So I have officially been a doctor for ten years now. Wow. That went by fast. 

It was because of this that Rachel and I found ourselves sitting on the deck last week talking about how our family has evolved over the years with distinct milestones along the way. There was the "newlywed" stage. The "dental school" stage. The "hellish-nightmare-of raising-young-children-while-at-the-same-time-trying-to-start-a-career-while-dealing-with-deep-seated-existential-angst" stage. The "we-have-a-built-in-babysitter!" stage. And now, the best stage of them all. The "wow...we-have-a-really-awesome-family" stage. 

This milestone officially hit a few months ago. It was a lovely day at the resort. I had just watched Maren and Lindsey take the lift up, all by themselves, to spend the next couple of hours together with no adult supervision. Meanwhile, Rach and I skied together with no kids to wait on. We would later meet back around a good meal and talk about our days, laughing at each other's wipe-outs. 

This is but one example. 

Almost everything we do as a family is now appreciated and enjoyed by everyone for it's own sake. This is huge! I mean, it's nice to have fun because you like watching your kid smile. Things like going on a slide and saying "wheee" or watching them hold their breath while you count to ten, and then celebrating like they just won the world series. It's great. At least that's what we tell ourselves. But it's really not, and I've never been very good at pretending. I can't sell it. And acting childish or rejoicing in childish things just doesn't seem to do it for me the way it does with some adults. 

You know what I find infinitely more satisfying than this charade that we call parenting? I'll tell you. It is when you have fun because you are actually having fun, and your kid also happens to be there, right next to you, because they are actually having fun at the same time. Or when you are hanging out with a group of friends, sharing ideas, maybe participating in some friendly banter, and then it dawns on you that- holy cow- this group of friends actually consists of your own kids, and you get just as much (or maybe more) out of their company as they do from yours.

Each person in our family has developed a wonderful personality all of their own, and the blend is something that I have come to love. It just seems to work.

Well, most of the time. 😉

***** 

This weekend we drove down to Utah for our annual Hazard Holiday. The kids missed two days of school and we just got to hang out and play together. Some of our original plans were, unfortunately, cancelled due to weather, but we filled in the time with other things that were a little surprising and different for us. Also, I love that our family is old enough now that we don't need to worry about fatuous or hyperactive behavior any more. We were able to go to some nice places and have several in-depth conversations on a broad range of topics, and I really appreciate what the kids were able to bring to the table. They are at a really neat age where they have enough sophistication to discuss mature topics, but from an uniquely innocent perspective with few preconceived notions. It is interesting, and sometimes delightfully insightful to hear what they have to say about things.

Anyway- we don't need to do a play-by-play here. Suffice it to say we had a great weekend. Hazards rock!

Bear World with my parents

Lots of good food. We went a little nicer on this trip than our normal fast food/breakfast restaurant repertoire.

Of course the hotel swimming pool was a hit. I will never understand why.

This was kind of a cool place. A "live action video game" with 15 levels to try and pass. We broke into teams and climbed, jumped, balanced, and problem-solved our way through as much as we could. Neither team was able to make it all the way through, but we had fun trying.

Obligatory angel wing photo

This is from an outdoor "culture festival" that we went to. We like festivals.

Family walk in the International Peace Gardens on the one day we actually had decent weather.

We capped off the trip by seeing a performance of Les Miserables. It was my third time seeing it, but the first time watching it performed in the round. It also might have been my favorite time seeing it, if anything, because I was sitting next to Lindsey, Adalie, and Jackson. Everyone cried at some point during the show, and everyone had great things to talk about afterwards. I think this is the beginning of a long tradition of theater for our family.

Last night, Rach and I were sitting on the deck watching the sun go down. The lawn had been freshly mowed and the hedges trimmed. We were coming off a great weekend of camping, and I had just sent one of my 2-year-long climbing projects earlier in the day. The weather was perfect.

It's a little early in the year, but it felt like summer. I like it.

The major event for our family this week was our camping trip. Lots of hiking. Lots of exploring. Lots of swimming. Some good times around the fire, just hanging out. Stories. Games. Friendly contests. Everyone was involved and everyone had fun. It was a good weekend.

Besides that, I had study club this weekend, which I always look forward to. Good stuff.

Also, today is Rachel's birthday, but we won't celebrate it until later. Happy birthday!

Have a good week!

Since the last post, things have started getting busier for us. This seems to happen every year around this time, like a pitcher winding up for a fast-ball, things begin to move quicker and quicker leading up to that fateful moment with the ball is released into the air- a time known to us as summer vacation.

Most of the past week was spent hosting newfound friends in our house as they looked for a home of their own in this crazy market. We had fun getting to know their family and by the end of the week they had found a perfect place to move into in a couple of months.

Also, spring time means spring cleaning. For us at home, this meant the addition of a new garden area to our backyard. In the broader community, our family has been taking part in several projects to clean up local climbing areas. It's been fun to involve the kids in these projects, and I think we've made some good memories along the way.

Getting things ready

Done! This whole project was somewhat of an impulsive thing. We went to a flower sale at a local high-school just to support the program. This prompted talks though, which prompted trips to various nurseries and landscape stores, which led to this final result about 6 hours later. The kids were great helpers and I can definitely say it was a family effort. Now we'll see if it will actually grow. Apparently, some of these plants will get pretty big.

The two pictures above this caption are from our cleanup of Q'emiln Park. The two below are from Minnehaha.

Before we started things were looking pretty rough. We got most of it off.

You can see Ev in the background with the white hat and sweatshirt around her waist. That "Elephant Snot" paint remover stuff is no joke, and two of our kids came home with minor chemical burns. They took it in stride though, and seem excited for the next time we get to help with stuff like this.

Last weekend we took a trip to Utah for Shannon's wedding (Rachel's sister). It was a beautiful outdoor wedding with a casual feel and everything went perfectly. We were excited to be able to hang out with family, if only for a little while, and the car trip there and back couldn't have gone any smoother. We liked it so much, in fact, that we are driving down again in a couple of weeks just for fun. For those who are counting, that makes three Utah trips in five weeks. I am glad we have awesome kids! This trip featured the play Wicked, and it did not disappoint!  We have officially added it to our list of plays to see with the kids. Did I mention that Broadway announced its reopening? Yeah. That happened this week as well. 

Rach and her sister, Marissa, getting things ready

Jack insisted we get this hat for him, and then he casually "borrowed" a flower from the decorations to put in the brim. This dapper kid has a style all his own, and he pulls it off well.

Just hanging out after the ceremony. The kids had fun putting on shows for us at the amphitheater. 

One more thing- I think I mentioned sometime in the past how the kids have all been running this past month to try and earn awards for Bloomsday. Well, the month came and went, and they all ran enough days to earn a trip to Silverwood for the whole family! Did I mention that we have awesome kids?!

Alright- have a good week!