AAU's

Ah summer.  Or "crap, we suddenly have two big trips to fit into 8 weeks in addition to all the other stuff we try to cram in".  And I say 8 weeks because "J" is headed to public school for the first time ever, and they start in August.  Like the first of August. So this summer she had 

1. JV volleyball not-practice and weight training three days a week (they can't technically practice till 8-1).  

2. Swim team (theoretically every weekday-but she never made it to every practice) 

3. oh, and she decided to do AAU Volleyball which for her club is an extended season.  That was only 2 extra practices a week.  

No problem.  "T" remains constant with his one activity a week.  He is happy with that and I am too.  Because if he did a sport I might lose my mind.  Yes, I feel a bit guilty.  And yes I marvel at people with 3,4,5 kids who manage activities with them all.

Fundraising (and lunch) with the High School Team

It has been so great for the team to get together all summer.  "J" was already very confident about attending High School, but it is even better now that she knows more kids and has been up at the school all summer.  My kid may be the only kid in history to say (in June) "I wish school started tomorrow"  She is so excited for school to start.

Non-summer related but I really want to say "who let the cat out of the bag" except the cat is in the bag.  This cat was, incidentally, attacked by coyote earlier this summer.  And as he too has used his allotted veterinary care, we nursed him back to health ourselves.

I think is our last swim team summer.  "J" wants to hang out with her friends but she doesn't like getting wet, which is not congruent with swimming.  This photo is from the rear.  I have to sneak photos of my child.

Benny always comes with me to pick up "J" from practice.  He is on high alert looking for his person.

 

Our trip to Orlando for AAU nationals wasn't exactly a vacation, but I tried to include a few fun things along with all the volleyball.  The kids requested returning to Universal City Walk for epic Milk Shakes.

Apparently we are one of "those" families....but in our defense we had just spent the last 8 hours in a car together.  Everyone needed down time as we waited for our food. I had to sneak to get this photo of the elusive "J".

  "J" refuses to be in the photo but at least she allowed her milkshake to be documented. 

I never order my own anything anymore...I just eat the leftovers. #momlife

Oh, AAU season was tough.  Only one team stayed together at "J"s club for AAUs, so the other girls who wanted to participate were all put together on a mixed age team.  This might be fine except, since we had ONE 15 year old, we were required to play in the 15's level.  And let me vent for a minute.  AAU has 5 categories or levels of play from Classic (should be beginners) to Open and Premier for the top teams.  However many of the top teams still play "down" at the  classic level so they can WIN the tournament.  The winner of the 15's Classic (out of 157 teams) is a local team, who usually plays open.  They have played together for several years, are all 15, and are outstanding.  And they should have competed at a much higher level.  They still would have done well.

AAU is the largest volleyball tournament in the world.  They are technically larger than Big South. However, they have 3 different sessions- meaning not all the teams are there at the same time. If you took this panoramas and imagine about 6 of them together, it might begin to give you an idea of the scale of this tournament.

Our little rag-tag team had 12 year old's and girls who had never even played club.  None of them had ever played together.  It was awesome how much they grew as a team in 2 short months...but hard for "J" because we didn't have a good setter and lack of  good setting means little opportunity for good hitting.  Understandably  they didn't do very well at the tournament.  Losing is hard, even when you know you are up against impossible odds.  Again...lots of important lessons learned for "J".

 A rare moment of father daughter bonding...

So after our bitter defeat at AAU, we managed to fit in a few days of amusement parks.  In this case we went to Sea World, Busch Gardens and Aquatica.  I have exactly 1 photo to prove it.  This is mainly due to the fact that I didn't go to said amusement parks and "D" "forgets" to take photos.  I told the kids I wasn't buying myself a ticket to save money.  But really, I just didn't want to go.

On Busch Garden's day I went to the beach all by myself.  Ahhhh.  I floated in the gulf for hours.

On SeaWorld Day I dropped off the gang and got breakfast, which I ate alone.  Heaven.  Then I went shopping- ALL DAY.  And I found a Dippin Dots STORE.  WOW!

Look no one is sitting across from me....

I have an unhealthy love for Dippin Dots....

