Living in Fast Forward

Irish Korean Rock Stars out of control, the kids have been living life in fast-forward, time to cool down... real slow....

The Summer Camp part II came screaming up at us as the wheels touched down in Minneapolis, no sooner had the announcement by the flight attendant " The local time in Minneapolis is.." and the kids wanted to know when the first sleep over was, who are we seeing first, who's on second... whoa, we still have to get our luggage, and that's how rock stars start their vacations!

The 10 day period was so full of events that it will take 2 blogs to do it all justice! Friday after we cleared the rental car and had lunch we stopped by Target to get supplies and then into the rental house for un-packing and planning. Friday evening found us at Rhada & Krishnan's home along with several of the other ex-pat friends and families we met while in India and the reunion/ get together was full of laughter, great food and awesome memories. Jimmy racked up his first sleep over as his friends Jessie & Preston had him over for the night. The 3 musketeers were back in action!



Saturday found us able to sleep in(a bit) and ready for what has now become our annual trip to Dicks Sports Barbers for the boys haircut's and catching up with Dick. Tom has been getting his haircut there since he was 13 and it was the place of each Jimmy Kay and Billys 1st haircuts. Its a family tradition and they have the best haircuts on the planet!  Saturday night was a fun filled bash of full on boys as we went to the Orvedahl's.  Doug and Jennifer along with James and the twins Sam and Sean provided a night of energy burning and great burgers. Kay hung in there even swimming in their above ground not so heated pool. However girl power won out and Kay headed over to Carmen's to lodge her first sleep over and night with her bestie. (Sam and Sean are seriously Billy/Kays alter personalities. They just "fit" and James is one of Jimmys besties) 

Sunday we celebrated birthday's for both Kay and Grandpa Jeremiah complete with zip lining and an afternoon at the park. The Grandparent's had a blast catching up with the kids and sharing stories, along with planning a trip to Toronto in the coming fall! Then Sunday night was the beginning of the craziness known as KCC or for those not in the know, Korean Culture Camp, the second main event in kiddom only behind, the big guy, A number 1, SC for short. We met the Van Meter's (less Jeff) at the Buckley's new home in Edina. Sherra, Rich , Robbie and Joey had us over for great food, and of course S'Mores and great way to start the week!

KCC, is in its (who knows how many years somewhere around) 35+ years, the camp runs the last week of July, it's full of great fun, great food and about 400 Korean Adoptees, their families and about 200 volunteers.  Tom works all week in the kitchen, well 2 Toms and a bunch of other great people who work tirelessly  to create classic Korean Food from scratch for 600 people, everyday of camp AWESOME! (The kids have literally said its the best week of their whole year and that they'd trade their birthdays AND Christmas if they could go everyday.  We had to promise to come back every year we are in Canada otherwise we weren't allowed to move. I have to admit, Tom and I agree!)

The kids just love it and Jimmy is now one year away from one of his first goals, teen helper! The campers themselves are finished after 6th grade and then can go on to be teen helper. This year Robbie was the new helper on the block and chop, chop. Jimmy and his brother Joey along with Shin Be and Noah tormented him ruthlessly about lemonade, more food and the like, remember Jimmy.... what goes around comes around!

Kay was super excited to participate in the Korean Dance and to learn about all the cool dance moves while Ol' Bill was somewhat to cool for Taekwondo school, being a greenbelt and all! The camp teaches the kids about their culture, heritage and spends sometime on self esteem, which they all love.

Next up, sleepovers, dinner parties,  Jim & Jen's reception







and even a date night! More to come...

Summer camps Week 1

Here's a story about 3 children all leading very charmed lives, summer vacations camps, all to their liking,
the youngest one in LEGO'S........  (I totally want my kids life....)

Ok so this past week was the first week of summer camps for the kids, this year they each have 3 weeks of camps, and still find time to complain.

Billy:
He spent the week in LEGO camp with 15 of his newest and best buddies creating LEGO creations, fighting fierce battles and even managing to make a trip or two the local park. The fierce pace of LEGO building needs to be set aside for some outside playing and revamping the mental prowess for the afternoon sessions. Billy built transforming, expanding and even giant LEGO projects, and at one point he combined his two favorite things and made a LEGO chess set he love it! (yes, its also called nerd camp....)  The camps run from 9:00-3:00 and Billy would promptly fall asleep in the car on the way to get Kay!

