Sun, Soccer, September

I'm sure I've said this before and I'm sure I will say it again; September has always been one of my favorite months. It's still warm outside, the sun still shines, but fall is in the air. September begins the college football season (which also makes Kevin so happy), it's my birthday month, and this year - it was soccer.

We started the month taking a day trip with our neighbors. I was reading a magazine about the best shopping streets in the United States and had been to most of them. I was surprised to find out that one listed was right here in my own state, Historic 25th Street in Ogden, and I had never been to it. The shock! Coincidentally, shortly after reading that article our neighbor Jeff mentioned that he wanted to take the train up to Ogden to this same street. So on the first day of September we all boarded the train for a pretty amazing day.

Justin, Jeff and Sherrie's grandson, was super excited about riding the train. Unlike the Trax in SLC (which is a light rail powered by overhead electrical wires), the FrontRunner train uses diesel locomotives, is a double-decker and has top speeds of 70 MPH. We rode on the top deck of the train and enjoyed the smooth and relatively quick ride to Ogden. I think Ellie was pretty excited about the double-decker.

Ellie had packed some toys to play on the train and Justin was happy to play along. In fact, he liked them so much, for the first part of the day when we were walking around, he wanted to carry the bag of ponies. Ellie was so good about playing with him and sharing.

This is Historic 25th Street. I was immediately in love with all of the brick buildings merged together. We had researched a local diner for breakfast and headed there first.

I love this about Ellie…she finds little treasures as she goes about her day. And really, the simple beauty in these treasures is amazing. It gives me hope that she will always find the simple yet magnificent beauties in life.

As a side-note, September 1st was also the first game-day for Ohio State. Please notice that we represent properly with our game-day shirts; newly purchased in preparation for the 2012 season. Go Bucks!

After what was a satisfying, but nothing magnificent, breakfast, we strolled down 25th street and found our way to the small farmers market in the park. The market is not on the same scale as the SLC farmers market, but it added even more excitement to our trip.

This balloon guy was the best I'd ever seen. Justin got a dinosaur and Ellie got The Little Mermaid.

We got several giggles out of the mermaid top. On our train ride home, Ellie had her sitting next to Kevin as his "girlfriend". Oh, the little things that bring us entertainment.

Meet Ron and Sundance, Ogden's dancing horse. They have been a fixture at the Historic 25th Street Farmers Market for years. Ron has taught Sundance to dance and it is really spectacular. He also plays soccer, gives rides, lets kids brush his teeth, allows you to pet him on the nose, and you can collect one of his 24 trading cards. Equally impressive, he can give a final bow.

We made our way back on the opposite side of 25th street and made a few purchases. The first was a hand-made baby bed that converted into a bag. Ellie has also made it into a hat and a few other things. The cute lady selling them made them herself and they were, in my opinion, underpriced for the time they must have taken. So we overpaid and thanked her for sharing such a great talent! We also found a store that had candy that was popular when I was a kid so Ellie got to try candy dots on paper and I found a mini-bicycle for my bathroom.

Our last stop on the trip was Union Station. Inside the Union Station building they have The Utah State Railroad Museum, The John M. Browning Firearms Museum and The Browning-Kimball Classic Car Museum. We went to all of them!

The railroad museum was super interesting, but also pretty interactive. One of our favorite parts was the toy trains that ran through the museum. I am not sure how many there were, but I think there were at least five on different tracks.

The gun museum didn't hold Ellie's interest as much, but we did get a kick out of the tiny guns. Ellie, as you should know, loves anything miniature.

The car museum was pretty awesome, but I think Ellie was pretty worn out at that point. The oldest car we saw was a 1901 Oldsmobile, which is reported to be the oldest registered car in Utah.

Ellie's favorite car was very mobster looking. I think it was the little back seat (in the second picture) that caught her eye. I am not sure what this seat would have been used for other than the hit-man. She made sure I got a picture of it.

It's amazing to me that all of these gems were just a train ride away. We had such a fun trip from beginning to end. I would actually like to go back and spend some more time in the little shops. In fact, as we were leaving Kevin and I rushed to see one more shop before the train came. Ellie stayed back with Sherrie, Jeff and Justin to get a treat for the train. Ellie is still not quite the shopper I am, but she shows potential.

We came home and got right into GAME DAY! It's hard to see from this picture, but if you look closly you can see Ellie has sound earmuffs on during the game. This is because Kevin's volume during a game is magnified more than 100%. His claps can be ear shattering. Literally. Ellie has to find some kind of
protection.

Ellie has a tradition of building a fort during the game. This was her best one yet! She plays inside and creates all sorts of stories. This game she also was a master of disguise.

And finally, after the fort, she made a bed for a princess. There was reference to The Princess and the Pea as she built it with every blanket we own to make a tall mattress.

