Whereas #1, #3 and #5 have all had allergy issues with NUTS, that isn't something we thought #4 struggled with. But ... maybe he just hasn't ever eaten nuts. He "doesn't like" peanut butter, but I don't know that he's ever even had it. Same goes for walnuts, cashews, pecans, etc. We aren't a very nutty family (I mean, we are ... just not edibley).
When Cooper went with Gray and Keaton to Seattle, they flew first class and had some nice warm cookies given to them on the plane. We don't know what was in the cookies, but ALLERGY ALERT! Itchy eyes, puffed up face. I was really surprised the airline didn't have something as simple as Benadryl as a safety precaution. I think an epi-pen is required equipment in the first aid kit for airplanes (and rightfully so!) It didn't get to that extent (where epinephrine was needed), but poor Coop was super miserable. As they got off the plane, he had a little trouble staying upright. He said he almost passed out.
As with the other boys, the nut-allergies don't seem to be life threatening. They don't close off the airway, at least not completely. Given some time (and some Benadryl) the boys get back to normal. Cooper had to sleep off his allergy attack so then he could enjoy the rest of his Seattle vacation.
Kudos to Cooper for taking a picture to memorialize this moment (even if it's not something we really want to remember)... and no more nuts!
Cooper has had a few skin reactions (Itchy Bumps) over the years. Sometimes having issues with the neighbor's dog, but other times being okay. Very inconsistent. Dang allergies!
School Stuff ... school is back in full swing. Colton was a little worried about going back full time (after the flexibility and easy hours of his last year where he was half-online) but he's done fine. In fact, he goes early and stays late. Very involved in activities, and he got asked to Sadies already (it's not until November!) Cooper is moving forward with his online classes, and his work at the elementary school each day.
Mr. Monarch ... we were lucky enough to catch our caterpillar move into the chrysalis stage (it was SO cool) but missed when it emerged. But it seemed healthy and happy and we released it into the wild and wished it luck on its way.
Basketball ...Colton has had some games with his Wolves team, and practices before and after school with the West Jordan team. Callahan finished up his men's league, they ended down by one point in the championship game, but still got t-shirts ;)
Marrieds ... Cal and K8 were off to sunny Arizona with her family. Sol threw Landon a little surprise party for his birthday (which isn't much of a surprise with Ring notifications, oops!). Keaton took Landon skydiving to keep him busy while Sol set things up.
Skydiving ... Keaton has continued his jumping, going several times over the weekends.
Travel ... In addition to Cal&K8's Arizona trip, Grayson and Keaton had a little getaway to San Francisco. Keaton and Cal went to Moab for a work retreat. Grayson and a work buddy hit Oktoberfest.
Looking at Leaves ... Grayson LOVES the changing leaves, and had several canyon drives to take them in. Gray and Jen went up Butterfield Canyon ... the cliff and narrow roads had Jen a little on edge, literally!
Jen continues on with Zumba, and she and Cooper are still playing pickleball and ping pong too. Jen and Sol were able to attend the baby shower for little Evan. Cooper got over his cold (although the stuffy nose is seeming to persist) but Jen came down with it too and had a couple yucky days. And FOOTBALL has started up, and Cooper loves watching all the highlights/plays with Redzone. He's signed up for his fantasy football league again, but has had less than an auspicious start (he's taken the title the last two years, but we'll have to see if he can do it again).
In May of 2021, I posted this picture to the "Utah Friends of Monarchs" Facebook group (because Facebook has groups for everything! It's very interesting and informative). I've liked monarchs, and butterflies in general, but Grayson grew up with the whole experience. He could find caterpillars on milkweed and bring a couple home, to watch them grow bigger, create their chrysalis, emerge and fly away. It's been something he's wanted to re-create with our kids, but monarchs/caterpillars have become nearly non-existent in Utah. Neither of us had seen one for years. In 2019, I heard about a monarch release, and Gray and I went and it was awesome (My Monarch Man).
My point in posting this picture was to say "I wish the milkweed plant stayed at this stage!" Right here, it looks like an attractive little bush. Unfortunately, it keeps on growing and growing and gets a bit out of control. It also send up tons of little shoots, so we get more milkweed popping up all throughout the flowerbed. BUT ... it's for butterflies. The HOPE that someday, we might see a monarch, maybe get an egg.
It happened ... and it was everything we'd hoped it would be.
Coop and I had been out and about, and pulled up into the driveway when some movement by the milkweed caught my eye. It was a monarch. I squealed and jumped out of the car, pulling out my phone to catch it on camera (and Coop back in the car didn't know what was going on, "Mom, should I turn the car off?") I was so excited and immediately shared the video with Grayson. There was the small moment when she paused on the smaller off-shoot from the main plant. I looked closer ... and it was an egg! So small.
So we started our monarch observations ... about 10 days after the egg had been laid, I looked closer at the milkweed and there were tiny holes in the leaves, and little tiny black dots (poop) on the bottom of the enclosure. The caterpillar was so small, you could barely see it! Every day it would grow bigger and bigger, eating more leaves, more little black dots. After another 10 days, we knew it was time for the next steps. We made sure there were a couple of sturdy sticks, and a couple days later, the caterpillar moved into the "J" pose. After they assume this position, it isn't long before they move into the chrysalis stage.
