First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school for 10th grade and 8th grade.  And yes, I got a little teary-eyed.  It feels like they are slipping through my fingers but that's a lament for another day.  I couldn't get a group shot because Will is taking 0 hour weights which is a fancy way of saying that he takes a class in the wee hours of the morning and it's weight lifting.  He leaves the house before I'm fully conscious but I rallied to get his picture.  

He's growing his hair out along with the majority of the teen boys in society.  The 80s are back!  

Reina goes to school at a slightly more acceptable hour so we snapped a few photos in the sun and with a cat as an ankle accessory.  

 It's only been two days but the school year is off to a good start.  Will travels with the football team to Sheridan tomorrow and Reina has a slumber party on Saturday.  Whoever agreed to hosting a slumber party on the first weekend after school started was obviously not thinking clearly LUCY.  

Fourth of July

I logged on to write a big post about all of our August happenings but then I saw that I had this one waiting in the draft folder so let's wrap up the Fourth of July!  On August 13!  We headed over to The Fry Farm for bbq and fireworks.  July 4 was a Monday this year so both Glenn and I had to work the next day which is a really boring way to say that we left before the really big fireworks started.  It was a cooler evening and we had fun sitting outside watching the cousins race around.  

Mixed doubles for whatever this game was.

Those are foam swords which I feel like I should mention because this picture makes it look like they are swinging broom handles at each other.  Which they probably have.... just not at a time when I could capture it photographically.  

The cutest 6 yr old in all of Wyoming showing us his box of Pop-Its.

Girl cousins and watermelon mustaches.  

 

Football in June?

Will's had the opportunity to play 7 v 7 football this summer.  He traveled with the high school team to Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins a few times to play.  Glenn, Pop-pop and I took turns going along to watch. What a cool experience!  He played linebacker mostly, a few shots at offense too.  The regular season starts practice in four weeks and we are ready!  

Shirts vs skins (Will) 

Defending the receiver 

This one is a little harder for me - that's Will on the field at Colo State.  Great opportunity but ew.

With that yucky logo in the back but look at the position on defense!  

 

Dance fever

Last month, Reina had her dance recital.  She danced in pointe, ballet, hip hop and hoop.  Both pointe and hoop were new classes for her this year.  I didn't get a picture of her hip hop performance and I could kick myself because it was super fun.  

Reina had her own fan club at the recital. 

Look at my girl on pointe!  This is so much harder than it looks.  She's been working on this since September and has made awesome progress.  

Ballet time.  This was her favorite costume.  

Hoop!  I was blown away by this dance.  Reina made it all look so effortless. 

 Reina isn't sure what dance classes she'll sign up for in the fall.  She talks about wanting more time to do clubs and activities at school, but she also loves dance.  We'll see what she decides.  Reina we just love watching you have fun.  

June

Well that was fast.  June started with the end of the school year and now we are one month into summer 2022 and we have a dance recital, baseball games, 7 v 7 football, a garden, and lots and lots of family togetherness to show for it.  

I'll have to post photos later but Reina had her dance recital at the beginning of the month and it was so much fun to watch her dance.  This year she had pointe, ballet, hip hop and hoop.  Her favorite dance was Hoop and I don't have a favorite because I think she's brilliant at all of them.  Reina has her first big babysitting job this summer.  She babysits an energetic 5 year old boy two days a week and she's discovering all of the joy that is the 5 year old brain.  She's also in charge of making dinner at our house once a week.  One week, she ordered pizza all by herself and this week she made frozen potstickers and potato salad.  We appreciate her enthusiasm and I'm just noticing that maybe she only can serve food that starts with a P?  

Will is playing on two baseball teams and working out with the football team.  He's also practicing driving and napping.  Well, he's not practicing napping, he's an expert.  For his turn at making dinner, he (with Glenn's help) grilled steaks and asparagus and learned to make mashed potatoes.  

Glenn and I are both busy at work.  Glenn's had to travel some and I had a trip to Nebraska earlier in the month.  I'll have more pictures to post on the holiday weekend. If I can take a break from my napping.  

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a nice holiday weekend.  The kids had Friday off so I took the day off and Glenn took part of the day.  We attended a few graduation parties for friends' kids and I started a little bit of our garden.  Reina caught Will's cold so she was in bed most of the day but tested negative for Covid. Phew.  Saturday was gorgeous so we gardened and worked on cousin E's birthday cake.  I bought this fancy pan that can make all of the letters and numbers and I was itching to try it out.   

The first E didn't turn out as planned but the second version (of which I don't have a picture!) was yummy and more solid than this version.  

Sunday was a little cooler and brought much needed thunderstorms.  Luckily, we got to attend E's 6th birthday party at the roller rink.  I'm happy to announce that all of the adults emerged from the skating rink unscathed.  Considering Aunt V and I served cake and treats while on skates the entire time, that's a huge achievement.  

Along with a giant E cake, he also wanted a baseball one.  I was going to make the stripes with frosting but Kindergarten Cousin insisted on red sprinkles.  He and his sister laboriously picked through the jar of sprinkles to find enough red to make the baseball - the blue and white were used on the E cake, naturally. 

Monday was also cool and overcast.  Will and I took E to Murdoch's for his second annual 'pick out your birthday present' trip.  After much dithering, he chose a toy ATV/Camper combo, a small truck and trailer and a wooden knife (that was Will's idea).  The toy section at Murdoch's is getting smaller so if this continues to be an annual tradition, we are going to have to start buying tools and livestock equipment.  Stay tuned.  

Baseball season again

The temperature outside hasn't always felt like it, but apparently it's baseball season again.  Will is playing with a new team this year.  He's actually on two teams.  One team is for the regular season and just plays in town during the week.  The other team is made up of the best players from the regular season teams and travels to tournaments or plays out of town teams.  The regular season was supposed to start tonight but we had a rain out (which was actually great news because we are in a drought!).  The travel team has had some scrimmages but last weekend Will had games in Casper,  I went with Will for the quick overnight trip and had fun watching him play.  

Playing third base

At bat