"It's So Fun To Watch That Boy Run."

That's a quote from a friend of mine after a facebook post regarding one of Ben's Landsharks spring track race nights.  She followed it up with, "He makes it look effortless."  I had to re-write what she said because it just about sums up Ben's running career thus far and how I feel about watching him run.  I love just love watching him go!

Another track season is behind us (there is one meet left next week, but we have to miss it in favor of the boys' choir and handbell concert).  It was a great season, and Ben's best yet.  He just gets faster and faster.  He beat last year's mile time by nearly a full minute.  The first meet last week, called "Sprint Night" because it's the night all the sprint distances are run, he ran the 100m in 23 seconds.  "I'm not a sprinter, Mom," he said.  Okee dokey!  He must not have been very satisfied with that time.  :)  That same night he also ran the 400m in 1 minute, 22 seconds.  This week he ran the mile.  Boy was he glad to have the sprints behind him so he could be free to pace himself out!  He placed 2nd to a 5th grader with a mile time of 6 minutes, 11.57 seconds.  What?  That is crazy fast!  Have you seen his legs?  They are not so long.  We told him we were going to rename him Sweet Fleet Feet.  Man, oh, man.  He was grinning all night long and we were so proud of him.  Here's a hurrah for another great season, Benny!

It sure is so fun to watch that boy run.

The Concert We Almost Didn't See

The first time we almost didn't see Snow Patrol's Denver 2012 concert was back when our friend Chad first got his hands on tickets to the show.  This is the weekend I usually attend BYU's Women's Conference, and up until a couple of months ago I thought I'd be going this year too.  But one thing and then the other fell through, and I ended up deciding not to go.  There is always next year!  Fortunately, Chad and Adri hadn't asked anyone else to the show yet, not knowing which other of their friends were quite such rebels as Adam and I are, so when I called Adri to let her know we'd be here, we were still in!  Thank goodness!

The second time we almost didn't see Snow Patrol's Denver 2012 concert was Friday night, the night of the show.  We had a delicious dinner at a cute little Denver pub called Park and Co. and then walked the 4 blocks to the Fillmore Theater.  And here is where we ran into some trouble.  The show was strictly for ages 16 and up, and Adri had left her ID at home in Colorado Springs.  While my dear friend does look younger than her 30-something years, we all thought under 16 was a stretch, but the woman at the door we were supposed to enter through would not let her in.  We were about to cry a little bit, especially Chad, who is a huge fan, and then find something else fun to do in Denver on a Friday night--decidedly not return to Dave and Buster's--when Adam had the brilliant idea to have their babysitter find Adri's ID and text a photo of it to Chad's phone.  With the hope that it would be enough in our hearts, we returned to the door to plead a bit.  The bouncer woman considered this possibility seriously enough to call a supervisor, who took one look at Adri, told her she would be unable to have the "over 21" Heineken bracelet (which really wasn't a problem for us non-drinkers anyway), and let her in.  Thank goodness times two!

It was an awesome concert at a fantastic venue.  The tickets Chad got through work gave us VIP access, which would have given us a great view of the show, if the VIP area wasn't over-full because the band covered up half the balcony in the VIP lounge with their set.  But it was OK, it's a small enough venue that we could see just fine through the heads on the floor, and it still felt very cool to have our VIP stickers on, plus we could use the bathrooms in the VIP lounge that had no line.  Snow Patrol has so many great songs, Adam and I have been eagerly downloading more of them into our iTunes since the show, and they had a fun rapport with their audience.  We rocked the night away!  And of course, we could be attending a reading of the U.S. Congressional Budget Summary with Chad and Adri and still have a blast.  The concert was a real treat! 

I have to share one anecdote that illustrates why I adore my pal Adri: as we were walking around before the show started, admiring the coolness of the Fillmore theater Adri said, "You know, it was built in 1907."  I love that she is the kind of gal who knows that kind of thing!

 

  

Grandma!

"What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance.  They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life.  And, most importantly, cookies."  ~Rudolph Giuliani

Or in our case, coconut cake (yummy)!  We loved our visit from Grandma Nic this week!  She is so good at snuggles, tickle tortures, friendly chatting and delicious cooking.  We always feel so well loved and cared for...and, of course, fed...by the time she has to leave us.  As she drove back up to Utah this morning we were comforted with the fact that we will see her, and all our beloved Conlin family, in three weeks at the wedding of Adam's  youngest brother, Aaron to his lovely Bree!  We love you to bitty bits Mom/Grandma!

A Boy Scout On His Own

Zac was on his own
for his FIRST
Boy Scout
little-sleep
buddy-filled
boys-being-boys
laugh-a-lot
Sand Dunes National Park
Campout.

Zac loved every
waking
tent-sleeping
football-tossing
s'more-eating
scrambled-eggs-making
sand-dunes-climbing
log-rolling-downing
moment of it.

Ben's Derby!

This year Ben was our solo Cub Scout with a car in the Pinewood Derby.  As always, Adam was a great assistant, but really helps the boys only with what they want help with as they design and make their cars.  For this race, Ben decided he wanted to whittle his car using his pocket knife.  And so he did.  It was a very long process.  Once he had the shape, he sanded it down and painted it to look like a shark.  Adam helped with the wheels, but the rest was all Ben.  It came out very cool!

