Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Monday night was the night that D and I have been waiting for his entire life. Opening night of his very first baseball season!! He played t-ball two years ago and then was unable to do baseball last year because of both covid and the fact that Spring Soccer started way later and became Summer Soccer. He was more than happy to trade in his soccer cleats for baseball cleats this year!

Mike took Dec to his first practice and said that there are three boys on the team who also played hockey with D (including Dec's buddy A). Apparently, the four of them were a tight little group and had the best time. D was all smiles when he got home and was so happy that he knew people on his team. 

Quinn begged to go with to practice - and my operating theory is that this is similar to when she tagged along to all D's rookie mite hockey practices and finally decided to play hockey at the end of the season. She's been debating softball as a summer sport and I suspect she's checking out the situation. Well, that, and Q just simply loves to watch sports practices.

All five of us went last night. The girls had a friend going because her little brother had practice at the same time, and they all wanted to play together. After several days of warm to hot weather, none of us were prepared for it being downright chilly last night. The kids who were running around seemed fine. But sheesh, the line of parents watching practice were feeling rather frozen.

Practice started off with a little drama as Dec took a baseball to the eye/cheek during warm ups. He's got a pretty good shiner with a goose egg - that simply refuses to show up in a photo. When he came off the field in tears, you could see the lines of the laces on his cheek. But we were really proud of him. He got a drink of water, a short snuggle from me, and then put on his glove and jogged back to the field. I also proved that I'm good at my job, because I convinced him it was pretty cool that he's the first one on his team to get a black eye from the ball. I even heard him brag to his teammates. Marketing at its finest!

Because he was very brave (and I was feeling generous), we took our frozen selves through the McDonald's drive thru for ice cream cones after practice. They weren't as satisfying as they would have been when the temps were 20 degrees warmer - but no one seemed to complain. Other than Mike, who ate his too fast and ended up with brain freeze. 

Thoughts on Moving

Mike asked what we were having for dinner tonight. We had just picked up the groceries, which meant there were options, and I proudly announced "Waffles." [It was another soccer to hockey Saturday where we ate lunch at 2pm and a lighter dinner was just the ticket.] Mike said, "didn't we pack the waffle maker already?" And then there was about ten seconds of awkward silence. Maaaaybe ... Thankfully, my decluttering self had long-game vision and the waffle maker was still on the shelf next to the crockpot (which we also need this week). Whew!

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We close on the new house on Thursday. Last weekend, we took the kids to the store to grab paint cards so they could start to pick out colors for their new bedrooms. That was an interesting experiment!

Fiona picked out the most delightfully Fiona aqua color immediately. Then completely doubted herself, decided her room would be "too blue" (is that a thing when your favorite color is blue?!?!?), and talked herself into bubble gum pink. I vetoed that choice, taught her about accent colors, introduced her to pinterest, and think we are back on the aqua train. With aqua and hot pink curtains. And a pink crystal lamp [Auntie and Auntie, you may get an itemized list of room decor when you ask her what she wants for her birthday!]

Quinn has decided she wants "bumble bee yellow" on her walls. I don't know why. The colors she's leaning toward are very bright. Perhaps like the sun has taken residence in her room. However, she is dug in on it and neither Mike nor I have the will to argue with her. So it will likely be in-your-face yellow. And she will rock it. I also taught Q about accent colors and she's delighted that she can bring additional bright colors to the mix. My suggestion about a yellow and grey room - thanks but no thanks. 

Turns out, six year olds have no idea how to pick a room color. Dec grabbed fire engine red, I told him it was too aggressive, and then he grabbed pretty much every color available. "Mom, will you grab me the light purple?" No. You don't want a purple room, bud. So I'm going to pick and then talk him into it and that will be that. 

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For the past two weeks, it has felt like the fights around room access and privacy have been escalating. We don't actually think they have. It's just that we had to make the daily fights about "I can't get my pajamas because someone is changing in the bedroom" or "Stop touching each other and just grab socks" or "don't climb in a bed that is not yours" white noise because otherwise Mike and I would be bat crap crazy. Now that there is an end in sight, we are so over sock and pajama drama. As are the kids. We are literally counting the days [for real. the kids made a paper chain] to life where they can get their clothes and get dressed in their own rooms. Without touching each other. It sounds magical.

Fiona's New Ride

There has been a lot of sports coverage lately on the blog. But fear not, Miss Fiona Grace Vanneste has been keeping an equally busy schedule. Back in March (February?), Mike got an email about horseback riding lessons through the Y. We asked Fiona and [unsurprisingly] she was all in. So a few days later, I went to sign her up ... only to find out everything was full. Turns out, horseback riding lessons are very popular and you have to register immediately. Fiona was a really good sport about it, but we could tell she was so disappointed. I was able to put her on a waitlist and we crossed our fingers. [I felt so terrible. The one thing she was excited about. Mental note to always sign up quickly for horse lessons!]

