Birthdays, School, Flag Football, More Softball, and a Little Basketball

I guess it has been awhile again.  Here are some updates for both kids and our family.  Both flag football and school softball have come and gone.  It's crazy how quickly it goes!

Happy Birthday to both!

Owen is always 1st.  We celebrated his 11th birthday by treating him to queso and lots of desserts.  He had a great day!

A bowl of queso is all you need right?

And whipped topping on your face!

Then some oreo cake at home.

Next was Gracie's birthday.  She celebrated at the ballfield, of course.

She made cupcakes for all of her teammates.

Serving up dessert at practice!

Finally 13 years old!

We have a teenager!

Homemade ice cream cake for the win.

I put this out there on Facebook.

The noticeable difference in expression when she gets what she expects compared to...

Complete surprise!

Gracie got her first phone for her 13th birthday and was not expecting it at all.  We better make note of the event that happened.  We made her write down rules and expectations for using her phone, as well as what happens if she is not responsible with it.

So far it has gone well and she has had it a over a month.

We may have lost her...

Middle School for Owen!

Owen has officially begun his middle school career.  He had open house night and also and orientation day for all of the 6th graders to get acclimated to being in middle school.  I think he is doing well so far.

Owen is next to his locker.  I don't think he uses it a whole lot because he doesn't think he has time in between classes.

Reading his schedule and finding all of his classes.

Labor Day weekend, we had visitors and more football games.  Josh and Julie brought their kids down from Iowa and spent a few days with us.  We watched Owen play in the rain and took a trip to Rock Bridge State Park to go hiking.  We also went to a pool party at the neighbor's house for the last weekend in summer celebration.

Owen had a pretty good game in the rain.

They had to move the field and spray paint different lines because it was so muddy.

Owen played Center most of the time and doubled as a receiver for their 6v6 flag team.

Gracie with Charleigh watching the game

He also played linebacker and got to rush the passer.

If only he could tackle.

Owen running with the ball.

Running in the rain

This is a different day with a little more sun.

We hadn't been to Rock Bridge State Park for a really long time and we should go more often.

Here they are at the natural bridge

Gracie's about to wading

Owen and Sawyer

We bought a new grill!  It's about time!

Finally School Starts!

Southern Boone didn't start school this year until after Labor Day weekend.  We have both kids in middle school now, Owen's first year and Gracie's last.

Gracie on the first day of school

Owen on the first day

Waiting for the bus

I'm joining in the fun:)

Mizzou acutually started classes two weeks prior to this, so I was already getting into the groove of my semester.  When we returned from North Carolina, we didn't have a whole lot of down time to relax.  I think I worked for two weeks straight without a day off getting ready for the upcoming semester.

Gracie and her friends on the first day.

We also jumped right into middle school softball the day after we returned from the LLWS.  Southern Boone had started their practices 4 days before we got back and these girls had to make up the practices to make sure they were eligible to compete for their first game.  MSHAA rules.  So, after 14 practices they had their first game on September 9.  They had 10 days of games in less than one month.  There was only one game they missed that was not rescheduled.

Gracie catching at the California Tournament

Warming up

Gracie found her friend, Kate from Moberly.

Kate traveled with one of the families of a teammate to the LLWS.  She has played on one of Kate's teams before.

Here is the 2021 Southern Boone Middle School softball team

Gracie's individual picture

We had a day at the lake a couple weeks ago.  Annie and Chad came down for their anniversary weekend.  It was a pretty quick trip for us, but we had lots of fun.  We took the boat to Paradise and had dinner.  Reefers were there and we got to say hi and chat with them for a little bit.

The Britton clan

Gracie is promoting Bud Light here.

Gracie and Mom

River and Owen

Grandma and Gracie

Annie snuck in the photo

The four girls minus Kaia.  She wasn't interested.

The next day we went to get some hay...100 bales.  You can see how excited Gracie is to stack it.

She looks a little annoyed.

But the horses have to eat, right?

We had an unexpected free evening a few days after the hay stacking event.

Owen was sent home to quarantine due to being a close contact of someone at school who tested positive for COVID.  Gracie's game was canceled due to not having enough girls due to the number of quarantined students.  So, Nick saddled up Sonita and went for a ride.

Gracie even wanted a chance to ride.  She's in shorts, of course.

Another pic of horse riding.

We even had a little time to do some more landscaping.

Still needs some mulch and rock, but it's progress.

A different perspective

Here is the back side of the house.  I love it.

A little basketball

Gracie had a chance to play a little basketball a couple weekends ago.  It was nice to do something different than softball.  They looked a little rough during their first game, but they came back and placed third in their bracket.  Here are a couple pics from the outing.

Gracie taking a shot

Boxing out after a free throw

A few of her basketball teammates

Getting some lunch together

The team after their last win.

We have been able to make it to a few JH volleyball games to watch Gracie's friends play.  It's always fun to watch these girls.

Sadie and Hayden play volleyball and Gracie and Lainie play softball.

DBLL/Team Missouri made the cover of the local magazine

Their accomplishment will hopefully not be forgotten! 

Inside Columbia did a whole article on the LLWS team that placed 3rd in the country.  I haven't seen the actual physical copy yet, but I can't wait!

Here is the online version:  https://issuu.com/insidecolumbia/docs/oct21-comp 

Last Flag Football Game Ever!

Owen had his last flag football game and he has been with this team since he was in 3rd grade.  He is so excited to finally get to play tackle football next year.  This has been such a great team with awesome coaches and kids!

Good thing he is done with pulling flags.  

He was called for roughing the passer twice in his last game.  woops.

Looks like he is flying here.

More time at center.

We will move on to wrestling in November!!!

Last softball game as a middle schooler.

They ended their season 18-1  (combined teams total)

We went all the way to Versailles and they had no umpires

I guess Gracie is trying to make the most of it.

So we scrimmaged for 90 minutes.

Gracie found someone she knows.

Mexico was our only loss this year.

Basketball teammates

Kinzey, Gracie, and Audrey

Gracie had a really good night when we went to Fulton.

She went 4-4 and hit the cycle

Double, Homerun, Triple, and Single 

She hadn't hit one out since June and I know she has been frustrated even though she has been hitting well.  The pitcher from Fulton was one of her former teammates who she used to catch for.  I wish I had gotten a picture of them together, but it might have been a little awkward, since Gracie shelled her.  This game kind of made the very last game anticlimactic the following night.

Gracie played another basketball tournament with her friends and we are moving on to school basketball season next week!  She will have 3 competitive softball tournaments this fall; St. Louis, Tulsa, OK, and Bentonville, AR.  We'll see how those go.  The next few weeks should be interesting between softball and the start of basketball.  I don't know if there are any girls on her new team who are still doing multiple sports.  She will be playing on the Aces team for the next year.  New things.

I'm looking forward to seeing Owen in action again on the mat.  Since last spring, he has grown an inch and gained almost 15 pounds.  12U might be more challenging for him, but he is ready to take it on and keep learning!