Idaho Trip - King Reunion

Paul and Marillyn King Reunion
June 7, 2013
Salt Lake City, Utah

On June 5 I headed out of Prescott Valley at 7 a.m. with my 3 little boys all buckled in their seats without Curtis.  We tagged behind Tia Marci all the way to Salt Lake City.  The boys traveled like champs.  I had their little backpacks loaded with toys and activities, snacks and munchies galore, and the DVD player all set up for Nathan to operate.  We rocked out to our favorite tunes, ate Swedish fish, and luckily the boys were able to take several little naps between their meals and movies to help the time pass easily.  It wasn't a complete cake walk, Marco had one fit in the afternoon just before he conked out for a long nap.  Tia Marci was a BIG help when we stopped to stretch our legs, go potty, and top off the gas tanks.  She helped herd the boys and fill up water bottles.  We made a little pit stop in Salt lake City to visit Great-Grandma King while letting out some wiggles and then we hit the road again for Idaho.  Thirteen and a half hours later we arrived.

A few days later we headed back to Salt Lake City for our King Reunion.  I really enjoyed seeing my extended family again.  Most of my cousins are married and have growing families too.  There were lots of little kids and several brand new babies to keep us all busy.  We had a special family history presentation about our King ancestors from England, some inspirational devotionals from our Uncles, cowboy themed activities to keep the kids occupied and a really yummy lunch.

In the afternoon we all went swimming, enjoyed a volleyball tournament and some square dancing.  I did not get a chance to enjoy the dancing because, after locking my keys in the car first thing after arriving at the reunion and having a nice AAA man get them back out for me, I ended up locking my keys in the car a 2nd time after swimming.  Unfortunately Marco was also in the car and buckled in his car seat.  In fact he was the culprit who locked himself in the car.  Marco grabbed the keys from me to play with while I loaded up all the towels and bags of swimming gear.  The minute I closed his door and before I opened the front door he pushed the lock button.  I was stupefied.  I was able to flag down my Mom before she headed back to the chapel and she called AAA again.  Knowing there was a baby inside made them rush the order but I was still a nervous wreck.  Within a few minutes Marco started to sweat.  At first he was happy and I tried to play a game with him to encourage him in pushing more buttons like the Unlock button, but he never did.  He managed the alarm button several times and the lock button again, but never the unlock button.  We covered my van with towels to try and keep the car as cool as possible but it had been sitting in full summer sun for a few hours while we went swimming and was already hot.  When Marco started crying, I started crying.  It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced to date.  My Mom had ice water prepped and ready, Tia Marci was standing at the end of the road ready to flag down the AAA truck and I stood by Marco's window trying to calm him down and keep myself sane.  I'm not sure how much time passed in total, I lost all concept of time, to me it felt like forever.  But the AAA guy, the same guy who opened up my van earlier that morning, had  my van unlocked in seconds once he arrived.  I scooped out Marco, we poured water down his throat and wiped him off with a cold, wet towel.  And I bawled some more.  I would have much preferred the squared dancing.

After Marco and I were sufficiently recovered from our dramatic experience we went back to the chapel and arrived just in time for dinner.  Pizza and root bear floats.  Unfortunately I didn't have much of an appetite.  After dinner and a slide show of old family pictures we held our traditional King Reunion Talent Show.  My family had prepared several numbers for the program some of which were just me and my sisters.  We had WAY too much fun practicing and tweaking them to perfection.  At one point we were all sitting around our parent's kitchen table and laughing so hard we were crying.  I love being with my sisters, and I especially love singing with them!

And our other songs are here and here.

Hello Summertime!

I think we've started a new tradition.

For the last day of school we decided it would be fun to ambush Nathan with a water fight.  We had water balloons filled and ready, water guns and blasters loaded and ready for action, and buckets of water strategically placed for reloading purposes. 

Papi, Bracken and myself hid by the front door as Nathan got off the bus.  Nathan had no idea he was about to get soaked!

Bracken was a ninja warrior that afternoon and  I'm pretty sure the costume gave him some killer moves.

Spirit Week

During the last week of school Nathan had fun participating in spirit week.  In typical spirit week fashion each day had a different theme for the kids to have fun with.  They had hat day, skittle day, tie day, super hero day, and my favorite career day.

At first I wasn't sure how to interpret career day because usually career day is when parents come in and share with the class what they do for a living, or at least that's what it is in the movies.  We decided that Nathan would dress like his future dream career which at the moment was College Spanish Professor, Papi was extremely proud.  Nathan wore glasses, a polo, loafers and a name tag made from one of Papi's business cards.  He was super adorable. 

