Soccer in AZ

Austen and I ventured to Arizona almost two weekends ago for him to play the second half of his national league games. They played the first half of the league games in Florida at the beginning of December and came away from those contests with a win and two ties. 

This time, they secured two wins and a tie. Still undefeated but with lots of ties on the table, they will have to beat a tough Iowa team in an upcoming local match to secure an automatic bid to Nationals in Florida in July. 

Celebrating after Austen Scores (he's in middle)

With a new coach (Austen's old Wizard coach) at the helm and lots of changes, I think this team has a lot of potential to get that automatic bid to Nationals, and they have more time now to figure out which players are going to get them there (there are 28 players on our Elite Team roster - way too many!). 

The first two games in AZ were uneventful. The first was a forfeit by a team who had withdrawn from the PRO league (which is virtually unheard of but they were getting killed). So our team had a friendly scrimmage against a team from New Jersey that the league had set up. And what a joke that was. The boys killed them 9-0 and that was with having them add another player on the field and offering them our starting goalie. Austen scores two goals in that game but I don't even count those. 

Second game has the boys playing a Utah team. They handle them easily with a 5-0 shutout. Austen takes a PK for his teammate (scores) and contributes an assist. For some reason they have him playing more defensively in this game as a double 6 so he doesn't see very much action at the top. 

The last game they play the first place team. Austen starts out in the double 6 spot again. Not sure why they are playing so defensively. He does manage to work his way up through the midfield and into the box and gets launched by another player after he passes the ball which results in him writhing in pain on the sidewalk behind the goal for a few minutes. He eventually gets up and limps over to the PK spot to take the PK which results from the foul. He makes it and they are up 1-0. His team scores another beautiful goal in the second half and really are the better team that day at least during the first 75 minutes. But, with 15 minutes left, they panic. They give up a PK. Now it's 2-1. Then they give up a corner which results in another goal and they just couldn't hang on. 2-2 final. 

So close but yet not enough to close the deal. I think another parent said it best, this is the time to learn that you can't give away games like that instead of during a National Championship. They saw an older team in their club do that this summer during their National Championship final game, and I'm sure those kids will remember that kind of heartbreak forever. 

In between all of the soccer games, there were also team walks, team dinners and team bonding at the Escape Room as well as presentations on healthy eating, mandatory curfews and rest times, and game study sessions too. 

The weather was cool. The airport rental car situation sucked (too far to return a rental car - Turo only in the future when I have to rent from Sky Harbor). The flight home was uneventful (after just making it due to a delayed game and a very far drive to the rental car return line).  But looking forward to seeing these boys develop and how far they can go! Austen also got permission to finally order his Captain's band as one of two Captains for this team after two and 1/2 years of serving in this role. He can't wait to wear it next time he plays. 

Escape Room

2007 Galaxy Elite

Second goal celebration (#48 is Austen)

First night sustenance

The Spelling Bee

The very first day back at school from winter break, Hailey's school decided that it was a good time to conduct the all school spelling bee. Grades 3-5, therefore, each held a class spelling bee. 

Now, we did know that the spelling bee was going to be sometime after winter break but we did not know when. I had printed out the words for her prior to the break (never did this for the other two as Hailey is really a stronger speller) and I think she studied them one night and Tom quizzed her. 

So I was surprised when she came home from school the first day back and declared that she got second in her class spelling bee. "What did this mean?" I asked her. "Nothing," she said, "because only the top kid in each class from Grades 3-5 advance." We heard nothing more about it until the day before the spelling bee when I got an email from one of the Chairs of the Spelling Bee asking me to confirm her attendance at the all school spelling bee the next day. Of course our schedule was slammed that evening but I did mention it to her and when she heard the words that she would have to go up on stage she crumpled over terrified saying she couldn't do it. The shy kid who got tested because they thought she couldn't talk at Montessori when she was 2 returned. She clearly was scared. We also hadn't studied at all since we didn't think she was participating so I gave her a pass. 

Little did she know that two girls in her Brownie Troop (different 3rd grade classes) also qualified and were going to do it. "Aren't you scared?" she asked them. "No," they both said. I think that made her rethink being so scared. Actually, it turns out that one of those 3rd graders won the whole school spelling bee and will advance to the district spelling bee. 

"Hailey," I said, "You get a free pass this year but I want you to work toward getting on that stage next year. I understand your terror but sometimes in order to grow, you have to push yourself a little outside of your comfort zone." 

She has a whole year to get there but hopefully by this time next year she will be up on that stage and we'll have a whole cheering section just for her! 

Big Sky 2023

Skiing at Big Sky in Montana has been on my bucket list for more than 20 years now. However, it was still relatively new back then with not a lot of development. Even now, you see a lot of construction happening and everything is pretty new. 

So last September, I happened to come across crazy cheap tickets into Bozeman, Montana during Martin Luther King weekend and decided to finally book that trip. 

