Dad's bday, Collin starting Chrysalis Academy, and Copa America 3rd place game

This week was like any other Summer week in Arizona. Going in the pool, sitting inside, etc. But there were a few big things that happened early on this week, and it started with dad's birthday. Unfortunately for dad, his birthday is the day after Father's Day. Last year it was actually on Father's Day! For his birthday, he chose to have a lasangna for dinner and not do anything special. It was delicious anyways, but that still was not the best part of the week. In an older post titled "Collin leaving ACT" Collin talked about how he looked forward to going to his new school called Chrysalis and this was the first week that he attended there. He had a great first week there, and said that he most enjoyed the "good fun and new friends." He looks forward to accomplishing "being independent and free." To end the week, my dad and I were able to go watch the third place game of the Copa America. He got tickets as a Father's Day present, and so at two o'clock we left to go have a very early dinner outside the stadium so that we could go watch warm ups. It was so awesome to watch team USA in person, but at the same time, it was so frustrating to see the mistakes that they made in person! The final score was 1-0, and Columbia came away with the win. The fact that we got to go see it anyways was amazing, and dad enjoyed it which was even better! So thanks for reading and tune in next week on TBB!

The Park City Experience ft. the Lanskys.

When we went to our friends the Lansky's house in Park City, Utah this week, it was mainly for my brother Collin to go to a camp at the National Ability Center with his friend named Aaron for a week. This week held WAY more than just a camp that was for them. We had to fly out on Saturday and that was by far the worst part of the whole week. We got to the airport at about 11:15 and did not leave until around 6:15. After we got on the plane, we sat there for a very long time until the pilot told us that someone forgot to fill the gas for the plane. About forty five minutes later, he told us that the plane was not taking the gas and seemed to be missing a part of the plane. Then he explained that they were trying to buy that specific part from American Airlines! Then about thirty minutes later, he said that everyone was going to have to get off the plane and they were going to bring another one in. After a big line to get

on the next plane, we realized that we were getting onto the same exact plane! The pilot came back on the speaker and said that they had to check a couple more things before we left, and then we were clear for "immediate departure." We pulled out onto the runway, sat for forty five minutes, and he said we could not fly the plane. It was the evening by now and when we eventually got on the other plane, more than half the people from a sold-out flight were gone. This one got us to Salt Lake at night and Seth Lansky came to pick us up with his son Aaron. Park City held a lot of things that I had never done before, and already the next day we had gone to the small lake that is by their house. That is another thing. Their house is like a mansion with three floors and the backyard over looking the rolling green hills of Park City. They call it the Lansky Hotel. It even has a movie room! Where was I? Oh right. The day after we got there, the mom named Jen signed us up for a paddleboarding lesson that was

On the XL paddleboard!

very fun. Monday was the first day of camp for Collin with his helper Isabelle and meanwhile my mom, Jen, and I got to try going on a trail ride on horses. Unfortunately, it was raining and there was lightning, which resulted in us turning around and having brunch at a breakfast place and grocery shopping. We stayed at the house after until we went and picked up Aaron and Collin. The next day, Collin went to camp with Aaron and we went to the Utah Olympic Center which held events such as the Alpine slides and extreme tubing. (Dropping down a ginormous astro turf hill while

Horseback rididng

only on a tube.) This continued on for the rest of the week, and Collin was having a blast at camp. He said it was the best week that he had had this Summer so far. While he was at camp, I was able to go to the Park City Mountain Resort, a place in Promontory called the shed (like a Dave and Busters times one hundred and way more mature), try horseback riding (again), and a paddleboarding fit class (where mom fell into the water). On the last day of camp for Collin, which was Friday, we took him to the Mountain Resort to go on the coaster one time before we went back to the house. We got up early Saturday morning to leave for the airport, and this time we were able to fly out on the first try! Our dad picked us up from the airport and that was the end of Park City. To end the week, Sunday was Fathers Day and we celebrated with some burgers on the grill. We had such a fun time at Park City and if we are lucky, we were told that we may even be able to go back out there, hopefully with dad! Thanks for reading and tune in next week on TBB! 

Collin and Aaron

The Lansky's backyard

The Lansky Hotel

Collin's last week of school & Prep for Utah.

This week did not have much going on besides prepping for the Utah vacation in Park City and Collin's last week of school.

His last week was pretty normal, with the exception that in the middle of the week he acted in a play that was "As You Like It" by William Shakespeare. It was very entertaining to watch and he had one of the main parts as "Orlando." The only disappointing part was that some of the kids did not do their parts right which kind of annoyed him.