When he came home that afternoon I asked him how the day went and he said that some kids made fun of his career costume, but he didn't care because he thought it was awesome!  Nathan's peers may not have appreciated his career costume but I met several adults of the next several days that mentioned his Spanish Professor apparel and the fact that is was super original and adorable.  I guess we have a mold breaker on our hands!

Toothbrush Fetish

Marco is obsessed with toothbrushes.  For a while I haven't had to worry about the bathroom doors being closed because Marco wasn't attacking the toilet paper or toilet anymore.  But then our toothbrushes started to go missing and Marco was the culprit.  I have found toothbrushes all over the house.  In the laundry hamper, garbage cans, toy bins, under beds, behind couch pillows, outside and in kitchen cupboards.

A few weeks ago during our Saturday house cleaning, the vacuum turned off all on its own.  Nathan was very worried that he was going to be in trouble and he kept assuring me that he didn't do anything bad while he was vacuuming the sun room.  I put his little mind to rest that I  wasn't upset at him, I was just  frustrated that the vacuum was not functioning and I didn't know why.  It's only 3 years old and I have taken really good care of it.  I started to take the vacuum apart.  And what did I find?  Two brushes jammed in the curved crook off the hose that empties into the canister.  Marco was the culprit.  Those tooth brushes had been missing for at least 2 months and all the while we were using our vacuum never knowing that it was a ticking time bomb ready to blow the motor at any moment.  After some research I learned that the vacuum we have shuts off automatically like it did for Nathan, to prevent motor damage when it starts to over heat.  I started to feel that maybe there was a glimmer of hope and my vacuum was not all the way dead just resting.  I cleaned it out really good and let it sit for 2 hours per the manufacturers instructions and said a little prayer.  Boy were we glad when the vacuum roared back to life after cooling off and it was just as good as new.

Needless to say, we try to keep the bathroom doors closed and our toothbrushes safe and sound.   

Marco Lately

Marco loves to be outside.  Now that he is a walking machine we can put on his little sneakers and he roams free and happy.

Snacks and num nums are a big part of Marco's day.  He loves fishies, fruit snacks, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, bananas, crackers, cheese, Pringles, veggie straws and all his food must be just like his big brothers.  If I want to greatly offend Marco all I have to do is cut up his sandwich or pizza into bite sized chunks.  He wants it whole and he holds it in his hands and chomps away.

Messes, messes and more messes.  Marco is our little tornado boy.  He's not the worst mess maker I've seen but compared to his brothers he takes the gold medal.

Marco has some sweet Wii moves.  If we are dancing or playing Mario he insists on being part of the fun.  We usually try to give him the remote that has languishing batteries so he can't wreak too much havoc on our games.

Baseball Season 2013

March - April - May 2013

Nathan played in the Farm League (kids 6-8 years old) this year.   He was one of the youngest players on his team, the Athletic's.  

At the beginning of the season Nathan was clearly not the most developed player.  He was playing with and against kids that were 2-3 years older than him who had a lot more experience than Nathan from his 1 year of T-Ball.  We were really proud of him because he didn't let it get him down.  He had a great time, enjoyed his team, and tried his best at every practice and game.  

By the end of the season he was holding his own against boys who looked like they were pushing 12 instead of maybe almost 9.  His strongest skill is batting, he rarely struck out and when he hits it he hits it hard.  In the out field Nathan mostly goofed off with his friend Jackson.  They would wave to each other, do silly dances and every now and then you would see them take off across the grass away from the game for a potty break.  When nature calls, it calls.

When the season first started the weather was windy and cold.  I was on my own for almost the whole season since Curtis worked late on Nathan's game days.  I had to bring Bracken and Marco with.  Luckily during one of the coldest games Grandma and Grandpa Kleinman came to watch and Grandma kept the little boys in her car the whole time.  Grandpa and I sat in our camping chairs wrapped up in blankets to survive the 1 1/3 hour game.

Once the weather started to warm up the games were 100% more enjoyable.  We were even able to have a few picnic dinners with Papi towards the end.  Bracken loved to relax in his chair, eat his dinner and cheer on Nathan. 

Random Moments

March/April 2013

Marco has officially entered the "make a mess out of everything at eye level" stage.  I tidy up his little explorations at least 6 times a day.

Spring time in Northern Arizona can through some wacky cold fronts at you.  We have been know to have freak snow storms in May and planting gardens before Mother's Day is risky.  So when beautiful sunny 70 degree weather comes around we soak it up.  That picture of me is not my regular day look but rather a method for getting wavy hair without heat.  Some days I put it up in my moose knots, as I lovingly call them, and never get around to taking them out till well after lunch. I have been caught at home a few times sporting my knots by morning callers, but I have yet to forget and leave the house with them still intact.  I'm sure it is only a matter of time. 

Grandma King shipped us this little picnic table for our Easter gift and the boys have their little table.