A chrysalis is different from a cocoon (which is what moths make, spinning silk around themselves). Chrysalises are not silk. Butterflies molt into a chrysalis, which is a hard exoskeleton covering that protects the developing butterfly beneath. Grayson happened to be checking on the caterpillar after work when he called out "it's happening" ... and we got it on video. It was crazy to watch, as the skin splits and and there is so much wiggling working it off, leaving the green blob underneath, which then hardens into the cool looking chrysalis. It was just over 10 days later, when the monarch emerged. We'd noticed the chrysalis getting darker, a little transparent, but unfortunately we missed the coming out party. We looked, and there it was. A beautiful butterfly. After giving it a day to recover and gain some strength, it was time to say goodbye, as it flew off into the blue sky.
Summer 2021 will definitely be remembered for its monarch memories!
Maybe we can do it again ... our milkweed comes back every year.
A couple years ago, Keaton had an assignment for his English 1010 class ... a "Writing Self-Portrait". Cooper decided to take English 1010 as a concurrent class his senior year (not as interested in college credit as he was only having to take a semester rather than a full year). Even though Cooper's class was through Dixie College, and Keaton's had been through SLCC, Cooper had an almost identical assignment. A "Personal Literacy Narrative". The best thing about "personal" assignments for school, as that the end result is often blog-worthy. You can find Keaton's Writing Reflection on the Westra blog (along with other poetry/writing from that side of the family) and Cooper's is featured below (and the original GoogleDoc in MLA format here).
Writing about Writing
School is starting up again, which is already bad enough, but I also have a college-level class of my least favorite subject, English. And I know that you may be thinking why I would take a difficult class of my least favorite subject. To that, I say that the only one semester long class enticed me more than the difficulty shied me away. English class, especially the topic of reading and writing, has always been the worst part about school, and I don’t think a college class is going to change the way I feel about it.
To my non-surprise, in the starting weeks there is already a pretty big writing assignment to work on: a literacy narrative. I gloss over the requirements.
“Four pages, one-thousand words, double spaced with MLA format. This isn’t anything new.” I whisper to myself. To me, this was relatively familiar territory. Just the year prior at the end of the school year, I did a personal narrative in my English class (First Job). Generally, the most difficult task is figuring out what I want to write about. I figured I could just tweak the narrative I'd done last year. I proceed to scroll through more of the requirements. I was met with Step 1: Choosing a topic. As I read through some suggestions that we could write about, my heart sank.
“Any early memory about writing, reading, speaking, or another form of literacy that you recall vividly.”
“The origins of your current attitudes about writing, reading, speaking, or doing something.”
“A literacy task that you found (or still find) especially difficult or challenging.”
I knew “literacy” was in the name of the assignment, but I didn’t realize that the subject had to relate to it. My opinions and past experiences of writing were already overwhelmly negative, but to write… about myself writing, I don’t think it can get worse than that.
After I read the topic suggestions and realized that what I was initially going to write about wouldn’t fit those requirements, I kind of mentally shut down. But this was something I needed to face, and if the first assignment in this class was all it needed to make me feel this way, it didn’t speak well for how I would perform in this class.
When I come up blank in English class, somebody I could look to for guidance is my mom. Ironically enough, my mom absolutely loves reading and writing, and that was something that didn’t pass on from her to me. She doesn’t go a day without reading, she will read hundreds of books a year. She reads multiple books at a time, and whenever she is walking around the house, she has an earbud with an audiobook playing at all times. On top of that, once she is done reading a book, she will recap her book and write up a book review… for fun. That is something that is just unfathomable to me. Nonetheless, she has always been a great help to me in assignments like this, and she probably knew more about my experiences with reading and writing than I did.
My mom and I sat across the granite countertop as we brainstormed my past literary experiences. One thing that we were both aware of was despite my loathing of the subject, I was still pretty good at it and received good grades in English throughout the years. Generally, I think there is a strong correlation between someone's least favorite subject and their worst subject, but that wasn’t the case for me. Aside from some struggles with reading comprehension, I was pretty good in English class, and a really good writer. In the 5th grade, when our teacher required us to get a minimum score of 24 on our assignments in Utah Compose, I went above and beyond multiple times with scores of 27, 28, and even a perfect 30 once. Unfortunately, even with good grades and praise from my teachers, when the next writing assignment came by, I dreaded starting it.
My mom tried coming up with some positive experiences I had with either reading or writing, because they can’t all be negative. Right?
“What about the book Hatchet? I remember you really enjoying it, and you even read the sequels to it,” my mom inquired. It is true that I really enjoyed Hatchet by Gary Paulsen when I first read it. Even before I read it, it really stood out to me on the bookshelf at my home, with its bright green cover fading from light to dark, and a silhouette of a hatchet to top it off. I first read it in 5th grade as a class-wide assignment. We read the book with dark green tissue paper covering the light, dimming our surroundings and immersing ourselves in the forest the main character was in. And when I read ahead at home, I unintentionally immersed myself into it by being in a dimly lit room and sitting on a dark forest-green chair. Later on in school, we had to do a writing assignment on a book of our choice, and I decided to re-read Hatchet and write about it. Hatchet, to this day, is the only book that I have re-read and read the sequels to.
“Yeah, it is probably my favorite book I have ever read. But there is one big issue -- I don’t even remember the main character’s name,” I reply... If I can’t name the main character in what I think is my favorite book, then to consider that any other book had an impact on me is slim to none. Despite my mom’s best efforts, I would only read and write when it was required.
