Livin' the Dream?

This school year has thrown me for a little bit of a loop. I've already detailed the Tornado's bumpy road these first few weeks. Big O has had her own struggles, from time management, to the volleyball thing, to some lower grades than she is used to. The Bear seems to be doing well, but everyday is an adventure with her.

The CEO is going through a lot of changes at her work too, and that of course creates a little stress for her.

Things at the homestead have been rough too, as we need this fixed, and that replaced. With this feeling of getting nicked from every side and every turn, I have felt a little overwhelmed. I've been so consumed with the kids that I think I've lost my focus on what the CEO and I want down the road. I don't mean that in a bad way, focusing on the kids, because I love them and love spending time with them. Now that they are all in school, it just kind of struck me that down the road, they will all be out on their own. And because of that, I need to keep one eye on my dreams, and the dreams of the CEO.

The picture is a shot from a ranch in Colorado. Is that where we are going to end up? Who knows, although it almost certainly won't be this exact spot. After our trip this summer though, I do know I want to spend time out in this area as we get older. There is a sense of freedom being out there. Being able to see so far, and only seeing the land and some wildlife, just gives me a peaceful feeling.

Also, planning and dreaming has always been a large part of what makes me happy. It might be planning for a vacation, planning a training schedule for a marathon, or planning for buying a house or land. It gives me motivation and drive, and that gives me purpose.

So I'll go back to trying to figure stuff out for me and the CEO. That won't take anything away from the kids, I'll still have a large focus on them, but I'll keep an eye on me too.

He's Still The Tornado

6 weeks down, 17 years and 8 months of school for The Tornado to go. These first 6 weeks have been a bumpy ride, with multiple letters home from the teacher, tears and lies. We've talked to the teacher, and apparently he thinks he can punch his way to what he wants. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't yet understand that the teacher tells us when something isn't right.

We've talked with him about using his hands in a helping way, not a hurting way. We've talked to him about trying to enjoy being at school. Sometimes it can be so exhausting. The teacher also taught the girls, and says how different they were from him. She actually said to me,"He's either a real joy to be around, or.......he's not." Well yeah, of course he's different! And boy does that sound familiar. I actually described the Bear that way to someone back when she was his age, and that person looked at me and said, "So she's just like her father?" Is it a coincidence that the two kids I spent most of my time with are that way? Is it a coincidence that the one who spent some time with me, some with Grandma and Grandpa, and a little at day care is the more easy going one? I honestly don't know.

I'm sure he will find his groove, and settle in as the wonderfully happy guy we all know he is. It just might feel a little like storm chasing until we get there.

The St. Louis Zoo

On Tuesday the 29th we packed our things and headed out for some breakfast. Everyone was excited because we were going to the St. Louis Zoo, one of the best zoos in the country. It was a nice day, so we were sure we were going to have fun.

We saw some spectacular animals, including bears, giraffes, some really cool birds, hysterical monkeys and terrifying reptiles. We got to pet a real giraffe tail, and the kids loved seeing the peacocks just wandering around the zoo.

But the coolest part of the zoo, figuratively and literally, was the penguin exhibit. You enter a room, and it's freezing cold, and there are penguins EVERYWHERE! All different kinds of penguins too, emperor penguins, rockhoppers, puffins, you name it. They are swimming around, standing guard over the fish bucket, or just keeping watch on the rocks. You can reach out and touch them if you wanted to, they are that close to you. It was really fun to be able to be so close to something, with no glass or walls between you, that is so different and unusual. Penguins are something I'll never see in the wild, as I doubt I'll make it to Antarctica! I could have stayed in there for hours and just watched them.

As we started to leave, the kids saw a penny maker, one of those souvenir things that squishes a penny with a logo of the place you are visiting on it. We let them all get one, then found these penny books, which hold something like 36 pennies! Instantly the search for penny machines would become a focal point of the trip. They slipped their pennies into the books, and we slipped back in the car for the 4 hour drive across Missouri to Kansas City.

We had a wonderful time in St. Louis, that's for certain. We all the love the beach, and even though St. Louis is far far away from one, I think everyone left thinking this would be a fun place to come back and visit. I couldn't believe how much we got done in only 36 hours, but we loved every minute of it!

My New Position

For months I wondered what I would do once the Tornado left for school. How would I fill the day, what would I look forward to, just for me, each day. Well, a phone call came while we were out on our trip, and it was from the coach of the 7th/8th grade coach at SFX. He said he needed to talk to me, and I had a good idea what he wanted to talk about. Turns out I was right, he was looking for an assistant coach at his new job, Head Coach at the local high school for the girls varsity team.

I was flattered that he would ask me, and I was immediately interested. After interviewing with the AD, and meeting some of the girls on the team, I was excited to do it. Then, after a meeting with the AD and the principal, the AD told me this would mean not coaching the 5th/6th girls team, and not coaching the High Hoops team. I knew I couldn't coach 8th graders, but 5th and 6th graders too?

I was torn between wanting to take on this new challenge, and feeling like I was letting the girls from the High Hoops team, and Frank (the co-coach of that team) down. I had never had such a good experience coaching as I did with the High Hoops team. They worked hard, they listened, the played together, just a treat to coach. Would I regret giving that up? I called Frank and he basically told me I had to try the high school job, that who knows when that would become available again. The CEO said the same thing. Frank assured me he wasn't upset, and that he would be able to get someone else to fill in as needed. I explained to O why I did it, so I can coach her and the Bear in high school, and while upset she understood. She knows Coach Frank is a super guy, and knows she'll enjoy the team.

