Stressful Week & Jack's first homecoming

On Monday morning my sister called to let me know that my dad had fallen. She did not think it was anything serious, but he had gone to the hospital to get checked out. I called later that morning to check on him and he told me that he had broken his hip and they were prepping him for surgery. Obviously, this was super upsetting because who wants to break a bone and have surgery? But also because the last time my dad underwent a procedure with anesthesia he had a massive cognitive decline. Kim was with him on Monday afternoon and Tuesday and I spent the day with him Wednesday. To make a long story short, he had another massive cognitive decline. He wasn't sure where he was or why he was there. He left the hospital on Thursday to go to the rehabilitation center. It is affiliated with his community; where he lives has three sections, independent living, assisted living, and a rehab center/nursing home. He had someone call me on Friday and he was super agitated. We had a very long phone call where I tried to reassure him that the people there were just trying to help him. Saturday morning, I went and visited him. He was in a better mood, but still confused.

Until about four months ago my dad lived completely independently. When he decided to move, at age 79, he packed up his entire house without any help and made all the arrangements to sell his home. He moved into the retirement home about a year ago because he wanted to enjoy all the activities. About a year ago he was still going on cruises and to weekly dances. Less than four months ago he played cards daily, exercised, went to church, bible study, and other functions. He was definitely slowing down, but this mental decline has been so sudden that sometimes it is hard to reconcile. I feel terrible for him and sad for myself. I know that probably sounds selfish, but I like to keep it real in this blog. My mom died relatively suddenly and way too young (right after turning 65) and that was completely devastating. But, watching a parent decline is also no fun (obviously, I wish I had the extra 15 years with my mom). And, it is making me face my mortality in a way that I haven't before and I don't like it. Anyway, he sees a neurologist in late November and we are still holding out a sliver of hope that there is some explanation other than really rapid dementia.

That took up a lot of mental space this week. But, there were also some good/fun things that happened. We renewed our Universal passes and a had a fun evening. We went to Magic Kingdom and rode most of our favorite rides. We have been watching Halloween themed shows and have made it through The Middle (so underrated, I highly recommend), Brooklyn 99, and now Modern Family. We also watched The Haunted Mansion, which I thought was super cute. I had lunch with my sister and it was great to catch up and talk about something other than my dad. While I was with my dad and sister on Saturday, Thomas and the kids cleaned the house. Thomas took Luke to a baseball tournament and the girls put up the Halloween decorations outside. It was so amazing to come home to a fun exterior and a clean interior!

 Jack went to his first Homecoming dance on Saturday night. I told the kids we would buy their tickets their Junior and/or Senior year. If they wanted to go before that, it was on them. Jack was the only one who wanted to shell out the 80 bucks to go. He rode with his best friend, Gustavo and they met up with some other friends. He didn't love the experience. It was very crowded and very loud. He said next year he will probably go to Halloween Horror Nights instead. Homecoming was held at the Hard Rock at City Walk, so while they did that, the girls and I went to the Taylor Swift concert movie, which we all enjoyed more than Jack enjoyed Homecoming. The timing worked out well and I did the home transport.

Looking dapper

With some of this friends

I was busy getting pictures of Jack and neglected the girls. This was after the movie. Kara dressed up like Taylor Swift.

And, a few other pictures from the week:

The girls and I went to a cookie decorating class.

Finished product, we are inspired now to try iced Christmas cookies.

Thomas was hiding in this box and scared the girls one afternoon after school :)

They had some Halloween prop photo sets in City Walk.

And, that concludes this busy, sometimes sad, sometimes fun, week.

Anna's Skating Competition and Hard (Bad) Decisions

Anna had her second ice-skating competition last weekend. It was in Jacksonville and her practice ice was scheduled for 7:05 Sunday morning, so we decided to go up on Saturday and spend the night. Luke was committed to a baseball tournament (scheduled before Anna signed up for the competition) so he and Thomas couldn't go. Jack didn't like the plans the girls and I made, so he opted to stay home.

