Happy Holidays, 2013 in Review, and Shalom!

OK, it is technically still Christmas.  Tick, tock, tick, tock.  These letters seem to be getting closer together…  or maybe we just have less original material to report as a result of our constant gushing through social media.   We apologize for any redundancy.  Maybe it’s just an opportunity to take another jab at something.

The Little Redhead

Ruth apparently has the rather-not-do-anything-physically-

demanding gene.   Armed with this knowledge, we are keeping her in gymnastics and continue to shower her with compliments (artificially at times) to keep the train a rollin’.  Having a budding gymnast in the house necessitates reinforced hand railings, towel bars, door knobs, and couch arms (finish nails into sheetrock won’t do on the shoot-thru cutback dismounts).  She advanced a level this year.   Talent might not have been the driving force for the gym to “bump” her to the next level, since it resulted in a lot more of our money going to them.    As an added benefit, it reduces the available vacation time available when going from 6 hours a week/3 annual meets to 9 hours a week/10 meets.  “Meet” defined as four minutes of film-worthy activity buried in five hours of “other”, strategically placed in the heart of the weekend so as to render any remaining time useless.  Ruth really puts in the prep time…  For appearances though, not performance – loves the glitter, hot bun, and hairspray work, but not the round-off back handsprings.  Her gymnastics coach (with 30+ years of coaching hundreds of gymnasts) says Ruth is the least flexible gymnast she has ever seen.  As parents it’s not the physical inflexibility that we have to deal with.

Ruth has developed quite a penchant for planning and organizing.  She is very taken with our Google calendar and all the events logged in it.  Under careful supervision (and whenever else she sees fit) she makes entries.  It’s nice to have agenda-minded little ones, but annoying when they upstage us, especially in front of others.  We respond to this like parents are supposed to by telling her to mind her own bees wax.   Ruth’s 8th year birthday party was your typical teenybopper slumber.  It featured an array of brightly colored, sparkly plastic paraphernalia (none of which contributed to the US economy).  Mom and daughter themed a “disco-ball dance with ornament making” event.   With six girls, no party would be complete without harsh accusations and hurt feelings.  Gotta love having girls – we all know they continually improve from here on.  Our children-eating pets were relegated to “Canine Camp Groscost” in Auburn for the event.


 
First Born

Si has been getting his funny on regularly.  No sense in sharing quotes since “you’d have to be there” would apply.  His humor specialty seems to be Diary of a Wombat-esque.  On the athletic side of things, we found he can’t do soccer, swim, baseball and lacrosse all in the same season.  Something had to give…  it turned out to be homework.  Lacrosse not his cup o’ root beer and he sinks like a rock in the water (and has a crawl stroke like one too) so no more swimming (at least

until the 2020 Olympics).   Si has also permanently retired from baseball after getting hit by two pitches during practice (both thrown by Dad, but in fairness, he was crowding the plate on one of them).   Soccer it is then.  He tried out again for the Valley’s select team and made the A squad.  Then without prior warning, he wilted on the pitch – might be a confidence thing.  I think we’ve proven what compassionate and supportive parents we are by including that bit in our Christmas letter.  Now, to encourage the problem to fester, we put him on an indoor team – where

Si and his friend Carson at Camp Orkila for a week

you’re in on every play whether you want to be or not (if you don’t get to the ball, it gets to you).  We have found that indoor has some spectator appeal considering the comfortable seating, climate control and a full service bar.  The spring outdoor league starts up again in February so we’ll see which result the “structive” is (con or de).  Si continues to enjoy parkour (Spiderman Class, as Tracey likes to call it).  Nothing like a 20-year-old punk kid teaching your son skateboarding moves without the wheels at $25/hour.

Si got in Hi-C (for highly capable – misnomer for indecisive) program.  He goes to the special class one day a week for a few hours.  They’ve done a cool field trip to the Museum of Flight where they got to drive in a flight simulator.  It’s now his favorite school subject – most likely because there is no homework.