Note: we promptly signed up for a second week in Aug.

Kay:
The Chef Upstairs was her daily destination and Chef Michelle greeted Kay each day with a hug and asked her if she was ready for another day of cooking fun! Kay was armed with a notebook into which she wrote all the recipes and even has side noted as to how to improve them, however (like a diary) this book is off limits to everyone! The cooking camp is Kay's favorite and she not only came home exhausted she was usually soaking wet, the afternoons were hot so the kids and Chef Michelle headed over to the local splash pad for a bit of cooling off. The main theme of the week was dessert so we were treated with, cake, apple crumble, chocolate chip cookies and then a Kay inspired treat Maple Syrup sugar donuts covered with bacon, yep you got to eat here! Kay barely made it to the car before falling sound asleep on the way to get Jimmy.  AND...we think she ate her weight in food each day, a real accomplishment for those of you who know Kay's eating habits.



Note: we promptly signed up for a second week in Aug.


















Jimmy:
"I really can't tell you what we are going to play for the performance on Friday, wouldn't want to ruin the surprise!" We get the same canned speech every time he goes to Rock Band camp, he keeps the band name, songs and artists a secret until we get there and for some reason thinks we won't know the songs. As it turns out most of the time, the songs they play are recommendations for Jimmy, who's source for these songs is Tracy, but who tells their rock band mates their Mom thinks this is a cool song!

The first thing the kids do at camp is get to know each other and then get down to the serious business of naming the band, this year there were actually three bands:

Band name – Power Walking with the Grizzlies (PWWTG) but it was announced as Power Napping with the Grizzlies which I actually like better.

The band with all 9 kids is The Breeze Crew (TBC) and they all had “breeze” nicknames – Jimmy was young breeze, there was an old breeze, might wind, tornado and gentle breeze.

PWWTG (1^st band) played The Black Keys Lonely Boy and Get Lucky by Daf Punk  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&gl=US&client=mv-google&v=-KQJ-NNewfM&nomobile=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RuA4a_9RlM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00z72qNUUAk

TBC played The Lumineres Hey Ho, Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance and  Oye Como Va by Santana (including a solo by each band member - yes, it was a long long song)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvXTnnjvIgQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO9iCIoIVBU

Click to View Lee's Palace Concert Photos!  !  Week 2 Concert Photos  very cool album cover shot
This years venue was a Toronto land mark Lee's Palace, for this of you in Minneapolis... think First Ave but a tad bit smaller, no less dirty and tons of history of bands playing there before they were famous. Its an icon and we'll be able to say ...yep Jimmy played there... (Note: trying to sign up for a 2nd session in Aug, but awaiting location details)

What's absolutely amazing as a parent is watching your kids discover and follow their bliss.  They are each so passionate about what they love and they completely emerse themselves in it once they find it. You could feel the joy and excitement each night as they talked about their day and Jimmys performance is a great representation of how they each felt at camp - totally engaged, committed, passionate, full of joy and in their bliss.  Truly amazing....

Ex-Pat Wedding and Reunion

Last weekend we loaded the kids into the truckster and headed down to Noblesville, Indiana to celebrate the Wedding of our friend's Paul and Tamara and to catch up with many of the Ex-Pat's we met while in India.

The trip was relatively easy as far as the Loudamerican's except for a moment or two while we were crossing into the US via Detroit. This crossing looks like a border crossing left over from the cold war complete with guard dogs and car checks, also there is only one lane due to "bridge repair".
We made to the town of Maumee " pronounced Mommy), which of course the kids got a kick out of. We found an awesome hotel that had three, count em, 3 double beds, no sleeping on the floor, why other hotels don't so this is beyond me!




Friday we headed off to met the rest of the group and while many of these people have travelled all over the world, it seems that travelling from Minneapolis through Chicago an into Indiana they all forgot their happens to be a time zone change! The "rehearsal" dinner was more of a BBQ and get aquainted event. Tamara's family hosted the entire weekend from the BBQ through the Wedding, and it was simply awesome. We all had time to met her family and friends along with Paul's family and hang around the pool and watch the kids wearing themselves out. The group headed out after the BBQ to hang at the hotel and it was fun catching up!

