2 Years Later -- Jayhawks in the Final 4!

Just over 2 years ago, I had a post titled, "March Sadness" because the Big 12 Tournament and the entire NCAA tournament had been cancelled with the beginning of Covid. What a crazy 2 years it has been!  That was the year our Jayhawks were on fire and would've likely been the overall #1 seed. Last year the tournament was played, although not the same because Covid continued to upset plans and no fans were allowed (and we won't mention our embarrassing second-round loss).  This year, it is mostly back to the usual excitement, and we KU Jayhawk fans are extra excited because our boys made it to the Final 4 this past weekend!

We watched the game at Joy & Scott's and, while the first half made us all pretty nervous, our boys took care of business against Miami in the second half, with 47-15 scoring!  I know basketball isn't the most important thing in the world (by any means), but it sure is fun to cheer on our team.  Oliver pointed out that Self has made the Final 4 in 2008, 2012, 2018, and now 2022--he likes the years ending with 8s and 2s.  Let's see if they can finish like 2008 this time!  Russ already promised the boys he would take them to Mass St afterward if we win. . . ROCK CHALK!!

Oliver's New/Old Car: Bluey!

Oliver is our second "official" teenage driver of the household after passing his test this month (pray for me!) for his Farm Permit.  We took off on the first day of Spring Break to the DMV in Lawrence where he aced his driving test.  Seriously, the woman said he did perfect and was better than most of the adult drivers she sees!  Here he is, waiting to go driving, claiming not to be nervous at all. . .

. . . and here he is after he aced it with his temporary license and celebratory Starbucks!

We've added another car to our fleet, Grandma Jo's Pontiac that we are calling "Bluey" until we think of a better name.  He wasted no time putting his new privilege to good use.  Calvin had to be at school really early for FBLA, so Oliver was the man! This was the first day he drove solo to school, chauffeuring Violet, who he couldn't convince to sit in the front with him.

We took advantage of some nice weather last evening to give Bluey a good cleaning.  Oliver got the floors all vacuumed out, while I scrubbed the rest.  Sure was a pretty sunset to enjoy while we cleaned!

And with his sparkling car this morning, he was off again with Vi.  He is kind enough to start Calvin's car, even when he won't be riding in it.  Russ and I laugh that we have 5 cars now, with 4 of the 5 having 200,000 miles on them.   We should start taking bets on which one will bite the dust first. . . I have to say, though, that in its prime, Bluey was the fanciest of them all.  She has all the bells and whistles!  And she's a little nostalgic for me because Russ and I bought a Grand Prix very similar to this one right after we got married.

I'm getting pretty spoiled now that he can drive himself (and Vi) to school on days that Calvin has to be there early, and home from school on days that Calvin has track meets (like today) or other after-school activities.  When Calvin got his license, I titled the post, "Freedom From Chauffeuring" -- I could probably call this one "EXTRA Freedom From Chauffeuring."  And Uncle Scottie already put him to work on the farm, giving rides to and from fields with equipment that needed moved.

He got his real Driver's License in the mail this week, which will be good until he turns 20.  How crazy is that?!?  I imagine he'll look a little different when it comes time to renew.  This one says he's 5'2" and 95 pounds (although he said he's probably more like 5'3" and 99 pounds).  We'll have to see what those stats are on 11/23/2027!

Congratulations, Oliver!  I'm proud of you, Son!!

SDC Spring Break Tradition

Our spring break continued with Grandma Cheryl's Silver Dollar City Opening Day tradition.  We actually drove to Branson on opening day itself (hoping that the crowds might not be as crazy on the second day) and got checked into our hotel, the Best Western at Branson West.  We had adjoining rooms, so everyone had plenty of space. 

We've stayed at this hotel a few times in the past (including last spring break) because it's so convenient to SDC, but we've never had a room on this side before.  We were ground level and had sliding glass doors to wide open spaces!  The weather was perfect for running around and exploring outside, so that's what we did.

Evelyn took her friend, Maggie, and they were excited to hit the pool.  After they'd explored the outdoors for a bit, they got in their suits and went running/cartwheeling down the hall to do some swimming.  These girls have the sweetest friendship. . . and SO much energy!

The boys joined them a little later and I did, as well.  The water was really nice!  And we were all excited that the hot tub was open this year (after being closed for Covid last year).

The girls swam for almost 3 hours straight.  I drug them out briefly to come back and eat some dinner.  There is a new Casey's just a couple miles away and Grandma Cheryl had a free pizza reward, so Taco Pizza for the win!

Once everyone was out of the pool and showered, the kids got plenty of hot cocoa from the lobby and checked out the game room. We slept well and enjoyed a great breakfast in their huge breakfast room. . .

. . . and then headed to the park!

We got there before the "chain drop" to try to position ourselves well for Time Traveler.  The weather was absolutely PERFECT and so we were joined by about 20,000 of our closest friends to celebrate Spring Break.

The average wait for Time Traveler was over 3 hours during these first days of spring at SDC.  Thankfully, we didn't have to wait that long since we were there right at the start of the day.  We did wait long enough to play several rounds of "Heads Up" (charades on the phone) and do some braids in the girls' hair.

This was Maggie's very first roller coaster!  Thankfully, she loved it.  From there we did some other rides, like the Wave Carousel and the Mighty Galleon.

We had brought our lunch (as we always do, to avoid wasting time in food lines), and decided we'd use our time wisely by eating while we watched a fun show.  The Stunt Dogs didn't disappoint! 

I loved their faces as they watched to see if the high-flying dogs would be successful in their attempted feats.

It was a fun show and the dogs were really cute (and talented)!

The most popular ride in the whole park right now is the new water ride, Mystic River Falls.  It also had been reporting a 3-hour wait all day, so we assumed we would just have to miss it.  Calvin is so smart, though.  He saw that the ride had been closed (for maintenance or something) and when he noticed they were running some test rafts through, he called us over to hop in the short line that had started to form outside the gate.

We got so lucky to be able to ride both Time Traveler and Mystic River on a beautifully busy day at the park!  And it was SO fun, with a huge drop at the end that totally soaked us.  These next 2 pictures are the before and after.  You can't tell very well, but the girls looked like they'd jumped in the pool with their clothes on.  Thankfully it was a warm day and we dried out just fine.

We also took a stroll across the suspension bridge (with all of the people there, it really got to swinging). . .

. . . and laughed our way through Grandfather's Mansion.  I hadn't been through this in awhile, and it really does mess with you!

We were also excited to see a couple more shows.  This magician/unicyclist/juggler/comedian guy really was funny and entertaining. . . 

. . . and the Saloon Show is always a must-see.

We finished our day with some shopping in the Taffy shop.  I don't think we've ever been in here, and I couldn't believe how many flavors they had!

And with that, our great day at Silver Dollar City was complete.  The weather was perfect; the rides were exciting; the kids were awesome; and I got to spend another fun day with my beautiful momma.  Can't ask for much more than that!

Thank you, Mom, for keeping this fun tradition alive for so many years!