Presidents' Day Top Dog 3v3 Bash

We came back from the hunting shack on Sunday even though the kids had the day off on Monday because Quinn was playing in a 3-on-3 tournament with several of her hockey teammates. The girls were excited because Q had agreed to play between the pipes, so they knew they had a stonewall behind them. 3v3 games are usually played on half ice, and typically have a lot of scoring chances because of the compressed area.

The girls played four games and handily won all four. Although to be fair, they won game 2 handily because their goalie showed up when the rest of them got a little too confident and forgot to play hard. They didn't make that mistake again when they played that same team in the championship game. It was a blow out! [Game scores... #1: 17-2, #2: 8-5, #3: 13-5, #4: 14-2]

They played two games (back-to-back) in the morning and then the whole crew ... players, parents, and siblings ... headed to a local restaurant where we took up several tables and booths to fit our very large group (we had reservations!). The team piled into one booth (all nine of them!) and then the eight siblings split between two other booths. The little sisters loooooooove Fiona, so they were very excited to hang out with her. One of the little sisters and Dec have the cutest little crushes on each other, so he spent most of lunch with a very red face and a goofy grin. 

I let F and D off the hook for the two afternoon games and we dropped them off at home to chill. Then Mike and I headed back to the rink. Quinn played really well all day, but my favorite save was in the championship game. Quinn is a very precise goalie. She has amazing form and is in the right position most of the time. Therefore, she looks unimpressive as a goalie because she makes it seem easy. 

However, there was one rebound that took a crazy bounce and she dove across the crease and knocked it out of the air. It was beautiful and dramatic and not the saves she normally makes (because she doesn't have to). Mike told her "great desperation save!" I may have had my fingers over my eyes!

The girls were super proud and had a great time. And it was fun for Q to play goalie for an entire tournament. For the record, she had the lowest goals allowed total in the tournament - boys or girls. 

Presidents' Weekend Northern Adventure

Earlier this week, we had dinner aptly named "Choose Your Own Adventure." Between piano lessons, hockey practice, and the final submission of the school yearbook (yay!), we ate dinner in three different shifts. We've noticed in the last year that this is becoming more and more common. It used to be the exception when we weren't all together for dinner. Now, I'm pretty excited if we are together for five nights in a week. I know it will only get worse - so I'm trying to both enjoy the days we are together ... and learn how to reconfigure my meal planning to accommodate this new reality.

There is a lot of reconfiguration needed right now. Between activities, homework, my new job, generally later bedtimes, and other various factors, we are struggling to slot in Adult Responsibilities. It's possible you've noticed the blog has been neglected. This is one of the current casualties of general life balance. I [mostly] promise it's not dead. Hang in there as I figure out the best way to share all the great stories that are written in my brain - but haven't quite made it to the blog.

With that, we'll travel way back in time to mid-February when we headed north for Presidents' Day weekend. But before we talk about the fun of that, we'll make one more jump backwards to New Year's Eve - when Mike and I closed on the purchase of the hunting shack and accompanying nine acres of woods. The owner of the shack had reached out to Mike right before hunting season to see if we would be interested in buying it as she was planning to sell. She offered us a very fair, below market value price, and we went for it. Both Mike and Gpa V are beyond thrilled.

Since the kids had a four-day weekend, we decided to use Presidents' Day as our inaugural weekend at the shack. We had planned to go up on Friday but because of the aforementioned issues with Adult Responsibilities, we took the day to catch up on some things and headed north first thing Saturday morning. The weather on Friday ended up being pretty crummy, so the plan worked out perfectly!

Saturday morning, we headed out bright and early and were at the shack by lunch time. Gpa was already there and had the fires roaring inside. Facts about the shack: there is no running water. There is a very nice outhouse. There is electric heat, but we supplement it with wood fire stoves in the kitchen and living room. There is a bunk room. It is rustic, but nice - and we love it. 

There was so much snow up there. Holy smokes! It was over waist-deep in spots (for the kids). Our neighbor (Mike's old neighbor when he was a kid) had taken the snowblower to a path between the properties to create a sledding hill for the kids. So we spent most of the afternoon outside - sledding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, digging the snowmobile out from where Mike and Dec got it stuck ... and generally enjoying the sun and the snow. We also headed over for some hot cocoa with Jim and Diane (the neighbors). 

