Interview with a 13 Year Old

Favorite color:  Pink

Favorite food:  Fruit and dessert and bread and churros

Least favorite food: Fish

Favorite restaurant: Chick Fil A

Favorite stuffed animal: Fuzzington 

Favorite animal: Manatee and penguin

Favorite board/card game: Kemps and Caps

Favorite video game: MarioKart

Favorite movie: Percy Jackson (the show, not the movie!!!)

Favorite sport: Cross country

Favorite activity: It depends.  I like to run.  I like NTA.  I like Quizzing.  I'm excited about Dance.

Favorite thing to do at home: I like to read. 

Favorite thing to do at school: I like in chorus when we don't have to do anything.  That's the best!  Then we just play card games. 

Favorite subject: ELA

Favorite place to go locally: Faire Coffee

Favorite place to go on vacation: Disney World, the beach, Pentwater

Favorite thing to do with Staley: Squidlaunchers-oh yeah!  And quizzing.

Favorite thing to do with Briggs: Legos 

Favorite thing to do with Mom: Run

Favorite thing to do with Dad: Play Connections and run

Favorite book: Oh, gosh!  Probably Percy Jackson.

Favorite princess: Ariel

Favorite outfit: I like wearing jean shorts and any cute shirt.  I like this green one I'm wearing right now, but I'm also excited about my new pink one.

Favorite PJs: I like the striped pants with my peanut shirt

Favorite play that you've been in: Eastlight Frozen.  Definitely.

Favorite play that you've seen: Six

What is something you are excited about now that you are 13? I can drive!  Okay, fine.  I can do sports because I'm in 7th grade.  I can say I'm a teenager and be all cool and stuff.  Oh, and I'm excited to get a phone.

What are you afraid of? Loss, murky water, big insects with stingers or ladybugs

What is the best thing about you? I'm friendly.

What are you good at? Running

What is something you wish you could do or do better? I wish I had better aim.  I have horrible aim.  And I also wish I had better coordination because I have a bad habit of falling into mud puddles.

Who is your best friend? This might take awhile.  Okay.  Stella, Everly, Mila, Anna, Annalise, Bristol, Sadie, and Melody

What do you want to be when you grow up? I have no idea

Where is one place you'd like to go that you've never been? the Netherlands because I'm learning Dutch and I want to go to Hawaii and Europe and France and Switzerland

What is one play you'd like to be in? I want to be the Mario plant in Little Shop of Horrors and Cherry in the Outsiders and I want to be in Six

Look out, world!

She's 13!!

This Girl

The kids and I were talking in the car the other day about the sport of wrestling.  In the midst of the conversation, Adelie asked, "Can you use your legs when you're wrestling?"  I told her that you could.  To which she replied, "So I could knee them in the stomach."

I don't think that's exactly how they coach it up.

Oh, this girl!

Truth

Now that my kids are older, they can set their alarms and get themselves ready for school in the morning while I sleep in.  As long as I am up in time to drive them to school (usually in my PJs), that's all they need.  It's quite lovely.

My Girls

Adelie:  "When I grow up, I want to have lots of kids and lots of cats.  And a guinea pig."

Staley:  "When I grow up, I want to have lots of money."

Oh, these girls!

Same family, but oh so different.

The Load

Parenting is hard.  That's a truth. When the kids were younger, parenting wore me out with the constant needs and teaching and helping and supervision.  If the kids went outside, I had to be outside.  If the kids wanted to have a play date, I was supervising.  If the kids wanted to make a craft or bake in the kitchen, I was helping.  I was giving baths and cutting up meals and reading stories and engaging in play and going to the park and attending classroom parties.  I was setting up childcare and handling tantrums and cleaning up toys and monitoring food choices.  I was making sure the kids were clean and safe and healthy and fed and learning to make good choices.

When the kids were younger, I would sometimes look enviously at parents of teens or older kids.  Older kids could stay home alone and make meals and help around the house and do things for themselves.  In the midst of the needs of early childhood, that sounded freeing.  And, in many ways, it is.  I love that my kids can stay home alone.  I love that my kids can help around the house or fend for themselves at mealtime or coordinate their social calendar.  I love that they can take responsibility for their schoolwork and make (generally) good choices about what they eat.  I love that we can have fun conversations and play strategic games and share interests.