Saturday we had the day free as we were not allowed back to the Wedding until 5 o'clock, and not a moment earlier! So Rhada, Krishnan, Tejas, Kerty, Wade Angela, Caden, Wyatt and the Loudamericans set off to explore Noblesville, watch out. We found an outdoor Historic Heritage Park and the kid s had a ball. The saved the town from the rebels, fought a furious battle over the vegetable garden, learned how to throw and ax, properly and took a hot air balloon ride, awesome!



The Wedding was beautiful. The setting was a grassy hall surrounded by tress and a whole bunch of people who showered the bride and groom with love. The ceremony was really sweet and Paul and Tamara each said their vows and then placed them in a box so they could use them as a reference at a later point in time sort of like saying ' Yes Dear". There was dancing and signing and moving to the grove and then when it hit us someone shouted.......




This group of friends whom we see now occasionally as things change and people take different jobs, switch companies move to Toronto, things like that happen in life however it is nice to have friends that you seamlessly fall right back into a groove with. The kids have similar experiences and had same life stories, the adults as well and it was just fun, easy and full of love.





Congratulations to Paul and Tamara and thank you for a super fulfilled weekend!
more to come.....

Kay is finally 10!

The big day finally arrived and the birthday girl was in her glory! She woke up look around and stated, today's my birthday and I can do whatever I want.....

So after a party with her school friends, opening a special present from Grandma Bunny and Grandpa Jim, the family birthday was looking like a let down. About half way through the day Kay exclaimed, it's my birthday but it feels like a regular day. That translated to basically, Hey let's go to Target where I can spend several hours looking at stuff that drives my parents crazy, like but not limited to moon powder and glue. Steering her away from that and towards a much simpler idea of Yorgurty's the local yogurt shop was much less stressful and more cost effective.





Tracy left work early so we could all go out to dinner of Kay's choice which of course was Korean!!!

We had heard a rumor our favorite Korean restaurant in Toronto ( nothing beats Mirror of Korea),
has shut down but to no avail, never believe everything you hear, Nak Won, was alive and cranking our the best kim bap, duk galbi, mandu, tofu ji guy, in all of the GTA, shut the front door, good!






We invited our neighbors, Rod & Peggy along with their 2 kids, Jake and Josh and the German Exchange student, Francie and it was suddenly a party. Those who follow this crazy blog know that our kids when offered Korean food eat like there is no tomorrow and apparently so do our neighbors, there was not a scrap left! So we headed home for... not cake because Kay had to have Lemon Meringue Pie, well it's Kay.





The presents were opened (heavy focus on slushy makers, popsicle molds and baking items - including cake mix and frosting)  pie was enjoyed and Kay finally had to admit it was not just a normal day anymore.

Happy 10th Birthday Kay! We love you and are blessed everyday with your smile, hugs and love.

FYI, just because the birthday has come and gone ...the party never ends. Grandma Kay and Grandpa Jeremiah have a little birthday celebration planned for Kay when we head back to Minneapolis next week, seriously.....  more to come.

The Pettersetter's Arrive!

Kristin, Crag, Anders and Bjorn, our neighbors and friends from the infamous gated community back in Golden Valley, made the trek to Michigan and then followed us back to Toronto.

We arrived amidst typical Toronto Traffic and the 401 at a stand still but we preserved and after 11 hours, which should have been 8 we made it home, ironically Tracy actually beat us home from work! Friday we had a great time catching up talking gossip and the kids of course had a ball, like it was just yesterday we were at Lyon's Park.

Saturday morning was filled with the usual Loudamericans schedule, school for Tom, football for Jimmy dog walk for Nikki and pedicures for Tracy and Kristin. Then the fun began after lunch we headed out to show them our town, nah, nah ,nah, nah, nah, this my town...

The subway brought us to Union Station and we headed out to explore the water front and the Asian Festival. We were planning on going out to Centre Island however the other 5 million residents had the same plan so we took a pass and ended up watching a live infomercial. Purina Dog Food was having a Pro Plan dog show and the kids we enthralled watching the different breeds of dog go through a series of cones, gates, hoops and slides, we had to drag the kids away. Then it was off to listen to some awesome live music and explore the water front. No tour of Toronto is complete with out a stop in Kensington Market, which is also Jimmy's favorite part of Toronto, it is like Haite Asbury, Bohemian headquarters all rolled into one. We wondered through China town as well where Bjorn and Kay had to have a fresh coconut chopped and with a straw, it was not a hit.

