One of the 8th grade activites all our boys have done, is the "Job Shadow" experience. Landon, Cal and Keaton all went and spent the day with Grayson in the office and at various construction sites. It was Cooper's turn this year, but the job shadow day fell on a Wednesday, when Gray had multiple meetings and had to be into the office uber early.
What to do?
Instead of Cooper having a long and boring day with Dad ... Maga took Cooper to work with her. The State Capital is more exciting anyway, right? There was quite a bit of buzz going on for the upcoming Presidential visit (in just a few days). Maga introduced Cooper around, showed him the sites ... and of course a bit of what the work is day to day.
So that Cooper wouldn't have to stay until the end of the workday, and so Pam could actually get some work done, I arranged for Landon to come up the capital and grab Coop around 1:00.
Now Cooper just needs to do his writeup about the experience.
Throwback Thursday ... wrapping up last year's getaways with Gray.
Grayson has been bitten by the travel bug! I blogged about Gray's trip to Mexico picking up Landon from his mission, and the family vacation to Seattle, but there was so much more. Gray had some travel for work (pictured above, the Symphony guys off to Orlando for the builder's convention in January) but most was for fun. Sometimes with friends, sometimes with family ... even on his own. Here's a look at 2017's get-aways ...
In March, Jami had planned a trip to Portland as a surprise for Kolby, and Grayson decided to join in. Landon and Keaton were up for the trip too. They were off ... and ready for some fun.
In April, Grayson hit the red rocks of Moab ...
In June, he and the two little boys headed to Bear Lake with Cole's family.
... as a final summer get-away, Gray and the three youngest hit St.George with the extended Blackham Bunch. They rented a house there for a few days. It rained the first day, but then cleared up and the kids enjoyed the pool.
Gray took the boys to Vegas to see the Blue Man Group in concert.
In September, Gray and a group hit Moab on bikes.
In November, Gray flew out to Vancouver to meet up with Kolby to see Sam Harris speak. Then they took the train back to Seattle, and saw the comedian Mike Birbiglia. Of course yummy food is always part of Grayson's travel, and he made sure to stop off at Lunchbox Laboratory ... the boys back home were sure jealous of that!
Frozen water is fabulous ... wouldn't you say? Grayson sure does. He developed an ice obsession. I think it started with pebbled ice. He picked some up for me when I was sick, and then everyone loved it, and we started trying to keep a bag on hand. I'd heard of the Opal countertop model but Gray wanted bigger and better.
We now have a pebbled ice maker.
It IS wonderful and gets used every day.
Then ... there were ice balls.
There's more to making ice than just freezing water. You can see the difference in the clarity in the photos above. From crystal clear, to bubbles to a more opaque appearance. Some of this depends on the water (using distilled vs tap) and pressure around the mold. Grayson was constantly experimenting with how he froze his water to get different looks.
He now owns several different types of molds.
... and there were some unanticipated ice events.
Of course Gray got gadgets.
This thing was pricey, but put in a block of ice.
Out comes a perfect ball.
Melted into shape magically in moments.
Do YOU not have a freezer drawer with different varieties of ice at your house?
I'd seen these dino costumes floating around ... funny videos abound! I saw one on Amazon for about $50 so I decided to buy one for the family, just to see what would happen. T-Rex time!
What do you do with a Gordon Hayward jersey after he's been traded?
Ingles it up!
Cal and Kate dressed up in jerseys too!
We're kinda a basketball family!
The pumpkin carving happened a little early, and the poor pumpkin wasn't looking so hot come Halloween night! I guess it still works for the season though! On Friday, October 27, Hubs had his work PALoween. Earlier in the day, Colton had an award assembly at the school (he received the "Student of the Month" award) and afterward, the 6th grade performed their annual THRILLER dance ...
They had the annual "Halloween Parade" on Tuesday, Halloween, but I didn't make it back for that. The littles didn't go trick-or-treating, but helped man the door at home, although we didn't get much action.
Summer of 2017 ... we were duckless. We'd hatched a set of mallards in the Spring, but they hadn't stuck around. The geese were gone. The backyard felt a bit empty. Grayson heard of a neighbor who had added a couple ducks to his chickens, and they weren't getting along. So, we adopted the ducks.
Mr. Mallard was a traditional mallard, but the female was a Buff. She was very pretty and she was shy and nice. Mr. Mallard on the other hand, was a bit of a brute. He'd peck at my ankles and got annoyed with the wild birds that would come to partake of the buffet in our backyard. Here's a little video recapping our time with these two ...
GOT EGGS?
While Golden Girl hadn't laid eggs yet at her previous residence, it wasn't long until she started laying for us. She popped out some HUGE eggs. They would really vary in size. She was quite consistent, laying one a day. Then, she stopped. I didn't think too much of it, but then a little over a week later, I discovered a nest in a new location with a whole bunch of eggs in it. She'd just moved spots. I collected those eggs, as I wasn't prepared for a big batch of babies.