“Do you remember the custom bookmarks you made for the books you read?” questioned my mom. “Maybe they made reading those books more enjoyable.”
“I remember making them, but I think I enjoyed designing and coloring in the bookmarks more than I enjoyed reading the books that they were for, “ I answered. Back in elementary school, when I started reading a new book, sometimes I would make a bookmark that I can use solely for this specific book. I remember doing it with some of the books from the I Survived series, My Zombie Goldfish, as well as Hatchet. But that was just artistic, and none of the experience had to do with me enjoying reading.
My mom felt prompted to dig up some of my previous works of writing after we talked. Among all of the writing I had done, the most notable were some journal entries from when I was very young, and letters I sent to my brother when he was on a mission from 5th - 7th grade. Looking back at what I had written, I was a completely different writer than I am today. It seems unfair to compare my writing from when I was a child to how I write English assignments, but they were just so unfamiliar to me. My writing was very expressive with using all caps and exclamation points, and of course there were the spelling errors. Even when I was younger, these were all involuntary, and it was my mom trying to urge me to write. In 2019, she had me write up a trip to Seattle, as well as a summary of what happened when I won the fantasy football league I was in. It may always take my mom’s push to start writing, but the absence of a letter grade at the end of it made it that more tolerable.
I have made my feelings about reading and writing pretty clear throughout this. I didn’t get to everything that irks me, like my struggles with the SRI test, the absolute absurdity of metaphors in novels, as well as the made-up symbolism; but the picture is there. In comparison to all the other main classes you take in school (math, science, social studies), English is much different. In those classes, there is always a definitive answer, but in English, everything is subjective, and every person could have a different perspective. So combining that with something personal is really intimidating to me.
During the process of writing this narrative, I came to realize that I took the term “Literacy Narrative” too literally, and I could have written about any experience that I learned from. But, I was in far too deep, and changing topics probably would have resulted in another mental blockage. However, I was still able to find out something that I have always just brushed past. Whenever I heard the terms “reading” or “writing,” I automatically associated those words with school, English class, books, and essays. I always looked upon it with a pessimistic view instead of looking on the bright side. Without reading, I wouldn’t be able to look up stats in NBA and NFL games, I wouldn’t be able to read the cards in games that I play with my family, I wouldn’t be able to read the subtitles when I watch anime. Without writing, I wouldn’t be able to text my friends and family. I have never really enjoyed reading or writing, and I don’t think this is going to change. But with this assignment, I think I will be more aware that I am fortunate to have these skills, and thankful that I have them.
I drove myself a bit crazy looking for this picture ... it wasn't here on the Blackham Blog, but I was sure I'd done a post about it and could see this photo in my mind. I'd used it on a post on my JenBsJourney blog (Books the Boys are Reading). I was able to find a few more of Cooper's bookmarks to take a picture of and preserve here.
Ah August ... wrapping up the summer fun and back to the school schedule. Two birthdays at the end of the month, with Landon's as September starts. Birthday week at the Blackham house! Here's what else has been happening ...
Trips/Travel ... Cal and Kate headed to Hawaii at the start of the month, spending several fun filled days in the sand and sun. Gray went to Moab twice, riding the RZR on the red rocks.
Basketball ... Colton had a couple of tournaments with his Wolves. Most of the games are out of Jen's travel comfort zone, so she only attended one game. She's gone to watch Callahan play several weeks in his Wednesday Men's League at the Taylorsville Rec Center.
Food ... Family dinner at Teppanyaki for birthdays, we fill up the table! At home we did homemade sourdough pizza, steak/asparagus, marinated chicken, bacon wrapped chicken, brisket, fried green beans, cheese puffs, lots of sourdough bread, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate lava cake. I don't know if I've been picking good watermelon, or if I've just been lucky, but we've had several great ones that we've really enjoyed eating.
Work ... Symphony has actually slowed some (purposefully not accepting new sales for a bit), Landon comes over for lunch most days, as his office is right by the house. Cal and Keaton switched vans while Cal went to Hawaii, and Keaton cleaned and organized everything (he's just that way!) Coop had been working at the school in the mornings, but as school starts up, moves back to afternoon hours.
Health ... the boys got their second Covid vaccinations at the start of the month. Coop has had a cold here as August ended. We've had a really healthy year (knock on wood) so he's been unhappy to have the sniffles and sore throat.
School ... Cal is continuing on with his electrician classes, once a week for him. Keaton is taking a couple classes at SLCC and continuing his Skydiving training. He's got his "A" license, which means he can jump out of planes on his own without an instructor and doesn't have to wear the big blue "training jumpsuit". Coop is back at Mountain Heights for his senior year. For Colton, unlike many of the schools, there wasn't an "online scheduling" in the Spring, but "Arena Scheduling" was opened up and we were able to rearrange all of his classes, so he has almost every class with a friend or two. School starts at 7:30, but he's been going at 6:00, as the coach opens up the gym so the boys can practice basketball. He often stays after too.
Driving ... I've generally been having Colton practice driving whenever he and I are going somewhere together (or I'm "dropping him off" or picking up). So, to/from school every day, and he even drove us to his basketball game in Bluffdale. Coop has actually got behind the wheel too! We started small, in parking lots. Then the library, city hall, park loop (some are actual streets) on a Sunday, then the small drive home from work. Colton is in Driver's Ed at the school, and we'll have to find a private class for Cooper.
