoyed it at home over the next week. )

Ok, looking through Andy’s file and he had some great ones that I had to download and re-post here!