Newsworthy Christmas Dinner Service at TCUGM

PacWest 2014

Here is my video from the PacWest 2014 Cheeleading Competition that we attended in Portland a couple weeks ago. The Northwest SilerStars won first place in their division with fantastic performances on both days.

My apologies for the shaky video, but at least it's not all washed out like the previous recordings.

Also, the video plays really slowly on my phone... it's will probably be a lot better to watch it via a PC or tablet.

 
PacWest 2014 - Portland Level 4 from Eric Rolfs on Vimeo.

Mikayla is in physical therapy now and we hope she's back to full participation by the time they perform in Orlando.

In other news, Alexia is now on the Mount Baker Gymnastics team and we can't wait to see her perform with her new teammates in the near future! I have a few phone photos from one of their recent practices but she hasn't given me the green light to share any of those images just yet.

 ALSO... Alexia won a Merit Award for her recent 4H Demonstration!


~Eric

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.

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

NW Silver Stars - Holiday Invitational December 2013

Silver Stars from Eric Rolfs on Vimeo.

Senior Level 4 Kentwood High School in Covington, WA

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

The New Floor 2

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.

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'.

Survey Says...

'Normal' isn't easy to define and apparently, not everyone agrees with MY definition of 'Normal'.  Especially my wife.
Last weekend Tanya initiated an informal poll to try and determine what is 'Normal'.

As it turns out, most people believe that their own definition of 'Normal' is 'the norm' when in actuality, that may not be as true as each of us believes it is.

Try this little True/False quiz to see if you know what is Normal and what is Not Normal:

1. T or F:  It is normal to have four dogs, a hamster, a fish, a frog and a snail.
2. T or F:  It is normal to yell "JARVIS JEEP" when you hear a car horn go beep-beep.
3. T or F:  It is customary to take at least one "pee break" if driving to any destination further away than 30 miles.
4. T or F:  People between the ages of 0 and 15 can continue to use the same plastic 'kid plates & cups' that they used at age five.
5. T or F:  It is normal to have 35 pairs of shoes.  For winter.  And 35 (or more) pairs of different shoes for summer.

Feel free to submit your answers via 'comments' at the bottom of this post.

Some of you may have received a phone call on Saturday morning with a seemingly random survey question:  How many pairs of shoes do YOU have?

 Thank you all for your responses to that phone survey.  Your answers were very useful (to me). 

Don't be surprised if more than a few of you end up with gift certificates for shoe stores when Christmas rolls around.

~E

Family Vacation To Bend, Oregon 2012

For reasons I haven't been able to figure out, a few months ago T announced that we should visit Bend, Oregon for our 2012 family vacation.

 After my feelings of confusion and denial gave way to excitement and disbelief, I asked if she actually meant to say 'vacation in Bend, Oregon' or if she really meant to say 'vacation anywhere except Bend, Oregon'.

She confirmed that she suggested we take a vacation in Bend, Oregon.

"You mean Bend, Oregon.... like the Inn of the Seventh Mountain, horseback riding and white water rafting Bend, Oregon?"  I asked.

"Of course." she replied, as if we had discussed it as many times as we had discussed going to Disney Land.

My reply was simply something to the effect of "Have you been drinking?"

Of course she hadn't.

Near as I could tell, she wasn't lying, she wasn't mentally unstable and she wasn't joking.

So... with much excitement we planned a family vacation to Bend, Oregon.

Our family of four grew to an extended family of four plus Nana & Poppy.

Then the four plus two grew by two more for the Weigel cousins.

It was too late to turn back -- darn good thing because that vacation was AWESOME!

Day 1:
Drive to Bend... no one threw up (until after we reached the hotel anyway) and uneventful.
Kids went swimming.
Our group between our hotel patio door and the river

Day 2
Tanya's birthday!
Horseback riding @ 7th Mountain Resort

Whitewater rafting @ 7th Mountain River Co.

Cake AND Pie for Birthday celebration

Day 3
Drive up Lava Butte, hike around the crater, visit the lookout, visit the visitor center and take photos of squirrels

Visit the Lava River Cave (more squirrels, no spiders, no zombies)

Hike more than a mile to see Benham Falls (reportedly these falls were used in the filming of a few movies but we never really figured out which movies they might be).

Float down the Deschutes River in inner tubes (pictures not yet available)

More swimming!

Day 4
E & the 4 kids go back to the Lava River Cave with lanterns and hike to the end (and back).
More swimming!