He did good though, and even gave detailed answers to the questions made by the audience at the end. However, he was beat by the last day. As soon as we got home, he went to the couch and relaxed for a while. But he will not have a chance to rest much given what we are doing tomorrow.

To start off his Summer vacation, we are going to be flying to Utah to visit his friend Aaron and his family, the Lanskys, in Park City. Packing for the flight was difficult considering that my mom wanted to try to fit all (mom, Collin, and I since dad cannot come) our clothes into one big suitcase!

After already having to remove some clothes in order to make it fit in the suitcase, we also had to get it to be under 50 pounds, which it was not. It was about a whole 13 pounds above the mark. We then proceeded to empty the suitcase to try to figure out what we could do, and we ended up stuffing my clothes in my carry-on bag and getting out a separate Element backpack that could go in the over head bin.

Collin in tights for his play!

A very full suitcase.

 It was a stressful night, and we cannot wait to see what it will be like in Park City! Thanks for reading and tune in next week on TBB!

Collin Leaving ACT, Cooking Lessons, Sickness, and Personal Training.

After getting home from Coronado, everything feels boring. It has happened time and time again, and we have gotten used to the fact that we (or at least the rest of the family besides me) has to go back to work.

 I was getting used to being at my mom's office, and on the second day that I was there, I immediately felt very cold and got a very high fever as well as a sore throat. I was sick the whole rest of the day and by the evening I was up to 103.5. I stayed home the next day and had a lower fever but by the end of the day I did not have one, yet the next morning my temperature was high again. It went back and forth a while and finally got better, but my throat was still hurting and has been extremely annoying since.

Though all of this has been happening to me, Collin has bigger things to think about. He has been attending ACT School (Assuming Competence Today) for about eight years now, but this upcoming week will be the last that he spends there. When asked about switching schools, he says that he is, "Excited for change. Go to hope." He says that he looks most forward to, "Making new friends." Collin will be going to Chrysalis Academy in south Scottsdale which is a year-round school, just like ACT. On top of making new friends, he also looks forward to riding the buses back on the way home from school!

 Towards the end of the week, my mom decided to teach me how to cook so we went out and bought all of the ingredients at the store to make a "flat iron steak." A lot of the rest of the day was devoted to making it, and the marinade and potatoes and everything else, and it tasted great by the time we had it for dinner. After, we each also had a pizooki and were stuffed by the time we finished.

 The next morning was Sunday, and by 8:30 I was at the park in our neighborhood with my dad to have a personal soccer training session with my coach. It was early in the morning, but it got HOT! It got up to around 100 degrees and I had to immediately jump in the pool after we got home. The session itself was not too hard, but the weather made it tough.

 We got to finish off the weekend though by going to Collin's soccer while my mom went to a massage, and when we got back we were allowed to go see a movie to end the day. It was time for dinner after that and then some more relaxing and preparing for the week. Thanks for reading and tune in next week on TBB!

One more week Collin!

Steak dinner.

The Coronado Experience. (again)

Hello everyone! It is pretty awesome to have the first summer post be about a vacation, and this one didn't disappoint!

 If you have read the Spring Break series, then you would already know how awesome Coronado is, and how many things there are that you can do there. Saturday, day driving there, was not the best, and about an hour and a half after we left, somebody realized we forgot to get our dog Beau his service dog vest and leash.

 We had to stop at a Target when we got into California to get him a leash and my dad (who was going to come Friday night because of work) had to overnight ship his vest to the condo that we were staying in. There were other little problems along the way too, and everybody was ready to go to bed when we got there.

 The week just got better though, and we did many of the things that we did during Spring break. One new thing however, was visiting Balboa Park, across the bay in San Diego.

 The place was huge and it was super fun to look around at all of the interesting things there. We visited the dog beach a few times throughout the week so that Beau can get some exercise, and as for the regular beach, Collin could not get enough of the ocean! He even met a random guy named Shawn that ran into the water with him. Collin was laughing his head off!

 My mom's friend Tracey visited, and she also brought her son with her named Nick that's my brother's friend too. They also have a service dog named Bear, who is extremely fluffy and got hair all over the place. Nick and Tracey weren't the only visitors though, because two days after we got to Coronado my mom's sister that is my Aunt Kristen visited and stayed with us a couple of days.

 The trip was amazing and that was the overall summary of the week. The best was that we were going to leave late Sunday, but we found out that the cleaning people could wait another day so we got to leave on Monday instead! It was sad that we had to go, but we still had a great time in Coronado again!

 Thanks for reading everyone and tune in next week on TBB! I have left some of the best pictures below for you guys to view from the trip. Hope you enjoy them!