Now THAT was a party!

Evey hosted her first full-on party at the house… on a Tuesday night! The cars kept pulling in! It was crazy! I think there are… 27 girls and one dog in this photo!

PARTY IN THE HOJ!

Sweet Koko & Sweet Evey Melosa

A DQ run on a very cold day

We had Boyd's 5th/6th basketball rec league game in De Soto and we got beat pretty good, maybe 32-17 or something like that.

The weather was awful, like -1 and there was blowing snow. We decided to head to Dairy Queen to see Evey -- Bub's suggestion.

I'll admit I wanted Mexican food (because I always want Mexican food) then it occurred to me that Bub meant the DQ in Eudora, so we could see Evey. And that, suddenly, was a no-brainer. I was clearly thinking with my stomach and not my head. 

Evey cheered us all up (OK, I might have been the only one who was a little moody) and we all got some amazing 4-piece chicken strip dinners with plenty of gravy and the most well-buttered Texas toast anyone has ever served. Bravo, DQ cook.

From there we headed home and chilled out, waiting for the Chiefs game to kick off. It was a surprisingly quiet weekend, as I was expecting company in from Chicago, but their flights got canceled twice. 

The Chiefs game was good! Chili dogs were served. 

Kansas City set a record low on Monday morning, MLKJ Day... -16 out at the airport. 

Snow day!

Got about 7-8 inches early January

 

Girls got fresh cuts!

Here they are At Barbwire BBQ in Eudora… I was in Cleveland at the time. 

This post also noteworthy for another reason: first appearance of Bub Jones in his contact lenses on the blog! 

I'm at Chicago Midway waiting for my flight home. I've been in San Antonio, Orlando and Cleveland over the last three weeks. I'm ready to stay put at home for a few weeks! 

Thanksgiving 2023

 Great photo Evey!

Rod, next time we'll ask you to put the fork down so you can actually look at the camera!

Halloween 2023

You're gonna have to look hard to see Bub's costume…!

He went as a 'Gamer.'

They all had fun! 

Evey's PopwerPoint presentation, junior year

 Every year Evey gives us a PowerPoint that updates us on her school work, goals, plans for after high school, etc.

This was the opening slide for Evey's presentation. It was a GREAT presentation! It fills me with pride to see all the good work she is up to!

Back from Italy

Never thought I'd write that sentence! 

Fajitas on the flattop!

Evey and I fired up the Blackstone on Saturday! I drove to the Mexican market in Olathe and loaded up on chicken, fajita steak and steak. Everything turned out really good EXCEPT for the steak, it is way too salty.

Homemade refried beans too! 

AYE AYE AYE AYE AYE!!!

Happy 12th birthday Boyd Jones!

 

Happy birthday to this guy!

(Boyd Atticus... not that fish!)

((Unless it's also that fish's birthday and if that is the case, happy birthday to that fish, too!)) 

Late September camping trip

 It was very cool to take the kids camping again recently. Evey brought it up a while ago… when was the last time we went camping? 

It might have been… OK, it probably was… when I took Bub to the Wake Family farm to see the eclipse. That had to be five or six years ago!

Before that, the three of us had camped a few times together at the Wake Farm in Leavenworth. Since then, we started playing more fall soccer, COVID, etcetera. 

I was happy Evey suggested it. Bub likes to roll along with Evey ideas, so he was in. Plus, we had no soccer that Saturday.

**

I eventually committed myself to the idea. We don’t like leaving Mom out of family plans, but really… how many more years do I have to camp with the kids? She’s 16, he’s 11. He turns 12 tomorrow; she turns 17 in December.

LET’S GO CAMPING!

The weather forecast was for HOT weather even though it was the last weekend of September. It did get up to the low 90s that day. But we didn’t arrive to the lake until 6 pm, it was calming down fast…

So I chose Eisenhower State Park, which resides on Melvern Lake. About an hour south of here. I tried to pack up everything in the afternoon so we could just drive off when Evey and Boyd pulled up (Evey and Boyd pull up!) but I got a little bogged down and was running late. We were wheels up by 4 pm with a tent, two air mattresses, a cooler full of food and drinks and two bicycles.

Emergency PB&Js

As we drove off, Bub asked if we could stop for a Wendy’s or something, on the drive. I said, “Good idea!” But I really didn’t know if we would drive by such a place. 

Turns out, we drove by two Casey’s (Boyd declined pizza) and one Mexican restaurant that looked really good. No other options. When we made the turn on the last 5 miles to the lake, I told a hungry Boyd, “Sorry, man, look outside… there’s no Wendy’s out here!”

Thankfully I packed peanut butter, jelly and bread. As soon as we got settled, Evey made them both sammiches for a snack. Replete with milk in Wonder Woman Solo cups.

