Getting on the water

 We could not be happier

to be on Spring Break!

That means a trip to the Cabin

and time on the water...

literally

There were plenty of rocks and sticks to throw in

Check out this one!

Good thing I've been working out!

Lots of logs to climb on

Ranger had his first dip in the lake

and seemed tempted to go in again

Man, we have a good time

tromping around!

Wes and I settled into our

"Headquarters"

and spent a lot of time playing down here

Ranger found his spot too

And we may have peed outside a few times

 But the coolest part???

We FINALLY got the boat in the water!

We had to do it without Mom,

so that was an adventure.

Dad had to back down the truck and trailer

(he had bad-butt backing skills too),

try to back the boat off the trailer,

back down the truck a little more,

really back the boat off the trailer,

hand the ropes to me and Wes (gulp),

drive the truck and trailer to the parking lot,

run back down the ramp,

and then drive the boat away.

During apparently the busiest time of day

at the ramp

when all the staggers were trying to get out.

It was cold,

it was a lot of work,

but it was worth it.

Guess the hero and other Tuckerisms

Two favorite Tuckerisms:

"By the power of the race cars!" (aka "By the power of Grey Skull")
"I love Peter Panda.  But not the alligator.  Or Hooker." (aka Peter Pan and Captain Hook)

Other favorites:

"pu-wike" (but, like... as in "pu-wike, I want to eat 'yert" (dessert))
"chocolate 'ips" (chocolate chips)
"fidit 'peener" (in your most nasal voice--fidget spinner)
"pinter" (splinter)
"rodeo" (radio... as in "I listen to Cabin music on my rodeo" (Country music))

Chillin'

Sometimes it's nice

to just lay around

with your brothers

on a chilling morning

or reading a book

or building an Olympic stadium

in Minecraft

or staying up late

for a Game Night and some SNL

Yep.

Sometimes it's just nice.

Who's excited?

Man oh man oh man.

Dad cannot WAIT to get this thing

on the water.

He keeps planning it

for every weekend...

then it's cold.  Or rainy.

But we can still sit in it

and dream of the fun to come...

Mad skills

I have been WAITING for this day

for so long!

YES!

My chance to play

REAL soccer!

I hustled the whole game

And made some nice moves with the ball

My fan club was captivated.

I think the Blue Dragons

are in for an awesome season!

Can't miss a skate night

It's always a much anticipated event.

This year, Mom's hectic schedule 

almost made us miss it.

But we finally finished dinner

and made it to Landmark

for the last hour

of the PTA skate night.

We forgot to take pictures inside,

so just imaging the chicken dance,

a buddy (couple) skate,

a little falling down,

and lots of smiles.

And an awesome picture from the parking lot.

March babies

Since Aunt Mandy and I share

a birthday month,

we got to share a birthday dinner.

I had a very specific menu in mind:

Grandpa's fried catfish,

GiGi's potatoes and onions,

broccoli salad,

and Oreo pie.

Luckily, Aunt Mandy liked my requests.

After those tasty eats,

I got to open an early birthday present

What could it be in this little package?

I got a money clip!

Like Grandpa's!

(I'd been admiring it for a long time)

It was even complete with a $2 bill.

Of course there was cake

and photo bombers.

I think Aunt Mandy would agree--

some of the best people come in March!

Big Beck

I can make waffles

into Batman shapes like T's 'jams

I joined the Bigs

in the Minecraft obsession

I can lead in-depth discussions

about astronauts, space,

and the ISS

and I can boldly take on anything

including the world's largest

hotdog...

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!!!