We left around 1030 on Saturday morning. We stopped at Buc-ees for lunch. It was insanely crowded, we had to drive around the parking lot a few times before we got a spot, but it was fine inside and we enjoyed looking around. From there, we went straight to the beach in Mayport. We were stationed there  in 2004 and I remembered the beach was nice. It was slightly chilly for this time of year, but we had a great time. We played in the water and the sand. We stayed at the beach for a few hours and then I showed them the ships on base. Anna is in a Naval Science class, so she was interested. 

From there we went to our hotel. When we arrived I discovered that I was missing a sneaker. It must have fallen out when we reloaded the chairs after the beach. I had taken the sneakers off and thrown them in the back of the van while I wore flip flops on the beach. Anyway, that was really annoying. I debated going back to look for it, but it would be over an hour round trip and there was no guarantee it would still be there. So, I mourned the loss of my shoe.

The hotel was just okay. We showered and changed and then went to an outdoor shopping mall. I was super hungry and kind of cranky. We tried to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, but the line was way too long. So, we went to Chicken Salad Chick. The one near our us closed, so it was nice to see one. From there, we browsed a bunch of stores, including a Barnes and Noble. I bought a cheap pair of Skechers at Ross. Then, we went back to the hotel.

Sunday was Anna's big day. I woke up around 5 and couldn't fall back asleep, so I pulled out my phone and put in my earbuds to watch videos. At some point my earbuds disconnected, but I didn't realize it, so my attempts to be quiet failed. Oddly, neither girl told me, so I have no idea how long I was disconnected. Then, when Anna got up her phone was locked for entering an incorrect password and she had to wait 8 hours to unlock it. We can't figure out how that happened. It was a weird morning! We got to the rink right on time for Anna's practice ice. Her first event was at 920 and was compulsory moves. She did well and got 6th place. She was very disappointed with her placement. But once she learned she still got a medal, I think she felt better. Her second and last event was her program, which was at noon. She came in 5th. She made a lot of progress over the past few months and I could see a lot of improvement, especially in her spins. 

After her first event

Keeping warm between events.

After her second event, during which she skated to music from Loki.

When we first started going to Lakeland, we told Anna we would reevaluate after the competition and Thomas and I were ready for her to return to the rink closer to home. However, she really loves Lakeland, the coaches and the other girls there, so we were willing to let her continue skating there once a week. But, we had some conditions. One of the conditions was that she needed to do at least one day of practicing at the Kissimmee rink and another was no more competitions for a while. I had also asked Anna to try doing the Christmas Program at the more local rink and to see how it went, in the hopes that she would meet some new friends and maybe even find another coach she liked as much as the one in Lakeland. Ultimately, Anna decided that she was ready to move on and try something new--lacrosse. She is really excited about learning lacrosse and both she and Kara want to try out for the girl's team at the high school. Last year, they took everyone who tried out, so we are really hoping that will be the case again this year. We have ordered the equipment for them to start practicing. Fingers crossed they enjoy it!

With all that said, I still worry that she is going to feel like we forced her out of skating. I think it was probably obvious that we did not like going to Lakeland. It meant getting up at 415 on Saturday mornings and the drive home was usually miserable (lots of traffic). And, skating is really expensive. We were willing to support once a week in Lakeland, but our preference was to return to the more relaxed pace we had experienced in Kissimmee. But, we also understood it was important to her. It is a REALLY hard line to walk. We want our kids to have everything they want, but sometimes it just isn't feasible. And, sometimes compromise is necessary. To us, we felt like skating locally was a fair compromise (and that one day a week in Lakeland was beyond fair). To be clear, this guilt isn't coming from Anna, she has been very mature about the whole thing, it is more self-inflicted. I want my kids to grow up knowing we did our best and looking back with happy memories of their childhood. I want my kids to think about me the same way I do about my mom (absolutely amazing!). And, sometimes I worry I am failing.