Staying Active ... Jen teaches Zumba every Mon/Wed, and helps at another class on Friday. Tues/Thurs Jen and Cooper have been playing pickleball. On Sunday mornings, we try to get others from the family to join in. Coop has been hitting the treadmill and jogging a LOT. One of his recent Fitbit weeks, he had 200,000 steps! He had a 45k day! He works up quite the sweat! Gray has been working out at the office, and the other boys are pretty active in their day to day activities. We put up the tetherball at our house (we had it up years ago, but not recently!)
Pokemon Go ... Coop has played Pokemon Go off and on over the years. It came out in 2016, and back then he played it on my phone (as he didn't have his own). He got back into it recently during the Seattle trip, and there are "tasks" ... one being to trade, so he set up an account for me, and worked it just enough to be able to do the trade. However, I got sucked into the game, and have been playing it as much or more than Cooper. It has been a fun thing to do together. It's NOT just for kids (if you go to a "Pokemon place" like the West Jordan park during an activity, you'll see SO many people, of all ages, playing!)
Weather & Smoky Skies ... even during this drought, we've been hit with some torrential downpours in August. At the place where we play pickleball, the corner of the park was built as a retaining basin, a place for excess water. "Lake Constitution" was fuller than it's ever been (and the baseball and football usually held there had to be rescheduled, because the WHOLE park was underwater, with people swimming and kayaking in it!). Then there was the SMOKE, so strong there at the start of the month, where we couldn't even see the mountains and the smell was everywhere.
Mr. Monarch ... Gray grew up watching caterpillars turn into monarch butterflies, and had wanted to share the experience with the boys, but alas, monarchs are struggling to survive and are few and far between. We haven't seen one in the wild in years. We have a big milkweed patch we've kept, just in case it might coax a monarch to swing by. And finally ... we were visited, and she left us an egg. We've been watching our caterpillar eat and grow and are excited to see the next steps.
The boys got out to see a movie "Candyman" and Aunt Olivia came over to give haircuts. I haven't done much blogging ... I thought with summer (and no school stuff) I might get to it more, but apparently that did not happen.
Here's the One Second video recap ...
Return to the routine now. I think that pretty much wraps up our August.
July ... summer in full swing and life was busy! Lots of good food, family, and fun! Grayson's phone fell, and looked like a lightsaber was poking up (he got a new phone, and Keaton got some Star Wars soap). The recliners in our couches are not holding up, so we did a little couch shopping this month (didn't pick anything yet ... the boys have figured out a little "wiggle" to get the recliners up when latch won't work). My hibiscus has bloomed, and the garden is growing (although it is much smaller this year). Our in-house electrician added a plug-in for a Tesla ... as that is next on Grayson's wish list. Other items from July include ...
Pickleball, Ping Pong and Pokemon and other fun stuff ... We've still been having pickleball sessions at least weekly. We may not get every one every time, but we take who we can get. Coop and I went out to Daybreak to check out the courts closer to Landon and Sol's house. Cooper and I play ping pong pretty much every day, and there were some other games too (Mom and Landon, Mom and Keaton, Cooper and Callahan ... Begedas were on the line). Coop got back into PokemonGo while on the Seattle Vacation, and has continued with it here at home. He spent several hours at the park one weekend. Cooper, Colton and I hit Top Golf to practice our swing.
Basketball ... The NBA finals wrapped up this month. Coop has been meeting up with buddies weekly for some backyard basketball. Cal is playing in a men's league on Wednesday nights. I've gone to watch a couple of times. Colton went to Las Vegas with his Wolves team. Unfortunately, he hurt his shoulder in the first game and wasn't really able to play. Happily it was short lived, and he was fine for a local tournament at the end of the month. Then there was the tragic news about his West Jordan Coach's family, and so there were several gatherings and the funeral.
Vaccinations ... I finally got around to getting the boys scheduled for their vaccinations. Keaton, Coop and Colton all have their first round done (all on different days, that's just how the scheduling worked out). A girl I went to high school with passed away from Covid this month.
Getaways ... Gray had a couple jaunts to Wendover, and a quick Moab trip. He did some local RZR riding as well. Colton's Vegas trip, and of course, the family Seattle Vacation.
Skydiving ... Keaton has continued to jump out of planes on a regular basis! After just two tandem jumps (one last year, one earlier this year) he moved to jumping out with an instructor at the same time. By the end of the month, he jumped completely solo! He took a "packing" class where he learned to pack his own parachute.
Food and Family ... We had a pizza night, then ribs, then marinated chicken, steak, salmon. Crepes, pretzel bites, cookies, chocolate malt and lots of sourdough bread. The married kids make it over a few times during the month, and we had Grandma and Grandpa Westra out one weekend too. There are always games when we get a group.
Movies ... the theaters are opening back up. Landon spearheads the movies and will try to get the other boys to come. They saw "Black Widow" and "Space Jam" and "Old".
Rain ... We got some much needed rain, a couple of big storms. We were getting enough water going into one of the window wells that Grayson went out and positioned some tables to direct the rain away. He got soaked! There is a retaining basin in the park by the pickleball courts we go to, and "Lake Constitution" was very full a couple of times with all the rain run-off.
Anniversary ... 29 years! Grayson and I went out to Tepanyaki for dinner.
