There is always that one last time on the water before putting the boat away for winter. We hardly used it this summer. September and it was the first time that I was out on the water. Not the norm for me but this was a different summer. Matt, Isaac's friend joined us and we shoved off the dock and headed to open water. As soon as we were able, we tossed the tube into the water and the kids jumped on.  They tubed for a while but once they were tossed in the water they wanted out. It was chilly.  I needed my sweat shirt on the whole time. An hour of tubing and they were done with it. We threw out the wake board and Lona jumped on. She just loves it. She still wants to go slow when she's doing the butter turns but other than that she is wants speed so she can catch air.  Job didn't want anything to do with the wake board, instead he likes to water ski. He was able to drop a ski and I hope he gets to the point of starting on one ski in the water. First things first though.  We need a little flag to attach to the dropped ski so we can find it and other boats don't run it over. A couple of times on the skis and he was done.  The older boys were content to eat and hang out instead. So Lona jumped on again and we were off for another 40 minutes or so. Finally decided to head back in and Lona was going to board the whole way, right until the motor quit as we were heading in. I was just getting ready to call some friends that live on the water when John got the engine going again. I guess it's a good time to haul the boat out, fix it up and store it for winter.

This summer like I already mentioned was full of tournaments.  Baker Blast, Dungeness Cup (which we didn't attend) and the Skyriver Tournament in Monroe, that two out of three kids participated in. Phew that filled our summer.  We lost and won and tied and learned a lot and I photographed and documented it all.  Lona's team lost a player due to moving up and gained a player who moved back to town. Not only did they play in tournaments but they also reffed tournaments as well.  Isaac was a referee for tournaments both in Whatcom County but also in Skagit county and he would have been a referee at Monroe as well if he wasn't home watching dogs. I really think that tournaments are a great time for the kids to interact with their team mates and the parents get to know the other parents and the kids as well.  You start putting families together and making connections.  It has been good for us but takes a lot out of our summers.

 A few fun facts about this boy.  He's 15 now, a freshman in high school.  He plays select soccer on a Ranger team. He still loves Legos but doesn't spend the time with them like he used to. He created a fantasy football team and contacted his friends, both young and mature. I'm on it. He is taking weight training at school along with french and small engines as electives. He likes to watch conspiracy theorists stuff, top 10 stuff and science stuff.  He loves breakfast sausage, shrimp, pasta, carrots, and cucumbers. His favorite color is red. He is really good at playing with younger kids and engages with them in their play. His music is all over the board. He has been listening to 80s and 90s music lately.  He can sing all the lyrics to most songs and know who the artist is. Sometimes I think his learning style is auditory but I think it is hooked to music. He is small for his age but it doesn't affect him.  He isn't bitter about it but takes pride in it. He tries to be a connector between Lona and Isaac. He loves reading store bought birthday cards and can spend an hour reading and laughing. The older he gets, the more he laughs which I am so glad about. He will turn red and squint his eyes laughing if you tell him that you know who his crush is. He doesn't have one that I know about but it is so fun to tease him. He's comfortable in the fact that he's not ready for girls and that girls aren't thinking about him either. The place to go for birthday dinner is Olive Garden. I'm excited to see how he grows and changes this next year.

It seems like when looking back over the summers they tend to have a theme.  Some summers were hiking summers, some were boating, and this summer revolved around tournaments.  We started off with three soccer tournaments scheduled and Lona missing one of them due to family vacation. Then we received this email.  Middle school coaches can you recommend any players for a special tryout for U15 Ranger team.  John thought long and hard and recommended four of his players.  Job was on that list but hesitantly. We weren't sure whether he was committed or able due to his stamina. We thought he was going in a different direction however he decided he would give it a try. He showed up to practice and loved it. No one else that John recommended showed up. John emailed more kids and another one showed up.  Then we went on vacation. Half way through we received an email asking Job to join the team. With two emails our direction totally changed. It seems like that is pretty much how life works. We think we are going one way and then boom something comes along unexpected and we go 180 the other direction. We accepted the place on the team and started the process, paperwork, ordering uniforms, paying fees and so on. Then there were practices and we added another tournament. I bought a family wall calendar to keep track of games and practices and team activities and homework projects and all sorts of stuff. We took a good look at activities and decided that tennis was out for Job. We thought youth group was out and then it changed to Sundays. We are adapting to two children in a select soccer program and realizing that games on the weekends are going to be a little more hectic. It's a direction I didn't think we would take and hesitantly doing so. I don't know if this is the only year Job is doing this or will there be more years but it is the direction we are going in for now.