Forever Young Reunion!

Hotel Breakers was awesome! It was so cool to drive along the peninsula, check in was welcoming, we were able to buy half day passes since we'd arrived so late, and gain early access to the park for the next day. We had to pay more than if we'd been able to buy just one full day pass, but considering our unintended circumstances, it was great to be able to salvage the day. We ate a late lunch/early dinner, then headed over to the park. The boys toured the parked, frequently saying "Nope, not that one!" to the more intense coasters, but the ones they selected were awesome just the same. Tyler's glasses disappeared on the Iron Dragon, but amazingly, they survived intact and were returned to us within 20 minutes, without anyone having to stop the ride!

Unfortunately, the lack of sleep from the Dallas fiasco kicked in, the boys asked to return to our room for a nap after just a few hours. I was bummed and wanted to try to rally them, but recognized - if lack of sleep causes nausea, then lack of sleep increases susceptibility to motion sickness. Begrudgingly, I agreed to return to the hotel. 

I booked that room imagining that we would watch the sunset from the top of a roller coaster, and enjoy the last hour of the park being open, when most people would have gone home and we'd have no waits on the rides. I even hoped that maybe, just maybe, we'd catch a glimpse of the northern lights. Ok, we'd nap for a bit and return. 

We woke up at 10pm, with Tyrien asking for dinner. I gave them cliff bars and jerky and went back to sleep. 

We woke up early the next morning, packed our car, checked out early, and headed over to the park. Those early morning passes get you in before the rides start. We wandered the park looking for any rides that would open early. We got to see rides being "warmed up" with test runs. The boys were again saying that the rides looked too scary. I encouraged them...maybe, just maybe, required them...to ride Millenium Force.

Holy crappola! Riding up to the top felt like forever, and it seemed like we could see Canada across the lake. It looked and felt as though we were directly over the lake. Then when we started down, just about when our stomachs felt like it was time to pull out, it was time to realize we still had much farther to go! Such a strange feeling to be in free fall for that long! The second hill was less intense, and Tyrien had time to look back at me and express his anger. As we walked off the coaster, Tyrien's mood gradually shifted from rage and a sense of betrayal to him declaring - "That was terrifying! But fun! It was...terrafun!" 

Shockingly, they declined to ride it again. By the time we were done with that ride and walked to the next, it seemed like the park was already open to the public. Still, we enjoyed the shorter waits that come with morning crowds, and rode new coasters, as well as returning to their favorites from the day before. 

We had to leave by 2:30 to make it to our dinner reservations on time. Surprisingly, the boys were pretty upbeat about needing to leave - provided I supplied them with milkshakes. Amazingly, the entire time we were in Ohio, we never once were able to acquire any milkshakes! 

We arrived right on time at the pizza place in BeaverCreek, just as my Aunt Gaye, Uncle Wayne, and Jonell, Art, Payton, and Shelby were arriving. It was such a joy to be reunited with cousins whom I hadn't seen since my 2013, since my Uncle Jerry's funeral. Gloria, Tina, Tony, Rick, Al, Missy and her husband, Duke, who somehow I'd never met before. The beauty of Facebook - I'd felt like I'd gotten to know Missy and Duke over the past couple of years. It was so awesome to get to tell Gloria how much I used to look forward to seeing her when I was a kid, and feel like she returned the sentiment. It was great to get more time with Dawn, Curt, Leah and Brenda, and to be reunited with Jonell, Art, Payton and Shelby. Tyler had expressed concern that my side of the family was so large, overwhelming and intimidating. So it was fantastic that Shelby and Payton immediately swooped in and engaged them in deep conversation.  Dinner was far too short, I wanted so much to spend more time with them!

Fortunately, when we arrived at the hotel, who did we find hanging out in the lobby but Eddie and Roger! We delivered our bags upstairs, then returned to the lounge, the boys playing video games while Eddie, Roger, Jonell, Art and I stayed up late, drinking Eddie's beers and talking, talking, talking. After everyone else went to bed, Eddie sternly told me, "Have another drink with me." It was fabulous to stay up late, catching up. 

In the morning, it was fun to see family in the breakfast area, and then finalizing preparations and heading to Deirdre's, wearing our Forever Young tshirts that Leah had managed to get despite the fact that I'd blown the deadline. Upon arrival, we followed the sounds leading us to the backyard pool. I didn't recognize any of the young adults there! These were Deirdre's kids and grandkids! Past the pool were the tables, chairs and tents and the rest of the family. I distributed the Forever Young Bingo Cards and pencils. I laughed at how frequently family members thanked me for using heavy cardstock. Dawn Lauderback won that game in about 10 minutes! It was awesome to watch her accountant brain plow through those questions so quickly. We enjoyed Brenda's concoctions and awaited as more and more family members arrived throughout the day. We ate amazing food, the kids alternated between swimming in the pool and going down the waterslide/playing on the splashpad. 