I've still been doing my Zumba four days a week. Not really Zumba related, but my knee has been acting up, getting super stiff and a little painful (more when I'm NOT moving than when I'm working out). I'm getting old!
Seattle 2021 ... normally, I have quite a few photos, as Grayson is really good at keeping me updated on family vacations. I'm usually at home. I'm not a traveler. But this time, I shocked everyone by saying that I'd go. So I don't have to depend on Hubs or the kids for a written recap, I can write it up myself.
We left mid-day, Wednesday, July 7th, 2021. We had neighbors to come care for the kitties and bring in mail/packages. Our household drove to the airport in Grayson's truck. He dropped us off then went to park. Cal and Kate had family drop them off and they were a little ahead of us. We checked bags (free with Grayson's card, nice not to have to drag them around (Cal& Kate carried on). Landon and Sol were catching a later flight. Ours was at 4:30. We had arrived around 2:30, and made it through security without any issues (Gray has TSA pre-check, but as the rest of us didn't, he stuck with us through regular security ... like peasants).
We had added three new pieces of luggage ... and hoped we would recognize them on the other end. Baggage claim was quick and easy. We took the shuttle to the rent-a-car location, picked up our ride (a black Toyota Tacoma) that fit five, and the older kids (Cal, K8 and Keaton) ubered to the hotel. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn in Bellview. Gray and I on the first floor, the three boys in a room on the second floor, Cal & K8 next to them, and Landon and Sol on floor three. I was disappointed there was no outlet anywhere near the right side of the bed, for my fan and phone. The shower was also very low ... and we're not even that tall! I slept better than I expected though. The swimming pool was under renovation. I'm not sure if it would have been used, but it would have been nice to have the option.
That first night (and the other nights) we went over to Kolby and Jami's house to hang out, eat, drink, laugh and chat. Jami was kind enough to loan us her car so that we didn't have to rent a second one.
Thursday morning, Grayson checked out the hotel breakfast and wasn't impressed, so we went out. One of the old favorites, "Serious Pie and Biscuit" didn't survive Covid-19. Looking up other options, we ended up the "Family Pancake House". We were able to get right in and the food was yummy. Landon and Sol sat this one out. After eating, Gray wanted me to see Lake Sammamish, which was only about five minutes away. The lake had featured prominently in previous vacations (Seattle2014).
So we went and walked to the lake. It was still early (around 10:30) and quite cool, so not a ton of people around (we wondered how packed it had been during last week's heat wave, which happily had passed ... we enjoyed the cooler temperatures!) Grayson checked out the ducks. The water was lovely. There was a cool tree branch and we suggested Cal&K8 get a picture on it ... getting up and down was a little more challenging than anticipated, but was fun to watch!
Then, the Blackham Bunch headed to Seattle. We had tickets to the Space Needle, but had arrived a little early. So, we checked out the tube sculptures nearby ... and remembered the pictures taken there seven years ago! See the comparison shots below ~
Then it was time for the Space Needle.
Group shot at the bottom - and group shot at the top!
... the elevator takes you up, up, up. There's the observation deck, and then a "glass floor" that revolves around. Our tickets would have allowed us to come back in the evening, to see the city at night, but we didn't make it back. There was a group shot of us taken before we went up ... but we never saw how to find it (the photographer didn't scan the ticket first to create a connection).
It was time for some lunch ... and Lunchbox Laboratory was close by. Well, a mile away. It would have been more work to drive and park, so we walked it. Classic "dogsticks" with tater tots, and vegetarian options for Cal, K8 and Sol. We were, um "serenaded" by a man on the street during most of our lunch. A mix of yelling, preaching, rapping. It made it memorable! The usual "guess the check" at the end (this one was $$) and then the walk back. Keaton jumped on one of the "rental" scooters that are all around.
We went back by the Space Needle to check out the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit. Kate was especially excited for this! It was cool. All sorts of interesting and beautiful glass sculptures.
Grayson got a little distracted by a big pizza oven ... we've been making pizzas at home, and he bought TWO different ovens. An attachment for his Komodo Joe, and a smaller, portable Ooni. We'd noticed that Jami had an Ooni pizza oven when we were hanging out in their backyard. On the other side of the courtyard, there was another oven ... this one for the glass demonstration. Whereas the pizza oven was at about 800° (most kitchen ovens top out at 500°) ... the oven for glass was over 1500°!
I snapped this picture of Grayson inside the exhibit, with the Space Needle visible outside. He thought it was a good way to capture both activities. It wasn't until a bit later that I really looked at the artwork in our hotel room, and saw that it was a surprisingly similar shot!
Next up was Din Tai Fung, a world-renowned Chinese restaurant originating in Taiwan that specializes in soup dumplings and noodles. It's one that Gray and the boys always want to hit when they are in Washington (as it isn't in Utah). The original plan had been to beat the dinner rush, eating around 5:00 or so, but everyone was still pretty full from LunchBox Laboratory. We had a little down time at the hotel, and then headed out, and hit the dinner rush. There was an hour and a half wait ... but there was an arcade a few doors down.
Some air hockey, driving of cars. Keaton got crazy on the piano game! Cal and Colton had a basketball showdown. There was even a "begeda" on the line! New High Score ... went to Callahan. Then we got the text that our table was ready.
There was a LOT of food ... not enough room on the table, or in our tummies!
