OKTOBERFEST 2019

Cottonwood hosted it's second annual Oktoberfest celebration today and you know we weren't going to miss a chance to eat festive foods and drink amazing beers!

After lunch, we moved upstairs for some rooftop fun!

James loves that the elevator to the rooftop has a fake grass floor ;-)

There was photobooth posing, there was dancing (that's Cora's old babysitter, Miss Elizabeth, swinging her around the roof), there were more beers, and there was some arm wrestling... We had a great time! We left Jay there for a couple hours while I took Cora to a birthday party, then took Grambot and James home to chill, then I joined Jay again for a bit longer before picking Cora up from her party. It was a great low-key way to start the weekend.

COTTONWOOD ROOFTOP OPENING

Free leis and Hawaiian-themed appetizers, fancy cocktails, and the best pizza in town made for a fun evening up on the new rooftop at Cottonwood!

(Their favorite spot, evening counting the new roof, is the low bar right in front of the pizza oven. It's warmer, and has great Wifi and accessible plugs to charge their Kindles)

MAD SCIENTIST 5K AND 1-MILE 2019

We got up, fueled up, and were ready to race!

It was my first race since the St. Jude Marathon and it was pretty fun to be out in a race environment again (especially since I was done in 30 minutes instead of 5.5 hours). My buddy met me at the finish line for high-fives and hugs.

This was Jay's first race in (forever?) and his first run (at all) in over 3 months. Needless to say, he felt that 30 minutes for the rest of the weekend.

We went to this race even to support ERDC and our Castle Club, but also for the kids' 1-mile race. Cora registered with the goal of finishing first, or at least first female. We had no doubt she'd do it either (there is no stopping that child once she sets her mind to something, and she'd been working hard at soccer practices without a break for the whole year, so she was in great shape).

Sure enough, she crested the final hill in first place, but was passed near the finish line by Luke (her running rival, but a very gracious rival who always shakes hands afterwards).

The kids both received finisher's medals and they were very pleased!

Cora then received her First Female award, presented by our new Colonel, Theresa Schlosser, and our Director, David Pittman:

The kids were (later) super excited to see themselves in the local paper:

JULY 4TH 2019

My morning started with a long run down by the waterfront to see the big flag hung on the old depot building:

Later in the day, we put on our red, white, and blue, and headed over to Clinton to spend the holiday afternoon and evening with the Kennedys!

We walked the mile or so from their house down to the Brilla soccer fields where the fireworks were set to go off:

RAINGUTTER REGATA

James and Cora designed sailboats for Pack 104's Raingutter Regata. It was out first time doing this and the kids had so much fun with it! (And their boats sailed pretty well too!)

CAMP INVENTION 2019

Since James did not attend Cub Scout daycamp this year (no new badges to earn - he got them all last summer as a Webelo), he was able to attend Camp Invention with Cora this year. They both loved it and learned so much! They were really excited to show us all their creations on the last day.

WINSHAPE CAMP

The kids were super excited to attend WinShape camp this year! (It's a local Christian daycamp  hosted by one of the largest churches in town.) They both have a lot of friends who attend each year and have always wanted to go themselves. They were a little nervous at first (making a pact to stay together until they felt comfortable - melt our hearts), but quickly branched out and truly enjoyed all the activities (they each got to pick 4 "lands" they wanted to participate in throughout the week, such as "Man Land", "Splash Zone", and "Wacky Science" to name a few) and worship services. The end of the week got a little intense for them (small group talks and interviews about going to church) and they're unsure about doing the camp again, but I know the week was fun for them! 

(having a few of their older friends there as counselors helped too!)

(the buckets contained coins that the campers earned throughout the week, with each age group "camp" competing to win the most coins)

(he won a medal in Man Land this day AND learned to shave, so he was feeling pretty cool)

Free donut day was celebrated on the way to camp this morning: 

The week ended with a great big party (dancing and bounce houses and waterslides), and a free lunch and worship service for parents to attend before pickup. 

All in all, a good week. It's a nice event put on here locally, for sure.