Summertime!

Luke's attire with several of his buddies on the last in person day of  7th grade

Bus stop on the last day of school

Finn's buddy, Silas, came to see his lacrosse game

Aiden's first communion celebration

Finn's friend, Haakyn, also had his first communion

Last day of 7th, 5th, and 1st grade

Aiden's first communion

Aiden and his buddy, Mavryk

We have adapted quickly to the summer schedule.  I am sure that's hard to believe (not really), but we have not looked back after the final day of school.  We jumped head first into summer with hockey camp, basketball camp, lacrosse tournaments, swimming, playing with friends, eating popsicles, and playing outside.  It has only been a little over a week, but it sure feels like more than that.  

Aiden celebrated his first communion at church with an outdoor service.  Our church is beginning in person services, but it was a beautiful night to enjoy church outside.  Aiden and I completed an online class through the church and made his sash for communion.  It was a fun night that we all enjoyed.  

Luke, Liam, and Finn have been playing lots of lacrosse and they are really enjoying it.  Lacrosse is a relatively new sport in our area, but it is gaining in popularity.  We tried soccer and baseball prior to this, but lacrosse seems to be a better fit for us.  We are trying to convince Aiden to give it a try next summer!  

Aiden's egg Drop

Super HOT day for golf

Finn wrote his numbers from 1-1000

 

This is Aiden's stuffed animal he used for the egg drop.  The eggs are inside the stuffed animal and then he put the bear inside the orange shoe box.  

The instructions for the egg drop

Testing his egg drop from the deck

Last week of school for us!!  Not sure there is all that much learning going on, but the boys have enjoyed a field day, picnic, egg drop, and other fun things this week.  It's been a HOT HOT week, especially for Minnesota where temps rarely reach the 90's for more than 24 hours.  We have had highs of 90+ degrees for nearly a week and no rain.  While I am honestly loving the summer weather, its been hard on the boys playing lacrosse and soccer on the turf fields.  It sure is nice going to the pool with the warmer weather!

Memorial Day Weekend 2021

Dinner Date x4

John took this picture of L and L by the golfball washer at the golf course because about 10 years ago when we took them to the driving range, the only thing they wanted to do was wash their golf balls!!!  again and again......

Luke 

Liam

Finn at a recent play date trying out a toy we will never have at our house!

 

We took the boys to the Twins game over the long weekend

Go Twins!!!!

June 2017 and May 2021

Golden Glove awards

Finn was so excited to meet TC Bear

Little cloudy and cool, but great seats

Quick Pic with the Bear!

We enjoyed a nice long weekend doing a few things we have not done in a little over a year due to COVID.  Last Memorial Day, in addition to dealing with COVID, we were overwhelmed with the events surrounding the death of George Floyd and the riots that occurred thereafter.  What a difference a year makes....we made our first trip to a major sporting event in over a year and we were not far from where the riots were last Memorial Day.  It felt like a big step in the right direction as we watched the game without masks and encountered several thousand people in relatively close contact.  What a contrast to this time last year.

The boys enjoyed the Twins game.  Luke and Liam both went to a game in 2019, but I am pretty sure Finn hasn't been since 2017 at the age of four!  We quickly realized he lacks a lot of basic baseball knowledge.  He called the innings "periods" and referred to the runs as "goals."  Sounds like we have done a pitiful job introducing him to a sport other than hockey!  In fairness, he has played basketball and soccer so has some knowledge of those sports, but this summer he is playing lacrosse rather than baseball (which is what his brothers played at his age).  And, he is doing a baseball camp this summer to learn more about the sport so that should be helpful as well.  Finn was super excited to go to the game and enjoyed the music, the lights, the Twins home run, the food, and meeting TC Bear.  

Moving through May

 

Finn taking a face-off in lacrosse

Dinner with Finn's buddy, Silas, at Buffalo Wild Wings

Luke taking a face-off in Lacrosse.  Hard to see what's going on, but he did win the face-off.

Finn's new toy (haha....actually he was at a playdate with a friend from school)

We have been enjoying the warmer weather in May with lots of spring sports and more time spent outside.    Aiden is enjoying his soccer team and scored two goals and had one assist in his game earlier this week.  They got their first win of the season which was fun to see.  Luke and Liam are enjoying their lacrosse team as well.  It's a rough game and Luke fares well against the kids that are mostly his size and at least a year older.  Liam, on the other hand, is thankfully fast and smart enough to stay out of the way of the bigger boys!  Finn's lacrosse team still has a lot to learn about the basics of catching, throwing, and passing in lacrosse, but he's learning a lot.  