Beer run for a relative who needed a growler of Girl Beer from the Boneyard Brewery.

Day 5
Drive home with special breaks to:
Visit Grandma Weigel
Do a little "No Tax" back to school shopping
Change a flat tire.
Wait for the AAA guy at a convenience store (pints of ice cream for the kids)
Buy replacement tire at Les Schwab at Exit ?? in the middle of nowhere while the kids totally raided their popcorn and hot chocolate supplies.
Rendezvous to deliver Girl Beer
Rendezvous to deliver the two cousins

Finally, home sweet home... to four excited dogs.

It was a great vacation... thanks to all of you for participating and having a good time with us!

~TEAM ROLFS

Grandy Creek Camping 08-12-2012

No, it isn't April Fools Day.

TEAM Rolfs actually went camping.  The 'sleep in a tent' kind of camping.  Outdoors.

Those of you who know us will understand just how big of a deal this is.

It's been years since our last camping trip (with the Livers... when we stayed in a cabin at Jellystone Campground, and it rained).  We missed all of you this trip.

People on Facebook even know this is a big deal.  Comments like "You mean Tanya actually slept in a tent?" and "Is that Tanya reading by the flashlight?" prove just how exciting this sort of thing is in our family.

The trip started off a little rocky - but that seems to be our modus operandi.  At one point the trip almost became the _EAM Camping trip or the _E__ Camping Trip, but neither of those stories would be eligible for publishing on this blog so I locked the car doors, rolled through stop signs, insisted that Red is the new Yellow and drove east on Hwy 20 to the Grandy Creek Campground.

It's a KOA.  Some people call it "Car Camping".  I call it "Glamour Camping".  Tanya calls it "Barely Acceptable".

Pool (solar heated), hot tub, bathrooms with running water*** & showers, mini-golf, playground, an actual creek***, fire pits, s'mores, cold chicken, a 'jumping pillow', minnows, newts, yurts, cabins, pot-smoking Hells Angels, 78 foot long motor homes with Direct TV satellite dishes and even a big hill to hike up.

All that, plus tons of sunshine and hot weather to go with it.

While it wasn't anything like a Disney Vacation, it was still a good time.

Mikayla exploring Grandy Creek, less than 100 feet from our tent:

Mikayla on the "Jumping Pillow".  Really, the pillow isn't jumping whatsoever.  Plus, it looks like fun, but it's hard to get any air when you jump on it.  A better name for this thing might be the "Walk Like A Drunk" Pillow.

 Our Campsite (#63):

The campsite was really nice (in my personal opinion).  It was all grass with shade in the morning and shade in the evening.  That means we weren't tracking dirt and dust into the tent all day, the tent had time to cool off at night before bed and we didn't have to wake up sweating for a 6:30a.m. sunrise.  Instead, the kids fell right asleep and didn't wake until after 9am.

We didn't have neighbors on either side so there was plenty of room to spread out our family sized tent that claims to sleep 6 or 7, although our family of 4 fit just perfectly.

Here is Alexia exploring the creek:

 Here is Mikayla after we scrambled up this 150 foot tall cliff following a boot path.  The was was really steep, especially for those of us in flip flops and tread less sandals.  We followed the ridge for a short ways and the trail led back down to the campground just a few sites away from our tent.

 Here is Alexia who is being bounded off the Jumping Pillow by a bunch of other similar aged campers just the the left side of this photo.  The building in the background is a private residence for the campground managers.

 A view of an open field in the campground with Sauk Mountain (leftish of center) in the distance.  I'll always remember Sauk Mountain as one of our Family Hike destinations that led to the demise of our bucket-of-bolts Ford Windstar.  Tanya and the kids will always remember it as 'the hike where mom was so scared on the steep road that she cried'.  Nah, we haven't been back since then.

 Mikayla sitting on the playground swing, possibly pondering how to beat her dad in the next round of mini-golf (or possibly just wishing he'd just put away the dumb camera).

 Alexia playing Zombie Tag on the Jumping Pillow with other campers. 

 Alexia befriending yet another camper in the pool.

 Shark Attack!

Anyway, we had cold KFC for dinner, followed by roasting marshmallows and s'mores before bed.  In the morning we had a cheater-breakfast of cinnamon bread, granola bars and juice before going swimming and packing up for home.

Home in time for lunch and a shower before the kids were off and running to gymnastics.

Resume the normal chaos, and stay tuned for our next adventure.

~TEAM ROLFS

*** The bathroom with running water and the actual creek are not the same thing.