We muddled through the challenges of organizing a family photo, shared words about Aunt Winnie, looking at her beautiful purple urn and remembering her love of ballroom dresses and dancing. Then I led the family through a Forever Young Jeopardy game, which brought out quite the competitive streak, particularly amongst the elder Kepplers. There were so many hilarious moments throughout that game, especially when Roger realized I didn't actually have all of the answers and was expecting the elders to fill in some of the blanks for us. 

Late that evening, I attempted to return to the lounge area, only for Leah to inform me that the after party had ended and I may as well return to my room! Tyler discovered that he'd left his bag of games at Deirdre's house. It was a rough evening for us, listening to his sniffles at his loss. 

In the morning, we ate breakfast amongst numerous family members, and hugging other family members before their departure. Then we headed back to Deirdre's, approaching cautiously and heading to the area where the tables had been. Deirdre heard us, came out and spoke to us for quite a while, while Tyler found the games right away, and relieved, was able to enjoy playing with Tyrien. 

Next, we drove to Cleveland, found a suspiciously available, free parking space, and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was awesome, but I was so nervous the whole time, fearing that the rental car would get towed and we wouldn't be able to get home. Took tons of photos and videos, then walked down to the dock, which was so cold and windy that we were miserable! 

We took photos at the  Coast Guard post, then got in the car and headed to the airport, where we again tried and failed to procure milkshakes! 

When we landed in Dallas, we again could not locate milkshakes. Meanwhile, Tyrien's nose and ears were stuffy and driving him bonkers. I bought him chewing gum, and upon takeoff, discovered he had already swallowed all of it. I tried my best to comfort him, noting that we were all wearing masks while sitting right across the aisle from our doctor, who was not. He never noticed us, and we never spoke to him, figuring he'd want to enjoy his privacy, though a part of me lamented that he didn't notice Tyrien's discomfort and offer to help. 

The next day, Tyrien slept ALL day on the couch, occasionally coughing, but mostly with his nose and ears bothering him. The next morning, he didn't want to go to summer camp. I told him he needed to go, he became upset. I offered that if he had a positive covid test he could stay home, otherwise, he was going. Dang it if he didn't have a positive covid test! I had already dropped my PCR test off the night before, and by midafternoon, I was feeling sick, and advised Tyson that I anticipated my test would be positive, even though I'd taken it before I developed symptoms. Sure enough! Tyler was trying to stay healthy enough to go to Dave and Buster's that Thursday. But sure enough, Thursday morning he came into the kitchen stating, "I think I need to test." Positive.  We'd made it three years into the pandemic, but COVID finally caught up to us. Fortunately, no one else in our family caught it, not even Tyson.

It was so fantastic to get to see so many relatives again! I hope that Tyler and Tyrien now feel less intimidated about having such a large family, and that they forever know the joy, love, the powerful draw of family. 

Ohio 2023!

 Our cousin Leah did a great job rallying the troops to celebrate the octogenarians in our family. We were originally scheduled for October, but it got pushed out to June. I hadn't been to Ohio since my Uncle Jerry's funeral, back in 2013, so I hadn't seen most of my Ohio family in 10 years, and some even longer. Unfortunately, Aunt Winnie couldn't hold out that long, so the party became a reunion/memorial. And of course, it never occurred to us that we would lose Nanci so soon. Our cousin's wife Mandi had died as well, and Cousin Gary. But the thing about Kepplers is, when we're together, no matter the occasion, we tend to make it fun, and this one was especially awesome. 

We met via zoom in the months leading up to the event. Given the length of our flight, and that I wanted to bring my boys, I opted to turn the weekend into a longer event for my family. Looking at a map of Ohio and things to do in Ohio, and given how much we loved our trip to Niagara Falls and our trip to Kings Dominion, I decided to take the boys to see Lake Erie, some lighthouses, and then hit up Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world.

 

We hit a snag on our first flight, after landing - we couldn't get into our gate. We were supposed to dock at C-8, which was perfect, considering the app was showing that our next flight was at C-7. After waiting about 30 minutes, the pilot announced that we were pulling into C-25 instead. I could see our flight was already boarding. But I really thought they would hold our flight! Lots of folks on our flight were worried about connections. 