The other side of that coin, however, is that parenting doesn't get easier.  It's less physically tasking, but the mental load compounds as the kids are dividing their time more and making bigger decisions that have a greater impact on their future.  Smart phones and friends and relationships and jobs and priorities and future plans carry a heavier weight of importance than the days when I generally got to choose who they played with and how they spent their time and when they slept and what they read.  

Part of that weight comes with helping them manage their schedules and priorities.  Managing our family schedule can sometimes feel like a full time job.  Juggling multiple activities and drop offs and pick ups and sporting events and theater rehearsals and classes and church and social activities requires dividing and conquering, setting up carpools, recruiting grandparents, and often crossing paths with Zach as we rush from one thing to another.  But there is also the reality of choices:  Should Staley attend this rehearsal or that practice that are occurring at the same time?  What takes precedence-the quiz off or the track meet?  Is it better to miss your first hour class for this appointment or your last hour class?  Is there any way to make it from one activity to another when they overlap slightly?  How do we fit in family time and vacations around the schedule of activities?  What is the priority?  And who decides?

I'm often tired.  And yes, there is the reality that I fill my days with work and volunteering and trying to keep up with household chores and laundry and groceries and errands and running.  But I think, more often, my fatigue is the mental load that weighs me down.  The parenting decisions.  The conflicting priorities.  The questions.  Should Staley get a summer job or just enjoy a summer of free time since she has her whole life to work?  Are the kids spending too much time on screens?  What is too much?  At what age do we let the kids determine their own bedtime?  How do we teach our kids to own some of the household responsibilities without always having to be asked?  Can we make both NTA and spring track season work?  How about Dance Team and Penguin?  How do we ensure gratitude and not entitlement?  How do we teach money management?  How do we balance allowing freedom and independence while still setting appropriate boundaries?  The thoughts and decisions and questions and ponderings keep coming, and they hold more weight as the kids are approaching ages where the choices and decisions they are making now have a bigger impact on their futures.

I love our family.  I love watching the kids grow and mature and become more independent.  I feel blessed by the friends that my kids have chosen.  I love seeing them embrace activities that bring them joy.  I feel pride when I see them make responsible decisions or act in kindness or demonstrate generosity.  But, at the same time, I feel the weight of my responsibility too.  I want to help them find their path and make decisions they feel good about.  I know they need to falter in order to learn, but I also want to help them learn from my mistakes so they can be better and do better.  I want them to grow into independent, kind, generous, grateful, well-rounded, successful adults.  And the mental load that comes with helping them navigate the now to get to their future can sometimes feel like a lot.

Things to Remember

I used to do these posts more frequently when the kids were changing quickly and going through new phases on a regular basis.  Some of that has slowed down, but there are still things that I want to remember about our life and our family right now.

1.  Over the winter months, one of our regular family night activities was watching shows and movies together.  We found a show called 'Lego Masters' and watched all 6 seasons of it as a family over the course of several months.

2.  Briggs has recently got into doing puzzles.  Just as his bedroom floor used to be constantly covered in Legos, now it is covered in puzzles and puzzle pieces...and Legos too.  (Well, and dirty clothes and wet towels and paper and markers and books.)

3.  Staley now has long and drawn out shower routines and schedules.  She has always taken long showers, but now she has certain nights that are just showers, certain nights that are hair washing nights, and certain nights that are "long" hair washing nights.  It's hard to keep track of...until she's been in the shower for over 20 minutes and the hot water starts to run out.  Then we know it's a long hair washing night.

4.  Just like Staley with her shower routines, Briggs has now started taking long showers and sometimes 2 a day (morning and night).  While Briggs used to take such short showers that I was sure he couldn't possibly be using soap, now he is contributing to the excessive water usage in the house.  Good thing we just got a larger capacity hot water heater.

