Jake and I just returned from a whirlwind weekend trip to Tulsa, OK, 29 hours to be exact, and I’m still scratching my head over it!  Jake’s U14 (7th/8th grade) Fusion Academy team was competing in what I thought was a soccer tournament called the Tulsa Friendship Cup.  Turns out it was a combination of 3 things – the Adidas Sam Shannon Showcase/Boys ECNL National Event/Tulsa Friendship Cup 2018.  I don’t know what any of this means really, all I know is I had 3 games on my calendar against NPL teams (National Premier League) from OK and TX.

We had hotel reservations on the books for months and when the schedule finally came out, the boys were definitely disappointed.  Our first game wasn’t scheduled until Saturday night at 8:40 p.m.  This meant one less night to hang with friends in a hotel because there was no need to get to Tulsa any earlier than Saturday afternoon.  Let’s face it, these out of town tourneys are less about soccer and more about getting out of school early on a Friday, packing a bag of junk food, kids jacking around in the hotel, and parents bellied up to the hotel bar.  Don’t get me wrong, these boys love to play and are fierce competitors, so when we found out there was no championship on the line here, I started calling it a “fake tournament.”  I’m sure I got a few eye rolls for that one – but seriously…it seems to me that we just drove 4 hours to play 3 games that didn’t really matter!?  On a positive note, it is nice to get out and play some teams we don’t normally play and size up against other premier teams.

And another bonus, Jake is old enough to pack himself!  I have to admit, it was a nice change from me doing everything.  He had the van seats situated just perfectly, cooler packed, and all his gear bagged up.  yes!  I love this!  I didn’t even double check what he had.  I let him be solely responsible for his stuff and if he didn’t have what he needed, it was on him.  Ok, I’m acting really cool here because you know I am a total control freak, so this is really stepping out for me!

At the last minute, Jake’s teammate, Brett, and his mom Lori hopped in with us.  They are neighbors and we’ve known them for years so we really enjoyed the company.  We had many laughs along the way.  On our route in and out of our hotel we came across this street sign and it cracked us up!  I’ve heard of a speed “bump” but a speed “hump!?”  What!?  That’s a new one!

We dropped our bags at the hotel, said hello to a few fellow soccer buddies, and hit up a nearby restaurant, Bricktown Brewery for food.  You know Jake can’t go long without a cheeseburger in his belly!

Game 1 was good, albeit a late one and the sideline smelled like fish (apparently we were close to the river), the boys won 2-0 and at 10:30 p.m. on the way back to the hotel we found ourselves in the Whataburger drive thru, a recommendation from Brett.  We laughed so hard when I was trying to place my order and couldn’t get it right to save my life!  The cashier handed us a big bag of food and milkshakes and said “you ladies have a great night.”  I was almost in tears I was laughing so hard!  Apparently she didn’t see the boys in the back so it just looked like two moms on the town in a minivan having a GIANT midnight snack after a long and confusing ordering process!  I was practically best friends with those Whataburger workers at that point.  Ok maybe the boys were embarrassed but I thought it was hilarious!  We proceeded to let them run wild in the hotel past midnight with various run ins with the hotel security until we finally called it a night.

Sunday morning we packed the car (didn’t we just unpack!?), filled up with gas and headed to game #2.  It was very cold, drizzly, and the boys won 5-0.   Sweet.  This fake tournament isn’t so bad after all!  In the meantime, I’ve had a million phone calls from home so I was up to speed with all the activities going on back in KC.  Thank you babysitting crew!With a little bit of time in between games, we invaded Braum’s for more food and at this point in the trip,  Jake is on his 3rd cheeseburger and second milkshake.  The kid can eat!  AND he’s a mess….this is his side of the hotel room.  My side was perfectly tidy of course!Game 3 is about to start and Jake’s coach is asleep in his car right next to us.  It was a late night and an early morning for him (his academy girls team had a 7am game).  We have our handwarmers ready, a stack of blankets and this is going to be our toughest competition of the weekend.  Boys are pumped.

Some of the opponents this weekend were sporting full mustaches and word on the street is they were seen driving themselves out of the complex earlier in the day!  hmmm, interesting concept for 13 year olds!?

The game started late and we haven’t even played 15 minutes before there’s a yellow card, a massive yelling match between our coach, the center ref, and field marshals all around.  Coach gets kicked out, the center ref quits and calls the game final and we are on the road home with no explanation of what the heck just happened.  I still don’t know what to make of all of it but I can honestly say in all these years of 18 million soccer games, I’ve never seen that happen.I’ve driven 8 hours in the last 29, and I’m exhausted and sad for the boys that their final match got abruptly yanked away from them.  They were down 2-0, but our boys were pumped and ready to play what was going to be a highly competitive match.  It was the cherry on top to the fake tournament.