We raced back to C-7, though I was pretty sure our flight had been closed. Tyrien had a meltdown along the way, frustrated at trying to keep up while wearing a tight fitting mask. He ripped it off his face in protest, crying, but moving faster. We finally arrived at our gate, and sure enough, the door was closed. The boys sat down together while I waited my turn to speak to the agent. She initially said I needed to go back to C-25 to make arrangements, but then began helping me. She worked to get us three seats together on the next available flight - not til 7:20am the next day! I said, "What do we do, sleep here in the airport?" "Let's get your flight booked first, we'll deal with that next." Next she gave me three meal vouchers, each worth $12. Then she directed the younger agent next to her to get me a hotel. She griped about the distance of the hotel, and asked if they had a 24 hour shuttle. He said "That's what their website says." She instructed him to call and verify. He reported back that their first shuttle of the day would be at 6am. She indicated that wasn't early enough. She gave me vouchers for cab rides, and told me to take a photo of the cab number, make arrangements with the driver to pick me up in the morning, and told me to be back in the airport by 5:20am. "If you don't get here early enough, they'll give away your seats and you won't be able to sit together." I asked about our luggage. "Your LUGGAGE? I don't know where that is. It will take 2-3 hours to find it. Just go to your hotel. You'll meet up with your luggage in Cleveland. You can track it on the app."  She'd probably had a long day. She'd mentioned at one point that they were adding 500 flights for the following day. 500??? She didn't know what was causing the delay. She made it clear she could complaint about it, but wasn't going to listen to any complaining from me. Somehow, her brusque demeanor wasn't offensive. Just matter of fact, get it done. She was definitely concerned about keeping Tyrien and me together, and Tyler close by. 

I approached the boys and framed this turn of events as "an adventure." Tyler expressed upset that we wouldn't get to go to Cedar Point for the full day. I assured him we would find a way to work things out. Now we needed to get to our hotel.  We walked quite a ways through the parking garage, only to learn we were on the wrong floor for taxis. We went to the correct floor, walked a long ways back, then waited for probably 45 minutes for a ride. I called our hotel in Cleveland, and was informed it was too late to cancel our reservation, we still had to pay. I called Enterprise, with better luck - no reduction in fee, but our car would still be waiting for us upon our arrival the next day. We met up with a fellow traveler, also with vouchers, who advised me to take out my contacts and put them in cups of bottled water overnight. I thought about that but decided not to risk it - with no glasses, I would be completely vulnerable if I couldn't get my lenses back in my eyes the next morning. Better to wear these contacts overnight and dump them once we were reunited with our luggage the next day. 

I made arrangements with the cab driver for our return ride. He was hesitant at first - it was so late at night and here I was asking him for a return ride at 4:45 the next morning. "Ok, but you have to wait for me. Don't just leave. The hotel guys - they're going to try to get you to give them your voucher. If you give them your voucher, you have to go with them, you can't come with me. Don't let them take your voucher." His intensity was concerning. Upon arrival at the hotel, though, the two men checking us in had an intensity that was even more concerning! "You have a cab voucher for the morning, yes? Give it to me." We went back and forth for a few minutes, with me then saying "do you need the info off the voucher? I can read it to you." Finally he said, "you don't have to give me the voucher tonight. You can give it in the morning. We leave at 5:30." "I need to leave by 5." "Ok, 5, then. Be in the lobby by 4:50." 

We got up to our room, and I quickly found the menus. The hotel specified only two restaurants would be allowed to deliver. They were closing in exactly two minutes. I made the call, ordered pizza and wings, and hung up, skeptical that our food would arrive. While waiting, I called Tyson and fretted over the cab versus the hotel shuttle. Tyson's advice "I'd say go with whoever is more likely to actually get you there on time." 

Amazingly, the food did arrive! The driver gave us exactly one paper plate. I had the boys eat directly over the pizza while I used the single paper plate to eat the wings. 

My spirit lifted while eating, grateful to not have to force feed my kids peppered beef jerky - they don't enjoy jerky anyway, let alone peppered, and it didn't look like there were any other sources of food nearby. Tyrien seemed pretty happy, content with this new adventure. Tyler...not so much. 