A couple years back, Ellie finally learned to ride her bike with no training wheels. In fact,  click here to reference the bike success story in May of 2011. Well, the instability of no training wheels and the few little falls were enough to stop Ellie from wanting to ride a bike. On September 2nd I made her an offer she couldn't refuse.

I told her if she would try to ride again without getting frustrated or ornery with me, I would buy her the American Girl doll she had been wanting. There is nothing like a good bribe to get Ellie back on the bike. She geared up….

We first worked on just riding. She made sure I never let go of the seat. Then once she was confident with the ride, I let go. Then we worked on her self-start. And finally she mastered the turn around at the end of the street. It took a lot of practice, a lot of patience (on both of our parts), and some huge boosts of confidence - but when she finally got it all together the joy in her achievement was worth every ounce of struggle. She was so proud of herself and I was so proud of her. Even Justin wanted to join in the fun!

There was a bit of frustration and bit of grumpiness so we comprised…she would pay for part of the doll and I would pay for the rest. Before we came inside to order her doll we took a minute to open the mail. 

Earlier in the year Ellie and I submitted a form to the Utah State Fair admissions department with her qualifications for a free admission.

She received a free admission ticket, a ribbon for her number of books read, a ticket for a free lemonade and a ticket for a free carnival ride! She was pretty excited about all of the items included in the package. I was pretty excited about what a great way to encourage kids to read and learn. Thanks Utah!

Time for a couple of side stories in September.  On September 5th, I went to the school for back to school night and I found this on the board. I love everything about this, especially the last line. I hope that always stays true. 

I drive a mini-cooper. On September 6th, Ellie and I were driving and we saw this one. She said, "It's a mysterious mini." I was so impressed with her use of the word mysterious. I don't know if I had heard her use it before then. We've seen it around town a couple of times since then and we always point it out.

On September 7th, look what arrived! She was so excited!

She immediately opened it.

One of Ellie's favorite things about this doll is her hair style.

Once she opened her up she had to go introduce McKenna to May.

Ellie said, "Look mom, I'm an American Girl doll!"

Ellie with both of "the girls". We had to go to the boxes of storage in the basement to pull out the baby carrier from when Ellie was little so she could take them both around the house.

Another random September insert here….this is the look I get from Ellie and occasionally from Kevin. It's one of my favorites. The words behind the look are probably “Are you sure?”

In September we got a new TV for our living room. It is bigger and has significantly less glare than our older one. The only reason this is pertinent is that we moved our old one to our bedroom and then we moved the one from our bedroom outside to our deck.

A couple of nights in September we were able to sit out and watch a game or a show and enjoy the last of the good weather. One night, Ellie was in one of her better moods and was running around acting like different animals in a zoo. Her cheetah was Kevin’s favorite because she would just start at one end of the patio and run as fast as she could to the other end. Kevin would bust his gut every time.

The girls also got to enjoy being outside. We had made May a little swimsuit and skirt with an old sock and just HAD to make McKenna one to match.

September 8th is my birthday. Ellie decided she wanted to do a treasure hunt for my gift from her. She wrote all of the little papers and she set it up with just a little help from Kevin. In the morning, I found the first clue stuck to the mantel above the rest of my presents from Kevin.

At the end of the search there was a present that Ellie not only thought of herself, but also purchased with her own money! It was every last dollar she had. Everything about this gift was so special to me. I think it’s the first time I can recall that Ellie played such a large part in a gift, everything from the idea of the gift, paying for it, and finding a unique way to give it to me. It was a necklace from Claire’s and it will be one I always treasure.

As a parent, something I've always wanted is to go to a sporting event that my child is in. I played baseball, softball, soccer and golf as a kid. I quit baseball after peeing my pants in the freezing cold during one practice (not to mention I was the only girl on the team - how embarrassing) and after my brother hit a ball straight to my nose and broke it. After that, I tried softball but that didn't last long and was not very successful because the ball was bigger and (for some odd reason) I was a bit afraid of it. I played soccer with my cousins and I liked it a lot. Honestly, I'm not sure why I didn't play longer than I did. I started golf at Four Lakes (just like Ellie) and I still play golf, but didn't play much after we moved from SLC to Cedar City until I was an
adult. But back to Ellie…

Ellie's first soccer game was on my birthday. I can’t think of a better way to spend the morning of my birthday. We headed to the field together and found Taj and the rest of her team.

Ellie’s coach is Bruce O’Donahue. He is a really patient man and Ellie clicks well with him. He doesn't yell and honestly, doesn't push that hard, but that makes him the perfect coach for Ellie. There is another mom on the team that occasionally helps with games and she teaches more skill and is likely a better coach, but Bruce is great for Ellie.