Either way, I had so many laughs this weekend and always have fun with my Jakers.  He’s a blast to be with and It’s certainly a trip I will never forget!  Don’t worry, we did stop on the way home so he could consume another cheeseburger.  Yes, that’s 4.  Should a cholesterol check for him be next on my to-do list?  No time for that.  I need to start prepping for Thanksgiving dinner!Love you to pieces, Jakey, I adore watching you play.  Keep smiling bud!!😘

 

Reece has been mentioning often…”When are we going to the Nutcracker Tea Party?”  And that’s where it gets tricky.  You see, Brian is traveling and I need to take Jake to a soccer tournament in Tulsa this weekend.  Soooo – this means we will miss the Nutcracker Tea Party 😦  We went last year for the first time, and LOVED every minute of it.  Reece looked gorgeous!  I’m certain I wrote about it on conleycrew but here’s a flashback anyway…

This year we had to settle for a movie date to see the Nutcracker and the Four Realms and lunch out afterwards.  It was a nice break on a Saturday afternoon when we are normally running from game to game.  We really hope to get back to the tea party in the future but for now, just being with my sweet girl for a special afternoon is just as wonderful!  Love you Reecie Cups!

Christmas is coming!  Of course she has made a countdown and taped it on her bedroom wall.  This girl goes through tape like CRAZY!  Her walls will never be the same and being a perfectionist, I struggle with this.  But in this case, I don’t really care, because I love her enthusiasm and creativity.  I will never forget this part of her room where there is always something important to her posted with pride!

 

 

 

 

 

Oh this just hurts me to report that Drew just performed in his last elementary school musical!  Insert tears here.  Even though music is not always at the top of his list, Drew really got into this one and was even practicing songs at home!I feel a little bit bad saying this, but our school musicals are not usually very well done.  However, this one was organized, they had costumes, a backdrop, the songs were good, and it was just the right length.  Way to go Manchester Park 5th Graders!Drew was cast as “Morty the Minstrel” and had a cute little 9 word speaking part.   I had to google what a minstrel was…it’s a medieval singer or musician 😉

If you have a minute to watch these songs on YouTube, It’s pretty cute to see our little Morty Minstrel do his part…

After the show was over, my dad asked him if he was actually singing up there on those risers or was he just mouthing the words.  Shame on you, Papa, yes he was singing!  They practiced really hard for this!You can view this song (All I Ever Wanted) on YouTube below – It’s probably my favorite because Drew really gets into it.  Love it!

 

Everyone gives us dirty looks because we take up 13 seats…Drew has quite the fan club!We all enjoyed this production so much.  Great job Drew!  We are super sad this is your last one!

This video is so cute…Drew taking a final bow!

 

Finally someone has caught on to do a school sponsored mom-son night!  There’s always sweet little father-daughter dances but what about the moms!?  And what about the parents without daughters!?  Actually, there have been two other mom-son nights at Manchester Park but we couldn’t go for one reason or another.  BUT this time, we had no conflicts and it was laser tag!  Yay!  I happily put on my cute camo pants and black shirt and was ready for this one!  Actually, anytime I get a chance to have a date night with just one of my kids, I am SO IN!

The laser tag venue had opened up for our school only this evening and it was buzzing with moms and sons.  It was nice to catch up with friends, I managed to get out of there without spending any money in the arcade (miracle!), and bonus – I didn’t get last place!!  My little Drew was always making sure I was doing well, I had pizza on my plate, water in hand, and lots of hugs throughout the evening.  He is the most loving kid and I adore it!  I hope he never loses his snuggles.  I Love you to the moon and more than all the stars, Drew Boo!

And then a little stop in at QT on the way home for ice cream.  My friend Stacey gives me so much trouble because I never go to convenience stores.  She is astonished by this.  She thinks my kids are deprived!  I can assure you that whenever she has them in her car, she will be making a pit stop to QT, I just know it!

Carter and Jake got $2 ice cream and Drew chose a $7 bag of beef jerky!  See…this is why I don’t go to convenience stores!  $7!?  That’s ridiculous!  Good thing my date was so cute and sweet!

 

Ummm…so it’s snowing outside my window right now.  I don’t know what is happening but just a few days ago we were playing in our mountain of leaves, mowing, and wearing short sleeves for soccer games!

Brian got the kids into mowing our neighbors yards and they are learning about having a job, being responsible, and making a little bit of money along the way.  Morgan and Drew are stashing theirs away just like they’re supposed to and Jake, well let’s just say he has a growing collection of Adidas tennis shoes and he’s on a first name basis with the cashiers at Casey’s and Wendy’s up the street.