While I am being somewhat morose, I feel like I have made two bad decisions in recent years. I did the best with the information I had at the time, but now I think they were wrong. The first was moving to Florida. The second is I think we should have done the jaw surgery for Anna. With my second-guessing of myself on those decisions, I am now worried about other decisions I am making and what I will think of them in 5 or 10 years. Like, should we try and send Luke to the nearby charter school next year to secure him a spot for middle school, when it will be very hard to get in? But, we like his current school and he doesn't want to leave his 5th grade year. And, was I wrong in dissuading Anna from skating with her coach in Lakeland? Are these decisions going to have long-term ramifications? I wish I knew.

Jack and Anna are 16!

On October 3, Jack and Anna turned 16! It was a Tuesday, so not the most exciting day for a birthday. Their big gift was the trip to DC, which we took over the summer. However, they still got to choose a few things, like their birthday meal and cake.

We started celebrating (sort of) on the Friday before their birthday. We had to go to Target to return a candle. Which, we forgot at home for the second time. Target is in a nice shopping center, so while we were there, we stopped in at Bath and Body Works for seasonal soaps. I had a coupon for a free item, which I gave to Anna. She got some birthday lotion. Then, we went to Crumbl and she picked out cookies for her and Jack, who was at a football game.

Saturday I took Anna to Lakeland to skate and we met Marta for breakfast. Jack had Saturday band camp and Luke had a baseball game. It was a busy day and we forgot to pick up Jack! All afternoon, we periodically remarked about how we had to get him at 3pm. Then, Beya came over and I was sitting outside while Luke and Beya swam, when suddenly Thomas ran outside to remind me that it was 3pm. Camp ended at 3 and traffic was awful so Thomas was pretty late picking him up. Jack was forgiving, but we felt bad. 

On Sunday, Jack had his birthday dinner. Initially he wanted to go to KFC. Then, he changed it to Cracker Barrel. Our plan was to go to Leu Gardens, Cracker Barrel and the library. But, it was a windy, rainy day. So, we skipped the gardens. Jack enjoyed his meal and even got some coke cake. He had one piece to himself. Luke, the girls and I shared another piece (Thomas is still sugar free). We also went to Kohls and both Jack and Anna got something. Jack was pretty annoyed at having to go shopping, but he ended up with a nice jacket so alls well that ends well. Anna picked out a candle.

Their actual birthday was a testing day at school. Neither of the girls had tests and we decided to let them skip. They assured us that all they would be doing was sitting in extra long periods without any substantive work. Anna wanted to make her and Jack's cake herself and she chose to recreate the haunted pumpkin patch cake. Versions of that cake were served on their 8th and 13th birthday. I think Anna's version was the best. She had a good time making it and it turned out both delicious and adorable. 

The original, served on their 8th birthday.

Version 2, made for their 13th.

The latest and greatest. The cake ball monsters are always the best part!

She had some help with the monsters

Jack left band practice an hour early and we went to Anna's chosen restaurant--Chick-Fil-A. Then, we headed home for cake and presents. It was a nice night. Anna got a loungefly from Jack and Luke. Kara got her a bluray of Little Women, which Anna has been wanting to watch for a while. Luke got Jack legos. Kara and Luke got him a Greendale Community College sweatshirt, which is from one of his favorite shows--Community.

Anna had her eye on this Black Widow Loungefly for a while.

So, our first-borns are 16. It is hard to believe. Everyone asks if they got their driver's licenses and the answer is no. They both have learner's permits, but we aren't in a hurry on the license. Once they have those, our insurance will increase by $300/month. Each. We are waiting until they can drive to school, so they will probably get them sometime this summer. 

It was fun celebrating Jack and Anna. They are great kids and we are so lucky they are a part of our family. I think back to how much I wanted children and how excited I was to be having twins. They have not disappointed! They were super fun little toddlers and they are super amazing teenagers. Every age has been full of much more joy than frustration. I hate to think that they are only a couple of years away from adulthood, but I am so happy to be their mom and to get to witness what life has in store for them. Happy birthday to Jack and Anna!