Evey's summer vacation report

 Hey everyone! It's Evey! 

Me and my family had a great summer vacation, and sadly it is coming to an end. We have 9 more days before school starts and my brother starts 4th grade, and I go into high school as a freshman... but even though we are all sad about school starting, I thought I would talk about my favorite memory from summer. 

My favorite memory from going to South Padre Island is when me and my family rode The Banana Boat. We had signed up that day to go on the Banana Boat and we had to wait for a really long time to get on. My mom was scared because she didn't want to ruin her makeup and everyone we had watched had fallen off the ride and into the water; I told her that it was probably because they were doing it themselves and falling over on purpose... but that was not the case. Once it was time to get on the Banana Boat we were all stressed out. We had to go deep into the ocean and then get on this huge inflatable and everyone was watching us get on. Me and Boyd got on super easily but then it was dads turn... dad threw his leg over the boat and made this huge grunt and tried to throw himself on the boat and he bounced back off into the water. It was so funny, and everyone was staring. Dad got up out of the water and laughed it off like a man and tried to get up on it again... and once again he fell off; but this time he took mom with him and fell on top of her. They both fell into the ocean and everyone around us was laughing. They both got out of the water and finally with some help from the instructor, they made it on top of the Banana Boat. The ride itself was very fun. There were two times where we got dumped into the ocean and there was one time where dad fell on top of me but other than that it was a great time. We really needed a break with the stress from the pandemic and we hadn't gone on vacation in two years so we all had a lot of fun with each other... but now it's time to go back to school! 

Onion rings and things

Great weekend here! Let’s recap:

 

·      Thursday night Adro and I started our weekends early and hit Hollywood Casino “before the world shuts down again” and had some fun. We had a good time and I actually came out ahead, handing Adro a ticket for $57 as we left. My mantra was “Jack in the Crack!” at that point (I also pre-gamed at Rick’s) so she took me through the drive-thru. I got a cheeseburger, fries, three egg rolls and SOME TACOS TO GO!

·      That night’s mantra was, “Jack in the Crack… why?!?” I was sick all night. I think it was worth it, hard to say. I do remember the eggrolls being sublime.

·      Friday was a low-key workday. Adro had to go in in the afternoon, I clocked out around 2 pm. That evening Adro brought home groceries. We had a light dinner (sammiches and chips, fruit) then went downstairs to play “Trains on Time” (not sure of its real name, I lost horribly, Adro won and almost lapped me) then watched GATTACA on Blu-Ray (kids liked it OK, Evey was disappointed in the ending. Both stayed up to finish it though.)

·      Interrupt this post to announce! USA just won the Gold Cup!!! And I just beat Shinobi (three quarters) to celebrate!!!

·      Saturday morning I woke up and got after it. Mowed the whole lawn (a little over two hours) rushed inside and made an approved breakfast (ham/egg/cheese biscuits were shot down in favor of ham/egg/cheese croissants??? OK) and then back outside to burn some old brush plus a pile of webworms I found. GROSS! The pile burst into flames and I was sweating like crazy but got it done.

·      Back inside I got cleaned up then went downstairs to mess around with my comic book collection. That was fun. I watched YouTube videos while I did it.

·      Got hungry again (I’m always hungry) so I made two frozen pizzas for the family. 

·      Adro bought movie tickets to see Snake Eyes, 4:45 showtime. I came back upstairs and caught 15 minutes of shut-eye. 

·      Got to the movie (didn’t know I-435 and 119^th was shut down) just in time. We all enjoyed the movie! I think I liked it the most. Cool origin story of the coolest Joe.

·      Hit the Mexican restaurant in DeSoto for the first time. Good stuff! We all enjoyed it. 

·      I got dropped off at a local bar to hang out with a friend. Biker bar. We stayed there for all of ten minutes, and as we left, drunk bikers started brawling. Ugh. We got outta there.

·      SUNDAY! I woke up with a legit level three hangover. Didn’t get moving until mid-morning. Showered, tried to knock off the cobwebs. Evey got up and helped me make breakfast and clean the kitchen. Breakfast burritos were on the menu. They were awesome, and mostly made by Evey Melosa Jones! Nice work Evey.

·      Bub got invited to Nolan’s to go swimming. The earlier plan of going back-to-school shopping was nixed. Girls went on their own. Bub went swimming. 

·      The weather was amazing outside so once I felt human, I went and cleaned the HOJ and worked on getting the Impala started. Also watched the Olympics.

·      That about brings me back to now! USA wins. Defeated Shinobi. Snake Eyes awesome. Yard looking good.