I've been doing the conditioning sessions with the high school team for about a month now, and it's been very enjoyable. The girls have been mostly excellent to work with, and most of them really work hard. We've had to give a couple "let's focus" speeches, but that's to be expected. I'm looking forward to practices and games starting, and seeing how both Mark and I respond to the new level of intensity. I'm anxious about it, but that's the way I am. It might take a little while for us to get a good thing going, but we both work hard at it, and we care about the kids, and I think that will serve us well in the long run.

As my Mom and Dad always say, there is a plan, God is watching over us. One door closed and another one has opened. I'm happy for this opportunity and am curious about where this path will lead.

Stan the Man and Fredbird

After a brief stop at the hotel, we headed over to Busch Stadium for the Cardinals game. We waded outside for a little, admiring the many statues they have outside the ballpark. The girls asked questions about Lou Brock, Red Schoendienst, Bob Gibson and Stan Musial. I told them about the players, and that Musial was Grandpops favorite player. What is interesting about that is that for some reason, Bear's favorite player is Albert Pujols. She has read a couple books about him, has a couple of his cards and was very excited to see him play. A little treat for Bear was the we got to see El Hombre play 3 times on the trip. Musial is a legend of course in St Louis, and his stats and bio are all over the stadium. It was nice to see such a display of history.

We popped into the team store so the Bear could add to her mascot collection, then took a tour of the stadium. They had a fun little area for kids, O and I couldn't figure out how to play the xBox baseball game, while the other two played on the mini playground. We walked to our seats, down the right field line, and settled in. Not more than 5 minutes passed, and there was an announcement that Fredbird would be standing for pictures on the opposite side of the stadium for the first two innings. ARGH!! I walked the Tornado and the Bear down to see him, and we got our picture taken with the Cardinal mascot. The kids were excited and happy that they got to see him up close. It's so neat to see the kids that way.

The game progressed, a great pitching matchup between Dan Haren of the Diamondbacks and Chris Carpenter for the Cards, the Cards were losing. The chants of "charge", were kind of weak and hollow, and O said "this is supposed to be the best baseball city in America?? C'mon people!" I had to laugh, seeing as how her main experience is with 15,000 other fans at the Rays games we attend. But then, the Cards exploded for 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th to win the game 5-4, and the place went crazy!! O responded "that's better". She's so funny.

We walked around and took some more pictures, then walked back across the street to our hotel. The Diamondbacks were staying in our hotel, and lots of fans were in the lobby waiting for players to enter. We saw a few players leaving the ballpark, the girls wanted to see Justin Upton. I took the Tornado up to the room, and the girls hung out downstairs with the CEO for a couple minutes before retreating back to the room, not having seen anyone.

But it was a tremendous day, full of wide-eyed enthusiasm for all the new things we had experienced. For some reason, this day kind of felt like the beginning of the trip, and that we had lots more excitement and learning in front of us!

SHOW ME!

We staggered out of bed Monday morning, after a long Sunday, and set out for another full day. We had planned on visiting the Arch, and then a Cardinals game at night. First we grabbed breakfast/lunch at a local restaurant, then walked to the park and the Arch. The people of St. Louis were all so nice, in fact an usher at the Reds game told us we would be amazed at how nice everyone was. And she was right! While it was a little hot, everyone was doing well with that and the walking. I don't know if it was because they were excited to be in a new place, or what, but all the kids really got along great. It was so nice to spend the fun time with them, when they were all so happy to be together. As we walked around the city, I told the kids that their Aunt was born in St. Louis, and that I had lived there when I was just a little boy. They thought that was cool.

We got to the Arch and it was fantastic! There is a tunnel that runs underground between the two legs, that is 630 feet wide. Underneath, they have a wonderful museum that depicts Lewis and Clarks' travels across America. Since that was going to be a large part of our future travels on the trip, it was a real treat to see the kids point out and ask questions about whether we were going to this place or that.

After about 90 minutes, it was our turn to get in line to ride the tram to the top. They have a Disney-like setup, where you wait in this area for a while, then in that area for a while, then in the last area for a while. That was pretty tedious, but the kids hung in there great. Although the Bear did have some strange film on the inside of her mouth, we never did figure out where that came from. Anyway, we finally got to the trams, and HOLY COW WERE THEY TINY!! We barely fit all five of us into the compartment, and that was with the CEO and I leaning forward the whole time. The ride took about 5 minutes, and then there we were, 630 feet in the sky, looking over the city of St. Louis! The view was spectacular, even though the CEO felt a little uneasy. We stayed up top for about 15 minutes, pointing out different things in the city, we had a great view of the park and our hotel, and the Mississippi River. Satisfied that we had seen it all, we got back in the tram car and rode to the bottom.

Next we left the Arch and walked over to the Mississippi River, which is right next to the Arch. The river was really high, the kids couldn't believe it. They dipped their feet into the water, splashed for a minute or two, and it was back to the hotel to get ready for the game.

It was a special afternoon, watching them learn so much about St. Louis, and really enjoying the learning. Running in the park, darting from one part of the museum to the next, gaping out the windows to see down below. It was special too because I enjoyed learning about those things too. Of course, as the Bear always says though, the best part was sharing it with my family.