Monday, December 30, 2013

The Secret Language Of Parents

Public Service Announcement

While cleaning out my 2013 Day Planner today I stumbled across this simple little note that I saved.


It was a note written by T with the expectation that I would 'Deal With It'.   Immediately, if not sooner, or yesterday.

Using the traditional "We are always on the same page" communmication skills that many married people posess, T knew that I'd know exactly what to do.

It just so happens that on this particular day I had let a friend of mine borrow my secret decoder ring so I had to actually verbally inquire on what exactly this note was intended to communicate.

You may be surprised to learn that this is actually a very simple request and I should have intuitively known what to do even without my decoder ring.

For the benefit of those people who are not yet married, or those who are married but have misplaced their decoder ring, I hereby present the proper interpretation of this message.  Maybe it will be of use to others in decoding similar messages they may be wresting with.

Part 1:  I needed to reschedule a braces appointment for Mikayla. 'Another Day' means there is only a 20% chance that the new day you select will work.



Part 2: I needed to reschedule Alexia's dental appointment in Bellingham to a school day that doesn't have a P.E. class.



Since P.E. classes are only every other day it should be so easy.  Unless there are holidays or half days or snow days or 1 or 2 hr delay days.

Based on a little equation I call "Infinite Improbability Formula" I eventually concluded there were less than 15 days which would possibly meet the criteria over the next three months.


Since this was the end of my stack of notes in my day planner I can only conclude that the rescheduled dates did indeed meet the minimum criteria for success.


Saturday, December 21, 2013

Winter Solstice Sledding 12-21-2013

Mikayla requested that we go sledding at Mount Baker over Christmas Vacation so with a flurry of fresh snow we opted to head up to Heather Meadows near the Mount Baker Ski area to be Powder Pigs for a day

Alexia opted out of sledding in favor of spending some time at Lang's Horse and Pony Farm with Josie.

On the way to Mt. Baker we stopped in Sedro-Woolley to pick up M's friend Allie

I wore snowshoes and the girls followed behind me with sleds in tow.

We made it all of a quarter mile from the parking lot when they were already tired of post-holing.

Lucky for us we happened to find a fresh steep slope just perfect for the occasion. I did my best to tromp down a trench for them to ascend the hill but they were on their own in creating a sledding route. All that fresh powder (and a lack of wax on the sleds) made for a bit of stop-and-go attempts, but it was clear they were having a fun time anyway. A few photos and a few videos were taken.


Sledding at Heather Meadows on Winter Solstice from Eric Rolfs on Vimeo.

While sledding was a lot of fun, I suspect that the lunch break may leave a longer lasting impression on them.

This was the first time the two had Robber Jays join them for lunch. Here is a short video and a couple of screen shots for you:

 

 
Robber Jays At Lunch from Eric Rolfs on Vimeo.

We lasted all of three hours before calling it quits with completely diluted gloves and boots.

Welcome to winter!

How many days until summer?

~E

Friday, December 20, 2013

NW Silver Stars - Holiday Invitational December 2013

Silver Stars from Eric Rolfs on Vimeo.

Senior Level 4 Kentwood High School in Covington, WA

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Cheer Premier: TWILIGHT

The video you've all been waiting for...

MIKAYLA'S COMPETITIVE CHEER VIDEO

cannot be shared yet. Sorry.

In the meantime, turn up the sound and grab some popcorn so you can sit back and enjoy the second video you've all been waiting for:

Tanya's Premier Non-Competitive Performance with TWILIGHTS!



TWILIGHT Fall 2013 Video from Eric Rolfs on Vimeo.

Mikayla's video will be available in mid December or so.

~E

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Lex + I

Alexia and I had a great impromptu day of togetherness today.

The day started out with her needing a buddy to help her walk the neighbor's two dogs. Her usual friends weren't available, but Dad was. So, off we went to spend some time at the duck pond with Rufus and Zack.

Once they were worn out and back home, Lex helped me to dis-assemble the playset in the back yard. At one point she saved the day when the ladder and monkey bars wouldn't separate from each other due to a problematic bolt... I needed one more set of hands to help get them apart before they toppled over on top of me.  Lex scrambled up to quickly solve the problem.

We finished the day with a hiking trip to Artist Point.

We even brought along her dog Katrina.

While we expected to have snow up there, we didn't really expect THAT much snow. In fact, even the bathroom was still completely buried!

 

The trails are still 98% buried and the combination of steep slopes + tennis shoes + dog meant that neither of our intended destinations were within our risk level.

Instead, we just scouted around the safe areas, tested out some hiking poles, micro-spikes, cameras and a classic 'cardboard wrapped in plastic' sled... generally having a great time exploring the environment and relaxing.

Burgers and Ice Cream on the way home of course.

Thanks Lex... we'll climb Table Mountain soon I'm sure!

Now, some photos and a lengthy video that ends with some sledding video footage.






 















 
Hiking and impromptu sledding at Artist Point 07-13-13 from Eric Rolfs on Vimeo.

Friday, June 21, 2013

The Life Of An Involuntary Dog Sitter

The family has been enjoying a summer kickoff by living the good life in the Tri-Cities since school let out for the summer.

I've been kicking off my summer with a lot of hours at work followed by many miles of running and many conversations with dogs about how annoying their barking is.

Here's a quick recap of my summer so far.  Every day is pretty much the same.

Wake Up to dogs barking.  4:45 a.m.

Discuss the obvious fact that the dogs are barking at each other and there is no legitimate threat... morning sunlight is not a threat.

Announce that breakfast isn't until 6:15 a.m.

Back to bed and listen to the dogs discuss whether my Teva hat hanging on the doorknob is considered a threat or not.

6:15 a.m.  Feed Chuckles the big dog food.  Feed Apricot the plain dog food for little dogs.  Feed the white dog the little dog food in a bowl of water so she thinks it's cereal & makes the other dogs jealous.

Feed myself.

Feed the hamster.

Feed Bacon & Eggs (T's two frogs)

Feed Polly & Esther (A's two frogs)

Feed Grumpy (A's Beta fish)

Yep 10 mouths to feed.  Unbelievable.

Dogs run around shouting obscenities at anything that moves. Or doesn't move.  Or might move.

7:40 a.m. Everyone back inside for nap time.

Me, off to work, praying that somebody comes by during the day to let the dogs out & to play with them.

Mid-afternoon:   Receive text message.


Say a quick prayer that my family has a safe trip home... soon.

6:00 p.m.  Head home.  Dog's won't answer phone.

6:45 p.m.  Dinner.  x10

Listen to discussions about whose turn it is to randomly bark through the night and whose turn it is to require a false-alarm midnight emergency pee.

Midnight  Bed time.


Repeat.... 4.5 times.

~E

Image Credits:  Apparently some dog in the UK who can text  and some website called 'theoatmeal'.