 

Hope you had a nice weekend as well!

Beach bums

Here's a pic of the Jones family before they headed out on a (terrifying) banana boat trip! 

Girls just wanna have fun

Evey and Momma as they were ready to head out to Legends for a shopping trip! 

4th of July 2021

This year's 4th festivities were much different than previous years. Our guest list flipped the script… this year we had Willy and Lervy, along with Adro's dad Alan and his wife, the first time those two have visited us at the new house.

It was a fun adventure. I cooked on the flat top grill probably 7 times in 6 days. We got the Impala out a lot. We drank a keg (spilled some too.) We blew some stuff up then ate some s'mores. We hung out every night in the HOJ. 

It was a whirlwind but a ton of fun. Like vacationing in our own house! Now, back to work! Home sweet home. 

Happy Father’s Day 2021

It was a hectic day because I had to fly out... but my family still made it so special! 

The kids + Adro knew I had to fly to St. Louis but they took me out to Mexican. It was SO GOOD!

Love this family! Second annual "pic from the tailgate" featured here. What a beautiful family!!! 

The Citizenship Award goes to ... Evelyn Jones!

Recently Evey wrapped up her middle school career. In honor of finishing 8th grade the school hosted a promotion for all the students.

There were two awards handed out at this ceremony, to one girl and one boy: The Kansas State High School Activities Association Citizenship Award, voted on by the teachers of the school.

I'm so proud that Evey Jones won the award! They announced her name and she didn't even comprehend it, she was so shocked she just kept sitting there and her friends told her to go up and shake the Principal's hand.

Mr. Thomas emailed me this photo recently with a note telling me how much they all enjoyed having Evey as a student in the school. To get an email from the school principal, praising your kid? Just... wow. The certificate also arrived in the Jones house, where it will be proudly displayed.

Great job Evey, your mom and I are so proud of you! Next stop, high school!

Bball at the Joneses

Neighbor kids came over and shot hoops with Evey and Boyd last night. Me, Adro and Judy sat in the garage and watched. It was a fun Friday night! 

Wet, too. Cathy told me we've had 8 inches of rain this week. We've now had 9 straight days of rain. 10 is the historic record, according to Lezak. Crazy! 

Shinobi is BACK, baby!

We've been playing in the HOJ. The new neighbor kids too. It's a lot of fun! Screen looks better than when it was new. 

Found a guy in Lawrence who likes to refurbish them and keep them original. Feels good to have it back. I've owned this machine since 2001. 

Had it back for two weeks now. Still haven't beaten the game yet. Soon! 

It’s Friday!

The weekend is here, thank goodness!

The weather has been spectacular these last few days. Yesterday I clocked out at 4 and mowed the lawn. It looks GOOD! And now we have 7 days of rain in the forecast... bring it! 

Yesterday after I finished mowing I grabbed a beer and sat down at the HOJ. Evey joined after taking Koko for a walk. Adro and Boyd and the cat were there too. I put on some music and grilled a few hot dogs. We ate outside and watched the sun go down. So pleasant! Great evening.

Summer break is almost here. Only 8 more school days! Evey will be a high schooler and this guy will be a 4th grader. Crazy! 

No complaints here!

We got to see Evey perform on stage tonight and she was awesome!

She played two different characters in "Complaint Box // Lemonade." I've got a few clips ready for YouTube, I'll just have to get them ready. (And get connected to internet.)

This class caused a lot of stress for Evey, almost daily we'd talk about 'the drama in drama.' Meanwhile... straight As in science, math, etc...

Well, that class is pretty much over and Evey is staring down high school. In the meantime her class all peaked at the same together and it was a big win! 

Hard to say why some classes are so rough and random while others make sense and you can control what you can control... but Evey, you were fantastic tonight. Well done!

On to the next challenge! 

"Old MacDonald..."

I’ll pack-a

The moon is 400X sleepy

The other day... it was a Friday night, I think... I walked into this sight. I thought they were faking/pretending! But I stood there in the living room for a solid minute, ready for them to break character ... the TV volume was way loud... and I was like, "shit, they're really all asleep!"

So I tip-toed out of the house and went next door to the HOJ and listened to the jukebox while I watched NBA hoops. 

This was early, by the way... it was like, 7 p.m.

The next day they told me they were watching a TV show about the mysteries of the moon. 

Turns out, the moon can also knock you out, unexpectedly! 

Tarzan, king of the jungle

Flat Joneses come home in style!

Picked these up from Allen Fieldhouse this week! Excited to have them home!