Road trips and Redwood Trees

We went on a family vacation to central California this month.  We drove, which  meant Chance and his siblings had lots of time to bond in the car.  The kids got along really well for the most part, there were a few spats over who got to sit where as there are some coveted seats that all the kids want to sit in.  The middle seats in the van are the most popular spots to sit.  Now that Chance can drive though, his first preference is taking a turn behind the wheel.

We were able to experience many lovely things while on vacation and had a wonderful time being together as a family.  One of the highlights of our trip was when we found a little swimming hole among the giant redwood trees.   The water was cold, but since it was hot outside, it made a great place to swim and play. There was a rope tied onto a tree at the edge of the river and the kids loved swinging out and letting go so they could land in the water.

Chance and his brother in a tree by the river

Chance discovering treasures in the water.

Chance and his brother decided they should climb a redwood tree.  We heard Chance's voice from somewhere heaven word say: "It is really really high up here!"

Chance is the one with the blue shirt and tan pants.

Chance had a great time on vacation.  We had a great time watching him.

The drive thru

Chance and I went through a drive through at McDonalds so that he could get some food before going to work.  Hearing over the speaker in the drive-thru can be difficult for Chance and he was having a hard time understanding the man asking questions.

Chance ordered one item off the menu and the drive-thru guy asked: "Is that all?"

Chance looked at me since he didn't understand what the guy had said.

I nodded my head and told him to say yes.

Meanwhile, because we were not answering right away, the guy asked again but in a different way.
"Would you like anything else with that?" I told Chance to say no.

Chance said no and then started driving to the pick- up window.  "Mom! You say yes, then no, it's confusing!"

I explained that the guy in the drive-thru kept asking questions that needed different answers.

Chance likes drive-thru's for the convenience just like everybody else, but hearing through the intercom at the drive-thru can be a challenge.

Hair cuts

You know how moms take pictures of their little kids when they get a haircut......well I took pictures of Chance getting his haircut last week.

You will notice that the front of Chance's hair is a different color than the rest of his hair.  He was  dying the front of his hair a lighter color on purpose for over a year. Then he stopped.

Apparently his hair didn't get the message.  Chance dyed the front of his hair back to the

same color of brown as the rest of his hair and all his hair was the same color again.

Now, the front of Chance's hair is going lighter than the rest of his hair---without

Chance even trying to do make it happen.

I guess we'll see what happens to his hair this summer.

Chance decided to buzz the sides of his hair and leave the top longer.

Before........

After

Chance has an eventful summer planned this year.  He just got back from scout camp (pictures coming soon), he has been mowing lawns and working at a print shop when they need him, he will go to a camp called Basecamp later this summer and we have a family trip planned. 

Chance is also getting ready to get his driver's license, all he has to do is get in his driving time in with an instructor. 

Chance really is quite fun to have around. He makes us laugh and he is really helpful around the house.

He is a natural organizer and is good at cleaning. Every mom could use a kid like that.

Rodeo Time!

This week we made our annual visit to the rodeo that our city holds each summer.  The kids love the rodeo and look forward to it all year long.  Chance is part cowboy.  He comes from good cowboy stock.  Many of his ancestors were farmers and ranchers and Chance has some of that flowing through his blood.  He does look pretty good in a cowboy hat and cowboy boots.  I get asked on a regular basis by the kids if we can get a horse. The answer is no, we don't have space for a horse right now.  BUT, we have made the first step in becoming ranchers by acquiring some chickens so we can get fresh eggs.

This is my bench. The chickens have taken a liking to it but I just don't know that we can share it. 

Chance says that riding a bull is on his bucket list of things to do before he dies.  He better do that particular activity while he is young.  It is an intense sport that entails a lot of stamina. As well as courage and strength with a body that can be bucked off of an animal and get back up again with at least some body parts still intact. Young bodies do that best.

Chance and Ammon checking out the bulls

These brothers want to be ranchers

Chance looks the part of a cowboy and he has cowboy blood running through his veins. We'll see where that leads him in life. 

Driver's Education

We had friends visit from out of town so we took them to the zoo.  They hadn't been to the zoo in years and our zoo has really changed a lot.  A bit like Chance.....he has changed a lot too these past few years as well. The picture above shows him at the zoo sneaking up on his brother in a game of tag.  That sort of play  has been going on for years with his brother.  But Chance taking Driver's Education hasn't been going on for years.  I don't think Chance would be willing to return to school during the summer for very many subjects, but he makes an exception for Driver's Ed.  Driver's Ed is his ticket to freedom. With a license he can drive himself around and meet up with friends.  Since Chance attends a charter school, many of his friends from school don't live around us and it takes driving to get to their houses.  Chance now wants to drive every time the family gets in the car to go anywhere. If he could he would drive to the store for me just to get milk or any other item, just as long as he could drive. He can not drive alone however until he gets his license.
Chance has  wanted to spend more time with me in the car lately.  I like to think that is because he finds me charming and witty.  He also needs me in order to drive. I am sure that is not related to anything.

Rainfall on the deck

I have been living with a deaf person for a long time now so I think more about hearing and what is not being heard on a regular basis.  Every once in a while though, I realize that I am not thinking about what can and cannot be heard.

We are having a rainstorm and the window is open so you can hear the sound of the rain falling on the wood of  the back deck. There are items the kids need to put away by the window so in an effort to motivate them, I said, "Hey, who wants to clean up by the window and then we can set up sleeping bags and fall asleep listening to the rain?"

