Born for this

I decided to make the switch from soccer 

to flag football this year.

We are, of course, the Chiefs

And we’ve been working really hard to get ready for this season

And get ready we did!

Do you know how much easier it is to run

When you don’t have to dribble a ball too?

I was GONE—

3 touchdowns just. Like. That.

And guess what?

I won the MVP of our first game!

I think I found my sport.

 

And they’re off!

Just like that—

Summer is over,

And school is in session!

I’m the first out the door

(At a blurry 6:30am!)

Then Beck

And Tucker

The 2 remaining Huskies

And finally, Weston

(Who gets to roll out at almost 8am!)

Here’s to a great year!

Baking for ‘Bots

The Pantherbots (or is it Robopanthers?)

Had to up our robotics game this year

And buy a new robotics kit.

It was NOT cheap.

Rather than just fork out the money,

Our parents challenged us to do some fundraising.

So we decided to have a bake sale at Back to School Night

How about my sign???

You know you wanna buy something!

 

A Final First…

It’s Back to School Night!

Tucker was excited to go and meet Mrs. Strickland

(Weston had her for 3rd grade!)

As for me…

It’s my LAST Back to School Night as a Husky.

Whoa.

I am THRILLED to have Mr. McVay

(Oddly, Tucker had him last year for 2nd grade)

Another last/first…

Our last day to be in the same school for a few years.

The last year for 2 of us to be at HPE.

Whoa.

We’re gonna make this last year the BEST year!

 

The big 50th anniversary…with a few surprises

We’ve had this date on the calendar for about 6 months—

Mema and Pappo’s big anniversary party.

Mom and Dad were planning on getting just a little dressed up

But when we announced we were wearing our BEST,

Well, they stepped up their game

We dress up NICE!

It was a fancy night at the Bristol

And we made sure to do our part

On the food and drinks.

I mean, Pappo’s paying!

After everyone was settled,

Mema and Pappo stood and made some nice speeches,

Sharing some of their memories over the last 50 years 

And how special it was to have all of us in the same room.

But then, Pappo took it to the next level—

He talked about how Mema never got the proposal she had hoped for

(He just said “I think we should get married”

…and she initially turned him down!)

So, tonight, he made it right:

And THEN…

They renewed their vows!

Only Pappo and the Cowing’s knew that plan!

How about this bridal party?

There were lots of tears and laughs

And THEN…

I stood up and made a toast.

Pappo had asked me to do it a few weeks ago

And I SWEAT over it, planning and practicing.

He didn’t think I’d taken him seriously!

I think it was a great final surprise.

We ate and drank and laughed

And told stories late into the night…

And shut the restaurant down, as usual.

Because we need all the time we can get

To celebrate these two!

None of us would be here without them!

Cheers to 50 years!

Finally back to the Cabin!

It’s been a busy summer

And we’ve missed our lake time!

We’re going to use this weekend to the max!

We got out of town early and got to eat at the 

Best Mexican Restaurant in Osceola.

We forgot a few things (dog food) which meant 

A trip to DG that we didn’t even have to beg for!

We got back just in time for a dusk-drive to the end of the road

And then stayed up waaaaay too late

Playing craps

No matter how good we think we’re doing,

The House (Pappo) wins…of course.

The next day,

Cousin Aaron needed help getting his boat in the water,

Which meant Mom and Dad stayed on shore…

And we had the boat to ourselves!

Cousin Aaron needed help with his boat

Because Jasmin’s family was in town…FROM GERMANY!…

And he wanted to show them the best of Osceola.

Jasmin’s niece Lea was up for anything and everything.

So we had to take her tubing!

We all had a blast.

Dad pulled us for almost an hour!

They had to head in

(It was their turn to eat some Mexican)

So we were on our own

Which meant lots of surfing.

Mom got up for a bit

But just couldn’t find a wave

I, of course,

Made it look easy.

Even Beckett got up this time!

Check out that grin!

With our new, longer board,

Dad got to actually ride a few waves

Sunday looked like rain

So we stuck close to home…

Sort of!

Time to put the Chum Bucket in the water!

After all our dingy experience in Minnesota,

We had to prove our worth in Missouri.

Can you see Ranger?

He was NOT pleased to be left on the shore.

