Spring break - Denver trip

Spring Tree

Lucy @ Freddy's 

 Lucy's spring break was a great time to zip off to Denver to take Susie to visit friends, attend a dinner to celebrate a beloved friend and get away for a few days.

I wouldn't say the trip was necessarily on par with an actual vacation.  We spent a lot of time in the car going to visit multiple people in all the corners of the Denver metro area.  We did enjoy lots of great dinners and had some nice visits with family and friends.

Lucy was a great sport and only had one minor "typical teen" moment and that was wholly due to being awakened at 4 am for an early morning flight.  We were all tired, but seemed to bounce back after a nap on the plane.

Thankfully, we were able to squeeze in a visit to Lucy's most favorite burger place EVER.  Freddy's Steakburger.  It is very good and no one was mad about the side trip. 

Our outbound travel was a bit "off".   The automated system at the airport off site car park that we had reserved simply would not recognize our code to let us in.  Getting an actual human to help was difficult and after she finally lumbered over she had the nerve to be irritated at us because our reservation was to start 3 hours earlier.   Um... so what?   We paid extra then... let us in.   She did and the lot was overfull and we ended up parking at the end of an row in an unofficial spot.    When we left yesterday, since we weren't checked in properly we had to get help to get out.   So much for easy pre-pay automation.  

Finally parked and at the airport we were just through security when the announcement that our flight was 3 1/2 hours delayed.  We were each given food vouchers and ultimately a $50 coupon for future travel.   The delay messed up our day one plans, but not too badly.    

Our VRBO house was cute, the perfect size for the three of us and served us well.   We were close to Susie's old neighborhood so we popped over to their favorite pizza place and brought home dinner.   The timing was perfect in that at the end of the month, this place will be closing forever.   

The next day we spent with cousin Beth and then "popped out" to her mother's place for a quick visit.   That took all day, but we did manage the side trip to Freddy's which Lucy and the rest of us enjoyed tremendously.  

We had planned to have dinner with Beth that night, but after the 6+ hour day activities we decided to skip it and have breakfast the next day.    Our afternoon plans fell through and we had a few hours on our own so we went to the mall.

We were able to connect with Jason's bestie Sean for a fun dinner and also a visit to former neighbors where Mrs. Hahn (Barbie) pulled out her clarinets and she and Lucy had a great chat about music.  

We finished our visit by attending a celebration of life dinner for Susie's bestie, Sally who passed away on January 2nd.  It was a lively dinner for ten and we did all the things.  Some tears, sweet stories and enjoyed the evening.  Sally would have approved.  

Our 6 am flight home was delayed until 7:30 which gave us extra time in the morning to not have to rush around like crazy.   We shared the flight with Seattle's All Female Football team and unfortunately for Jason he had two linebackers in his row and it was an unfortunately snug row for those three. 

Yesterday afternoon I started the post trip laundry while unexpected naps took place all over the house.  I napped on the plane and managed to stay up until 9pm.  I did take an afternoon bubble bath that was WONDERFUL!   There's nothing like your own home's amenities after being away.  

I've been on hold with Alaska airline's customer care department for (let me check) 1 hour, 23 minutes and 12..13..14 seconds because they charged me twice for the cheese trays and that's not ok.   I sent an email but the reply said it would be 2-3 WEEKS to get a reply.   Sheesh. 

I'm off to Orlando Florida next week for a work trip, hopefully it will be smoother travel than this trip and then our next major travel event is Hawaii in July.  We booked first class for that journey and I'm quite relieved about the luxury accommodations for that trip.  Jason will be happy not to be seated next to a footballer. 

The Seattle Majestics

These ladies are no joke!

How do I explain it?

I need help. Last night our sixth grade student came into our room at bedtime in tears.  "I hate America" was the shocking statement that was made.   We asked, why and what happened because not even an hour earlier this smart, goofy kid who takes tap dancing classes, loves volleyball and is on the honor roll at school was telling us silly jokes and practicing a moonwalk.   "I don't understand why we're scared at school, and that people hate me because I'm different."

After some digging it boiled down to just the two topics that are the most worrisome for us as parents in 2023.  Gun violence and an increasing amount of law makers across the country talking about the dangers of saying "gay", people in Drag, or books in schools that represent real life people. 

We can't do the easy and reassuring parent trick of saying "it will be ok, a shooting at your school will never happen to you" because we don't know that.  Gun violence has already touched our little family.  On a boring Saturday morning we stopped into a local mall to shop for spring clothes and there was an altercation that resulted in two people being shot.  The terror in not knowing what was happening and the need to get out of the area was awful.   We were separated and our third grader had to rely on strangers for comfort and help until we were reunited.  

It simply isn't believable to tell kids that there is no risk in going to school.  The drills they do for lockdown are more likely to be put into action than the earthquake drills we did, and the atomic bomb drills our parents did.   American kids live with a real worry that it will be their school next.

Ok, so training and preparation.  That "solves" the gun issue, but what about the other thing?  How do we explain that legislators are railing on about drag queens because it's an easy thing to vilify?   How do we explain that just because they don't feel comfortable being called a girl that they are talked about by adults in power as deviant, or suggest that they were groomed.   It feels like they are suggesting that if it hadn't been for external factors, that my kid would be 'normal.'  Oh my, was it the true story about two male penguins at the zoo who hatched an adopted egg?  It can't be, our doctor, the therapist we hired after the shooting, and even the clergy at our church have said our family as healthy, loving and frankly ordinary.   

So, I am asking for help.  How do we explain inaction on limiting access to guns that are so powerful that parents have to use DNA to identify their child, but at the same time that these same legislators will limit the use of pronouns because pronouns are are harmful?  How do we explain that the rights of American's to have guns is more important than the right for children to survive the day of school?   How do we explain that even though we have freedom of religion in America that those who believe in the Bible use it to make laws, based on their interpretation.  How do we explain that we as parents would do anything to keep them safe, but we can't stop bullets and we can't stop useless and hurtful laws.

This kid is smart and sees through the irony of inaction on something that will literally kill them and action on stuff like words that don't matter.   

How are we as parents supposed to explain it?