Universal Day 1
the girl
Orlando Arrival
We made it to Orlando about nine hours after we left the house. With three breaks along the way, I consider that pretty good time to go a little over 500 miles.
When the kids saw the pool from our hotel room, they immediately decided that all else had to wait until they had time to swim. Only in Florida — swimming in an outdoor pool in March. When texting with K, she expressed some concern about the temperature, but we assured her that while it’s windy and thus cold out of the water, the pool itself is warm — a heated saltwater pool.
Then the Boy saw the arcade, and the next destination was set — no question about it.
“Daddy, can we please go to the arcade?” What was I to do?
A good way to start our short spring break vacation.
Sunday on the Trail
The Boy and I were alone for most of the day as the girls were in Rock Hill for the tournament -- three tournaments in three weeks means we're just about sick of them.
E and I had decided to go back to Southside Park to do some more riding. We first, though, had to perform a bit of maintenance. His bike developed a flat yesterday, so we had to get a new inner tube. That done, we headed out.
We went over to the improvised "Power Line" trail because that was what E had been dreaming of all week. At the start of it, I realized I'd lost my water bottle. We went back the way we came but to no avail, which meant a bit of judicious water bottle sharing: in short, I drank only when my throat was raging because the Boy always finishes his bottle and wants some of mine.
After 11 km of riding, we started back when suddenly, E got such a severe puncture that his rear tire -- the one with the new inner tube -- deflated almost instantaneously. Had to walk 2 km back to the car...
Successful Saturday
The Boy's soccer team won 2-1 with a literal last-minute goal.
The Girl's volleyball team won all three of their games in straight sets.
A good day in sports for our family.
Her Discovery
I was in L's room playing a game of chess with her, E looking on, when she decided to put some music on. "Who knows what this could be," I thought, but said nothing. Imagine my surprise when the opening lines of one of the best albums of the 1990s, one of the best albums of all time, Radiohead's Ok Computer, began. It turns out, she's discovered this masterpiece on her own.
"What's your favorite song on the album?" I asked.
"Exit Music," she said.
Good choice.
Atlanta 2022
We spent the weekend in Atlanta — it was, in short, an emotional roller coaster for the girls on L’s volleyball team.
The first day was excruciatingly tough. They lost their first game in straight sets, but it was even more discouraging because they were winning set 2 by 9 (14-5) before ending up losing 19-25. That means the opponents outscored them 20-5 at that point.
The second game didn’t start any better: they lost the first set 13-25. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a tough loss. It prepared them mentally for the loss in the second set 14-25.
By then, they were wasted — done. The third game went down just like the second game: 12-25 and 14-25.
Today, we parents all wondered how things would pan out. I was worried that they might not win a set the whole weekend. The teams at Atlanta were just much stronger, as a whole, than what they were used to. In addition, they were broken mentally. How would it go?
The first game started out just as we feared: they held it together but at 19-19, it seemed like they were falling apart. They pulled it back together, though, and took it into extra points, but they ended up losing 26-24. So close. Set two — would it continue? At one point, they were down 10-16, and I thought, “Well, there’s another one. And if they lose this set, I’m afraid the day is done.” But they kept fighting and ended up taking the set 25-22. They cheered like they’d won a medal.
In the third set, they were tied at 14 and L made a huge hit to put them within one point of winning their first game. But it wasn’t to be: the opponents tied it up. The next play, L made another monster kill and they had another game point. Again, they lost the next point. It kept going like this, but the finally managed to convert a set point, winning 21-19. It was as if they’d won gold in the Olympics.
The final game of the day followed the same pattern. They lost the first set 20-25 but tied it the second set after almost letting a 23-19 lead slip through their fingers: they won 25-24. And finally, in the third set, they dominated: 15-6.
More Pics from Savannah
We're in Atlanta currently, and I'm not sure I can post from here, so this is pre-posting to keep up a meaningless streak: 797 days at this point.
Croft Ride and Savannah Tournament
Sevierville Volleyball
The girls spent the day in Tennessee playing volleyball — well, one playing, one watching.
The boys woke to the promised dusting of snow,
and ended the day with a dinner of chili, corn chips, and ice cream.
“That was a pretty good day,” the Boy concluded.
Snow Days 2022 — Day 3
Today was an e-learning day -- the first would-be snow day that transmuted into a strange school day spent sitting in front of a computer. For an English teacher, a math teacher -- for numerous subjects, it's a fairly straightforward thing. But how do band teachers do e-learning days? What assignments do PE teachers give? "Go play in the snow until you're out of breath!"
In the afternoon, I finally left the house -- the first time since Saturday. I found shelves mostly empty in the poultry section. There's probably some metaphor here, but I'm going to leave that for you to construct.