Lights out at 11:30, alarm set for me for 4:30, and I tossed and turned all night, fretting about how best to get back to the airport, and whether to call the cab company and ask them to find that driver and cancel the ride so I wouldn't feel guilty for him waking up so early if I was just going to ride with the shuttle. On the other hand, those hotel guys seemed so sketchy...I vowed to go downstairs well before 4:50 to check things out. I got out of bed at 4:15, realizing I actually had nothing to do - no toothbrush, no change of clothes...I ate a piece of pizza, then woke the boys at 4:30. 

We headed down to the lobby, and I realized we'd forgotten to put on our masks. Well, we were about to eat pizza, and the lobby wasn't too crowded...the same two men were at the desk, and without asking for the voucher, said, "just go wait over there for the shuttle." At 4:40, a cab pulled up. I went out to check, the man offered me a ride. "No, sorry, I was waiting for someone else." At 4:45, I saw our cab! Alex pulled in and leaned forward to greet me. "Good morning! I'm glad you are here!" "Me, too! Thank you so much for making the trip for us!" Alex expressed concern for the other passenger. I explained that she walked away from us and I never saw her again, nor did she have a voucher for her return ride, and that she had been worried about that. He said "I still want to wait for her." I felt nervous that we would be late. Meanwhile, I watched as more and more people lined up for the shuttle, which had no sign of leaving anytime soon. Some folks tried to join us in the cab, and Alex welcomed them, but when he asked to see their vouchers, "They collected it from us when we checked in last night." In the end we left, just the three of us, with Alex, and saw the ever longer line of people waiting for the shuttle, with still no sign that they were departing anytime soon. 

By taking the cab, we didn't have any extra stops, and were able to get to security in plenty of time. The TSA agents joked about our pizza, asking us to share. They acknowledged we could bring our water bottles but only if they were empty. They laughed as the three of us chugged our water, with one person commenting, "the family that hyrdates together stays together." Then they became impatient and rushed us through. 

We arrived at our gate and ate pizza. Then at 6am, the candy shop across from us opened. I offered that the boys could check to see if Tyler's voucher worked there. It did! He returned with one candy bar. Sigh. 12 dollars and only one candy bar? I sent them back with Tyrien's voucher. He returned with two candy bars. "Any change, anything left on that voucher?" "Ummmmm I don't think so." 

I left them to go get coffee at Dunkin Donuts. Unlike the candy store, this lady encouraged me to buy more items with my voucher. I ended up with two donuts and a bag of Lays, then had to go back to get my coffee. Tyler was frantically texting me by that time, "We're boarding now!" 

They didn't seem to understand that the donuts and lays were for them. Fair enough, a surprise for later. 

Tyrien promptly ate his kit kat bars as soon as he got on the plane, melting chocolate all over his fingers...He was happy to eat his donut, too, and disappointed that the second donut was not also for him. Tyler accepted his donut and chips, and opted not to eat them or his candy bar right away. The better to torture Tyrien later, I'm sure. 

When we arrived in Cleveland, the first thing we learned was that Cleveland is known as the home of Superman. I thought he was from Planet Krypton but any excuse to celebrate...

We were excited to receive our luggage so quickly, then booked it to the rental car shuttle. Our shuttle driver was in a hurry too, taking turns at full speed, sending folks careening all over and hanging on for dear life. Upon arrival, he stated, "I'm late for lunch!" and took off, while someone else unloaded.  We were thrilled that I had prechecked in, and even more thrilled with how quickly the Enterprise guys got us in our car. Soon we were on the road. 

Google Directions was confused about our destination at first, but eventually got us to a point where we could see the Lorain Harbor Lighthouse. 

A dad fishing with his son warned us that there were water moccasins in the area, and Tyler was chomping at the bit about getting to ride coasters. We left quickly, but I explained to Tyler that our check in wasn't til 4, not sure what exactly was going to happen, but it didn't make sense to arrive too early. He was distraught. I had told Tyson "I think I might need to go ahead and buy us tickets for Friday, too" and Tyson seemed to agree - we didn't travel all this way to miss out on coasters. So I again tried to reassure Tyler we'd work things out. 

Next stop was the Vermilion Lighthouse.

No time for reading! The boys were in a hurry to go! "That's it, no more lighthouses!" "Yeah, Mom, no more stopping!" Ok, but I couldn't resist the beauty of this strip of houses, and imagining for a quick moment what life might be like living in one. 

Since we wouldn't be stopping again, I let go of the plan to drive along the coast, and took a more efficient route. It wasn't long before we were driving on the Cedar Point peninsula! 

Next stop, Hotel Breakers! 

