Big Boy Soccer

I've waited a long time for this!!!

It's my first season of "Big Boy" soccer

with LSSA.

Mom and Dad got me my own

soccer backpack

(just like Weston's)

for an early birthday present

and I joined the Blue Dragons

for our first practice of the year

Stay tuned...

games start March 10!

Winter Swim Finale

It's been a good 8 weeks,

working on our strokes

and earning personal records.

It's come to this.

The last meet of winter season.

Here we go.

I was psyched to swim breast stroke for my relay

and I'm off!

and down the lane I go...

But what we are really excited for

is the individual events.

Up first:

freestyle

I'm still a little lopsided,

with my left arm not pulling as well as my right

It wasn't a PR today (my best is 26.33s),

but it's not bad.

Jackson is up next

He's got a heck of a kick

Not quite a PR for him either

(his best this season is 50.68s)

FYI, his is a 50 meter; mine is a 25

Then there is breaststroke

I tend to look around too much,

which slows me down

but I kicked it into gear

and this time of 37.65s

is not only a 1st in my heat,

but a new PR by 0.5s!

Much to my JOY,

I got to swim fly this week.

Here I go!

Not too back for my first attempt

Much to Jack's dread,

he also swam fly

If we recall,

this is a 30 second improvement from last year.

And he finished.

And he didn't look like he'd drown.

All around successes!

And the last individual event of the night--

backstroke for Jack

reaching for the turn

and reaching for the finish...

and a 3 second PR!

The night finished with the free relay.

The coolest part was that Austin and Jack

were on the same team.

It was a really fun season.

And it called for a really fun

post-season party.

Look out, Waves!

We're counting down the days

until summer season starts!!!

What to do with a stay-home day...

Well, like I said,

we were supposed to go to the Cabin.

But with the weather getting a bit questionable,

we decided to stay home.

That didn't mean there wasn't

fun to be had.

Jack made one of his legendary carnivals...

Complete with a GIANT prize table

Tickets and games

and of course,

a bounce house

(the kleenexes are to keep the pillows "clean")

I have played at Jack's carnivals

for years.

I decided it was time to

see what I could come up with.

Welcome to...

(The Ninja Festival) 

There were a series of puzzles you had to get through

like an escape room

and then you could unlock the door

to get to the Main Event...

complete with a sparing box

and a sword fighting ring.

 It was definitely a hit.

Oh,

we went swimming too.

It was a good day.

Instead

Mom had to work this weekend

but we were going to try to squeeze in

a trip to the cabin between shifts.

But then they started calling for gross weather.

So no cabin.

But we found plenty of fun things to do instead.

Saturday night

we headed to a Mavericks game 

with Austin and Kayla

Here's a good one of all 6 of us

An even better one of 9 of us

(Mom was taking the picture)

It ended in a shoot out...

but the Mavs lost.

Fun all the same.

The next day we hit up

Main Event.

After "junk for lunch"

and a lot of arcade games,

we came out the proud owners

of a lot of swords

(and some odds and ends for Jack).

Just wait til you see what 

we're going to come up with for tomorrow...

Cowboys

We're taking the John Wayne obsession

to a whole new level...

That's a BIG boat

IT'S HERE!!!

Dad drove to pick up the new boat today

We just HAD to crawl all over it,

imagining the fun ahead!

As our neighbor said,

"That's a big a$$ boat!"

Feeling the love

We got pretty inspired for Valentine's this year.

I started it off

with my trapdoor, game-like,

slider ramp box (there's plastic wrap on the front

to hold the valentines in there)

That inspired Wes to make a pinball machine box

that turned out pretty great too

Mom was able to work at Weston's party this year too

and was able to grab Wes and his buddy Bennett

for just a second for a picture

And to top it off,

Mom and Dad got us some cool

Charlie Hustle heart shirts

for Valentine's Day.

Mom loves this picture

for how it highlights our personalities:

Wes highlighting his new love of bandanas

(ever since he watch John Wayne movies at the cabin);

Beck wearing a bandana because his idol Weston is;

Tucker doing whatever his big brothers are doing;

and me, always my own man.

Gotta love it.

Happy love day, everyone!

A boy and his dog

For a guy that was afraid of dogs in November...

I think I've come a long way

Working on our times

Three-quarters through the season and we're feeling pretty good.

Time to shave some time...

I've got a pretty good start for my relay

Rockin' the breast stroke in the medley relay

Jackson swam breast for his team too

Trying to close the gap

Relays are definitely fun,

but individual events are where 

we get to see our progress

I'm working on using BOTH arms with 

my freestyle

A new PR

And Jack hits the blocks...

He's got a crazy-fast kick

A good time for him

I was PSYCHED to swim breast...

Not too shabby

Jack was less than thrilled.

He'd prefer to stick to free and back

It's not a world record,

but it's a PR from last year!

I LOVE back

FIRST IN MY HEAT!

Jack's start...

Trying to close the gap

Not his best,

but he worked hard

Swim meets are so fun.

Swimming may be our favorite sport.