Pat's Run 2016

On Wednesday afternoon, April 20, we drove to Arizona for our annual Pat's Run adventure. Like last year, we rented a big house in Avondale (suburbia). The Karners were supposed to come Wednesday, too, but Mel ended up getting sick. They waited Wednesday out hoping for a miraculous recovery. When that didn't happen, Derrick drove out with the kids on Thursday morning and left Mel at home to recover in peace. Marc and Melanie Oddou ended up deciding at the last minute to come, too, and they arrived really late on Thursday night.

We Kringels went to Sedona on Thursday. We stopped at McDonald's on the way, and Ever polished off two hamburgers with ketchup and pickles:

I was very impressed with the scenery as we approached Sedona. Couldn't capture it in my photos from the car, though I tried:

We stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, built into the buttes. It was a pretty view, and chapels make me feel good. 

The scene from the chapel, including a ridiculous mansion with a pond and all manner of extravagance:

A woman was doing yoga on the bench by the chapel and being photographed by another woman. I was intrigued, as were some other looky-loos:

Wrenzy had had a green snot situation a few days before we left. It appeared to clear up just in time for the trip, but then things really started to go downhill on Thursday. Her eyes began oozing pretty much nonstop. We called them "acid tears" because they seemed to irritate her cheeks. It was as if they burned her skin on their way down:

After the chapel, we went to Slide Rock State Park. The old tourist cabins were a little frightening, in a good way:

There were other old artifacts there - related to orchards of old and I don't know what else.

We saw a picture of a family sliding down the natural waterslide in the river, and they looked so happy. When we got there, however, and watched some real-life people, I noted that they didn't appear to be enjoying themselves very much. I made Jim go first:

He said the water felt fine in the beginning, but by the time he got out he was cold. Lies. It was absolutely freezing from the get-go. Even despite that, the ride was just not very fun. I wondered if there were a better place in the river to slide. In any case, I'm sure it would be a lot more enjoyable if it were really hot outside, and I was glad we got in anyway.

We walked up the river a minute and hung out where Ever could wade.

Ever and Jim headed upriver:

By the time I went around the giant boulder that was blocking my view to see what they were doing, they were out of sight. I had to try to keep Wrenzy happy and safe while waiting for them to return. All she wanted to do was crawl around where she could injure herself, get filthy, and eat rocks. It was so hard. I was dying for Jim and Ever to get back so we could leave.

When they finally returned, Ever kept saying they went "all the way to the gut." Jim had told her they went "up the gut" of the river, and she got a little confused. Cutest explorers:

If it had been super hot outside and we hadn't had kids with us, I would have been highly interested in swimming/sliding down the river as far as possible. This deep section was particularly inviting:

Jim did a quick jump from the side on our way out. I have trouble timing pictures. This weird one was the best I got, but at least he's in the air:

As we were walking back, Ever told me to take a picture of her laughing:

This building is apparently historic:

We debated trying to see one more spot before we headed back to Avondale but decided we'd better not get home any later. I wished we'd had more time. We'll have to return, do some hiking, and explore a bit more.

Ever couldn't wait to get back to the house and see the Karners. Derrick had a bunch of treats waiting for us. Magnums and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream were available, but Ever followed Kara's lead and opted for an orange popsicle:

The kids were up rather late. Then Jim and I tried to show Derrick a good time by putting on a movie. I was alseep within 10 minutes. Derrick finally turned it off after Jim fell asleep. Party animals, we.

It's hard to explain how awful Wren looked Friday morning. Her face was chapped, eye swollen, eye lashes plastered up against her eyelid because of the gunky eye, giant boogie stuck like a Cindy Crawford-esque mole by her upper lip. I couldn't get a clear picture because she kept moving, but you get the idea:

She was acting OK; just looked atrocious.

Ever did some swimming in the morning. Then we drove to Tempe to pick up our race packets and meet Joseph Mask and Wade Eagar (Jim's old mission friends) for lunch. Joe's wife, Kim, came, too. She and I had a lovely conversation at our end of the table - mainly about kids, parenting, etc. We even cried together a tad. (Long story.) I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Back at the ranch that afternoon, there was more swimming. Ever stayed by the steps and side. She refused all of my attempts to remind her of what she had learned during her swimming lessons and practice those things. Oh, well. She had fun, and any pool time will do her good.