The subway delivered us to one of our favorite Toronto restaurants, GUU, a mix of Sushi and Western food such as a classic version of Chicken Nuggets, seriously the best in the GTA! We had a fabulous dinner and a couple of tall cold beverages and it was back on the subway homeward bound. Back at the ranch we watched of course cooking shows!, and the kids played themselves out and it was off to dreamland.

Sunday was brunch extraordinaire, Cinnamon French toast, apple infused potato hash browns, cinnamon whipped cream and Vidalia onion Merlot jam, nap anyone? The day was sort of a start and stop kind of day, rain in the forecast, Jimmy had a double header that kept us in and out of commission so the Pettersetter's ventured out on their own to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame and made it back to tell all about it. Of course both Jimmy's games were cancelled and the day was a waste from that perspective. None to fear when you have oil, fresh cod and a couple of boxes of Panko's you can create the best fried fish on the planet!

All good things have to come to a break so on Monday morning Tracy left for work and Kristin, Craig, Anders and Bjorn headed back to the gated community. We are super thankful they came to visit and now the kids are home sick and can't wait to return to Golden Valley and their Minnesota friends.

Summer Vacation begins...

The end of school marks the beginning of the second most favorite time of the year, after Christmas that is, Summer Vacation! This year is no different and with the well laid plans it is expected to be the best summer ever....

We loaded up the family truckster and headed off to the airport to pick up Tom from his trip back to Minneapolis to work at the Golf for the Gift Fundraiser, which we have to say Thanks to all who participated!, and we were off to Michigan to visit Tracy's family. The drive over was full of quiet and no arguing as everyone had their own ear buds and electronics. We arrived on Friday night to hugs and laughs from Grandma and Grandpa and Julie, Cedric and Solomon, totally fun!

Saturday began the week of fun, laughs and catching up. We headed over to Sleeping Bear Dunes where some of us hiked and explored the dunes while others relaxed at the picnic table and discussed detailed stats and opinions on every sport known to man (guess who that was?!). It was too bad we did not bring water because the kids were geared up to walk all the way to Lake Michigan, about a 90 minute round trip.

The afternoon we hung out at the cabin and swam in Little Glen and began the first game of the World Series.  If you saw the reactions of the kids you would have thought that it was the final game. At one point Tom had to umpire and explained that the kids were playing with a waffle ball, a plastic Fred Flintstone type bat and were using a bush as a pitching mound and a tree for second base ( not to mention there was not first or third), that getting called out on strikes was really no big deal. When that didn't calm the kids down he had to pull the dreaded um card and said " Do you know why you are out? No why? " Because I am the ump"!

Sunday the Loudamericans moved into the upper guest cottage at Maple Lake resort to make room at Grandma and Grandpa's for Tammy and Jeff along with Georgia, Joey and Herby and Aunt Sue!
We headed off to Empire to do the Empire Dunes walk and broke the rules by hopping the fence and running down the sand dunes to Lake Michigan. The boys from Costa Rica we complaining of cold ( it was in the 70's) while Jimmy was rolling in the lake saying how refreshing 35 degree water can be! Meanwhile back at the ranch Grandma and Grandpa got a fire going and we had s'mores and hot chocolate to chase away the cold.

Monday Tracy had to head back to Toronto and work, Grandpa Jim, who is a Park Ranger volunteer, (which is super cool), had to go to work. The rest of us swam in the lake, played more baseball and continued on our merry way. We are very grateful and thankful for all Tracy does for us.

Tuesday was off to Traverse City for a minor league (farm team) baseball game - The Dune Dudes (not sure that's the actual team name but its apropos).  Actually its the Beach Bums.  The girls stayed home for some girl time and the boys had a gas cheering for their new favorite team.

Now you can not lead a Rock Star life as a kid and have a Rock Star vacation if you don't have a vacation within a vacation, so it was in this vain our neighbors and friends from Golden Valley, Craig, Kristin, Anders and Bjorn, came to Glen Lake. Tracy and Grandpa Jim had gone over to the campground and secure a site for them and passed the information on to Tom who promptly forgot what he was supposed to tell them. So when we met up to give them the paperwork and they headed over to the campground and were promptly chewed out by the Rangers, it was no wonder. They even let their co-worker Grandpa Jim have a piece of their minds, but all is well that ends well. ( more on the PeterSetters later).

