Chiefs, CHAMPIONS!

I can't believe it! We won the Super Bowl!

It's been an exhausting six weeks since we nabbed the first-round bye when the Pats lost to the Fins. Yes, exhausting, as if I were playing in the games... but I wasn't, I was just watching...

This morning I woke up and we were Super Bowl champs. It's really real!

We had a great party at the house. We've hosted a few friends at the house every postseason game. Special thanks to Adro, Judy and the kids in helping me with everything. I'll forever recall Judy's taco soup, Evey's li'l smokies and Adro's queso -- a dinner of champions!

The above photo was taken pregame in the HOJ. A detail we shouldn't forget in 10, 20 years... Sunday got up to almost 70 degrees outside. It was a beautiful day! And it had a beautiful ending.

Eventually we took the part back to the house, but after we won, we raced to the HOJ for champagne, loud music and yes... fireworks! It's good to live in the country. It's good to be a CHIEF!

GO CHIEFS!!!

(Not pictured above, fellow party people Grandma Judy and Jim Goodrich.)

Koko and me

Waiting for the kids to get off the school bus a few weeks ago.

Mom and Dad left me the truck.

Adro and Boyd got me the dog.

Judy got me the shirt.

Beer and lack of exercise got me the chubby cheeks.

Sledding champion

Boyd looked good in his new winter sledding gear!

Go Chiefs!!!

Snow day!

Pretty nice snow day we had just now. Sunday was a good heavy snow, as promised by Jerard Jebailey, then it snowed almost all day Monday, too.

We got a good amount of outdoor time during the snowstorm. For the first time ever, I took the kids to the back part of the property. That was a cool adventure. The snow and the quiet made it really fun.

And of course we found a good sledding spot at the new place.

The biggest problem? Getting out of the driveway is a bit of an adventure in the truck... but I pulled it off!

It's feeling a lot like Christmas... good thing, since we're merely days away!

Happy 13th birthday, Evey!

It's hard to believe our little baby girl is now 13!!!

Evey celebrated with her friends here at the house with a sleepover. It was nice to have Allison, Ava, Peyton and Takahra (not pictured) come over for some pizza, cupcakes, and general fun.

Evey has some great friends, for which I'm thankful. I'm glad she has a good group to hang out with at school. I'm happy they took the time to decorate her locker at school. When you're 13, these are very important things, and it's good to see so many sweet girls in Evey's circle of friends... and I'm sure it's because Evey is also a good friend!

Following the sleepover we went to Dave and Busters and met the Johnsons for part two of Evey's 13th birthday. We had a blast racing cars, playing pop-a-shot, you name it. My sister sent me some cool photos from that afternoon, I'll try to share them here as well.

We love you Evey, can't believe you're 13! Didn't I start this blog when you were a baby?

You really are an inspiration, Evey Melosa Jones.

Burrito Kings

I'm in Florida at the Golfdom Summit but I'm told Boyd put down an entire chimichanga, adult size portion, at Tres recently.

In other news, Evey rocked her play performance. Nice job kids!

Birthday boys!

Happy eighth, and ... JEEZ... seventeenth?!? To Boyd and Jett...

Hard to believe!

Farewell 709

Big news from the Joneses...

We moved!!!

After 10 years (almost to the day) of living in the old house, we decided to move the fam to a sweet abode in the nearby country. It's still a Eudora address, but it's much more rural. 

The attached photo is the last time I mowed the old yard. And it felt good. That house was good to us. We loved it there. It was just the right time to move on.

The good news is the kids, Adrianne and I all couldn't be happier with the new digs. We're still getting adjusted and we're still unpacking some boxes... but the sunsets and the sunrises at the new casa are just beautiful. The stars are so bright. And my cell phone service? Nonexistent. 

Perfect!

If the photos on the blog look like a different setting, now you know why. We've been at the new place a little over a month. Many of my friends helped us move out of the old place. And I credit Adrianne with the savvy of finding this new place and making it happen. Much like ten years ago, I was just along for the ride.

