The Kassel Family Project Life 365

I am drowning my sorrows a bit tonight because a small part of Laura’s childhood is officially over.  There will be no more Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc.  After yet another conversation with one of her friends, she finally looked me straight in the eye with tears in her eyes and said, “Mom, tell me the truth.  Is Santa Claus real?  Please just tell me.”  It broke my heart, so I told her.  She was sad at first, but I asked her if it was really that bad that Daddy and I, along with some awesome friends of ours, were all of those things.  She thought about it for a moment and said, “No, it’s not.  I think it is really awesome that you love me and John enough to get us all those extra things and to go through all the trouble to make sure that everything is done without us knowing.”  That made me smile.  Then, she said, “Hey, now you can tell me where you hide our Christmas presents!”  Ha!  Nice try, kid.  It was funny to see the twinkle in her eye when she said that and she also promised not to tell John.  I suspect that this coming year, Andy and I really will be looking for Chippy, our Elf on the Shelf, in the mornings because she was already planning where to hide him.  While a part of me is glad that she knows, the other part of me is really sad.  Hence, the beer…

I went to CycleX’s Women’s Ride Wednesday again.  This would be the second time and I enjoyed it just as much as the first.  It is really nice to be able to ride with other women and just feel relaxed on the bike.  I like riding with Andy too, but I feel intimidated a lot even though I shouldn’t.  We threw in some hills this time to make it a little tougher, but I felt great afterwards and I even managed to get into the drops without my back hurting.  I will not go next week as we will be on vacation, but I am already looking forward to the week after!

Another season of baseball has come to an end.  Like year’s past, John improved as the season went on and he is turning into a good ball player with a love of the game.  He has even decided that pitching is not so bad after all and would like to work on improving that part of his game.  To finish out the season, John hit a home run in his first at bat.  Way to go, John Buddy!  Great job this season!

I love the new backup camera in my truck!  Thanks Andy!

It was a busy, but great Saturday.  The agenda included:

• The Saturday CycleX Big Tree Cycling ride for Andy
• The Big Tree Cycling Annual Picnic – good food, good beer, and fun with friends
• A birthday party at Wilson’s Beach Club for John
• Play time for Laura with our neighbor, Hailey
• Pool time with the new pool toys for the kids and pool time complete with tasty beer for Andy and I and a friend from Big Tree Cycling, Renee
• Tasty dinner on the grill

It was pretty much the perfect Saturday!

John had a friend, Jacob, over for what was supposed to be a sleepover tonight.  The boys had a ton of fun – pool time, pizza, and video games.  Unfortunately, the evening ended “early” because Jacob started to not feel well.  His dad picked him up right about 11 pm.  Even though Jacob didn’t get to spend the night, the boys still had lots of fun packed into about five hours.