Sip and Sign!

Alternative title for this post-The Birthday Bunch:) A year or two ago, 3 friends (at the time, all moms from Owen's travel team) and I realized we all had birthdays within a week and decided to celebrate! We never get around to celebrating in a very timely manner and this year it took almost a month to find a good day but we did it! We went to an event called Sip and Sign where you stencil on wooden boards and get a glass of wine. I had trouble finding a saying I loved so I just Frankensteined my own using the word "happy" from one and the flourishes from another. We chatted and took our time painting and then sat out on the back patio talking about life.

6th Grade Camp!

6th grade camp! Whew, what an emotional roller coaster that week was! Owen had been back and forth for a couple months about whether or not he felt comfortable to go so we had no idea what was going to happen when the day rolled around. He started to seem pretty certain so we prepared and packed like it was happening. The night before and morning of, he didn't feel very confident so we told him to just give it a try. At dropoff, he found his camp buddy, Luca, and had a good connection with one of his counselors-a soccer player who played for the same club as Owen and was also on the high school team! We said goodbye and then proceeded to spend the next five days worrying about how he was doing! We never got a phone call or any other communication, although they did post a few pictures online and we were able to find Owen in a couple. We anxiously awaited his arrival on Friday and I cried when I saw him! I was so proud of him for doing something that was such a challenge for him and then also for getting through it. He had a wonderful time too, just a small bout of homesickness the first day and then loved the rest of the week! His cabin was called Cottonwood and he loved all the food and his favorite activity was laying in the river:)

Owen and Luca

Hiking

Mealtime, Owen loved the food!

He returns!!

Owen's cabin

River Run

I missed two years of running in my favorite half marathon but I finally made it back this year! My parents were injured and gifted me a race bib (Thank you!!) so I was running solo. There was some talk that the race could be canceled because the weather had been so bad. It was terribly cold, rainy, and windy the day before! I did not have the right gear for running in the rain so I had to borrow Owen's rain jacket and layer up! It ended up drizzling/misting the whole time but it wasn't super cold so all in all, still a good experience! I finished in 2:02:23, 15th out of 60 in my age group and 282nd overall out of 600something.

Science!

We haven't been doing a great job of getting to the Science Center but the kids and Pat were home for Labor Day and I saw it was the museum's last day for their "Sticky Science" exhibit so we asked some friends to join us and headed up there! The kids loved the play area made of tape most of all and could have stayed there even longer than they did! We also made some duct tape creations before we headed upstairs to see the other areas. We got lucky because the air show was going on and we got to see some really cool flying by the Blue Angels on the deck of the Science Center. I've never been super interested in planes but I was amazed by what they could do and how close they were flying to each other!

Mead Cup

Another soccer tournament! Owen probably has twice the amount of soccer this season because they're doing more tournaments and his club team is in two leagues. So far, Owen has requested more tournaments and after you hear about this one you'll see why! Owen and I drove down to Dayton Friday night while Pat stayed with Paige so she could finish up dance class. We basically went right to sleep because the boys had an early game and long drives always wear me out anyway! Pat and Paige drove down the next morning and made it in time for the second game. We saw some great soccer all weekend and no dirty playing by any teams.  Owen's team won all three qualifying games to get into the finals! We were so excited for them and knew the teams would be pretty evenly matched going in. They ended the game 2-2 and went into overtime! It was so stressful but I was hoping they could win it before it went into a shootout. Unfortunately they were scoreless after overtime and that meant there would be a shootout after all. I felt so bad for all the kids because they had been playing in 90+ degree heat all weekend and this game took about 2 hours by the time it was all done. All worth it though because the goalie on Owen's team saved 3 shots and his team won! They were so pumped and it was so well-deserved!! 

Sidenote- we also fit in some time on Saturday to stop at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum with a couple of families from Owen's team. At the time, I felt a little bad about having Owen walk around a museum after he had played so hard and his legs were tired but I'm glad we ended up going. We weren't there super long and we got to see some interesting stuff like the old Air Force Ones and Pat was excited to see the Memphis Belle.

On-field huddle before the first game

Action!

More action

Museum!

Owen and friends

Quick group shot!

Thumper!

Kickoff for the 3rd game

Lunch before the finals

Fans!

Pep talk

Sister squad

The teams and refs line up halfway across the field before the game begins

Pre-finals huddle

Ready to play (Pat bought that orange tent to keep the kids out of the sun)

All the boys ran onto the field to celebrate when they won!

Champions!

Another trophy for the collection:)

Feast

We struggle every year to get our Back to School Feast in before school actually starts but I'm glad we keep the tradition alive anyway! Right now Monday is the only night we have to eat a family dinner so we take full advantage on those days. We kept the menu the same with salads and toasted ravioli, although Paige noted that she would have preferred regular ravioli over the toasted ravioli (maybe next year!). For dessert we had a super easy to make Oreo Pudding Pie. I was just going to pick up a dessert because I didn't think I'd have time to make one but this was so easy with a pre-made crust and ended up being delicious. I made some cards for the kids to celebrate starting 3rd grade and 6th grade to let them know how excited we are for them and how proud too!

New banner location!

Ready to celebrate!

Ready to eat!

Silly kids!

Oreo Pudding Pie

3rd and 6th

Time to blow out the candles

Paige missed again! Just like all the other years:)

Sandusky Tournament

I'm struggling to remember details on these new posts because they seem so long ago now! Owen's CFC team had their first tournament of the season a couple weeks ago on a weekend that was a bit rainy. And, in fact, the second game ended early because some lightening was spotted but it was far enough along that Owen's team snagged a win for it. We were very excited that Owen's team made it into the finals but knew it was going to be a rough game, emotionally and physically. They had already faced the team they were playing and the other team played very dirty. Not that our team is perfect, but they brought it to a whole new and very intentional level of dirty. CFC was losing and almost definitely would have lost the game until one of their players got into an altercation with one of ours and Owen's teammate got punched. The other team was outraged that their player got a card and Owen's teammate did not and they forfeited the game in protest. And so...Owen's team won! Sort of! I don't count it as an actual win but technically it was and I was proud of the boys for playing hard and not getting nasty.

Paige was with us but had a very different weekend experience:) She was busy during all the games running around with her friend Celia (another teammates sister) because part of the admission we paid to get into the complex included "free" putt-putt and a ropes course. The girls took full advantage and did putt-putt once and the ropes course many, many times!

A little rain...

Harnessed and ready for the course!

Finally off the ground!

First game against the team they would ultimately face in the finals

In the finals! 

Pep talk in the dugout

Champions!