Baking

Brooke baked sugar cookies today ... and she was kind enough to let Luke help. PLUS, she did her best to refrain from comment when he mangled the dough cutouts, hideously applied frosting and added the "wrong" color sprinkles. That was quite the feat for her!

A LONG Day in Merrillville Indiana

Brooke's team had their second tournament of the season. This one was in Merrilville Indiana (about an hour away). I kind of forgot that Indiana was not quite as covid cautious as we were. So, walking in and seeing everyone without masks was a bit of a shock. Then, we spent seven hours in the facility with all these unmasked people. Sheesh!

Overall it was a poorly run tournament. The girls only played three times, but we were there for 7 hours. It was work sessions and by sessions and games running late. It was exhausting.  But, they played really well and had some chances to bond. While I was both bored and exhausted, they were mostly happy. And forming unity as a team is more important than keeping your parents happy ... right? At least, thats what I told myself.

Ryan is on his way to being vaccinated!

Shot one is done!

The Lost Tooth (literally)

Ryan came up from the basement and told me he lost his tooth. Cool! He hasn't lost in in over 2 years. Then he tells me he lost it. Ok, not that abnormal.

Then he tells me he's not positive when he lost his tooth so it could be anywhere - including at his volleyball meet in the burbs this morning. He just noticed that it was missing - but doesn't recall losing it and doesn't know when that might have happened.

That's a little weird, right?

Ryan's First Volleyball Game!

   

Ryan's team had his first game today. It was really exciting! The team didnt win, but Ryan got a decent amount of playing time. We were surprised as he is just a junior member of the team. He even got a few plays!

Ryan is 11!

For Ryan's 11th birthday we decided to take the kids bowling at Lucky Strike Wrigleyville. The plan was a little bit ruined when Ryan continued to hit gutter ball after gutter ball (and Luke was picking up points left and right). Despite the fact it wasnt the initial plan, we decided to let the kids play some video games in order to ensure we could walk out of there with some smiles. All the "kids" (including Dad) were pretty big fans of the riding bike and driving car games. Everyone was happy. Whew!

We wrapped up the evening with cake and candles, and of course presents!