Ticket to Ride

So happy to be on an adventure!

There were fish in the middle of the mall.

Long winters do crazy things to the psyche. On Saturday we knew we had to get out of the house. Jared was shut up in his room singing gibberish at the top of his lungs, and Ruth was on her third or fourth hour of screen time.  It was another cold day and we were packed into fog that left only about fifty yards of visibility in every direction.  So we bundled up and headed for the new Trax line that is only ten minutes from our house.  The kids were not too thrilled about the adventure at first but they warmed up to it as we went.  We rode downtown and visited the new City Creek mall, that literally has a creek running down the middle of it, complete with fish, and a dancing fountain.  

Our Icicles Have Icicles

It's been hard for Jared to be off-track  all these weeks and it's been too cold to go outside.  His old mom doesn't have much tolerance for snow and cold, so we've spent most of our time hanging out together watching TV and playing video games. We brought Summer, our rabbit, inside the house back in December, when the temperature dropped.  She has been even more stir crazy than we have, so one day Jared decided to build a 'bunny run' for her that more than doubled her living area. We unattach it at night or whenever it gets in the way, so it's worked out really well.

Jared also finished another round of swim lessons where he passed another two levels.  He learned both the front crawl and the back stroke.  I've pushed him on swimming lessons this year to get him ready for the Boy Scout swim test he will have to take next year when he starts going to scout camps.  With this last class he has now has the skills to reach that goal.  It took quite a bit of prodding to  go out into single digit weather for swim lessons but he did it and I'm proud of him.


Half Way There

The girls have come to the end of the semester which means the half way point for the school year.  They both had test and projects due, so this three day weekend is a welcomed respite.  Kaitlin made a mouse trap car that (with a little help from mom and a late night run for a new mousetrap) won 2nd place in her class. It went something like 50 feet.  Ruth is all signed up for auditions for her school musical, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, and has been practicing her audition piece.  Kaitlin too, is signed up for a community production of Footloose, but practices won't start for a couple more months.  (Kaitlin's high school was big news a few weeks ago because the musical they were doing was found to be not appropriate by the school board.  Back when they held auditions, Kaitlin decided not to do the show, partly because she did not feel comfortable with the theme and sexual content, and we agreed that she could do this community production instead).

Dance Showcase

The semester is almost at an end and Kaitlin has been very busy.  This week she performed in the Dance Showcase, the culminating event of her Ballroom Dance class.  Her class performed a swing number to 50's music.  She said it went really well and she had a great time.   I wish I had a video or something to show you but unfortunately I missed it.  That same night was our big Blue and Gold District training dinner for Cub Scouts that I was helping with.  Kaitlin was a good sport about me missing her show and she put on a private dance concert for me right in the kitchen.  I was amazed to see what a good dancer Kaitlin had become in just a few months.

Back to It

After a blissful Christmas vacation, and a fun new years party with good friends, we put Christmas away and all got back to life this week. All except Jared, who is off-track until the end of the month.  Boy does the morning come early after sleeping in for two weeks!

Unexpected Win

On Thursday we went to council level Reflections ceremonies for both Ruth and Jared.  We were disappointed that Ruth's literature and music composition did not win.  We were, however, totally surprised that Ruth's video entry did win and is going on to the regional competition.  Surprised because we didn't know that she had won for video at the school level and that it was even in play at the council level. No one ever told her.  For her council win she got a Cafe Rio gift card.  So far Ruth has made $70 in gift cards from Reflections.  Jared's video, unfortunately, did not win at the council level.  Of course we thought his was much better than the ones that won.