Birthday Bike Ride

The past few birthdays for my oldest son haven't had many party guest, like zero. It was heartbreaking to see him have to be in the bounce house or bowl alone. I mean his siblings,  aunts, uncle and grandparents were there but no friends or peers. This year he had only asked for one thing. A bike ride.

I casually put out on my Facebook status about his wish and openly invited anyone who wanted to join his family on the bike ride to come.

Unknown to me, some JV football players found out about it and asked a few of their teammates to join in. The only problem is it was during their practice.  They asked their coach if they would be able to leave practice early so they could attend.  Well, the coach said yes and tasked the rest of the teams to join as well.

On his birthday,  6:30 rolled around and our culdisac filled with bikes. All three teams (freshman,  JV,  and varsity) showed up on bikes, scooters,  or on foot, along with countless adults, friends,  and neighbors. Over 100 people showed up!  Some girls brought him some balloons and a gift.  The football team presented him with a team hat and shirt, a few others gave him his favorite snacks, treats, and trinkets.  A special family showed up dressed like his favorite characters,  Scooby-Doo and even drove over in a Mystery Machine.

When we took off for the ride around our half mile loop, the road was completely packed with bikes. Seth was in complete heaven. His dad and I hadn't seen him this happy, ever. It was overwhelming,  Amazingly heartwarming.  Overjoyed to say the least, but most of all extremely happy.

Seth loves to go to school now.  These kids go out of their way to say hi to him or give him a high five. It makes him feel so included and part of the guys.

These kids have no idea how much this simple bike ride meant to Seth. They made his whole day, year actually.
 

Ohana

For our anniversary we were able to take a vacation WITHOUT ANY KIDS. Don't get me wrong, I love my children with all my heart, but we've never been away from them for longer than a quick over night. Twice. It was long over due since really we haven't had alone time since our first child was born, 14 years ago.

Jess surprised me by booking us a get away to MAUI! I couldn't have been more excited. A little nervous because I'd never been on a plane, like ever. I had been to an airport once to pick up someone but never flown. So, we were going to make our first ever flight a nice casual seven hour flight over the ocean. No biggie. Plus, I had to find someone to take care of our kids while being gone for eight days. To make things easier we split them up, two with my mom and the other two with my inlaws.

The flight wasn't that bad at all, the flight attendants made us feel so comfortable. The only thing that surprised me was how loud the engine was inside the cabin, but I must say the peanuts were amazing.

When we landed we thought we were in paradise. It was beautiful and warm. The air smells like flowers and feels so good against your skin. I'd found my place in the world. The only other times I've ever ever ever felt that instant love were when I saw my husband for the first time and every time I first saw my children after being born. The rental car company upgraded us because it was our anniversary to a sports car, a mustang GT to be exact. My freaking dream car. It was totally meant to be too because the license plate had my dads name.



On the actual day of our anniversary we went to a luau and it was a lot of food and great entertainment. When we made the reservations at our hotel they sent a message over and surprised us with VIP seating and special treatments. I have to tell you we were treated like royalty. We got lucky and were constantly being upgraded, free gifts, and extras for free all the time and from what everyone was telling us, that hardly every happens on Maui.


The beach was to die for. The sand is so soft and the water is warm and clear blue. We swam a lot, boogy boarded and road the waves in. I had a school of fish swim around me and it freaked me out that they were touching my legs and feet. Jess couldn't stop laughing. We spent most our time just relaxing on the beach, enjoying small talk and laughing with each other like we haven't in years.

Sunset was our favorite time of day. Its absolutely breath taking. We would sit together a watch the sky turn the most beautiful shades or go for walks up and down the beach, holding hands and just having great conversation. Very romantic. Even when I almost stepped on a crab and it ran across my foot making me scream and jump into Jess' arms.

 Every night right before the sun sets the hotel restaurant does a torch lighting ceremony. To start it off they blow conch shells. The sound is an awesome deep tone that gives you goose bumps. The torches are then lit all around the resorts grounds and stay burning through out the night

Smiles didn't leave our faces the whole trip until it was time to go, then I cried. I wanted to stay and just have my kids sent over to us. The island had excepted me, the birds even likes us, they would land on the tables while we were eating and sing to us. Oh, the birds there are beautiful colors. I never got sun burned just turned brown. The locals kept telling us were one of them ( accepted by the island) and calling us Ohana. In all the trip was amazing. Jess and I bonded even more. All I can say is I can't wait to go back.   

   

I Run, Like A Wounded Turtle

Ever have one of the days where your schedule is so back to back with appointments you have no idea how you're going to get things done? Today was my turn. I thought I could kill two birds with one stone with my first few errands. 

After getting my four children ready for school and making sure the youngest had his class picture money (yes was that kind of morning. You know where you're about to step out the door and look down to find him covered in his breakfast, head to toe, making you scramble to find another outfit. Even though you'd spent hours the night before making sure that outfit, now covered in yogurt, was coordinated down to his shoelaces to not clash with the backdrop. No? Just me. Okay.) I planned to drop my SUV off to have new tires put on. One of my other children had a meeting for their IEP the same time as my regularly scheduled kickboxing class, so I planned to jog back to home. I know, genius, still get my workout in.  Totally was going to work in my mind. 

I dropped the car off and took off jogging. We live in a small town, I've seen people jogging down main all the time. Heck, the crossfit members do it daily. No big deal. I wore my black sweat outfit so nobody would recognize me. Unless you couldn't miss my bright white hair atop the gothic colored attire, I'd be invisible. I mean, who jogs holding a bright pink wallet and phone anyway. Me, today.

So, I am jogging, and I'm impressed because I've got my breathing under control. Steady, not jerky. Big accomplishment for me. It's not like I haven't ever ran before. I take a run on my treadmill daily.  This isn't a new thing. I am two blocks away from my starting point, and I notice a truck pulling up to me. It's one of my neighbors, "Are you okay?" He asked. "Yes," I assure him, letting him know I was headed home. He leaves, and not a few minutes later, another car stops to ask if I need help. Out of breath, I explain I am double checking off my list today and they head on their way. Okay, I get stopped TWO more times. Maybe I looked wounded, like a wounded limping turtle trying to force it's way forward, hurt, panicked faced (most likely, because someone recognized me) Yes, people of Preston, I run, well jog. Just never again where I can be seen. 

I am not complaining, really, it's wonderful we live in such a caring community. A community that is shocked to see me jogging. I just had to laugh. It is super funny. Now, I wonder if I'll be stopped again when I jog back up to pickup my vehicle?