Fantastic feats

 I've mentioned a time or two that Caden has been involved in a football camp over the summer.

He's had a lot of fun.

Last night was their last practice.

Before the practice however they had a Punt, Pass and Kick competition that is sponsored by the NFL.

Caden and one of his buddies signed up for it.

It's an interesting concept.

They lay out a LONG ruler type thing.

The kids stand at the line and start with the pass.

However far off the ruler line the ball hits the ground they measure out to the balls first hitting point - then take that measurement OFF from the total.

For example you threw a ball 5 foot, but it landed 1.5 feet from the line you'd get 3 foot taken of your original score of 5 foot for a total score of 2 feet. They do the tally in inches, but that is the gist of how they score. 

Your total scores from each event are then totaled and whoever got the most inches wins the competition.

Giving it his all for the pass

and the kick.

He punted too, but that pic was a bit of a blur. 

We thought he'd be in the 10-11 year old bracket since he is eleven, but since his birthday is in October and that's when the final competition is held he was moved to the 12 - 13 year old bracket.

Which worked out well - his buddy won the 10-11 bracket and Caden won the 12 -13 bracket!

Both boys were just thrilled to have won!

They'll be moving on to the next stage of competition in October down in LaCrosse, WI.

From there its the state competition and then who knows maybe he'll be getting a trophy during a Packer game. 

Exciting times for sure ;)

Storm clouds

While having a late dinner last night we heard thunder.

Looked out the window and saw some seriously impressive clouds.

I walked out to the field next door to take some pictures.

The rumbles of thunder and cloud to cloud lighting were amazing.

I stood and watched the colors blend and move until the bugs ran me back inside.

After dark the sky really lit up with lightning.

No storms in our area, they went just North of us.

It's much cooler and less humid out today.

Have a good one... 

Week in review:

Saturday again.

What's been going on?

Double header and absolutely the last baseball games earlier in the week.

The boys lost both games, but not by much and even when you loose valuable lessons are learned. 

Football practice. 

Had our first 90* day of the summer, coupled with high humidity it felt like 97*.

Heat like that finally got Colton in the pool.

Dodger was leaning in to get a drink and fell in.

Colton hoisted him out and he wanted to get back in but never got the nerve up to actually jump in.

We took yesterday off work and went to the MOA!

I had never been there before, but everyone else had.

That place is ginormous!

We got there right as it opened and the amount of people wasn't too bad, but by the time we left FIVE hours later it was shoulder to shoulder and HOT - especially on the upper floors. 

I can't imagine working there or even going there on a regular basis. 

Too big for me I guess. 

If you want something - unusual or hard to find this mall has it.

~~

My garden is doing well. 

Peppers galore - both hot and sweet.

I've had several tomato's from the garden already and have a lot more that are close. 

Let me tell you that first tomato sandwich of the season was divine - YUM!

A neighbor of ours who usually has a bountiful garden told me that she doesn't have many tomato's set on her plants and the pepper plants look even worse. She chalks it up to the incredibly wet start to the growing season, but I don't know if that could account for it since my garden got the same amount and it's doing well.

Anyhow.

Today is going to be a hot and humid one.

I mopped the kitchen floor an hour ago and it still looks wet lol

Mowing and swimming are my tasks for the day.

Have a good one :)

Say WHAT?!

Oh Dodger!

No idea how he suddenly got his head through the screen, but once he got it through he started barking happily that he was "IN" the house!

Great.

Now I need a new freaking screen door.

150 years

Otherwise knows as Sesquicentennial. 

Our town celebrated it's 150th year this last weekend.

For four days the town had numerous fun activities, get together's and events.

There were so many folks in town the streets were a continual traffic jam the whole time. 

My favorite part was the parade. 

Colton and Chyann hanging out before it started. 

This parade was even bigger than the Fireman parade that we have over Labor Day.

Caden was in the parade representing youth baseball.

For the first part of the parade the boys sat on the back of the convertible trowing candy, but got tired of that and started walking behind the car.

Their coach had them line up 6, 7, 8.

And look who joined us -

The lovely Krissy is back!

Have a great week!

Sunday AM coffee

I've had the last four days off from work. 

Sure has been a nice break from the rat race.

We went to Rock Fest on Thursday night.

No zip line this year unfortunately, but they had these guys jumping motorcycles and snowmachines. They did amazing tricks in the air that were so intense, I was sure they'd crash.  

Chyann wanted to see Paul McCartney in St Paul this August, but we weren't able to get tickets so she came with us in lieu of that.

Met up with my BFF Sherri there.

We saw Reo Speedwagon and Sammy Hagar.

They both put on great shows!

It was a lot of fun.