Pinewood Derby Day is always an exciting day around the Conlin house.  The boys love seeing all the different car designs, and of course, racing the cars is SO fun.  This year, Ben helped his friend Micah catch Pinewood Fever, so Micah tagged along with us to the races.  Ben was hoping for the overall win again this year, but he came in center of the pack instead.  Of the 9 racers in our Pack, he was 5th.  But he left the Derby with the "Best Design" award, and with all of his whittling efforts, I think that is what mattered most to him.  Way to go, Ben!

Sisters, Sisters There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters

Thursday, the first of a joyous round of visits from loved ones over the next handful of weeks began, with the arrival of my sister from Laguna Beach, CA.  It was a wonderful and too-quick four days.  The boys were so happy to play with, show off for, and talk to their Auntie Lili.  As for me, well, all morning Thursday, with my drive to the airport to pick her up ahead of me, I couldn't wipe the giddy smile off of my face.  I was so excited!  It was a blissful visit as she joined us in our busy routine, as it always is, even when she suffered through a stomach bug Friday night.  I think she and I could have had a week more, disregarded sleep completely, and still had things to talk about.  I love this beautiful sister of mine!  Thanks so much for the visit, Leah!  We love you so very much!

Since Easter

Since Easter we've enjoyed using our first new family computer ever.  EVER.  Yes, it is sad, but we've only owned hand-me-down computers since our marriage 14 years ago, and before our marriage neither Adam nor I owned one at all.  What can I say?  We are kind of cheap when it comes to big-ticket items like that!  We did buy a new laptop for Adam when he went back to BYU for his MBA, but by the time it became our family computer it was no longer new.  This new computer is exciting.  It's so new-fangled and fancy, I almost don't understand it.  But I'm willing to learn!  Just for a reference point I have included pictures of both the new computer and our old one.  On the old one you will see the tab key has completely fallen off and the plug is ghetto-rigged with tape.  This is because if the plug was not in the exact position required, it would not turn on, oh, and it didn't hold a charge for more than 30 seconds, so if the plug fell out of it's exact positioning, it just turned off with no warning.  You can see why we are all excited about this new one.

 

Since Easter we have enjoyed some rainy afternoons, jumping on the trampoline in the falling droplets, and one massive thunderstorm that passed through just before midnight one night.  Ben was the only child awakened by the pounding hail, ceaseless thunder and continuous lightning flashes, so he, Adam and I cuddled under the blankets on our bed and watched it out the window and on the doppler app on my phone until it passed.  It was cool!  We love the rain!

Since Easter we have played A LOT of soccer.  We've won some, we've lost some.  We've driven near and far.  We've played well, we've played not so well.  But we're always having fun.

Since Easter we've had tons of sunshine, warm and beautiful, making for happiness and green growing things, to go along with those afternoon rain storms.  And then, of course, since we do live in Colorado after all, we had one morning where we looked out our window and what did we see?  No.  Not popcorn popping on our apricot tree, but SNOWBALLS resting on it.  Ahh, Colorado Springs, I will never get used to your wacky weather!

Since Easter we've found fun things to do with our spare time and our spare empty plastic Easter eggs.  Tommy excitedly finds these empty eggs, hoping he might find just one more full of jelly beans, and after a quick shake, dejectedly drops it to the floor.  Dang empty eggs.  Josh and Ben, on the flip side, are happy for empty eggs and the things they can become!

Since Easter we've cheered Zac on as he completed his 5th Grade Exhibition Project, a product of months of solo and group work wherein all of the skills of the IB program are put to use.  His project was on the pros and cons of technology.  And very well done!  The day after this massive project was completed, we said "goodbye" (even though there is a month-and-a-half of school left) to elementary school along side our sweet Zac and his fellow 5th graders with a night out at the AIES 5th Grade Carnival.  What a fun evening!  I can't believe we have a son headed for middle school next year.  Where did the time go?  How can we be here already?!  Eep!

Since Easter we've had a fun grown-ups only date night up at Dave and Buster's in Denver (a.k.a. "Plumbers and Prostitutes" renamed for the after 10pm crowd's attire...or lack thereof) with our two favorite date night couples, Vern and Jen Maloy and Chad and Adri Murdock, as a last hurrah for us all before the Maloys move on to Utah.  Boo.  The evening was great though, mostly because of the fantastic friends we were there with.  Dave and Buster's is like a Chuck E. Cheese's but for big kids.  Which we certainly are when we are all together, just a bunch of big kids!  It was followed by a harrowing drive through the snowstorm that gave us the snowballs on the trees.

Since Easter we've survived two days where Mom was down and out with the stomach flu, thanks to our wonderful, amazing, heroic Super Dad.  While I alternately became intimate with Sir John and existed in a sleepy delirious stupor for 15 hours, Adam held down the fort.  And then, while I recovered from my misery over another day, Adam took work off and played mom and dad fabulously.  I didn't get any photos of me ill (on purpose), but I did catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror in one of my trips to the toilet and I looked something like this.

That's about it, since Easter.