The rest of the week was filled with more of the same, picnics, swimming, BBQ's and you know summer. One of the highlights of the trip was the 4th of July Parade. It is still a piece of small town America~  floats, Uncle Sam on Stilts, the Statue of Liberty, (on stilts), a kazoo marching band consisting of who ever happened to have a kazoo handy and tons and tons of candy. Not to mention guys and girls on Rollerblades throwing hot dogs to the crowd, it went on for over 45 minutes which was awesome.

Friday we had to say goodbye to our cousins, second cousins, Aunt Sue and Grandma and Grandpa. It was a super fun week and we say to Grandma and Grandpa... we love, we
are blessed to be with you and for all the good times and fun we say THANK YOU!

Billys Gotcha Day!!

Happy Gotcha Day Billy!

8 years ago today, Billy came home to be a permanent part of our family and the LoudAmericans.
He was a very intense baby that watched/studied us all endlessly. He giggled uncontrollably and was a great cuddler.

Not much has changed:) Billy is still extremely observant and asks the most insightful questions (he and I had a 45 min conversation about God and heaven last weekend, made me pause and reflect on not only what I believe but how do you communicate that to someone who is actively trying to from an opinion). He is always the 1st to give a kiss, cuddle or say "I love you" and has the best silly/belly laugh of all times.

Billy, also know as Baloo, Bill Pickle, Shauny, Buncu (when the other kids want to get a rise out of him) and... when we are upset with him WIlliam Francis Kim !!  is a green belt in Tae Kwon Do, a Lego expert, a talented skateboarder and getting really good at reading music and playing piano.

He's also an expert gamer and knows EVERYTHING about Skylanders and my phone is loaded with No Zombies, Monster, Class of Clans, BattleNations, DragonVale, Knights and Hungry Shark (the current favorite). 

Nikki is his soul mate and when he tells me that he loves me "almost as much as I love Nikki" its actually a HUGE compliment as I KNOW that she is his whole world.

He's generous with his friends and plays with anyone. He's a total squirrel and can get his friends to do some mean break dance moves.

He has a memory "problem", whenever he doesnt want to answer a question he says "I forget". He also shuts down when angry or sad and its virtually impossible to get him to speak/express himself (we are working on both of these but I feel bad for future people he dates - he's definitely going to be the silent type).

Some Billy-isms:

• I look just like Juanita (said when his eye swelled shut due to a bug bite - basically he was comparing himself to Juantia the 1 eyed dog)
• Cuddle me but dont touch me (nightly request)
• Hi Mom how was your day? (translated means...can I use your phone?  We told him he couldnt ask for my phone until he welcomed me home and gave me a hug) 
• Imagine if....(this is currenlty how he starts 95% of his sentences - he's a thinker that one....)
• Make me something I like (when asked what he wants for breakfast, or lunch or dinner)
• Can I have that thing I had at Tammy's (the answer to what do you want for breakfast?  He means a hard boiled egg)
• I like being a kid, I dont know anything about grown ups (he TOTALLY knows he's got a good thing going and is in NO hurry to grow up)

Billy, you are an amazing, smart, loving, generous, thoughtful, insightful,sensitive person. We cant wait to be a part of the rest of your life:)

We Love you Billy!!

   

And..the results are in!!!

Tomorrow is the last day of school. Yes, we go to school from the Tuesday after Labor Day until the last Thursday of June. Holy School Batman!

With this comes ... field trips, treats, teacher gifts, in classroom movies and.... report cards!

Report cards came home today and I'm please to announce....(drum roll please)

Jimmy was awarded...
The Dance Award (huh?)
The Music Award ('duh!)
Honor Roll (I think its new math, you'll see why when I discuss his grades below...)
He is super duper thrilled about these awards as your name gets called off and you get to go up during assembly. he said he had butterflies in his stomach when it came to the honor roll since he's been "working so hard!"  Gradewise, improvements across the board with a range of C+ (measurement - empiral to metric has him really screwed up) to A in Phy Ed ('duh) and Music (double 'duh).  His teacher said he is a "confident student" with a "positive attitude towards learning".  The only advice? "encouraged to stay remain on task even when the task becomes challenging". Don't we all?!
So proud of you Jimmy!! From skipping 5th grade to Honor Roll in 6th grade - woo hooo!!!