5.  Adelie is by far our neatest child now.  Briggs' room and Staley's room are always a hot mess.  Staley's floor is typically covered in clothes and her dresser is covered in face care and hair care products.  Both Staley and Briggs are bad about leaving their things strewn about...books and shoes and clothes and breakfast dishes and dirty lunch boxes.  Of our kids, Adelie is the only one who typically keeps her room clean and picks up after herself.

6.  With that said, all 3 kids are now very capable about helping out around the house and doing a good job...if I ask.  They are not typically going to see that something needs to be picked up or cleaned or folded or unloaded, but if I ask, they can do it and do it well.  If we all pitch in the get chores done, it can generally be accomplished efficiently and well.

7.  We always talk about how Briggs is a creature of habit.  Currently one of his habits is asking incessantly about playing video games.  Our general rule is that he can only play video games on the weekends, but that doesn't stop him from asking every single day when he gets home from school.  His favorite video game is Zelda, although will sometimes sprinkle in Super Mario or Animal Crossing as well.   

8.  Staley has been practicing her driving skills with Zach since getting her permit.  It has been a learning experience for both of them.  Staley drove into a ditch on her second driving expedition with Zach.  She has also ended up in the neighbor's yard when hitting the gas instead of the brake when backing out of the driveway, has struggled with making sure she stays on the correct side of the road, and has been hit or miss on turn signal usage.  She only almost drove into the garage door once.  Zach has said he's only had to yell 3 times in the course of their driving and that she has gotten significantly better with each outing they've gone on.

9.  Adelie, my social and FOMO gal, does not like running on her own.  Whereas Staley will often prefer to do her runs solo, even when we offer to accompany her, Adelie ALWAYS wants someone to run with.  She will go solo if that is the only option, but her preference is to always have company.  In runs and in life.

10.  On a typical day at our house, this is where you will generally find our kids:  Staley (if she's home, which is rare with her busy schedule) will be in her room, door closed, listening to music or an audio book.  And singing.  Loudly.  Adelie will be reading her book on the couch downstairs in the basement.  She may or may not hear anything you say to her if she has a book in her hand.  Briggs will either be in his room doing Legos or puzzles while listening to an audio book or riding his bike to the library.

Our days sometimes feel crazy.  Our life gets busy.  We settle into our hectic rhythm of life and enjoy those brief instances when the rhythm breaks for a short moment to allow for a little reflection.  I want to remember our life...the good, the bad, and the ugly.  And, right now, these are the daily idiosyncrasies that make up our life.

Well, not everyone in our family contributes to the hectic rhythm.  Some of us are better than others at just being.

Finding Nemo, Jr.

At the beginning of February, Adelie and Briggs performed in the EMS Drama Club production of Finding Nemo, Jr.  Auditions in September culminated in a great production.  This was the biggest group that the drama club has ever had on the stage!

The cast of Finding Nemo, Jr.

Briggs was cast as Tad, one of Nemo's friends at school.  He had a handful of lines and was a prominent part of a few scenes.  He did a great job of knowing his lines and delivering them with gusto.  His "I'm obnoxious" line was delivered with perfection.

It was fun that Briggs got to perform with friends.  He's taken a break from the last few NTA shows, and it was fun to see him back on stage.

Briggs was also the vacationer.  He was the center of 3 different short scenes where the seagulls were stealing his snacks.  Although these scenes didn't require learning lines, they did require good timing and acting, which Briggs displayed wonderfully.

His annoyance with the sea gulls and final victory over them was a fun little sub-set of scenes to watch play out.  Briggs did a great job creating these scenes on stage with the sea gulls.

Adelie was cast as Dory, the lovable, forgetful blue tang fish that helps Marlin find his son.

She had lots of lines and several solo songs.  She was perfection in her part...the right mix of sweet, lovable, forgetful, and funny.  The role fit her wonderfully!

Many people noted that Adelie was the highlight of the show and was so good!  I couldn't agree more!!  This was one of my favorite roles that she has ever had!

Finding Nemo was such a fun show, and I loved seeing my kids shine on the stage.  And although she is not pictured, Staley literally shined in the show as well as she helped out by running the spotlight.

