Visit to WSU Duck Pond and Museum of Natural Science

Today I had to go up to Weber State to buy my parking pass for the upcoming school year. I decided to plan a date with Dawson to go to the duck pond and the Museum of Natural Science since I would be on campus. We took some bread to feed the ducks and then we stopped and got some food to have a picnic by the pond. We had a great time hanging out with the ducks and geese. The geese would come right up to Dawson and take the bread out of his hands. I didn't eat all of my lunch so I left it in a bag on our blanket. Dawson and I walked away from our blanket to go feed the ducks and there were these black birds that were hanging around. One of the birds went over to our blanket and then tried to get in my lunch. We came running back to blanket yelling at it and chased it away. I decided I'd better fold up the blanket, grab my lunch and take it with me.

They were also having the World Archery Championship Games on campus today. Dawson was all excited about that because he had done some archery at Camp Kiesel on Saturday during his Cub Scout day camp. When we went over to the venue there was no one competing. I guess they were taking a break for lunch. Dawson was a little disappointed.

We then went up to the Lind Lecture Hall where the Museum of Natural Science is. We spent lots of time there looking at minerals, rocks, fossils, dinosaur bones, Indian relics, stuffed wildlife, learned about gravity, magnetic poles, and sound waves. I some how forgot to take any pictures of our venture at the museum. We left at just the right time because the power went off as we were going down the stairs to leave. This made it a bit of a mess on Harrison Blvd as we were trying to drive home since the stop lights were not working because of the power outage.

Boise Blast Tournament

This weekend McCall had a softball tournament in Boise. This was the last tournament for the Pirates until August. They take the month of July off. What will we do next weekend without softball???? We got to visit with my Auntie Sachi and cousin Debbie on Friday when they came to one of the games. Auntie Sachi ended up coming all 3 days to see McCall play.

The Pirates were hoping to repeat as the reining champs but ended up taking 2nd place. They lost to a California team by 4-3. McCall ended up hurting her foot during the game before the championship, so she didn't get to play the championship game. I guess it was the day for our family to get injured (Sunday)... While watching McCall's second game Sunday morning I got hit in the back with a foul ball. It wasn't that bad because it wasn't a fast flying foul ball. During the championship game my Auntie Sachi got hit hard in the head with a fast flying foul ball. She didn't lose consciousness and we immediately put ice on her head. There were lots of helpful and concerned spectators that came over to check on her. There was a lady who was a nurse that came over and a dad from the opposing team came over who was a fireman/EMT. He was very helpful and asked Auntie Sachi if she was having any concussion symptoms (headache, blurred vision, nausea, ringing ears, unable to walk straight).

We stayed at the Doubletree Inn which is right next to the Boise River. Along the Boise River there is a trail that I ran on Saturday morning. I can handle long runs like that along the river with the rushing river sound and the river smell and the trees! We got to eat lunch that day at the Eastside Drive-In. It was featured on the Food Networks Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Great bacon cheeseburger that was humongous!

Since this was the last tournament of the Pirates spring/summer softball season I put together a little video. Thanks Pirates for all the weekends we've spent together the past 3 months!

Steamboat Springs Mountain Magic Tournament

I woke up Saturday morning and went for a run on the Yampa River trail. I met a lady from Sacramento who I ran with for a while because we couldn't figure out where the detour for the trail was. She told me she saw a bear yesterday. I said, "ON THE TRAIL?!" She said that she saw it while she was out running in the neighborhood near her condo she's staying at. I'm thinking okay at least the bear is not lurking around the trail. I found myself for the past two days while running feeling like I was sucking air. I felt like I was hardly running fast, but yet gasping for air as if I had been running like the bionic woman. I'm thinking that maybe it's the elevation factor... or I just really stink at running.

McCall had a game at 2:00. We went to get some lunch and then headed over to the ball park. We apparently just missed the bear that was there up in a tree along the trail (yeah, the one I had ran on that morning). All of the tourists were going crazy about this bear, while all the locals were just going about their business. The policeman that was there said there were about 20 bears that frequent the town. They walk down main street all the time. Too bad I missed all the bear action... Sorry no pics of Yogi or Boo-Boo.

