World's Greatest Dad

Nothing really says Happy Father's Day like kitschy plastic crap bought in a last minute shopping flurry. (You know you bought your father one of these hideous objects at least once in the 70's.) Father's Day is, in my opinion (which is the one that really matters, just ask me) ,one of the most underrated holidays we Americans celebrate. Get a tie (or cheap, tacky statue) a card and your done--father appreciated. However, when your husband actually deserves the title "Worlds' Greatest Dad", no meaningless-crappy-plastic sentiment will serve to celebrate him.


Bill is that Dad. In order to honor all he does for his family, we needed two days rather than the customary one. As a surprise, I had booked a room at Snowbird where the plan was to bike and hike and swim all day in one of Bill's favorite places (the mountains) . Then waking up and doing another one of Bill's favorite activities- eating at an all you can eat Sunday brunch. Mother Nature is a jealous lady and would not suffer that the weather on Father's Day be nicer than it was on her day (Mother's Day). So what we got instead was a soggy, short bike ride (if 8 miles is really considered short) and swimming in a hail/rain storm. The good news is, because we were in the hotel early that evening, Bill and I were able to enjoy a rare date at the hotel bistro while the kids were happy in the room watching a movie. We tried to sneak a hike in on Sunday, only to be turned away by closed roads and wind and rain. Not all went according to plan, but often the best times are the times you don't plan.

So, here is to the actual "World's Greatest Dad". Happy Father's Day! We love and appreciate all you do for us.

Capitol Theatre

Salt Lake City has a beautiful theatre known as the "Capitol Theatre". In which occur wonderful dance, music and theater performances throughout the year. However, tonight, our neighbor to the east, the State Capitol Building, was transformed into a different type of theatre. In an effort to build a spirit of community, the state is hosting family "Movies on the Lawn" in front of the capitol, but it was rained out this week and in order to let the event occur as scheduled on this rainy night , another of many in row, they moved the event indoors under the sky painted on the capitol rotunda.

Figuring there may not be many times we can watch a late night movie inside the capitol, we made sure we headed over. We set up our blankets on top of the marble floor, picked up our free bag of kettle corn and settled in to watch KUNG FU PANDA on the giant blow up movie screen. There were not many people there and the entire experience was quite lovely.

So, for one night only, our city enjoyed two Capitol Theatres.

Ode To June

Freedom of days spent playing on the side of streams. Finding sticks and rocks and watching them splash in the water or float downstream. Friends to play with in parks of green grass. Statues and monuments on which to climb. Merry-go-rounds to ride and kickball to play. Soaking in sunlight on walks in a canyon. Biking and hiking, climbing up trees, and relishing the freedom of my kids.

Never Say Never

This past Memorial Day, Bill and I loaded up all of our bikes (and Romney's ride-a-long attachment) and took the boys on a great 20 mile bike ride along the new Legacy Parkway Trail. It was a perfect day all around and we thought it would be a good time to bring up to Romney that he may want to learn how to ride a two wheeled bike. His response to our gentle suggestion- "I am NEVER, EVER, going to learn how to ride a two wheeler. I am going to ride on the back of Dad's bike FOREVER!" With such a violent response we just gave up on the idea for now and figured we would wait a few months and try again. A couple of days ago we were talking about having a bike riding play date, but couldn't because Dad couldn't come to attach Romney's "bike" to his. Romney said "Maybe I am ready to learn how to ride a two wheeler." The weather was not terribly co-operative, but we caught a break in the clouds for a few hours this morning and William suggested we head out to try. Romney reluctantly agreed.
We took him down the hill to Warm Springs Park, where William had learned to ride his bike and put him on a tennis court (softer than gravel landing) and told him to use his bike like a scooter and just try and push off and balance. All 3 of us were shouting encouragement and tips and he was DONE with us. He relegated us all to the outside of the fence around the courts and said he would do it himself, and he did. He scooted for about 10 minutes and then started to pedal a few times.
This spontaneous pose is what happened after he was able to pedal a few times and not fall. He was elated. Pride oozed out of every single pore and he kept on going until rain made him stop. He was up to 12 pedals at a time, and then would run out of room. We promised him if the sun came out again we would go back out. Around 6:00 the rain broke up and he begged us to take him back. We told him of a place with a relatively soft landing pad and long straight-a-ways and asked if he wanted to try there. Hesitantly, he decided he was up for the challenge of a new venue and we raced to West High's jogging track.
30 minutes later the child was doing 1/8 mile at a stretch. He said he only had to stop because he "had to wipe his nose because of these stinkin' allergies." He was lapping Bill and I who were walking the track behind him. He must have easily done a mile and a half on that track before we made him leave for dinner. Not bad for a first day from a boy who said a couple of weeks earlier "I will NEVER ride a two-wheeler."