On top of the world!

We left early Saturday morning. I had hoped to maybe snowmobile in Yellowstone that day but by the time we arrived, eat, pick up our skis and lift tickets there just wasn't enough time to squeeze that in too so I guess we'll just have to come back. 

The flights were rather uneventful but the Bozeman airport was quaint and cozy just like a log cabin with fireplaces burning. Getting our 'Turo" car from the airport was easy and we ventured into Bozeman for a quick bit to eat before the hour or so drive to Big Sky. 

Our house we rented was gorgeous. New. Clean. Ski in and ski out. We always say the house makes the trip and it's so true. We eat a lot of meals in and usually dinners out when we can so it's nice to have a very nice place to hang out and do that. The house had a hot tub too which is one of my kids' requests after a hard day of skiing. The kids picked their rooms. Hailey chose from the built in bunk beds in the kids rec room downstairs with very plush bean bag chairs and a huge tv. All the bathroom floors were heated. The kitchen was stocked and we were off to a nice long weekend after we filled our bellies at a local pizza establishment called Ousel and Spur Pizza Co. 

The next day, we woke early to get a head start on the skiing. However, putting on all that gear and helping the kids took at least 30 minutes. So we didn't get out the door until about 10:30am. Peyton had a meltdown because after putting the boots on she couldn't feel her feet and collapsed in tears. A little adjusting of her long underwear helped her blood circulate a little better and we were off. 

Big Sky is well...big. It's one of the largest resorts in the U.S. so we had a lot of terrain to ski that weekend and we didn't even get to most of it but we did cover a big portion. Hailey (who isn't the biggest fan of skiing) was a trooper most of the day. She was a little slower than the rest of us but she did great until we hit some blue runs (which were hard). She was terrified of going down this one hill on the way back to our place and lost it on us shouting, "You're trying to kill me! I'm your daughter and you're trying to kill me!" It was all we could do to contain our laughter which irritated her even more. We did get her down the run eventually after losing some skis. 

That night we went to Copper Brewing Company at The Wilson Hotel in Big Sky for dinner and discussed the possibility of Hailey going to ski school the next day. The big kids did not want to slow down for Hailey and we all wanted to ski more of the mountain than Hailey could handle. So after a few calls to ski school and knowing they had space available, Hailey agreed to spend the next day there. 

Ski school started at 9:30am so Tom and I drove to drop her off since the other two were slow moving and weren't ready to start their skiing day. Hailey was looking forward to more breaks, lunch at the lodge with her group and skiing with kids at her own level so she didn't have to do anything hard. I was a little worried for her because we do help her a lot as the 3rd child. But she gave me a wave and off we went to get Austen and Peyton and start our day of skiing at 10am. 

We got a lot of runs in as it wasn't too crowded. Big Sky has these amazing newer lifts that look like roller coaster seats. They were heated and it was snowing so you pulled a "bubble" down to protect you from the cold. The skiing was good with the fresh snow. Visibility was tough at the higher elevations but the runs were long and the views were amazing. We did get sidetracked on one of the runs and accidentally went down a blue run with moguls. Austen and I were okay but Peyton ended up launching herself into a pile of snow. Luckily it was soft. She took off her skis and walked herself out of those moguls. Tom happened to be doing a black run next to us and was wondering why it was taking us so long. Good thing Hailey wasn't with us was all I could think.

We skied until 2:30pm and then wanted to start making our way back toward Hailey which would take us a good 30 minutes. Peyton was spent from skiing and we took her down a challenging blue where she then declared that she was done with skiing. We dropped her at the house on the way back and ventured on to pick up Hailey. I was a little apprehensive about what she was going to say when we saw her. But she said she had a great day! She did have two crazy boys in her group (Hailey hates crazy kids). She liked the breaks. (The hot chocolate was gross. Lunch was good and she chose the chicken tenders. Her instructor was a girl named Emily whom she liked). She showed us her newfound skills (making better "S" turns rather than using "pizza" to ski all the way down the hill.) You could just tell she was more comfortable. She asked if she was going to go to ski school again tomorrow which was a good sign that she really enjoyed herself but we were headed home the next day. I think she'll want to do ski school again though if she has the choice over skiing with us. More kids her speed!

After returning to our townhouse, returning our skis, hot tubbing and doing a little shopping, we made our way to a fun barbecue place called Riverhouse. We ate and then it was home to pack and get some sleep before our early flight home the next morning. 

Rarely are there places that I want to travel back to because I'm all about the next adventure but I have to say that Big Sky is definitely a place that I would visit again - it did not disappoint! 

Beautiful bridge on the way to our ski in/ski out place

Downtown Big Sky w/ a wolf

Ready to ski!

Dinner at Ousel and Spur Pizza Co.

The view from our place

Austen Turns 16!

