Marching on for Victory

We had a book fair at school, a new month on the calendar, a field trip to a live concert, and a gymnastics meet down south as key events this week.

Landon had the morning off from school Monday so he could go to the doctor. He has allergies, so we will have to beef up his regimen of sinus cleanses and medication. He was also diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma. He will take an inhaler before gymnastics. This new regimen has been a learning lesson for all of us.

The rest of the day went a lot like most Mondays: another doctor appointment for Hallie, work for the two adults, and gymnastics for the kids. Hallie made a trip over to the Maygren/Hopkins house where she spent time with her parents and then fed Finnley and read to Sawyer. These little munchkins are so fun!

As we look back at the calendar, Tuesday looks pretty boring, but life can never be boring when you meet and talk to so many interesting and fun people every day. A cute 12 year old named Riley who hangs out at gymnastics said she had never seen Hallie in a dress. So, Hallie took the challenge and wore a dress every day when she would see Riley this week. Today was the first of three days that she would wear a dress. The kids at school always have fun comments when you change up the normal, especially when you normally see Mrs. Owens in pants and a t-shirt. Landon had gymnastics after school. Coach Dee asked Eliza to demonstrate for the younger girls how to do a skill Eliza has mastered.

While Landon stayed at the gym, Mom and Eliza went shopping for glasses! She liked this tortoiseshell pair a lot.

Wednesday was a fun day. After doing her morning crossing, Hallie spent time with her friend Marina. The girls headed out to breakfast at a place new to Hallie and then they went shopping in the Valley. Marina is easy to talk to, and Hallie learns something new every time they hang out.

Eliza was picked up a bit after the ladies got home, and then it was time to work again. Today was Eliza’s day for gymnastics, and Landon stayed at home with Dad after he had an assessment at school for report cards. Mike had to work in the evening, and Landon had Cub Scouts.

Another busy day was had on Thursday. Hallie had her first opportunity to go on a field trip with Landon in three years! What a great field trip it was too. After crossing in the morning, Hallie and 80 other kids and adults loaded two buses and headed to the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza to participate in Symphony Rocks! presented by New West Symphony. Many of the students dressed in their finest, and it was so fun to see them delighted to be headed to the symphony. Over the last several months the third graders have been learning to play the recorder, and today was the day to show what they had learned. At certain parts of the performance the kids were able to play their recorders with the symphony. The look of determination on their faces as they played along was priceless.

After all of this fun Hallie took Eliza and our friend Brayden to the park for a bit while his mom worked at our book fair. Before you know it though, it is time for Hallie to do her job, and then it is time to hurry up the hill for Landon’s gymnastics practice.

Both of the parents spend time at the school on Fridays. It is fun to see the teachers and staff finally realizing that we are related.

Somehow Hallie has been nominated to talk with the principal when the other yard duties want or need something. Today’s wish was to have music during lunch time, so Hallie went and asked, and their wish was granted. It is so much fun to watch the kids bust a move, and sometimes even the teachers decide to join in on the fun.

After school Landon played outside with our neighbor Sampson for several hours of boy fun. The boys then came in to watch the Iron Giant, and Mike arrived home a bit later with a pizza from Valentino’s. Yum for them. Mom had some grilled chicken.

An early day was on tap for everyone Saturday as Landon had to be at a gymnastics meet shortly before 8:00 a.m. in San Diego. We all were in the car and heading out before 5:00 a.m.

Shortly before arriving to the gym, we turned on Landon’s meet music, and we sang along and rocked out in the car to get Landon ready for the morning. A fun addition to our team this meet was more boys! Usually only two boys from our gym and two boys from another gym make up the members of our team. Today we had six from our gym and two from the other gym. What a joy it was to cheer for so many boys and to watch them try their very best! Coach Shane is so patient with the boys and congratulatory no matter how they do. The best is when he laughs with the boys and their mistakes. Hallie thrives off of being the boys’ honorary team mom.

After the meet ended we headed out to lunch to El Azteca Taco Shop in La Mesa with our friend Joy and her son Zach who is on team with Landon. The servings were large and quite yummy! Thank you for the suggestion, Julia! By the time we got gas and made a few wrong turns we finally made it home nearly four hours later.

On Sunday Mike had a meeting and Hallie had choir. A low key day was had by all, which is nice after such a busy week. Mike made some yummy bacon and pepper jack grilled cheese sandwiches, and Hallie made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. We had a little bit of rain in the morning and beautiful blue skies in the afternoon. We can’t wait for 80 degree days on Wednesday and Thursday this upcoming week.