An Archery Montage

I decided to try something new this year--

Bison Archery!

We get 3 rounds of 5 arrows

at 10 meters and then 15 meters

My first tournament went really well--

I SMASHED the 10 meter

but struggled with the 15 meters.

Out of 300 possible points, I got 149.

Not too shabby for my first time.

My next tournament was a little less successful--

a 137.

And then, a 135.

But my crowd was still rooting me on!

And I'm having a pretty good time

This last week,

in addition to Bullseye--

where I had an amazing day with a 181!--

I was selected to try 3D

We rotate through 6 animals at varying sizes and distances.

Can you see my coyote?

One of my coaches told me he'd pay me $5

if I could hit the animal in the balls.

I spent a lot of time trying (and missing)

bring my score down to 141.

But I did get an epic picture...

 

Back on the Blocks

Weston and I jumped back into 

winter swim league this year

and I AM LOVING IT!

I told Mom I'm sad practice is only 2 nights a week.

Tonight was our first meet and

here's how it went down:

I didn't have a seed time for either of my events

because I'm swimming 50s this year.

So imagine how good it felt to swim

the 50 breast in 48.60 seconds--first overall!

My freestyle didn't go quite as well.

I lost my goggles and got my hand caught in the lane rope

AND nearly crashed into the wall when I needed to turn...

but I still swam it in 48.30, 12th of 20.

Just wait until next meet.

Weston got some PRs too.

His start on his relay was AWESOME:

His seed time in the 50 breast was 1:05.22--

he smashed that coming in at 52.24, 6th overall (out of 30!).

He swam backstroke too, seeded with a time of 1:01.90

and coming in at 49.08, 11th overall.

Looks like breaststroke may be our strokes!

Can't wait for next meet!

While the kids play...

Weston was invited to his first

boy/girl party this weekend--

a neon dance party.

Then he got to play paintball

at another party.

Tucker had a sleepover,

Jackson had robotics...

so Mom, Dad and I went out for a fancy dinner,

just the 3 of us.

How about that for making the best of an off night?

An impromptu Cabin Day

We have Monday off for MLK Day

so when the Welchs asked if we wanted to get together

for dinner and drinks,

we said sure!...

at the CABIN!

It's always fun to show our friends

all the trouble we can get into

We shot some bows

Ashley was living her best life on the 4 wheeler

We walked down the path

to skip rocks

And we had to do some good ol' tromping

How about this cave?

Don't we make a crew?

We made it to the shoreline

and then settled at the end of the road

for a spontaneous happy hour

which meant we got to make beer runs

back to the cabin

The shoreline was an AWESOME place to ride

After dinner,

we headed outside for a bonfire--

don't worry,

the fire chief has us covered!

Because who want to eat s'mores sitting in chairs?

The fire's apparently really bright?!?!

You'd think our night would end there.

but noooo!

How about some games?

Ok, now we'll go to bed.

But then we were back at it in the morning,

4-wheeling and hiking

We had way more fun than should be allowed

in 24 hours!

Monster Trucks and The Pope?

For Cooper's birthday,

he invited us to Monster Jam.

We've been to a smaller monster truck show

but never the BIG show.

We were in!

It was REALLY loud--

we were glad we brought our ear muffs

Of course the trucks were cool,

but the dirt bikes were probably our favorite

I mean, COME ON!

Ok, the trucks were pretty great.

Stone Crusher and Earth Shaker were pretty cool.

So were Scooby Doo and El Toro Loco.

We loved Jurassic Attack

but Grave Digger sealed the deal

with his full flip in the Freestyle competition

(we didn't catch that on film)

We had a little time to kill

so Aunt Mandy suggested we take a trip

to the Boulevard Beer Hall.

Tasty drinks and table games?

Mom and Dad said we'd have to make this a repeat affair.

Then we were off to Buca di Beppo...

and we got the Pope Room!

Because how else should you celebrate a 4th and 71st birthday?

(although we quickly decided the Pope was a little creepy)

There was birthday ice cream

and, of course, a Pope Family Picture

We hadn't had quite enough celebrating

so it was off to Coop's house

for a bit more ice cream.

That's a celebration that's going to be 

hard to beat!

Howling Huskies on Ice!

I was REALLY excited

for my choir to sing at the Mavericks game tonight.

We'd been practicing America the Beautiful

but at the last minute,

we were changed to the National Anthem. 

Man stopped by to cheer us on

but I was still nervous

Before long,

it was time for us to troop out to the ice

and do our best

but I was still nervous

It was fun,

but I was relieved to be done

and join everyone in the stands.

Look at who came!

Austin and Kayla

Adam, Michelle, Grandma P, Mema and Pappo

and Carol and Steve!

It was a great night--

they actually won!

Well worth all those after-school practices!