Chance piped in with, "Um, that won't help me. I can't hear rain while I sleep."

Then Chance's little brother chimed in with, "Ya, I won't be able to hear it either."

Apparently if you have deaf children, being able to listen to the rain fall while you sleep is not a good motivation.   

Hello. I can't hear you, please try again.

We were at a store and found some shorts that we thought Chance might be interested in.  Since he keeps growing ever taller, he has outgrown most of his shorts.  You would think that shorts could just be shorter than they were the year before, but many of Chance's shorts are an awkward fit now too.
Thus, when we found shorts on sale that looked like Chance's style, we sent pictures to see if he liked any of them.  He did like them and he replied to my text with, "Yes I do!"
The only problem was, Chance had fallen asleep and we had been trying to reach him for an hour and a half by the time he responded.  We knew he was asleep when we left for the store and being deaf and all with implants off, he did not hear his phone when we called him.  By the time he responded to the text we were on our way home.
I called him to tell him that we had left the store and before I could say anything, Chance answered the phone and said, "I can't hear you. My implants are not on. Text me."
I had the thought that Chance would not be able to tell if I said OK or if I heard him, but apparently he had faith that all would just work out with out him hearing my response.
It was a little odd that he would answer the phone just so he could tell me he couldn't hear me, but it gave his dad and I a good laugh.
Chance did not get the shorts.  Maybe we'll have to go back to the store at a later date when Chance is either responding to my texts in a timely fashion, or when he can hear me over the phone when I call.

Chance is 16!

Everyone tells you when you become a parent, that time will pass by really fast and that before you know it, your baby will be all grown up.
What they say is true!

It seems like just yesterday that Chance was setting up camp in the living room with his brother....literally.  They set up their little tent by the gas fireplace and pretended to be camping. They slept inside the tent in sleeping bags and "roasted" marshmallows by the fireplace.
And then there were the little cars I would find everywhere.  Chance used our blinds in the living room window for roads and our breadbox for a garage.  There were cars spread out by the fireplace and in between the railing of the stairs.  These cars were not just randomly placed, it was all very organized. Sometimes Chance combined his cars with his train set and had a whole township.

Now there is a tall skinny teenager walking around my house, laughing a bit when I have to jump to reach something out of the top cupboards and telling me I am having "short people problems." I am not that short, it is just that Chance is so tall.
Sixteen is a big benchmark birthday. Not only will Chance be taking drivers education to officially get his driver's license, (he has a permit now and can drive in our state and a neighboring state), but in our house, sixteen is the age when you can start dating.
Chance is excited for both of these adventures.   Of course, along with driving and dating comes a need for money.  Gas and taking girls out requires some cash.  This has occurred to Chance and he is going to be looking for a job as well.  He had a good job, but the printer closed up shop so now Chance will be looking for a job this summer.  Most jobs around here require that you be sixteen to work. Chance has had jobs since age fourteen, but being sixteen will open up more jobs to choose from.
This summer will be full of driving, dates, and working. Along with swim team and soccer of course.
Let the adventures begin!

Chance will Entertain your Date.

Chance likes to talk to people.  A few weeks ago, Chance drove with his brother to take a date home.
She lived an hour away so Chance went along to help keep his brother awake on the drive home since the date got over rather late.
The next day, Chance's brother said,"Chance talked to my date almost more than I did!"
Chance replied, "It was a new person! I just have to talk to new people I meet."

Chance at an arch during a recent trip through Southern Utah.

I wonder if the fact that she was a cute girl had any influence over Chance's behavior.  Chance is quite social and his brother has been known to complain that he waits in the car after school while Chance says goodbye to everyone in the halls. I don't know that Chance talks to EVERYONE in the halls at school, but he has blossomed into quite a little social bug who enjoys meeting new people.

We went to a park for a going away party for a friend and there was a quiet woman sitting at the end of one of the picnic tables. Since Chance is always throwing Chinese words around when he talks to me, the woman heard Chance using Mandarin and turned to me and asked,"He speaks Mandarin?" When I replied that yes he is learning the language, she told me that she moved to the United States from Taiwan when she was a girl and that she grew up speaking Mandarin in her home.  I called Chance over and he sat down and they started talking.

Chance has his moments when he is more reserved of course.  It has just been fun to watch him blossom into such a social person.  And should you need someone to talk to your date, you can give Chance a call:)

谢谢 Xièxiè - one of the many Chinese words we've heard over and over

Chance's Chinese teacher will be moving to another state this summer. Chance is really bummed about it as he has really liked her as a teacher.  She has done a good job of getting the kids excited about learning Mandarin. Chance talks to us in Mandarin all of the time.  The fact that none of us know what he is saying doesn't seem to bother him much.  He just prattles on telling us stuff in Mandarin and chuckling when we don't know what he has said.  If Chance says something in Chinese that I feel I need to know about as his mother, I make him say it in English too.  It is a little game we play sometimes. He talks to me in Mandarin and I answer him in Dutch.  Neither one of us has any idea what the other one is saying, but the smiles and giggles say it all.
Chance's school teaches one more year of Chinese for Chance and then he will have taken all of the Chinese classes that are available.  He is excited, but now a little nervous about a new teacher.  He hopes the new teacher is as good as the one he has now.  She has been really good to work with from a parent's perspective as well, very informative and willing to work with the kids and truly desiring them to succeed. She is passionate about Mandarin and her enthusiasm is passed down to her students.
We are going to miss her.