CCM World Invite in Denver

1st place champs in Denver at CCM World Invite

Finn started some fall 3v3 hockey.  Thankfully, over the summer, Aunt Jennifer sent money for a new stick for Finn's birthday.  Looks like we need one ASAP because he has grown a lot!

Champions!

Visiting the Red Rocks

Sweet Shut out win in the final game of the tournament

Visiting Red Rocks

Climbing around

Congrats Boys!

 Luke and his summer AAA team had the opportunity to compete in one final tournament.  This one wasn't planned, but the team was contacted and the coaches worked out a trip to Denver.  We played in another CCM tournament in Chicago back in July and sadly missed the semi finals due to the three way tie.  This time, we managed to make it to the semis and win the championship.  To make it to the chip, we actually beat Team Illinois which was the only team that we ever lost to this season (in the Chicago tournament).  In the chip, we played a very talented Chicago team and won 4-0.  

John and Luke had a great time in Denver and enjoyed a bit of scenery in the area as well as hanging out with Luke's team mates and families.  On the final evening in Colorado, they were able to visit with some relatives on John's side of the family who live in Colorado.  It was really fun for both John and Luke to visit with everyone in the Denver area.  

We are in our second week of school and I think we will all be happy to go back to school face to face sometime in the near future, hopefully.  We are making the most of the extra time at home and trying to focus on getting our work completed.  We hope to head back to school at least in the hybrid model (2 days at school, 3 at home) in early October.  

First Day of School 2020-21

 First day of school for 2020-Luke and Liam are 7th graders 

                                       

 First day of school for all four boys

      

In case there is any question about whether Luke has passed me in height...

Finn's first day of first grade

                                                              

  Aiden's first day of 5th grade

                                                            

We started a new school year on Monday, September 14th.  This marks 6 months that we were away from school as March 13 was our last full day at school.  We have not physically returned to school because the plan is to begin in distance learning at home and then hopefully to graduate to the "hybrid model" with 2 days in school and 3 days at home.  

Thus far, it has been an interesting week.  It honestly doesn't feel like we are in school and we are not in a good routine yet.  All four boys have some type of device (i.e. Chromebook or iPad) and each of them has a schedule to follow throughout the day.  This includes zoom calls with teachers during the day and some independent time for working.  We all have different schedules and everyone is "on a call" at a different time of the day.  We decided about an hour into Day 1 that we all need different rooms to sit in and the rooms can't be on the main level of the house (except Finn so he can get some help). There is too much noise with each of the boys having breaks at different times and with John working in the office.  So, we purchased two desks and we are changing the set up a bit. 

Here's to a great school year and lots of patience!!  

 

A Week to Remember in 2020

Visiting the beach one last time on the morning before we left

Luke's sand creation

Catching some waves

Building in the sand

Burying brothers

I purchased a book to read at Sundog.  In the 25+ years I have been visiting Seaside, 

 I have been in Sundog Books (store behind where we are sitting) dozens of times but have never purchased a book.  This summer I started reading more books so when I finished the book I brought on the trip, I purchased a new one recommended (of course) by my sister, Sarah!

We all scream for ICE CREAM!

yum!

Checking out the waves

Brothers and Friends

Jumping off the frog

Beautiful Beach!

We fed a few stray cats that started sitting on our porch while we were at the beach.  We didn't pet them, but they loved hanging around with us. 

Luke riding the waves

Beach house on Buttercup Lane

Beach house

Beautiful 

Building in the sand

This is what happens when you try to eat crackers at the beach!

Flying Finn!

More surfing

While many of the weeks in 2020 have not gone as planned, I am so thankful we were able to make a trip to the beach this summer.  The trip was planned before we even knew what COVID was and there were times that we debated whether it was a good idea to go or not.  Thankfully, we were able to make the trip and everything went very smoothly.  There was a hurricane headed toward the area where we stay, but thankfully it headed west of us.  The water was a lot more rough than usual so we were not able to do as much in the ocean this year, but we were thankful to have gorgeous weather with minimal rain and pleasant temps.  We enjoyed playing at the beach, paddle boarding for older boys, swimming in the newly renovated pools, biking, and relaxing.  

We are still waiting for school to begin here.  The start date was pushed back a week to September 14th and it was decided that we will begin in an all virtual environment for at least the first two weeks.  I think all of us would prefer to go back in person, but we are trying to be patient make the most of the situation.  Meanwhile, the weather is beginning to change in Minnesota so even though it feels like fall we are still living our summer schedule!  We did receive teacher assignments and our devices for school so it appears we will eventually go back after being out of school since March 12.