The girls lost their game, but they had fun. They were excited to be out on the field together and I was more than excited to cheer them on from the sidelines. I am pretty sure I was the only mom that knew all of the girls names and could cheer for each of them. It was a great gift to have my child in a sporting event and I couldn't have been more proud of her.

After the game, we went with Grams and Uncle Jed for a birthday brunch to Millcreek Café and Eggworks. Afterword Ellie went to her dad’s and I went to help at a fundraiser bake sale for my cousin Conley who needs a new kidney.

On September 14th, we took advantage of Ellie’s free admission and went to the Utah State Fair. We missed going with Grams last year so we decided we would go twice this year…once with Grams and once for the Demolition Derby. It really is better that way anyway. We can do the Fair one day and the Derby another and not have to worry about getting them both in one day. Another advantage (for Ellie) of going to the fair with Grams is she will buy things I never would.

When we were wandering through the animals we saw this bull being unloaded from a truck. He was for sure the largest bull I have ever seen. The man holding him was a full sized man and he looks little in comparison. We all tried to stay still because if this bull wanted to run, nothing would stop him.

In the discovery and science section of the fair they usually have some pretty cool interface exhibits set up. The giant bubbles were probably Ellie’s favorite this year. There were a few kids that were playing with them and I was impressed at Ellie’s patience and her politeness to just wait for them to be done. She does not get that from me.

And of course, the fair would not be complete for this family without a trip to The Little Hands-On Farm. I am not sure what we will do when Ellie is either no longer interested in it or no longer meets the criteria for entrance. We have loved this place year after year.

Ellie waited in line for her free lemonade and then afterwards she used her free ticket on one of the fun houses.

I was shocked when Ellie said she wanted to do this carnival game. I had pretty high hopes that she would make it.

She got pretty close to the top, but ended up falling off. I could spend hundreds on carnivals games, and so could Ellie. I guess it’s suckers like us that keep the show on the road.

The demolition derby was on the 16th, two days later. The announcer at the Derby gets worse every year, but the derby itself gets better.

We each picked a car to win for every round. (I bet you can figure who made up that game…Kevin.) The crashes were awesome and it was fun to have a specific car to root for. One of the men that had to be towed off the arena was so excited about his performance he sat on top of his car, took his shirt off and circled it around his head.  I think it was probably the crowning moment in his life and for sure a highlight of the derby!

Oh homework. Ellie wants to get through her homework as fast as she can. Unfortunately, this means she is not focused on the work and misses a lot of the problems and has to redo them. Kevin is typically much more patient about the rework and he has become, for the most part, the math checker. I will check it
occasionally, but I usually stick to the grammar, the English, etc. because I don’t have the patience he does in the rework. Depending on the day, Ellie doesn't have the patience for it either so we throw Kevin in for some balance.

See Ellie's homework behind her - and what she's really interested in directly in front of her. Homework will be a long battle fought this year.

The rest of the month when we weren't focused on school and work, we took advantage of being outside as often as possible.

Ellie picked this cucumber out of the garden and made it her muscle. She is so creative and I love the looks she gives.

We had soccer games every Saturday in September. The girls didn’t win a single one, but they had fun and got to know each other better. Other than Taj, Ellie only knew one other girl on the team and that was by coincidence. The little girl’s mom looked familiar to me and Kevin and I figured out that was because the girl was in Ellie’s pre-K class at Challenger.

A team of orange smiles. I totally remember doing this at my soccer games and any other time I had a cut orange as a child.

On September 29th, Leea was out of town so we had Sage and Taj for a day. We started with soccer.

Then off to McDonald’s for lunch and mustaches.

Then home to decorate pumpkins.

They all turned out pretty cute!

And to play in the yard. I am not entirely sure what they are playing, but they are fancy!

I am writing this in April, so I don’t remember why I took this picture other than she is adorable. And I probably thought it was adorable that she was cuddled watching her iPod with her headphones and her blanket. And I’m sure it was adorable in September…but as the school year went on, this because something Ellie always wanted to be doing instead of homework and often instead of playing. In fact, once this year I grounded her from her iPod and her punishment was that she had to play with her toys.

Toward the end of September Ellie got Halloween songs to learn and practice on the piano.  She and her teacher made up words to this one.  I just had to get it on video.  So cute!

The last day of September we went to the Vanderlinden’s to celebrate Brooke’s fifth birthday. It was pirate themed and Kimese had everything from dinner, to a treasure hunt, to a treasure chest craft. The dig for treasure in wood shavings was the highlight for Ellie.

The highlight for Zack was blowing it out of all the hair with his air compressor. A tool with multiple purposes!

See why I love September.  I love that on the last day of the month we can still be outside, with short sleeves, enjoying time with our friends and there is just a hint of fall in the air.