Derrick wanted to meet up with his friend, Seth, Friday night in the Mesa area. A late and incorrect decision was made that we would go with the Karners to the fun Mesa Riverview Park we discovered last year and then to dinner with Seth. It was late by the time we got to the park. It was incredibly late by the time we got to Backyard Tacos for dinner. The restaurant was recommended by Seth because it's incredibly popular. There were a million people there, but there was hardly any seating. Long line to order. Long wait for food. People everywhere. The girls were so tired they finally began melting down. Derrick seemed similarly miserable, although part of that may have been sympathy for us. When we finally got our food, we scarfed it as quickly as possible and rushed home. 

Saturday morning we got to the start line for the race with perfect time to hit the bathrooms and get situated and then start the race with the stroller group. I tried to take a picture as we started off, and Ever wouldn't cooperate. Then she felt bad and posed for this one:

Speaking of not cooperating, the Karner kids did not make things easy on Derrick. Kara was supposed to walk/run, but she was being grumpy and wanted to ride in the stroller. There wasn't room for three kids in their double stroller. We kept offering for Ever to ride on the front of our stroller to make room for a Karner in our stroller, but none of them would ride with us. (Their stroller is ripped in the front, so it can't hold anybody up there.) Derrick was left trying to carry Alina while pushing the double stroller containing Kara and Christian. It looked like a nightmare. Derrick and kids are behind and to the right of Jim:

I started pushing the Karner stroller so Derrick could focus on carrying Alina. Then Alina briefly rode precariously on their stroller, held by Kara:

Finally we convinced Christian to move to our stroller (note Ever had made room for him in the above picture), so the last part of the race was a lot better for Derrick. Needless to say, we walked most of the race, although we did run some in the latter part.

Ever and Wren were very well-behaved. No complaints out of them. Wrenzy, post-race:

We enjoyed some refreshments, and Ever posed for a picture with the Chick Fil-A cow:

Then we made our way to the start line for the kids' race. Wrenzy began a bottle right before we started.

Kara still refused to participate, so just Christian and Ever ran. They were adorable. Christian took off running before they crossed the start line, and Ever followed:

Jim in back, Derrick with stroller in front of him, and Christian
and Ever in front of Derrick (on the right side of the pic) 

Christian and Ever would run a burst, weave around people, and then stop and wander back to find us. Derrick and I had a hard time keeping up because we were pushing the giant strollers and couldn't squeeze between people. Jim had a hard time keeping up because he was trying to run after them while holding Wren, who was drinking her bottle. After maybe a quarter or a third of the .42-mile run, Ever got tired. I took Wren in the stroller, and Jim carried Ever for a bit. She ran again at the end and finished strong:

The girls hugged it out after the race:

We hit a Freddy's for burgers and ice cream. (Well, we splurged on ice cream; the Karners waited to eat the ice cream at the house.) Derrick showed the kids a fun trick with straws and straw wrappers:

Back at the house, Derrick put on a movie for the bigger kids. They entered a serious vegetative state:

I put Wren down for a nap. Jim had promised Ever that she could swim before her nap, so that happened. Then she slept and slept. Jim dozed on the couch. I did a little reading upstairs. The Oddous and Karners went to some old cowboy town. It sounds like someplace we should visit someday, but we had to let the girls get catch up on sleep. We got take-out for dinner, watched a little telly after the girls went to bed, and then hit the hay.

Sunday morning we got all packed up, ate ice cream (we couldn't let all the treats Derrick had purchased go to waste), and went to a 10:00 sacrament meeting nearby. The Karners and Oddous went back to the house for a little while, but we started the drive to Oceanside from there. I drove the whole time so Jim could study. Somehow I got us back safe and sound in about four hours and 20 minutes. I think the drive is supposed to take about five hours. It was a Pat's Run miracle.

