Fall Ball is Done

Oh of course there will be more games coming and more seasons, but this weekend marked the last traveling team tournament.  Amy said we weren't doing "lasts" on this trip; and she may have had some dust in her eye as she braided Grace's hair in the hotel room.  Maybe it was the last braiding on tournament weekends or that Grace was unhappy with the quality of the braid and wouldn't let her do it again anyways...but either way it seemed that there were some emotions.  We drove to the Chicago area in the dark, given the time of year there are few other options and stopped for some soup/sandwiches on our way.  Interesting that our hour long dinner stop actually saved us 20 minutes of road time as it allowed the traffic congestion to pass.  The Saturday morning games were cold, but Grace played strong score easily through out the day.  There were plenty of recruiters around, but that isn't really out concern anymore as she is locked in for the '26 cohort. Amy and I cheered out of pride and as a means of staying warm in the rain and 38 degree temperatures.  Grace slumped her shoulders and hung her head after the game when she noticed my rain suit was full camouflaged (I was actually a little surprised she could see me at all).  Amy had the best chicken sandwich of her life from a tournament kiosk and then we headed off to do a little shopping to pass the afternoon away.  Dinner found us at an more upscale Italian place than we were dressed for but they kindly ushered us in and out very quickly.  Sunday morning had an added adventure as the hotel had lost power some time during the night, likely from the winter storm that blew in.  The room was cold and dark.  With no hot water for a shower we packed up by the light of our phones and headed to the fields.  They only lost a single game during the pool play, but the point differentials apparently weren't enough to lock in a 2nd place seed for them in the tournament brackets.  We had waited at a coffee shop with pastries and hot drinks for the news but seemingly nobody was too upset that we could head home before noon rather than play in the cold and snow again.  As it turned out the area would get 4-5 inches of snow as we drove north on dry roads.  She will practice and prep over the winter months but as for actual games we will have to wait now until March.

some road time...

To a small extent we have found ourselves on the road and chasing kids a little bit.  Amy and Grace have spent the past couple of weekends in resort towns (Dells and Shakopee) for Lacrosse tournaments.  Grace has been playing well for both teams, but both teams are also so very very short benched without subs.  So that takes a toll on the teams overall performance in during the weekend.  In MN the ref even found the team some subs from another team, just to help get their legs under them in the surprisingly warm October sun. She is off the next two weekends and then we head to the third state, IL, of the fall season for a tournament in the Chicago area.  Likely have to dress warm by then.  She has committed to UWL for next fall and will play for the Eagles, so that is exciting and takes some of the pressure off her application processes.  

Merrick had his first Parents' weekend, so I hit the road afterwork on Friday and picked him up in time for a late burger joint dinner.  He was feeling less than par and asked me to check out the big lump on his neck; clearly an enlarged gland.  Dinner didn't sit to well and Saturday morning found us in the the walk in clinic getting some tests.  Everything came back negative but he tired pretty quickly and has back in his dorm around noon to sleep until we met up for a Sunday morning breakfast before I headed out of town.  We did make the drive up to the bluff to take in the leave colors.  We kept in contact with him during the week and he seems to be healed up and is coming home this weekend.  It will be his first time back since college started so I suspect that will be interesting for him.

 

HoCo

 

Saturday night was a culminating dance for Grace after a full week of Homecoming activities.  We headed to the title town district for pictures with her and her friends.  They had spent the week making pants, dressing alike, carrying their school work in 'anything but a backpack....and TPing around town and school.  It was a little funny to see them head into the house after the dance to take off their formal attire and dress in black clothes and face masks to head out on the town like a G-rated Clockwork Orange.  By Sunday afternoon it was back to normal and she was off to work her last shift at the pool for the season.

Little dimples..little drama

 Last weekend we spent a little time scouting out an area for Grace's senior pictures, it had been suggested by the photographer.  But ultimately we thought better of the location and suggested a few of our own and the results will be beautiful.  There was a little hic-up, Grace has a pretty packed schedule, and the original photo shoot was conflicting with a different event.  We had the shoot moved, but it didn't make it to the photographers calendar and she double booked.  It all worked out fine and especially the lighting.  Grace had a fun time, multiple wardrobe changes and still made it home in time to not eat, but meet friends on a shopping spree for pajama day and midnight toilet papering of the school in prep of homecoming weekend. One of these pictures is not from her photo shoot; alas dear reader can you spot it?  Also a fun note as a parent, sometimes you find boxes of graham crackers with only a single stale cracker left in the box; because somebody was way to full to eat another one...or way to lazy to open the trash drawer.

