Labor Day and more

 It's hard to believe that the unofficial end of summer is already behind us.  Last weekend was Labor Day and we made the most of the long weekend, filling up our schedule to the max.

We filled the last few weeks of summer break with some fun.  I took a day off of work and the boys and I went to the Magic House for a day of exploring.  They had an absolute blast and didn't want to leave even after spending the entire day at the museum.

We also attended a Savannah Bananas games when they came to St. Louis on their Banana Ball World tour.  The Bananas played the Loco Beach Coconuts and Bananas won.  We also got to see guest appearances by former St. Louis Cardinals players Matt Carpenter and David Freese.  It was a fun experience!

The boys started school a few days later.  Connor moved to Junior Kindergarten at his preschool on Monday, August 24th and Declan started second grade on that Tuesday.  Connor is down to his last year at preschool and D and I are counting down the months until no more tuition!  After 8 years, we're ready for a raise, but we're super grateful for how much our boys have learned by going to preschool in their early years.  Connor was sad to leave his old class and teacher but he understands that he's preparing for kindergarten and is looking forward to new adventures.

Declan is not only be in second grade but he also qualified for the gifted program in our school district and will start attending another school and expand his knowledge one day each week starting this week.  He's so smart and quite kind.  We're so proud of him!

Besides school, we've just started hockey season for both boys.  Connor joined a 6u team and D is an assistant coach with one of his hockey buddies who also has a 6u player on the team.  Connor picked #97 in honor of his favorite player Connor McDavid.  He's having so much fun and making new hockey friends.

Declan shocked us this year with hockey and has earned himself a spot on an 8u red team, moving up 2 levels from 8u blue with only 1 year of organized hockey under his belt.  In early August, we went to Pure Hockey to get skates sharpened and while there Declan made a laundry list of equipment and gear he wanted.  D told him that if he made red he would buy him the net and targets and mini stick he requested.  Declan kept practicing and took his pre-skates and evaluations very seriously and earned that spot on 8u red.  I think it helped that he spent half of his summer at hockey camp perfecting his skills, but it proved to me how much he wanted his gear and to be a red 8u player.  What is quite funny is that only 3 8u blue players made it to 8u red and they were all on Declan's 8u tournament team last year.  And if you're wondering, we ended up getting Declan his net, targets and some tiles in order to sharpen his game from Marketplace.  It was a debacle to pick it up, but both boys are enjoying the new hockey training setup in the backyard.  We still have to get him that mini stick, but with a houseful of mini sticks, we're trying to hold off as long as we can. :)

So, how did we spend our Labor Day weekend?  At the hockey rink, of course!  Both boys had their first tournament of the season.  Connor was beyond ecstatic to be a "real" hockey player.  While he didn't have his #97 jersey because they still were on order, he picked #4 to be like his daddy, when D played HNA.  He scored his first goal (and a second!) and also played goalie in two games.  In fact, he earned a shutout in his second game and his team won 6-0.  His team finished middle of the pack in their bracket but it wasn't from lack of effort on Connor's part.  He took it very seriously but had so much fun too.

Declan looked great and showed us that he deserves to be on 8u red. He scored 3 goals, had 2 assists and his team made it to the semi-finals after a slow start.  He even had a goal through the legs of one of his opponents - a kid that told him that he was probably the last kid picked for red.  I was so proud of Declan showing with actions that he's up for a challenge and what was even better is that he left the other kid stunned.  To me, this shows that in the face of adversity, Declan is ready to prove himself.

After all of the hockey on Saturday and Sunday, D and I got a bit of a break on Monday (Labor Day).  We had a lot of errands to get done before we went to see Shinedown.  Like in years past (2022, 2023) and then our anniversary last year, we got to see Shinedown in concert.  This year was a smaller show at The Factory in Chesterfield.  It was literally 15 minutes from our house which was great since we both had to work on Tuesday but we bought general admission tickets and had to stand on the crowded floor for the show.  I absolutely love Shinedown's music and loved the smaller venue, but I wish we would have sprang for more expensive tickets in the balcony. I realize, I'm getting old and I just don't fit in with the typical hard rock crowd like I used to, but we still had a good time. I am also loving the new songs from Ei8ht and have been singing them around the house pretty much non-stop.

As for this weekend, we've have hockey practices all weekend and we're getting ready to take our annual trip to pick apples.  We're soaking up the last few weeks of the summer weather while also getting going with our fall activities.  It's been crazy busy, but I don't know if I'd have it any other way.

Here's a photo dump of our fun:

Labor Day 2020

 We're enjoying the last little bit of summer and taking full advantage of our 3 day weekend.  In spite of all of the craziness, we've found time to get out and bring some normalcy to our time together.

Last weekend, our niece and nephew turned 9 and we got to celebrate their birthdays with a socially distanced pool party at my dad's. Declan absolutely loves the water and since swimming lessons were again cancelled, it was great to get him into the pool before the weather changes.  He had a blast playing with his cousins and socializing with other family that attended.  He may of also enjoyed a cupcake or two during our visit.

This weekend, we decided to keep with our tradition of apple picking. We found a cute, little orchard in Augusta, MO last year and decided to visit again this year. Declan had so much fun peach picking on vacation in July and figured he would have as much fun with the apples. We did not disappoint our little guy. He loved picking apples straight off of the tree and taking a big bite out of them. We ended up picking almost 14 pounds of apples and I'm sure he ate about a pound in the orchard.  He learned about an "apple picker" and even got to see a tractor at the farm and orchard.

After apple picking, we went to one of our favorite spots for pizza and took in more time outside when we set up Declan's pool in the backyard.  We have no idea when we're going to be able to get him back into swimming lessons but we're happy we can at least set up his little pool when it's nice out in the meantime.  He seems to love any type of water (bath, little pool, big pool) so his afternoon was made.

Today we're taking it easy at home before restarting the work week tomorrow.  We're having a picnic of smoked pulled pork (thanks D!) at home and spending as much time outside as we can.  We're also starting the party preparations for Declan's 2nd birthday next month.  It's so hard to believe that our miracle is almost two.  He's so excited for his tractor party and this mama isn't going to let him down.

Hope everyone has a relaxing and safe Labor Day!