Look at these cuties!!  This is Helena and Frank, Brian’s parents on their wedding day 50 years ago!  To celebrate this very special occasion, we took a family trip to Branson for the weekend.  These two really never ask for much, just gathering all of their kids together makes them so happy.  We had a great time spoiling them for a couple days!  John, Dawn, and the kids were able to come and Jennifer.  It was a heat index of 110 I think, but that didn’t stop us from celebrating!  Of course this included lots of swimming at the beautiful Marriott Willow Ridge resort (our hair will never recover from the massive chlorine intake).  We had 3, 2 bedroom/2 bath suites equipped with full kitchens right by the pool.  It was perfect!

We brought plenty of food and drinks and made all of our meals with the exception of our celebration dinner in Branson Landing.  The kids also went crazy ordering slushes at the pool.  Why not…it’s vacation…fill yourself with sugar!

We made it out for a friendly game of putt putt (girls against boys)

Grandma got a hole in one!  You go girl!

and the real troopers went go-karting!  Some of us had already sweat through every inch of clothing by this point and couldn’t continue on.  These guys had FUN…

Probably the highlight for all of us was the family wiffle ball game at the property.  I am always amazed at the EXTREME competitive nature this Conley family has.  I’m not sure I fit in…but I enjoyed watching Reece amaze everybody with multiple home runs.  And only in Branson can you get away with wearing a T-shirt as a dress.

I feel a re-match coming on in the future for these die-hards!

We ended our celebrating with a nice dinner out and an hour or so at Rack Room Shoes.  An hour or so that John will never get back 😉  You had to be there to enjoy the ridiculousness of that part!  The purpose was finding shoes for the kids to wear in Aunt Jenn’s wedding and it took a few twists and turns along the way (including 3 trips to different Rack Room locations!?).  In the end, all kids had shoes, Reece managed to squeak out an additional pair of light up flip flops, Helena got some new shoes, and Frank ended up with the bags!  Thankfully he didn’t end up with the bill.  Gotta love these memories…is this going in Aunt Jenn’s wedding album or should we pretend like this never happened? 🙂

When we returned back to our resort, we had champagne and pink lemonade poured and ready for toasting and a yummy chocolate cake.

 

Jennifer made a gorgeous picture book for them and we enjoyed looking through it and going over childhood memories with them.

Morgan made a canvas art project to commemorate the milestone…

and we flagged down a guy walking back from the pool to step into our room to take a picture of our group.  That poor guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time dealing with this crew!

We ended our evening with a family game and it’s not a Conley gathering without photo booth props!

 

Happy 50 years, we love you!!

 

 

 

This is going back to the beginning of July but didn’t want to gloss over it since Brian coached Drew’s team.  Each summer this tournament is held at Stump Park in Shawnee, KS.  It’s a 1 day tourney, 3 players vs. 3 players, no goalies, and short halves.  It’s just a fun day where you can get a lot of touches on the ball, meet some Sporting KC players, and get to attend a home game at Sporting Park at the conclusion.  You also can acquire a wicked farmer’s tan.  Oh yes, this mom is sporting one of the worst out there.  I’m banned from even putting a swimsuit on because I would scare anyone and everyone that crosses my path.  This day is always BOILING hot.  We come prepared and put up a tent and camp out for the day but even when you are avoiding the sun, it still finds you!

Brian grabbed a few players to play with Drew and another dad put together a team that included Jake.  Drew’s team made it to the finals, they played there little hearts out, and took home 2nd place trophies.

This is how Jake’s day turned out…

Not so happy  for Jakey Poo, but he played hard and got to hang with his buddies.  It’s ok to not always win.  It teaches us to try harder and not everything in sports or life is always successful.  You’ll get them next time Jake!  We already have the Fall season starting and there is A LOT of soccer left to play bud and your new cleats are super cool!

Brian, you are such a saint for voluntarily coaching all day in the heat, taking all these boys to the game, tailgating, and enduring another hot game.  Thank you for being committed to these kiddos!

Best of luck this soccer season KC Fusion!

 

Well that was a short break in the non-golf blog entries.  SORRY!  This one cannot be missed.  Jake and Drew look forward to this golf tournament every summer.  They absolutely love it.  It’s a big draw in the area for youth and a HUGE tournament.  It’s a fun one because it includes all skill levels, many of their friends, and the trophies are cool.  It’s a 3 day tourney the first week of August.  At their age, they play the par 3 course at Overland Park and all the kiddos dress so cute and get the opportunity to learn the rules about tournament play.  At the conclusion of round 1 the kids are placed in flights based on their scores for the day.

I’m so pleased to announce that both Jake and Drew earned their spots in the Championship flights!  WAY TO GO BOYS!

