Springtime Smiles

Although we had little down time this past spring, we all tried to make the best of it and enjoy all of the little moments with family and friends. Here is a photo compilation of some of those moments throughout the spring.

As life began to return to "normal" with my work schedule, Jeff and I always enjoyed sneaking away for a lunch together at one of our favorite spots. On other times, as I was holed up in my home office, he would take the kids out to theirs. Family time together always brings out all the smiles!

Towards the end of spring, Kaitlynn was invited to watch one of her sweet friends perform in a local production of The Lion King musical. We were happy to attend and cheer Evan on, who just happened to be the funniest performer of the afternoon. It was a great show!

On another occasion, Kaitlynn was able to enjoy a fun play date with one of her all-time besties, Lily. They never get bored and always have so much fun together, even when their older brothers tag along! 

As it began to sink in that Kaitlynn was now representing her junior high as a future cheerleader, all of the spirit gear began to pour in. I've never seen so many color-coordinating and Timberwolf-themed items - all donning her name! It was so fun for Kaitlynn to be a part of the new group, and she was really enjoying the experience so far.

Of course, not everything in the springtime brought out smiles - especially when covered by the ever-present face masks. The Covid protocols were still in full swing throughout the end of the kids' school year, and the contact tracing required us to get tested every so often. When one of Connor's baseball teammates found out he was positive for Covid, the entire team had to get tested to be on the safe side. We were SO ready for all the Covid mess to end, and it seemed like the future was looking brighter with each new day.

Springtime at Home

Amidst our busy schedule of spring activities, we definitely tried to soak in the rare times we were at home. Here's another miscellaneous photo compilation from some of our activities at home during the springtime. 

When we managed to find the time to be at home together, you could often find many of us outside enjoying the uncharacteristically mild weather outdoors. After the winter freeze ruined most of Jeff's hard work in his backyard, he slowly began building it all back starting with some hefty (and hopefully hearty!) new palm trees. They are the perfect addition to the outdoor fun while hanging out and enjoying some pool time. We also managed to finally get some additional patio furniture for lounging - it only took us 2 years, ha!

Another home project that took us 2 years was the addition of some curtains in the living room. With 20+ foot ceilings, this was no small feat. It was fascinating to watch the installers climb the scaffolding to get the job done. I love how it turned out!

As far as my spring went, it was mostly consumed with work. I began a new project working from home in late April, and I soon found myself consumed with client Zoom meetings from sun up to sun down. Although it was nice being able to work from home, it began to feel even harder than being on the road with my previous project. I was hoping this was just a temporary situation and that things would improve in the coming weeks. Only time would tell!

More Fun with Neighbors

Going through my photos, I found a series of pics with Kaitlynn and her neighborhood besties. Some weeks they are so busy with school and activities that they hardly have time together, but others, these girls seem to be together 24/7. Their favorite things to do include various outdoor games but they also seem to be fairly obsessed with their Roblox video game (insert eye roll). They also love to celebrate all of their big events and birthdays together.

But probably their favorite activity of all is when we take an impromptu trip to the store to let them shop and pick out various items of their choice. They can spend over an hour walking around, checking out various departments, and finding all kinds of cool and random things to spend their money on. During our last outing, we had a car full of these sweet neighbors and they had a blast buying treats and goodies at Target. Love the smiles so much!

Connor's 15th Birthday

Connor turned 15 in early May, and boy did it sneak up on us. This man-child continues to grow and change so much that I feel like I hardly recognize him some days. Sniff sniff

As was the continuing theme for 2021, Connor's birthday flew completely under the radar. Between his commitments for school, summer baseball, and upcoming finals/AP exams, this boy was too busy to celebrate properly. Luckily we were able to squeeze in a quick birthday dinner one weekend with the family and one of his buddies at Connor's favorite spot, Texas Roadhouse. I snapped a quick photo of Kevin and Jeff toasting the occasion, and Connor and Sam stole their beers for the same type of toast photo. I had to promise Sam's mom that we weren't letting the boys drink beer, HA!

Despite how busy and rushed Connor's birthday was, we still managed a few gifts and of course, his favorite homemade chocolate cake. It's a true labor of love and has always been Connor's favorite cake since we tried it back in Dubai. Connor appears to have some competition now Jeff and Kaitlynn are enjoying it more and more, though.

 

On Connor's actual birthday, I woke up super early to make a full breakfast for him - egg and bacon breakfast tacos with his all time favorite awesome rolls. He was a happy boy!

At age 15, Connor is 6'1" in height with seemingly more growth to come. His birthday was right around the time that he matched his older brother Collin in height, and he is now gunning for Kevin who is 6'2". As a freshman at Katy High School, Connor was having a stellar year with a super tough schedule while also juggling both basketball and baseball commitments for the freshman/sophomore teams. Two of his high school classes were actually college Advanced Placement courses, and in fact, the morning after his birthday was his very first official AP test to determine if he would gain college credit for the course. (He found out later in the summer that he had earned the highest score possible for BOTH tests! Awesome!)

While most kids celebrate their 15th birthday with a scheduled trip to the Department of Public Safety office for their driver's permit, Connor was showing very little interest in that. He seemed a bit intimidated by the whole process of learning to drive as well as actually driving, and I sure wasn't in any hurry to push it. 

