What a weekend! Full of learning…

I learned that when your little boy has been practicing 3-4 nights a week for 3 months straight, the culminating swim meet is a BIG DEAL.

I learned that it is not possible to write the word breast on your 9 year-old’s arm without giggling to yourself.

I learned that when watching your son swim in his first race of the weekend, it doesn’t matter whether he is coming in first (he wasn’t) or last (he wasn’t!). You will be so busy admiring his newly-learned technique and determination that you won’t even know who won until the very end.

I learned that when you realize that he didn’t know who won the race until the very end either, you will be super-impressed by the fact that he doesn’t expect to win every race. He is happy to swim and use all of his new skills that he has been practicing.

I learned that 9 year-olds don’t know how to react when an overzealous 10 year-old teammate hugs him to congratulate him on a good swim. :-)

I learned that this picture brings tears to my eyes. Michael dove into the water with his goggles on. They fell off his face and while trying to quickly pull them out of his mouth, he “messed-up” (my technical term) his coveted butterfly stroke. The stroke he has been working on so hard every practice. The stroke he couldn’t wait to swim at the meet.

And when he finished swimming in that race – the one that he won – I learned what that feeling was like. Some of you might know that feeling. The feeling that I got when we watched him finish the race and touch the wall and look up – to the judge- who came over to talk to him. Judges do that when they disqualify a swimmer (for “messing-up” the stroke). So, that feeling, the one where your heart drops into your stomach and your eyes well up with tears because you can’t fix it? I learned what that feeling is. It’s the worst feeling.

I learned that after a race like that, you hustle over to get your son fitted with some brand-spankin’ new don’tfalloffmyface goggles. The shiny mirrored ones. Because that’s what he wants.

I learned that the best feeling in the world is watching your child love something. Excel at something. TRY (really try!) at something.

I learned that I am a proud, proud Mom.

—–

This post was first published on 10/19/2009 and though Michael isn’t swimming anymore, I’m just as proud of him now as I was the day of his swim meet. 

One year ago today, Steve and I were in Cancun.

Alone.

For a whole week.

And I *stomping my feet like a 2 year old* want to go back.

The worst part?

Our friends leave for Mexico tomorrow, and they refuse to let us in their suitcases.

One week of being treated like royalty,

margaritas and Coronas handed to us every hour,

eating out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,

and the beach…

walking on the beach, swimming in the ocean, lying in the sun…

Did I mention that I want to go back?

Since I can’t think about anything else today, I thought I would make you take a trip down memory lane with me.

(Originally posted as part of What I Learned This Week on October 12, 2009)

I learned that it doesn’t matter how many pictures you take of the ocean. It always seems like you took too many, but none of them capture what it was like to be there.

I learned that even when given the amazing room that you requested when booking, you should always ask if there is a better one available. Just to see what happens. Because asking might give you the amazingly amazing room with this view…

and these fancy rose petals.

I learned that even though I have never liked watching football, it’s really easy to watch while sitting on the beach next to the ocean with a huge blow-up tv screen.

I learned that in Cancun, it’s so humid outside that if you don’t want the marble floors to be (heavily) coated with condensation every time you open a door, you need to keep your hotel room at a chilly 20 degrees Celsius… which is 68 degrees Fahrenheit. I learned this when Steve walked into the room and slid across the floor the first night we were there. I was so bummed that I couldn’t get a picture of it Please forgive the lack of a picture, because I thought it would be a little inappropriate (because Steve probably wouldn’t have been happy about me whipping out the camera as he is sliding across the floor).

Because of the humidity in Cancun, I learned that when you walk outside with your sunglasses, or your camera, they fog up. Really fog up. And then you get pictures like this:

and this:

(pretty bummed about this picture, because I think it would have been my favorite from the trip).

I learned that even though we are in our 30′s, it’s entirely possible to be amused by burying our feet in the sand for an entire hour… if there are no kids around.

I learned that though it seems like it might be embarrassing to have your picture taken with a donkey (Steve’s idea, NOT mine), it’s entirely more embarrassing to show up at the concierge desk the next morning saying “Umm, we had our pictures taken with a donkey last night…”

I learned that it’s really easy to take feet pictures. And even though it’s no secret that everyone picks on my monkey feet, I think the feet pictures are cute. And it’s my blog. So there.

