Paige's Flag Football - Lions

With some reservations, we decided to put Paige in flag football again through Girl Power. Her last few seasons have been disappointing and we took a break for a while from it. Paige's school is having a flag football team for the first time ever, and we thought it would be a good opportunity for her to get some more experience and to also get acquainted with the different format and rules for high school level ball.

The previous seasons of football were 5 on 5, and the new format is a larger field and it's 7 on 7. The rules are a little different too, with multiple opportunities to get first downs, and the pass rush allows for blocking and quarterback rushes. 

Paige has had two games, with her second one last night. So far we've been pretty disappointed that her play time has been very limited and she's only had one opportunity to even catch a ball. Unfortunately, she dropped the pass, which was difficult but catchable. We know it's got to be hard to wait around for two entire games and then only have one chance to make a play. We're disappointed for her, not in her. Her team's only scored one touchdown so far this season and it was on defense. They're definitely making adjustments and hopefully things start to come together for the as the season goes on.

 

Golf Cart Ride with Grandpa Rick and Grandma Alice

 

Shawn's parents came by on Sunday to hang out for a little while, pick up our recliner that we're getting rid of, and I took them on a golf cart ride around the neighborhood.

Paige's Tennis - PVIC Clinic and UNF Girl's Tennis Clinic

 

Andrea had the kids do some tennis camps at Nease High School towards the end of the summer and although they complained about it quite a bit, they ended up enjoying it and Paige fell in love with tennis all over again. She's been going to our club's tennis clinics on Tuesdays and Thursdays when the weather's good, and her friend Sadie has been going as well. There are some girls from her school's varsity tennis team that go to practice as well, so it's a good opportunity to get to know some of the other girls and to have a good level of competition.

Paige also went to an all girl's tennis clinic at UNF on Saturday. It started late in the morning and they ate lunch and then played a couple of hours in the afternoon as well. It was a decent level and we love seeing Paige working on her tennis game.

Snuggles with Millie Mae

As a dog, Millie Mae is an amazing companion, but as a snuggle buddy she's a huge disappointment. She has the softest fur and recently it's a perfect length, she looks adorable and you just want to grab her and squeeze her. Unfortunately, she barely tolerates it. Every once in a while she'll be in a cuddling mood, but that's pretty rare. Andrea was playing with her the other night and wore her out a little. I snapped a couple of pics of them cuddling and later that evening Paige snapped a pic of us in her bed when we were tucking her in. 

Kayaking in the Marsh - Andrea, Shawn, and Millie Mae

 

Andrea and I went out on the marsh in the neighborhood with Millie Mae, off our neighbor's dock. I typically take the SUP (Standup Paddleboard), but Andrea prefers kayaking and our neighbor let us borrow their two person (plus one dog) kayak. 

It was a beautiful evening out on the marsh, we went down some of the smaller waterways behind the houses and saw quite a few fish jumping. Andrea noticed some bubbles near us and a minute later a dolphin popped up about 10 yards from our kayak and took a breath. It was a little disconcerting that such a large animal was so close to us and we were completely unaware of it, but it was pretty amazing too. 

I put Millie Mae in the water a couple of times so she could cool off and swim a little, but she preferred to sit in our laps and relax. She really only seems to enjoy swimming when Paige is around.

First day of School 2024 - Connor's Senior Year and Paige's Freshman Year of High School

 

Today was the first day of school for the kids. For the first time in six years, we didn't have to wake up super early with a middle schooler. The kids left the house together and Connor drove them to school. The parking situation was a bit hectic and they were both a little late for their first periods, but they made it to all of their classes and the first day of school is in the books. 

It's hard to believe it, but Connor's school collage is complete. We've got a first day of school with Connor and Paige every year since Kindergarten. 

Paige at Jaguars Game vs Chiefs - With Girl Power Flag Football Team

 

Paige's flag football team were the guests of the Jaguars this past Saturday for their preseason game against the Chiefs. Paige and her team were invited out on to the field during the national anthem and were even briefly on TV and the jumbotron. 

Freshman Year Orientation - Paige

 

Paige had a Freshman year orientation prior to school starting and also had a "Meet the Teacher" day. Andrea took her to the "Meet the Teacher" event and they went through all the classes and classrooms for Paige's schedule together and took a pic of Paige as well. Paige is looking forward to starting high school this next week!

Andrea and Paige - Kansas City Summer Visit

Andrea and Paige flew to Kansas City on August 2nd to visit family and to see how the Gobles were getting settled in their new place. They also got to meet Pepper, the new member of the Goble family. Paige and Pepper got along swimmingly and Paige enjoyed spending the night with the Gobles for quite a few of the nights while they were in town. 

The girls got to hang out with the Rudolphs as well, went shopping with Grandma Genie, went to visit Alli's cats, got their nails done, went to Uncle Nate's choir rehearsals, and of course played lots of games including spoons. The weather was nice while they were in town, especially compared to Florida, where we endured days and days of rain as Hurricane Debby slowly crossed the state near our house.

Grandma Genie's house and lawn were very green and colorful, so Andrea took some photos of her out front.

Millie Mae's Ukrainian Portrait

 

I came across an artist that did colorful and cute paintings of pets. I didn't even realize it at the time, but he is from Ukraine and I've been closely following their struggles and conflict over the past few years. I was happy to get a portrait of Millie Mae, and also send some support to a family that's dealing with the war. Connor helped me capture a cute pic of Millie with her masterpiece and I've hung it up on the wall in my office, near Chloe's painting.

Connor's Wisdom Teeth Removed

This past Monday I took Connor to the oral surgeon to have his wisdom teeth removed. The surgery went well and I was let in to see him once he started to wake up. He had his gums packed with gauze and ice packs on his cheeks for the swelling. He initially seemed to be doing well waking up and I was told to pull my car around front to pick him up. After waiting quite a while they came out and told me to come back to his room because he needed some more time. 

Apparently after they stood him up to transfer him to the wheelchair, he got extremely dizzy and faint. They had him hooked back up to the monitors and had him relax for a bit longer, and also had him drink some Gatorade and a few slurps of apple sauce. 

Eventually he felt better and just as we were leaving the office, the power went out from Hurricane Debbie, which was passing from the West. We had to wait a bit for the electricity to come back on before we could pick up his prescriptions and I got him settled at home.

I didn't take any embarrassing videos, and didn't antagonize him at all, especially since he was pale and uncomfortable. He was cute about snuggling Millie Mae when he was settling down for a nap. Connor hated the way he felt after surgery and was a little emotional and cute about thanking me for taking good care of him. I did my best to make him comfortable, and after sleeping for a few hours he felt much better. By the end of the day he felt good enough to get back in his office to play some video games, and it was a nice distraction from his aching gums. He's been doing well taking his medicine, doing a mouthwash, and drinking smoothies.

We asked to keep his teeth and they gave us the upper teeth since they came out easily. The lower teeth had to be cut before they were extracted, so they were discarded unfortunately.