Weekend Escape

Our weekends have been filled with

soccer and football games for weeks.

We were really excited to have the season behind us

so cabin season can begin!

Weston put his newly sharpened

(thanks, Pappo)

machete to use

much to Mom and Dad's concern

but what I couldn't wait for 

was to get my own knife from Pappo.

He said I could have one for my birthday

and guess what,

it's past my birthday!

He delivered!

And what's better than one knife?

TWO!

After some careful instructions,

Beckett got his own two knives.

Weaponry wasn't the only thing on our minds this weekend.

We spent a ton of time with our cousins.

Jack had some quality time with Thea

And we played a ton with Coop.

We made snow cones

rode 4 wheelers

and played outside.

We had a little "Tee Time" celebration

for Mom's birthday

complete with party guests,

games and drinks.

Cooper was concerned with Beckett's trick

and offered to catch him on the way down.

Happy 42 (again) Mom!

We also got to try out Mema's

new and improved

craps set-up.

Pretty cool, huh??

We topped off the weekend

with a long-awaited (since pre-COVID!) trip

to Dollar General.

Mom says we aren't allowed to go shopping

with Mema unsupervised again...

B's Market Day

We studied marketing this quarter

and got to put our new knowledge into action.

I had to come up with a product,

an advertising plan,

a sales plan

and then run my shop.

I settled on stress balls.

They were really popular--I sold all but 2

(which I may have set aside for myself).

I made more than I spent,

paid back my "loan"

and still had money to spend!

A successful first attempt at capitalism.

All you could ask for at 42

Cheesecake.

That's all she said she really wanted.

Oh, 

and for the kitchen to finally get done.

Maybe one day...

2 more down...

Dad got his COVID vaccine in March

and I got my first today!

I didn't even threaten to run.

You know that means this one is important.

Mom keeps threatening to tell HyVee

T, B and W are 12 years old too.

I don't think they'll believe her.

I'll just keep spitting in their drinks 

to give them a little of my antibodies...

Obsessed

Mom and Dad aren't sure what prompted it,

but we are suddenly OBSESSED with Pokemon cards.

We're asking Grandma Phyllis to look for them

at garage sales,

asking to buy them at the store,

and Weston even accidentally bid and won a few on eBay

(Mom and Dad were not thrilled about that...)

Now, if someone could just teach us

how to actually play this game...

Two more champions

Who's ready for a few more games?

We are!

Jack had a crazy season--

his mostly 7th grade team played mostly 8th grade teams

which resulted in not many wins.

Maybe 1? 2?

But fast forward to the tournament

and they were slated to play all 7th grade teams.

And what happened?

Same as last year.

One win after another.

The field is so big,

Mom didn't get great pictures of Jack

but she did get a few of the enthusiastic crowd

After 3 really one-sided games

where the Phantoms blew the teams up,

they walked away with another 1st place medal.

Crazy and proud!

On another note,

my Pirates team was 7-1 this season,

playing one awesome game after another.

But as the returning champs (2 times over? 3 times?),

we were nervous about the tournament.

Day 1 went well,

beating our biggest competition handily

and then beating another good time.

Day 2 was a little tricky.

I volunteered to play keeper in the first game

(which makes Mom really nervous--

I take missing goals hard).

But no scores on me!

We won game #3!

Game 4 was tough too.

I played a bit of forward and nearly had a goal

but spent most of the game in sweeper--

my favorite position.

I'm a rock star at sprinting across the field

and cutting off anyone headed towards the goal.

And WE DID IT!

Another 1st place medal!

I may just sleep with this thing on!

Another amazing season calls for some amazing pictures:

goofy

making sure these things are real

and one of the whole crew!

My team is headed for club soccer with Legends

in the fall.

I'm not sure I'm in--football and basketball

may be calling my name.

But wow, it's sure been a great run, Pirates!

Thanks for the memories!

Celebrating Moms

Last Mother's Day,

Dad came up with this idea

to drive around town

and drop off flowers to our amazing grandmothers.

This COVID idea stuck.

Happy (Grand)mother's Day, 

Grandma Phyllis

And Mema!

Spending Mother's Day weekend at the fields

watching 9 games in 2 days

in the rain and wind?

She wouldn't be anywhere else.

Happy Mother's Day!

Two successful seasons

Who's ready for one last soccer- and football-filled

weekend this spring?

We are!

Today was Weston's last flag football game.

It's been a weird season--no score keeping,

no extra points, no running plays.

However, it's been the winningest season he's ever had

(because, well, parents keep score!)

In the final game, he had a few good catches

including one that he ran in for a 40-yard touchdown!

Can't wait for the fall...

My soccer skills have really come out this year.

I'm really fast--

I can beat just about anyone down the field.

And my ball handling is coming right along too.

All that is great,

but if I'm honest,

the post-game snack may be my favorite part.

We piled up for one last coach peptalk.

And the awarding of the treasured trophy!!!

Good season

Fire-Shark-Thunderchicken-Cheetahs!

Until next season...

The ABCs of Kindergarten Finale

To count down the end of the year,

my class has designated a letter for each day.

We have Vest day, Hawaiian day, King day...

and today was "I can" day.

Can you read it? 

"I can hike the tallest mountain in Texas

and you will need a lot of water."

It was met with roaring reviews.

Belated Double D's for Double Digits

I turned 10 last year, mid-COVID.

That put a big damper on our "tradition" of

the Man's Trip to get chicken wings

and celebrate the big day.

Fast-forward a year,

and we gathered the group for a re-do!

What 11 year old doesn't need 

a machete to celebrate manhood?

Thanks, Godfather Mike!

We upped the game with a trip to 

Twin Peaks instead of Hooters this round.

Uncle Kurt, Pappo, Papa Kim, Mike H, Mike J, Brad,

and the eldest 3 Reeds made the trip.

(appropriate for the current times,

Shane was home on COVID quarantine--sheesh)

It was sufficiently embarrassing 

We made Jack take a picture too

There are enough

non-double digit (and non-men) people

that they decided to gather for an impromptu pizza party.

Just a few more years

and we'll have a HUGE crowd

celebrating the double digits...

Everyone's favorite plaything

We're doing a LOT of renovating right now

(more on that in another post).

Along with remodeling comes a lot of boxes.

And you know what comes with a lot of boxes?

A lot of creativity.

This particular box

was a variety of things over the course of the afternoon

but we eventually settled on a pirate ship

There was a sail and cannons at one point.

It made for (literally) hours of fun!

A visit to the Big House

I've been seeing dermatology for months virtually

for my funky toenails

but today we ventured to Children's Mercy

to see them in person.

Mom was called in for a delivery

so Dad drove me downtown.

Then we found out they misscheduled my appointment

so we could either come back in a few months

or wait around for a few hours.

We opted for hours.

So we had some time to fill!

After getting some coffee,

we headed to Mom's office

to check in with Ross the Boss and get some work done.

Don't we look productive?

It wasn't all business.

We stopped by the playground too.

Just to complete the story,

we had to hang around the derm office for an hour

for them to just collect another sample to study.

Then it took us almost an hour to get through traffic

and order Taco Bell.

Mom said the day would have been a complete wash

if it weren't for the the good company.

I'll take that as a successful day!

A BIG game!

I often say I got three goals in a game.

That's often not true.

But today--I GOT THREE GOALS IN A GAME!

They were all back to back too!

When you're on a roll, you're on a roll!