Gpa made steaks for dinner, we discovered that the girls were allergic to the animal pelts on the wall (I was not sad to see them removed), and it was off to bed. Sunday was more of the same - lots of sledding, some snowshoeing, a bit more snowmobiling. And a visit from Gma and Gpa J, who wanted to check out the new place! Gpa made roast for a late lunch and then we packed up and headed back toward the cities. It was a quick, but really fun trip. Just the break from city life that we needed!

We have several ideas to update the shack to better align with how we plan to use it. But are reminding ourselves that it is functional now and we can take our time and do it when it makes sense. We have a lot we want to do here at the new house too, so it's been easy to feel overwhelmed. Instead, one thing at a time is the game plan. It's exciting to have a place in the woods that is ours - and can be used for the family time that is becoming rarer and more important.

That Weekend We Hosted All the People

After our afternoon full of hockey, we had a fun evening planned. Auntie was coming!! We ordered pizza dinner, listened to music, and watched Quinn terrify Em with her emotionless stare. At one point during dinner, Emmy started calling Q "the tiny mob boss." Quinn was enjoying the game and really played up her role. The rest of us could not stop giggling!

Emmy joined Mike and me for our evening walk and we had a great evening, just catching up over drinks after the kids went to bed. It has been so long since I have been able to hang out with my sister that it was just the perfect time to reconnect. We also all needed a low key night because Em was heading out fairly early in the morning to meet some friends and Mike and Quinn were heading out even earlier for hockey practice. 

Then Sunday, after Quinn got home from a very early practice (they left at 6:45!), the girls hosted a Valentine's Day party for a few girlfriends. I had made funfetti and strawberry lemonade cupcakes, mixed up four different colors of frosting, and had bowls full of sprinkles and cupcake toppers. The girls invited Declan to join and they had the best time decorating Valentine cupcakes. [I had also bought containers so I could send the bulk of those cupcakes to other houses!] 

Then Mike and Declan headed out for a snowmobile ride on Prior Lake while the girls (and a tray of snacks because cupcakes were not enough junk food) watched a movie in the basement. I had talked Fiona into watching 10 Things I Hate About You and she didn't love it as much as I wanted her too. Maybe she needs a couple more years to realize how wonderful it truly is. Luckily I am more than willing to watch it with her as many times as it takes!

I made an early-ish dinner of homemade mac and cheese and then the girls (and Dec*) decorated shirts. We had made little party favors of a plain white shirt, a gold heart necklace, and a Valentine scrunchie. The girls decided to make shirts to all wear the next day to school for Valentine's Day proper. After they were done decorating, they also signed each other's shirts. It was super fun to watch their creative processes. 

Once the shirts were done, we brought everyone home as it was both a school night and the Super Bowl. Then the kids helped me clean up from the party and we watched the half time show [because that's the only part the kids and I care about]. We were so grateful to have a house big enough to host a few friends and the girls were very pleased with their party. 

*Dec finished his shirt pretty quickly, so he and Mike made a trip to the pet store to buy two new fish to join Harry and Hermione. Ron II (III? we've lost count) and Draco are happy to join the fish family in D's room.

Saber Flag Bearer

On February 12, Declan had the honor of being the flag bearer at the second to last boys high school game. We've known for months, so marked it on the calendar and didn't think much about it. Then as it got closer, he started to get nervous. Thankfully, it was an afternoon game so his nerves didn't have to build all day long. It was also Mite Appreciation Day ... so the stands were full with lots of his teammates. Not sure if that helped or hurt the nerves!

When they handed Dec the flag, we saw the disadvantage of being on the shorter side of life. The "pole" (hockey stick) was aggressively tall. He was definitely practicing his maneuvering ahead of time. Dec also enjoyed meeting the HS coach and fist-bumping the team as they came off the ice from pre-game warmups.

When it was time to do his thing, there was a bit of a situation getting that giant flag out the door. He accidentally got it hooked on the boards and when someone tried to help, it threw him off balance. Let's just say that his entrance was a bit awkward [see video] - but he laughed it off and did an awesome job once the flag joined him on the ice!