When we were getting all of our gear out of the car at the ball park this SUV was driving around the parking lot. It's windows were all painted with "ICE 94" which was the team McCall was to play against. They had their windows down and they were blasting some rap music. I said something to McCall about them being "gangsters". She said, "Well I don't know how straight up "G" you can be in Steamboat Springs." After the team SUV drove around again McCall realized that the song they were playing was "Ice, Ice, Baby". Well, apparently I was somewhat right about the team being gangsters. They played very dirty and the pitcher tried to start a rumble at home plate with one of our players as she slid into home plate. Boy did she ever have a "tude" and talk about cocky. Sadly we lost to them by 1 to a whole bunch (12). The Pirates won their next game, but lost the one after that. They ended up taking 3rd place. While McCall was out playing in left field during their last game, the whole ICE 94 team had these water guns and they were all trying to shoot at her and get her wet. McCall being the nice person she is didn't say anything to her coaches about the incident. She did say something to one of the other players who in turn let it be known to the coaches. McCall's coaches talked to the ICE coach about what her team was doing to McCall as she was trying to play. One of the mom's told the coach that she should be ashamed of her team and herself. We've never played a team with such poor sportsmanship as the ICE. They ended up winning the Championship. ):


Dawson and I went for a walk on the trail to see the hot pots that I noticed on my run that morning, while we waited for the games to start. As I was running I was wondering what that funky smell was... On my way back to the hotel I noticed the hot pot and then I knew what that funky smell was. The sweet smell of sulfur (aka: rotten egg smell).

Hurry up and take the picture! I can't stand the smell!

We ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant called "Tequila's". No, we didn't have tequila but we did have some really good burritos. Along with the chips and salsa that the waiter brought out to us was this cabbage looking stuff. McCall asked, "What is that?" I said, "I don't know.", then I tried the stuff. I said, "It tastes like Mexican coleslaw." Later, I asked the waiter what the stuff was called. He said, "I don't know.", but then proceeded to tell me what was in it and then gave me some background on what it's called in Mexico (was kind of hard at times to understand what he was saying because of his Spanish accent). We had to get a picture of the light above the table because it was a sombrero chandelier.

Living la vida loca at Tequila's.

Yummy chips, salsa & Mexican coleslaw!

Check out the sweet sombrero light!

We had a fun time even though we had to make a few last minute travel/accommodation changes. We found a new place that we could vacation at. I forgot to tell about the funny "Dawson experience". Thursday night after Dawson had taken a bath I went into the bathroom and said, "Did you wash your hair?" He said, "Yes." I said, "What did you wash it with?" He comes into the bathroom and picks up this bottle sitting on the side of the tub and said, "I used this, but I had to use a lot! I bust out laughing saying, "That's mouthwash! No wonder you had to use a lot. Didn't you read the bottle?" Now McCall is laughing her head off. She smells his hair and asks, "Is your head burning?" I said, "Is it tingling?" I look at the bottle of shampoo and conditioner and they are some mint scent. So I say, "Well his hair would have smelled the same if he used the shampoo because it is mint scented." Yep, never a dull moment with Dawson around.

Steamboat Springs, CO Adventure

I am sitting in our hotel room at Steamboat Springs, CO. Getting here yesterday was quite the ordeal. Originally we were going to bring our trailer and stay in it at a campground (McCall and I were not to thrilled about that). Phil was flying home on Wednesday, so we could leave Thursday morning. Phil ends up getting stuck in Dallas and has to sleep overnight there. He was suppose to fly out at 9:30 in the morning. He calls me Thursday morning and says his flight is delayed until 10:30 and that I should try to see if McCall can get a ride with someone on her team and then when he gets home (whenever that might be) we will leave for Colorado. McCall tells me everyone was leaving early that morning so she can't get a ride with anyone. Phil calls again saying that they are closing some of the runways. I ask him, "Well, should I just drive her there and try to get a hotel to stay in?" He says, "I may need you to do that if I can't get out of here in time." He calls back again and says that I should probably just go ahead and take McCall and not wait around for him. So I am frantically trying to get on the internet and look for an available condo or hotel in Steamboat Springs. I, thinking ahead Wednesday night had looked at some condos that we could stay in, so I go to the website to see if I could get one. The problem was that I couldn't book a condo for that night (Thurs.), but I could for Fri. & Sat. So now I am looking for a hotel room... Steamboat Springs is a resort town like Park City so things are pretty "Cha-ching" $$$ pricey. I find a room at the Holiday Inn which Phil is a priority member at. I make reservations for 3 nights at $149.00 night and then we are good to go. I had to finish getting ready and make some minor traveling adjustments. Oh, and I had to do a little Mapquesting so that I knew where I was going.

