Mari – The Lieslands

Minneapolis Soccer Tournament

This weekend we headed to Minneapolis for a soccer tournament for Mari’s team. We watched a lot of soccer and spent a lot of time hanging out with friends.

Susan, Lucia, and Rose took a morning off to visit friends: Hope, Sarah, Susan, and Jen.

Saturday was my 40th birthday, so we had a little party in our hotel room.

Happy Birthday Mari!

It was a low-key birthday for Mari this year because there is a lot going on. The Reagens are out of town and soccer is still in full swing as Mari’s team preps for a tournament this weekend.

For dinner we went to P.F. Chang’s. Andrew was working, so he couldn’t make it.

Mari turned 16 this year and is already driving herself to school and some other school-related places. She gets up around 6:30 and school days and we wake her up around noon on off-days. She likes to play soccer, read, and spend time on her phone. Her favorite app is TikTok. She watches some shows including Grey’s Anatomy and Outer Banks. For Friday night pizza she insists on Papa John’s. I think she goes to bed around 2 when there is not school.

The rest of May

I have been woefully behind on the blog. I decided that to catch up I would just do a few posts that cover entire months. Here comes May. . .

Filling the pool with a sand foundation.

Glacier Flower

Mari’s art was featured in her school’s online art show.

Mari’s First Soccer Game

Mari is playing soccer for Valley this year. Here is a picture from her first game, at Waukee Stadium

Susan and Mari made some Christmas pillow covers

Mari’s Soccer Team

Cross Country Runners

They are never all running in the same meet this year, so we had to get a picture or Andrew, Mari, and Elliot before they left the house on meet day.

Colorado Trip

My uncle Tom, who lives in Colorado Springs, has not been doing well. His mental and physical health have been declining and I had the opportunity to go visit with him for a few days at the end of last week. Susan stayed home on kid duty and I spent my days visiting with Tom, making time for a hike each day.

Susan playing at the creek with the kids.

I camped in Colorado. It felt like our RV trip to pull into the campground after dark and have to find my spot.

The view from my office. I worked on Eastern Time, so I had a couple of hours each day to get some work done before heading in to visit with Tom. I was fortunate that the weather was still warm.

Tom liked to hold hands and one of my primary responsibilities when I was there was to make sure I was available for that.

Meanwhile, life went on at home and Susan had to get all of the kids to their activities. here, Andrew is running in a XC meet , maybe at Southeast Polk.

My first hike in Colorado Springs was to Garden of the Gods. I tried to stay pretty close to town.

Susan also had to get up early with Oreo, who insists on waking us just a little earlier than we would like.

During this time, Mari also submitted her application to work at Coldstone Creamery. With soccer and XC winding down she will have more free time, and she is saving up for a new phone.

Red Rock Open Space in the foreground, with Garden of the Gods in the background.

Mari Soccer Game

Mari and Elliots soccer teams are participating in a tournament this weekend. Mari’s team got to play under the lights to close out Saturday play.