One of the best parts about EMS Drama Club is that the kids get to perform alongside many of their school friends.

Both kids had a number of their good friends performing alongside them in the show.

It always makes a show more fun when you get to do it with friends.

The kids had lots of people come to see them perform.  Aunt Bonnie came with Grammie and Grandpa.

And, of course, Uma and Papa were there too.

They were also supported by Aunt Jan and Aunt Sandi,...

Adelie's Penguin friend, Naomi,...

and Adelie's NTA friend, Mila!

Lots of the kids' school friends were in the audience as well.

I love the way my kids are supported and loved by their family and friends.

It was a great show!  Both Briggs and Adelie rocked their roles and lit up the stage.  So proud of them both!

Interview with an 11 Year Old

Favorite color:  Blue

Favorite food:  Pizza

Favorite dessert:  Ice cream

Favorite restaurant:  Culvers

Least favorite food:  Broccoli

Favorite stuffed animal:  Bear Bear

Favorite animal:  Koalas

Favorite game:  Tapple

Favorite video game:  Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Galaxy

Favorite movie:  Dogman

Favorite sport:  Soccer

Favorite activity:  Lego Club

Favorite thing to do at home:  Read, do Legos, play video games

Favorite thing to do at school:  Hang out with my friends

Favorite subject:  Reading

Favorite place to go locally:  The library

Favorite place to go on vacation:  Pentwater

Favorite thing to do with Adelie:  Play

Favorite thing to do with Staley:  Work out

Favorite thing to do with Mom:  Do puzzles, talk, play games

Favorite thing to do with Dad:  Do Legos, talk, play video games

Favorite book:  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Favorite outfit:  Probably athletic pants with my Game Changer t-shirt and a sweatshirt

Favorite PJs: Still my footies

Favorite play that you've been in:  Nemo

Favorite play that you've seen:  I don't know

What is something you are excited about now that you are 11?  I don't know

What are you afraid of?  Bullet ants

What is the best thing about you?  I'm a good reader

What are you good at?  Legos and video games

What is something you wish you could do or do better?  Act better in a play

Who is your best friend?  Freddie, Jackson, Bryli, Joel, and Ryker

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A teacher

Where is one place you'd like to go that you've never been?  Glacier National Park

My big 11 year old!

February Happened Too

I got back from my Disney trip just in time to welcome in February.  And although February is generally cold and gray and wintery and blah, we still found ways to fill it with fun.  

The EMS Drama Club production was a February highlight.  It will have its own post, but it deserves to be mentioned in a February highlight post.

My mom, Carrie, Melissa, and I enjoyed dinner out and a night at the theater in Peoria to see Les Mis.  The cast was fabulous!

High school track season kicked into high gear with the start of indoor track meets.

The girls both performed in their choir concert.

Adelie got to be part of a small ensemble featured in one of her choir's songs.

NTA classes are in full swing as we head to Washington a few times each week for various classes.

I headed to Nashville for a long weekend to help Christie celebrate her 50th birthday.

We spent the weekend together exploring the city, eating good food, listening to live music, shopping, and enjoying time together with friends.

Highlights included touring the Ryman theater...

and watching the show "Choir of Man."

And, of course, the biggest highlight was celebrating Christie's milestone birthday and our years of friendship!

We also spent much of February accumulating furniture, a television, and other accoutrements to transform our basement from a play area into more of a teen hangout.  Facebook Marketplace for the win!!  It's still a bit of a work in progress, but it's getting there.

We ended our February by celebrating Briggs' early March birthday with an outing with friends.  Always my creature of habit, he wanted to invite some friends to come hang out, have some snacks, and go play laser tag (just like he's done the past few birthdays.)

Briggs had fun with Freddie, Joel, Ryker, Bryli, and Jackson celebrating his birthday!  So thankful that all my kids have nice groups of friends.

February was another busy month of activities and productivity and friends and family and fun.  Looking forward to March with (hopefully) the start of spring weather.

Winning Disney: The End

We had decided that, with our last park day, we wanted to:  ride Flight of Passage again, spend more time at Epcot to explore the Festival of the Arts and eat snacks, ride favorite Hollywood Studios rides one more time, and watch Fantasmic.  So that's what we did!