 

Check out the blood red moon that we saw that night.

~~~

Last week we had record low high temps - 62* was the record that was set on Monday and tomorrow we'll be in the 90's with high humidity. I'm looking forward to the heat. 

However with the cooler temps Chyann and I were able to ride horses quite a bit. 

The bugs are just terrible right now though. 

I sucked in a few last night - yuck.

Later :)

Super fun

Did you get the chance to see the super moon last Saturday night?

It rained soo much Saturday that the baseball tournament was cancelled for the day and I figured we wouldn't be able to see it with all the clouds, but we were able to get a few glimpses of it before we went to bed. Pretty cool.

Sunday the tournament was back on. 

The boys played three games.

Winning the first and second easily.

Caden up to bat - 

hanging out at first - 

stealing to second, then racing to third on an over thrown ball - 

Waiting for his chance to get home - 

and sliding in!

They lost the Championship game with a score of 4 to 1, really held the other team well. 

The boys took home the second place trophy.

It was a really fun tournament. Everyone learned a lot and gained some valuable experience. 

Considering these boys never played together before this tournament they were amazing.

Last game for them is on the 22nd and we'll finally put this season to bed. 

~~

Lot's of stuff going on.

Tonight is Rock Fest 2014.

Should be fun. 

~~

later :)

GoGo Red and other fun

 The work week can be so long, especially when coming off a three day holiday weekend.

They can however be made to seem shorter when you go to a wine and painting class one night with your lady friends.

The event was hosted by the same folks who put on the Derby party and apparently they are going to be having a Pottery and wine class soon. 

None of us claim to have any artistic abilities, but add a little wine and we didn't do too bad.

I don't think they anticipated the community turnout, but were quite pleased with how many folks showed up to have fun. 

The instructor is teacher at the high school. He came around to each table and give pointers or suggestions for color occasionally.

They asked us to donate one of our "master pieces" to hang on their wall.

Hard to choose right? lol

Now that looks like some talent to me.

Looking forward to our next outing.

We always have so much fun.

My absolute favorite wine of all time now is GoGo Red.

It is amazing.

Made at Cannon River Winery in MN. 

We'd love to take a winery tour there. 

If you are any kind of a red wine fan this is one you have to try.

~~~

Caden was invited to play on an all-star baseball team. 

They are playing in a weekend long tournament in Bruce.

Their first game playing together was last night and they won 17 - 0. 

Every boy on this new team is a fantastic athlete.

Today's games should be exciting.

~~~

Sigh.

Life is good.

You just have to know how to appreciate it - even when you are knee deep in shit.

Hot water and other fun

I started yesterday in the kitchen.

Found this fantastic recipe at Pioneer Woman cooks. 

It's easy and a great alternative to actual cinnamon rolls. 

The recipe makes two delicious loaves. 

After getting the loaves rising, Chyann and I went out for another morning ride. 

The fields we rode through didn't get planted this year for whatever reason and the weeds were tall which apparently made for good bird nesting. We spooked birds left and right as we rode.

Scotch didn't care for all the freaking birds I tell you.

Surprisingly Jenny didn't mind them at all. 

Even saw a deer.

All the birds had Scotch wanting to jog most of the ride. 

Fun, fun.

Corn in a field close to the house, not quite knee high by the 4th of July. 

Most of the field was waterlogged/washed out and the corn was super stunted, only 3 -4 inches high.

Sure made for some fun riding though.

Got a belt for the lawn mower and spent the remainder of the day mowing. 

Then jumped in the pool to cool off - felt good.

Should run the weed whacker today, but don't know if I will since last night the freaking hot water heater went out and flooded the basement.

GRRRRRRRRRRRR

I imagine today will be spent looking for a replacement.

sigh

later

Independence post

Happy 4th!

YAY for the 4th falling on a Friday = 3 day weekend!

Had a fantastic horse ride with Chyann this AM before it got hot. 

We went through an area that was so wet still that the horses sunk four inches into mud and muck. 

For the first real ride we've been out on this year they did great. 

Course we've got to walk down the highway some to get out to the trail and we saw Krissy's boyfriend driving by.  He was on his way to the cities to pick her up! She is back in the land of milk and honey after almost a years absence. Can't wait to see her! Hope it's soon. 

My big plan for this holiday weekend was mow the freaking jungle that is my lawn. 

Unfortunately that didn't work out like I planned.

Need some new belts. 

GRRRRRR

Anywho..

Caden is doing a flag football camp. 

They do drills, learn plays and have a lot of fun. 

Caught a ball just short of making a touchdown.

After he made a touchdown. 

Some of those sixth graders are giants compared to Caden. 

Caden and his best buddy between games. 

Saw the best bumper sticker ever this week too:

Laughed my ass off lol

Not sure what all this weekend holds.

Hoping for more riding, seeing some friends and new belts :)

later alligator