Sean's Downriver Wrestling Tournament

 This past Sunday Sean competed in his first wrestling tournament in Lincoln Park for the Downriver Novice and Open Tournament.  He weighed-in on Thursday evening at 80.6, but the 80lb and 85lb kids were put together in the bracket.  His bracket had 6 kids (2 girls and my friend Adrienne's son, Logan).  

The night before we had Corey and Kellan spend the night since Corey was competing in the tournament too (different bracket because he's in the 2011 group).  The boys had Taco Bell for dinner, played videogames, played with Hot Wheels, and had popcorn while watching Dora The Explorer Movie in their fort they made to sleep in.  They were asleep by 10pm.  We woke up the next morning to snow-covered roads (surprise!).  It luckily only added 10 minutes on to our drive and we arrived by 9:30am.  

Sean was in full-blown melt-down mode.  It was very crowded, not many people were wearing masks, it was loud, and we weren't sure where his wrestling club was warming up.  We finally got our bearings and he was able to warm up for a few minutes with Corey while getting a pep-talk from his coach.  He was matched up first with a girl from New Boston.  She looked cool, calm, and collected.  He fought hard, but she pinned him at the end of the first period.  He was pretty devastated.  

His next round he had a bye.  He enjoyed some gatorade and pringles from his club's snack table.  Then it was his turn to go up against another girl.  This time I noticed a difference in his skills and he was able to earn 13 points!  He went almost all 3 rounds with this girl, winning at one point, and then down by a point at the end when she finally pinned him.  I was so proud of how hard he fought!  He had her down for a good 4 second, but her back wasn't flat on the mat to consider it a pin.  It was definitely a learning experience for him and I'm confident that he'll do better his next tournament.  

He was eliminated at this point and was exhausted.  A boy from Sean's wrestling club who wrestles during the Elite classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays took 1st place.  The first girl he wrestling took 2nd place and the second girl he wrestled took 3rd.  My friend's son took 4th.  We hit the road and he was already in better spirits by the time we were halfway home.  He picked Los Tres Amigos to have a carry-out lunch back at our house with Grandma and Grandpa and enjoyed his afternoon playing Fortnite and watching movies.  

Sean's coach moved Sean and Corey up to the Elite classes, so he started those this week.  He'll be competing in this weekend's tournament in Belleville.  We're hoping the 80lb. class is it's own weight class and we're hoping for a win for Sean!  Fingers crossed. 

Sean's Scout meetings and he met the mayor of Plymouth!

 One of the requirements for this final year of Cub Scouts is for the boys to talk to a government official about a local issue and how they can resolve it.  Sarah planned a meeting with the mayor of Plymouth right before one of their city counsel meetings in downtown.  The boys got an hour to fire questions to the mayor and learn more about him and his projects he's working on.  It was a cool experience!

The Pack also had an ATF Agent come back in December one evening to talk to the boys about his role in helping find bombs/explosives/firearms in metro-Detroit.  He brought his explosive-sniffing dog with him and let the boys pet him and see all of his equipment.  He even hid gun powder somewhere in the room and let the dog go to work finding it so we could see how the dog does his job.  This was a popular Pack meeting, for sure!

At a recent den meeting, the 5th grade boys all had to present a 10 minute activity to the others and run the whole activity.  Sean did keep away (a simple game that kept the boys on their feet and active).  Other boys had some great activities that involved paper airplanes, bag toss, team-building activities, and even origami ornaments.  I was impressed with their ability to run the show for 10 minutes!

Next up is the Pinewood Derby - our last!  Sean as a few short months left with Pack and Den activities before the Blue and Gold Banquet in May when he's officially done with Cub Scouts.  It's been a great thing for him to be involved in and I hope he looks back and has enjoyed all the cool experiences he's had because he's been a scout!

Skiing with Evan at Alpine

 Last Thursday Evan and I went to Alpine Valley to ski for the first time this season.  We've normally skied by now (usually over Christmas break in December), so it felt like a late start for us, but we picked a good night for it.  The weather was in the 30's, minimal wind, and the hills weren't icy.  I picked him up from school a little on the early side and we changed at home and grabbed our gear.  Scott had gone out on his lunch break (perk of teaching virtually at the time) to get us Jimmy Johns for dinner and to get gas in his truck.  We were on the road to Alpine by 3:30pm!

We quickly got our lift tickets, carried our gear into the lodge (it gets easier every year the boys get older), and got ready.  The hills were practically empty with next-in-line service on the two lifts we like.  We skied until about 5:30pm and then went into the lodge for dinner as it was starting to get dark out.

We had our sandwiches by the fire with chips, pop, and fruit.  It was starting to get crowded.  Both high school ski teams and high school boarder cross had events starting around 6pm and an after-school ski school program was starting at 6:30pm.  The lines for the lifts had definitely formed, so we skied some more taking one more break for hot chocolate before heading home just before 8pm.

We had a great evening and Evan loved skiing at night!  We'll be planning another outing in the next week or so with Sean and his friends Charlie and Lexi from school.  I'll let Evan tag along and he can ski with me.  And I'm sure one of these times we'll drag Scott out with us too.  

Holiday break with the family

 I think it's safe to say we were all more than ready for our first official break from school (does Thanksgiving really count?!).  It has been a school year.  I mean, I didn't think it could get much worse from last year being virtual, but let me tell you.  It does and it has.  

Anyway, we started break and it was glorious.  Dinner out at Ironwood to celebrate.  Sleeping in and snuggles.  Running errands, doctor's appointments (because that's how I roll), Christmas shopping, baking cookies, watching movies, playing games, and more!  

We saw the lights at a new spot for us, a church in Northville.  It was so cool!  Definitely a new tradition for our family!

We went roller skating with our friends from Canada and had a blast!

We kept the tradition alive of going to the Wayne County Lightfest and waited in a minimal line!  

Scott tried out his new smoker...and while it wasn't a total success, he's still researching and trying to learn on how to improve.  

We ate lunch in an igloo at Bigalora!  While the food wasn't their best, it was a really cool experience.  We brought Sean's new card game, Rabbit Rabbit and it was so much fun!  We played Uno too.  After lunch, we walked through downtown Plymouth to look at the trees decorated before they come down and bought Luna some treats at Three Dog Bakery.

I did many, many Peloton classes.  I started a new puzzle with new puzzle board.  The kids enjoyed two different days playing in fresh snowfall.  Luna made some new friends at a park.  We watched Encanto twice.  We had a movie marathon one day.  Scott and I had two date nights away from the kids and one day date.  There were countless Nerf wars.  Scott built me shelves in the basement to store holiday bins.  The kids and I made birdseed ornaments to hang outside.  And Evan got new glasses (two pair since he also got sport googles with transition lenses for baseball).  

We spent our last day today playing in the snow!  The kids went sledding with Scott (I was a spectator), they built an igloo, Evan shoveled our neighbor's driveway since the husband is in quarantine with Covid, and Sean had Corey over to play.  We are as ready as we can be to head back to work/school.  Scott is home virtual this week, while the kids and I are back in person.  I'd be lying if I didn't say I was anxious about the Covid surge right now...but, at least I'm coming back rested.