Zoo and Our Dog

I really love the Timehop App, every day I open it up to see what fun things happened in years past. Oftentimes there is nothing very exciting. Other days it is completely full of awesomeness. For example, last year at this time we took a trip to Florida, so there have been lots of fun pictures to reminiscence over.

In addition to the Florida pictures, something else has been showing up with frequency. Apparently, this is the time of year we visit the zoo. After seeing pictures over several days this week I decided it was time to continue the tradition and make a 2018 visit. Last year, we had to go to see the new baby panda. And I was anxious to see how he had grown. So, on Saturday morning, we hired a dog sitter and set out for DC. Much to Luke's annoyance, we opted to drive rather than take the train. It was very hard for him to have a good time after that major disappointment.

This has been the rainiest winter I think I've ever experienced. We often have a lot of rain in early Spring, but this is the first year I can recall so much rain this time of year. Our yard is a mud pit and we are extremely tired of it. However, the day at the zoo was the first weekend day in a while with nice weather and it was wonderful to be outside. And, of course, the pandas did not disappointment. I love them so much! It makes me happy just thinking about it. Kara's favorite area is small mammals, Jack loves the Ape House and no trip is complete for Anna without a stop in Amazonia. We made sure to hit everyone's favorites (except Luke, who only wanted to see the metro train and did not understand why we couldn't ride it home). Regardless, we had a great time! We packed a lunch and enjoyed walking around outside seeing all the animals. It wasn't very crowded and with the exception of the Asia Trail, the animals were active.

Isn't he adorable?

Kara spotted the creature in the tree

This bird flew right next to Kara, caught her a bit off guard, but she recovered enough for a picture.

Other than our zoo trip, it has been a quiet time in our house. Between the new puppy and the near constant rain, we haven't really done much. We have made a new tradition to visit Café Rio on Friday nights, which has been fun. Of course, the tradition is only two weeks old, but so far so good. Although, we may switch it up to Tuesdays because that is cheap burrito/salad day. We certainly love having it so close by, hopefully nobody gets sick of it anytime soon!

As I have mentioned the adjustment to life with a dog has been difficult. I didn't quite grasp the idea that a puppy is a lot like a toddler. And, I knew it would be a lot of work, but I guess I didn't realize just how much. As anyone who knows me knows, I have never wanted a dog. I LOVE traveling and going away on the weekends, or at least leaving early in the day and coming home late at night. We have 4 kids and full-time jobs. Adding a dog into our mix was pure insanity. And, I decide to undo it. I found a rehoming group and posted an ad. Within hours I had many, many interested people. After all, who, other than me, wouldn't want such an adorable puppy? I had the kids on board and Thomas was willing. We convinced ourselves it would be better for everyone, including Gus. He is young and would adapt easily. But, when push came to shove, it just didn't feel right. We have grown attached to our little fluff ball. So, we have decided to keep him. It's only about 12 years of our lives. Ugh!

Kara's Birthday

Kara turns 9 today! For her birthday, she asked for a Harry Potter themed party. We told her she could invite 5 friends. When you have 3 siblings, adding in even 5 kids makes for a pretty big party, at least in my opinion. She tried to be very methodical in choosing her guests. Naturally, there were more than 5 she could think of, so she tried to choose those who she knew enjoyed Harry Potter and to reciprocate with friends whose parties she had recently attended. It was as good a system as any to narrow the guest list. One of her invitees had a brother tag along, so we ended up with 10 kids. Which worked out, because that was precisely how many our "great hall" could comfortably handle.

This was our first party at home since Kara turned 4. She wanted to have a feast, play Harry Potter Scene It and watch one of the movies. For all that fun, we figured we needed about 5 hours. Thomas was in charge of decorating the Great Hall and the wand/owl sort. I was in charge of supplies, food and the other activities. The division of labor worked out well.

The Great Hall complete with floating candles.

Our entryway

The guests arrived at 11 and were seated in the dining room. There, they met Professor Rumblewindow, who was very similar in mannerism to Professor Snape. The kids loved him! He introduced them to the wandmaker who asked each child a series of questions to determine their perfect wand. Once that was done, they looked under their chairs to find the name of their owl taped to the bottom. After they found the matching owls, we gave them a few minutes to practice their spells before the feast.

This party was brought to you courtesy of  Professor Rumblewindow and Professor Wilson.

Luke really liked this part.

