Spring Sports

The title is a bit misleading because, actually, none of the kids participated in Spring sports this year.  I felt guilty about that for a hot minute, then realized they are still so busy and we should be grateful to not be running around each evening!  Besides, the kids requested to not play rec sports, so why would we force?

So what did we do...well, the boys spent a lot of time working on their sport skills, specifically in tennis (JB) and golf (Wesley).  A lot of time spent in clinics, with pros, and working on their swings.  We assure them this grind will come in handy when they enter into Fall tournaments, even if they don't believe us now!

Wesley almost got a hole-in-one on our course!  Quite the exciting day for this guy.

Speaking of golf!  We hosted the University of Texas golf team again for our Collegiate tournament, and they absolutely dominated with their second win in a row.  We had a blast with these guys - such upstanding young men and talent golfers. We can't wait to watch them on the PGA tour one day.

The fun part about hosting is spending time with them off the course, where our kiddos just adore getting to know them and hearing about all their fun golf adventures.  I like comparing UT stories, then feeling like an old lady when I realize that most of them were born after I graduated.  

Maryn participated in a great program called Girls on the Run, which ended with a 5K race with all the neighboring schools.  A scooter accident left her with a hurt knee, but she persevered and did so well in her race! She invited Ms. V to be her "running buddy" and they had a great time.  Her beloved teacher also participated!

Maybe not a sport, but JB has worked hard all semester in his electric car class, building a car from scratch (and learning a ton in the process).  He had his first race, which was fun to watch - even though a rogue curb at the end took them out of contention.

All this activity is on top of their academics, music lessons, J.A.M. (Jesus and Me) at church, and Jr. Naturalist camp on Fridays.  Whew, tired just thinking about it...and we're about to go into the busiest month of the school year!! :)

Sports, Sports, Sports

This September and October has been sheer craziness, with activities pulling us in every direction!  We have the standard activities (church, music, school) but also had different sport seasons overlapping!  

First up - JB made the middle school tennis team!  While he's played for a while in tennis clinics and with friends, he's never been part of a tennis team and the whole season went great. We are so proud of him.  And the team - who went on to win the regional championship!

JB always had a lot of support at the game, from grandparents to aunts/uncles (Kim and Andy) to his old standbys - the siblings.  

Maryn also had her first experience with Volleyball and did great!  She learned so much, had fantastic coaches and a great group of girls, and overall had a fun time, too.  Her team made it all the way to the quarterfinals, which is remarkable considering so many on the team had never played before.

We got the chance to watch a D1 Volleyball scrimmage in Savannah one Sunday, which made us enjoy the sport even more!  I've have very little exposure (maybe none) to volleyball, so this was a learning season for me, too :)  But it's so fast paced and fun to watch that I hope she sticks with it for a couple more seasons!

And then Wesley focused most of the Fall on his golf swing.  He's very good about coming home, jumping on his dirtbike, and heading up to the range to work on his swing with some of the Pros. 

(Old picture - but he's progressing well with his swing!)

New York with our best girl!

We had so much fun creating wonderful memories with Maryn on her10th birthday trip!  She loves some 1:1 time (as do we), and all that togetherness - in such a fun city! - was super special. And we had the most perfect weather for the trip: moderate temps and beautiful sunny skies.

I only have 175 pictures, but will try to capture some favorite moments, in no particular order. (I plan to make a book for Maryn so we can look at all of them, again and again.)

First, we loved Central Park and the pony ride with Amazing Grace!  We learned about the park, saw some very famous spots from movies and shows, and rode the 100+ year old carousel.

We made a special trip to the American Girl Doll Store for some shopping and hair styles for M (and for Lyla!)  We also did some shopping at FAO Swartz for a souvenir Jellycat doll.

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge one night, and then also saw the bridge (plus the Statue of Liberty and so much more!) from our boat tour.

And - the SLOOMOO Institute!!  A museum dedicated to SLIME.  Something Maryn absolutely adores. We had some fun, too (and learned a lot about slime and its history).  We touched slime, made slime, stepped on slime.  And, against better judgement, took a lot of slime home :)

Now, of course we ate some good food, too!  I think we got all of Maryn's requests: real NY pizza in Brooklyn, a pretzel, ice cream, fried rice in Chinatown, personalized MMs.  A random Belgian restaurant that our Savannah driver recommended that had the best fries. All the best!

The last morning, we got to see one of my dear friends and do some final walking around Times Square before heading back to Gia and the boys.

What a special time with Maryn - our little girl who is turning into a little lady before our eyes!  We will cherish these memories with her.  Maryn, we love you a bushel and a peck!