May 2018

Todd's made fun progress with the backyard play structure. There's now a platform on top that the big kids like to sit on and read. If ever I can't find Hazel in the house, that's the first place I look, and she's usually there.

Jack gets really goofy sometimes. This night he was running around the backyard in his undies, belting out Greatest Showman tunes at the top of his lungs. 

Everyone spoiled me on Mother's Day. I love, love, love these three kids of mine. They bring me such joy and fulfillment.

Gemma lost her first tooth. After weeks of it dangling loosely and Gemma not willing to budge it if it gave her any pain, I resorted to pushing it out while sitting on her with her arms pinned down during the Tickle Game. She was only traumatized for half a second, then became super excited about the Tooth Fairy coming. We went through a similar experience two weeks later with the tooth next to it. Her big teeth are coming up behind and pushing them out. Crazy - my other kids were older than this when they each lost their first tooth.

Jack played the piano at the school talent show. I was surprised he signed up, but he was all nonchalant about it until there was an actual audience in front of him. Then he was relieved to have it over with. He did so great! He really loves playing the piano.

Swim team practice started in May and Gemma is so, so excited to be big enough to be on the team this year. She's been swimming her heart out. We switched teams from last year; Hazel has several friends in this group and it's made a big difference in how much she's enjoying herself. Jack likes that there are junior coaches in the water helping the kids learn the strokes. It's a good fit for us. 

We loved being on the basketball league this spring. We are totally going to do it again next year! I talked up the Utah Jazz glory days from the '90s and everyone really enjoyed themselves at practice and at games, and we got a lot more use out of our hoop out front. It was a little bit insane having swim and basketball overlap by two weeks, though, so we all took a big sigh of relief when the season finished up.

We went camping again, over Memorial Day weekend. I don't know what we were thinking. Oh, wait, yes I do. Todd gets in these stints where he's like, "The kids love camping. It's cheap and we make great memories. We should totally go!" and he books us online while ignoring my protests of, "You and I hate camping. We don't sleep well. It's so much work to get ready and to clean up. We should stick to day trips." Todd forgets. He forgets how bad it is. Then we get there and he remembers and it's too late. For the record, the kids really do love it. But they love anything out of the routine. It doesn't have to be camping.

We played in the water and that was cool. Kayaks and river wading are both awesome. Also, both things we could do during a day trip. Just sayin'.

We came home a night early from camping because - surprise! - we weren't sleeping well, then decided to jam-pack our weekend and spent Monday at the beach. It was a perfect beach day. Long drive in the traffic, but worth it. The weather was so great, the kids loved burying each other in sand, we body boarded, there were jellyfish all over the place and Jack had a blast collecting them, Hazel made a massive sand castle, Gemma nearly lost her swim bottoms because they're old and stretched out. We came home satisfied.

Croce has a running club for the kids, where they run or walk laps around the field and keep track of how many miles the kids complete. Jack worked hard to achieve the 50 mile milestone. Hazel earned it to, and said she wished she'd tried for the 75. Next year, baby!

Todd flew the Blackhawk to the tiny Livermore Airport last week and invited the young men from church to meet him there and get a close-up look. I brought the kids over and was amused at how much ownership they seemed to feel. They ran right up to the helicopter as soon as the engine was turned off, and climbed all around it, beaming, like they were showing off a new sports car to a friend or something. I mean, look at Jack's beaming face below. I hope they never forget how cool their dad is.

Gemma had her last day of preschool and can't wait to go to kindergarten. The other night at dinner she said she wished summer was over so she could go to kindergarten right away. I said, "But you love summer. You love swimming, and wearing shorts, and the hot weather." And Gemma said, "I know. But I love kindergarten more."

Miss Kelly, Gemma, Miss Kristine, Miss Theresa

April 2018

April started out crazy, with April Fool's Day, Easter, and General Conference all at once. The day before, along with Conference, we had come home from camping, gone to the kids' basketball games, and planted our vegetable garden. That night we filled eggs for the egg hunt and made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Somehow we managed to squeeze everything in, but we made a vow to keep Conference Weekend less scheduled in the future.

Our backyard had a bajillion excellent hiding spots for the egg hunt. We are going to have to fill more than 12 per kid next year! They were just too fun to hide.

We dyed hard boiled eggs in the afternoon and were eating them all week long.

We even managed to end the day with Grammie's egg blowing game. Now that needs to become an annual Easter tradition!

The kids had spring break the entire first week of April. We cleaned and worked basically all day Monday, but hit the Oakland Zoo on Tuesday before picking Nana up from the airport for a visit. 