Office Team Building

 

I've directed a health and wellness center since 2009, and in December of 2020, was asked to direct a job training program as well. I am known in the industry for having really high employee retention for an industry where employee burnout and turnover are extremely high. The saying goes, "the average life span of a case manager is one year." My secrets are: 1) create a job where employees can see that the work they do is life changing for the people we serve, 2) showing employees that I actually care about them as people - I care about their families, their pets, their hobbies, their retirement planning, and 3) making work a fun place to be. This year I fully supported the idea of having a team building activity at the Breaking Point. 

We had a blast!

Some employees suited up for the "rage room", where they bashed a windshield with bats, threw glass bottles, and broke goodness knows what else:

Others enjoyed a lively game of foosball:

Some employees went into the paint room to throw paint on the walls and ceilings and then create masterpieces on canvas.

I preferred to spend my time in this room:

I loved seeing which weapons were best for which employees - Victoria swore by the red "Batman", I preferred that large black hatchet, while Dave and Beth were masters of the throwing stars. Victoria was amazing with the knives, too. 

After we maxed out our time, we enjoyed a fabulous catered meal from a local Greek restaurant. Then I asked employees to role model health and wellness by doing whatever was best for their health and wellness for the rest of the afternoon. In my case, it was picking Tyrien up from school, as he had early release, and heading home to build marshmallow blasters! What an awesome day!

First Birthday Party Since 2019!

 We finally threw a birthday party! First time since November of 2019! 

Tyrien was gracious enough to go along with a Plants vs Zombies theme, since I still had the party supplies from March of 2020. (He likes PvZ, he just didn't list it as a potential birthday theme until I asked, and showed him the supplies.) 

Of course, he had no idea that meant constructing marshmallow shooters!

I made one that morning before work, then made the rest in the evening. Eventually, the blade chipped, and as I continued, chipped worse. I fretted that I had broken one of Tyson's tools, and how expensive it might have been. Turns out he bought it at Harbor Freight. I offered to replace the blades, he recommended I just go ahead and by a new tool. It was $13. I showed the sales guy the bad blade and asked, "What did I do wrong to cause this?" He answered, "I can tell you in two words - Harbor Freight." When I returned home with the new PVC ratchet cutter, I was delighted to discover that Tyrien had opted to assemble more guns by himself, using one of the made guns as his guide. 

I made the mistake of trying to spray paint the guns green that night. The temperature rapidly fell to below 40 degrees. Tyson had tried to warn me, but I was concerned we wouldn't have sufficient time to paint them the following day. I did the best I could. 

The next day, the guns were frozen to the table. But by 12pm the air was warm enough to give them another go. I pulled a cot frame from the shed, a remnant of a former tenant, leaned it against the rusty old clothesline pole, and knocked the job out in a matter of minutes, leaving them to dry in the sun.

Having not thrown a party in 3 years, we found that while the boys are more helpful than they could be pre-pandemic, our speed and stamina have changed. I did NOT have time to vacuum and mop the house, I did NOT have time to wipe down the entire kitchen, I did NOT have time to straighten the laundry room. We focused our efforts on the back yard. As always, Grandma A was a fantastic help, from blowing up balloons to decorating to helping sweep sidewalks. 

We have never had rye grass before, and it had never been cut. Tyson was able to cut it, then had to rake the clippings and carry them to the composter. The boys helped with picking up after Kylo and with decorating using balloons, plushies and plastic figures. 

We hadn't yet removed the swing set, which has fallen apart in the Arizona sun. The  kids had a blast on it, and other parents assured me that their swing sets looked just as bad as ours, with the exception of not having had  a dog dig a burrow under the picnic table portion of it. Luckily, no one got any splinters, and the set held together for the day. The kids were satisfied with that from 2-2:45 or so, then started getting into arguments, so I retrieved the hidden marshmallow blasters. 

I was quickly swarmed with children requesting them, and as I taught them how to use them, I become acutely aware that all of their weapons were pointed at me. They work! They work very well! Absolutely worth it.

Even the older kids were into it! And the parents!  Several of the dads expressed plans to build some of their own! 

I failed to get a photo of the cake. It wasn't creative this year, just a sheet cake, green frosting, and a configuration of cardboard and plastic PvZ characters. Due to the hospitals being full and hearing that so many kids in our area are sick with COVID, RSV or flu, we opted to use a hostess cupcake for Tyrien to blow out his candles, to avoid blowing germs over the actual birthday cake. 