First day of 2nd and 4th grade

Si got beat by a girl (the one he has a crush on) in a foot race in PE.  The second mistake he made was to admit it when he came home – gotta love that transparency.  We (and by “we”, we mean Dad) assured him that does not qualify as showing off and this sort of thing was not to be tolerated.  So we put him on indefinite Speed Camp restriction. 

Curt took Si to a sex-ed class at Overlake.  The explicit Birds and Bees content usually isn’t delivered to boys that still believe in Santa Claus.  They may need to audit the class next year for a refresher.  Si did feel confident enough in his maturation to raise his hand when they asked about “where does hair grows when you get older”, and Si, in true Groscost blood line, answered “on your back”.  Oh, very funny…. there may be some bitter irony for him in the future.

Si and Dad hosted his 10th birthday party with six of his friends for a sleepover.  Lots of wrestling, jumping and parkour moves.  After hours of Smackdown, there were no injuries (that could be proved in a court of law… and considering our legal system, that’s saying a lot).  The pets were treated to another overnight session of Canine Camp Groscost.

Si is definitely coming of age.  Apparently pants are not to be worn in school if you’re a boy.  Even during the recent cold snap Si (along with the school posse he belongs to) was content to stick it out.  As responsible parents we ultimately required long underwear under the shorts – must be cool in more ways than one.  He also moved up to the “big spoon” as his primary flatware choice for meals.  Who knows what he'll do next - as you can see this stuff is far too racy for Facebook.

The Meat Eaters – Olive and Copper

We came home recently to find the mud room (aka pet holding area) decorated with canine DNA like a grizzly scene from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (see original release in the Christmas 2012 letter).  It took a few weeks for the mystery to reveal itself…  bloody nose for 100 lb. Ridgeback.  As instinct prevails, dogs do what comes naturally with this ailment…. sneeze…  a lot…  and it’s like they don’t care where they’re at, what’s in front of them, how stain resistant it as and how much we paid for it.  The sneeze itself doesn’t encourage healing though.  After we filed a supplemental Medicare Part B coverage claim and paid $950, it turns out there’s something in his nose that isn’t supposed to be...  Naturally we’re excited to find out what family heirloom (that we’ve been missing and didn’t know it) that he snorted or inhaled and is now storing in his sinus cavity.  We also spent more than we wanted to on dog training this year, which turned out to be not quite enough. This added some desirable behaviors but didn’t do much to eliminate the unsavory one.  In the meantime, we’re pretty sure no one will show up at our door that’s not invited.  The upside is that less housekeeping is required when you don’t have company over unexpectedly. 

Trips and Travels

Only day of sun on the RV vacation

We kicked off 2013 with a family-based immunity building exercise.  Instead of a long weekend in Chelan for Winterfest with friends (= a Bloody Mary, beer, and Scotch routine for three days), we endured Montezuma’s Revenge.  Si brought it home from school.  Spilling out both ends was hard to watch until we found it hits harder and lasts longer with adults.  It was the first time the kids enjoyed 48 hours completely unsupervised (though we were present, just not functional … unless you count the upper and lower GI which were working at peak rates).   The kids had their run of the place which meant most business was conducted on the electronics and in the cereal cupboard.  

On the bright side, we managed to catch up later in the year and blow the whole vacation budget way ahead of schedule.  Summer was the typical events for Groscosts:  eight days of RV travel down the Oregon Coast, a dollop of Sequim and crabbing with family, folded in with a dose of Chelan and innertubing with friends, and sprinkled with various kid camps – farm Camp for Ruth and cousin Maddy (no they didn’t have to shovel manure or shear sheep) and Si was shipped off to Silverwood with his friend.  A good time was had by all.

Crabbing in Sequim at Dungeness Spit

We celebrated Independence Day on July 5^th this year.  In traditional USA fashion, we bought $200 worth of fireworks at the local tribal fireworks stand and were all set to go on the 4^th as planned.  Si came back from crabbing with a migraine, threw up all over the one bedroom cabin and then fell asleep for the night.  We put off the event until all were ready to participate.  So July 5^th it was!  It’s now apparent that the actual date itself has no bearing on scaring the #$@&%*! out of the dogs, it’s just the noisy explosions.