Kara chose the food: salisbury steak, broccoli with cheese sauce, Kraft macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and rolls. We also had strawberries and Polyjuice Potion (green Hawaiian Punch). We figured there was enough variety that the kids would be happy and they were. After the food, everyone chose a "sorting cookie". It was a chocolate chip cookie topped with an ice cream cone that contained m&m's in the color of their house. That determined our teams for Scene It. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff teamed up and beat Gryffindor and Slytherin. I'd like to say it was close, because I was on the losing team, but it was a pretty big victory for R & H. Fortunately, most of the kids had fun. A couple of the younger ones (Luke and one other) abandoned the game to play in the basement, which was fine.

Sorting hat cookies

After Scene It, the kids played a game with Jelly Beans, just like Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, they didn't know what they were going to get. The game had matching Jelly Beans, one was a good flavor, the other gross.  For example white could be either spoiled milk or coconut. The kids loved it! They played for quite a while. Then, we took pictures with our photo opportunity, which I made with templates found at:  http://www.papertraildesign.com/harry-potter-party-photobooth-easy-diy/

Bertie Botts mystery beans.

Kayce was game to give it a try!

This one was my favorite :)

Next, it was time for cake pops. Normally, I would have made them. In fact, I had a plan in place and the supplies to make them designed after the golden snitch. But, there just wasn't time. I had Friday off from work, but as mentioned in the previous blog, I was volunteering at the kids' school. Friday night was time to cash in on one of my Christmas presents--tickets to see Adam Corolla. It was a fun date night, we had dinner at Chevy's and then went to the Kennedy Center. The comedy was funny and the company was fantastic. But, we left at 4:30 and didn't get home until after 11, so there wasn't much time on Friday. Something had to give and we decided it would be the cake pops. I was very glad I ordered them; they came out super cute and the baking pro did a nice Harry Potter assortment in two flavors chosen by Kara. Of course, I forgot to get a picture, but it was money well spent.

You can see them a bit in the box here.

So, the kids had their cake pops and Kara opened her presents. By now it was a bit after 2 and time to start the movie. Kara had chosen The Chamber of Secrets. We let the kids munch on chips, cookies, pretzel wands, little cakes and the rest of the leftover food. I thought we had a ton of food, but by about 3, most of it was gone. Those kids could eat!

Most of the kids watched the movie, but again, a couple decided to play in the basement instead. By the time 4 rolled around, I was exhausted and happy to see the arriving parents. Overall, I would call the party a success. I definitely prefer the ease of simply going to Great Wolf Lodge or a local party place, but it was fun to do. Now, Anna and Jack are saying they want to have parties at home too. Fortunately, October is a long way off and I am guessing they will change their minds between now and then!

Today is Kara's actual birthday. I am home with a "sick" Luke. He did throw up last night, but it appears he just has my weak stomach, because he is completely fine today. Jack threw up Saturday night. Also, not sick. His instance was not surprising. Pretty much anytime he drinks more than a cup of something other than water, he throws up a few hours later. Luke we weren't sure on, so I kept him home. The sick day has been nice, Thomas is going to come home for his lunch break, so that I can bring Kara lunch at school (which I had planned on anyway). Tonight, she has chosen Potbelly for her birthday dinner and a super easy cake, modeled after the one Hagrid made Harry. Should be a fun night. To close us out, a picture of the birthday girl, showing off her wand and owl party favors. (Every wand and every owl were different.)

Report Cards, Dentist, International Day

The kids and I had dentist appointments on the same day, but at different times and different places. It was a day dedicated to oral hygiene. I was relieved to find that none of us had cavities. We try and stress the importance of taking good care of your teeth, but I think our pleas often fall on deaf ears. Kara is really good at brushing, flossing, and using mouth wash. Jack and Anna are hit or miss. Thomas and I still brush Luke's teeth, so we figured he would be fine. Regardless, I always hold my breath a bit. We walk a fine line between trying to terrify our kids of the consequences of a cavity and making sure they aren't scared of the dentist. But, I figure if they ever do have cavities, I will have some major backpedaling to do. So, I am glad to put that off for at least another 6 months.

The older kids got their second report card of the year last week. Kara got straight As and Jack and Anna made the A/B honor roll. We are mostly proud. Jack and Anna could have easily had straight A's with slightly more work. We don't care as much about the grade as the effort and we feel not all our kids are putting forth their best effort. We really want them to establish good habits now.