I had a great time meeting some of the parents and getting to know them better. After 3 years with hardly any birthday parties, and no house parties, I hadn't gotten to know any of Tyrien's friends, let alone their parents. By having the party at our house, we were able to offer parents a selection of adult beverages. Grateful to be able to get back to offering parties where the kids are fully occupied and the parents can kick back and have a beer with us! 

I was so surprised that our friend John not only remembered my birthday, but bought me flowers to celebrate!

After the party, we joined him and Valeri and kids on a trip to Winterhaven. We were exhausted but it was worth it! It wasn't as cold as the previous night, nor on our last trip to Winterhaven, there were more displays than ever, and I had hot cocoa waiting in the car for us when we were done.

Things to Remember

 Tyson sometimes mentions that we remember so much more about Tyler's early years than Tyrien's. It makes sense, our attention was divided, and Tyrien barely slept the first two years of his life, so we were exhausted! So when I think of things, I need to remember to write them down.

Some of the cute things Tyrien did when he was little...instead of crawling, he loved to bunny hop all over our house. I wish I had recorded it! I remember him in his little pajamas with the footies, his long hair, bunny hopping from one room to the next. 

He didn't sleep much at night, so sometimes he would fall asleep at his preschool, or even standing up at our couch at home. 

He was so eager to get to eat grownup food. When he was nursing, if one of us was eating at the same time, he'd pull his head away from me, lift his chin, look down his nose, and tilt his head, as if to say, "What do you have over there? I would like to try some, please!" 

Tyrien always looked up to his brother so much, from his newborn days. I'd set him down in his carrier at the front desk of Tyler's preschool, and go get Tyler. Tyler would race ahead of me to greet Tyrien, and I would always see Tyrien looking up at his brother, beaming.

Tyrien loved Vader immensely, too. He would sit next to Vader on his dog bed and cuddle him for 45 minutes straight. When he cried, Vader would nuzzle him and do his best to console him. 

For the longest time after Vader died, I remember the intensity with which he would say, over and over, "Vader all gone, no more. Kiss. Hug." Over and over, with such a sense of urgency. "Are you sad Vader died?" "It's sad. It's sad." 

Pronunciation of words - to this day, he still says, "NUFFTHING!" As in, "What do you want for dinner?" "NUFFTHING!" For the longest time, he referred to Tyler as "Bruh-tha!" I remember bringing him to see Tyler in a musical at his school. We were near the back of the room. Tyrien stood on my lap and shouted, "Bruh-tha! Bru-tha!" over and over for the duration of the song. 

He has always wanted his own space. When he lived inside me, he often stretched out and hated to be crowded. When he was having his diaper changed, if Tyler tried to crowd him, he would smack him in the face. 

I remember the ladies at his first childcare center telling me, "He hasn't eaten yet. He's waiting patiently for you." They said he would look towards the door when waiting for me. After a couple weeks, they began to worry that he wasn't drinking milk all day, so we gave them a syringe since he wouldn't take a bottle. The syringe turned into a battle of wills, and he won. The doctor told me to reassure them, some babies go all night without feeding, and we call that a success. He could go all day without eating, it just meant he'd eat more at night. I felt relieved, the ladies relaxed, and suddenly he was willing to take a bottle. 

Tyrien was plagued with a horrific diaper rash. When we were in the hospital for bronchiolitis, the wound care team consulted. Their medicine didn't work either. A dermatologist finally diagnosed it as not just yeast, but eczema AND yeast at the same time. Any time he got bronchiolitis, the rash came back. I hypothesized that breathing fast just dried him out. I started to look for that rash as a sign that we needed to push fluids and saline and suctioning. 

Young Tyrien had quite the temper. When he was an infant, when he became angry, his unibrow would turn red. When he was a toddler, he enjoyed defiantly knocking over a kitchen stool whenever he was angry. 

He was diligent when he decided to learn something new. Evening seemed to be his favorite time to practice, whether it was standing, walking, hopping, he would practice again and again relentlessly from after dinner until it was time to get ready for bed. 

He was always a bit of a daredevil, especially liking to stand on the arm of the couch to look out the window, then falling backwards onto the couch. He enjoyed doing "butt-drops" in the pool and in the bathtub, which turned into a long-running argument between him and me, because he would splash water all over the bathroom, and me. In the pool, he enjoyed floating face-down in the water to practice holding his breath as long as he could, a horrifying game for lifeguards, parents, and grandparents. He had no fear of the water and was known for climbing out of one end, quickly crossing the peninsula before we could stop him, and jumping into the other end of the pool, where we would have to quickly rescue him. He loved his swimming lessons, and every time we drive by Campus Rec, he mentions them. It seems so strange to have missed swimming lessons for an entire year! 

