Chicks are hatching right and left, Ben turns 8, I start coaching roller hockey, we decide to say yes to moving to Japan, and travel with friends to Portland for a roller hockey tournament...
1 Roller hockey launch party at our house. Asst coach Caden there to do a gear check!
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5 Then a bag packing and stowing relay race to be sure they can get their gear ready without driving parents nuts. That was the idea, anyway ;)
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10 First practice!
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14 Assistant coach Gus looks at the practice plan...and laughs! No way we'll get through all that!
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16 This is how we stow extra gear to give others a ride home.
17 Meanwhile, I'm still running Coder Dojo at school and we have a super neat parent who came in to do a presentation on supply chain management - he writes apps to help large fashion companies improve efficiency.
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20 AND...there's chicks in the nursery in the garage!
21 We adore them!
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25 Ben guards them during recess out on the lawn. They need to feel like "real" chickens.
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29 I think this is Julian.
30 Our team is the Bears. And we have a LARGE mascot!
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43 Oh Emmy, how I miss you.
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49 Rehoming lost gear...
50 One egg from every layer this day! Wheat's first egg in the top left corner!
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61 Max and Carver
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66 Dressage ride and review - went from hockey straight to this. Very wild time - raining during the warm-up at Janet's barn, then a walk through the trails up to the warm-up arena, then a massive spook on the way to the test, a whirl, gallop toward a cedar tree, and Janet turns around just after I regain control and goes "What took you so long?!"
67 In my ride and review outfit for a horse-person party at "Emmy's home" - with Kris and Adam. Absolutely incredible time. Such lovely people and wonderful hosts.
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70 How will I keep track of 10 of these? A Jolly Rancher bounty, that's how! Kids who turn in a blue puck get a Jolly Rancher! I ended up with more than I started ;)
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76 Dee came to watch me ride once. That was really nice.
77 And because chicks from the hatchery aren't enough, we decided to incubate eggs for Ben's 8th birthday...
78 Look! One pipped out while we were at CoderDojo!!!
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80 Right around this time, in fact two days prior, we got a call asking if we'd be willing to move to Japan.
81 A little chilly out...enjoy a fireplace while I can. There's no fireplace in the house in Japan.
82 We decided "yes" was the right answer. We knew that instantly, just needed to figure out the rest...kids, schools, rent the house... In the meantime, chicks were hatching!
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85 Drying off a little pasty butt
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95 Hi babies!
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100 And...I managed to get 5th out of 10 riders!
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102 some rink time - a little chilly! but checking to see if it's too wet for our game. Yes, it was.
103 Off to First Communion, then!
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113 Trying to do a family picture! Sam is taking the photo.
114 This is a CoderDojo mentor inside joke...I really wanted some happier programming (games) so i said "rainbows and unicorns, please?"
115 Well...look what is at Calico Cat?
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118 Drying the rink.
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133 Sam's team
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145 And the paperwork begins...this is to get medical clearance, which we had to get before we could even get orders, which we need to schedule the move. Everything hinges on being cleared medically...
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147 Chicks continue to grow. Moved out to their little apartment, all 8 snuggled in together. Dave is going "how are you going to rehome all of these?" Clearly, this was not the right time for a chick mania. But...the kids had an absolutely joyful time this summer with them. Chicks and kids...meant to be. Honestly.
