Hoopfest Part 2

Here are the numbers from this weekend:

$3.98 price paid for full-service gas in Clayton, WA (30 cents less than at home)

5 games won in two days

100 degrees the temperature in downtown Spokane both days

4 out of 5 games won in 15 minutes, games are won by first team to 20 pts. or who ever is ahead after 25 minutes

This was our third trip to Hoopfest.  The previous two years the boys placed 4th.  This was their first championship.  It was also the first time that the younger boys bested their older brothers. ( The brothers of two of Noah's teammates placed third this year.) The boys have never played so well together.  They shared the ball, helped out on defense, rebounded mightily, and they all scored their share of points.  Forrest is very proud of them.  We had one new player this year so Forrest made sure that the original three were on the street at the end of the championship game.  He felt they earned it with their hard work these past 3 years. 

Despite the oppressive heat we had a great time this past weekend.  We got to see my cousin and her family as well as having time to just hang out at the hotel with the other families.  Sitting around the pool under an umbrella sipping cool drinks, chatting, and nibbling chips and salsa while the kids swam the afternoon away was terrific. 

First Report from Spokane

We came east Wed. night and rolled into the mother-in-law's place shortly before midnight. Forrest spent most of Thursday pressure washing and scraping old paint off his mom's house to get it ready to paint. Forrest will come back in two weeks to do the painting. We had a raincheck from Sears for the paint priced at $9.99/gallon, a great price if they actually bothered to keep it in stock. We called or stopped in to check on the paint stocks every week. Finally at week four they had exactly the 16 gallons we needed, no more, no less. Getting the paint mixed the right colors took forever as at night Sears only has one person working both paint and hardware. No wonder the company is struggling.

Late Friday morning found us driving into Spokane to pick up our Hoopfest registration materials. As usual, we start bright and early tomorrow morning with an 8:00 AM game. We wandered around the park and along the waterfront for awhile. Then we found the street the boys will be playing on. Thankfully it's centrally located and shady. The weather folks are predicting that this will be the hottest Hoopfest on record with temperatures topping out near 100. Since we were too early to check-in to our hotel we went to the movies. The kids loved "Get Smart."

Now I'm writing this from the patio outside out poolside room. I don't remember requesting a poolside this year, but it sure is nice sitting here in the shade keeping an eye on Noah while he swims. I'll post more later when I have game results and photos.

Annual Camping Trip with the Wormans

This year we went inland instead of camping at the beach as we usually do.  Potholes State Park is a green oasis well irrigated from the lakes in the midst of sagebrush.  If you look carefully you can see the gray of the sage just beyond the windbreak in the photo of the trees.

The kids spent most of Saturday in or on the lake.  They were definitely pooped after swimming, kayaking, and fishing.

Forrest and our youngest nephew, Rowan, love to clown around.  Rowan likes to use just about anyone as a jungle gym.

Michelle and I made sure that we were in at least a couple of photos because usually we're behind the cameras. Saturday was very humid and hot. A wind and rainstorm cleared the air and provided clouds for a beautiful sunset. This is one of my favorite campgrounds, large, well treed sites with lots of room for the kids to run  around and play.

We had a quiet drive home including a stop at one of our favorite road restaurants, The Palace Cafe in Ellensburg.  I also got a chance to explore a used bookstore across the street from the Palace that I've had my eye on and have never had a chance to go in before. I found  couple of bargains.

We set up the trailer in the driveway when we got home so I can rearrange the storage and take inventory of the supplies we keep in there all the time.  The kids invited their friends and slept in it Sunday night. 

Now the work of laundry and repacking the trailer starts.  I'll have just enough time to get it done before we leave for Spokane and Hoopfest at the end of the week.

Camping History

Forrest was looking at some of the photos my dad gave us and found some great photos of our camping trips with the Worman cousins over the years. Here are a few for comparison with this year's camping trip which I'll post when we get back from Moses Lake next week.