Later on his birthday, Connor had a late baseball game and ended up having a pretty rough outing which made for a bad ending to his special day. It's tough to see your kids go through their struggles and learn how to accept defeat gracefully. We're working on these life lessons in our household these days, primarily when it comes to mental toughness. It's a lesson we all still need in countless areas!

No matter the ups and downs, there's nothing a little homemade chocolate cake can't cure. I'll likely need to remember that in the years to come. Happy 15th birthday to my big boy!

Last Cheer Competition of the Season: Kalahari Cheer America

Kaitlynn's final competitive cheer performance of the season was held in the Austin area of Round Rock at the fabulous Kalahari resort. When we learned that Connor had a rare weekend off from his baseball commitments, we were thrilled to be able to have Jeff and Connor join us for an unexpected little getaway with the family. We didn't know anything about this resort, but we quickly realized we were in for a fun weekend at a super cool place. As it turns out, the Kalahari resort is an expansive wonderland for families and kids. On top of the safari-themed décor with zebras galore, there were all kinds of awesome amenities including an onsite waterpark, arcade, bowling alley, escape room, shops, and several restaurants. I heard someone describe the Kalahari as "Vegas for kids" which seemed like a perfect description. Kaitlynn was immediately obsessed with the zebras everywhere she turned, and we had plenty of room in our family suite complete with zebra wall décor installed just for her, ha!

Jeff likes to give me a hard time for complaining about the days when Collin and Kevin had weekend-long swim meets with hours of waiting around for their events. Fast forward to these cheer weekends with Kaitlynn, where we spend hours of travel to long distance locations for a 3-minute performance on Saturday and one more on Sunday. The irony doesn't escape us, ha! On this particular occasion, we sure didn't mind all of the downtime in between the cheer performances. The kids were so excited to have a good amount of time to explore the resort all weekend. The arcade and waterpark were the clear favorites.

When it was time for Kaitlynn's team - the Bombers - to perform, we followed our usual routine of hair, makeup, and stretching. I can't stop myself from cringing when I see the stretches these girls do to get warmed up. Ouch, ha!

Finally, it was time to compete, and the girls did a great job on the Saturday performance. However, there were a few bobbles here and there that led to a less-than-perfect showing. Anyone in the world of competitive cheer understands that it's all about perfection. Any little misstep here or there can be a deduction, and all of the little deductions take away from the overall score. The Bombers decided to come back the next day in hopes of a better showing. 

In the meantime, Connor was surprised when he realized that one of his baseball buddies, Sam, was also nearby supporting another cheer sister. They were happy to meet up briefly as we waited for the Day 2 competition to get underway.

When it was time for the Bombers' Day 2 performance, we all huddled into the competition room and yelled our loudest to support the girls. The performance was underway, and we screamed our heads off for Kaitlynn and her teammates. I held my breath as their routine got off to a great start and continued to get better and better as the seconds ticked by. The girls were giving it their all on the floor!

After experiencing several of the in-person competitions throughout this first season of cheer for Kaitlynn and her team, I was now understanding what to look for and what made a "good" performance versus a "great" one. By the end of this showing, there was NO doubt in my mind that this particular performance was by far the BEST they had performed all season! WOW - they KILLED it on the floor! The tumbling, the jumps, the expressions, and the dancing were high energy, flawless, and exactly what they had been working so hard on all season long. The competition room was simply electric! It was so exciting -- all of the parents were jumping and yelling and some were even hugging as they felt so happy and proud of the girls for their amazing performance. 

We joined the girls outside for the awards ceremony, but we didn't even care that the Bombers entered Day 2 far behind the first place team. We were just so proud of them for ending the season with their all-time best performance and for all the hard work along the way!

The girls (and families) arrived at the outdoor awards ceremony exhausted but with big smiles. It was a great opportunity to take some team photos and wrap up the great season. We were so thankful for this group of girls and their awesome coaches, Coach Devin and Coach Ellisa (who was actually at home about to have her first baby).

Soon enough, it was time for the awards ceremony. This was actually the very first time we had been present for the awards, because all of the prior competitions had only offered virtual ceremonies due to the new Covid protocols. We had been told that awards were one of the best parts of cheer competitions, but we didn't have any expectations because we knew the girls had likely secured 2nd place - which we were so proud of!

We enjoyed the beautiful spring weather and watching the girls goof around, and then it was time for the awards to be called. When it was time to announce the 2nd place team's name, we all waited to hear "Woodlands Elite Bombers!" over the speaker so that we could congratulate our girls. But that wasn't the name that was called. It took a few moments to process what it meant - our Bombers hadn't achieved 2nd place after all. 

To our astonishment, they had actually WON their division - 1st place!! Oh my goodness, what excitement (and some tears of joy) ensued!!

Wow, what a moment for these Bombers! We honestly never imagined that they could win their division after their less-than-perfect showing on Saturday. But their performance on Sunday was SO great that it had put them on top for a come-from-behind win. Amazing! The smiles were never bigger as the team celebrated their huge accomplishment with lots of cheers, hugs, and photos. Way to go, Bombers - National Champions!!!

What a blessing that we were all able to be there and experience such a fun and memorable weekend with Kaitlynn and her Bombers squad. If she wasn't "hooked" on the world of competitive cheer before, well, she certainly was now! The same went for Jeff and me as well; we had gotten a taste of the full  cheer experience and boy, was it fun! 

Congratulations, Kaitlynn on a FANTASTIC first year of competitive cheer with your Woodlands Elite Bombers!