Yes, I know that you saw that last picture last week. But I think it’s cute enough to put in twice. Again, my blog. ;-)

Something else that I learned? Shadow pictures are also cute. Especially when it’s your husband’s idea to take them. I love him.

I learned that when vacationing alone, you get a lot of self-portraits and pictures of one person. But that’s ok.

I learned that down in Mexico, they haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Darcie and her chocolate cake shots.

So we introduced them.

First, we had one with the bartender (see him hiding behind the bar so he doesn’t get fired?).

Then, Scott from Arkansas wanted to try one. So we had one with Scott.

Then, everyone else at the bar wanted to try one. So, the bartender (Elias, because by then we were on a first name basis) mixed up 10 more shots.

And all those shots resulted in yet another self-portrait (cheesy grins just for Darcie).

I learned that there are always people that offer to take your picture when you try to take a self-portrait. So even though we have a lot of cheesy self-portraits, we also have a few good pictures of the two of us. Which is awesome, because normally they are few and far between.

Oh, this last one? Probably shouldn’t be considered a “good” picture of us, but who can pass up the silly photo ops?

Lastly, I learned a very. important. lesson. Maybe not so much “learned” as “was reminded.”

I am still just as head-over-heels in love with this guy:

as I was 12 years ago.

I’ve lived in Arizona for ten years now.

Ten hundred-degree summers,

ten air conditioned Thanksgivings,

ten snowless Christmases,

and ten nohidingchocolatebunniesoutside Easters.

In these ten years, I’ve learned a thing or two about the desert and just recently realized (through blog and facebook comments) that you may not be aware of these amazing facts.

Doesn’t that make you sad?

Since I’m all about sharing my worldly knowledge, I’m turning What I Learned This Week into:

What I Learned This Decade

(because I can). (because it’s my blog).

1. If it crawls, slithers, or scrambles, don’t touch it (well, unless Daddy is around).

2. Drink water. Then when you’re done, drink more.

3. If a lizard gets scared, he will detach his tail and drop it in order to trick whatever is chasing him. The tail will continue to wiggle and move for up to 2 minutes afterwards. Ewwwww.

4. Let’s talk about cacti for a minute. Did you know that the plural of cactus is cacti? And that they can have flowers? And fruit?

This looks like an ordinary flower:

…but it’s a cactus.

It’s a type of night blooming cactus, which means that it blooms once a year at night. This one was in my neighbor’s front yard. He has had the cactus for 7 years, and this is the first time it has bloomed.

Can we think about that for a minute? It blooms once a year (at most) for 24 hours. A-mazing, if you ask me.

5. It is possible for your leather seats to burn your legs.

6. Windchimes will (hopefully) deter rattlesnakes from visiting you.

7. Tin foil will (hopefully) deter woodpeckers from pecking at your house.

8. Quail cross the road as a family. Often, you will see Mama Quail, followed by 10 or more tiny baby quail, followed by Daddy Quail. Always followed by Daddy Quail. It melts my heart.

9. We have a monsoon season. Normally (this year is not normal), for about 45 days during the beginning of July and lasting through the middle of August, there are thunderstorms every evening at about 4 pm. Heat lightening, thunder, and torrential rain flood the desert for about one hour, then it clears up and the sun comes back out. Oh, and it cools off a bit.

10. Colorado river toads (also called Sonoran desert toads) come out in droves during monsoon season. They sound like bleating goats (or screaming children, depending on the level of sleep they wake you from). The toads have a poison/venom in their body and on their skin that can cause hallucinogenic effects in humans. Yes, I have heard of dogs getting sick from picking the toads up in their mouths. Yes, children (not mine) have licked them and tried to get high. And yes, I have heard of adults licking them and trying to get high.

Can we think about that for a moment, as well?

Ok. Let’s not.

*gag*

Tell me something about where you live that non-locals wouldn’t know…

This is going to be a short and sweet lesson.

Because my fingers hurt.

Lesson:

When attempting to be all fancy and make homemade green chili enchilada sauce,

do take lots of pictures to show off your chili and tomatillo roasting skillzzz:

but don’t attempt to de-seed the chilies without wearing gloves. Because even if you don’t think they’re hot, you might be unpleasantly surprised:

You will soon have to put your camera down and grab a bowl full of milk to soak your poor little fingers in:

And your 10 year old might laugh at you while taking your picture.

And p.s. The milk? Doesn’t help.