Here's a couple video clips K8 caught ... before and after!
That wrapped up Thursday - we did go hang out at Kolby's house for a bit afterward.
Friday, breakfast was at "Pomegranate Bistro" which was one of the locations Kolby had introduced Grayson to on a previous trip. Cal&K8 sat this one out, but the rest of the crew headed out (no photos). We didn't have a reservation, and at first were told it would be a wait of an hour and a half ... but then they said if we could be in and out in an hour (no lingering, which we really weren't planning on anyway) that they'd squeeze us onto a reserved table. So that was breakfast, Grayson was just SO sad that the "Savannah Hot Puffs" were only served Sat/Sunday.
Then the Blackham Bunch headed back to Seattle. First stop was GasWorks park. Grayson had taken a classic photo there on the last trip (2017) and we needed to recreate it! What a difference four years makes!
... and a few more photos
Then it was on to Pike Place Market.
It was crazy crowded. We had to stop at the "gum wall" then split up a bit, with groups going their own way. I tried to keep track a bit on Find My Friends, and was a little surprised when we did happen to run into each other again without specifically trying to. There was a little shopping, a stop to eat, then we went over by the big Ferris Wheel and bought tickets to the "Wings Over Washington" ride. Afterward, we got ice cream.
Back to the hotel for a bit, then we were meeing Kolby, Jami, Maddie and Mia for an "electric boat" ride. We'd looked over the water from Gasworks Park, and were now ON the water. Kolby drove, and Jami brought a ton of food. Cal and K8 decided to sit out the boat ride, as K8 had a bad experience on a boat before (motion sickness) ... but it worked out, as there was a limit of 12 people (and with them we were 13). We went all around the lake, saw a lot of other boaters, a small sea plane landing, and the house featured in "Sleepless in Seattle" ...
... Gray went to grab some ice cream at the grocery store after (I was waiting at the hotel) and all the kids piled into Jami's car and went there to hang out again. That wrapped up Friday.
Saturday we were planning on heading out early, so we just stuck with the hotel breakfast. I enjoyed the hot chocolate most mornings (nice that it was cool enough to make hot chocolate desirable). Then we headed out to meet Kolby, Jami and Maddie (Mia had to work) to take the ferry to Friday Harbor. Friday Harbor is the major commercial center of the San Juan Islands archipelago.
The ferry ride was a little over an hour. There was some chatting, some game play, some wandering around on the deck. Then we docked and had a few hours at Friday Harbor before we needed to catch the ferry again and head back to the hotel.
We decided to do lunch - there were yummy fried cheese curds, pretzels and cheese bread for appetizers, then everyone moved on to main dishes. After eating, it was time to wander. There were HUGE hanging baskets of flowers all over. It was so pretty. Tons of little shops. Of course we had to stop and get ice cream again. Callahan really enjoyed a salted caramel ice cream and convinced a bunch of us to go try it as well. Cooper likes to get some commemorative clothing to remember outings, so we snagged a "San Juan Islands" t-shirt for him. The whole vacation he was playing Pokemon Go, as it's much more exciting in new places than it is at home. Maddie found some little crabs ... she's the crab whisperer.
Then it was time to get back on the boat. To say goodbye to Friday Harbor, and goodbye to Seattle. One more sleep at the hotel, one more hotel breakfast. A quick drive to K&J's to say goodbye and return her car. Then to the airport, return the rental, check bags (oops, some confusion and Coop ended up having to carry his on), security, a small wait. Gray took Cooper and Colton to check out the Alaskan Lounge. No empty seats next to Grayson this time. We were all together, Landon and Sol with us too. We arrived back in Salt Lake. Happy to be home ... but it was hot, and smoky, we were already missing the Seattle weather. Until next time!
While this was Jen's first Seattle trip, there had been plenty of previous visits for the family!
June 2021 ... it was HOT. There were some records set (poor Portland/Seattle had it even worse), and news about the water worries. We had a power outage once, a couple of hours in the morning. Quite a few family fun activities, Father's Day, pickleball, basketball, Gray's getaways, Jen messing around with the #voila app, and Keaton has been jumping out of planes!
Pickleball: We've enjoyed making family pickleball a weekly thing. We don't always get the whole crew out, but it's a lot of fun when we have the Blackham Bunch together. Some are more competitive than others ;)
Annual Westra Father's Day Party: We pushed it an hour, as it was so hot! Pulled pork and lots of other eats/treats. Introduced the Westra side to 9-Square. A few days later, there was a smaller group gathering for swimming at the Havenmoor pool.
TopGolf: As a pre-Father's Day, the Blackham side got together at TopGolf. It really is a fun place to go hit some balls, even if you're not at all in to golf.
Blackham Gathering: Later in the month, Jami and the girls were in town, so we had another get-together. TopGolf was actually the aim, but it was booked, so we just figured we'd have a backyard party ... except then it rained (otherwise we would have introduced the Blackham side to Keaton's 9-Square). Lots of pizza, and Keaton/Milo (the dog) provided some entertainment. Finally as the weather cleared, the kids played some hackysack.
Moab: Go/No-Go ... Grayson was taking Landon&Co to Moab to introduce them to RZR riding, but there was a big fire impacting the area and it closed the road. They ended up having to turn around and come back home. Gray still made it to Moab this month though ... twice!
