Soooooooo ....

Here I am! I know, y'all probably thought I gave up on this blogging thing. Nah ... just blagging. :)  Seriously. I have so much to report on, but wanted to make sure that today especially, the blogging world knows how proud I am of my "little" 10-year old!
Happy Birthday Cameron! He hits double digits today. Cannot believe it has been that long. I know all mother's remember the day "like it was yesterday" and I'm no exception. At this time, we were still waiting for him! Took his sweet time before finally blessing us with his presence into the world. At 3:20 this afternoon, about the time I pick him up from school, my baby will be officially 10. Love him.

What else has been happening in the last 6 months? Not much.

February - The last post was King of the Groms Championship in Minnesota. Cameron placed 6th in the Intermediate Bowl comp. That's 6yh place in a national comp! Very proud. The first series stop for this year's King of the Groms contest took place in July at Woodward West in California. Hit that up, and he placed 2nd in Intermediate Mini-Ramp. Earned himself another Golden ticket to hit Nationals in Minnesota, again, in Feb. Not so good in the bowl comp, but we're looking at heading to Simi Valley again in December to give it another shot.

March - Bryan and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. I know. Who woulda thunk?  Fox 10 news came out to do a piece on the park, had fun with that. Sort of. But got a  lot of publicity out of it which was awesome. Also had our Grand Opening Celebration on March 31st, which was incredible. So many people came out to help us open the park and celebrate.

(Why do I feel like I should print this post and send it with our Christmas cards?)

Just to give a fast forward update on the park ... 6 months later we are doing better than ever. Every day is just that much more successful than the last. We have well over 100 kids that take lessons, and a strong support system from some loyal skate fans that visit us regularly. Love it. Summer Camps were a huge hit - 8 weeks of all day camp was somethin' else. It was great, but even more great when it was over.  :)  Can't keep our shop decks in stock, constantly ordering SK8 ASYLUM t-shirts, and we just got our own wheels in! So exciting. Lots to do to keep up with the growth, but we're managing. Bryan loves it, instructs a few classes here and there, and is damn good at it. Cam? Well hello people ... he's got his own skate playground ... of course he's loving it. Me? Love it, but it's a lot of work. Still have my day job, so this is my "second" job and some days it really takes a toll.  :) 

April - Hmmm. Nothing too exciting here. Had a birthday. Woo hoo. Cam and I did hit Venice and Huntington Beach for a weekend, which was awesome. Of course it would have been better with Bryan, but ... stuff happens. He competed in a bowl comp - it was a backyard pool - literally - and took 3rd place. Highlight of the trip? Meeting Christian Hosoi - one of his all-time favorite skate pros. Kid was in SEVENTH HEAVEN!

May - Couple of skate events we were helping sponsor, had a film crew in to shoot a music video at the park (it was an "up and coming" rap singer), and Cam finished school! End of 4th grade ... he received the Principal's Award for being on Honor Roll each of the 6 grading periods, so we were extremely proud of that. It was also a hard time for us as Grandma Peterson, Mike's mom passed away. She had been ill for a while, so it was tough on all of us.

June - Mini-Ramp Comp at the park - good times had by all. Good turnout, and the skating was great. Cam actually wanted to compete in this one, and even bumped himself up to the 12-15 age division. Did pretty darn good too ... came in 4th! (We had outside judges come in, so it wasn't like mommy and daddy were scoring everyone there.)  :)  Go Skateboarding Day is a huge event in the skateboarding community. We celebrated by opening up a special open skate session, where all proceeds benefited the JohnnyKicksCancer Foundation. Great organization, and one that we were included in on a personal level. three of our class participants were cousins of Johnny Romano. We chose this organization because the little guy was a fighter, a skater, and only 10 when he lost his fight to Leukemia. The Make-A-Wish Foundation honored his request to become a "pro-skater" and several companies actually produced Johnny Romano decks, trucks, wheels, shoes, etc. We purchased a Johnny Romano deck and auctioned off the complete during our skate event. It was great, and Johnny's family was even more thrilled to have us contribute. There will definitely be a 2nd Annual SK8 & DON8 Go Skateboarding Day!

July - Very hard month for us. Had to put Hayden down, which still chokes me up. He was such an incredible cat. Had him for 14 years, and he was truly a part of the family. He'd had a seizure in April, and never fully recovered from that, in fact, he seemed to get worse. We finally found out that he had a brain tumor, and that it was spreading rather quickly, especially around the area of his left jaw. He never let on that he was in pain, however. Still cuddled, still loved us, unconditionally. Just got to a point where he couldn't eat very well, and the tumor was starting to affect his nerves. It was time. Hardest thing I've ever had to do was take him to the vet, but he is at peace now, and  we are so lucky to have had him in our lives. 4th of July we were closed and had a nice BBQ at our house with plenty of friends, food, swimming, and of course, adult beverages. It was a much needed break. Cam and I headed out on a road trip to Vegas, Bryan flew in a couple of days later, and we all were able to head out to Cam's comp at Woodward. It was great to hang with mom and dad, relax, and be together!

August - Cam started 5th grade - I know. Unbelievable. Had some issues with Bryan's (old) route and the guy who purchased it. Caused some serious stress for us - not sure what we're in for legally, financially, etc., but believe everything will be okay. But ... as a result, I had to hit Seattle solo for a wedding, which was great, but so missed having my boys with me. Although ... it was nice to kinda get away for a few days, see the family, enjoy the festivities and breathe. :) We also added a new member to the family: Latte ... a Lab/Chihuahua mix. I know, I know. It is odd. Hope you aren't "visual" types of people. We got her from a Rescue, and we're really hoping that for the mommy's sake, SHE was the lab. At any rate, she is adorable. She's now 4 months old, 5 lbs, and won't get much bigger. She's the chocolate color, and the only one in her litter that didn't have the caramel colored/chihuahua look. Love her. She LOVES to cuddle and snuggle, play, and is just a doll. Now we just need to get that potty training under control ...

September - Here we are! Cam's 10! See that wasn't so bad, wasn't it? (I was asking myself that question ...) And no, it wasn't. But spare time that equals more than 10 minutes? Yeah, we call that a vacation in this house. 

Okay - well now that you're all caught up - I guess we'll chat soon ... next March maybe? Just kidding. I promise it won't be that long.