Look out people, Austen is now driving! He turned 16 last Wednesday and went straight to the DMV after school. Unfortunately, the great state of Illinois failed to process his certificate of driving school completion despite it being submitted 7 months ago! So said driving school had to resubmit the

documentation and then we had to wait for the state to process it. Alas, exactly one week after he turned 16, we were back at the DMV (which despite an appointment still took us 1 hour and 20 minutes to get through). He passed and he’s been driving ever since! He especially likes that he doesn’t have to take the bus to school anymore!

He passed!

Anyway, back to his actual birthday. After a full day of school and the failed first DMV attempt (their issue not ours), Austen came home, did a little homework, ate his requested Chipotle dinner and blew out his candles on his cookie skillet (another request) before diving into his presents.

He scored a Zach Lavine Bulls Jersey, some new bathing suits, weights, clothes including Lululemon and Vineyard Vines as well as a new keychain for his new car key (used car/Tom’s old one). He received gift cards, footballs and more from friends and relatives too. His big gift from us was floor seats to a Chicago Bulls game where he brought two friends (he chose that over skybox with more tickets!). 

He ended the evening doing what he loves - playing soccer (practice). 

And that is how he celebrated his 16 years! I think it was a memorable bday and if it wasn’t he can just read about it later to refresh his memory! 

Making the most of "16" at a Bulls game - courtside

Presents are still lots of fun!

The requested birthday dessert - cookie skillet!

In Holiday Break News...

We made the most of the holiday break season, heading to Michigan for a few days where we saw the lights at the Meijer Gardens and their light show (which wasn't very Christmasy). They did have some really cool Christmas trees adorned with each country's holiday traditions so those were fun to learn about. 

Ski Season!

We also spent the day at Bittersweet Ski Resort which is about 30 minutes from our house in Michigan and the perfect resort for the kids to get comfortable with skiing especially before our trip to Big Sky. Everyone was excited to ski (except for Hailey). She likes the idea of skiing and the going on an airplane and staying at a cool place but the actual work of skiing she does not. I think she's still terrified of the chairlifts after she forgot to get off that one year when we were in Breckenridge. Anyway, we had a decent time that day. The weather wasn't too cold and there was little wind but the lines were sooo long because it was such a perfect day. We still got in more than a few runs though - enough to get a little practice in before Montana. 

This break, we also took the kids to see the Chicago Bulls game. Peyton had been asking for awhile so given that the Bulls tickets aren't cheap these days (and they aren't even that good), we purchased some tickets for after Xmas so we could see the Bulls play the Utah Jazz. The first half was exciting but then the Bulls got beat bad. Still it was a fun experience for Peyton and Hailey who had never been to a Bulls game before. 

Soon it was time for Austen to head back to school - Jan. 2 due to school construction which had them beginning the school year late. So it was just the girls and me for a few days before they started again on Thursday. We managed to hit one of Peyton's favorite donut shops in Western Springs - BBs. Went to the orthodontist (Peyton) to see if she's any closer to getting braces (they think summer as she still has 3 more teeth to lose). Exchanged some Christmas gifts and enjoyed a quiet few days inside due to some torrential rain. 

This year, everyone asked me where we were headed after Xmas. We don't normally go somewhere after Xmas. I mean we have a few times but next year, if the kids collectively have a longer break, we need to head somewhere warm! Fingers crossed when those calendars come out in February!

Meijer Gardens Outside Light Show

Meijer Gardens

Jury is Out on Skiing for Hailey

BB's Donut Shop

Bulls Game!

Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2022. It was a good year filled with some fun trips (Hawaii), some great sports (soccer and baseball for Austen) and cheer and swim (for the girls) and paddle tennis (for Tom and me) as well as some fun little memories like our many dinners at Ruth Lake together eating on the terrace and watching the golfers or heading to Michigan for most of the summer whenever we could steal away for a few days or a long weekend. 

Since we were home for Peyton's birthday the day before New Year's Eve, we decided not to head back up to Michigan (we had been there a few days after Xmas - skiing and seeing some lights at the Meijer Gardens). So that left us all in a quandry about what to do that evening. The kids were painstakingly split on what they wanted to do. Some were mad we weren't going to Michigan. Others wanted to stay home and play games. So Tom and I decided. We played games for the better part of the afternoon with the kids, went to church at 5pm then to a nice dinner at Ruth Lake where they were serving a three-course prix fixed meal with the tables decked out for NYE. After, we took the kids home and then Tom and I headed out to our friends' house for a few hours to ring in the new year. It was a nice low key event and just what we needed to usher out 2022 and welcome in 2023. 

Looking forward to our many trips in 2023, lots of soccer, Michigan time and hanging out with our friends and family. Cheers to a happy and healthy 2023 with all of you! 

Austen watching the Michigan vs. TCU football game during dinner