We again rocked Early Entry to walk on to Flight of Passage and Navi River Journey.  We also made time to ride Expedition Everest again.

We caught the Winged Encounters birds, which was another thing I've never done at Disney and always wanted to.  We also rope dropped the Yak and Yeti toilets, which is something else I've never done at Disney.  So many firsts!!

We got to meet lots of favorite characters at Animal Kingdom.

Since Dinoland was closing right after our trip, we were some of the last people to meet these characters in their Dinoland costumes.

They were all really fun...

but Chip and Dale might have been our favorites!

We grabbed coffees and some breakfast treats (guava danish, anyone??) before saying good-bye to AK and making our way over to Epcot.  We accomplished so much, and it was still only mid-morning.

We were really excited to just wander around Epcot and enjoy the festival.  We played in the water...

drank sodas from around the world (again, a first that has been on my Disney list)...

painted...

wandered through the countries...

and snacked!

We rode Remy's again, Soarin' again, and Living with the Land.  That rounded out all our personal favorite slow boat rides as mine is Small World, Melissa's is 3 Caballeros, and Emily's is Living with the Land.

My magical Epcot moment was getting the golden ticket for the bar at Space 220 without having to wait on the waitlist.

Space 220 had been on my list to experience, but I didn't want to pay restaurant prices.  Scoring a walk up spot at the bar was the perfect magical Epcot moment!!

We finished off our final day back at Hollywood Studios.  We used Lightning Lanes to ride a few of our favorite rides again: Tower of Terror, Slinky Dog, Runaway Railroad, and Toy Story Mania.

We rounded out our ride roster with Swirling Saucers, enjoyed the new Little Mermaid show, had some dinner, and grabbed snacks to eat during the Fantasmic show.

Watching the Fantasmic show was a fun way to end our last day at the parks.

Well, we actually ended our last day at the parks hiking out to our lonely car way out in the parking lot.  Gotta hit those steps goals!

Day 3 by the numbers: 3 parks, 11 rides, 5 characters, 13 unique food places, 3 shows, 36,410 steps.

We finished off our final morning by having a scrumptious meal at Ale and Compass, walking around Crescent Lake, and then heading to the airport for our flights home.

I knew I would enjoy a mom's only Disney trip, but I didn't realize quite how much.

The mental load of having to account for everyone's wants and needs and preferences and plans was lifted by having super compatible Disney companions.  We easily agreed on plans, took care of our own stuff, never argued or complained or whined (except maybe Melissa about riding It's a Small World), and meshed so well throughout the whole trip.  They even liked to nest and organize in a hotel room like I do!

We leveraged Early Entry and savvy strategy and Lightning Lanes and single rider lines (and a bit of luck) to ride and do everything we wanted with minimal wait times our entire trip.

It never felt rushed as we explored the parks, snacked our way around, happened upon characters and experiences, and took oh-so-many pictures...that everyone was totally on board with!

Sometimes you don't realize the daily load of life until it is lifted.  No schedules to organize.  No things to keep track of.  No errands to do.  No to-do list hanging over your head.  No decisions to make.

When I say it was magical, it truly was.  We had so much fun!  It wasn't just the rides or the shows or the food, although that was all great.

It was the laughter and the silliness and the little moments where things just worked out so perfectly that you felt like there must be a bit of pixie dust in the air.

Walking onto a ride without a wait or happening upon some fun entertainment or finding a great new treat to try just added little moments of joy throughout each day.

We had so many fun character interactions!  I hadn't really had character meet and greets on my radar before this trip when I was thinking about priorities, but those were some of my favorite memories.

And yes, there were things we knew our families would have enjoyed about the trip.  And, of course, we love them and missed them.

But this trip filled my cup so much that I'm sure I came back better for my family.

Our trip by the numbers:

8 parks

38 rides

15 characters

10 shows

25 unique food/drink places

324 pictures (after editing)

105,451 steps

Magical memories: too many to count

Did we win Disney?

I think so!