He got to fist bump the team one more time, but chose not to stay out on the ice with the team for the national anthem. That was a lot of center of attention time for the little dude!

We stayed through the first period and hung out with some of the kids' teammates. Then Q and D participated in the Mite recognition between periods. They proudly wore their jerseys and waved to the crowd. Then we needed to head out because Q was subbing in for a game with the boys team in New Prague and Auntie was on her way to our house!

A Tournament, A Sleepover, and A Quest

In case you are wondering what happened to the blog, your girl over here thought it was a good idea to volunteer to do the school yearbook. In a not surprising turn of events, it has been a lot of work ... and overtook the allotted blog time. I'm currently loudly stating to members of the V household that I'm not doing the yearbook next year ... exactly zero people are buying it. So be prepared for a similar blog backlog in about a year from now.

Anyhoo ... back to the first weekend in February when we had Quinn's first out-of-town hockey tournament, Fiona's first sleepover, and Declan and I took an epic quest. It truly marked the end of our routinely busy, but mostly uneventful January. February started off like a lion, ended like a lion, and roared in the middle. Buckle up - here we go!

Saturday morning, Mike and Quinn headed to New Ulm for their Mite Jamboree. Her team had pulled a later game that afternoon, but the 8am game Sunday morning. Because of the distance, that meant hotel stay for the whole team. She was so excited (Auntie claims much of the pre-departure discussion was around car snacks). She was less excited that she had to run upstairs to repack her bag bag three times. Seems we needed her to bring more than swimsuits and pajamas.

Her team did not run into strong competition in the girls bracket and ended up outscoring their opponents somewhere around 100-3 in the three games. Q played goal in the first game and was deeply offended by half ice, small nets, and only a handful of shoots. She played out for the rest of tournament, scored a couple times, and had a lot of fun. She also loved her time with dad, all the pool adventures with her team, and the independence they all got. I do think she missed me though - because she climbed into my lap as soon as they got home (almost dinner time on Sunday - because they had the first and last games of the day) and was ready to fight any sibling who wanted my attention. 

Meanwhile, after I picked Fiona up from play practice and fed her lunch, it was time to drop her off at her friend J's birthday party. She was beyond excited! They were heading to the Mall of America to go mini-golfing. She tells me there was also a stop at the Shake Shack, which may be one of her new favorite places. Then they went back to J's house for girl time, dinner, and a movie. They watched Legally Blonde and F's mind.was.blown. She loved it so much - and I was pleased with her very good taste in both friends and movies. 

It was a sleepover party, but due to a few things we had going on, Fiona and I decided together that she wouldn't spend the night. However, I didn't come pick her up until 10pm and she felt very old to get to stay out and up that late. [Truth: both she and Quinn were tired Sunday night!] Best of all, I let her take my old phone* with her and she was able to take some pictures of her and her friends, which made her day even better!

While the girls were doing their things, Dec and I were enjoying a Mommy/Decky day. We had decided to go on a hunt for a dragon squishmallow (the softest stuffed animals ever!). We ended up having to drive to Eden Prairie, which officially made it a quest in our minds. We also were shocked by the massive size of the acquired squishmallow - we clearly did not look at the dimensions. But D was delighted, which made my day too!

We finished our evening with a movie (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Chinese take-out, way too many gummy snakes, and watching Olympic snowboarding. D wasn't too sure about going to bed before Bugs got home, but he was tired enough to not fight it too much. 

It was the first of probably many weekends of divide and conquer kid activities in completely different locations. It was strange to be separated and we were very excited to sit down for dinner together Sunday night and share stories from the weekend. Everyone's favorite part - the dismay at the size of D's squishmallow!

*Remember three years ago when I drowned my phone on Spring Break? Apparently iPhones dry out in that amount of time. We recently found it in a box (yes, still unpacking!) and Mike and Quinn decided to see if they could get it to work. I told them in no uncertain terms that it was dead and about 36 hours later, they proudly showed me that I was completely wrong. Everything was still on it - so crazy! Mike reset the phone, attached it to his email, and voila! - a phone that can be used on WiFi to text me. Very limited capabilities, but it has served its purpose quite well when we are going all the directions!