Jake woke up with butterflies in his stomach and teed off around 9:40 this morning and for some reason it was chilly as you can see he was wearing a jacket (in August…what!??).  He played very well and shot a 31 which is 4 over par.  His best round on this course is 29.  He had a few birdie opportunities that didn’t pan out but overall he had a blast and had a smile on his face most of the time.

 

Drew teed off at 12:40pm and was looking the part.  I absolutely love the look of these little golfers, they are stinkin’ CUTE.  Unfortunately, I cannot say that Drew was having a blast.  In fact, most of the time his little head was drooping down in disgust.  He’s so hard on himself!  We keep trying to work on his ability to shake it off and move on to the next shot but it’s very difficult…even for adults in this sport.  Individual sports are an entirely different animal.  He had a few putts that just barely missed and that can be discouraging.

 

This is his demeanor on the final hole…I think he is in disbelief and  just wanted to be done at this point!

But then….he sank a 30 foot putt!!!  WHAT!?  who does that!?  Well Drew Boo did and Papa got it on his video cam!  Woo hoo!  Thank goodness that ending happened or we would’ve all been running for the hills.  So proud of you buddy for persevering!  He shot a 44.  You go out there tomorrow and play hard and we will always support you.

On the way into the clubhouse he was  happily telling us he was going to get himself some donuts.  You deserve those donuts Drewy and this post-golf snack is all he needed to perk right back up.  You have to love that…

Thank you Nanny and Papa for being golf super fans!  We love having you there.  We cannot wait to watch you boys play tomorrow.  Hope you have so much fun!

To be continued…

 

 

 

 

 

Ok I have to break up the journal with something other than golf!  It’s getting a little out of control.  So let’s talk about mermaid tails!  Around Falcon Valley, there are a lot of little girls that have mermaid tails that you can put on and swim around in.  They are actually quite beautiful and come in a variety of colors so I can see why the girls are enamored with them.  However, they have to be ordered online and they are pricey!   Somehow I got talked into getting one for Reece and I have to admit its been a great purchase!  Once it was on order she was stalking the mailbox!!  She LOVES it and takes it to the pool every chance she gets!  It’s a little bit cumbersome to put on and you couldn’t pay me a million dollars to stuff my legs into that tight squeeze…but she gets it on and slithers through the water like a pro mermaid!  Due to the cost, you definitely don’t want to leave it at the pool by mistake.  There’s been a few neighborhood email postings floating about this summer looking for lost mermaid tails!  I actually think it’s probably really good exercise and if I was her size I’d put that on and show off too!  Have fun Reece…you are rocking that mermaid tail!

As you have seen by now, this summer is jam-packed with a ton of golf!  Since our family joined LQ, Brian has the kids signed up for everything and anything golf that is included with our membership to the club.  The wrap up to the summer season at LQ is a Junior Golf Tournament on 7.22.16.  I actually missed most of it as I was still packing to leave for Branson.  This is not a mom moment I’m proud of because both of my boys played very well and I do not like missing ANYTHING.

Jake was 1st in his age group and Drew was 2nd!  Jake took down Andrew who has won the tourney 4 years in a row I heard.  I rushed out to LQ hoping to catch at least a hole or two and realized Drew was already done and Jake had two swings left.  Shoot!  At least I would see an awards ceremony.  Well no, that actually doesn’t happen until the next week.  Double shoot!  Oh well, on the bright side this is going to start our weekend getaway to Branson on the right foot…boys played great, car is packed, and we are hitting the road and escaping our chaotic life for a couple days.

Jake and Drew, I can’t tell you enough how proud I am of you.  As I’ve taken a couple golf lessons this summer, I’ve learned the amount of skill involved in this sport and what the two of you do at your age is so impressive.  Keep working at it and having fun!  I can’t wait to watch you, discuss every detail of your rounds, and just be a part of this sport with you.

On July 29th, LQ had the twilight family golf night, putting contest, and awards dinner.  Drew raked it in and it was well deserved…look at all of these golf balls he won!

Drew and Brian won the twilight family golf tourney with their score, they won the putting contest, and Drew got his medal for 2nd place in the Jr. Tourney.  Along with some yummy pizza, breadsticks, cookies, and brownies…this guy is living the high life!

 

Jake very proudly accepted his 1st place medal and you can tell by his smile that he’s hungry to get another one next year!

For the family tourney, I was paired up with Jake and Beau Reves (Drew’s school buddy) and Brian was paired up with the girls.  We had a ton of fun but I have to admit…poor Jake and Beau were at a disadvantage with me on their team.  I played terrible…sorry Chris (my golf instructor in the pink shirt), I promise to play better next time!  But this was only the 2nd time I’ve stepped foot on a golf course to play so I’m going to cut myself some slack for now.

I love all of my little golfers to pieces!