***

Important note: When we arrived at Eisenhower State Park, I paid $5 to enter the park. I was directed to go to Ike’s Cabin, to pay for my tent.

Channeling the Progressive commercials “home owners turning into their parents” commercials, I told the lady — Oh, no, I brought my own tent. 

She said, yeah, I know. You have to pay to spend the night.

OH! OK.

We went into the shack and the kind woman gave us the layout. We chose our campsite. Went back to the shack. As we pulled up, Boyd asked me, “Dad, can I stay in the truck? Something in there made me SNEEZY.”

Sure enough, Bub was sniffly the rest of the trip. He hung tight and never complained, but something in there changed him and frankly, he was sick for about two days afterward. Bummer.

***

We chose a spot as remote as possible, but still with a view of the lake.

And of course, as soon as we got back to the campsite… someone was parked there.

It’s OK, they were just fishing, apparently on that day pass (no tent fee for them!) and moved out of our spot once they saw us setting up.

I told the kids that I could set up the camp; they should bike ride while they could because the sun was going down quickly. 

They went on a short ride then they had to return almost immediately to report they saw four deer, and the deer were not scared of them… they got really close! They went on another short ride, then they came back to help me set up camp. With their help (especially Evey) we were done in no time. 

I sparked a nice fire using the Solo Stove Adro got me for Father’s Day, and the wood I’ve been hoarding at the house. Before I knew it, we were cooking hot dogs as the sun went down.

We called Mom to let her know we were safe and sound. Then Evey went, “Is that THE MOON?!?” We looked, and behind the tree was emerging this giant moon, bright pink. We took photos and looked at it through the binoculars. (Yes, of course I brought binoculars.)

Monopoly!!!

After hot dogs and chips were s’mores. Then we went and the kids sat in the bed of the truck and we chatted. Evey asked, “If time froze for 24 hours but you were the only one who could still move, what would you do?” A fun conversation ensued.

Any fish in this ti--

We wrapped up the night in the tent, and played a game of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Monopoly, probably our favorite boardgames. I was kicking so much butt, probably three Monopoly’s…. Then a sudden twist of fate, and I was out of the game. I went and fed the fire some while I watched Evey and Bub duke it out. Bub won based on owning Ego (Boardwalk) and the game was over.

We closed down the camp site then got out a book of Greek Mythology and read the story of the Chimera. It was just an OK story, not amazing. By then it was almost midnight, and the kids were exhausted. “I love you, good night”s were exchanged, and then Boyd was snoring instantly. Evey soon followed.

The moon was so bright, I couldn’t sleep. I stared at the sky, restless, for the next 90 minutes. 

***

Morning arrived and I was the first up. I told the kids to sleep in as late as they wanted. I was up by around 7 a.m. and started working on the fishing poles. The kids were still asleep and I was pretty much done with my chores, so I went fishing by myself. I didn’t get a single bite, but ironically, a 12-inch bass leapt out of the water right by my bobber. It was like he waved.

The kids got up and I made breakfast on the Coleman grill. Because, why not? Ham, egg and cheese sandwiches. They turned out nice. Boyd was still pretty sneezy and groggy, but he wanted to try fishing.

I caught the first bluegill of the day, a little guy. Then Boyd caught one. 

We changed locations to a quiet cove. The sun was coming up and you could tell we were in for another hot day. The shade we welcome.

You can tell Bub is sneezy 

Boyd looked down at a discarded tire and asked, “Do you think there are any fi—“ and before he could finish his sentence, he pulled another bluegill out. We stayed in this area. Boyd probably caught 8 or 9 small gills, Evey caught two or three. I spent most of my time pulling fish off the kids’ hooks.

With every fish, Bub extended his own stay… but you could tell he was miserable. Eventually, we cut it off and started packing up. Poor Bub… he was probably actually sick by by now.

We drove by the same two Casey’s and got home by about noon on Saturday. The kids took an immediate “tick check” shower. I unloaded the truck.

We were all exhausted. But I think we all enjoyed the moon, the Monopoly, the s’mores, the storytelling.

And yes, if any of us are still moving while everyone else is frozen for 24 hours? You’re going to see a really fast car in our driveway afterward. Jones agreement. 

Just a cool photo...

 ...I found recently, on my computer.

We all miss Virginia. 

Trinity Forest

Just a great day… my putter was stealing SOULS… (I could go into detail… maybe later…) 

Excited to fly home, it's been a really great trip but I miss my girls, and Bub Jones. 

The weekend that was, 9/9/23

We had a great weekend here, it was action-packed!

 

This photo was from Labor Day, not this weekend...
but it's a good photo.