Kays report card was GLOWING!!!
Her grades ranged from B (healthy living, IT, writing, number sense and measurement - see above on Jimmy's comments) to A+ (oral communication & visual arts). Her teachers comments were so encouraging and made us smile (and wonder if Mrs Chung is talking about the same kid.....) " "reliable student" "completes written tasks with time and care "is always an enthusiastic learner, seeks new opportunities to learn" "always demonstrates curiosity and interest" "often results conflict in a group" the only advice? "encouraged to ...be more encouraging and understanding of with her classmates"        (can the last 2 comments be interpreted as bossy?!)  She got Excellents in Responsibility and Initiative (starting to sound like leadership dimensions at work!!!)
Kay - you amaze us, never lose your earnestness and willingness to learn!

Billy - what to say about Billy... once I describe the below, it'll make you wonder what he could do if he actually applied himself and didn't just 'skate' through grade 2...
Teacher comments 1st "works with others to resolve conflicts and is a positive team member" looks for ...new ideas and opportunities for learning" "reflects critically on his strengths and needs" (this is starting to sound like a performance review - have to remind myself he's 8 and in grade 2!!) the advice? "he is encouraged to find a quiet area away from his friends in order to complete his work" (this is called the Murphy curse as all of the LoudAmericans have gotten this feedback repetitively.  Grade wise - solid solid B's - A- in Number Sense and Media Literacy.  I think the best indication though is, they asked his teacher (Ms Cuttz) if she'd take on Grade 3 next years. She said - only if I get the same Grade 2 class. you must keep them all together. - so... guess who his teacher is next year - we are thrilled! Go Billy Go! Nicely done!

Now, for the actual last day of school tomorrow. Not excited to see the s-it that comes home in the backpacks and see how much sugar they have consumed during the last day of school parties:)

More on that later:)...

One more reason for cake

It was birthday "fest" at the LoudAmericans this weekend. Kay, in a flash of 9 yr old brilliance, decided to have her birthday part before school got out and every left for summer vacation (yes, our kids go to school until 6/27 - the horror of it all!). Keep in mind, this was a full 3 weeks before her actual birthday AND on the eve of Tracy's birthday.  Ever try to fit 20 lbs of sh-t in a 10 lb bag? just sayin....

Kay has spent the last 30 days planning her party, where should it be, who should she invite, sleepover?, gift bags? the decisions are endless. Remind us to stay WELL clear when she decides to plan her wedding! At the end of the day, the verdict? ....cooking school at Loblaw (think Byerlies kitchen) with 10 girls. The menu?  Tapas (aka: lots of easy appetizers and sugar induced products). The girls had cake AND made cookies AND got to decorate and bring home 6 cupcakes each. Aiy Yai Yai!!  Needless to say, when they made it back to our house it was pure girl mayhem.  But, they had a great time!

While Kay was holding court as Iron Chef, Billy was getting tested for his green belt. He was perfect on his pomsae (patterns) but they needed to do non-contact sparring as they had the largest group ever trying to all pass up a belt color. He rocked it and is now an official green belt. He is cruising through these belts. 1/2 way to black belt. assuming it'll get hard and/or slow down but we'll see. There is a semi-professional soccer team in North York and Master Myungs (Billys dojo) was asked to do the 1/2 time show. They picked their "best" students and guess who's going to demonstrate his TKD skills? Yep ol' Bill. We'll post an update of the prestigious event.

Saturday was Tracy's birthday and to be honest, it looked like any other Saturday ... football practice and kids activities. Kay did clean her room (which is like cleaning a nuclear waste site) so that was a really good present. Then, she went strawberry picking with her friends while Tracy walked the dog, Billy road his bike and Jimmy laid on the couch like a slug.  We did get a "date" night in at a yummy Indian restaurant and came home to .... you guessed it, a mini neighborhood surprise party. Rod, Peggy, Kim and all their kids were here to welcome us home with champagne and cake. It was really fun and we cant believe how lucky/blessed we are to have 2 neighborhoods (Toronto and Golden Valley) filled with great friends and fun.

