After today the boys will have 21 days of school left. That's all! And really my boys will only have 20 because we are going to hit the road heading southbound with the pedal to the medal as soon as the 5th grade graduation ceremony* is over on the last day of school.
*In true 40-year-old-in-a-12-year-old-body fashion, Spencer refuses to call these end of school events "graduations". He calls them "met expectation" ceremonies. Can't say I disagree...
We currently have 29 days before we head off on our Disney Cruise. To say I am excited is about the understatement of the year. I have a box of goodies already set aside to take with us. I have lists of things to pack. I have a spreadsheet of our itinerary. I've got our pre-cruise hotel lined up along with our cruise parking reserved. I've checked out all our ports and spent way too many hours pouring over details of past cruise reports looking for things we need to do and might want to do and definitely want to avoid. I made a countdown which hangs on our fridge so the boys can see how many days are left until we leave. I recently pulled out old pictures of our last Disney Cruise - which just got me even MORE excited. And then I went and found some of the SAME outfits the big boys wore 8 years ago to make sure we take them for the little guys too so we can have some fun with "then and now" pictures. I really, really can't wait.
(Yes, I know I am overthinking all of this and possibly setting myself up for a let down. I know... you don't have to tell me. In fact, DON'T tell me. Let me live in my little fantasy vacation planning bubble. And then be there to cheer me up in June when it's all over.)
The challenge with this time of year is that it gets busy. Really busy. It's not too much different for Bob and me, but for the boys things really crank up. Spencer has a particularly challenging schedule for the next 2 weeks.
In addition to the normal lacrosse practices twice a week, Spencer has added football stuff to his schedule. This week is an "optional" speed and agility camp led by the head middle school football coach. Not sure how "optional" it really is as it seems like pretty much all the boys who want to try out for the team are there. I know it wasn't optional to Spencer, who couldn't wait to get out there. This camp goes from 4:30-6 this week. He has his lax practices from 7-8:30. That leaves him about 12 and a half minutes for dinner and he's up late with homework, etc. Add to that this week and next are Milestone testing weeks. Good times... I'm just doing my best to make sure he's fed and getting as much rest as he can. Not much else we can do to help him.
Speaking of next week, that's when the fun really starts. Next Monday is the official first day of football tryouts. Spencer is so very excited. I am nervous for him, but also cautiously optimistic. This is a big tryout and certainly not everyone will make the team. There will probably be around 100 kids trying out from the 6th and 7th grades. I'm not sure exactly how many kids will be asked to play for the team, but it likely won't be more than 50ish. Spencer has the benefit of having 7 years of experience behind him. He's not the only one who's been playing since he was 5, but there sure aren't 50 other boys who can say that. And then there's the fact that he's a freakishly early bloomer and is, therefore, a giant among the boys who haven't yet had the benefit of a boost of testosterone to the system. He's bigger - and stronger - than 95% of the other boys trying out. That's the rising 8th graders included. He's been telling me that for months, but it wasn't until I went to pick him up from this camp this week that I was able to see with my own eyes the other boys trying out. He's not wrong. Bob and I have been telling him that he really needs to enjoy this feeling of being the (literal) big man on campus while it lasts. Even after 12 years of him being 95% on the growth charts, I still expect his genes to catch up with him someday. (In case you are curious, he's every bit of 5'8" and 145 lbs.)
So football tryouts go from 4:30-6:45 every day for 2 weeks starting next Monday. We've already warned the lacrosse coach that it's going to be a challenging schedule, but I'm pretty sure Spence won't want to bail on his lacrosse team. Not with league tournaments coming up quickly. I should be taking pictures of Spencer instead of the little boys because I'm really not going to see him much over the next few weeks.
(If you have any good suggestions on healthy, portable food, that I can make and send with Spencer for him to eat between all of these things, I am all early! He's going to be burning a ton of calories and about the only way I can help with this schedule is to provide fuel and support.)
The bright side of all of this stuff is that at the end of the next 2 weeks, we are also at the end of the crazy spring schedule. We have lacrosse games on all Saturdays AND Sundays (barring rain) between now and May 10th, but then it's over. We will run our butts around picking up and dropping off and trying to keep uniforms clean and mouths fed like crazy, possessed people. And then it's over. It's a crazy time, but the end is in sight.
Now maybe you are starting to understand SOME of my excitement over this Disney Cruise. While it's a little unfortunate that our big family summer trip is right at the beginning of the summer, leaving us with nothing super exciting to look forward to, it is also going to hit at the perfect time for us to really be able to take a breathe, relax, and re-bond with each other after a whirlwind month of May.
Aside - I saw this article recently and in addition to being pretty funny, it's also 100% true. Take a minute to read it - 5 Telltale signs that Sports Moms are Crazy
OK - enough rambling. Here are some pictures I took of the little boys at lacrosse practice last night. It's been such a weird, rainy spring down here that we are trying to get out and enjoy the nice weather when we can - and last night was gorgeous.
Have a great week everyone!
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