Letterhead & Alphabet Boy

It was a noteworthy day. Rocky finished his home preschool program, solidifying his recognition of the upper and lowercase letters with a basic grasp of sounds, as well as colors, shapes and numbers. All the parental patience and toy bribery has paid off because he is starting to sound out words! When he read the word "Batman" for the first time, he beamed with superhero pride (with his hands on his hips just like the cartoon version's classic stance), and I nearly cried from joy. He's now that much closer to the wonderful world of reading. He is just like I was as a kid, always with a stack of books. When I check on him during his naps, I often find him snoring beneath a mountain of them.
David then decided to commemorate the occasion by covering his baby bro with letters during bathtime. David would sound out the letter, then slap it onto a giggling Jack. Who knew letters could be so much fun?

The Egg-cellent Hunt

Illnesses aside, Easter weekend was full of fun and surprises. Grandma K and Anne braved the notorious night train to Sacramento, where we picked them up for a day of trekking the downtown shops and eating buckets of seafood. Seriously. They made Anne wear a bib as she cleverly cracked a concoction of crab legs in a tin bucket. Naturally, Rocky roamed the restaurant meeting the other guests and Jack devoured any chance of leftovers. If we lived in Sac Town, I would be working at Joe's Crab Shack for sure. I realized this after the staff spontaneously broke out in disco dance when Stayin' Alive played. It took all of my willpower (and determination not to humiliate our table) to keep me from joining in. Over the next few days we laughed, rocked out, visited the Farmer's Market in search of local allergy combatting bee pollen, colored eggs and partook in Grandma K's egg-citing Egg Hunt Eggs-travaganza. Rocky was egg-static about it as we egged him on. No one was allowed to read the clues egg-cept for Grandma. He hunted the eggs egg-ceptionally well as we egg-spected. It was egg-hilirating for Grandma to see the egg-stacy Rocky felt each time he found an egg. Alright...I think I've egg-hausted all the egg words, so here's a clip of the hunt:

Since we had inadvertently tossed Rocky's Easter basket prior to the hunt, he ended up with an Easter bucket. It's a new Sorenson family tradition. We also discovered that brave baby Jack actually has two fears: bubbles and beach balls. Needless to say, he was terrified by the contents of his Easter bucket.

Buzz cut, cars, lacrosse and very deficient immune systems

Has anyone else noticed I haven't written about anything since mid-March? Let me explain. As much as I don't want to complain, I feel I should fill our online diary in with some factual accounts of our recent whereabouts. Between the kids and I, we have experienced 4 different flu's and colds, 1 stomach flu, bronchitis, strep throat, sinus infections and ear infections all in the last 3 months. Ok... actually the kids have suffered a couple of those and I have had them ALL. Antibiotics have become my daily supplement. So can anyone think of a minor illness I have not yet experienced this year because I just want to be prepared for when I get it? So for all of you wondering why I've been MIA and haven't returned phone calls, now you know. The kids are troopers though, and there have been good times too. Let me catch you up...

1. Yes, we bought a Toyota Landcruiser! We're already wondering how we ever got along without this sweet ride. It's a 1997 but in great condition. Rich's aunt Janice hooked us up with an incredible deal. We love her.

2. On the days that I'm not deathly ill, I've been assistant coach for the Chico Rebels Lacrosse Team. One day I was wearing my lax apparel to the gym, the next I was helping coach a team. Go figure. Just when you think a chapter in your life has closed for good. It's been great though. The girls are a dream to coach and there is always a parent there to babysit the kids. It's been good for us.

3. On a sick day that Rocky and I desperately needed to get out of the house, we went on a movie date to see Monsters v. Aliens in 3D. Rocky thought it was "so amazing." It was pretty incredible. We highly recommend it. Rocky wore his glasses the entire time, and since the creatures looked like they were right in front of him, he kept trying to communicate with them. Fortunately, our fellow viewers found it hilarious.


4. We buzzed the boy. Bath time was getting tedious. Instead of teaching him to overcome his fear of hair washing (believe me, we've tried), we just eliminated the hair. As long as Jack doesn't splash water in his eyes, the tub terror is history. I do miss the blond locks though, but now you can really see those baby blues.

Aggie Fans in Reno

On March 12-14, the Utah State Aggies played in the WAC tournament, seeking the title and a ticket to the NCAA. The Sorensons joined the Campbell family and Momma K at Circus Circus in Reno to support the team and cheer them on to their goal. Ok, maybe the Sorensons really headed to the "biggest little city" to see our Aggie fan family, but once we arrived, the basketball bug bit us and we found ourselves infected with fan fever. Donned in matching USU blue t's, we chanted, cheered and danced my alma mater on to victory, while having an incredibly exciting weekend adventure that can only be expected when vacationing with the Campbells.

On Friday, we headed to the hills with half a dozen motorcycles and a couple quads. The Cambells aren't novices when it comes to tough terrain. At least they didn't appear to be. (Aunt Karen is fearless... though my mom isn't far behind. They ARE twins. Click on Karen's pic to see how tough she really is).


Cousin Kyle's girlfriend Celeste amazed us by quickly mastering the moto then patiently showing me the ropes. Needless to say, I was not as skilled on the bike, unlike Rich, who was a natural and had a blast testing his limits. I can see why he wants one so bad. I'm just glad he didn't break anything.

I determined that when it comes to off-roading, for me, the more wheels the better.

With much coaxing and encouragement, Rocky finally found the courage to walk up and down the slopes and play in the dirt and patches of muddy snow. It was a major victory for him.

Jack was content to be outdoors, donning a cap Sharli knit for him.

Having their beloved Gwamma K & the girls there (Ashley, Celeste, Sharli & Mariah) made carting the kids around a breeze.


They were showered with attention and performed accordingly. It made me realize that we should travel more often because that seems to be when they behave the best.
On Saturday, the boys headed back to the mountains, while the Campbell girls hit the stores. Momma K, the kids and I left for the Reno zoo. ALL of us discovered the hard way that GPS units don't work in Reno. After traversing in and around the city, the Campbells finally found a mall and we found an unimpressive and very closed "zoo." Nevertheless, good times were had by all. That night was the culmination of the weekend as the Aggies expertly creamed Nevada (despite their overwhelming number of fans present in their home stadium). Utah State won the WAC title, and we joined the ecstatic students on the court to congratulate the players with an enthusiasm my die-hard Aggie fan Moulton grandparents would have been proud of. What a night!


With high spirits, we hit the Circus Circus game floor. I was feeling especially lucky as an unmatched winning streak ensued, so my mom, Karen and I pooled our remaining quarters, and I was designated to play a round of Deal or No Deal. Naturally, I chose #13 as my personal case (it had been lucky to me thus far in life). Taking risk after risk, we played until the final case, which revealed lucky #13 containing the grand prize! You would have thought we'd won the ultimate jackpot the way we celebrated, as 200 tickets poured out of the machine. Looking back, I wonder why I didn't hit the casino? You can't beat that kind of luck. I wasn't alone. Sharli won big too, taking home a bag of stuffed starfish. We ended up with a couple cuddly snakes, fuzzy dice, a starfish, candy, a puppy, a pillow, a pocket car bearing a striking resemblance to our new Landcruiser and memories to last a lifetime.