Sunday was a baseball tournament for Jimmy (rescheduled from last week) and super duper hot. They rallied, the score went back and forth, but at the end of the day, lost and took 3rd place.  The ump was questionable and even our convener (the person in charge of keeping parents in line) was yelling "so the other team has 10 players?  9 12 yr olds and the ump?!"  Nice. Jimmy seems fine with the loss but that could be because he got to go swimming afterwards. The tribulations of a kid are short lived.  Kay is also off to a swim party with all the same girls from Friday night.. Golsa is moving back to Iran and they decided to see her off in style. As a treat, Tracy took Billy out of lunch (gyros and fries and the best of all...a huge orange Fanta soda). Our kids have it made. Very jealous.

Tom had BBQ class yesterday and Mediterranean class today, tonights dinner will be a mix of what ever he brings home. Its always yummy so no one is complaining!!    

Overall, a few reasons to cut cake, lay low, be with friends and family, cheer each other on and basically enjoy life.

Happy Weekend!    

Anchors Away!

Tracy and I, after 5 years, were able to get away for a few days, just us... no kids, all thanks to Sue!!!!

















We left Toronto in the middle of the night for sunny Miami where we boarded the cruise ship )Carnival Victory) for a 5 day cruise out to Grand Turk, and the Bahamas'. This was our first cruise aboard a ship this size, we are used to sailing our own ship and having our own crew (and being our own cooks and maids:)).

The ship was huge (as you can imagine), there were 3000 guests and around 1000 employees which is a pretty good ratio. The ship had a workout room, which... if you get car sick or have motion issues is not the place to be while the ship is moving... and you are trying to ride a exercise bike, fyi, just sayin".

Each morning we would receive a brochure that included the events of the day, destination, dress code for dinner, ect, you know the old saying.. if you can't remember your name just go the front desk and they will tell you ...like that. The comdeians were pretty funny, the food was 'so so' but the name that tune night which featured the 70's one night, the 80's another it was by far our favorite event!

So Monday afternoon we seat sail and headed for Grand Turk and spent all night Monday and all day Tuesday enroute. We explored the ship and the buffet's, tried to carnival brand beer Thirsty Frog and basically relaxed and read books. The island of Grand Turk is fairly small and when we rented bikes the bike owner told us that only one French couple has ever made it to the light house so, in the words of Homer Simpson "sounds like a bet to me" off we went. The views from the lighthouse were awesome and the reef off the coast of Grand Turk was is responsible for 1000's of shipwrecks, crazy!









Wednesday we set sail for Half Moon cay, the obligatory cruise-line owned island. It was a beach BBQ party and basically laying in the sun, not to much to write home about. Tracy and I walked along the beach enjoyed the BBQ and had a leisurely afternoon. The rains came in around 3:00 and all 3000 passengers beat cheeks to get to the boat causing the shuttle lines to back up and of course, everyone headed to the bar and continued on their merry way! The crew would constantly remind people, "yell louder, drink more, your on vacation"!









Thursday night after the storm we headed to the Bahamas', which were bigger than I imagined. The place has a British Colony fell to the place with the bright colored buildings, horse drawn carriages and barkers trying to get you into their store, restaurant, etc, the only thing missing were people trying to sell us chicklets. Once such barker manage to snag us, coincidently right before the rains came and into Two Bbrothers we went. Since the cruise came with all you could eat and drink having lunch and buying a couple of beers seemed, well you know ...."hey your on vacation!" Tom found this cool new hat and the beer was super cold, local and the appy of choice of course, conch fritters!

Friday we set sail for Miami and the end of the cruise. The dinners each night were somewhat different and the key we found was to get the anytime dining option, which like it says let's you dine any time you want. That way we were never rushed, and never had the same waiter or table which was great. The food I must say was mediocre but the dinner entertainment was top notch. There is no way to report this without being politically in-correct so in the same vain as the waiters sing Jingle Bells in the cult classic " a Christmas Carol" the waiters every night sang Happy Birthday, a link to their performance is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KumQHXEmEE4&feature=youtu.be. Now on the last night they out did themselves by signing a parody to "Your leaving on a Jet Plane" , and sang " Your leaving our fun Ship" the link for that is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CoWXpoB0Lc. It totally cracked us up!

A vacation or trip to Miami would not be complete without a trip to the everglades, which if you have never been I would say... don't waste your money, unless you have a few hours to kill between flights and need a ride to the airport, if that's the case then I say ...you must go! Chessey tourist trap and
more...