Once he learned how to run, he was like Forrest Gump - "everywhere he goes, he is RUNNING!" During the pandemic, without the outlet of Lil Dragons or other sports, I purchased online kindergarten parkour classes. I was horrified to realize that it was teaching him and encouraging him to jump on and over our couch. But he did need exercise, and it was far too hot to play outside. He adored the first one, and did it every day. He refused to do any of the other sessions. To be fair, they changed instructors, and the other instructor was boring. During online schooling, he resumed that online kinder parkour for afternoon recess time. 

It was so strange to hear a 5 year old saying the phrase, "Because of the pandemic." He didn't start saying it until kindergarten. Now he is 6 and his pronunciation is less startling. He has been such a good sport about the pandemic. Surprisingly, considering how social he is, he requested to be able to stay home instead of going in to school. I think I mentioned his rant in a previous post. If not, I'll add it later. It was the first I'd ever heard him lay out his complaints so eloquently, logically, and passionately. 

He continues to speak about how we met Kylo, referring to the animal shelter as "the dog house." He used to introduce anyone that came to our house, bringing them to meet him, saying, "This is Kylo!" 

Somehow he has picked up a habit, when he is excited, of pausing mid-sentence and then finishing the sentence in a high pitched voice - "Today is...Friday!" "Then it will be...Christmas!" "Tomorrow is my...birthday!" He often does this while leaning in to touch foreheads, looking directly into our eyes, wide-eyed and excited. 

When he is tired, he strokes my hair. When he is cuddly, we assume he is getting sick. If he doesn't get sick, then we assume he must be growing. That's how much of a non-cuddler he is! He is a hugger, but it's a good squeeze hug and then he's off and running to his next adventure. 

He loves having "sleepovers" with Tyler on the top bunk of the bed. Tyler seems to enjoy it too, and often brings a flashlight to read to him for a few minutes. We save this for the weekends. On school nights, I read to Tyrien on the floor of their bedroom, while Tyson reads to Tyler on the bed in our room. Kylo migrates between the two rooms, seeking attention.  

Those are just a few memories that come to mind now. I'm sure more will come later...

Tyrien's Six!

Tyrien turned six! Another mid-pandemic birthday celebration. He was hoping his friends Diana and Stephen and Misty from his preschool could come over for a party. I broke the news that it wasn't safe to have friends over. He was disappointed, but took it like a champ.

As usual, I asked what he wanted for his birthday dinner, and what kind of birthday cake he would like. He, like his brother, asked for "regular pepperoni pizza" for dinner. Seriously. Frozen pizza. That's all these kids want! As for his cake, he requested Mario cake.

To keep things simple, I ordered Mario figurines and fondant. Tyler helped me create the shapes and decorate. 

The moment of truth is the birthday boy's first glimpse of his custom-made cake!

Looks like we have a winner! 

I was delighted that he stood there and played with his figurines! Then I left the room for a minute, came back, and all the figurines were gone! I went to the family room and found them all on the floor. I had to rewash them and reapply them to the cake. No harm, no foul, but pretty funny. 

The reality of a birthday party during a pandemic - relatives that   typically wouldn't get to attend get to attend via zoom! Not sure how much fun it is for them though. Uncle Eddie hopped on for a moment, but couldn't get his sound to work. Grandma G stayed on for a while! 

Grandma A came in person, hence the table in our front yard! For the record, I set the table up in a way to allow her to maintain distance from us, but as soon as I stepped away, the table was rearranged, and everyone was sitting together. I struggle with the balance of feeling the need to follow all the precautions, and yet having respect for other people's preferences and trying to maintain a pleasant family environment. At work, precautions win. At this event, and Thanksgiving, majority won. Masks, outdoor air, and the knowledge that all three of us are fastidious about hand hygiene and have experience preventing infections, with one of us specializing in the eyes, one the blood, and one the lungs served to console me. 

To increase the celebratory factor, I splurged on foil balloons, filled with helium. This was $16. Worth it - they are still floating, almost a month later. Funny enough, I have never ever driven in a vehicle with helium balloons. I put them in the backseat, clipping them into Kylo's seatbelt. As soon as I started driving, the huge Mario balloon charged in front of me, obstructing my view. I managed to push Mario down, when all the stars charged forward. I quickly rolled down the back windows, and all the balloons immediately flew out the window, hanging on just by the strings attached to Kylo's seatbelt. They were no longer in my way, but I couldn't bear the thought of $16 worth of balloons escaping and drifting off to the sky. I took the first right turn I could, pulled into a parking lot, regathered the balloons, and did my best to anchor them down better. I drove the rest of the way home with no windows down and no air on. Never have I felt more foolish! But they made Tyrien light up. 