I got picked to join Reece at the Nelson Atkins museum for a 3rd grade field trip.  Most of the kids thought it was terribly boring – we spent 30+ minutes in the orange gallery below analyzing 2 paintings!  Whoa!  The comments the kids made about the paintings had me in tears it was so funny!

Drew was selected for MVP with his new baseball team at the Monster Bash tourney in Topeka.  Yay Drewy!Jake finished up his US Kids Golf Fall season at the very beautiful (and difficult) Shadow Glen golf course…And a Panthers basketball tournament win in overtime!

If this snow slows down a bit and we can get some warmer temps, we will still have a couple more outdoor soccer tournaments this month before we ramp up for 4 kids playing basketball, indoor soccer, and gymnastics meet season.  It’s madness, really.  But as many families in this phase of life say, we wouldn’t change any of it.  It’s so fun to watch these kiddos ‘do their thing.’  They’re creating memories every day and I’m trying my best to document it for them!

 

 

Just before school started, I took Morgan and Emma to the Plaza to hang out and shop.At the time, we didn’t realize that the Gap store was closing, but we are always up for bargain shopping!  I have a big family, peeps, I have to find stuff on sale!  We scoured the store hoping for some super cute clothes for cheap but ended up leaving with a bag full of hawaiian shirts!  Morgan asked if she could get one for various school spirit days they have throughout the year, and within minutes we were grabbing up 6 of them for Halloween costumes.  Done. Check please.

Thank you Morgan for being the inspiration for this Halloween “tacky tourist” hot mess!Add in a few fanny packs, binoculars, and hats, and you’re wonderfully tacky!  I didn’t even have to convince any of them…they were all on board!  I love it when a plan comes together.  Drew got ‘into character’ the night before just to make sure he would be perfect and could manage to get all this garb on for the school parade.  They nailed it…they were the cutest by far!

After the school parties – trust me when I tell you, the school is completely nuts on Halloween, we hurried home to get ready for our annual halloween party.  Of course this included putting finishing touches on our Halloween-themed food for the contest!

This has been a tradition for years, and I love that my kids are involved.  Maybe they’ll do this for their kids!?  They all picked out what they wanted to make and sent me to the store to get all the ingredients.  And even though I still have my own dish to make and fifteen billion things going on, I’m so happy to do it because It’s just plain adorable!  I love to see what they come up with. Drew is notorious for picking something complicated.  I love it, Drewy, you keep aiming high bud!  2018 First place winner I might add!

Jake killed it with these bloody fingers..

Morgan made these darling candy corn treats and Reece worked so hard on these donut spiders.  Getting those pretzel legs looking good is much harder than you think!

Our family always comes through with awesome ideas and our table fills with spooky halloween dishes.  It’s a blast!

Morgan had another party to attend so Reece had to take over as the master of ceremonies.  She did a fabulous job…watch out Morgan, she might get promoted into your spot!

Somehow I rarely win and my sister, who barely steps foot in a kitchen, EVER, seems to always be on the winners podium.  She’s finally found her culinary calling…Halloween themed food!  Congratulations winners!

I love this party!!

Of course we made it around the neighborhood for trick-or-treating and we have more candy than should ever be consumed in a lifetime!

Morgan made a quick costume change for her next event and turned into Cardi B…(Cardi B is a rapper/songwriter just in case you’re wondering)

They also took a trip to the Edge of Hell haunted house for a 16th bday party.  UGH – I would never pay money to have someone scare the crap out of me!  It’s clearly a teenager thing!Reece really is picking up on my love of Halloween as she had an outfit laid out for each day leading up to the big day.  Clearly we have a problem here.  No one should have this much Halloween attire!

I also caught her staying up late one night making all of these pumpkins and taping them all over her room!!  They were EVERYWHERE!!

She was working SO hard!!  I finally had to step in and help her or she was going to be flat on her desk asleep the next day at school!  Reece always cracks us up with her cute ideas.

And Halloween would definitely not be complete without carving our pumpkins.  While I was busy making mummy cake pops, these guys were really doing an awesome job!  We decided that sometimes simple designs turn out the cutest.  Aren’t they great!?Just a few days before, Reece got to do a fun Fall outing with her soccer team – they went on a hayride, roasted s’mores, and had a pumpkin carving contest at Shawnee Mission Park.  So fun!  Well, ok, I guess she did fall asleep in the corner on the hayride, but she perked right up when she filled her dinner plate with Sun Chips and 3 cupcakes.  Yikes!

I’ll wrap this up with a couple more tacky tourist photos.  Next to our 80’s hair band costumes, these might be top on my list of favorites!Now excuse me while I pack up all this fun into 2 plastic bins and start my 2 month-long stress filled bender called the HOLIDAY SEASON!