Gemma, for whatever reason, absolutely loves giraffes. She always says she wishes she could ride on one. Also, side note, she has a lot of favorite animals, and she is just amazed by them. It is typical of her to see an animal, admire it's skills for a moment, and then say, "I wish I could be a [fill in the blank]." I wish I could be a giraffe. I wish I could be a bird. I wish I could be a monkey. I wish I could be a squirrel. She is totally sincere. If Gemma could have one super power, whether she knows how to articulate this or not, it would be the ability to change into animal form. 

Jack always loves to look at the tigers. They have always been his favorite animal. He gets a little bit sad and defensive when someone talks about how fierce or wild they are. In his heart of hearts, Jack wants them to be snuggly and gentle and tame. He doesn't admire them for their hunting skills or stealth; it's all about how big and soft and orange they look.

Hazel always gets a little bummed out when J and G get a picture next to their favorite animals at the zoo. She was over the moon to find, during our wanderings this last visit, a statue of a fox in a den. She is absolutely obsessed with foxes lately. It's probably been about a year since they beat out cheetahs in Hazel's heart. I'm not sure what she loves so much about them. I think she thinks of them as shy and noble and independent, which aligns with her self-perception as well.

We took my mom to the secret beach her first full day here, because it had the best weather forecast. It turned out to be absolutely perfect! It was a bit chilly, but no more than usual. We had sun for the first 3/4ths of our visit, which was glorious. And we had the beach completely to ourselves. Paradise.

Gemma loves to chase the waves. She gets soaked every beach trip. She just loves to flirt with the tide, no matter how cold the water is.

Hazel is an explorer. She loves to climb rocks and check out caves and tide pools. She gets bored fast if the beach is all sand. She just has this drive to hunt.

Jack, my jokester, my mellow fellow, is happy just to be. He spent some time with each sister on this trip, but seemed to find the most joy from rolling downhill in the sand, over and over. We made slow motion videos of him doing cartwheels and other antics, and then he'd watch them and laugh, and make more.

While my mom was here, Todd and I took advantage of the opportunity and had a two-night getaway over the weekend. We didn't go far, just over to Fremont, and spent Saturday at Great America. We were so excited to ride the big roller coasters and feel young and alive and get a big adrenaline rush. Sadly, we realized pretty quickly that we have gotten too old. At the end of that first ride, he and I looked at each other with wide eyes, and realized a) we felt nauseous, b) this was going to give us a headache, and c) we were going to have to take breaks between rides if were to survive the day. We did, in fact, stick around for about 6 hours, and rode our favorite multiple times, but there was a long lunch break, lots of people watching, and Todd even fell asleep on a bench while I was using the bathroom - an old man's nap! We rode our favorite roller coaster one last time before taking off hours before the park closed, and Todd screamed through the whole thing. I thought maybe he was really enjoying himself, but he admitted at the end of the ride that he was trying to keep his blood pumping so he didn't pass out. Ha ha ha! So sad for us.

Our stake Activity Days Girls held a pinewood derby. I wish I had a more close-up shot of her car. She shaped it like a canoe and painted the bottom blue, like it was in the water. She named it Sitka, Alaska. It didn't win any prizes, but it was a fun night.

Todd's parents have just returned from a short mission in Germany, and drove up to see us for a couple of days. Grammie and Poppa were good sports and rode bikes and scooters to take the kids to school in the morning.

Todd was at drill, busy flying over the Golden Gate Bridge and other cool stuff. Lame side effect of his parents just showing up instead of calendaring with us when they come to visit is they always seem to be here when Todd is not. 

But we held a family BBQ in the backyard anyway! I tried to get Erika into the picture, but she wouldn't budge. But believe me when I say that Erika came over, and Vlad and Luna came up as well. It was fun to get everyone together for a family dinner.

Basketball season is still going strong. Everyone is loving it. Gemma has practiced enough that she can make baskets now when the hoop is on its lowest setting. That has been thrilling for her! Jack and Hazel are both lots better than they were at the start of the season as well. All the kids are having a good time. We are definitely signing up for this again next year!

Todd tries to make it to practices after work when he can. The kids maul him. He's not going to be able to carry all three kids at once for much longer. They're all getting huge.

We took the kids to Legoland in Southern California and it was awesome. It was the perfect time to go. Gemma is just barely tall enough that she can go on every single ride, and Hazel isn't too old for everything yet. It was super cool to see all the creative displays throughout the park made of Lego. 

There were two horse rides that made all of Gemma's wildest dreams come true, this one, where the horse canters as it takes her around the track, and a carousel full of ponies. As much as she exclaims over giraffes, I think horses might truly be G's very favorite animal. Right now it's her dream to grow up to own a horse ranch and just ride horses all day long, every day.

