From the first day to the last, some of us matured….

…and some of us did not.

But hey, we’re all on our own journey, so who am I to judge my weirdo sister?!

Nonetheless, we both successfully completed another grade level and are officially ready to PLAY. OUR. HEARTS. OUT!!!

But first, we let our hearts sleep in.

Because I’m such a sweetheart, I invited my Queen on a mother/son date aboard the La Crosse Queen, followed by a peaceful dinner at the local movie theatre.

Some people called it “we need parents to chaperone.”

Either way, mom said yes!

And so there we were, sailing the Mississippi and exploring the haunted bathrooms of the Rivoli with 55 of my closest, not-so-quiet classmates. In my defense, I said “pizza dinner,” but for some reason, mom heard me say “peaceful.”

She’s a sucker for spending time with her sweetheart, no matter the quality. And I love her for that!

Dear Future Genesee,

You belong to the class of 2035, and you (like me) are part of Generation Alpha – the largest generation in the history of the world. I know you will forge your own path, but currently, predictions say that people in our generation are 1) focused on family and friends, 2) advocate for the planet, 3) care about inclusivity, and 4) spend more time online. And look at that… as a 5 year old, you’ve already nailed 3 out of the 4… you just need to work on that environmental activism a bit.

I’m not sure how the world will look different in 12 years, but technology sure is a game changer. From air fryers, Apple watches, and self-driving cars (like Tesla), to virtual reality headsets, social media (Tik Tok is the thing today), and artificial intelligence (like the new Chat GPT), you are heading for a world that is hard to even imagine. And I, for one, cannot wait to see how you help to influence and shape that world!

As I write this, you are a fierce kindergarten graduate, who loves animals deeply, and I sure hope you finally got that dog you’ve been waiting for!? (Did we name it Artimus?) I mean, Bluey was a good starter pet, but it’s time to move on from a fish. You are also starting to dabble in sports and I think you probably turned out to be quite the athlete, am I right? But you LOVE the arts too, so I hope you hung on to both of those talents.

Currently, your favorite Mel-Min friend is Barron and I hope that friendship stood the test of time. Beyond Melrose, you also love to hang out with Chloe and Analia, so with any luck, school boundaries didn’t change that. Either way, you make friends to effortlessly and so I imagine your list has grown exponentially. And even though we bicker sometimes, I hope you looked up from that iPad once in a while to see a brother who adores you and will always root you on. In fact, I probably earned a spot on the top of your best friend list by now.

Anyway, congratulations on successfully completing kindergarten! Here’s to hoping you had much less homework in the years that followed.

Love your favorite brother,
Jaeger

This year’s tournament in Sioux Falls was a bit of a bust, but since we made a camping trip of it (because that’s how we roll), not all was lost for us.

It was a different story for those who attended the soccer games without the comfort of their kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom in the backseat of their vehicle.

Our first game was delayed due to lightning, which threw my team off a little and caused us to lose that match 0-2. But we redeemed ourselves that afternoon, when we beat the Interstate U12 Boys 9-0 on a new (soggy) turf field, which put us back on track to potentially play in the championship game. I even scored a sweet goal and may or may not have accidentally fell over when performing my celebration dance.

But then, with more wind and rain in the forecast, the tournament was abruptly called off on Sunday morning, which was a real bummer for my teammates that made the 4.5 hour trip just for those games.

We, on the other hand, didn’t mind getting home early and we also weren’t mad about that Scheels shopping spree we snuck in.

Canceled tournaments have their perks, I guess! But I sure would have preferred a trophy.