Before I get into all of our latest updates, I feel like I need to apologize to Ava for forgetting to mention her tonsillectomy in my last post. She had her tonsils removed in late June, just a few days after finishing the school year, and I took the day off in order to be able to take her to and from the appointment.
It was funny because not only was it the same surgery center where I had both my elbow surgeries last year, but she even had the same prep room as me. I was with her the entire time (except for the actual surgery) and I couldn’t believe how well she dealt with everything. I honestly think I forgot to mention it because she was such a champ throughout the whole experience and recovery that it was easy to forget anything even happened. I ended up seeing her removed tonsils and couldn’t believe how big they were, so I’m glad we got this done sooner than later. Her recovery went perfectly, and as expected, she was chomping at the bit to get back to her usual high level of activity. Overall Jessica and I were both very impressed with how well she dealt with the whole thing and it seems to be having a positive effect in terms of her sleeping and breathing.
Since my last post was on Elise’s actual birthday, it means that we hadn’t had her party yet. We ended up throwing a party at the house the following Saturday and it was a lot of fun. We rented a big bouncy castle and had it setup in our driveway. We made a bunch of food, and luckily it was one of the most beautiful days we’ve had this summer. Overall the weather this summer has been a big disappointment, but that day was a nice exception.
We had a big turnout to the party, and now that both girls are in school, we’re starting to get more kids at our parties. In many cases they’re actually our neighbors from just a few streets over, but we didn’t know them until our daughters became friends in school. In the end, Elise had an awesome day, and we appreciate everyone who was able to come out and celebrate her. She is now very much excited to begin first grade, as well as get back to figure skating lessons in the fall.
The only bummer to come from Elise’s birthday party was the fact that Jessica dropped a paver stone on her right foot and broke her big toe. She had to see a specialist, which turned out to be the same doctor I saw when I broke my big toe in a skateboarding accident 3 years ago. Luckily no surgery was required, and a boot wasn’t really necessary either, so she’s been wearing clogs (per doctor’s orders) and toughing it out. She has still been working, so hopefully it’s fully healed soon.
I think one of the main things that we will remember this summer for is it being our discovery of BMX racing. Enzo has been obsessed with racing for a while now (shocking I know) and after I showed him a video of a BMX race on YouTube he was instantly asking if he could do that. I knew there was a local track at McCollum Park, so I did a bit of research, sent a few emails, and invited a few neighbor kids out to join us.
We went out for a free practice session, and as expected, Enzo was immediately hooked. The girls were both very eager to try as well, so we let them get out there in subsequent track visits. This was all about a month ago at this point, but basically what has transpired is this: Enzo is now obsessed with bike racing, Ava really likes riding out on the track and is happy to compete in a race, but doesn’t get hung up on winning. She’s just loving being out there. Elise gave it a shot but fell several times and decided it’s not her thing, which is totally fine with Jessica and me.
After going to several practice sessions, we took Enzo to his first race, which turned out to be a state race up in Mt. Vernon. He did awesome, but just missed qualifying for the final by less than one bike length (see video below). Then the very next day he did another race at our local track, and this time Ava raced as well! Then just this past Saturday, after several more practice sessions, they both ran in another race at our local track. We got some cool videos that have been posted to my YouTube channel, but you can check them out below.
I have to admit that I’ve really been enjoying around BMX racing and look forward to getting out on the track with them next year. There’s plenty of parents out there having a good time, and I know the kids would like having me ride with them, so we’ll see. Overall I enjoy being actively involved in these kinds of activities with them, so this should be fun once the time comes.
Speaking of involvement with activities, I am nearly complete with my training to become a Level 1 coach with USA Hockey. At this point I’ve done my background check and about 8 hours of online training. The only remaining step for me is to attend a 4 hour in-person class, then I’ll be good to go as an assistant coach on the Washington Wild 8U team! I’m pretty excited about it, but Miss Ava is over the moon. I think there’s only about 6 more weeks of the offseason, so things will be getting going before we know it.
Before I move on, I just want to say that it’s been really cool watching Enzo find something he loves. If you watch the videos you can see the joy in his eyes, and if you spend time with him you can really tell how much he loves it. I hope he sticks with it because there’s no doubt he has natural talent. Plus the race announcers love saying his name!
In Ava’s case, she will be the first one to tell you that hockey is her first love, but that this is still a ton of fun. As I’m learning in the hockey coaching courses, it’s a bad idea to force a child to specialize in one sport starting at a young age, so I see BMX racing as an awesome form of offseason cross training for her. Plus you’re out there in the fresh air, meeting other kids, and getting a ton of activity. It’s great for her.
