Dave and Cathy's Family Blog

• Celebrate Luke’s birthday
• Lilah makes a nice purchase (a dress) at the thrift store where she volunteers her time (she does not wear dresses often)
• Luke and I take one last trip to Mammoth and he ends season by reaching a max speed of nearly 45 mph on his board
• Lilah receives an academic achievement award for her 4.0+ GPA
• Cat makes homemade empanadas for Luke’s school project on Chile
• My parents get a new car
• Luke signs up for another season of YMCA basketball
• I write two new poems, Keep on Living, and The Old Country, to celebrate national poetry month and because I felt inspired

Luke’s Birthday

Luke’s birthday worked out perfectly this year as it landed on a Saturday. This meant we were able to take him to one of his favorite places, the Olive Garden, to celebrate his special day without feeling rushed. Because of that, I was also able to arrange for Luke to receive a special dessert that he had to look at while we and the wait staff sang happy birthday to him. He may have been a little embarrassed, but mostly I think he enjoyed it and was genuinely surprised by the impromptu celebration.

In addition to our night out for dinner, Luke was also able to participate in what’s become his favorite pastime these days — airsofting. Wait, is that even a verb? No matter, it soon will be as that’s how Luke and his friends refer to the activity that involves them getting together on weekends to dress up in their gear and shoot their Airsoft guns at other teams as they try to win their battle game. Luckily, we have an indoor facility close to where we live which allows us to drop off the boys so they can play for hours under the supervision and direction of game coordinators and referees (here’s a youtube video that will give you a sense for how these battles are conducted).

Like any good obsession sport or hobby, there is all kinds of gear the kids can buy to make the experience more fun — helmets, goggles, boots, camouflaged shirts and pants, plastic bee bees, and, of course, the guns which come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, as well as different power ratings the boys simply refer to as FPS (Feet Per Second). The difference in power between guns can be pretty dramatic and there are rules as to how much FPS your gun can have — if your gun exceeds the range, you’re not allowed to use it. The range is set for safety reasons so that kids aren’t shooting at each other with high power ammo capable of breaking the skin.

I’m like my dad when it comes to this gun thing — guns are not a particular love of mine as I never grew up with them, have never owned one, and have never had the urge to own one. Obviously, these aren’t real guns, and the kids are all playing a game here so I’m okay with Luke following his obsession within reason. As a parent, I think it’s part of my duty to provide an environment in which our kids can explore and follow their passions, even if they are not ones that I particularly share. The main thing I see is that Luke is having a lot of fun with his friends — they play, yes, but they also talk and joke with each other, and hang out afterwards swapping “battle stories” which is good to see. They also get one hell of workout as they run around and play for hours and are totally soaked in sweat when they’re done. Luke said that when he plays, three hours only seems like 30 minutes. When you do something you love, that’s what happens so I totally get it.

Lilah Earns Academic and Athletic Achievements at School

Lilah’s academic dedication earned her an achievement award at her school. This award is given to all students in high school who maintain a 3.88 cumulative GPA or better. She was cool with the honor but wasn’t so happy about having to return to school after a long day — especially since that also meant her parents and her little brother would be there in the audience ;-). As is frequently the case, Lilah did not allow me to take a picture of her holding her award so I had to settle for a blurry far away shot at the ceremony. For the occasion, she wore the black dress she recently bought at the thrift store she works in to earn volunteer hours for her school. The thrift store is associated with a canine rescue group in the city of Ventura — a percentage of the money the thrift store makes is donated to the rescue center to help the people there maintain the facilities and care for the animals.

In addition to maintaining her grades, Lilah continues to have fun and do well at swimming. She would have been undefeated in the breast stroke this year except for the coach let one of the varsity girls swim at Lilah’s JV event and the girl edged out Lilah for first place. Oh well, Lilah said she is still the top JV girl and is very close to achieving the time goals of the varsity girl who beat her. I’m pretty impressed with the way Lilah juggles everything. Academics, volunteer work, sports, and music — I’d say that’s a pretty full plate and it makes me understand even more why she needs the down time away from her parents, which she seems to need a lot of these days. Sure it’s a teenage thing too, but it’s also a personality thing. She’s naturally introverted and although she does just fine with people and social interactions, she definitely needs her time away to recharge.

That’s all for now…More next month!