We heard nothing for weeks and figured it was a no go. Then out of the blue, I got an email asking a bunch of questions about her riding experience and availability. I responded with the answers and asked if that meant we were no longer on the waitlist. Crickets. We were trying not to get Fiona's hopes up, but were also trying to keep them up. Such a tricky tap dance ... Then when we were in GR over Easter, I received the official email that she was IN. We were sitting on the couch watching morning cartoons when I saw it, so I leaned over and whispered the news in her ear .. and then was rewarded with the biggest smile ever. 

For the past five Wednesday, Fiona has been living her very best life at Camp Kici as she learns the basics of horse riding. She is so very happy and can't wait to go back each week. She started riding Lily and loved her. Lily made F feel successful immediately and was a very responsive horse. But apparently Lily is old and has some hip issues, so week 3, Fiona rode Hershey - and did not like that he did not respond to commands. So the last couple weeks, she's been riding Dusty, who is much better at following her lead.

Declan and I got to bring her this last week and were able to go down to the stable with her at the end of class. My favorite part was watching her confidence around the horses. She is totally in her element and beyond joyful. She truly enjoyed getting to show her little brother around the stable, being the expert and sharing something she loves. She even let Dec help her feed Dusty an apple and taught him how to pet the horses' faces. Little Dude was pretty nervous, but listened attentively to Fiona and was rewarded with a nose rub from Dusty. 

Weekend Visitors

Last weekend, we celebrated two things - Mother's Day and the fact that three out of five grandparents ventured down to see us and were able to watch Quinn play hockey! After missing our people for the last year, the biggest celebration was really just having company!

Related: we ate lunch at 3:30 on Saturday and ate dinner at 4:30 on Sunday to accommodate sports schedules ... so there's that. 

Gpa V arrived early Friday afternoon, which worked out great because Mike and I were working and the kids had the day off of school. [Here, Grandpa. Your turn!] Everyone was excited to see Gpa and Q talked him into coming to her hockey practice that evening. Then after Saturday morning donuts, we brought Gpa to the soccer pitch with us to watch Q's first game of the season. Holy smokes was the wind cold! It was so chilly that we were excited to go sit at the hockey rink. You know, where there is ice ...

Almost half of Q's team headed directly to the rink from soccer, so there was a lot of back-of-cars changing stations for the girls. We met Gpa and Gma J there, who had also decided to make it a sports weekend. The grandparents have not seen the kids play sports in over a year, and were all suitably impressed with Q's elevated skill level. She played forward (and center) in the game and scored two goals. Her team handily won and she was super excited to have fans!

Everyone was starving after the game, so Mike and I recalibrated the grill out dinner plan to a mid-afternoon lunch plan. [For the record, it was not my first day as a sports mom. So I had a literal cooler full of snacks that I handed out to tall and small members of our group in the parking lot of the rink to tide them over to lunch.] It was a good choice because, even with parking lot snacks, pretty much every bite of mid-afternoon lunch was gone! And with such a late lunch, we also ended up eating cereal for dinner. We've decided to just embrace it. Gpa V headed home after "lunch" and we spent a low key rest of the day with Gma and Gpa. 

On Mother's Day morning, the kids gave me some wonderful homemade presents from school and big hugs, which was exactly what I wanted. We gave Gma her present ... covered in a blanket because I'm not entirely sure where my wrapping paper is right now. Then we took Gma and Gpa down to our favorite trail by O'Dowd Lake to go hiking. We saw over a dozen turtles sunning themselves on logs, watched a goose family teaching a pack of goslings, and occasionally even walked on the trail instead of off-roading. 

Unfortunately the hike also kicked Fiona's allergies into high gear. She was so sweet and did her best to not complain (because I had wanted a "whine free" hike on Mother's Day), but by the time we got home, she was pretty miserable. Thankfully, some lunch, allergy eye drops, and staying inside for a while helped make things more manageable. 

It was so different and fun to have actual visitors at our house. We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves! 

That Time I "Forgot" the Swimsuits ...

As I mentioned in the last post, we headed north last weekend to avoid the house insanity - and to help my sister move into her new house. She had closed on her new house earlier that week and was in the process of settling in. Her house happens to be right down the hill from my parents' house and we had walked by it with the kids when we were up for Easter. 

Unsurprisingly, Quinn remembered exactly where it was. So when we passed it on the way to Gma and Gpa's, Q noticed everyone's cars were at Auntie's. Therefore, the second we got out of the car, she was begging to head down the hill. We agreed and Quinn legitimately ran the entire way there. Em said she looked out the window, saw a hot pink blur with a blonde ponytail, and announced "Quinn is here." The rest of us arrived about 3 minutes later.

