A different Halloween

For 14? 15? years,

We ate pizza with Mema and Pappo

And headed out to trick or treat

As a family.

Well times, they are a changing.

After many years of asking, 

Mom and Dad finally conceded to letting us go our separate ways

And hit the neighborhood with friends.

So,

Here we go!

Beckett was a banana

With a “bunch” of his friends

They had a chant,

They collected more bananas and friends along the way,

And had a heck of a night.

And a heck of a haul.

Tucker, interestingly,

Was also a banana

Along with his friends Miles.

They met up with tourist Elias

And also had a very successful candy haul.

Weston retired from his haunted house days

And joined his friends for some candy gathering

They made for a pretty creepy group

Mom and Dad had a fun night too

And hung out with friends

Weston won favorite son,

Bringing home the ONLY Butterfinger of the entire night

(Which is Mom’s favorite, go-to Halloween candy)

The only “family picture” of the night…

Mom’s 2 bananas

A good time had by all,

Even if it looked a bit different

 

The 12th, and last, fall hurrah

Since 5th graders get a special fall party, 

This is my last traditional, in-the-gym, parent volunteer

Fall party.

And after 12 years,

 Mom’s too.

We definitely made the most of it.

 

Halloween Ready

With only 2 days until Halloween,

We better get some jack-o-lanterns ready!

Wes jumped right in

Tucker got inspiration from a stencil book

And it took Beck a minute to find inspiration

And then he was off

What do you think?

Tucker, Weston, Beckett

Mom joined our light picture with her owl family

(Yes, shirts are optional for carving.

Don’t want to get anything messy)

The front porch is ready!

Bring on the trick-or-treaters!

 

I know, I know. It’s good for me.

It’s that time of year again…

Flu and COVID vaccines.

The big news this year—

Beckett did NOT freak out and try to escape the room!!!

That calls for some ice cream

 

Staycation day 7: Who wants one more round?

We have one last day to make the most of this beautiful fall weather

And our KC fall break.

At the cabin, we go for our coffee walks—

Why not do something similar here?

We walked to Baxters, about 1.5 miles from home

And rewarded ourselves with coffee and donuts.

Beckett claims he’s found the best order ever—

Cold brew coffee and a blueberry old fashioned donut.

Oooo,  This may have to be a weekend tradition.

The bikes were still in the truck…

So we headed north again to try out another bike park—

Hodge Park.

The beginning was TOUGH—

It was a “rock garden” with some really tricky sections

That Mom may have had to walk through

But then it settled down into some pretty great trails.

It had some fun trail names—

Farmtastic

(Past an old farm and equipment)

And Buffalo Trace

But the blue train,

Bandwagon, 

Was the favorite…

It had some really fun dips and curves

And some trick stunts along the way

Which, of course,

Everyone boldly tackled.

Especially Tucker.

We rode everything they had,

All 7.3 miles.

We couldn’t let our last day of vacay end there.

The last day calls for an encore

Of Golf Ranch.

And this time, 

Weston got to join us

Zoo, hockey, pumpkin patch,

Cabin time,  3 days of mountain biking,

Pickleball, and golf

Along with some other odds and ends.

I’d say that’s a pretty great fall break.

 

Staycation day 6: A little of this, a little of that

When we’re out of town on vacation,

Sometimes we let ourselves wander into random activities

That just sound good in the moment.

So why not do that on our Staycation?

After Tucker’s game, 

We grabbed some donuts

And then went bargain stopping at the Big Lots closeout sale.

We didn’t find anything we couldn’t live without.

Mom and Dad hit up a hiking trail

(We were lazy and stayed on the couch)

Before heading to Pints and Play

To try out a new arcade

It was a lot like Arcade Alley…a LOT

Then we decided to try out a new brewery—Iron Kettle—

For dinner.

It was just ok…

But the karaoke was AWESOME!

The host thought we looked pretty funny as we were mesmerized

By the Thriller video.

We’re definitely keeping ourselves entertained!

 

It’s Playoffs Time!

Another reason we are in town this week?

Flag football playoffs.

Today is game one,

Single elimination.

Tucker set the mood

As the killer captain,

Leading the stretches

And his leadership continued,

With a lot of great breakaways and moves.

No Tucker touchdown today…

But that didn’t matter!

The Chiefs got the win!

See you next weekend in Game 2…

 

Staycation Day 5: Bikes and pickleball

 Long ago,

Jackson ran a cross country race in the Northland

And he and Dad noticed there were mountain bike trails

In the same park.

It took us awhile

But today, we made it back! 

Ok, Stocksdale…

Let’s ride!

We rode all over the park, 

covering 8 miles of trails.

It was a lot like the Back 40 of Bentonville.

That made us happy.

But what made us REALLY happy

Was the pump park.

Beck:

Dad:

Wes:

Tuck:

Mom and Jack went too!

(Even if there isn’t a photo)

While we were up north,

We thought dinner and pickleball would be a good way

To end the day

Mom had never played before—

She’s a fan

I mean,

What’s not to like?

One last race—closing out Bronco swim

JV swim conference?  Let’s do this!

Mom was SO excited—

Jack and Wes were not only swimming the same events

But in the SAME HEAT!

Up first:  200 free.

Wes, far right; Jack, 3rd from the left.

They’re off!

Jack had a good race,

Pushing out in front.

Wes had a good race too, 

But missed a PR.

Jack took 3rd in the conference!

2:15.08, not quite a PR but good enough!

Much to Jack’s dread,

Their next race was 500 free.

Wes, far left, Jack, 2nd from right

Lots of pacing going on

Coach Steve counted for Jack

Coach Faulkenberry counted for Wes

His season goal was to break 7 minutes—DONE!

He dropped nearly 6 seconds

For a new PR of 6:58.98, 6th place in conference.

Jack hadn’t swam it since last year

And SMASHED his old record today. 

He dropped over 20 seconds

For a new PR of 6:40.28 and 4th place in conference

Jack was picked to swim on both free relay teams.

As anchor for the 200, he stole 2nd place for his team

(But, sadly, they were DQ’d for an early start)

But his 400 relay,

Also swimming anchor,

Also grabbed 2nd place.

That’s a lot of medals, Jack!

Got to get a brothers picture for Mom

(The only one of the season!)

Great season, Reed boys!