These were all fertilized eggs (believe me, there was enough action going on to ensure that). Grayson wanted to see what the babies from these two would look like, but I didn't want Golden Girl to sit and stop laying (and she'd likely wait until she had a dozen or more eggs). We decided to try a few in the incubator. More on that in the next post ...
We did end up with babies. Even though they were the babies of these two birds, I was afraid of how Mr. Mallard would treat them. So, we ended up keeping the four ducklings, and rehoming Mr. Mallard and Golden Girl. We hadn't planned on keeping them over the winter anyway. They were a fun addition to our summer ducks of 2017.
My video camera caught quite a few other birds in the backyard (and front yard) as well. I think the birds tweeted about the nice buffet that was always laid out. Birds galore! I love the fat quail, and the baby birds being fed by their parents, the lovey doveys and the starlings (I've posted about them nesting in our back wall and garage brick - Noisy Birds). Saw some wild ducks at the canal as well. Here's a quick little video from the miscellaneous Blackham birds of 2017.
I bought the inflatable dinosaur this year ... but that wasn't the only inflatable the boys had fun with. These bop balls weren't anything I went looking for, I just happened upon them at Smiths (the regular grocery store no less, not even the bigger store). They were $10 each. I got two. I didn't know if the boys would be interested, or if they'd last. The boys were interested, and they lasted long enough for that price. I don't know if they would have made it through a winter storage anyway. Summer fun!
The Blackham brothers bopped each other, and Cooper and his friend McKay had a fun inflatable day (enjoying both the balls and the dinosaur). Here's a little video ...
Blogger Foreshadowing ... a second round of balls appear in 2019!
For me, social media is about preserving a memory. I don't want things that disappear! If I'm posting a picture or making a memory, I like to know I can use Facebook or Instagram to help me locate it in the future. Snapchat? Stories are only there for a moment, one viewing. I tried to get it and learn it to but I hate it.
Except for the funny filters.
I remember this video of Callahan showing Gray how to record using them (to send a birthday message to a friend). I had to try it too. For girls, sometimes it isn't to be silly, but to look better! Smoothing out wrinkles, brightening/widening the eyes ...
In 2015, I remember the boys had played around with the "face swap" app with hilarious/disturbing results ... I sent these pictures to Landon on his mission and he replied "please do NOT do that again!"
The big trip for 2017 was to Seattle/Canada, meeting up with the Washington Blackhams. There had been a Seattle/Canada trip planned last year (passports were prepped and everything) and then due to some spinny issues, Grayson had decided to call it off. But this year ... it was a go, with all five boys! I of course, was going to enjoy the vacation vicariously. This was my longest time home alone (10 days) but Gray was good at keeping me in the loop with pictures and texts, and I tried to keep up with Landon's snaps.
It all started Thursday, July 20... they were flying. It was the first time on a plane for the two littles. Up early at 4:30, an Uber to the airport (we don't have a car we all fit in, even without luggage) and they were off. They arrived in Seattle early (about 10:30) so they had most of that first day there. Rented a car, booked a hotel room ... ate at Lunchbox Laboratory. Met up at Kolby's house in the evening.
I swear the boys would make the trip to Seattle JUST to hit Lunchbox Laboratory!
The boys hit Lunchbox the first day as they hit Seattle ...
and on the last day, before they left!
Landon's snapchats I snagged ...
Gray got some great pictures at the GasWorks park!
The next day, it was off to the lake for paddleboarding and kayaking.
Saturday was a segway tour in of Seattle.
My cute helmet heads!
... more segway snapshots.
Landon's snapchat after ;) ha ha!
Monday, the crew left Seattle for Whistler, Canada.
Downtime, puzzles, hot tub, hammock ... Netflix in Canada has some different programming (French Prince of Bel Air was on there). Some biking, and trips for ice cream or gelato. There was a little park nearby with a basketball court, so Grayson bought a couple basketballs so the littles could go play.
Wednesday, the Blackhams headed to Blackcomb, a resort there in Whistler.
There were ski lifts and a big gondola ride to the top of the mountain.
The Olympics had been hosted there in 2010.
So many scenic sights ... and the birds were quite friendly!
... here's a little video clip of the bird experience!
Gray sent snapshots of all the flowers along the way.
... and the food feasts
On Friday, Kolby's family and the Sanders (their friends) were going on to Victoria. Gray and the boys headed back to Seattle. They hadn't hit all the sights before heading to Canada. They wanted to get to the Space Needle ... and they did. Also, as mentioned above, another trip to Lunchbox Laboratory before they left.