It started early, on Thursday, with the Chiefs / Lions NFL season kick-off. Boyd had soccer practice (I’m still the coach) so we ran out and did soccer from 5:30-6:30, then hustled home to open the HOJ. Luckily, I make my chili and queso during my lunch hour, so all I had to do was open up and get things ready for the game.

 

We had a great crew and a ton of food! Both neighbors came over — the Sandstroms and Cathy. Judy and Josh also came over. We had a salad, two different kinds of homemade chocolate chips and a veggie pizza that I refused to touch.

 

It was so much fun having a crowd at the HOJ and seeing everything getting enjoyed… pop-a-shot, Shinobi, the jukebox, the hot dog roller, the Simpsons game, Ms. Pac-Man. Only foosball went untouched. The ladies all sat around the new table and chatted during the first half. Stephen snuck in a nap on the couch, despite me hollering at the TV.

 

It should be noted that Boyd and Kieran defeated the Simpsons game, the first time we’ve ever seen that accomplished. There was a level toward the end that looked very much like a late level of Shinobi, replete with ninjas. 

 

Mr. Burns was the final boss, as he should be. He was in an Iron Man like suit, similar to when J. Jonah Jameson donned the Spider-Slayer armor.

 

As you know, the Chiefs lost 21-20. I know what happened — it involves a jinx — but that’s OK, tough game and no Travis Kelce.

 

***

 

Friday I woke up kinda mad (read: hungover) about the game and wanted to talk to someone about it, but there’s no water cooler talk when you work from home. So I texted my buddy Jimmy and we met up at West Coast Saloon, home of the best cheeseburger in Lawrence. We discussed the game, work, etc. It was fun to catch up.

 

I came home and then worked for a little bit, then the kids got home so I chatted with them. I heated up some leftovers (queso, enchiladas, beans) then got my game face on again because the Jayhawks were playing against Illinois on ESPN2. So me, Adro and Judy came back over to the HOJ to watch. Well, Adro worked. Me and Judy watched. It was a fun game! And beautiful weather. The Jayhawks won… 34-21, I think? Jalen Daniels looked special, extra special.

 

I only called him Jalen Wilson once, and then added I didn’t know where Jalen Wilson was but I’m sure he was playing basketball and not football. This got a laugh from Adrianne, which is always a win.

 

***

 

Saturday came up on me fast! We had a soccer game, the first of Boyd’s 5^th/6^th grade fall season. 

 

We looked good! Won 6-1, and Boyd scored our second and third goals. He took a shot from distance earlier, but it was right at the goalie. He figured out pretty quickly that he could dribble past their defense, so he wove his way up to a point-blank shot both times, and tucked it in the corner.

 

I’m so stressed, and trying to keep the game organized, it’s hard for me to keep track of his goals. I know both were pretty good and showed a lot of skill. I did pull him after the second goal, then put him in at defense for a shift. I let him attack late in the game and the ball never came to him. He wanted the hat trick, but it didn’t happen. I didn’t want to humiliate the other team, we’ve been on the receiving end of that before. Boyd was cool with all of that, he was happy he got a chance late in the game.

 

I think I did a decent job of coaching. It’s intense, especially with such a big group (14 kids today, we play 9 v 9. We’ll have 17 when we’re fully staffed.)

 

I didn’t make anyone cry, and I only got a little curt with one kid, but he didn’t mind.

 

Following soccer, I took Evey to work to Eagle Bend so we could work on her putting. She actually drove me, which was nice. I relaxed and enjoyed the ride. We took country back roads and saw 1) a woman riding a horse, who waved and 2) a turkey vulture on top of a phone pole with its wings fully outstretched. 

 

Evey’s putting looked pretty good, mostly. She might have been aiming her putter a little to the right, but we corrected that. At one point she dropped three five-footers in a row. 

 

It just takes practice.

 

Following golf we went to 23^rd Street Brewery. I didn’t ask, I told Evey, we deserve lunch. She asked me, “do you always get lunch after you play golf?” and I said yes, it’s a tradition, and when we play Eagle Bend, we always go to 23^rd Street Brewery.

 

We sat near the TV with the K-State game on. Evey got a flatbread pizza, I got the chicken tenders with French fries.

 

Honestly, the food was amazing. The setting was great. The company, my favorite girl in the world. It was nice chatting with her and just being there. This was my favorite part of the weekend, even above Boyd’s two goals. (But the goals were also awesome.)

 

Now I’m back from the barbershop, in the HOJ. I caught up a little on work (trying to make good on that long trip to West Coast during business hours!) And now I’m dreading packing… I land in Dallas tomorrow at 7:40 a.m.

 

Dallas this week, San Francisco next week.

 

Life moves fast.