This year’s Battle on the Border was more of a massacre. In fact, the only eventful part was when we got stuck in traffic on our way down to Kenosha due to a police pursuit of a stolen semi on the interstate. Yikes!

Needless to say, we didn’t arrive to the Happy Acres Kampground until 9:30 p.m…. just in time to set up camp for the night, meet our friendly campsite neighbors, and then hit the sack to rest up for the big soccer tournament.

Although we lost all three games by double-digits, we still played to the bitter end, and our coaches assured us that losing builds character.

Outside of the losses, there were some wins. The most obvious, of course, was that we looked darn good in our new uniforms, am I right? And we got to enjoy the perfect soccer weather! But my absolute favorite highlights are documented below:

1. Yours truly scored the only goal for our team! [See video below]

2. Mom’s good friend, Donna, came to cheer us on!

3. And we also got to visit one of the Great Lakes: Lake Michigan!

I mean, who needs a medal anyway?

We trekked across the state for the first soccer tournament of this fall season and returned home with awesome memories to show for it.

Oh, and character, too. Lots of it.

Mom says time is a thief.

But like it or not, we all have to grow up. So, today I entered the 4th grade and Genesee began her journey as a first grader.

It was a relatively smooth send off, except for my non-compliance with the obligatory photo shoot on school grounds, and minus the part of me becoming too cool for public hugging, and nevermind the few, quiet tears that were shed, not by my 6-year-old sister, but by my 44-year-old mother, as she held herself back from the public humiliation of outright sobbing.

“Have kids,” they say. “It’ll be fun,” they say!

But as I grow older and wiser, I start to better understand the complexity of parenting, and all the hard things that likely go unmentioned in that handbook distributed to new parents at birth.

In fact, I recently overhead someone tell my mom that the parent/child relationship is the only one you enter with the goal of separating. And since there is likely some sadness that accompanies such independence and liberation, once I returned home and was out of sight from any onlookers, I made sure to give my mom the biggest hug my 9-year-old body could wrap her with.

Because time is indeed a thief, and so we have to love hard and intentionally.

We jump and we cheer
because another year is near!
We’ve got all our new school gear,
and prepped for pictures in the mirror.
We have no fear,
and we will shed no tear
’cause we found out where to go
when the first day of school is here.

On the final weekend of summer vacation, we had to go out with a bang! So, we headed back to Champions Resort once more, but with Sara and Abe this time!

After we soaked up the sun, we headed to The Trempealeau Hotel, where we waited much too long for our food, but were in good company while our bellies grumbled.

If summer has to come to an end, it’s best to ride out into the sunset with cherished friends (and kiddie cocktails).

I love a good camping weekend, because I appreciate the great outdoors…. even when the great outdoors consists of stormy weather that pushes our festivities inside. Because I also love the great indoors.

Luckily, the storm passed by morning, and so instead of playing another Go Fish tournament, we spent our Saturday tubing the calm(ish) waters of Lake Arbutus. We were all so brave. And wet. But mostly brave.

Camping is my favorite! We eat good, play hard, and sleep well… except when an angry neighbor pounds on the door to awaken us because our boat’s bilge pump was shooting rain water onto their tent. (Whoopsie doopsies!) Usually we like to make memories instead of enemies, but besides that little snafu, we got what we came there for: quality family time, hosted by nature.

Still bitter and bruised from being bucked off the enemy during his childhood, Dad refuses to allow his kids to desire an untamable horse for a pet. So, in the spur of the moment, when Dad wasn’t around to sabotage Genesee’s love affair, she snuck over to the neigh-bor’s place to spend time with the forbidden animal.

At first, I was nervous this could stirrup trouble and turn into a night-mare, so I hoped Genesee would get colt feet. But, I must admit: They were pretty cute together and their relationship seemed really stable!

Although Aunt Julie probably told my sister to keep her budding romance a secret, Genesee softly and excitedly shared her newfound joy into every ear that would listen, including the ear of our disapproving dad.

And that’s how my sister became the horse whisperer.

Instead of a horse owner.

…Until she’s able to get back on that saddle. Because once my sister falls in love, it’s hard for her to giddy up.

After we treated mom to a movie and her free Starbucks birthday drink, we welcomed in the first day of August by visiting cousin Ashlee, while she was hard at work on the golf course. And since Genesee was highly satisfied with her mini tacos and the side of lettuce, we left Ash a big tip of gratitude: a thank you, several smiles, and free hugs! But hopefully mom and dad left some money, too, because my cousin is super duper good at her job!

Mom was EXTREMELY encouraging of having Genesee join the boys at fishing camp this summer. And although Genesee had a blast and I enjoyed having my little sidekick in the boat, I think mom had ulterior motives… When we returned home, we found Mom kicked back in the recliner, sipping hot chocolate, and watching Netflix.

Someone once said, “I don’t go fishing to escape my life, I go fishing to live my life.”

Apparently, mom lives her life by sending us fishing, so she can reunite with her long-lost, peaceful weekend mornings. She said it’s been nine years since she’s seen them.

Well played, Mom. Well played.

On July 26, at roughly 7:15 a.m., Gigi Luigi became a 6-year-old.

We celebrated with spaghetti, pizza, cake, ice cream, and gifts galore, while team U.S.A. played a World Cup soccer match in the background.

Just as it should be, Genesee was surrounded with love, including a special 10 p.m. visit from Aunt Nay Nay (not pictured).

What can I write about my sister that she may want to be embarrassed reminded of in the future?

To start off, the snuggle is real with this girl, although she’s also a fighter who too often uses her hands instead of her words. (I am usually her totally innocent victim, who doesn’t provoke anything.)

Genesee is super duper artistic. Like, impressively so.

And she loves hot chocolate, year round.

She has a million stuffed animals and plays with almost all of them, but she prefers to make human friends whenever the opportunity arises.

And even though she’s quite mature for her age, she still talks like a baby.

Her favorite food is burnt popcorn, she’s quite hilarious most days, and she’d like to have a future career in pet rescue.

My sister has also decided that she doesn’t want kids, and she plans to live with me in her adult years.

In summary, Genesee is a dork. And even though I display my love language through snubs, jabs, and a general feeling of annoyance, I do love having a little dork in my life.

Happy Birthday, lil’ sis!

To celebrate G’s upcoming birthday, we threw her a cow-themed party!

Have you herd how one accomplishes such a task? Well, first, you design a cow-inspired party invitation:

Next, because the steaks are high, you order a fancy cow cake:

Then, you take the birthday girl and her friends to Hammer & Stain to get them in the party mooood so they can build their very own stuffed…

…dog?!

What the what? That’s a bunch of bull.

Well, even though that plot twist butchered our plans, at least we tried to milk the cow theme for all it was worth, and we still had an udderly amazing time!

And because we have never steered Genesee wrong, we even made plans to splash the afternoon away at Sparta’s Aquatic Center! Afterall, you only turn 6 once, so it’s important to grab this milestone by the horns!

All in all, I’d say Genesee was amoosed at how hard we tried to put the “happy” in birthday for her. In fact, the party was absolutely legen-dairy… except for that final stop, at home, when we had to tell Genesee “it’s pasture bedtime.”

P.S. Do you know why cows have hooves instead of feet? Because they lactose.