 My only photographic evidence of vacation...

And a random cool building with clouds

Meanwhile...

I found a few more photos...

Poor Gabby...she had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.  Our dogs are getting old.  Gabby has about a 50/50 change of the cancer returning.  She has also used her allotment of veterinary care.  So we are hoping for a good outcome.

"T" loves the massage chair at the orthodontist.  Too bad he is finished with braces.

Someone had a birthday this spring and turned 15.  Level Up!

And he has his permit!  If only he would learn to drive...SIGH.  Someone honked at him once and now he refuses to get back behind the wheel.  I NEED this kids driving.

I feel pretty bad that his birthday was during a tournament weekend.  It really was an afterthought.

Digging Through

Before I get to the "BIG" adventure I thought I should dig through the 100's of screen shots of funny memes on my phone and see if I missed any real photos.  I didn't find much.  Maybe I should post the screen shots instead.  Its next to impossible to get my kids to be in photos these days.  Notice the uptick in pet photos instead.

A few video still shots.  Not sure I can justify the 7000 dollar lens I would need to buy for good indoor sports photography.  So for now its blurry video captures.

 Volleyball injury-bloody lip.  Suck it up and keep playing.  There is a rumor that "J"s club coach made a girl play on a broken ankle once.  Knowing her....I very much believe this to be true.

At my absolute favorite Hole-in-the-wall Mexican place.  It's so good I won't even review it.  I don't want any gringos finding it and calling ICE.  These two have been BFFs for 8 years.  Love our neighbors!

Practicing her approach.

Someone will still pose for me...

 With his absolute favorite thing in the world...he loves Q-Tips probably more than "J"

"J" and friend at her favorite place, Sephora.  Good thing this kid has a job.  I can't afford her.

OK this is hideous.  It isn't exactly a before.  Its a "during".  "J" asked for a basement make-over this summer.  Basically the basement had become storage and "T"s domain.  This is the stage where I was pulling everything out of his room and trying to figure out what to toss and what to keep and where to put it.  I only keep this awful photo because the transformation is so incredible.  However I have 2 things left to do before the make-over is finished and then I will post the after photos.  Part of the transformation was giving "T" a two room "suite" so he would surrender the playroom to his sister.

He is thrilled with his new man cave adjacent to his bedroom.  It is both fortunate and unfortunate that we may never see him again.

Whoops I Did it Again

I let 6 months pass without posting.  This is most likely because I send everything to my mom via facebook messenger and she is probably the only one who ever looks at this page.  But I try to keep it up-to-date so I have an electronic photo album in the cloud...you know just in case.

 First a cute dog photo.  I adore these two dogs!  I tolerate the others...

The entire first 6 months of this year could be summed up in one word.  Volleyball. 

 It. Is. All. We. Did.  

4 practices a week.  LOTS of driving.  Traveling to tournaments every other weekend.  A neglected son.  My house has never been so dirty and my yard has never been so out of control.  I'm not sure I will ever catch up.  But the girl loved it.  I love the important life lessons she is learning through team sports.  We had some ups and some downs and some really low downs this season but "J" definitely came out on the other side stronger, more confident, and more mature.

First Tournament Fun

 Even Grandma and Grandpa came to a tournament.

We went to all kinds of places for tournaments...like places I swore I would never go to again...
Spoiler Alert...its Gatlinburg and we had to go twice.

The necks were red and the moonshine was fine. Or as my daughter says "this is the White-est place I've ever been"

I stayed at my first ever "roadside" hotel.  As a person who avoids hotels at all costs (yuck) it was quite shocking to my system to have to spend SO MANY nights in hotels this year.  This little roadside throwback wasn't bad.  "J" got her own room and we could easily walk to the overpriced and underwhelming attractions.

And we spent a ridiculous amount of money on the lamest things....

We did enjoy our drive through the Great Smokey Mountains.  The kids ooohed and ahhed for easily 30 minutes before returning to electronics.

 And we traveled to places I love...like Savannah

We aren't the only ones who traveled around to watch our kids do things...My friend got to travel around to watch her kid do this....

Winter Guard is really cool...but its the same performance every time...EVERY TIME