Now that we’re kind of settled in, I thought I would share some pictures from our trip.

And share everything that I have learned thus far about summer break.

1. Boys like to pick on each other.

Older boys like to make their younger brothers yell at them.

They think it’s funny.

2. Everything is better when Daddy is not out of town on business.

Daddy dragging Michael into the pool (Michael is laughing)

Daddy demonstrating his throwing skills

Daddy rolling the hula hoop so the boys could jump through it

And jumping through it himself :)

3. I learned that Jack has eagle eyes. He found Aunt Jen’s earring at the bottom of the pool.

4. I learned that rabbit mating season in Arizona is in June. They. are. everywhere.

5. You can’t hold a 5 year old tight enough at the Grand Canyon.

6. I learned that there is such a thing as too much Looney Tunes.

“Be vewy qwiet. I’m hunting wabbits.”

7. It’s not easy to explain to kids what Route 66 is and why it’s so cool. Maybe they’ll get it in a few years.

8. Ice cream for breakfast dessert makes a boy happy.

9. Freezing cold natural rock slides? I learned they’re fun :)

10. Grandpa Ralph is a sharp shooter with the rubber band gun.

11.I learned how to take pictures at night with my camera!

12. I learned that one can never get enough of seeing the family “look what I caught in the trap” trick. (Can you see the “animal” flying through the air?)

13. I learned that I’ll never get tired of seeing belly laughs shared between these two.

14. I learned that this sleeping arrangement works best when we stay in a hotel room. I tried to give each of the boys a bed and sleep with them, but that didn’t work for anyone involved. So, they got one, and Mom got the other.

15. And just because this is linked to Julie’s blog, I am stopping at a nice round number :)

I learned that eventually, even little guys get sick of having their picture taken.

This week, I thought I would wrap up a few blogging tips I have learned… from tutorials, from helping friends, from playing with my own blog, and a few from bloggy boot camp, as well!

Hopefully there is something here for everyone:

Blog fun fact #1:

Typing <center> before and after the code in a widget will center it in your sidebar.

Blog fun fact #2:

You can make blog buttons (and Twitter backgrounds, and headers…) with Picnik! I learned how to by following this tutorial from Linda Sellers. Also, you can use Photobucket (for free) to link your pictures or buttons and get html codes.

Blog fun fact #3:

Use Google Analytics to track how many people visit your site and learn how they get there.

Blog fun fact #4:

Do you see that box under by button (over there on the right)?

You use it to make your button easily “grabbable.” Yes, that’s a word that I made up. But it fits in well, don’t you think?

Do you want a grab box of your own? Shabby Blogs has a great tutorial to help you make one. It’s actually pretty easy!

Blog fun fact #5:

I find a lot of helpful tips from these blogs:

Bloggusion

Blogging Basics 101

Desperately Seeking WordPress

Go ahead… add them to your reader… I’ll wait…

Oh, you don’t know what a reader is? Sorry…

Blog fun fact #6:

Using a blog reader (such as Google Reader or Bloglines) helps to get all of  your blogs organized in one place, and makes it easier to read them. A must for anyone reading more than 5 blogs.

Blog fun fact #7:

Get a gravatar. They make it easier to recognize you when you leave a comment, and look pretty in your address bar :)

Blog fun fact #8:

If you have WordPress, you should check out these plugins:

SexyBookmarks (allows users to share your posts via email, Twitter, Facebook, etc…)

Askimet (finds spam!)

WordPress back up (enough said. Ahem.)

Broken Link Checker (uhh… checks. broken. links.)

If you have Blogger, um… sorry.

Blog fun fact #9:

Rename your photos. Google likes “Jacks_firsttooth” better than DSC00056

Blog fun fact #10:

Make your buttons and pictures link to email you!

Here’s an example:

<center><a href=”mailto:youremailaddresshere” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://yourphotobucketpicturehere” border=”0″ alt=”Photobucket”></a><center> Text that you want under your picture<center>

Let me know if any of this doesn’t make sense… I’d be glad to answer any questions that I can!

I learned that little boys will do anything to put off doing chores.

Is that not the most adorable pink button up there?

It’s up there because my friend Julie now hosts this carnival over at her place… you should click on it and go visit her!

This week, I have been up to my ears in new knowledge:

-I learned that if your son’s preschool teacher teaches him how to make a paper airplane, he will spend hours making thousands of them before the excitement has worn off.