Kylo celebrated Tyrien's birthday too! 

Halloween 2020

Mustering the energy to pull off Halloween was challenging. The stress of staying up to date with best practices at work, creating and modifying safety protocols and dealing with negative reactions from the customers and employees alike, the stress of managing two children's distance learning, worries about the local and national elections, fears about the crumbling of democracy and whether there would be a peaceful transfer of power, social injustice and civil unrest and the erosion of faith in media, the ongoing lack of certain supplies in the grocery stores, and the lack of social activity and fun adventures has taken it's toll on me. Fortunately the boys were able to start flag football in early October, and then started in person classes at  their schools in mid-October. That gave me just enough hope and energy to decorate and plan. 

Tyler opted not to dress up for Halloween, stating he was "going as myself." Tyrien on the other hand, did want to dress up. I searched for costumes for him online, and finding nothing, finally relented and, masked and sanitized, brought him into a Halloween store to figure out what he really wanted to dress as. Normally, we don't do store bought ready made costumes, but it's a pandemic. I didn't want to be entering multiple thrift shops to try to put something original together. At the Spirit store, it became clear what he really wanted to dress as was Pikachu. However, they didn't have a costume in his size, so I ordered one online. 

At work, Lupe the nurse inspired us to dress up to spread Halloween cheer at work. She came up with fantastic costumes, dressing as a different celebrity each day. One day, two employees planned to dress as Thing One and Thing Two from Dr. Seuss. But they arrived with their costumes only partially assembled. When I mentioned that I could borrow Tyrien's Cat in the Hat Hat, suddenly the team came together, deciding to create a Dr. Suess theme for Halloween. 

Not only did we pull it off, I rallied the team to record us singing "Happy Birthday" to our medical director. I sent it to her via email, with a message intended to alarm her, "We hope you will give this matter the attention we feel it deserves." Despite being off for her birthday, the email triggered enough concern that she opted to open it immediately, and wrote back to us that the video made her laugh and cry. Mission accomplished! 

Procrastination in full gear, I didn't place Tyrien's costume order until Tuesday, October 27th. We didn't buy pumpkins until Thursday, October 29th. There were hardly any pumpkins left, only huge ones and tiny ones. Tyson was horrified to see the sheer size of the pumpkin I bought for him! Yet somehow, we scraped together enough energy to carve the pumpkins. 

I worried I wouldn't pull it off outdoor decorations in time, but somehow, it all worked out. 

To reduce the risk of  COVID 19 transmission, instead of passing out candy the usual way, I assembled a 4 candy bars, wrapped in white tissue paper and tied to resemble ghosts, using a sharpie to draw eyes and mouths. I arranged the ghosts around the front yard, so that trick or treaters would need to locate a ghost and bring it home to eat. We only had a handful of trick or treaters, but those who came were extra appreciative. Their parents in particular thanked me for our work. People walking the neighborhood were also appreciative, with one woman telling me, "Your yard is enchanting." That comment alone made all the effort worth it! 

Tyson and Tyler both refused to leave the house, while Tyrien wanted to try trick or treating. I attempted to fashion Kylo into a mutant Spider-Dog, and we set off to walk the streets, looking for houses that might be safely participating in trick-or-treating. I had seen on Nextdoor that some homeowners planned to sit outside and give out treats. We found none of them. The one house that looked promising, the homeowners COVID-shamed us, saying "We are actually trying to RESPECT the pandemic by not handing out candy." I am sorry to say that this made me feel incredibly angry. Yet compassionate and understanding at the same time. They had no idea that I have not missed a single day of work since the pandemic started. They had no idea the sacrifices I, my team, and my family have made to try to reduce the burden on hospitals and decrease the risk that the people we serve would experience exacerbated symptoms, verbal or physical abuse, hospitalization, incarceration, suicide, or homicide. That the protocols can work. They had no idea that I was looking carefully for safe trick or treating options. But we found no options at all. Feeling dejected, we headed home. 

Upon arriving home, Tyrien was then able to search our yard for the glowing ghosts that contained candy. And Tyson's jack-o-lantern provided the validation I needed to feel at that exact moment. 

FAH-Q 2020!