Watched: Jack strike it big on a jackpot win at an arcade in Tampa. He had wanted to play on the one on the boat, but it was just way too overpriced. So we spent our free afternoon in Tampa walking along the river for a bit, then enjoying a Mexican lunch, followed by the arcade, and then a stop a local brewer before catching the train back to Orlando. The arcade was a blast full of different games than Chuck E Cheese. It was also pretty quite on a Monday afternoon, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. As long as you bought your tokens in mass quantities the game prices were pretty reasonable too.
Read: I was able to finish up The Mountain Between Us on our train ride back from Tampa to Orlando. I wasn't a huge fan. I thought it was rather predictable. I am sure it will make a good movie. If you are big Nicholas Sparks fan, you should definitely read this one. Next, I read It Ends With Us. I put this on my list thinking it was a romance novel. It's not. It's about the cycles of domestic abuse and the trail of pain that it leaves. It was a very quick read that drew me in almost immediately and I was able to read the majority of it on our plane flight home. I think if you haven't lived through domestic violence, this book could give you a picture of what life is accurately like for some victims. Next, I thought about reading The Chemist, but it just wasn't hitting the spot. So I started rereading The Rosie Project for my book club this month.
Listened: To the sweet sound of my boys sleeping as I unpacked from our trip, Even though, not minutes after landing Jack was asking to have friends over since it was a snow day, I think he was really quite exhausted from all the fun we packed in. He and Nick settled into watch Pirates of the Caribbean. One of my trips down stairs, I looked over and saw them both sweetly snoring instead of watching the movie. Jack had to go back to school the next day, but I knew that if he had fallen asleep, he must have really needed the catnap. I snapped a cute picture of them and went about unpacking.
Listened: To the sweet sound of my boys sleeping as I unpacked from our trip, Even though, not minutes after landing Jack was asking to have friends over since it was a snow day, I think he was really quite exhausted from all the fun we packed in. He and Nick settled into watch Pirates of the Caribbean. One of my trips down stairs, I looked over and saw them both sweetly snoring instead of watching the movie. Jack had to go back to school the next day, but I knew that if he had fallen asleep, he must have really needed the catnap. I snapped a cute picture of them and went about unpacking.
Made: A full list of everyone Champions of Character gear. We are having our party this coming Sunday and I wanted it to be easy to distribute. Every piece of gear has a name written on it and is in the box in alphabetically order. It will feel good to be able to get all this extra stuff out of my house! I am excited to see what the kids think of the designs that I came up with too. Hopefully they enjoy them. I know that I want to cross this bridge even earlier in the next wrestling year.
Felt: Like we are making big progress with the yearbook. We created an incentive plan for the teachers to try and some sell some more books so I am crossing my fingers and toes. I don't want it costing the PTA to put out a yearbook that I have worked so hard for. I know our school does everything last minute, but this is cutting it way too close!
Planned: Too many meetings for the first Thursday of the month and back from a vacation. I had a staff meeting, a PTA meeting, Nick had a public meeting, and Jack had football practice. I am so glad that we have made friends with one of his teammates so that we can help each other out. She was able to deliver him to me after practice since I had to be at the PTA meeting. She was also nice enough to take the team's snacks that I had signed up for, but then had to miss since Jack decided to play in the chess tournament instead of the first football game.
Loved: Watching Jack succeed in the District 20 chess tournament. He wasn't sure he wanted to miss his football game, but decided to he should honor the commitment that he worked towards. He was honestly hoping that he could do both. However, we learned that the chess tournament is an all day event. It is run in a 5 round Swiss style tournament. This means that each player plays in the round against someone with equal results to them. So in the third round, all the 2-0's play each other, all the 0-2's play each other, and all the 1-1's play each other. Points are given for the round in which you win in and also the quality of your previous opponents wins. It's a pretty complex system. And given the fact that each round can last up to an hour, it is a pretty major time commitment. Jack was 3-0 going into the fourth round. On the way over, he thought that he might win 2 games and seemed good with that. However, having won three straight, he was feeling like victory might be closer than he had originally thought. In the fourth round, he was beaten and it really rocked him. He went into the fifth round knowing he needed a win and he managed to get one. However, with the complex scoring rules we didn't know where that had left him. I was sure the two kids playing each other at 4-0 in the final round would have 1st and 2nd, but had no idea if Jack's 4-1 would get him third. He had a lot of angst waiting for them to announce results because he really wanted that trophy. I kept trying to remind him that even if he didn't have the trophy he still had a 4-1 record and that was really something to be proud of. When they called a name of kid for third that wasn't Jack, I felt so bad for him. However, then they said "In 2nd place from Prairie Hills, Jack Thomas", we were all shocked beyond belief. He was so thrilled and proud of himself. I still don't understand exactly how he passed the other 4-1 kid, but it had something to do with their opponents scores and when they each lost in the rounds. He says that he will most likely miss another football game next year to represent his school again.
Here are the pics for the week:
Felt: Like we are making big progress with the yearbook. We created an incentive plan for the teachers to try and some sell some more books so I am crossing my fingers and toes. I don't want it costing the PTA to put out a yearbook that I have worked so hard for. I know our school does everything last minute, but this is cutting it way too close!
Planned: Too many meetings for the first Thursday of the month and back from a vacation. I had a staff meeting, a PTA meeting, Nick had a public meeting, and Jack had football practice. I am so glad that we have made friends with one of his teammates so that we can help each other out. She was able to deliver him to me after practice since I had to be at the PTA meeting. She was also nice enough to take the team's snacks that I had signed up for, but then had to miss since Jack decided to play in the chess tournament instead of the first football game.
Loved: Watching Jack succeed in the District 20 chess tournament. He wasn't sure he wanted to miss his football game, but decided to he should honor the commitment that he worked towards. He was honestly hoping that he could do both. However, we learned that the chess tournament is an all day event. It is run in a 5 round Swiss style tournament. This means that each player plays in the round against someone with equal results to them. So in the third round, all the 2-0's play each other, all the 0-2's play each other, and all the 1-1's play each other. Points are given for the round in which you win in and also the quality of your previous opponents wins. It's a pretty complex system. And given the fact that each round can last up to an hour, it is a pretty major time commitment. Jack was 3-0 going into the fourth round. On the way over, he thought that he might win 2 games and seemed good with that. However, having won three straight, he was feeling like victory might be closer than he had originally thought. In the fourth round, he was beaten and it really rocked him. He went into the fifth round knowing he needed a win and he managed to get one. However, with the complex scoring rules we didn't know where that had left him. I was sure the two kids playing each other at 4-0 in the final round would have 1st and 2nd, but had no idea if Jack's 4-1 would get him third. He had a lot of angst waiting for them to announce results because he really wanted that trophy. I kept trying to remind him that even if he didn't have the trophy he still had a 4-1 record and that was really something to be proud of. When they called a name of kid for third that wasn't Jack, I felt so bad for him. However, then they said "In 2nd place from Prairie Hills, Jack Thomas", we were all shocked beyond belief. He was so thrilled and proud of himself. I still don't understand exactly how he passed the other 4-1 kid, but it had something to do with their opponents scores and when they each lost in the rounds. He says that he will most likely miss another football game next year to represent his school again.
Here are the pics for the week:
Just because it's so easy to forget what day of the week it is on the cruise, they put it on the elevator floor for you.
One of Jack's favorite games from the arcade in Tampa
Don't worry, they didn't try to grab him...
Just a little bit of Champions of Character Gear
Awaiting his first match
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