Camping at Wentachee Confluence

Family Unit -

It’s pretty obvious we’ve completely cleared the kids-getting-along-well phase.  Bickering is in season and shows no signs of let up.  As the rule follower, Si is compelled to point out whenever Ruth pushes the envelope.  Ruth responds by not caring - cost of doing business sort of attitude.  She probably gets away with it multiple times for the ones we catch her on.  It's a little like spotting rats in daytime - if you see one, there are nine out there you never did.  Bandwagoning is more common all the time.  When either sees the other on the receiving end of discipline, they make sure to show support by getting their $.02 in.  As the adults, the validation is nice and less parenting is required with the peer pressure being administered.  We’re the typical parents – losing time and patience when debating issues with the kids.  Consequently, “because I said so” has gotten a lot more air time.

Parentals - the Responsible Parties -

Tracey’s 2013 triathlon agenda consisted of signing up for three and doing zero (as you can guess, Curt could not have cared less).  On her only day of bike training, she first took off her paper race number from the summer of 2012 race, then attempted to ride a ten mile loop.  Unfortunately, she got a flat tire and Curt came and picked her up in the truck and she stopped and got a coffee.  That was the first day, the peak, the taper and the last day of training.

Tracey's new yard art - wish we were neighbors?

The girls had something in common – neither likes what they spend most of their day on:  Ruth doesn’t love her teacher and Tracey lost her fondness for her job.  Tracey quit and Ruth probably won’t forget the example that was set.  Rather than start up a new pot dispensary in North Bend, Tracey went with what was most natural for her – threw herself at a potential new employer and begged to be taken.  She is enjoying her two weeks of unemployment and starts her new CFO job the first of January at Kline Galland - a Jewish, skilled-nursing facility.  We are accepting application for the “aging friends and family discount” and have started a waiting list. 

We continue to support the local economy by going out to dinner more often than celebrities.  This year we added another “regular” restaurant to our weekly meal routine.  So we really only have to make one supper at home each week. 

The Three Sister Sitters with the Grosquatches

Our sitter this past year is Mormon and went on a mission, so she left us in October.  Now we are “careless” and actually having to parent, rather than pay a better tempered, young adult to do it.  Fortunately for us, she left notes.  The kids were in their first sitter’s wedding in August.  Si was the ring-bearer (without having the ring on him when asked). There’s no question that he’s not comfortable with that much attention.

Incidents and Accidents –

How fast can you go with an iPad 2 on the trunk lid of a sedan?  At least 75mph…  as long as the iPad cover opens to the back (not sure about the other way).  Your welcome Apple R&D. 

Speaking of the luxury Camry.  Tracey was certain she was mature enough now to own an “adult car”.  Turns out she over estimated herself.  A Lexus sedan just does not respond the way an SUV does to running up over curbs.  Or being so low to the ground the dogs jump in the windows.  Nor driving through a closing electric gate.   Pretty sure we’re officially “upside down” on that beauty now.

Life ain't too bad in North Bend

We busted the kids out of school for a day in June for what may become our annual Hookie day.  We took the kids to a local water/amusement park (to remain unnamed to protect its image), where it was obvious we weren’t the only ones skipping school/work.  Ruth, who was 3’11”, was able to sneak onto the Timberhawk with “booster napkins” in her shoes.  We saw an abundance of puke, poop, loogies and plenty other unmentionables. Tracey, who has never really had any germ phobias, has now banned that particular establishment prior to verification of all appropriate vaccines.   Now, we’ve proven you can even be uppity living in North Bend.  

Looking forward to another grand and glorious year in 2014.  The kids are a lot of fun and we enjoy their personalities and antics.  Dogs are getting older as are we.  We hope that you all had a wonderful year and an even better holiday with your family and friends.  We look forward to seeing most of you in 2014 and keep us posted on your adventures!
Love always –

Curt, Tracey, Si, Ruthie, Copper and Olive