Around 11:00 McCall, Dawson and I were on the road. It was 390 some odd miles to get to Steamboat Springs and about 90% of those miles were driven in rain. Sometime the rain was so bad that I couldn't even see. I was trying to pass this semi and between the semi's splashing water and the rain I couldn't see a thing! I ended up not passing it and getting back in the right hand lane then driving behind the darn thing. The really SCARY thing was that when it was raining so hard my car was hydroplaning and then I had to slow way down (yeah, even the semis were passing me). I was so scared during the drive I almost pulled over so the kids and I could say a prayer, instead I just continually was saying silent prayers as I drove. By the time we got to Steamboat my hands were sore because I had been gripping the steering wheel so tightly. It was pouring in Steamboat Springs and I wondered if we were even going to be able to have this tournament.

McCall's teammate (the coach's daughter) sent her a text saying the games for tomorrow (which was today) were postponed until 12:30 and they changed the field the team was to play at to one that was in town. Originally the team was to play in a town about 30 miles away at 8:00 in the morning. Things were looking up, but would the fields be dry enough to play on and would the rain stop?

Today was actually a nice day and the fields were dry enough to play on. McCall played two games today (pool games) and won them both. The park where they played at was at the base of the mountain at one of the ski resorts. There was an alpine slide and a practice ski jumping ramp area right next to the park. It was also by the river which had a walkway that goes along the river through the town. While we waited for the games to start, Dawson and I went walking on it and stood on a bridge and watched the river. This is a beautiful place for a softball tournament. Maybe tomorrow morning I will go for a run on the walkway instead of running on the treadmill at the hotel.

P.S. The bright side after all the changing of our traveling/accommodation plans, McCall and I ended up not having to stay in the trailer. "Yeah us!"

Karlie Martin, Brock Martin, Dawson & McCall

First Graduating Class of Syracuse High 2009

The past 3 weeks have been questionable on whether or not Kirk would be part of the first graduating class of Syracuse High. It wasn't until Wednesday (6/3) that we knew he officially was graduating. If you read my facebook entry for Friday (6/5) which said, "By the sweat of his brow, Kirk is graduating tonight! Whew!" I was not joking one bit. Only it was more like by the sweat of my brow... We have to thank Kirk's resource teacher Mrs. Niederhauser for helping and caring about Kirk by going over and beyond her teaching job to see that he graduated. She had a backup credit that could be used in case Kirk didn't bring his guitar grade up. She was so helpful to Phil and I too! We are grateful for teachers like her who have saw Kirk as more than just another student in the class.


I have been so busy trying to get Kirk graduated that I didn't have time to think about the feelings that I had about him graduating. Needless to say, while sitting in the Dee Events Center during the graduation program all the memories of Kirk and I sitting at the kitchen counter counting M&M's as he did his math and other homework hit me. So there I am... tears gushing down my cheeks (true Deana style). I was a mess, but by the time Kirk's name was called to get his diploma (which was really only the diploma holder, he had to get his diploma after the graduation was over), I was tear free.
We found Kirk after the graduation was over and took some pictures. Kirk came up to the Dee Events Center with his friends and so as we were getting ready to leave to go home he hands me his diploma and says, "Here will you take this home?" I said, "Well, you're going home you can just take it." He said, "Well, I don't want it to get messed up." I'm sure he was thinking in his mind, "I'd better give this to my mom to keep safe because I all most messed up not getting it."

