Sectional Heartbreaker

We traveled to New Castle tonight to watch Mt. Vernon play Connersville in the sectional opener.  The match-up between these teams went to four overtimes earlier this year (ending with a Mt. Vernon loss).  Although we were up ten at the half, we were tied at the end of regulation.  After two overtimes, the Marauders couldn't pull it off and lost a heartbreaker.  The atmosphere was so much fun for the kids (and adults).  Win or lose, I still love high school basketball in Indiana.

Alivia, Aubry, Reagan & Emery

This crazy crew loves to sit under the basket and cheer. :)

Dress-Up day at school this week - Matching Day

Champions!

This basketball season has finally come to an end with a big win!  These boys have grown so much over these last four months.  They went from losing most games to winning their division in the tournament.  After winning 35-15 yesterday (against a Greenfield team), they came out and beat a Best Choice team 23-16 this evening.  We couldn't be happier for these kids!  Both Alivia and Drew were lucky to have their Dad help out this year, too.  While we hate to see the season end, we're tired of being stuck in a gym.  It's time for baseball and softball to begin!  In fact, that's where Drew is now.  Winter workouts have already started. ;)

Ryan, Devin, Drew, Karson

On the edge of their seats waiting for their turn to play.

It sounds like this was the toughest halftime speech to date.  We were down 13-12 at this point after being up eight early on.

Back: Ryan, Drew, Carson, Davis

Front:  Ethan, Devin, Colin, Grant

Drew's 1st trophy!

Pretty proud of these two!

4th Grade Champs!

Alivia's team won the 4th grade tournament at Fishers Best Choice Fieldhouse this weekend.  They have improved so much over these last few months.  We're so proud of Alivia's effort, willingness to learn and strength when playing in a league of older girls.  She was one of two 3rd graders on her team and played against several teams of bigger, faster, stronger, fifth graders.  To win the tournament game, they needed to beat a Mooresville team they had played three times before.  The first two games ended in losses by 20 points or more.  Last week we beat them by seven and this week we won by twelve!  Congrats, Alivia and team!

Another trophy to add to her collection!

Emerson, Reagan B, Reagan R. & Alivia

Back: Addy, Alivia, Emily, Emerson, Zoe, Easton

Front: Reagan B., Reagan R.

Scientist of the Week

Last week Drew was the "Scientist of the Week" at school.  This meant he needed to do a science experiment for the whole class and it needed to be one that hadn't been done already.  Since we're well over halfway done with school, I was afraid we'd never find one.  We found a few ideas online and when he heard about this one, he loved it.  Here's how he showed the class how clouds make rain.

Step 1: Fill the jar with water.

Step 2: Put the shaving cream on top of the water.

Step 3: Drop blue food coloring on the shaving cream.

Step 4: Watch it rain!

When the moisture (food coloring) in the cloud (shaving cream) is too heavy, it will start falling through as rain.  He said the kids loved it and the teachers had never had anyone do it before.  Thank you, Pinterest! ;)

Turkey Run & Motherly Instincts

Brad and the kids were out of school on Monday for President's Day.  I had an unusual change in my schedule that allowed me to be home, too.  We decided to enjoy the weather with a visit to Turkey Run State Park.  We packed lunches and left in the morning with the intent on hiking some of their most rugged trails.  Sounds fun, right? 

This was our first real attempt at hiking in some tricky situations.  There were several areas where we had to hop from rock to rock, climb steep inclines, walk through mud and running water, etc.  The most difficult part came at the end of our first (and last) trail.  We were heading up some stairs when Brad noticed another route that would be more adventurous.  We detoured back because the kids were wanting to climb the ladders in this particular area.  While carefully walking along the rocks in a slippery section, Drew started sliding down and had nothing to keep him from falling off a cliff.  I was closest to him and managed to reach out and grab his hand.  The only problem was there was nothing for me to hold on to in the process.  Once I got ahold of him, I realized we were both going to go off the edge...and down we went!  Thankfully we were okay.  We only dropped about 8 feet and fell into a muddy/watery area that cushioned our fall very well.  I think I spun Drew around once I knew we were going over because he ended up with his back to my chest and landed on all fours with his face planted in the water and mud.  Despite being very dirty and very startled, we were fine.  Poor Brad and Alivia could do nothing but watch as this all took place.  Alivia was in front of Brad, so there was no way he could help us.  Instead he had to comfort her because she went into panic mode, fearing we were gone for good.

I'm quite certain this will be an adventure we will remember for years.  I've replayed it in my head a hundred times already and I'm so thankful we weren't hurt.  At the time, we had no idea what we were falling into.  If I had not been able to reach Drew, he would have landed flat on his back and may have hit his head on a rock.  It could have been so much worse!

Here were our conclusions for the day:

Alivia swears she'll never come back to this park again.

Drew was excited to tell his friends and teachers that he fell off an 8 ft cliff.  He said he'd also tell them that his mom saved him. ;)

Brad thinks maybe we should hold off on a Tennessee hiking vacation for a few more years. 

I'm thankful for good motherly instincts and no broken bones.  And I'll be researching every trail Brad picks from this moment on!

We stopped for a pic after climbing up LOTS of steps. This is my excuse to catch my breath. :)

Sitting in a cave.

The scenery was beautiful!  The kids loved climbing up on the rocks.

Lots of climbing!

This was just steps before we went over the edge.

Spring in February

We started out this beautiful weekend with some time on the Cumberland Trail.  It was 65 degrees at 3:30, so Brad went for a 4 mile run while the kids road their bikes along with him.  I took the car to the car wash, then walked the trail to meet them.  It sounds like this weather may stick around for several days and there are no complaints here.  We're loving the spring temps in February!

Let's Dance!

 Mt. Comfort Elementary hosted their first dance for dads and daughters.  Alivia absolutely loves the opportunity to get all dressed up.  We found a new dress, shoes, jewelry and had to paint her nails for the occasion.  Brad treated her to dinner and bought her yellow roses, too.  It was such a nice evening for these two.  I couldn't be happier that she has this man to admire.