Matching Tracksuits

fun in fours

the girl

Louisville 2024 Day 1

Saturday 13 April 2024

There’s more to the story than these pictures, but it’s a fairly succinct vision of the first 8 hours of the day…

We made it to a Buc-ee’s — one of L’s favorite places. Why? It’s a big gas station, nothing more. Still, she gets some kind of silly joy out of it, and they are relatively rare in our part of the country (none near us in Greenville), so we stopped.

Part of the reason we stopped was the charm of the visit; part of it was the passenger-side rear tire, which had a slow leak.

Which led to me spending the first couple of hours in Louisville getting it fixed…

The girls went undefeated again in pool play, so it was a successful day. Pictures on the camera, though — no computer about…

Playful Monday

Monday 08 April 2024

It used to be something we did fairly frequently in the spring: all four of us would go outside and do something together: swings, trampoline, badminton, or just a walk. I guess we all took it for granted, but soon enough, schedules shifted, kids grew up, calendars filled up, and these evening family times disappeared.

But we still have the net up from Easter; and we still have two kids who enjoy badminton. So all four of us were out playing, though never at the same time -- that schedule thing again.

First I took on the Boy. He's getting so much better, but he flubs some that should have been fairly easy. No pictures of that one.

Then K came out and played with the Boy. I snapped a couple of pictures, but not many -- not even one of K playing.

Then the Boy went inside while K and I played a bit. We're down to two working rackets, so options were limited.

Finally, the Girl returned home from getting crickets for her Australian Tree Frog -- I don't know that we have a single picture of her, but L has had her since eighth grade.

She plays with the Boy for a while, but then I suggest I take the Boy's part and the Boy take the camera.

And so I promptly have fun while making a bit of a fool of myself. L wins at everything -- it's time we face it.

K, for her part, was inside, studying.

When will the stars align again for such a day?

Sand

Saturday 06 April 2024

The Girl and the son of our dearest Polish friends -- two kids who always argued when younger -- played in a short sand volleyball tournament. L had just finished up a track meet, winning the high jump and placing second in the javelin, so she was a bit tired, I thought.

"No, I'm fine," she insisted.

Youth...

Saturday Naps

Tuesday 02 April 2024

Region Runners-Up

Sunday 24 March 2024

The Girl's club team finished out their regional tournament run going 7-1. They only lost one game -- the last one.

We're still so proud of our girls' accomplishment -- second in regionals!

New Record

Saturday 23 March 2024

The Girl had a track meet today.

She’s only doing high jump hand javelin this year, so there was less running from event to event and more waiting.

She ended up taking second in the javelin but with a distance that was a school record.

She won high jump but with a jump significantly lower than her personal best (which is also a school record).

Friday

Friday 22 March 2024

Tournament and family game night.

New Bed and Mowing

Tuesday 19 March 2024

Tournament Day 2

Sunday 17 March 2024

wasn't as success as day one. They lost their first game out in three sets. Since it's bracket play, that put them immediately in the consolation bracket...

And the only picture from today: a 20+ year old picture from Slovakia on New Year's Day.

Tournament Day 1

Saturday 16 March 2024

We had our first of two tournaments during this spring break week today -- at least, the pool play was today. Our girls are the number 4 ranked team in the tournament, and they were the highest-ranked team in their pool. They faced off first with a team from Myrtle Beach and dispatched them quickly: 25-12, 25-9. The Myrtle Beach team, ranked 18th in the tournament, just didn't seem like they had their act together at all.

After a short break, they faced their second opponent, a team called Xcell, ranked 22. Our girls finished them off in straight sets as well. During the next break, the Myrtle Beach team played the second-highest-ranked team in our pool, a team from just north of Charlotte. They lost the first set 17-25 but won the second set 25-22. They dropped the third set 13-15, and I found myself thinking that if a team we beat 25-12, 25-9 took a set from the team from Charlotte, we shouldn't have too much trouble with them.

After another game, our girls faced off against them, the two undefeated teams in the pool. The first set was close for the first ten points each or so, but then our girls started pulling away and ended up winning 25-19.

The second set, our girls started falling apart a little, and then a lot. Soon, they were down 6-13. K was watching a stream of the game from home, and she went to the laundry room to do some work. Our girls decided to get some work done as well and went on a 10-1 run. From that amazing 16-14 comeback, they just kept plowing ahead, winning in the end 25-20. That means from 6-13 to the final 25-20 result, our girls went on a 19-7 run.

So they were the only undefeated team in the pool. They'll start tomorrow in the early afternoon.

And the shocker: I decided not to take a camera today and simply enjoy the moments.

Small lake (that I never noticed) behind the complex
Mystery building with mystery chairs near the tournament complex