For those people who don't think that God preforms miracles on Earth today... The above experience was a bit of a miracle from our Heavenly Father. Kirk had to do his part, but I think the Lord's hand was also involved. Now it's time to finish those mission papers!

Congratulations Kirk!!!

We love you!!!

Pirates Take 2nd Place at the Diamond Bandits Tournament

We went to Nampa, Idaho this weekend and played in the Diamond Bandits Tournament. We were the only team from Utah in the 14 and under division. There are a few Idaho teams who don't really like us but then there are a few who really like us. The ones who like us are the teams who wanted to see us beat the Diamond Bandits. The teams who don't like us are the Diamond Bandits (because we beat them last year for the championship in Boise) and Chaos. The Chaos team does not like us because we executed a play that was the play of all plays. The bases were loaded... Cierra is on 3rd and McCall is up to bat. Her coach gives her the sign to do a surprise bunt (Phil calls it the "suicide bunt"). McCall bunts the ball and Cierra comes running into home plowing into the catcher. The catcher ends up dropping the ball and pushes Cierra back. While all this is going on another player comes in and scores. McCall has no idea what has gone on. All she knew was that her coach was telling her to go to 2. After McCall came in and scored she asked me, "What happened when I bunted?" So I had to tell her what kind of "chaos" she created for the Chaos. That play pretty much helped the Pirates win the game against Chaos.

On the last day of the tournament the Pirates had to play the Diamond Bandits and they ended up losing to them which put us in the losers bracket. The Pirates played against the Golden Gloves and beat them which put them in the Championship game against the Diamond Bandits. Since the Pirates had lost one game and the Diamond Bandits were undefeated they would have to beat the Diamond Bandits twice in order to win the Championship. If that were the case, we were looking at a very late night 6 hour drive home which means we would arrive home very early Monday morning. The Pirates ended up losing the first championship game so they took 2nd place. This wasn't too bad because none of the parents were looking forward to the drive home if we ended up having to play 2 games. We left Nampa at 6:00 p.m. and arrived home at 11: 45.

Dawson just loved our hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express. We walked into the room and Dawson absolutely went bonkers over the 2 flat screen TVs and the couch and chair set up. He says, "I can't wait to tell my friends at school about this room. It is sweet!"

Triple Crown Memorial Weekend Tournament 2nd Place

This weekend's softball tournament was in West Valley at Hobo Park. It's really called the Redwood Recreation Complex but McCall calls it "Hobo Park" because the first time she played there the restrooms were all locked up because her coaches said that there are a lot of transients around there. McCall didn't know what transient meant so when she asked what that was she was told it was a hobo or homeless person.

We spent Friday and Saturday at "Hobo Park" watching the Pirates take second place in the tournament. They played in the championship game but this week-end couldn't make the Utah Thunder "walk the plank". McCall had some sweet catches this week-end. I am sure we will be meeting up with the Utah Thunder in future tournaments and there will be a MUTINY on the ball field! YO-HO-HO IT'S A PIRATES LIFE FOR ME(every weekend)!!!

I had to come back and edit this post because I had to add some extra things according to McCall. First, I have to explain the first picture of the team and the reason why they are posing as they are. There is this girl on the Utah Thunder whose name is Dusty she is #21 and plays in left field. When she was on base she would put her arms out like the Pirates have theirs in the picture and say "come get me" or "you can't get me". To put it plainly she was cocky and not a good sport, so the team was mocking her.

The second thing I need to add is that McCall actually saw a hobo at "Hobo Park". In fact, he came and sat by her when she and some of her team mates were in between games and watching another game. He started asking question about the game. He said, "Shouldn't the mound (pitcher's) be higher?" Krista, one of the Pirates' pitchers said , "No, that's in baseball." So then the hobo asked, "Well what's the difference between baseball and softball?" Krista's mom came and sat next to McCall and eventually the hobo left. We don't call it "Hobo Park" for nothing!

P.S. I am really "BUMMED" (hee-hee) that I didn't get a picture of the hobo to put on the blog.