The photo of Noah, Alyssa, and Fuller was taken in an old military battery on the Washington coast in 2001. The photo of Grayson, Noah, and Forrest was taken at a horrible KOA Kampground in 2003. The photo of the 5 cousins was taken at Seaquest State Park near Mount Saint Helens in 2006.

4th Place, Hallelujah

Noah's team finally ended their three month baseball season tonight with a 4th place finish out of 20 tournament teams. Although they lost tonight the boys played with class. Our reserve outfielder, Johnny, nabbed a long fly ball at the fence. He's never caught anything like that in 25 previous games. You could see his grin from the stands. Because we had to use our best pitchers to get to this round, and they didn't have enough days rest between games we couldn't use either of them tonight. The team rallied around one of our younger players who started the game on the mound. He made it through half of the game. Our other back up pitcher who hasn't pitched much lately came in to finish the game and did a great job. I'm very impressed with the way Noah and the other experienced players support the younger players on this team. The fifth graders really look up to and respect the 6th and 7th graders. I paid for the coach's gift tonight and we scheduled the party for Tuesday. So the end is in sight.

Football comes next. Tryouts were last weekend and the coaches will draft this weekend so we should know which team Noah will be on this year early next week. We bought size 13 cleats last weekend because they were on sale. He's been this size for about 9 months so I'm hoping his feet are done growing. Practice starts July 28th.

Alyssa will get her first paycheck tomorrow and find out what her regular work scedule will be once school is out next week. She also got her summer assignments today from her AP U.S. History teacher. I took a peek at her textbook, and it looks a lot like the ones I remember from college. She's hoping to work three days a week and still have lots of time to hang out with her friends.

Next weekend we're going camping with my sister's family. And then Hoopfest the next weekend. Will post photos soon.

Resemblance Part 2

My mom thinks Alyssa looks like my Grandma Beulah. Here are a couple of photos for your consideration. Let me know what you think?

Resemblance

OK. Here's another piggyback post off of my sister's blog. She's always heard that her boys, especially the older two resemble their father quite a bit. But today she posted a picture of herself in first grade and there is quite the resemblance to her middle son's first grade photo. I hear quite often that Alyssa looks just like me. I don't see it. After Michelle posted her first grade photo I went looking for some photos of my own for comparison. I found an awful photo of myself in 6th grade (complete with aviator glasses and braces), Alyssa's 6th grade graduation photo, and a picture of Noah who is currently in 6th grade. My kids definitely look alike. And for those of you who know Forrest, they look like their dad. Not me, except for their beautiful blue eyes. The noses, brows, chins, etc are all Jones. So here's my proof.

GRAY, GRAY, GRAY

Ugh!  I need some sun!  I can never remember a spring quarter being so dark and wet and cold as this one has been.  Usually we turn the furnace off the first of May and are fine till the end of September.  This year we waited till mid May and we've been cold every evening when we get home.  Yesterday the temperature in our house was 60 at 4:00 PM.  We had the propane fireplace on all evening and managed to get the family room up to 68 by bedtime.   

Another sign of the adverse temperatures is Noah's legs.  Usually he wears shorts almost year round with the exception of January and February. He's gone back to wearing jeans most days of the week. Football try outs for Noah tomorrow should be nice and mucky.

The worst thing is that it poured down rain from 10 AM till 3 PM yesterday necessitating inside recess for my students all day.  They cheer when inside recess is called because they get to play on the computers and make designs with pattern blocks and draw.  I groan.  Some of the kids asked my why I hate inside recess.  I told them because when they don't get outside for fresh air and exercise at least once during the day they turn into ornery monsters.

On a brighter note, Alyssa started her part time job this week.  She worked Monday at the day care and will put in a few hours today after work too.   Next week she'll work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons.  She's meeting friends after work for dinner and a movie tonight.  That just sounds way too grown up for me to deal with right now.  I can't believe she's almost a high school junior already.