….haven’t blogged in a while, so, this is catch up….
Up and coming: Most of this week has been devoted to the summer church-soccer camp, On Goal. Will be providing video, hand-drawn pictures, actual real-life pictures and stories over the next week.
Backyard: As mentioned previously in this space; we raised the tent in the backyard, and, for the better part of a week, the boys and I have been sleeping there. We’ve had to move the tent a few times to keep from killing all of the grass underneath the tent, but, most nights over a 10-day period we could be found outside.
While this has been a hit with the boys (we’ve played charades; we’ve names states, countries, cities, super heroes, Pokemon), the biggest proponent of backyard camping is Wiley. Nothing could be happier than a springer spaniel surrounded by his brothers, sleeping the night away. Boys had never noticed that Wiley snores sometimes…got a full-on introduction to that one night.
The boys sleep like the dead….only had one bail-out…Matthew got up one morning at 2 am to go to the bathroom and never came back. I have an airbed, and that helps, but, a night in the backyard means we’re up earlier than usual (not a bad thing) and that Dad’s sleep isn’t what it could be. The most surprising thing? It’s been damned cold at night….low’s in the 50’s. We bailed on outside the day it hit 48, but, there’s been some shivering boys and Dad walking inside in the mornings….
Wiley, asleep, living la vida loca
Getting ready for bed. You can see Kevin’s face here on the lower left
Goofiness before bed time. Some nights crazier than most.
Travel soccer: Registration is done….somehow, someway have wound up running the paperwork for two teams so that’s been more time than I was counting on. But, it’s done, uniforms ordered, fees paid, and we’ll start practice in August and the boys might/should be playing in a tournament in August as well.
Anniversary: Suzanne and I had two wonderful anni-dinners; one, by ourselves, down in Novi at the Melting Pot and the second, with the boys, at Stillwater. Didn’t do a lot for each other (saving money for polynesian paradises), but, I did get a step on Suzanne by making some dark-chocolate covered strawberries for her. She enjoyed them (by taste) and enjoyed them (by tale)….asked me if I had looked up how to make them online and I said ‘no’…just winged it, figured it they didn’t turn out she wasn’t going to get them and it was worth a shot. Turns out they came out pretty well…..
A few more random photos:
Christopher after a trip with the MAC campers to Lake Lansing. They had some kind of pirate theme going on; they collected lots of coins as treasure, and, as you can see here, the obligatory eye patch and nose ring
Went bowling with the boys last week as part of a “Kids bowl free” program Suzanne found. I absolutely sucked….have never bowled worse than I did the first game, and Suzanne put together two 150+ games so, it was a bad night. The last game is memorable for me sending Matthew home crying…it’s the 10th frame, and the only way I’m going to beat Matthew is to get 2 strikes and a bunch of pins. First try, finally throw the ball I’ve been trying to throw all night, a perfect strike. Matthew goes “oh no!” and buries his head on the ground. At this point, I’m considering aiming for the gutter on try 2….and then Matthew reaches out and punches me. Tell Matthew “This one’s for you”, turn, throw, another strike. Finish up with another good throw, beat him by 3 or 4 pins, and Matthew cries and sulks his way home……..
We’re about to go swimming…Matthew reminds me that he can climb up the wall.