On Saturday morning, we took advantage of the fact that the park is a block from Auntie's and met all the cousins there. Which meant we got to meet Baby Arlo!! All the disappointment of missing him at Easter was soothed. He is just as sweet and delicious as expected and everyone took a turn holding him. When they weren't holding Baby A, the kids were running around wild with their cousins. So many happy happy children. Even sweet Beau warmed up to the V gang and joined in.

After lunch, Quinn continued to live her very best life - getting Auntie unpacked, organized, and on track. The bookends had the best attitudes, but unpacking and organizing is not their best life. It was also incredibly HOT for May 1. By mid-afternoon, we were not much help anymore and the kids were getting squirrely. I had mentioned going down to the boat landing, but Dec and Quinn begged to go up to the cabin. We figured they could put their feet in the water and play in the sand, so said okay. However, we also brought a bag of extra clothes because we have met Vannestes and lakes and pretty much knew where the afternoon would take us.

We did not realize that the cousins were going to be up at the lake too. So we got bonus time! Hux and Beau were already there, in swimsuits, and wading out into the water. Our kids were in shorts, so could easily wade out too. And Dec was in athletic shorts - basically a swimsuit. Nonetheless, Dec was scandalized that I "forgot to pack the swimsuits." I did not forget, Sir. It was April when we packed the bags! I would also like to point out that Otto and Milo were in shorts/underwear thankyouverymuchdeclan!

Mike dared Declan to jump off the end of the dock. He thought about it several times, but wouldn't commit to the jump. Then suddenly, Dude took off running down the dock and leapt in! Far! Then came up shrieking because the water was somewhere between 49-53 degrees (depending on which of my cousins you ask). We wrapped him in a towel, let the sun do its job, and he was back wading around in the water with the cousins in minutes. Then, believe it or not, he jumped off again later. Crazy kid!

We had the best time at the cabin and this is officially the earliest the kids have been IN the lake. But only by a week or so. A few hours in the sun (by the water) was also the relaxing break we all needed after the last two busy weeks. So glad the kids insisted!

Quinn got ready early Sunday morning and had Gpa and Gma drop her off at Auntie's on their way to church so she could continue to be Auntie's right-hand Q. The rest of us loaded up Auntie's dresser and brought that down once we were ready. Then we helped with a bit more unpacking, loaded up our stuff, and headed toward home. We were back by early afternoon, picked up the grocery order I had placed during the drive, and even got Q to hockey practice on time. 

I'd say it was a fully-successful quick trip north. Except Declan has told me two dozen times since we got back to "make sure [I] don't forget the swimsuits next time." 

Abandon Ship!

Have you missed us? Been wondering where we are? Well, it's been a liiiiittle busy around here. Thankfully, things are settling down and it's just your standard work, school, hockey, soccer, horse camp, piano balancing act. Perhaps related: Quinn had her first soccer practice of the season tonight. Mike and I may have been in the small human section of Scheel's earlier today buying the one pair of soccer cleats left in her size ... because when she tried on last season's cleats this morning, she couldn't even get her heel in. Allegedly.

Also perhaps related: Quinn has a soccer game on Saturday. That she will have to leave 15 minutes early in order to get up to Minnetonka on time for her Saturday hockey game. This is the current version of "settled down."

Anyhoo ... we spent last week prepping, repairing, and cleaning the house as showings started on Friday afternoon. Mike and I had to work, so during lunch, we hurriedly cleaned and staged and moved our valuables out of the house. We were quite proud of our project management. Our goal was to leave the house at 2pm - and I mopped us out the door at 1:59pm. We headed over to the school to pick up the kids early and then pointed the car north toward GR. We had told them to go to the bathroom at school because no one (and no one's sticky fingers) were allowed back in our house until we returned on Sunday.

We had 15 showings on Friday night and another 20 between Saturday morning and 10am Sunday. We also canceled an additional 5 showings that were later in the day on Sunday. We received texts from multiple neighbors about how busy our house was and Where Were We? We told them that we had abandoned ship so as to not deal with the insanity. Based on the zoo-like atmosphere they all described, it was the right decision.

Thirty-five showings ended with 14 offers (including one that came in last Monday "sight unseen" that we declined because of some funky terms). 14 offers sounds like a great problem to have. And it honestly was. But it was also extremely overwhelming. By late Saturday night, I simply laid down on the floor of my parents' living room. I was done.

We did not take the highest offer (it just didn't feel right), but we are pleased with the one we accepted. It's a young family with a dog and a little boy, who are very excited about our back yard. The terms were great and the price was right. We had the papers signed Sunday morning and returned home with the house under contract! The next step is for all the closing date dominoes to align so we know what we are working toward. Hopefully by the end of next week, we'll know the close date on our new house and then can work out the close date on this house. 

Since we are in a bit of house transfer limbo now, we've taken that as permission to temporarily pause the packing process. I have packed exactly zero boxes since we returned from GR. I also may have left something in the middle of the kitchen counter when I went to the office on Monday. Because I could.

Again. Allegedly.