The Eagle has Landed!

Thirteen years of hard work and perseverance for Merrick lead to his arrival in Lacrosse on Friday as an official UWL Eagle.  We managed an almost full family dinner the night before making the drive (Ella was in Spain).  We gathered around the indoor grill at the restaurant slathering steaks with garlic butter and spices....well not Sophia; she was battling a waitress for a burger that was cooked thoroughly and preferably with a bun.  Then back home to sit around the table and talk about school, classes, and just laugh a bit before an early night.  Merrick and I hit the road early and drove the meandering route across the state to his dorm.  His roommate had moved in the day before so it was easy to build some dorm furniture and trick out his new pad.  He is more of a minimalist than either of the older girls where, and he has a real comfortable space to call home for the next school year. We made run for groceries...all comfort food and nothing remotely healthy was dropped into the cart.  He had some additional items on his 'mental list' but those were forgotten.  We hit MKE burger to fill up on some smashburgers before sending him off on his own; and I made the lonely drive back home.  Amy and I were able to call him and have a quick chat and everything seems to be going well for him and has a good size group of people to run around with until the wee hours each morning; and has only hit his head on the ceiling a few times as he adjusts to his lofted bed.  His first class this Morning will be a Chem Lab...seems like a good intro to college course work.

 

A Summer Summary

 

Well that is and unofficial wrap to the summer.  Amy and I have headed back to work and the air has a chill in it.  We stayed busy this summer, but not frantic this summer.  Merrick and I sneaked out to play a round of golf, he was polite at my horrible shots including a drive that went 90 degrees off the tee box and directly into a water hole.  We played best ball, so my shots never really counted, but I did get to feel like I was playing.  Sophia and Ella joined us for a great concert at the winery and a campfire the night before.  It was just great to sit around and chat with them.  Ella landed in Spain yesterday for a quick Euro trip before she goes back to school and Grace has been to Greece and back this summer.  Sophia is working on grad school essays and said she feels a little envious of everyone heading back to school, as this is her first fall without that experience.  Grace and Ella spent some time together roaming around Eau Claire.  Merrick is packing up his room and reading himself to move into the dorms later this week.  We toured LaX and RiverFalls with Grace as she starts to consider where she wants to go to school, and she too is working on her entrance essays and starting the application process for her undergrad studies.

CrissCross LaCrosse

 Merrick is heading off to Lacrosse and we spent the day there getting an his courses registered and being given the finer points of admission.  Both him and Grace had their AP scores come in from the spring exams and ..wow, just wow we could not be more proud of their hard work.  It will certainly pay off from them both in college.  From UW-LaX to Summer LaX it has been a full summer.  Grace has her final summer weekend tourney in Chicago this coming weekend, and has a solid list of scouts their to watch her and chat her up about their respective schools.  We spent a weekend in Racine, complete with Italian dinner tradition, and another in Cincinnati.  The drive to Cincy started at 3 am, and ended at Mark's place about noon.  It was nice to have the extra space and creature comforts of a house rather than a hotel.  The whole Cincy family came to the early game on Saturday and Mark was able to make the whole tournament....and it was a crazy drama filled series between an Ohio team...complete with play stoppage for roster checks on the other team for two ineligible players that were playing on 2 teams in the tourney....extra player in 95ish heat makes a difference.  Then the most psychotic LaX mom hollering at the refs to check the rule book...reciting highlighted portions of the rulebook across the field.  Grace won the game but as Mark and I walked over towards the team and were discussing the game we unknowingly past the psycho...she overheard our comments and then it she unleased an profanity laced tirade for all to hear.  Grace's team advanced through the tournament to the championship game, she scored in each game, but ultimately lost in OT...I told Mark all in all we can not provide a tournament with more drama than this.  Sun scorched and sweated out we hoped into the car about 2:30 pm and drove back home....making as good of time as can be made on a nineish hour drive.