Time with My Boy

It is not lost on me that time alone with either of my boys is a special gift. This weekend with Drake was another present for me. After easy travels to Cincinnati, I met him uptown at Bagel and Deli around midnight after I got into town. 

Friday was filled with breakfast at Patterson's Cafe, cleaning the room, laundry and picking stuff up at the store. We walked over to Armstrong and grabbed some food at Red Zone while we waited for the Wrights to finish up with their tour. We showed them a couple more things on campus and then walked them uptown and down to Drake's fraternity while Drake talked about his Miami experience. We took them to their car via a tour through Western Campus. Regardless of Benji's decision, it was fun to show them Drake's home for the last 2+ years. 

We made the two hour trip to Columbus and met the Smileys and their friend for dinner. So funny we saw two good Colorado friends in Ohio! 

Saturday night we took a tour of Columbus (thanks to recommendations from coworkers). Stops included Germantown, a crazy traffic situation around North Market, dinner and skee ball (I lost) at Budd Dairy Hall and a stop at Jeni's ice cream in Dublin. 

Sunday took us to downtown historic Dublin for coffee and pastries at Fox in the Snow Cafe and a walk through Indian Falls Park. We wrapped up our time in Columbus with a trip to North Market (an old public market) for lunch. Glad that Drake recommended we go back! 

Drake voted on our drive back to Oxford and I made a quick pit stop in Oxford before driving to Indy to catch my 7:00 flight. Currently listening to the Ohio Road Trip station Drake shared with me on Spotify as I ride the bus home. ❤️

A Trip To the Shoe

 "Mom's Weekend" looked a little differently this year. Because Drake won't be here for the traditional mom's weekend in the spring and family weekend overlapped with Monarch Homecoming this year, I made a trip out to Ohio this fall. We decided to make a trip to Columbus and take in a Husker game at the iconic horseshoe with 104.000+of our closest friends. 

We got up early, grabbed breakfast at the hotel and headed to the university. Not surprisingly, OSU has the system pretty dialed in. We walked around the stadium and made our way to the Fox Big Noon Kickoff where we hung out while we waited for the show to start. We stayed for a bit and met up with the Smileys to head into the stadium. We watched the band enter the stadium and then grabbed our seats. 

It was a sunny, warm day and we both walked away with sunburns. Unfortunately, we did not walk away with the victory, but everyone in the stadium got more than they bargained for. Drake has yet to attend a winning Husker game - sigh. I have plans to change that at some point and make some more wonderful memories. 

Senior Photos

An early morning for Tanner's senior pictures. It was a lot of smiling, but Tanner was a great sport and looked very handsome. I showed Marshall one of the pictures and he said, "he looks so old." It's hard to believe our "baby" turns 18 in just a few short weeks. 

Very excited to get the proofs! 

Iron Maiden

The guys rocking out to Iron Maiden at Ball Arena. 

What a Bid!

 

Monarch Mayhem

This week was homecoming at Monarch. The new principle implemented Monarch Mayhem this year which included many activities to build school spirit - hallway decorating, a parade, trivia night, powder puff football games and an epic assembly it seems. Tanner participated in a race during the assembly and his team won! What a great way to wrap up the week. 

On Thursday, Marshall and I walked up to the high school for soccer senior night and Tanner went to the volleyball game. All of us attended the first half of the chilly football game Friday night. We hung in our cars for the "tailgate" with friends and then grabbed a drink at the local watering hole. A good week of spirit and community.

The dance was tonight and Tanner was kind enough to keep me posted on the pictures. We grabbed a couple pictures in the open space as well just in case. Another last in the books. 

Jump Success!

 https://youtu.be/T1-pVpI5LfM?si=87lMHbVigFQY3O1-

National Collegiate Waterski Championships

We spent three days in San Marcos, Texas at the National Collegiate Waterski Championships. Twenty four teams compete on two parallel lakes in three different disciplines. Drake competed on Thursday and Saturday and was busy all days as the men's captain ensuring the skiers are prepared and ready. It was a dusty three days at the lake and we learned at the banquet that we had pretty good conditions on this lake this weekend. 

The team placed tenth (what they were seeded) just a few points shy of finishing ninth. In the D1 division, it really is two different competitions - the top 6 schools and the bottom six. Miami's program has really excelled over the past four years, making it to the D1finals in all of the last four years. 

Drake's wasn't too happy with his trick score, but his jumps were solid and scored for the team. The atmosphere on Saturday during the jump competition is a party like atmosphere and you get to watch some of the best in the world perform. 

Miami brought the spirit this year and won the spirit award with their lifeguard, country and Miami Vice themes and dances. This lake was less conducive to the skier send off, but Miami didn't waiver in their efforts and it paid off. I overheard some folks on the team taking about how other teams were getting in on their dances and commenting how fun the team was. What a great compliment to the team! 

We wrapped up our time in San Marcos at the Texas Ski Ranch for the banquet which was much shorter and better this year. We sat with Alabama parents who had a lot to cheer about with their team's results. I was asked what ski lake we live on - that's the culture of the sport. Miami is succeeding despite itself.... 

The after party was also at the same venue with a live band which made for a better party as well. We enjoyed chatting with some of the Miami parents we met throughout the event - a good group of kids and a good group of parents. I'm so glad Drake found a community that has fun together and supports each other. Go Redhawks!