Basketball: Colton had some open gym at the school, then the "WJ Clinic" ... the crew put on a fundraiser carwash, then went to St. George for a tournament (see Colton's write up HERE). Colton's Wolves also had several practices and then the Big Mountain Jam.
Skydiving: Keaton did the tandem sky-diving a couple years ago, and he's now taking it a step or two (or three!) further. He spent three Saturday's jumping out of planes this month. No longer strapped to an instructor (still with an instructor in the air near him ... at least for a bit) he's on his own! Pulling his own cord, trying to perfect staying straight in the air, landing. Crazy kid!
Zumba: Jen has continued to teach Mondays and Wednesdays at a nearby church. She's had a helper, handling almost half the class, but Christa said goodbye (surgery will have her out for a few months) so more teaching time for Jen. She's hitting classes Thurs/Fri with another group too.
New Grill: Happy Father's Day to Grayson. He had a smaller Blackstone grill he'd been using a lot, so he upgraded. Got himself a new apron too, in an attempt to stem the grease spots on so many shirts!
Router Replacement: Our Internet was AWFUL, cutting in and out. Our Xfinity service had actually offered us an upgrade a bit ago ... but, change is hard, until it's necessary. We got the new router set up, and had to reconnect EVERYTHING. The old Aria Fitbit scale would NOT connect so ... new scale (Jen had been wanting one anyway, just needed the justification).
Love that in three of the pictures, Gray is hugging (or being hugged)!
Here's the month - One Second Style
And highlights from one of Colton's basketball games ...
In the game after this one, Gordy (#4, making a LOT of shots) broke his wrist :(
Have you heard of 9-Square (in the Air)? It's similar to four-square, where you bop a ball from square to square, but instead of the squares being painted on pavement, these squares are above your head, framed from PVP pipe. There is an official website and sets can be purchased (well, they are backordered as of this posting) but they are pricy! $700. Keaton decided he wanted to make his own. It really IS just PVC pipe and the correct connectors (he found those on Amazon). He went with a sturdier size (1.5 inch) too. It still added up to $250, but he said the hardest part was picking up the pipe from the store and getting it home. A few hours of cutting pipe to the correct length, and he was good to go. Did you know that with the addition of two daughters-in-law ... there are NINE Blackhams in the bunch? We even got Gray to play (grudgingly). Perfect for play.
On a different day ... had to stop and snap a photo.
All five Blackham boys in chronological order (the center is the #1 spot)
Next up ... Westra Father's Day party!
As Keaton got quite a bit of feedback (how did you do it, was it hard, how much did it cost, where do you find the supplies) I had him write up a little "how-to" if you wanted to do it on your own. So here you go!
Get the PVC sticks at Lowe’s or Home Depot. They come in 10’ sticks (you will need 28 total, maybe grab an extra in case you cut something incorrectly). You’re going to trim the pipe (I used a sawzall, buy a chop saw would work too) to 7’ for the vertical legs (you need 16 of these) and 4 1/2’ for the top connectors (you need 24 of these). (Height and width are pretty standard but you can adjust how you’d like. 5’ height is preferable for children under 10.)
Home Depot and Lowe’s most likely do not carry any of the connectors because they may not be frequently used in construction or other places, so I got mine from Amazon. Make sure the fittings match the PVC Pipe size (I used 1 1/2”) and note that some of the connectors are sold in sets, while others are sold individually.
4 3 way PVC fittings for the corners.
8 4 ways for the sides.
4 5 ways for the middle square.
I found the ball at Walmart for $2.
Setting up the game is pretty straight forward but does take some time. It's good to have a ladder and hammer. I start with the middle square and 5 way fittings so we can move it to its desired location. Then you start adding on leg by leg to the middle square. I do the corners last. It’s important that you have the center square where you want it because once the whole thing is built, it isn't going anywhere.
You may want to prepare a carry bag for all of the fittings (I don’t glue any of them on to play so that it can be stored easier and it works just fine). To store and transport the pipe, I wrapped the 7’ sticks together with a bungee on both sides and did the same for the 4 1/2’ sticks.
I still need to post about the actual basketball season. I did do some updates on the basketball blog, but am still quite behind. Here's a look at the most recent happenings.
Summer often means it's tournament time. Even with a recent coaching change, the Crimson Cliffs Classic was ON for the West Jordan Jaguars. The first weekend of June, they held a fundraiser washing cars, and earned enough to pay the tournament fees. There wasn't going to be a bus this year, so parents were in charge of chauffeuring kids (some of the kids could drive themselves, but I don't know if any did) and getting hotel rooms (everyone tried to book together so the boys could hang out easily). Anyone who knows me, knows I don't really travel. Luckily, Colton was "adopted" by another family. So I dropped him off, and off they went.
Colton will be a sophomore next year. For this tournament, he and two other sophomores would be playing both sophomore and JV. There were some back-to-back games at different locations, and all three teams played at 1:00 on Saturday for the final games. Colton was good at keeping in touch to let me know how the games were going, and I also got a couple updates from other moms. The sophomore team went undefeated. My sister Wendy lives in St. George and I mentioned Colton was there, so she and Janelle went to cheer him on for one of his games. The boys didn't really have time for a load of laundry ... I can only imagine how stinky they all must have been!
I asked (required) Colton to do a write up of the tournament for me ...
