He Wasn't Making Cookies

Bright and early this morning Keagan was searching high and low through all of the kitchen cabinets. I asked him what he was looking for just as he found and whipped out the rolling pin. Then he went to the couch and did this.

He had basketball camp yesterday and said his thighs needed a massage.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

We are wrapping up the week deep in the heart of Texas with our family. 

We have spent more time than not in the pool, 

but we have climbed trees, 

played ball, 

hiked a nature trail,

and eaten enough to last us a month.

Every time we get about three hours into the drive I swear I will never do it again. I hate driving long distances more than anything, and then at the end of the week I realize those hours stuck in the car were all worth it. With that said, it will be a while before I make the 8.5 hour drive again. 

Texas Family

Our annual trip to Texas wouldn't be complete without drinking a bottle of Big Red, and the best place to drink one is the back porch of Aunt Amy's house. 

It's always fun to see what this group comes up with during an afternoon get-together.

The cousins played CSI 

Played beauty shop 

And had some fun with snap chat.

We are lucky this summer. We get to see them again next month when they come to Tennessee.

Summer Soccer

It's summer and we are still playing soccer. People ask me if we ever take a break; they feel sorry for me when I tell them we don't. 

Keagan spent the past few days at a local soccer camp. He met a member of the U-19 USMT AND got his autograph. He was on cloud nine all weekend, and like every digital native, he came home and found the player on Instagram. He now follows Tanner. I think it's safe to say this ball will never see grass again.

Keagan and his soccer friends had one more chance to play together before they go their separate ways next month. Some of the boys are changing clubs, some are changing teams, and some are changing age groups. If you are Keagan, you are changing all three.

Meanwhile, Evan played 3v3 soccer in Bowling Green. His team played up and played stiff competition but played very well. 

They came home with third place.

I can tell you we are now on a break from soccer until July, unless another opportunity to play soccer becomes available.

A Day at the Museum

Today we spent the morning with friends at the Tennessee State Museum and learned about important events in the state's history. Truth be told, I'm not sure how much we learned; we zipped through it all rather quickly. At one point I was looking at the Civil War exhibit, and I found two of the boys seated on couches on their phones. A short time after we caused a scene when one of them tried to climb into a display and set off an alarm. I never saw a museum curator move so slowly, so maybe they are used to kids trying to have an up-close-and-personal meeting with a mannequin. After that incident, we were followed the rest of the visit by a very helpful docent. 

The most impressive display included a dug-out canoe thought to have been carved more than two hundred years ago.

After eating lunch at a downtown favorite, we stopped for icecream and headed home. And just like that another summer day comes to an end. 

3/4 Family Fun Day

The boys and I spend at least one weekend a month in Franklin, but we are always playing sports and never have the time or energy to do the fun stuff. So today's summer family fun day is in Franklin, or as Keagan refers to as 3/4 family fun day since Wes is at work.

Stop #1 is the ropes course. Both boys said their muscles were already sore after only two hours.

I had to sell a kidney on the black market to pay for it, but the boys loved it! 

Stop #2 is a refueling stop. Evan chose Scholotsky's because their iced tea is served cold. Keagan chose bundt cakes from a local bakery for dessert, and it did not disappoint. 

Stop #3 is the neighbor's swimming pool because 98 degrees is hot! There will be no crazy, loud boys running through my house tonight because they will be fast asleep as soon as their bellies are refilled.

Last of Spring Soccer Season

So we finished State Cup today without five of our players, three of them starters. We had six of eleven players playing unfamiliar positions, and one guy playing with only one eye after an injury to the head. We played in temps hovering near 100. Oh, my, it was hot!

We played game one with less skill but with much more heart. We lost 3-2 after one heck of a come back. We would have won if all of our starters had been there, but I've never seen such effort from a group of boys.

We lost game two 0-1 after two over-times. This same team we have beaten in the last four matches. We would have won with our starters, but good calls from the reffing team would have also been helpful.

As it stands, we qualified to play in Southern Regional Premiere next fall. We played exceptional soccer with who and what we had. Now it's time for a break. Four weeks and then they are back on the pitch.

I'm already excited and can hardly wait to have a go at another state championship!

 

Spring Soccer Celebration

Keagan ended his soccer spring season with a bang. He was awarded certificates for most goals, team captain #1, and communication field general.


I think this means he is a pretty good soccer player.

Basketball Camp Part Deux

That's a wrap! Basketball camp number two is in the books. This week the boys trained at the local university, and even though the stars of the team were no-shows, the boys enjoyed the stations and work-out more this year. It was so good they both came home at 3:30 ready for a nap!

Keagan won the Hot Shot contest for his age group by hitting the most free throws. 

Then there was this. 

On a whim I took Keagan to his brother's soccer club tryouts and had him try out just to see what happened. At least 60 boys were there, though, and I started to second guess myself. After about an hour, the club offered him a position on the top team! We celebrated his great day with chicken fried steak, watermelon, and orange Fanta. He was in heaven!

Middle School Orientation

Watch out RMS! Next year you get both of the Toole boys amongst your hallways.  Thanks to today's orientation, Keagan had his two burning middle school questions answered.

1. What's for lunch?

2. Do we have to walk class-to-class in a straight line?

He was pleased with both answers. 

I might have two middle schoolers now,  but we have a full summer of fun ahead of us! We will forget about school for another seven weeks!

Court Time

The State Cup is rained out today - even though the sun is shining and the weather is perfect! No one is upset about this decision, especially not us. Not at all. It's only half of our team that can't play next weekend, and the state has chosen next Saturday as our make-up game day. Nope, not upset at all. Especially not my dad who drove nine hours to watch some soccer!

 

With no soccer games to play, we spent our day on the courts. Keagan played in his last tournament of the season and played lights out with a steal, a lay up, a three pointer, a free throw, an assist, and a rebound (and maybe several of each).

We would have won the last game, except with 23 seconds left, a player came up behind Keagan, pushed him to the ground, and literally took him, along with our win, out. Thankfully, he is concussion free.

After lunch, we drove north into Kentucky to watch Evan's basketball team play. They played three games and won another championship. Evan had a great defensive game in the semi-final rebounding several times and keeping the shooters down low from getting many shots off.

 

What do people do in the summer when they don't play sports? This question eludes me.

Weekend Fun

This weekend I have one boy hiking in the woods and swimming in water falls with his soccer team buddies.

Then I have another boy playing in the state soccer tournament.

Evan's team won game one 3-1, and we are waiting out the rain delay before game two begins.

People, this is one great weekend. 

Summer Camp #1

Summer camp number one is in the books. The boys have attended the RHS basketball camp three summers in a row; this marks Evan's last year to be able to attend. 

Three hours of camp, lunch, a nap, and now both boys are back in the drive way shooting hoops. This is not too far removed from our summer routine when they were ages 4 and 2, except they played on the swingset instead of playing basketball. Perfect summer day!