Time Marches On

Summer continued for us after our trip to Maui in early July even though I failed to update anything on the blog!  Summer flew by and we enjoyed every minute of it.  I will start back in mid July with a few pics detailing the highlights.  

Luke, Liam, and Aiden left for camp the day after we returned from Maui.  Yes, we unpacked and repacked the older boys and sent them to camp for the week.  They had a fantastic time with their friends and were busy every second of the day spending lots of time swimming, attending chapel services, playing games, and doing all types of fun camp things.  Finn, on the other hand, enjoyed his time with mom and dad and loved being an only child for a week!

At the end of July, Finn and I made a trip to Arkansas to visit my family and spend some time with cousins, Calvin and Graham.  We rented a house and stayed with my sister and her family and celebrated Finn's 9th birthday.  He loved this trip and was thrilled to meet his youngest cousin, Graham, as well as visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc...Finn has already requested to do this trip again for his next birthday!

In August, the boys spent lots of time training at their respective hockey camps, playing golf, swimming, and hanging out with friends.  We had a few hockey tournaments, but for the most part we were in Minnesota for the month.  Luke and Liam took drivers ed class for two weeks at the end of August and feel they know everything needed to be good drivers!!  We will see how much they actually learned when they turn 15 years old in January and take their test for a drivers permit....

When September arrived, we began preparing for school!  Lots of new adventures for us this year as Luke and Liam are freshmen at Maple Grove Senior High.  They will begin their final season of youth hockey in a month and will be driving themselves to school in another 1.5 years!  

Aiden and Finn are also starting a new adventure as we decided to move them to a private christian school.  They are attending a small private school about a mile from our house.  The boys are in 7th (Aiden) and 3rd (Finn).  We opted to try something new this year and so far the boys are really loving the change.  The downside is some super early mornings for the boys, but we are slowly adapting.  

Over the weekend, we traveled to Iowa to see the Iowa Hawkeyes play the Iowa State Cyclones with Grandpa and Grandma Carrithers.  This was a big football game and there was a lot of tailgating prior to the game.  The boys enjoyed playing football, watching the college age kids play some quite interesting games while tailgating, and cheering for the Hawks.  We visited Tom and Charlene's house on our way home and got to see a few family members while we were in town.  On our way home, we stopped to see the Field of Dreams movie site and played some baseball for a bit.  Fun weekend of football and visiting family as we have not done this trip in several years due to COVID.  

Returning from camp.  They look good in this picture, but everyone was quite tired and dirty.

Happy 9th birthday to Finn!!

Finn and his cousin, Graham watching some Curious George

Celebrating Finn's birthday with Jason, Sarah, Calvin, and Graham in Arkansas

Playing at the Zoo with Graham

Pizza with family in Arkansas

Aiden at Camp

Finn is living his best life while his brothers are at camp

Luke and Liam and their cabin at camp.  These are all close friends of theirs that they are attending high school with this year.

Luke got a hole in one with Aiden, Finn, and Finn's buddy

First day of High school for Luke and Liam (9th grade!!)

Ropes course over Labor Day weekend

First day of school for Aiden and Finn (7th and 3rd)

Visiting the Field of Dream site in Dyersville, Iowa

Very unique miniature golf course over Labor Day

Field of Dreams

Field of Dreams 

Walking to the bus before the sun rises!

Ice Cream over Labor Day!

Early mornings for school!

Tailgating before the Iowa vs Iowa State Game

The stadium was packed

Escape Room over Labor Day weekend.  We narrowly missed escaping, but honestly we did WAY better than I expected.

GO HAWKS!!

Field of Dreams in Iowa

Aiden and Finn being greeted on first day of school

First Day at their new school (7th and 3rd grades)

Kinnick Stadium 

Maui in July

Bamboo Forest in Haleakala National Park.  This was probably my favorite part of the park, it was so impressive and the bamboo trees made the most unique sounds when the wind blew.

Checking out the views after we landed in Maui

Liam's impressive creation at the beach

Snorkeling trip!

Road to Hana stop #1,234,304,498

Cliff Jumping in Lahaina 

Beach in Paia on our way to the airport

Eucalyptus trees on Road to Hana

At the resort pool in Hana

Surf lessons in Hana

Black Sand Beach in Hana and the rugged coastline

Fun-Filled Week at Camp for Luke and Liam and friends

Aiden at Camp

 While there was plenty of basketball in the driveway, summer hockey training at the rink, and golf at the nearby range...the highlight of July for us was our trip to Maui.  We left July 1 and returned on July 11 just in time to send Luke, Liam, and Aiden to camp on the 12th.  Maybe a little crazy, but it all worked out.

We rented a house in Maui for the for July 1-6th and explored the areas of Lahaina, Kapalua, and Kannapali.  We took surf lessons again and went on a snorkeling expedition.  We had gorgeous weather (albeit a bit windy) and we explored lots of cool areas and enjoyed Maui as much as possible in six days.  We searched long and hard to find ways to lessen our food expenses as the food in Hawaii is quite pricey and the boys eat more than three meals per day.  

On Day 7, we drove the Road to Hana and survived more turns than I can remember and a few close calls with oncoming cars.  All in all, we were fine, but the drive is most definitely rugged and a bit treacherous. We stayed in Hana for the remainder of the trip at a resort that had some fun amenities the boys enjoyed including two pools, a small golf area, tennis, and basketball.  No hockey, of course, but they did find tennis to be pretty exciting!  We explored several cool areas in Hana and ate probably half of the food supply in the very tiny grocery store.  Literally, there is one small store and one gas station.  There are a handful of food trucks with some amazing food and one local restaurant.  Nonetheless, you can find mangos on the side of the road falling off the trees and fresh pineapple or banana bread for super cheap.  

We loved Maui and definitely would go back.  So may fun memories that we will cherish over the long Minnesota winter!

June Highlights and Happy Father's Day!

Steaks to celebrate Father's Day! 

Lots of Golf

Velocity Championship with Luke, Liam, and their friend (Adam) as coaches

John had knee surgery

Aiden's Velocity 3 on 3 Championship Win

More Golf with Dad

First and Last day of school for 2021-2022

A final spring hockey tournament in Chicago for Luke

Last Day of 8th, 8th, 6th, and 2nd grades

Happy Father's Day to our Dads and Grandads!  We are so thankful for each of you, Grandpa Carrithers, Grandpa Morse, and John.  

We finished up the month of May with a final spring hockey tournament for Luke in Chicago followed by the last few weeks of school.  Luke and Liam finished their final year of middle school while Finn completed second grade and Aiden completed 6th grade.  We are excited for HIGH SCHOOL next year for Luke and Liam which will bring many changes including some very very early morning departures!

The month of June has been filled with some warmer weather and more time for golf and other outdoor activities including a little pool time as we finally reached some temps above 70 degrees.  John had knee surgery at the beginning of June for a partially torn meniscus.  He is doing very well post surgery and beginning to get around a bit more although he still needs to be somewhat cautious.  He is excited to get back to his normal biking and eventually running routines as soon as possible.  He isn't 20 years old anymore and the recovery process is a tougher one.  

We are enjoying some hockey camps this summer, lacrosse games, and more down time to hangout with friends and play with neighbors.  Looking forward to a fun summer!