 

Overall the trip was great and being able to relax with just Tracy and I and each of us reading 4 books was well... awesome.

exactly what we needed:)

Happy Fathers Day!

Also known as ...we love Tom day!!

1st of all, Happy Fathers Day to ALL the Fathers in our life...
    Grandfathers (Jeremiah and Jim) - you are great examples of staying active and engaged in what you love; whether its golf or basketball or your friends AND (of course) your family!
    Godfathers (Jim, Mike and Jeff) - thank you for all the care and attention you give our kids, they love you for it and it makes you a part of our family:)
     Birth and Foster fathers (all in Korea:)) - thank you for your love, healthy start, and amazing ability to give the biggest gift EVER ... life !!!  AND...then make the most selfless decision EVER, to let your children be raised by someone else in a new/different forever family. I cant even imagine ... you are our heros!!

But... all of this pales in comparison to what Tom does for us everyday - he's Father of the Year! Let me list a few....
    School:  Makes every school lunch, knows every teacher, volunteers for every activity (including super boring field trips)
   Friends: knows all the kids friends AND their parents! keeps us in a healthy supply of loving/caring friendship when I run out of time, makes sure we have fun and down time together
   Sports/Activities: is chauffeur to baseball, basketball, football, gymanstics, Tae Kwon Do, piano, drums, playdates, camp, etc etc....
   Chef: using his talents in the classroom to make us the most unbelievable family meals, its such a treat (in this day an age especially) to be able to eat a homemade meal as a family EVERY night of year. AND...its not all fish sticks and tator tots. Our menu includes: Greek, Korean, Indian, Coastal, BBQ, you name it, he can make it!!
    CEO of the House: does all the shopping, cleaning, fixing, calling, negoitating, etc that goes with running a household of 5, especially when you arent playing with a home field advantage:)
    Advocate for kids and families everywhere: sits on the board of Gift of Adoption (a grant making organization for adoptive families), is engaged in Crisis Nursery (a non-profit support network/facility for families in crisis), frequenlty is a mentor to newly promoted stay at home dads and new expats. 

Tom made a decision a few years ago that being a "father" was going to be his full time job and he wanted to be the best at it. Well...Tom... you've done it. You are amazing and we lead a rich, blessed, loving, engaged, active, hectic, crazy and fun life because of YOU!!

I love you. The kids love you. Thank you for being the best.... Happy Fathers Day!       

MS150 recap

Thank YOU for your support and best wishes for the MS150!  I was WAY over my fundraising goal (yeah $2880 on a goal of $2500!!!) and finished yet another yearJ  In total, there were 3,500 riders, 1,000 volunteers and overall we raised +$3 million for MS – WOW!!!

As always- a wild ride.   Our support crew was incredible;  first the dedicated team of Annemiek, Eva and Lucy (the dog) for drop off service in Duluth (Wendy’s family).  We did some site seeing in Duluth and had dinner at an awesome new microbrewery – Canal Park Brewery. The food was fantastic and they beer/mead divine. It was good carbo loading for the weekend.

The support by Target Commercial Interiors was amazing-  key to us; the TLC from the Team Luggage truck, the dedicated Massage Team and Target Tent with food and cold barley carbohydrate recovery Beverage on tap!!! Target is amazing at these type of events and it makes me really really proud.

Saturday weather was GREAT- sun and cool temps.   A perfect day for riding and pure joy!

Sunday, well…unpleasant is the best I can describe.,,, it was quite soggy with rain and some head/cross-winds to keep us keenly aware of the physical struggle behind this charity ride.

Thank you to Wendy and Ned for pulling together to keep each other (& me) safe and entertained on the difficult Sunday ride.  I *think* I’ve successfully scrubbed all of the mud off myself! The post ride hot shower felt like heaven!!

Wendy made a new friend and was on the news, The Wild’s Nate Prosser.    http://www.kare11.com/news/article/1028636/24/Teammates-show-support-for-Wilds-Josh-Harding-at-MS-150-Ride

As a close- please send thoughts of healing to the riders injured on this year’s ride.  There were at least four serious injuries on Saturday, including one ‘chain reaction’ crash that injured 3 riders and an airlift into the cities for medical treatment.

Take a look at the photos from the ride attachedJ

Until next year, THANK YOU and Ride On!

Tracy