Field Day!

With school winding down tomorrow, the fun is really beginning. A couple of weeks ago, my kids had Field Day, a rip-roaring good time with their classmates.

Seeing Haddie with all her besties made me sad she'll be switching schools next year.

Grace, Chelsea, Hadley, Kasey, Kloe, Abby, Alex

Both of the kids had fun and did well. Though they're both athletic, they're among the youngest in their classes, which makes a huge different in sports (particularly at Bode's age when he's competing against kids a year older who were held back).

I was joking to Jamie that they didn't win anything.

"My brothers and I--we dominated every sport. I blame the Johnson genes."
 "I'll have you know I ruled at Field Day," he retorted.
"And the rest of your clan?"

No offense, Johnsons, but the man didn't have a rebuttal. :-)

But we all had a great time and I loved reliving the glory years...until I was dog tired the rest of the afternoon.

You know. From standing there all day.

My, how times have changed.

Eight is, indeed, great

 Haddie's 8th birthday had all the fixins for a perfect day and for the most part, it was. I chaperoned her class trip to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and she had her first sleepover with a few of her besties that night.

We surprised her that morning by completely covering her bedroom floor with balloons and taping streamers to her door. I envisioned her busting through as we victoriously chanted, "8, 8, 8!" Instead, she crawled underneath.

 Oh, the anti-climax.


The Fete
Haddie's party more than made up for it. Eight was the magical number when she could have her first sleepover so she invited a few of her friends. They made individual pizzas and had a sundae bar...

And loaded up on candy (including Pop Rocks for the first time):

Maeve, Kasey, Alex and Haddie

Jamie did not have Pop Rocks in his mouth. Judge him all you want.

The Spa
The girls taught Hadley how to jump rope on the front lawn (reminiscing "Teddy Bear" was so sweet and fun) but one of the highlights was our spa night where I introduced them to facials with a sugar rub and yogurt-oatmeal mask and hot rock treatment in a candlelit room with soft music.

They thought they'd died and gone to heaven.

Hadley and Maeve

Jamie's sister Lisa helped me juggle them all and we chuckled at their comments. "Ahhh, I could do this every day." "Can I eat the cucumbers?" "Just relax, Hadley!" Maeve--a sweet, mellow girl--took to it like fish to water and it was almost life-changing for her.

I'm sure her mom is going to bill me for her future spa habit.

Later that night after a movie, Alex had to go home and  it was Operation TP. I'm not sure who dreamed up the idea (probably me) but I gave Kasey and Maeve yellow streamers and Hadley a half-roll of toilet paper. You can't do much damage with those (plus our victims have wee trees) but you'd have never known that.



They. Had. A. Blast. Giggling. Racing around. Hiding behind lamp posts.  They finally had license to do something on the sly and they ran with it...all the way back to our house.

I'm just hoping  we're not their next target.

The Quote

Later in the evening after we'd had birthday sundaes and cookies (she didn't want a cake), we had a scary moment with Alex. One thing you should know about her: someday she is going to be a star and she's so over-the-top with everything (see this hilarious ditty last winter).

Alex had just popped a cookie in her mouth and the next thing I knew, she was writhing on the kitchen floor, choking and spitting it out. I freaked out, raced over, started whacking her on the back screaming to Jamie as the girls watched in horror. It probably lasted only 30 seconds but it felt like an eternity as she finally hocked the last of the cookie out of her blocked passageway.

Relieved, we watched her get up, clean her face off as I wiped up the mess off the floor, and without skipping a beat, she warned: "We must NEVER speak of that."

The Morning After

It's the 8-year-old version of What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.

Happy 8th Birthday to the Hurricane!

Dear Hadley,

You're turning 8 today (gulp). This is one of those big milestones for Mormon folk because this means you can now be baptized. At 12 you graduate from Primary (the children's organization) into Young Women's, and at 16 you can start dating. Who am I kidding? Twenty-two sounds like a ripe ol' age to hit the dating pool, particularly after Cam tried to plant a few wet ones on you on the bus.

Fortunately you were quicker and all he scored was a kiss on your elbow.

With Casanova Cam on the first day of second grade

People say, "watch out...it all goes so quickly" and I can't say I agree. Bringing you home from the hospital seems like a lifetime ago and I feel like I've been your mom forever. It has been a privilege to watch you blossom from a chubby curmudgeon into a beautiful, talented, fun, adventurous soon-to-be tween.

Tween. Are we really going there?

Second grade has been kind to you. Many of your besties (including Alex and Kasey) are in your class and your teacher, Ms. Rollings, has been amazing. You've continued to excel in the arts, are caught up in reading, write whimsical tales like the "Story of Color" and also struggle in math.

Biking Lake Pend Oreille, ID

Blame your father's genetic failings for that last one.

Many of your friends are really over-scheduled and though you'll hopefully be starting swim team and piano in the fall, I've been careful not to overload you with activities. You are happiest when you have large blocks of time to lock yourself in your room and create--everything from drawings to Popsicle stick birdhouses to the most out-of-the-box, unique contraptions that cause me to sometimes doubt you are mine.

Let's just say crafting isn't Mommy's strong-suit. But you already knew that.

You've never been a snuggly kid who verbalizes her affections but one of my most treasured memories this year was when we started writing secret messages to each other on the easel in your room. Every day, I'd eagerly look forward to your love notes and beautiful drawings and was remiss to erase them and replace them with my own stick figures.



Though it was nice to see myself so skinny.

Hiking Lookout Mountain

We love spending girl time in the outdoors and you are an excellent skier who tackled her first advanced run at Park City Mountain Resort. Last summer, you did an adventure race in Vail where you mountain biked, rock climbed, tubed, ziplined and did a ropes course through mud. You are also an intrepid hiker. While the boys are at Bode's soccer games, we've been going to the Junior Naturalist program at Lookout Mountain and you love studying animal habitats.

When we attended the documentary, "To the Arctic" at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, I later commented I could see you doing something like that for your career--going into the Wild and photographing animals. You were game.

Sledding the gully, Calgary Canada

Minus the freezing-your-butt-off-in-sub-zero-temperatures part. (Or as you refer to it: "C.C," which means "Canadian Cold.")

Fat Kitty is still your favorite thing alive and your favorite toys are all your stuffed animals. You and Bode love throwing birthday parties for each and every one of them, which means it's always a party at our house.

When we were in Park City for Spring Break, I took you into a popular tween store to buy some new socks. I held my breath as we wove through the displays of trendy tween clothes and accessories and exhaled when you raced to a display at the back of the store: full of stuffed animals.

I'm in no rush for you to grow up and I'm glad you aren't either. Age 7 has been your best year yet and I can't wait to follow you along the zany adventures of your future.

So long as they don't involve boys and elbow-kissing.
 
Love,
Mommy

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

Skating Evergreen Lake, CO

Bow River with Grandpa & the dogs, Canada

Vail KEEN Kids Adventure Race with partner Sydney

Hot tubbing in Park City with the cousins

Pier-jumping in Sandpoint, ID

Tubing, Gorgoza Park, UT

Hiking Bear's Hump, Waterton International Peace Park, Canada

First solo flight to see Grandma in Utah

P.S. For a stroll down memory lane, read letters for your 7,  6, 5, 4, 3, or 2 birthdays and the day you were born.