Most of the rides were really mellow, but there was one, called Knight's Tournament, that had some serious thrill factor. You could choose from 5 levels of intensity, and Hazel rode it at a five, probably ten times over the course of our two days there. Todd went with her one and hated it. You're like a knight in a dragon's claw, and it throws you around up and down and upside down and in circles and is kind of crazy. This ride is purely for the older kids who come to the park.

Jack was mesmerized by the Lego Factory tour, which showed how Legos are made. The assembly line machinery was pretty fascinating.

But Jack's favorite part was the biggest hit with our entire family: the Technic Coaster. It was an exciting, but not intense, roller coaster, with one big drop and a couple smaller ones, and a lot of hairpin turns. I sat next to Gemma multiple times (I can't even tell you how many times we rode this one - a lot) and she was always funny. She'd exclaim, "That was so scary!" after the drop and then laugh in this giddy, wild way. Huge, bulging eyeballs, and a darling grin. Jack described the drop as simultaneously his favorite and least favorite part as his stomach felt like it was falling and was also pressed tight against the safety bar. 

I couldn't believe my luck when Hazel told me it was Crazy Hair Day at school and that I could do what I wanted with her head. She absolutely hates for me to do her hair. She always wants it just loose or in a ponytail, and often takes out any braids or cute things ti sneak in while she's reading at breakfast. I used the opportunity wisely and did something mostly just cute, instead of getting all whack-a-doodle. I just wanted to play with her hair!

Last, but not least, I always want to be able to look back and see Gemma's first giraffe drawing, which she gave away on a birthday card. Isn't it cute?

March 2018

Todd gave the kids a fitness challenge: When they had trained enough to be able to do 40 push ups and 40 sit ups in two minutes each, they could have a betta fish. They paid for the fish, and Todd and I purchased the equipment. Everyone worked hard and practiced most days, and earned the reward much too quickly, in my opinion.

Jack lost his second front tooth and has an adorable pumpkin smile.

We stumbled by chance upon Home Depot's First Saturday craft. Each of the kids made a periscope, perfect for spying on the neighbors over the fence.

We've been using our Oakland Zoo membership and heading over about once a month. It's been so enjoyable to go and not worry about getting "our money's worth" by staying all day and making sure we see every single animal each time. It's so nice to be able to take our time where the kids have interest that day, and feel like there's no pressure to rush and do it all.

Todd's been working on a custom play set in the backyard. The kids have been helping out and offering suggestions. We'll be excited when it's finished.

All the kids are signed up for a basketball league. It's been our most successful attempt at sports yet! Everyone is enjoying it. Hazel is on a team with a couple of boys from church, and Gemma and Jack are on a team together. They have practice on Wednesdays and games on Saturdays. We've asked the kids to practice 30 minutes a day in the culdesac when they don't have practice at the gym, and everyone's getting really good, which makes it more fun as well.

All the kids made leprechaun traps for Saint Patrick's Day. We had green milk and played Celtic music and danced jigs. It's a good holiday - simple and fun. The leprechauns made a trap of their own in the night and tried to lock the kids in their bedrooms. Everyone thought that was funny.

Hazel was invited to a birthday party at a horse stable. Gemma was a little bit envious. It's Gemma's dream to have a horse ranch when she grows up.

Everything dramatic happens when Todd's away. He had his two week army training in March, and Jack got his first stitches. He slipped and hit his head on the bathroom counter and his forehead opened up into this sad, nasty gash. He stayed cool and collected - no tears! - and actually thought the trip to urgent care was quite interesting. He was asking questions about everything from the equipment to the procedure, and later said he wished he could go through it all again. Not me! I'm just relieved it all looks good weeks later and seems like it's going to heal really nicely.

We went on a two-night camping trip at the end of the month. The only picture I took was this one, after the fact, when we came back on Saturday for the kids' basketball games and these two fell asleep during Hazel's. Everyone was worn out.

The camping was lots of fun, except for the part where we slept on the hard, lumpy ground, all spooned together in a four-man tent. We brought bikes and did some hiking and exploring, played games and waded in the river, and made some delicious food. It was just crazy hard to sleep because we've been raiding the scout closet for supplies the last few years, and didn't think about it until the day we left and we realized that without that sweet hookup, we no longer had a glamorous, two-room tent, big enough for our queen-size blow-up mattress. We don't even have mats of our own. So, yeah, we were basically straight on the ground, and even the kids slept badly the second night. Lesson learned. But besides that, it was a great trip. Lots of fun memories, and I"m sad I din't take any pictures.