On Friday, I attended my 3rd International Day at the kids' school. It is held every two years and is a definite highlight for everyone. There are six areas in the school and each is a designated country. The kids walk through and learn about the country through different activities, crafts, foods, etc. This year's theme was the Winter Olympics, which was smart and well-timed (purposefully, I am sure) to get the kids excited about this year's games. I walked around with Jack's class. Since Anna is also a fourth grader, she was on the same rotation. But, since she is in a different class, she had a different chaperone and was usually in a different spot. But, I still got to see her a bit. And, when we went to Kara's classroom, she gave the speech for her class (which she had memorized). It was about a treat found in Russian bakeries, then her classmates passed out donut holes (half the students give the lesson to the travelers in the morning and half in the afternoon, the kids not remaining in the class are traveling). It really is a super fun event and it takes a ton of work on the teachers' parts. The classroom decorations are generally very elaborate. Some of the teacher's dress up and all plan a good activity. My first year, I went with Anna's class. Two years ago, I was with Kara, and this year was Jack. I feel fortunate that my kids get to go to such a nice school and that I am still able to participate in some of their activities. And, with Luke starting in two years, I still have three more International Days to go before they all graduate from Elementary School.

One hallway

Kara and some classmates.

Anna practicing the luge

Jack "ice skating"

Work

On July 24th, I started my new job. After almost 7 years of being a (mostly) stay-at-home mom, I returned to the workforce. I've written about this in bits and pieces before, but today, I am dedicating the blog to my work pursuits. This is mainly because I just returned from my first work trip. But, before I get to that, some general thoughts. Since it has now been 6 full months, I feel that is long enough to have an informed opinion.

Overall, I enjoy my job. It is stressful at times and it has made our home life more hectic. But, I enjoy being in an office again and contributing to a team. My coworkers are nice and easy to work with and my immediate supervisor is fantastic. I kind of like the work I do. I like my main job, but some of the ancillary duties are frustrating and difficult. And, they take up far more of my time than they are supposed to. In some ways, this is good, as the days go by really quickly. In other ways, it is frustrating and makes me pretty unhappy at times. I do think I am really good at leaving it all at the office. When it is time to leave, I shut down my computer and figure I will face whatever it is the next day. Of course, being a double income family again has definite perks; we are still careful, but we also have a bit more freedom.

One of the drawbacks is occasional work trips. They will decrease in frequency the longer I am there, but I do have to go to several trainings in my first year or two. The first of which was this week. You may recall the horror over (so, I ended my writing mid-sentence last night and I have no idea what horror I was referring to--although, I'm super curious.  Post, post-note--this referenced that the trip coincided with Hamilton).

The first day of the orientation was in DC. I drove up on Monday night with a few of my coworkers so we would be ready to report early on Tuesday morning. The first day was listening to high-ranking people talk about the organization and provide different perspectives on a wide range of topics. It was a good information and there are lots of interesting jobs.

The second day we took a bus to Quantico. We got to do some simulators, one with weapons on a convoy and the other shooting various weapons. I learned that ammunition is incredibly expensive. We had lunch at a mess hall and sat with Marines nearing the end of their 6-month OCS (or, whatever the Marines call it). The food was surprisingly good. We did a tour of the base and I learned that Quantico is far more extensive than I realized. I previously thought of it solely as the training base for the FBI, but it is a huge Marine installation with a vast amount of land. After we wrapped up at Quantico, we got back on the bus and headed for Norfolk.

In Norfolk, we toured the Comfort, one of two Navy hospital ships. It was most recently deployed to Puerto Rico to serve those impacted by hurricane Maria. They were there for something like 53 days and saw a couple thousand patients, all completely free of charge (well, free of charge to the patients anyway). It was pretty cool to be on a floating hospital. We were given our tour by the head nurse, and he walked us through the ship in the same way a patient being seen would view the ship. It is impressive what they can do and the tour was very informative.

We also went to an E-2 Squadron. I didn't know anything about E-2s, so that was also excellent. Finally, we toured an LSD ship and it was fun to be aboard a Navy vessel again. All of this was to give us an idea of the big picture, to see how our small part as acquisition or personnel law attorneys fits into the overall mission.

It was a long 3 days, with lots of traveling and mandatory socialization, but it was worthwhile and I enjoyed it. At home, Thomas had no trouble managing without me, although, I am sure he would prefer not to. It was nice to pick up the kids from school on Friday. They were as excited to see me as I was to see them.