Wren had pretty well recovered from her illness by the time we got home - or so we thought. Tuesday I went to work as usual, but Wren got a fever that day. That was the beginning of days of yuckiness. She was super fussy and looked and felt awful. She threw up twice on Wednesday. (Our rug will never be the same, but after a number of attempts, it smells like an offensive combination of gross-smelling cleaning supplies instead of vomit.) Friday I took her into Jim's office. He discovered that she had ear infections, and we started her on an antibiotic. We were supposed to go to my HFB attorney dinner party in Long Beach Saturday. I put our babysitter, the HFB party coordinator, and Greta (my friend we were supposed to visit in Orange County on our way to Long Beach) on notice Friday that we may have to cancel. I was going to evaluate Wren on Saturday morning and make a decision.

Friday night she went to bed at 7:00 P.M. Saturday morning she did not wake up. She fussed for a second now and again, so we knew she was alive. Around 11:00 A.M., I had to make the call and say we were staying home from the party. Jim went into her room and reported that she looked normal and was breathing normally. She finally woke up at 12:30 P.M. She was up for one hour and then went back to sleep from 1:30 until after 4:30. At 7:00, she went to bed for the night. In a 24-hour period, she was awake for less than 3.5 hours. I think that has to be some sort of record. She improved after that and was back to her old self by the following Tuesday. Thank heavens!

Final tidbit: Wrenzo discovered in Arizona that she can climb stairs and she likes them. Before that, she rarely ventured up the one step out of our living room area, so she hadn't really encountered our big staircase. Now she climbs. She does a good job, but I worry about her toppling off the side of the lower landing by our living room, and she cannot be trusted at all to get down stairs safely. It's a hard phase. We could put up a gate at the bottom of the big staircase, but that doesn't help with the couple of steps down below and that little landing without a rail. The trials of having tiny tots in an unbabyproofed house...

Ever, Recently

Jim took his medicine boards at the beginning of April. He was staying at the office and studying until 11:00 P.M. in the week or two leading up to the test. Not fun. And it turns out being a single mom is not all it's cracked up to be.

The looming test sort of ruined general conference weekend, too. Nevertheless, we did have Belgian waffles for breakfast, and I tried to plan ahead and make conference more engaging for Ever by printing some conference coloring pages and conference bingo sheets. When we got a bingo, we got a little treat (like an M&M or something). We were listening for things like "family home evening," "prophet," "scriptures," "Jesus Christ," etc. It sort of made Ever listen but also sort of backfired. I was playing bingo with her, and she was way too obsessed with what I was doing. If I put a piece on my game, she'd go crazy trying to look and/or ask which one it was, rather than just listen and play for herself. Next time maybe she has to be the only one playing.

Ever is really into the music during conference. That's her favorite part. She heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "Now Let Us Rejoice" and said she liked that song. I can play that one pretty well on the piano, so after conference we started singing it together. In no time, she knew the whole thing.

I've been trying to have Alina Karner over somewhat regularly (aiming for one morning a week) to give Mel a break. Alina and Ever enjoy playing together, which is cute because Alina is significantly younger and doesn't talk too much (although she's making progress on that front). Enjoying strawberries:

Ever started preschool this year obsessed with Ella Rondo. Ella was already also friends with Ellis Martindale, who is in the Oceanside 1st Ward and also attends Little Bugs Preschool. (Ellis's family lives one street over from Paul and Susan Oddou.) After I ran into Ellis's mom, Errin, at the park one day and chatted with her for a while (my first real conversation with her), Ellis got involved in our postpreschool play dates on Mondays. Now Kristi Rondo, Errin, and I rotate picking up the girls and keeping them until 2:45 or 3:00. At some point shortly before Ellis joined the standing play date, Ever got really excited her new friend - so excited that she decided to wrap up the brand-new tea-party set she had just purchased with her own money and give it to Ellis for no reason. And just like that, Ever switched her allegiance and now always wants to be with Ellis instead of Ella. Other than that, they play well and are really cute together, and it's been a nice arrangement.

The first time they all went to Ellis's, Errin texted Kristi and me these pictures of the girls on their way to pick up Ellis's brother from school:

I had to laugh at that series of pictures - particularly the last two. A couple of those girls are a lot better at posing for photos than the other, eh?

