What's Important

After a day of fighting lice and mice and middle school back to school night, we grabbed Thai food and headed over to our friend's house for a surprise birthday dinner. Alana was truly surprised and we enjoyed some dinner, wine and port to kick off her birthday weekend. Cheers to good friends. 

Football Scrimmage

Eighth grade football is underway. This afternoon, Monarch had a scrimmage with two other middle schools. D-man got a lot of playing time - starting defense and 2nd string quarterback. He had several tackles and had a couple good passes. 

The two other teams at the scrimmage had lots of ex-Pirates on their teams which is bittersweet, but will be fun to see them playing each other this season. Go Mustangs!! 

Taking a break 



Chatting it up with his good friend 

Tired boy listening to our audio book 

In the Swing of Things

After a rough start, T-man is in the swing of things. I hope this is a great year for him! 

We have another baritone player! 



Soccer had begun (and yes I was helping coach....) 

Homework on the patio 

We Got 3rd! We Got 3rd!

We played in the couple's golf tourney tonight and overall, none of us played well. But, we had some drinks, had a good time, and enjoyed dinner on the patio overlooking the golf course. And surprisingly, we  got 3rd place! 

The boys each had various practices and we survived the week. T-man seems less worried about school and D-man is adjusting to having two high school classes. 

I also enjoyed lunch at the pool with a few other neighborhood ladies. A bit of eating. A bit of chatting and a bit of swimming. A pretty good day I would say! 

Total Eclipse

We woke to drizzle and fog in Brewster so we had breakfast and headed west and then headed south and ended up in Tryon, Nebraska which was right on the center path of totality (and had been preparing for two years). We set up camp on a road on the edge of town and it was a wonderful experience.  The kids played Molkky on the sandy road, we played music, we hung out and some explored the town a bit and kept our eyes on the progress of the eclipse. As totality approached, it got cooler, the wind picked up, and it got darker. And then it got eerily dark. We split a beer and toasted the eclipse.  Street lights came on. D-man pointed out Venus. Bugs were chirping. We got to look right at the sun without our glasses. And then 2 minutes and 30 seconds later, it was over. So quickly. Too quickly. The minute the sliver of sun came through, it was bright. T-man requested "Here comes the Sun." 

And then we packed up and headed home - with a stop at Runza, of course. We hit some traffic in Arthur (and it felt like we were going through a parade waving at the townspeople) and then again on the Colorado border and as we entered the Denver metro area (both of which were due more to road construction than traffic). As I'm writing this (at 10:00 at night),  I25 coming down from Wyoming is still a parking lot - so glad we didn't take that route! 

I'm so glad we went. It was a trip I will never forget and I hope one the boys won't forget. It was made even more special as the event was in small town Nebraska.  

There is no place like Nebraska. 

The cows (and foggy weather) in Brewster 



Trying to find the sun 

We did find it in Tryon! 

Molkky in the road and our set up 

Cheers to the Eclipse! 

You just can't do it justice 

No need for glasses with a total eclipse! 


 

Crazy! See the street light 

Bright again! 

Bit of a traffic jam 

Uncle Buck's Lodge

At the last minute, we decided to trek to Brewster, Nebraska to try and catch the total solar eclipse (thanks to our friends booking the place). We left around 10:15, caught a late lunch at Runza and arrived 5:30 CT. We checked in and then headed down to the river where the kids had a blast and the adults enjoyed adult beverages. We then had a very midwestern meal and took in Buck's Lodge. We played cribbage, had drinks at the bar, and checked out the stars. We are worried about cloud cover tomorrow, but regardless, we have already had a great time. 

Uncle Buck's Lodge 

The great room 

The bar 

Chilling by the river 



I



Playing on the board they found 

Dinner with a sunset 

Geoff and Marshall making drinks (just write down the drinks on your tab) 

Dinner 

Pool Party

A fun Friday night at the pool tonight with lots of froends. We haven't been to the pool much lately, but tonight was the perfect way to wrap up the first week of school - we made it! 

 

No lifeguard means jumping off the chair! 

 

RMNP Camping

Marshall, T-man, and 5 other Dads and boys had a weekend camping adventure in Rocky Mountain National Park. Thursday night was spent at a lodge in Grand Lake and then they hiked 5 miles into their camping spot. There was a long hike on Saturday, rain, games, and eating freeze-dried foods. The arrived home late Sunday afternoon. I'm so glad it was such a wonderful trip. 

With the walking stick he found 

Look at that pack on T-man's back! 

Another Last First

It's only 7:15 and D-man is out the door. It's the last first day of school for D-man at Monarch PK8. Of course, he's headed to the high school for Advanced Biology and Advanced Algebra first. Here's to a great year. 

He looks pretty big to me.....sigh 

5th Grade Begins

The last "first day" of elementary school for the Peavy household. While T-man was excited this morning, we've had several tears already tonight. It breaks my heart that he is already anxious and nervous. I hope we can help him see how amazing he is and make it a great year.  

  

Our amazing boy on his first day of school 

We did get in some golf tonight before another storm. 

Summer Sendoff

We had grand intentions of golfing on the day before school, but the storm moved in right as we were about to tee off. Given the lightening, we decided to take a rain check and head for dinner. We headed to Jimmy's which was a first for me and the boys. it was happy hour all night on Tuesday so it was the perfect night to toast our great summer. Here's to new adventures with 5th and 8th graders!