News from the Wilbanks home, Fall 2006
October 2006
Our family has (families have) had a busy summer full of change. The Wibber's
moved in with us in June and have settled in. All three of the older kids have
started school. Ashley seems to really like going to junior high where she can
take many different classes and meet lots of different people. She's already
made a good friend.
Ethan started kindergarten this semester and is adjusting well. Elk Grove SD is
supportive of him and is providing a tutor for him during school hours to help
him communicate, relate and comply. He is still picking up new words though his
pronunciation is weak. Morgan started second grade and likes it almost as much
as she liked first grade. She's playing soccer for an under 8 year old girls
team that I (rob) help to coach. The girls won their first game last weekend and
they were ecstatic. Blake is also attending Franklin elementary school and is
playing on a soccer team. His coach says Blake is one of his better players and
Blake seems to excel as a forward (striker, wing).
The family made it's annual trip to Escondido this last May. This was probably
one of our better trips since the kids are a little older and we didn't have to
monitor them as closely. Morgan spent most days at the pool with Paige as usual.
We also made a trip to Disneyland where Ethan really enjoyed the fireworks show.
We took the little guy on a couple of roller coasters that scared him too much
so we're avoiding them for the next few years. We were able to see Bruce and Mae
Wood, friends of my parents from long ago. My uncle Ted and aunt Kaye also
visited for a few days so we caught up on lots of family news.
We went camping near Santa Cruz in July with Kim and her boys. We visited the
boardwalk a couple of times and the kids found a river to explore. They spent
most of the time roasting marshmallows and playing Lord of the Flies in the
woods, chasing each other with mud balls. Caren took the kids to Marine World
and Water World several times on season passes. Ethan really enjoys the wade
pools and slides at Water World. And of course Morgan would be happy living
there if we'd allow it.
Morgan was proud to have ridden some of the bigger
roller coasters and water slides. She was daring naturally but now that
she has two older kids around she's gotta try everything. I took Morgan and Blake on day hike
to the Ruck-A-Chucky trail in the
Auburn Recreation Area. Here is
some mildly interesting info. Ruck-A-Chucky was an active gold mining site
in the late 1800s and got it's name from the 'rotten chuck' served at the
mining camps. The name morphed over time to Ruck-A-Chucky. How about
that? Fantastic. Outstanding. The best part of the hike for the kids was
a dip in the middle fork of the American River.
The kids had an
exciting and fun packed summer as usual.
I've made a major career change recently. Hewlett-Packard laid off my team and sent the jobs to India.
I'm actually excited to make a change so getting kicked out of the nest was good
for me. I've been exploring positions with the State of California but have also
been researching some businesses to start. Morgan keeps suggesting I start working at McDonald's again because I like
to cook so much. Plus she assumes she'd get free shakes and will play on the
playground all day. Lee Hecht Harrison consulted me on how to prepare for
another career and helped me to get my accomplishments down on a resume. It was
energizing to look back and see that I've actually accomplished some things and
made impacts in previous teams. I have my resume posted
here if you're interested.
Caren and I were also able to get away to Reno for a weekend while Joanie
watched our kids. The get-away was very relaxing as usual and I found an
incredible sushi restaurant at the Atlantas casino. It's almost worth driving
there just for a meal. Caren spent some time relaxing too (read as 'time on the
slots') and shopping at the many stores in Reno. I tried to do some together
time and went shopping with her. But after 2 hours in Burlington Coat Factory I
was ready to pull my hair out and pass out at the same time. I decided to catch
up on some reading in the hotel. We also had our back yard landscaped so there
is now much less mud tracked in. The kids now spend a lot of time in the back
yard on the trampoline and play structure papa Bob gave them.
As usual, it's been a great season and we're lucky to live the exciting lives we
live.
Our family has (families have) had a busy summer full of change. The Wibber's
moved in with us in June and have settled in. All three of the older kids have
started school. Ashley seems to really like going to junior high where she can
take many different classes and meet lots of different people. She's already
made a good friend.
Ethan started kindergarten this semester and is adjusting well. Elk Grove SD is
supportive of him and is providing a tutor for him during school hours to help
him communicate, relate and comply. He is still picking up new words though his
pronunciation is weak. Morgan started second grade and likes it almost as much
as she liked first grade. She's playing soccer for an under 8 year old girls
team that I (rob) help to coach. The girls won their first game last weekend and
they were ecstatic. Blake is also attending Franklin elementary school and is
playing on a soccer team. His coach says Blake is one of his better players and
Blake seems to excel as a forward (striker, wing). 
