Week 46 of 52 in 2018

It was a very odd week with a school closure for snow and a 2 hour delay.  Also, it was American Education Week so Michael and I were able to join the boys in their classrooms.  Unfortunately, Google Photos didn't grab all my photos despite indicating that it would.  Connor and I spent a good bit of time working on his fable and in the library playing a fun game of Mad Libs.  He got picked by Mr. Holden and was able to join in the story.  Mr. Holden did a good job engaging all the kids.

Jackson:  Jackson had his last game with Coach Bob and Team #4.  Since a large group of kids had prior obligations, a lot of the kids from the other teams joined us.  For some reason, Jackson offered to go into the goal.  He indicated that it was a treat that he was going to give the team. Luckily, the game was tied at the half and he did a good job.  He came from defense forward and scored a goal and had some great passes. Coach Bob confirmed that he loved his enthusiasm for the season.

Saturday afternoon in Annapolis

A lot of the closer children's theater were putting on productions that didn't feel very age appropriate.  I had secured us tickets to see Peter Pan at the Children's Theater of Annapolis.  The boys enjoyed the show and afterwards we headed towards downtown Annapolis.

We got a table at the Boatyard. There were lots of midshipmen and you could tell that you were in Annapolis with all the banners.  Despite getting rave reviews, we were not that impressed.  The nachos had no flavor.  Connor's crabcake was good and my steamed shrimp were great.  Anything that wasn't seafood was debatable.  It was hard to overcome the nachos. 

Jackson decided to be adventurous and try oysters. He didn't get very far.  In his defense, the oysters were huge.  Connor, who typically loves oysters, was struggling. Neither Michael nor I actually expected him to swallow anything but the fact that he was trying was HUGE for him.  He's very picky about what he eats. 

After lunch, we decided to walk around. The scenery was so beautiful that we had to snap some pictures.

We definitely have to take the boys back on a nice day so that we can explore more about the City of Annapolis.  There's so much to see and we're not that far away.

Week 45 of 52 in 2018

The boys had a 1/2 day as it was the end of the 1st Marking Period.  On these days, they will have house parties at school and they will be representing in their house colors.  Red for Jackson and Yellow for Connor.

Since it was a 1/2 day and Everett had mentioned that he was interested in The Nutcracker, we asked him to join us.  It was a win win.  The movie was incredible and encouraged the boys to to want to read the book to learn more about the story of the Nutcracker.

Jackson didn't have lax practice so we were able to celebrate with their favorite birthday twins, Michael and Sophia.  Thanks for having us for the pizza party.

Coppermine Fall Lax Tournament

When we signed Jackson up for Coppermine lax, we knew that this tournament was going to be a big deal for the boys.  They had been practicing together on Friday nights and they finally had their chance to showcase their talents.

Unfortunately, with tournaments, there's a lot of one-sided games.  Our Coppermine boys got the rough end of the one-sided situation.  There were blown out by their opponents and it was definitely a learning experience for our team that had only been together for a couple of months.  We anticipate that most of the teams had been playing together for years. 

Despite it all, we had all kinds of smiles from our #13.   He was just happy to be part of the team. The boys kept their heads up.  The coaching staff was so good with them.  They were all ready for the next practice on Friday night.

Week 44 of 52 in 2018

The boys' school does an amazing parade through the neighborhood.  As a room mom for Jackson's class, I was able to walk with his class and host games in his classroom for the rotating Harvest party. It was so fun to watch how excited all the kids were to play Halloween Bingo.  We let them use candy corns as markers and they surprised all the parents with how well they handled themselves...

Our trick or treaters getting ready to join friends up the street for a get together prior to candy time.  We love our Justin Tucker and Ben Franklin!

Liverpool had their final game!  It was a long season but I'm so proud of the boys and how well they asserted themselves.  Jackson did a great job as midfielder working the ball forward and Connor held his own defensively.  We lucked out and didn't have to play Bayern so their goal differential was quite respectable.

Note: Jackson was probably angling a way to play FIFA! It's a big deal at our house.