Homecoming Part 2...and lots more!

(Warning....long post)

This has been once again a most busy week indeed! I think it will finally slow down a bit around here....of course I always think that and it never does;)

The week started off as usual but it quickly ramped up when on Monday after hours and hours of calling the radio station Kyla won tickets to go see a private showing with only 50 fans of a band she likes (Panic at the Disco) at the top of the Space Needle. The concert was to take place on Tuesday at 3pm so I arranged to get Kyla and her friend Taylor out of school early so they could make it downtown in time. The girls got all gussied up and off we went.

While waiting at the base of the Space Needle for a couple of hours I spoke with some of the radio station staff and was able to snag 4 tickets to the bigger concert that the band and four other bands (The Cab, Dashboard Confessional and Plain White T's) were performing at that evening at the Everett Events Center. When Kyla and Taylor emerged from the show they squealed with delight that the fun wasn't over. As Hailey was still at cheer practice I arranged without her knowing that I would pick a friend of hers so she and her friend could go also (and I was just praying that they didn't have too much homework since it was a school night). This also made me feel much better since there would be four of them together at the concert since this was the first time they would be going alone to concert.


We battled with the rush hour traffic but made it home right about 6:30pm to pick up the other two girls and we raced to get to Everett by the 7pm start time. I decided to stay in Everett just in case so I did a little shopping and watched a couple episodes of Hero's which I had downloaded onto my Zune. The girls emerged from the Arena at around 11pm after having an amazing time and we headed home for some sleep.


Meanwhile while we were at the concert Mike was at home getting ready for his annual trip to Boston to race at the Head of Charles. He was leaving very early in the morning and was trying to wrap up work stuff while trying to pack. He took off and the week continued to be busy!!! Wednesday afternoon Hailey and I were in charge of the face painting booth at the Homecoming Rally and powder puff football game. Plus she was starting her first Driver's Ed Class that evening. We were able to juggle it all but during the rally the heavens opened up and there was a huge downpour and the face painting booth got a little soggy.


Thursday I was getting decorations ready for the homecoming dinner (hence the glittered pumpkins). Hailey and her youth group friends were all going to homecoming as a group and the boys were looking for an affordable way to do dinner so the parents put heads together and created a "restaurant" for them. Our friends just bought the most beautiful Tudor house on Main Street in our town they wanted to it fix up and rent it out for events. In two weeks they were able to redo the whole downstairs (painting, refinishing the floors, install all new appliances, and replace all the plumbing) so that we could get it ready for the kids to use.


The parents did the decorating and the cooking while younger siblings did the serving so the kids didn't have to have the parents around spying. We stayed in the kitchen and only peeked once in awhile;) One of the moms even made menus and the kids were able to choose from two different entrees. It was just perfect....the kids were blown away at how perfect it was and they didn't feel at all like they missed out of the restaurant experience. The yard was the perfect place for all the photos with the gazebo and the fall foliage and the weather was amazing!!!


The Friday night homecoming game was so much fun and Nana, Papa and Connor were able to come and see Hailey cheer. The team didn't do so hot this week but it was still fun anyways since it was Homecoming. One of Hailey's friends was one of the senior princess' in the homecoming court and she looked just beautiful! Kyla missed this game since she was at a birthday party for friend Taylor (who she had taken to the concert) but thankfully she was able to spend the night so I didn't have to juggle getting her to and from the party. After the game Hailey and I came home and went right to bed so that we were rested for another busy day.


Saturday we ran around getting nails, toes, hair and makeup done (three of Hailey's youth leaders did hair and makeup (two of them are beauticians and one of them was her 6th grade teacher) and we finally made it to the meeting place with all the families at 4pm and Kyla to another birthday party at 5:30pm (thanks mom). It was like a red carpet event going on there was so many cameras clicking. All the guys looked so handsome and the girls were breathtakingly gorgeous!!!! Everyone looked so great but most importantly they were all so polite and the guys were being so chivalrous. The guys surprised the girls by taking them to the Carillon Point water front on Lake Washington for dessert so they could still go "out" somewhere. I wasn't there (and Hailey was thankful for that) but I heard from the other parent drivers that the boys gave up their coats to keep the girls warm, offered their arms, opened doors and were all around perfect gentlemen. The parents said there were other groups there from other school's homecoming events and there was a real difference in the way our group and others carried themselves. Hopefully it wasn't just because our group had parents around but it really represented their true character.


The kids made it to the dance back in Monroe at about 9pm and danced the night away. They ended the evening with an after party at our friends home and I was able to bring them all a group picture that I printed on my computer while they were at the dance. At 2pm the boys and girls separated into two different houses. In the morning our church was having our final building campaign Sunday with an all church service and breakfast at the fairgrounds in town. The boys were in charge of parking and they were so cute because the were still wearing their tuxedos and were directing traffic. The girls all slept very carefully so their hair would remain in place and they came to the service all decked out in their gowns.....it was so cute!


After church we came home and crashed! We are still recovering and missing Mike terribly. He missed his daughter's first formal dance but he was there in spirit and he even called her when we all had gathered for the pictures. I snapped a few pictures of them talking to each other on the phone. Mike had raced that Saturday morning and once again his boat placed 12th and were ranked high enough to be asked back again for next year's race. Next year they will be finally in the master's category (40+) and they will be hoping to medal. 12th place against mostly college crew boats and national team members is nothing to be upset about. They were by far the oldest racers in their division and they still were 12th out of 43 boats and like I said most of those boats consist of guys in their twenties. For example the boat that came in 11th was from North Carolina State University. I am so proud of them! They were 15 seconds faster than last year and they also had a head wind. Way to go guys!!!! Check out the result here http://regatta2008.hocr.org/regatta2008/official/HOCR_2008/HOCR.html?eventID=13816






and for information about the race check here http://www.hocr.org/competitors/default.asp





Shots from last year's race in Boston....










Now here is a slideshow of the homecoming festivities so daddy can see everything he missed...Mike, enjoy your time visiting the Liptack's in New Jersey! We miss you and can't wait to see you in a couple of days!!!!