One thing I’m already learning is that bike-related hobbies and racing-related hobbies have one thing in common: they’re expensive. That’s okay though, as Jessica and I are already in agreement that one area we’re willing to live slightly more extravagantly in is in regards to supporting the kids in their various activities. We want them to find things they love and invest themselves in these things. I think the challenge for me will be staying on the sidelines…
A couple weeks ago Ava and Elise finished summer school. It went really well and they both feel good about starting the school year at their new school. After that we celebrated with summer haircuts for both of them, which turned out really cute. Since summer is so short for them, we wanted to make the most of the days we do have. Therefore I recently took a Friday off work and we did a day trip to Slidewaters, the water park in Lake Chelan. I’ve been going there since I was a kid, but had never made a day trip of it until now. Honestly it wasn’t bad at all, but our Odyssey is pretty ideal for family road trips, so that doesn’t hurt.
As expected for this summer, the weather was not on our side. We got dumped on going through the pass, and by the time we arrived in Chelan it was cloudy and drizzly. We decided to just make the best of it, and expect to be a bit cold all day. What we didn’t think about though, was the fact that you have to keep walking uphill to go on slides, so you do that once or twice and suddenly you’re not cold anymore.
We met up with our friends Leon and his son Miles at the waterpark, and the kids were all thrilled to slide together. Eventually the weather got better as the day wore on, and our last 90 minutes at the park was gorgeous. Afterwards we went to a local diner for dinner and, to no one’s surprise, everyone cleaned their plates after a full day of slides and swimming. Driving back was really no big deal, and now that we know we can do this, I think we’ll start doing day trips to Chelan every summer. Jessica and I will actually be back there for Labor Day weekend as part of Kristy and Beto’s bachelor/bachelorette weekend. Hopefully the weather will be on our side this time, but I’m not holding my breath.
This past weekend my Mom came up from Vegas to visit us. Now that Paine Field in Everett is open for commercial flights it’s super easy for her to come up. It only took 20 minutes from our front door to get her, so that was awesome.
We wanted to stay busy with lots of fun stuff while she was here, so we started Friday off by going to the Taste of Edmonds. There were lots of food trucks, live music on multiple stages, and plenty of bouncy castles for the kids to enjoy. Some of the food we enjoyed included Alaskan Weathervane scallops over rice pilaf with red curry sauce, lobster corn dogs, and a mini doughnut variety sampler.
Later that evening we attended another play at the Everett Kids Stage. A couple months ago we saw their production of ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’, and honestly we were all really impressed. Based on that we thought it would be fun to see their new ‘School of Rock’ production with Nana.
Based on how good the last show was, our expectations were high, but I can still say with confidence that they surpassed expectations, and that this show was even better. They had a live band under the stage being led by a conductor, yet kids on stage were still playing songs and solos. The performances were great and everyone really enjoyed the show. We definitely plan on going back there for more shows in the future.
On Saturday morning we headed to the local BMX track for another race. Nana was excited to see Ava and Enzo race, and it turned out pretty exciting, especially since Enzo had an epic crash with another kid right at the finish line of the final race. Check out the video below to see what I mean.
Later that day we all went down to Kristy’s house for a post-birthday BBQ. I wanted to make sure my Mom got to see some family while she was in town, so this was a nice way to hang out and have a chill Saturday afternoon. The kids always love seeing Madi, Enzo loves playing with Uncle Jim, and we always have a nice time hanging out, so it was great.
Sunday was a quiet day at home. The kids enjoyed making chocolate chip cookies with Nana, then later that afternoon I got out to play some hockey while Nana and the kids stayed home to watch movies.
Monday was her last day with us, and unfortunately I had to go to work, so Jess and the kids took her to the Arboretum for a little nature walk. Then they all enjoyed some Ivar’s for lunch before making their way back to the airport.
I just want to say thank you to Nana for coming to spend time with us. The kids were just talking about how much they miss her. We really enjoyed the weekend and look forward to the next one!
Jessica has recently been working some really cool private events. A couple weeks ago she worked this private wedding at a mansion on the waterfront for an older couple renewing their vows. She said she had never seen anything like it: 300 yards of waterfront property, a rose garden, exotic car collection, a private nature walk, tennis courts, etc. They hired some guy currently on the radio called Bazzi to perform 3 songs at the reception. The whole thing was totally over the top, but it was cool that she got to be a part of it.
Then this past Sunday she worked a private event at the Seahawks training facility. It was being held during their pre-season game at Minnesota as a fundraising event. Steve Largent was there, they did an auction for charity, and she said the facility was pretty awesome to see.
I’ve been staying busy working on a few projects, and just recently released another song recording. This one is a cover of the Super Mario Brothers theme song, but with a heavy metal feel, so I’m calling it ‘Mario Militia‘. It was an interesting challenge covering an existing song rather than writing something from scratch, and I’m happy with how it turned out.
Coming up next for us is a visit from Grandpa Rick, who will be watching the kids while Jessica and I go to Lake Chelan for the wedding party weekend. He has all kinds of fun stuff planned to do with them, like going to see our favorite mascot Webbly at an AquaSox game. I’m sure they’re going to have a great time, and we’re all looking forward to seeing him.
It’s only a couple more weeks until school gets back in session and everyone is back on the grind. As always, lots of good stuff going on, and lots to look forward to. Enjoy the videos and photos.
