We kicked off our spring soccer season with a 4.5 hour drive to Des Moines, Iowa to compete in the Iowa Rush Spring Champions Cup.

Instead of booking a hotel, we packed up the motorhome and headed for Griff’s Valley View RV Park & Campground to make the trip more exciting. Little did we know, that excitement would turn out to be an early morning wake up call to 3 police cars visiting a nearby camper, which ended with a dead body wheeled off the premises a few hours later. Yikes! How do you write that Yelp review?!

Still, we managed to have a good time, especially because we had paved, open roads to take our electric scooters for a spin. Of course we cruised the campground like pros, thanks to the many indoor practice laps we’ve been taking around our kitchen island.

It was fun to get outside and play soccer again, but the Iowa wind was a little harsh. And although we traveled many miles, we decided to let all of the teams beat us because who needs a trophy anyway?! Still, I think we did pretty good for only having one practice under our belts with this new U-9 team and our new coach, Jaison. It’s gonna be a good season!

Mom and Dad drove me 3.5 hours across the state for an early, surprise birthday gift! When we parked near the Fiserv Forum, however, I was disappointed to learn that we weren’t special guests of Giannis Antetokounmpo for an exciting Milwaukee Bucks game. But, my low spirits were quickly heightened when I got to experience my first fast-paced and fun-filled professional soccer game at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena next door.

While I cheered on my newly-discovered favorite soccer team, the Milwaukee Wave, Genesee gawked at the Disney princesses and super heroes who happened to be the theme of the night. So naturally, at games’s end, I stood in long lines to obtain signatures of the top athletes in the sport, while Mom reluctantly accompanied Genesee who unabashedly requested a photo shoot with each real-life character. Priorities, I guess?

Surprise! Mom secretly bought tickets for us to see a play called, Pete the Cat. Too bad the surprise was on mom when it turned out I didn’t really like the play; the cartoon-y plot line just wasn’t mature enough for my liking (although mom did catch a couple of laughs sneaking out of my mouth). Genesee, on the other hand, was completely captivated. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from that, but for future reference, if you want to woo me, you gotta remember that I’m a distinguished gentleman with high-class taste. And that’s why I asked to go to Taco Bell afterward.

When winter is met with sledding hills, snow person making, ice fishing mornings, movie theatre trips, icicle sword fights, COVID vaccination approval for my age group, and indoor soccer tournaments, there are no blues to be had. (We could have done without the $11,000 deer collision and rising fuel prices, but otherwise, not bad!)

This winter we tried something new: Ice Fishing!

Dad purchased all sorts of fancy equipment (because mom says he only likes expensive hobbies) to keep us warm, safe, and looking good out on those lakes, and it was worth every penny! Now, our family will be able to survive the rest of winter without going hungry… thanks mostly to grocery stores, but also because of dedicated fisherman, like us, who not only sacrifice hours of sleep, but also trade fuzzy, fleece bedsheets for middle-of-the-lake ice shanties, in order to provide fresh-but-frozen fish for the desolate dinner table.

It wasn’t fun at all. Like, I’m surprised I’m even smiling in the below pictures. Seriously, no fun was had. Not even when we stopped at Kwik Trip afterward for smoothies and delicious breakfast sandwiches. Just hard, physically & mentally challenging, thankless work because that’s the price of entry for manhood.

You’re welcome.

Even the Omicron variant of COVID-19 couldn’t stop us from chasing piña coladas. So, on February 2, 2022, we masked up and reserved some last class seats on board a twinjet that was headed for humid breezes.

Given that this was my 5th return trip to the Moon Palace, I arrived on a first-name basis with Mexico, but it was a new and exciting experience to explore the resort with my main man, Colin!

We did ALL. OF. THE. THINGS. and we have the pictures to prove it:

We saw magic and sunrises, got pampered at the spa, swung on hammocks, caught footballs on land and water, conquered the wave rider, completed the ropes course (shaky knees and all), showed the arcade who was boss, encountered alligators and scorpions, made sweet pony friends, golfed 18 holes on a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, bowled our hearts out, splashed in a recently-opened waterpark, discovered new restaurants, accepted dad’s spicy food challenge, ordered room service to our swim up suite, embarked on a bicycle tour (and lived to tell the story of flipping over the handlebars), and soaked it all in from the comfort of our bubble bath… all while avoiding sunburn and testing negative on the COVID swab that determined whether we’d be allowed to return stateside.

See? ALL. OF. THE. THINGS.

Clearly, if you leave the Grand at Moon Palace without stories of a truly grand old time, you’re doing it wrong.

On January 26, Genesee turned 4.5.

In this new version of herself, little G loves going to school, packing barely-nutritious cold lunches, participating in the after-school program, befriending her 4K buddy Bennett, eating Tender White popcorn during movie nights, wearing one sock for no particular reason at all, and singing “This Girl is On Fire” with her studio-grade headphones on.

If she wasn’t my sister, I might admit that she’s pretty cute.

For New Year’s Eve, mom thought it would be fun to have a fancy candlelight dinner. In full support of this idea, Genesee excitedly set the table and put on her best unicorn dress. And even though I typically prefer a good sweatshirt and lounge pants, I was a pretty good sport, too. Because who doesn’t like to be wined and dined?! Truly, it was the sparkling grape juice for me, but the pecan-crusted chicken, mashed potatoes, and side of Cheetos were also quite marvelous.

After we toasted to the new year, Genesee and I made a list of intentions for 2022. While I plan to get busy seeing a few more national parks, Genesee hopes to steal less of mom’s makeup. To each their own, I guess. Then, we had a coloring contest, created a time capsule (not to be opened until after the year 2030), enjoyed a movie night in front of the fireplace (complete with hot chocolate, nachos, and popcorn), and stayed awake until midnight to ring in the new year. It was epic! Hopefully 2022 will live up to our hype.

When dad left for his hunting trip upon the conclusion of Christmas day, mom made lots of plans to keep us distracted from missing him. So after a great puzzle challenge, rock painting session, tent wars, arts & crafts class, Arby’s drive-thru dinner, swimming fun at Three Bears Resort, nerf gun battles, Texas Roadhouse treats, and a Colin sleepover, we were like, “Dad, who?”

Just kidding. Mom gave it her best effort, but in the end, she was unsuccessful at keeping all of the dad blues away… Not because mom needs to up her solo parenting game; it’s just that no one does fun quite like our dad and the days are more complete and joy-filled with him in them. Still, every once in a while, it’s good for us to remember that mom is also pretty fun not boring.

Christmas finally arrived in the Goodenough valley!

From the wonderment of Christmas Eve in Grandma & Grandpa’s living room…

to the exuberance of Christmas Day under our meatball-aroma-filled roof…

and amidst the new pet fish, the electric, light-up scooters, and our off-the-clock quality family time…

…it was worth the wait!