He chased us all the way down the shore—

We eventually had to let him in

So let’s see—

Mexican, ice cream, bonfire, boating, swimming,

Tubing, surfing, paddling, 4-wheeling,

Craps and cornhole?

Yep, I think we lived it to the max!

 

The Annual WOF trip

It’s funny how when Mom looks at the summer schedule,

There always seems to be just one date that works for Worlds of Fun…

But there is ALWAYS one!!!

We were pumped to try out the Zambezi Zinger

It was quickly one of our favorites

(We may have ridden it 2 or 3…or 4?…times today)

We were feeling like we could take on anything after that

So Mom, Weston, Mema and I stopped to ride the Zulu.

Mom was a little surprised Mema hopped on

And then when she asked Weston if it went upside down,

He lied and said it didn’t.

Needless to say, this didn’t end well.

When Mema got off, she didn’t feel great.

In fact, she felt so crappy, 

She took this picture with us at 

our must-ride Viking Voyager

And then promptly went to sit in the air-conditioned gift shop nearby.

She didn’t even ride!!!

Wes did feel pretty bad about that—

He apologized multiple times.

Dad and I braved the Steelhawk

While everyone else hit the Detonator

(It’s Mema’s favorite—she was feeling a bit better by then).

Look what’s FINALLY open

And we’re all FINALLY tall enough to ride??!?!

It was our longest wait of the day (about 45 minutes).

Not sure we’ll do that again.

By this time is was hot.

Perfect timing to head to Oceans of Fun 

For some water, slides, and lunch.

Once we shut Oceans of Fun down

(It closes at 6),

We headed back to Worlds of Fun and walked on to any

And every ride we wanted.

We rode the Prowler, Mamba, Patriot, Zambezi, and 

Detonator so many times we eventually had to just stop.

We even rode Spinning Dragons 

(Which usually has a long time).

It was awesome in the dark.

We snuck in one more ride on the Viking Voyager 

With Mema this time!

Before pausing for an odd party pic

Squeezing in one more ride on the Mamba

(Which made Tucker finally puke)

And then head for the front of the park

To see the fireworks and drone show…

Which was pretty good!

Then off to our customary Taco Bell parking lot picnic

And we tucked our exhausted selves in bed.

What a day!

From rope drop to drone drop.

Whew!

 

Day 8: Finishing up our vacation checklist

How about this to wake up to this morning?

You can hardly tell where the sky ends and the sea begins!

We’re at sea most of the day

While we sail for Victoria.

So we set out to do a few things we hadn’t done yet.

We had a lovely sit-down breakfast at Savor

And then headed for some ping-pong

And mini-golf

Then it was off to the go-carts1

Cooper and I were too short to drive our own

So we went double with Aunt Mandy and Dad.

The line was all backed up for some reason

But it was eventually our turn

We soon found out

The doubles were reeeeeally slow.

I mean, I guess it’s better than NO ride

But sheesh.

Everyone else went on the singles

Some action shots:

Pappo

Mom

Mema, hugging a turn

Beck

Weston

And Jack

Their cars were MUCH faster.

However, they do need a fast driver…

Which everyone said was NOT Weston.

He was much more cautious than anyone thought he’d be.

He said it was his car slowing him down.

At any rate,

Jack got tired of waiting on him and tried to pass,

Causing an accident when Weston bumped him.

The stopped all the cars to sort it out

Then JACK got to go around him

But everyone else had to stay behind.

They teased him all day about his sad, slow driving skills.

Then it waterslides and back to the hot tub for some drinks and relaxing

(And some VERY loud, semi-good cruise rock band music)

We decided to forego a fancy dinner for more hot tub time.

So we had a fast dinner…

And then headed up for one more game of laser tag!

This time Marcia and Ken played too!

(Dang it, we forgot to get a picture)

Then we hurried out to see a bit of Victoria

It was a bit of an odd arrival/departure—

We docked at 8pm!

And guess what?

Everything was closed!

So we headed back to the ship for a nightcap

And to check on our pictures from the trip.

This one was probably the only one worth buying:

I mean, come on?

Amazing, right?

And sadly, that’s the end of our epic Alaskan adventures—

The next day, we briefly lost Ken but then found him again

And caught our plane back to KC.

Time flies when you are having fun!

We’re already planning the next one…