Band Festival

Madie's band competed in their first competition today. We went early to see several of the other bands play too. It was a great afternoon to watch the bands...sunny and in the 70's. Madie has been nervous about the festival for weeks and is glad that it is finally over. They were all worried about not getting a "Superior" rating...it would have been the schools first in over 50+ year....but they got their "SUPERIOR" rating and life is grand.

Way to go Leon!

Tallahassee Thunderboltz first tournament

Michaela's travel team played their first tournament this weekend. There were 6 teams entered in the 12 and under division. On Saturday we played 3 games...we won our first and lost the second two but they were the best team there and one that will be moving up to the 14 and under division in December. Today we started off 5th seed....we won our first game against the number 3 seed 11-1 and our second game we lost 5-3 to the number 1 seed. It was an awesome game...it was 0-0 until the 4th inning and we played an entire 6 inning game in 75 minutes. It was a nail bitter! The girls ended up coming in 3rd. What an awesome thing too for a first year team who has only been together for a short time. Stay tuned to see how they do. Their next tournament is November 1st.

Fall Ball

Michaela and Kelly are both playing Fall Ball again this year.

Michaela is playing at a new park this year...Messer, Tallahassee Fast Pitch. Her team is the Center Pointe Stingers.

Kelly is still playing at Canopy Oaks but has advanced to a minor league team. He is so excited to be playing big kid ball.

Celebrating Michaela's birthday...

HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY MICHAELA!!!

We spent Michaela's birthday at Wild Adventure's this year. The kids wanted to go and see what "Phobia" was all about...basically a corny haunted town, but they still had lots of fun. We drove the go-carts several times, played goofy golf, watched a few of the shows including a cool motorcycle show and an animal show...Michaela and Kelly got to hold a snake and baby alligator afterwards...Madie didn't like the creepy crawlies. And of course we also rode lots of the rides and then when it finally got dark we visited "Hattersville" the haunted town. The best part was playing with all of the characters while waiting to go in. Some of them were a little scary but most were just silly.

Here are some other pictures from our day...

Leon Homecoming

Nana and Abuelo came with Kelly and I to watch Madie march in her first High School Homcoming....it was also Andre's first homecoming experience!

Leon won 31-28...it was an awesome game!

SUPER FLAG GIRL!!!

Kelly fought the bobcat this weekend...and won!

Kelly's Cub Scout Pack camped this past weekend at Seminole State Park in southwestern Georgia. We had beautiful weather! Highs in the high 70's and lows in the 50's. We didn't get up there until early Saturday morning because Madie had to march in a game Friday night but we quickly set up camp and then went hiking.

The rest of the day we spent riding bikes, throwing a baseball/softball, Madie practiced her flag routine and Michaela and Kelly tried to play with the flags, reading and just laying around enjoying the great outdoors.

The pack all had dinner together and then the boys got into their Class "A" uniforms and we all gathered at the Pioneer campground in the woods. Kelly had been nervous all day for this event to occur..."The Bobcat Ceremony" is a tradition of Pack 2.

This is what occured -
A teepee was located down a short path in the woods and there were torches lineing the path. Down by the teepee you could hear a very upset and anxious bobcat. When we arrived it was still light and you could see the bobcat brush up against the side of the teepee! The boys started a hugh fire and they all sat around it. It was dark when the ceremony finally started and each boy was called to the front. They all had to deminstrate their knowledge of the Boy Scout Law, handshake, motto, etc and then they all recieved their warpaint. Each color stood for something. Finally, we all called Akela and up the path he walked...an Indian chief in full dress. He told the boys that they must be brave and fight the bobcat and took them two by two holding onto his staff down to the teepee. Soon after arriving at the teepee you could here the older boys who lined the path give off a blood curtleing screem and soon after Akela would walk back up the path without the boys. He gathered them two by two until they had all gone to fight the bobcat. After the last two had gone he return with the older boys who were all distressed that none of the boys had made it (one of the little sister's in the group was about ready to cry!). Moments later the boys dragged themselves up the path limping and moaning, shirts untucked and all disheveled. Kelly even had bloody (paint) scratch marks up his arms! They had survived the bobcat and were so pleased with themselves. They all recieved a patch and the ceremony ended with an official flag retireing (burning) ceremony. Afterwards we all returned to our camps and we built a fire and enjoyed smores (what would camping be without a smore!)

Aunt Lisa vs brain cancer

My Aunt Lisa was diagnosed with brain cancer several years ago and recently was on a live tv show about brain cancer. Click here to watch video. It's an hour long program with lots of uplifting information about surviving the diagnosis. She is the beautiful blond in the red sweater and I am so happy that she is part of my families life....I just wish she lived closer!