We had a rare day in the mid 80's recently and made a trip to the store for popsicles.  Considering it was a high of 20 degrees just 3 months ago, mid 80's feels really HOT!! The boys are counting down the days until summer break even if John and I are finally getting used to having all four boys at school for the first time in a year.  John and I are fully vaccinated now and Luke and Liam received their first shots last week so we are well on our way to having 4 out of 6 of us vaccinated!  

May Updates

 

Finn got to play goalie in a tournament game for a 2013 AAA team

One of the teams we played was coached by NHL player Zach Parise!  His son was on the team and is the same age as Finn so chance are we will be seeing him in years to come.

Finn in net

Aiden being "Aiden" with Liam's team trophy

Liam and his teammate after their 3rd place win

Finn was asked to sub in a 2013 tournament as goalie

Liam's 3rd place victory!

Liam's 2008 SDP Premier team

Our last Sunday of Confirmation Class with Luke and Liam's group

Liam's AAA spring hockey team finished their spring season with a tournament last weekend.  They finished third place which was an accomplishment for us since they played in a bracket higher than what they have done in the past.  It was good competition and they worked hard to finish strong.  

Luke, Liam, and I have been doing a confirmation class at church all year.  We meet once a week on Sunday evenings at 5pm with a total of 8 seventh grade boys.  My friend and I lead the class and have enjoyed getting to know the boys this year.  

Finn got to play goalie for a 2013 AAA team over the weekend and enjoyed it.  The team didn't fare too well, but the highlight was getting an autograph from Minnesota WILD player, Zach Parise.  Parise still plays in the NHL and on the side he coaches his son, Jax, which means we will likely see more of him in the future!

We have about a month of school remaining and the boys are counting down the days.  Considering we have only been in school face to face for half the year, it seems pretty fast that we are almost finished.  

Happy Mother's Day to all of my favorite moms, my mother in law, and my mom as well!  We hope you have a wonderful and blessed Mother's Day weekend!  

Wrapping up the month of April

Liam's AAA hockey team warming up outside before a game

Luke's AAA team won the ChiTown Shuffle 2008 Elite Division 

Champs in Chicago!

Liam's team finished second in the Mountain Dew Blast

Liam's PeeWee A team wrapped up their season with a fun banquet

John and I attended a fun Kentucky Derby party for a good friend's 50th birthday!

Finn has his first ever lacrosse games and loved it!

Aiden subbed in a tournament with some friends and they finished in third place

Liam and his second place finish

April has been a busy month.  The weather hasn't been too great with some snow flurries, lots of rain, and cooler than average temps but we haven't noticed too much because spring has been busy.  Luke, Liam, and Finn began their lacrosse seasons.   Finn had his first ever lacrosse game and really loved it.  He even managed to score two goals in his first game.

Luke's team traveled to Chicago to play in the ChiTown Shuffle and the won the 2008 Elite division.  They faced some tough teams from all over the United States so it was quite the accomplishment.  

Aiden was able to fill in for another kid in a hockey tournament and they managed to come in third place.  He had a lot of fun playing with some 2009 kids that are a bit older than he is (2010).  Liam had his first AAA spring tournament the same weekend as Aiden.  His team made it to the championship and fell a bit short, but ended with a second place win.  He is really enjoying the kids on his team and there is a fun group of parents as well.  

Looking forward to some warmer temps here and more sun than rain!  Hope you are having a wonderful Spring as well!

Spring Break and Easter 2021

Luke's summer hockey team started their season with a tournament last weekend

Sweet save against a very good team from LA

Decorating Easter eggs

More decorating

We took care of a few dogs for friends over Spring Break

Top Golf over Spring Break

Taking a walk with Lucy

Our winter season of hockey ended and there wasn't as much of a break as there normally is.  Because of the pause in sports in Nov/December due to COVID, the season ended several weeks later than normal so we had less time in between seasons.  Our spring hockey teams for Luke and Liam will play and practice for a few weeks in April and May and then they will shut down for the summer and pick back up in August.  Both boys have great coaches, players, and families this year and we are excited to see how things progress.  Luke's team had a tournament last weekend and played supposedly the #1 team in the nation for boys in the 2008 birth year.  The team was from mostly Los Angelos and surrounding areas.  Luke's team managed to win in overtime in a very exciting, fast-paced game.  

Aiden is doing soccer this spring and just started practices over the weekend.  Finn is trying out lacrosse for the first time and is very excited about it.  He practiced in the rainy drizzle the other night and thought that was pretty cool.  Luke and Liam will continue with lacrosse this spring as well.  I will post some pictures pretty soon as the season gets going.

We enjoyed some time at home over Spring Break.  We took care of a few dogs for various neighbors, went miniature golfing, played soccer golf, went to Top Golf, and managed to watch some of the high school boys hockey championship games.  We had mostly nice weather, albeit a bit cool and windy.  Easter was a beautiful day and we had fun hunting eggs, smoking a brisket, going on a nice walk, and watching online church.