Flying Through

Stinkin' groundhog!  I'm about done with winter and looking forward to the warmer temperatures heading our way this weekend.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good snow and icy cold weather, but it's mainly for killing germs and bugs, not because I like being cold.  In fact, I cannot wait to be done with jacket and layering weather.  I become a hermit during the winter and eat poorly, don't exercise, my hair is frizzy, groceries are sparse - pretty much worthless.  Add basketball, volleyball, Quick Recall and the County-Wide Spelling Bee to the mix, and you've got a recipe for busyness especially when SNOW interferes with plans and lots of rescheduling occurs. Basketball finally ended for both of our boys.  Their teams made it to the Gold Bracket in their divisions.  Miles's team, the Pacers, ended up placing 3rd in the league and 4th in the tournament (or vice versa, I honestly can't remember).

He got two trophies though and was tickled.  He's no Paul George but a pretty good little player. He's ready for golf season now.  I took him to the driving range recently.  He could spend hours at Otte Golf practicing his putting and hitting balls.  We may try to get him in some small tournaments this summer.  Look out Justin Spieth!

We've spent more time at Phil Moore Park this winter than at our house.

Isaac's been a busy bee too.  His basketball team did really well this season.  They made it to the Gold Bracket and ended up beating an undefeated team (by one point) in tournament play.  They were 4th or 5th in season play because they lost a couple of games here and there, but they finished strong in the tournament and took 2nd place.Way to go HAWKS!

 

 Because of all the snow, Isaac's spelling bee got pushed to this week.  We'd never been to the county spelling bee, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  Fortunately, because of the delay, we've been able to spend lots of time drilling Isaac with words.  The bee was on Tuesday night at Saint Joseph school. When we walked in and got our program, I quickly noticed that Isaac would be facing middle school students.  Oh brother!  There were 27 kids from all over the district.  Isaac managed to snag the #1 spot which meant he went first, NICE.  He walked up to the microphone.  First word was rouge.  Crap!  I thought...that's easy but will he spell it right?  He did, and as he walked back to his seat did a bow for the audience.  Yep, that's our Isaac.  He made it passed round one which eliminated a handful of kids.  Round two started, and his word was bilingual.  No!  He couldn't even pronounce it right when he said it back.  He pulled it out though and spelled it correct.  As he walked back to his seat, he did a brow wipe.  This kid!?!  That round eliminated way more.  It came down to round three and his word was turbulence.  He spelled it wrong turbulance =(.  He got knocked out of that round along with every kid but four.  SO, technically he and about 10 or more were 5th place winners.  I was proud of him.  There's nothing easy about going up in front of a panel of judges, large audience, speaking into a microphone, and spelling.  Lots of pressure with that.  He handled it like a champ.  And, I am quite certain he wouldn't have beaten the 7th grader that won.  Her words were insanely hard.

Isaac's cheering squad!  If you want to check out the bee - watch it on periscope on Twitter - handle @tkdmomofthree

Fun Isaac Fact: Warren County Gifted Education Points of Pride poster that currently hangs in Frankfort. Thank you Warren County Public Schools for offering opportunities for gifted education students. *There's a cute little guy in the bottom left picture  - I'd recognize those scuffed Nikes and messy hair anywhere!

 Valentine's Day weekend brought another tournament in St. Louis for the BRAVO 13N group.  Because of the snow and rescheduling, Karson and I had to travel to this tournament without the boys and Matt.  The Clayton family graciously let us a bum a ride with them since we were staying at the same hotel. Plus, the weather was supposed to turn bad again, and wow, I'm grateful I went with them (Sunday travel home was awful).   

 Saturday was spent in the 13 Premier division, and our girls placed 2nd in the pool play - we should've actually placed first because the team we lost to wasn't unbeatable.  The girls made it to the Gold Bracket for tournament play on Sunday.  St. Louis is a neat place, and when we weren't at the tournament, we spent time exploring the city.

We'd tried to get reservations to Bailey's Range for lunch, but since it's a popular eating place, it was packed on Saturday when we got there.  Bummer.  We decided to lunch at the place next door called Jack Patrick's.  I don't think any of us cared at that point WHERE we ate, just that we were ready to eat.

 I thought the food was good at Jack P's, and it didn't seem like we had to wait that long especially since they only had three employees there.  They weren't ready for 38 people since it's more a bar and walk-up sort of restaurant.

 Our coach really thought it would be special to take the girls to the Arch which is such an iconic monument.  After lunch, we took the girls.  It was only a few blocks away, but it was a frigid walk.  The girls didn't seem to mind and skipped and sang the whole way there.

Girls just wanna have FUN!

We also made a stop in the Old Courthouse to warm up and learn some fun history about St. Louis.  And, as always, explore and take pictures.

The City Museum is a must if you ever visit St. Louis.  It's about the most amazing place ever!  We met mid-afternoon and spent the remainder of the day there.  I wasn't able to take many pictures and didn't feel like trying to keep up with the girls.  City Museum is huge and crowded.  We did get a picture at the end of the night.  Definitely a highlight from the trip!

Sunday was Valentine's Day.  I had to plan ahead so the boys and Matt would feel special at home.  I bought them some little gifts to surprise them Sunday morning. I also had to find a fun way to make Karson feel special and decided to leave her little notes with clues all over the hotel room to find her Vday gift which I had hidden in the room safe.  She was tickled with her Dove Chocolate, Tic Tacs and Airhead Xtremes.  Speaking of treats, our hotel had one of those stocked refrigerators where you had to pay for anything taken out of it.  Crack me up! Karson grabbed the Fiji water out of the fridge and opened it up before I could say anything.  I told her - Karson it's not free - we have to pay for that.  She didn't know and felt bad.  Of course, I didn't care but thought it was a cute story.  She said she'd always wanted to taste what water from the mountains of Fiji tasted like.  It was $3 GOOD =)!

 

 We knew the Sunday morning match was going to be a tough one.  We played a KIVA team out of Louisville.  KIVA is known for their strong program, and they certainly proved it.  It wasn't a pretty match.  One bright spot for Karson was that she got at least one kill shot (during the second game) on KIVA.  That made me happy for her.  You always feel good for your child if they feel good about their game.  If they are playing their hardest, that's really all you can ask for.  We got to play a consolation game for 3rd place and beat the Memphis Jumpers in two sets. It was nice ending on a good note.

 

 We wanted to get out of St. Louis quickly because of all the texts and messages we were receiving during the tournament about the weather in Bowling Green.  The snow was falling and road conditions were looking rough.  It didn't seem like it took us long to get home, and I played Scrabble with Karson and Sydney to pass the time.  We made it home safely around 7:30 or so and spent the rest of the snowy night snuggling at home with our boys!  February is moving fast and Spring is almost here!