Retreat backlash

We had a great weekend in Suncadia with our church. The kids had a lot of sugar and little sleep, which means tonight is less than optimal. I should have seen it in their eyes yesterday, the dulling effect of exhaustion was clearly visible:

 

But the had a blast. As always, the highlights were the “no-talent show” and swimming. Kenzie and Emily read a poem. Kenzie was in a play and sang a song. Mason showed off some karate moves. Oh, and Cindy showed off her juggling (with just a bit of pressure to do so).

Dirty ball

Note layer of dirt around the collar and inside the hat…Cindy was less than impressed with his hat-digging technique.

Peace Duck

Notice the message here:

Dear Mason,

I am sorry for punching you in the forehead.

Love, Sister

 

She got so frustrated with him this morning that she close-fist punched him in the eyebrow, so hard that at 10:00 tonight she was still complaining that her knuckle felt like there were 200 needles in it. (Yes, I followed-up with a short training session on how to throw a punch without breaking your hand, but that’s not the point.)

Kenzie has really been doing great lately, trying to take the high road and make good choices. I think she just lost it for a minute. She feels horrible…so much that she sent him a duck. But, note that she still insists that he call her “sister,” never MacKenzie.

You can be sorry, but no need to lose the title.

One season ends, another begins

Hard to believe, but Mason’s first basketball season is over. He had a blast and improved markedly during the season. Again this game he scored 6 baskets. This shot was taken after one of them. I love the expression of pure happiness. He loves this sport. The 10:00 game ended at 10:55.

Then we went about four blocks to his first baseball practice, which started at 11:00. He has coach Mike again this year, who is a friend and is great with the kids. They practiced throwing, running, catching and a little bit of hitting. Mason, of course, tries to throw it as hard as possible in any circumstance. He was throwing with Coach Mike, standing about 15 feet away and launched one at him, receiving a stern “too hard” warning back. Mason backed off and started to take things a bit more seriously…okay, just a bit.

This was his favorite drill, though…Coach Mike stands as target practice.

After one game and one practice, he was the first one in the house. We found him like this, about ten feet inside the door. We thought he was just worn out, but after discovering the fever, he’s officially sick! He spent most of the day in bed, but somehow has revived enough to go to a movie tonight. 

The reader

Mason has been “reading” at church for quite some time by memorizing the lines. This time even though he had it memorized he took his paper up there to let everyone know that he could be reading it.

red and weird

 

Bank shot

Mason scored 5 or 6 baskets today in his game, including this “turn around, out of bound, double dribble, leg kick” bank shot. In this league, dribbling is “encouraged.”

 

“May I borrow your phone?”

And later what we find…

Blue and white belt

3rd Grade Concert

Kenzie is in the far back on the left, behind the squirrely kid.

Kenzie had a speaking part, which she took very seriously. Of course!

Green or Red Apples

We might not be 100% accurate on the facts, but we say it with conviction.

 

Practicing

I’m very sure this is way better than Cindy could ever do…

San Fran for 1

I went to San Francisco for work. Cindy met me down there. I had to work all weekend, but Cindy took the liberty of texting me pictures of fun on the pier! Not complaining though…it was snowing back home. 

Reading

Mason has finally begun to understand that reading is fun!

Sleepy baby

Siamese twins

With their hair braided together

Victoria

We spent a weekend in Victoria with Casey, Liz and the boys. It probably wasn’t the best timing, given that it was February and there was snow on the ground, but the kids had fun. The pool and the bug zoo with cockroaches  were the highlights. I do believe that we could have accomplished the same benefits with the Day’s Inn in Fife. Let’s just say that we’re looking forward to Hawaii in a few months!

Kenzie brought her friend Emilie. The girls got along great. Both Kenzie and Mason are becoming good swimmers…just in time for Hawaii! Oh, did I mention that already?

 

 

Kenzie loved all the crawly creatures. Mason eventually warmed up to them. I even held a tarantula and scorpion. Eek.

This is the millipede unibrow. Gross

 

 

Meet the author

A former coworker of Cindy’s, Theresa Bateman, is an author and visited Kenzie’s school. She has published over 20 books, and, as Kenzie reminded her, had over 900 rejections.

Blue nails