We look forward to getting the new place all put together and in having our friends over to visit. Just not yet... we're still getting out of boxes!

The Dark Knight Returns, Unfortunately

We decided to celebrate Halloween in downtown Lawrence, for reasons I still need to address on the blog... but yeah, we departed from our normal Halloween tradition of trick or treating the old neighborhood (there's a hint) and instead road tripped to downtown Lawrence.

It was good, not great. Boyd was unimpressed with his candy haul. Asked if we can return to the ol' stomping grounds next year. I said yes.

But will I go as elderly Batman again? Hard to say. Looks like Evey is done with Halloween... maybe old-ass Dad should be, too!

I'm (elderly) Batman!

Kids in the yard

They had the day off school on Friday... mostly chilled (Evey had 6 am b-ball practice) and then we went outside and started a bonfire, then hung out at the Hall of Justice.

Money makin!

Evey got her first ever paycheck... for being a line judge at the 7th grade volleyball tournament!

You know what they say... once you start working, you never stop...

Happy 8th birthday Boydee!

Happy 8th birthday Boydee!

We celebrated Boyd's birthday at Worlds of Fun on Sunday (his birthday was Saturday... but I had tickets to KU/OU, and Evey had a volleyball tourney, so we postponed the big celebration for a day.)

It was great because Boyd can now ride most of the rides... and the weather was overcast, sprinkles at times... but overall, a good day to be outdoors for 6 hours.

The craziest moment for me, by far, was when the kids joined Judy on the Bamboozler... a ride that terrifies me. I thought for sure there would be tears, vomiting, etc. But instead, the kids wanted to ride it again... immediately! And there was no line, so they jumped right back on.

I can't even watch this ride, it makes me sick. And the kids and Judy loved it.

A good day at Worlds of Fun. I'm sure we'll be back next year.

And next year: we avoid the 50s diner and instead go for burritos!

Pool day!

Maybe our last weekend of the summer at the pool... but it was a great time!

***

Eleven attendees at the open house!!! Fingers crossed.  

Evey's first volleyball game!

How exciting! We got to go see Evey play 7th grade volleyball today!

She played great. I think her best moment came when she was on the bench and they subbed her in after the opposing team ripped off like seven straight serves... and then that girl ripped off an eighth... and then she made the mistake of hitting her ninth to Evey, which she returned with great vengeance and furious anger! And that was the end of that scoring run!

The 7th grade JV team crushed Baldwin. Then the next team... the Jaguars... not remembering where they were from, it was two words... that was a much better team, and the girls ended up losing 2-1.

I'll get better photos next time! This game, I was too nervous to even think about photos. I can't believe Evey is out there playing 7th grade volleyball! And she did great!

***

It was Adrianne's birthday yesterday! Happy birthday Adro! We celebrated by doing nothing. Really. Well, we worked on the house some more, and I grilled steaks. My favorite part of the day was hanging out on the back deck with Adro as the charcoals heated up. 

I tried to get the kids to come out, even told Boyd he could play in the sprinkler... but it was hot out, and they were more interested in relaxing. Eventually Evey came out to practice volleyball and Boyd joined her.

But the best was sitting beneath the umbrella, watching the sprinkler work, watching these three monarch butterflies flitter around the yard, while sipping on a couple cold beers with Adro. 

In defense of the kids, it's been really busy at the Jones casa these last few weeks. A real-deal day off was a good thing for everyone.

***

Took the September issue of Landscape Management to press today. That makes nine issues I've served as the EIC. It's getting a little easier, but the team is shorthanded, and it's all still crazy. Every deadline we make, I'm a little surprised. 

I went to bed Monday night knowing we needed to be to press by 1 p.m. EST the next day. Dreamt about the magazine all night. And I really only had two more pages to write! But it still eats at me. I wish there were more hours in the day. 

On to the next one. And to the next issue of Golfdom.