It hasn’t yet.

We have a complete Air Force in our house, in my car, and in his backpack.

The coolest? By far, the one that he made out of a price tag.

-I learned that when your older son goes to his first wrestling practice, it might stress a Mama out to see him pinned like this:

But when he looks up from the mat with a huge smile on his face, she’ll feel a little better.

-I learned that when you send a 5 year-old into the bathroom to do his hair, he might possibly come out like this:

And want to stay that way all. day. long.

-I learned that reading the book that comes with a new camera pays off:

because Arizona sunsets are amazing.

-I learned that  when Kindergarten round-up is around the corner, you might be a little bit sentimental about these guys:

who just yesterday looked like this:

How does that even happen?

How do they go from babies to 5th grader and Kindergartner?

Overnight?!

Just yesterday they were eating animal crackers and wearing diapers.

Today, they’re going to wrestling practice and walking around with faux-hawks!

Ugh… I need a break from learning.

This is the post where I shamelessly share a whole bunch of Hawaii pictures…  :)

This week, I learned that springing for the helicopter tour around Kauai and surprising the kids with it might be the best part of the vacation:

The kids finding out that we’re going up in the helicopter

Because the views. were. amazing.

I learned that when sightseeing with your family, you might want to remind them to put their vehicle in park before getting out and taking pictures. Otherwise, they might find themselves chasing their rental car down a mountain (and being laughed at all week):

*Update: this is Steve’s Uncle… not Steve!*

I learned that there are such beautiful places in Hawaii that they don’t even need to be photoshopped to look like this:

And that Hawaii is a beautiful backdrop for family pictures:

I learned that hula girls are everywhere in Hawaii… kind of like their mascot. And that’s cool. But the PG-13 lamp in the condo that we rented? In the boy’s room? SO not cool:

(and yes, for good measure, Jack lifted up her skirt. Striped underwear)

I learned that if you find a crab on the beach and take it home, he needs fresh ocean water every day so he won’t die. Oops.

Rest in Peace, Jackson Harper, jr.

I learned that the “lava flow” is a yummy, yummy drink. Better than a mai tai, I believe. And so pretty… yes?

I learned that sea turtles and monk seals often swim up on the beach to rest. They’re not dead, just resting. So I missed an opportunity to take a picture of a huge seal because we thought he was dead (and I couldn’t believe how sad it was that all of the people around him were taking pictures! Oops.).

I learned that weddings on tropical islands are awesome and not to be missed…

because moments spent with family and friends are priceless.

Apparently, yo-yoing (is that even a real word?) is the newest trend.

All the cool kids do it.

If you’re in 4th grade.

Or have an older brother in 4th grade.

And you live in Tucson.

Michael bought a yo-yo 2 weeks ago during a school assembly about character development.

Character development = yo-yoing?

Ok then.

Anyway, the lead character in the assembly is a yo-yo master.

Enter Michael and Jack. The newest yo-yo masters.

(Yes, you can be jealous that my kids are in bare feet and t-shirts. But you can’t yell at me about it.)

Michael’s yo-yo broke last weekend. We heard that a game store in the mall had some yo-yo supplies, so we made a trip out there.

At the mall, we met Fred. Fred is another yo-yo master.

Fred showed the boys tricks that made my jaw drop.

Fred obviously has way too much free time on his hands.

But Fred was kind, and very patient with the non yo-yoing Mom that was asking him a lot of yo-yoing questions.

This is where the post gets informative. Are you interested in yo-yos? Because I honestly feel that if I spent 40 minutes talking to a yo-yo master in the game store (where they sold “energy bites for gamers.” Seriously.), I should share the knowledge. If for no other reason than maybe it’ll save you a trip to the yo-yo store.

You see, this is a butterfly shaped yo-yo:

And this is an imperial shaped yo-yo:

There’s no big difference between the two – Fred says it’s all based on preference.

You can yo-yo with cotton string or polyester string. Polyester string is better because it doesn’t shred, and it’s thinner.

Yo-yos need friction in order to spin correctly. If your yo-yo is out of control and not yo-yoing correctly, you should buy some of these:

They’ll help your yo-yo yo-yo better :)

So, that’s my 40 minutes worth of knowledge from Fred, the yo-yo guy.

Please comment and let me know that in some area of your life, this was helpful.

Anyone?