Ginormous Turkey Legs

We made our 2nd trip in as many years to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival - only this year we brought the boy along. The theme for this weekend was an Irish and Scottish flare but we just couldn't talk Tyson into wearing a kilt. Something about it later appearing on Facebook. 

We enjoyed some classical jousting, traditional music, ginormous turkey legs, fire eating sideshows, and more! It was fun being medieval for the day. If anything, people watching takes on a whole new meaning when attending your local renaissance festival!

Soccer Half Over

Soccer season hit its half-way mark with a rare Saturday game this weekend (and a wet and cold one at that). The Tonganoxie HS soccer teams finished the week with an away game at Turner and a couple of home games against Piper and Eudora. Their biggest game of the season comes Monday at Mill Valley. It's incredible to see how far Tyson has come in the short time he's been playing ... and it keeps him busy too! Every day he has either a practice or game after school along with early morning seminary to start the day off. Good thing he's been making better decisions to get to bed earlier.  It's amazing what life lessons will teach you. Now we'll see what lessons his current grades will teach him ...

Mutual Bath Time

Girls as Motivators

On a whim at high school registration, Tyson decided to do something he's never done before - participate in competitive athletics. Truth be told, the last time he played any sport was youth soccer at age 9. But in his eyes, high school was a new beginning and chance to do something new. Besides, what better way to get the attention of the girls? Ironically, at the end of his first practice he said to us, "Well ... I was wrong. There are no girls on the team." No ... that is why they call it 'boys soccer.' But on his first game day he was required to dress nice for school by wearing a shirt and tie. One of the girls then asked why he was dressed up. "Cause I'm on the soccer team" he responded. "Oh!" and she came a little closer and helped him straighten up his tie. Yes, girls can be a powerful source of motivation. As for his first game on the JV team? They lost 2 to 1 but he looked great out there on the field. We couldn't be more proud of him.

A Garden After All

For awhile there, it seemed pointless to plant a garden since we were going to be moving. After all, what's the point of going through all the work just to move? But we couldn't stand the thought of NOT having a garden either. So as summer started to pass by, Paige got to work and planted most of our garden. If we sold the house, then someone else would benefit from all the hard work - and we were okay with that. After all, isn't that what the Mormon pioneers did along the Mormon Trail? Plant a garden and let someone else harvest behind you.

As things have turned out, our house hasn't sold and we're still here ... and thus, we get to harvest. We've brought in more raspberries than ever before, squash, tomatoes, and more. And this year, it's the watermelon's turn to grow up the ladder. Take that Mr. Cantaloupe!

At the end of the season, we'll clean things out and ... perhaps spend the winter months planning next year's garden too.

Leavenworth County Fair

 

 

We never miss a county fair ... and so this weekend we made our pilgrimage to the Leavenworth County Fair to take in the aroma of cattle, sheep, pigs, and anything deep fried.  Truth be told, our county fair is pretty small with little to see and do. You can walk the "Midway" in a matter of a couple of minutes. There's a few quilts on display and a picture or two adorned with a blue ribbon.  But that's about it.  Oh ... and you can buy those yummy honey sticks (see picture above)!

Major League Soccer

 

 

Ever heard of a coupon site called "Groupon?"  Our first Groupon purchase was a discounted night out at Livestrong Park to watch our Sporting KC soccer team take on the Seattle Sounders in some professional soccer action Saturday night.  It was hotter than blazes last night but it was well worth it for a great night of soccer!  We saw everything from a an early goal by KC ("Goooooooaaalll!), a red-card ejection, and then 2 goals by Seattle in the last 2 minutes to win the game.  Regardless of the outcome, we had a great time.  Don't tell anyone, but it was the first time that Paige ever "boo'ed" someone at a sporting event! She was NOT happy with a call the refs made on the field!  :)