bits and pieces

Here are some bits and pieces from the last couple of months that I don't want to leave out:

 Lydia and I had a girls weekend that involved a lot of ice cream, popcorn, and movies.

Brett and I took a field trip to help Papa and his friend make maple syrup - from tree to jar...

 ...to birthday pancakes!

 Bryan's birthday wish: an overnight trip to Milwaukee for a Brewer's game!

 

 Another snowstorm, another snow day!

 A quick trip to visit grandma!

 Reggie was awarded "Titan Top 10" at his wrestling banquet.

Reggie's wrestling wrap-up

It's been a long, hard season with high highs and low lows.  This entry is mostly about the highs.🙂

Let's wrestle!

Tough day at Badgerland Nationals, but at least he's got his brother and cousin cheering him on!

Hands-down, toughest high school tournament of the season.  First-place wrestler not pictured.

Reggie final placed 1st and Bryan's hometown tournament.  Guess Reggie scared off the other wrestlers in his bracket!

This win at the regional tournament guaranteed a spot at the NYWA state tournament.

Reggie scored 2 on his toughest opponent of the season.  The rest of the match had no highlights!

2nd Place at NYWA Regionals

Can you tell Reggie doesn't like second place?  The kid who placed 1st would go on to win the state tournament.

Reggie won against the 3rd place kid.  At state, they would face each other again with a different outcome.

NYWA State Tournament - Reggie would advance to the third round with eight wrestlers remaining.  Only the top 6 wrestlers place.

Reggie with Uncle Dave and cousin Audri at state.

Season Stats:

45 Matches
30 Wins
14 Pins
1 Tech Fall (winning by 15 points or more)
7 Major Decisions (winning by 8 points or more)
1 Sudden Victory (Score is tied at the end of the 3 round so it goes into "sudden victory" where the first point scored wins the match. [2:58 in video])

spring break part 3

Thursday morning was the only morning we didn't pack up and check out of our hotel, since we were staying there one more night.  Bryan had learned on Monday that you could arrive at the spring training three hours early and watch the minor leaguers train on the practice fields.  So he took the boys over early.  They got autographs from the Brewer's first-round draft pick.  Who?  Don't ask me!

Lydia and I spent the morning with my parents and we met up for the afternoon game.  The weather was finally warm and sunny.  We sat in real seats along the first baseline this time.  I will never buy a hotdog from a vender selling in the stands again.  The kettle corn was delicious, tho!

After the game, we had some time for swimming and really good Tex-Mex.  Our flight home was the next day.  It was less eventful than our flight there.

Spring fever came back with us!

spring break part 2

We were in a winter weather advisory in Flagstaff and worse weather was in the forecast, so we got an early start and hoped for the best as we drove further north (and lower elevation) to the Grand Canyon.  Thanks to Lydia's Every Kid in a Park pass, we entered the park for free.

We arrived just as the visitor center was opening. The park was really easy to navigate between walking the trails and using the free shuttle system.  Throughout the day, our views of the canyon varied, as did the weather, from clear skies to rain and snow, and finally, more snow.  We didn't make it all the way to Hermit's Rest before we turned back, collected our junior ranger badges, and called it a day.

And just in time.  That night, we ended up getting 3-5 inches of very wet snow, and we were very happy to stay at a hotel with a nice INDOOR pool (and outdoor pool - the kids wanted to go in it, and they would not have been alone, but Mom and Dad were not interested in supervising outside!)

Per our itinerary, the next morning we drove back into the park with the intention of driving east of the south rim visitor center to the Desert View Watchtower, but unfortunately the road was closed due to the weather.  Funny, the roads were just another day in our world!


Having done and seen what we wanted to around the visitor center the day before, we decided to get an early start toward our next destination: Sonoma.  My mom had recommended checking out Sonoma and Montezuma Castle, which had not been on our original hit list, and I'm glad she did.  The best part of this little detour on our way back to Phoenix was definitely the drive itself.  AMAZING!  And I realize now, I have no pictures of it, so you will just have to take my word for it.  In Sonoma, we walked too far from the public parking for overpriced, undercooked pizza.  But the sun was shining and the views were stunning.

Montezuma Castle was a fun 60-minutes-or-less stop for stretching our legs, getting some fresh air, and seeing something cool.  It was free, thanks to Lydia's Every Kid in a Park pass, and the kids got another stamp in their National Parks Passports.  We decided not to do the junior ranger program.

We were back in Phoenix around check-in time and the kids had fun eating lobby popcorn and playing this game for a long time!  Finally Grandma and Grandpa made it through rush hour traffic to join us for dinner.  The boys experienced Fudrucker's for the first time, and I'm pretty sure it was the highlight of their trip.

(Sidenote: I'm also pretty sure it was the milkshake that was responsible for tipping the scale -literally - for Reggie, causing him to compete in the 90 lb weight bracket rather than 85 lb at the district, regional, and state competitions this year.  He is consistently back to 84 lbs now! 😊)