We have to skip Ever's nap on play-date Mondays. One Monday at 5:00 P.M., this happened:

Most of Ever's friends stopped napping long ago. She clearly still needs her naps. She frequently sleeps from 2:00 to 5:00 P.M. 

When I had the girls over last week, I let them get out of their seats for the drive into the garage. Cuties:

Sometimes when they're together, they play "baptism." In fact, Monday when we were pulling up to the house, they were all singing "When I Am Baptized (I Like to Look for Rainbows)." I loved it. What I loved less was when they started playing inside and Ella kept saying her doll was going on a date; her doll was 16, and she was going on a date. Hmm. 

At the beginning of April, I started Ever in a weekly ballet/tap class for 4- to 6-year-olds at the YMCA. She LOVES it. She was so excited to go the first day, and she still talks about it all the time. I bought her a leotard and skirt set, which she wants to show to everyone. She also asked to buy ballet and/or tap shoes, but the gym has ones she can borrow for now. She knows plié, relevé, and first position. 

I stood outside and took pictures through the window on day 1:

In her outfit for day 2:

Last Wednesday, Jim had a half-day of work. Wren was sick, so I stayed home and put Wren to bed while Jim took Ever to class. He texted me videos (again, kind of far away, though the window):

One Saturday I made Ever a special breakfast of pancakes (with wheat flour) and Nutella. I love Nutella as much as anybody, but I thought it was sort of a gross combination. She was happy, though:

Tutu gave Ever a book of Shel Silverstein's poetry in December. We read the whole thing really quickly and got a kick out of it. (It also reminded me of how stirring and magical language can be. I miss reading.) Ever's favorite poem is "The Loser." After reading it several times, she pretty much had it memorized. She took the book to preschool one day and recited that poem for her sharing time. When I tried to get a video of it at home, her enunciation deteriorated and/or she started skipping parts. These are the best I could do:

 

We made chocolate muffins the other day. Ever is CRAZY for batter. Any batter. Even bread dough. She makes sure she gets every tiny little speck:

Sometimes she dances and sings quite dramatically:

We love reading with her. After she and Jim finished The Wizard of Oz, they read Charlotte's Web. Now we're nearing the end of Stuart Little.

Lastly, some recent Everisms:

"I don't like being patient, but I do it because I have to." 

One day she was playing by herself and giving a speech or something. I missed some good stuff in the beginning, but after I tuned in and started taking notes, this is about what I heard: 

"They tied up Nephi, and the Liahona wouldn't work. They got ill. No one knew that Nephi could kill Goliath. God helped him. No one knew that God would help him. Nephi got the brass plates so he could teach his family about Jesus. [Something about Joseph Smith in 48 and turning the brass plates into the Book of Mormon. Then more about Nephi.] Nephi and his brothers made a ship. They sailed to the promised land. They had to leave their home, and they left all their beautiful stuff. And I went to a very beautiful house that used to be a house, but it got turned into a museum. There was a library but no books. It was so beautiful. I hope you all saw that house in Florida [Whitehall]. I got to see my Auntie Dawn and Uncle Ed. Can anyone be brave? Ruby Bridges was brave. In 1948, [some stuff I didn't catch] ... white people yelled at her and threw things at her." (Ruby Bridges was the first black child to desegregate an elementary school in Louisiana, not in 1948. I can't remember where Ever had been learning about her. I think they read a book in preschool.) 

Pretty great, right? Despite her confusion about Nephi v. David, etc., I understand she impresses her Primary teachers with her answers/comments. We've read the Book of Mormon and Bible stories for kids a number of times, and apparently she is retaining some of it. The Primary president told me recently that she (the president) asked the kids about the parable of the ten virgins, and Ever rattled off the story totally accurately. 

Last month as we were finishing up dinner one night, Ever told Jim, "I like Mommy a decent amount." Then a minute later, as I was putting away the leftover mashed potatoes (of which she apparently wanted more), she said, "So yummy. I can't wait. My mouth longs for it." Jim asked her how she knows all these things (I believe referring to her use of the word "longs"), and she said, "From books. I know everything except about dinosaurs."