Thursday - On the car ride up to St. George all I could really do is be on my phone. I didn’t fall asleep at all on the way there. We had about a little bit over an hour at the hotel before my first game, I just sat on the bed, explored the room and saw what channels were on the tv. Carter’s family picked me up for our 2:00 game at Pine View. They weren’t too hard and we won by a bit, we went straight from there to the 4:00 game at Crimson Cliffs. We all hung out for like half an hour at the gym before our game started because the one before us went long. We ended up losing the first JV game, next game was at 8:00. Before heading back to the hotel, I went with Colin’s family to Habit to get some food. We went back to the hotel for only an hour where Gage, Jair, and Carter came to our room for a bit. We had another JV game next where Ethan and I had to leave at halftime, the team they were playing seemed really tiny and I expected them to win, but they apparently lost in triple overtime by two points. We had a pretty tough game against Crimson with the sophomores but ended up winning by like 10. Afterwards, Ethan’s family took me, Carter, and Ethan to Wendys. Back at the hotel, I hung out with the varsity team for a little bit at the hot tub while eating my food. I went back up to my room at around 11 and took a shower. Gage and Jair were in my room as well for a bit before they left. At like 11:30, I went and hung out with Elijah, Max, Jaxon, Carter, Steven, and Alex. We went down to the lobby and found some board games that the hotel had for people to play. We played Jenga for a bit, trying to be quiet, then Steven and I went and checked out the weight room, which was pretty small. We all went back to the room that was shared by Elijah, Carter, Jaxon, and Steven and played Uno on our phones. I went back to my room at around 12:30, and went to bed.
Friday - I woke up at 7:00 and got dressed. Colin was still asleep so I went to breakfast and met up with Elijah, Carter, Steven, Jaxon, Alex, Jair, and Max. Some of the breakfast choices were cereal, waffles, small omelets, and fruit. I got a bowl of cereal and a couple of the omelets, which were not that good. We hung out down there for a bit before I went and put my jersey on. Carter and I got a ride with Ethan to our first game at 9:00. We won by two points off of a last second shot by Jaxon. We went straight from there to our next game at 11:00. We also won the JV game, although it was still tough. Since our next game was at 1:00, Ethan’s parents went to get the both of us some sandwiches from Subway. It took a lot longer than they thought it would and our next game started before they got back. Ethan and Carter left at halftime of this game to go to the sophomore game. Which was probably for the best since Ethan got into a little bit of a fight with a kid from the other team since he threw the ball on Ethan’s head intentionally when inbounding the ball with about two seconds left in the half. It felt pretty good when I hit an and-1 three in the guys face quickly in the second half. We won that game and Colin’s parents hurried and dropped me off at my sophomore game with about two minutes left in the first half. The game was pretty close for most of it but we pulled away at the end, going on a 10 point run. We headed back to the hotel for a little over an hour. Gage, Max, Elijah, and Jair came to our room during that time. We just chilled in the room watching tv. Gage and I both got a text that we would be playing in the varsity game at 6:00 because a couple of the players were injured. We won the 5:00 game by a fair amount, then we won at 6:00 too in the varsity game. I did pretty decent and scored five points. I played a bit more than I thought I would. Coach told me I would also play varsity on Saturday at 8:00 in the morning. I got a ride back to the hotel with Colin, where we quickly changed and left to go to Fiesta Fun for laser tag. We all ate pizza and had drinks first at the park across the street, and also played on the playground because it was pretty fun. Even an ice cream truck drove by and I got this Sonic ice cream popsicle thing. We waited for 20 min before playing laser tag then we went in. There were three teams, I was with Carter and the entire varsity team. It was really fun, even though one of the other teams won. I stuck around for another half hour and played some mini golf and just a little bit of the arcade games. Gage, Colin, Jair, Max, and I left and went back to the hotel. We decided to walk to the gas station nearby to get some snacks. All I got was a soda for two bucks. We hung out in our room for a while doing nothing until everyone else came back too, most of them coming to our room. At one point, I think there was the entire sophomore team and nearly the entire JV team in mine and Colin’s room. We went down to the lobby and played more board games, and even did a race on a word search because there were plenty of these little packets provided by the hotel and crayons. We all hung out in our room for about another hour before everyone left at around 12:30. I then took a shower and went to bed around 1:00 in the morning.
Saturday - I woke up at 6:30 today because I had a game at 8:00. Colin and I went to breakfast and met up with the same people as before. Sophomores had a game at 8:00 also so I had to miss that. I got a ride with Colin to the varsity game because they came to watch. It was a pretty close game throughout the entire thing, and I was playing in the final minutes. I ended up hitting a free throw with about 10 seconds to go to put us up by 3 (free throws were 1 shot for 2 points) and we won the game. I had another game with JV directly after in the same place. This was probably the easiest game of the tournament and we won by 30. We had an hour and a half between this game and our next game so we headed back to the hotel to pack our things and check out. Jair came to our room for a bit, same with Max, but they both left early to go pack. I got a ride with Colin to the last game against Farmington. That was a rough game. We went down about 18-0 to start then we brought back within eight points, but they stayed well ahead the entire game. I still scored around 20 points and then talked to Wendy and Janelle for a few minutes afterwards. Colin and I had to change quickly in the parking lot after the game and then we went to this restaurant “Viva Chicken”. I had been there twice before when we went to St. George a couple months ago. We made the long trip back to West Jordan after that, only stopping once to go to the bathroom and get a milkshake at Dairy Queen.