Sleepover with our Nebraska buddies

The two handsome young men to the left have been friends since before preschool. They found each other on a soccer team, and are still best of friends. William misses this friend dreadfully since they moved to Nebraska 3 years ago. But every summer, we get a visit from our friends and take our yearly photo to see how much the kids have grown. (See older posts for proof). As a special treat, we always try to include a sleepover/pizza-movie night so they can really have some fun together.
This beauty has been Romney's "sudo-sister" since they were infants. They would play at least 6 hours a week together while they lived in town, and when they get together it is remarkably like no time has passed, though they are still so young.


What sleepover would be complete without a pillow-fight? I heard squeals of delight and came into Romney's room to find this scene. It was so darling, I ran to get the camera to try and capture a minute or two.

We love our Tyrrells.

No More Teachers, No More Books

After posting daily for 10 days in Dublin and London I had blog-burn-out. (That is a real condition, right?) But after an emotional last day of school, the blog-burn-out has alleviated, and I am returning to my job as family historian.

Today was the official last day of school, and in true Open Classroom style, it was not without a bit of Drama. With a mere two days of school left to be celebrated, the dreaded swine flu epidemic hit home. (Thankfully not our home!) Several (around 20-30) kids had terrible flu symptoms and several were confirmed cases of the H1N1 bug. This meant many students would not be attending the last two days for one of two reasons: they were sick or they were afraid of becoming sick. Not ones to enjoy having any kind of flu, swine or not, Bill and I decided to limit our families exposure and skip Monday, but we all went in today to enjoy last day festivities. Romney's sweet Kindergarten teacher, Ruth, had prepared the traditional O.C. awards (Romney got the Verbal, Vivacious Vocabulary and Funkeys Lover Award) and had planted a start from a plant she received as a 5th grade O.C. student (she is herself a graduate of the Open Classroom. She got her law degree and decided to become a teacher after discovering how much she disliked practicing law.) Now they can all grow their own plants as they grow as people. They had their brunch and watched the DVD of photos from the year that I had made for the class. After that, the parents were removed from the class and they had a "flower ceremony". Romney said they each picked a cut flower out that reminded them of themselves. He picked one with lots of little daisy looking sprouts on one stem. He said he was one of the flowers and his kindergarten friends were the rest. I loved that he took the ceremony seriously. (Sometimes serious is a problem for Romney).



(Posting the picture to the left is a sort of a lesson to William who allowed me only one shot and decided to make this face! If he is unhappy with the fact it is now public domain, I wouldn't blame him, but it is the only shot he would allow me to take.) William's last day was bitter-sweet this year. He is moving on to a new school next year after 5 beautiful years at the Open Classroom. It was my last day as a co-oper in his classroom. His class (along with most of the school) served as audience for the 8th grade graduation for most of the morning. They headed to recess and had a nice brunch and came back for the awards (William received the Mellow Marvel Comics Master award.) This is the part I was unwilling to miss. I have been with many of those kiddos as a co-oper since Kindergarten 5 years ago. Transitioning to middle school next year and so many kids heading their separate ways has been very emotional for me. It was a nice chance to celebrate the children and have a chance for hugs and well wishes.
William has been blessed to have some great friends. (They may not look like much in this picture, but they are pretty good boys.) One of his best friends was not able to share in the last day festivities due swine flu misery, but he was there in spirit and (luckily) headed off to Middle School with most of the others in this picture. To cap off the celebrations, the kids and I, plus good friends, the Bates, headed off for some mini-golf/laser tag/video game fun at Boondocks. The boys went to bed happy and excited to start their summer break!