College Visits for Austen

Seems like just yesterday he was at the Montessori Academy of Chicago for his infant, toddler and early elementary years and now we are researching colleges and getting prepared to send our first born off to school. 

How bittersweet that truly is. So excited for him to experience college and the fun and lifelong friends to be had from there. To date, it's one of my favorite times of my life. However, I realize he may never truly live with us again for an extended period of time. But we do have time left now so we are taking advantage of family vacations when we can and taking him on many adventures to visit colleges and do soccer ID camps too. 

In February, he went to see University of Michigan for the second time and attend their college soccer ID Camp. That visit solidified that that school is his #1 choice. He would forsake all others if he could get in there. Total long shot for him given the high school he's applying from and all the smart kids apply there and they only take a certain number from each school. I told him he could transfer to our beach house in Michigan for Senior Year and then he'd surely get in (since Michigan caters to in state residents). He said no to that though. Anyway, he loves that school. 

After Michigan, he flew to Boston to do another soccer ID camp at Boston College. He got a personal tour from my aunt's friend's grandson who plays club soccer for BC so that was wonderful and a great perspective for Austen. He liked BC too although not quite as much as he did Michigan. He did like that we have family out there too so I know he'd be well taken care of when he was away. 

Just last weekend, he had some soccer games up in the Milwaukee and Madison area (Wisc) so we made a weekend out of it. He played in his first game on Saturday morning then it was off to see Marquette. That visit confirmed that Marquette is not on his list (way too urban for him). From there we headed west to Madison where he had set up another personal tour with another freshman he knows at University of Wisconsin at Madison. Now, when I visited that school when I was 17, I did not like it at all. It was on my list and then came off my list after my visit. Way too urban for me (and it wasn't even that urban)! So I was interested to see what Austen would think. We visited the Union, hit the bookstore and took a driving and mini walking tour before he met up with his friend and was gone for a good few hours. The consensus, he loved it! Kind of surprised but it was prettier and less urban than I remembered. So that's still on his list (for business) and not playing soccer or playing club soccer. 

So he's figuring it out. Gaining some clarity on what he likes and what he doesn't like. He has time. Cast a wide net everyone says. The admission process is a crap shoot these days and of course I know there's more than one perfect fit for every kid. What a ride though and I intend to enjoy the process as much as he is although it's a lot of work for him and us! Good luck, Austen! 

Austen and his teammate, Jimmy, at University of Wisconsin-Madison

Soccer ID Camp at Michigan

Eating Sushi at Boston College visit

Hailey Needs a Lesson in Playing Hard to Get

Hailey is all about the boys. She has a lot of friends who are just boys but ever since she was little she becomes obsessed with one certain boy and she can't get enough of him. 

So for the past month her crush has been a boy named Hudson. Well, Hudson is supposedly "dating" one of her friends. But don't worry, she assures me that her friend is breaking up with him so soon she can move in on him. What?!

Anyway, lately she's been having me pack mints in her lunch. They are not allowed to share food due to allergies but the mints are small enough for them to squirrel away in their pockets and divvy up to their favorite friends. I guess this is the 4th grade currency right now because Hailey almost had a melt down when I told her I was not putting mints in her lunch because she was coming home with almost her entire lunch. Well, truthfully it was only the healthy stuff she was coming home with as she would eat her chips and cookies but her sandwich and fruit were still in her lunchbox. I withheld the mints for one day and she quickly learned to eat all of her lunch or she wouldn't get mints. 

So back to the mint saga. One of the reasons she liked getting mints was because Hudson always asked her for a mint. She came home one day and shared that she had given Hudson a mint and then he immediately went over to his girlfriend and asked her to a fake prom. In Hailey's words, she was "pissed." Well, I said, stop giving him mints. 

Hailey: What? Why?

Me: Because he's totally knows you like him and will give him mints and he'll still keep his girlfriend.

Hailey: So what should I do?

Me: Next time he asks you for a mint you tell him to get a mint from his girlfriend.

Hailey: He will say she doesn't have any.

Me: Then you say, it's time then for a new girlfriend and then you turn and walk away.

Hailey: Oh, okay, I'll try it tomorrow.

She does and she comes home mad at me. 

Hailey: Mom! Hudson won't even talk to me now because I wouldn't give him a mint.

Me: Good I say. Keep doing what you're doing. He'll come around. 

Two days later, she breaks and runs up to him and gives him a mint before he leaves school early for a golf tournament. The girl has not learned anything! He'll never break up with her friend now. But, I'm sure she'll be on to a new guy anyway in a few months. 

Peyton Dances the Night Away at Fortnightly

In 8th grade, it's a right of passage in our area for the kids to partake in a dance program called Fortnightly. The boys dress in slacks, dress shirts, shoes and ties while the girls wear nice dresses, heels and white gloves. 

Austen did not want to partake but luckily some of his friends were not the first born children so all of their parents strongly encouraged all of them to do it. We signed him up and he was reluctant to go but actually once there said it was fun (aside from the dressing up part). He said it definitely helped starting high school and being thrust right into the Homecoming dance. 

So when they opened registration this year, we were actually in Australia and all four of the sessions filled up fast so I had to put Peyton's name on the waitlist but she did eventually get in which was great because she definitely was looking forward to this part of 8th grade after seeing her brother do it. 

The boys and girls are paired off and the girls must enter and exit the ballroom on the arm of a young man. During the 8 sessions (every Friday night) they learn various dances from salsa to the waltz to ballroom. They also switch partners every five minutes or so, therefore, the boys and girls get to dance with a lot of different people and also learn the art of small talk with the opposite sex while they wait for the dance to begin. 

It's fun for us to see her get all dressed up every Friday night (and sometimes go out to dinner after with her friends). Parents also must sign up to chaperone so we'll get to see her in action next week and may have to stand in if there's a boy (or a girl) missing and the numbers are off. 

Anyway, what a great tradition for our kids to continue and a fun experience for them to have.