Media Day.

Every year there is a media day for football teams.  It's when local papers come and take pictures of the teams and the players individually and get interviews with the coach about the upcoming season.  Each year Clint asks me to come so I can take photos of the players individually as well as a team photo and some candids for the teams website. I thought that I would share a few.  After the media was gone and all the photos done, the coaches, players, Jude and myself went to one fo the coaches homes to have a cookout and enjoy his pond. 

Jude had a great time running around the school and on the field.  He loved riding on daddy's shoulders and also swimming with Kenzy in her pond.  Here are a few photos from the day! 

My turn....

Clint and his coaching staff decided that they would rotate who would bring a between practice meal to share each day of two-a-days. Basically, they volunteered their wives or girlfriends (or themselves if they didn't have a significant other) to prepare a dish for all nine members of the coaching staff.

I decided to do my Cilantro Lime Tacos as I had most of the ingredients on hand. Luckily, I had just gotten a bunch of tomatoes from my father in law and stopped in to my mother in laws greenhouse (Montrose Greenhouse) to pick up some Cilantro.

Since Clint told me the importance of it being an easy meal, he wasn't exactly digging the idea of tacos. He complained that I make things too complicated and also that I get too extravagant with things like this. He wanted something that could just be scooped into bowls, etc. Therefore, I decided to get individual, disposable containers to make it easier and more manageable. In essence, I won the battle. I didn't want to go with some of his suggestions and make goulosh or something like that. He thinks I care too much about what people think of my cooking....and I admit, I do. I take pride in my cooking and enjoy making a good meal.

Since I was making (9) indiviual containers, I thought it was best to set up an assembly line.

Here they are all lined up.
Then, I scooped all the toppings in the container. (Sour Cream, Shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, diced onions and salsa).

Next, I took to tortilla shells and filled them with the chicken mixture and topped with cheese.

I wrapped them in foil in order to keep the toppings from making them soggy.

Last, I placed a peanut butter cookie (wrapped in a sandwish bag) on top.

Voila! Nine meals for nine hungry coaches.

Our last adventure before it all begins...

Tomorrow is the official start day of high school football. Therefore, that means it will take over our existence in the blink of an eye and all that we will live and breath will revolve around this wonderful sport. I've mentioned before that my husband is the Head Coach of the football team at the school he teaches at but I am sure I have not been able to properly stress the intensity that surrounds him as a coach. When I say that we will live and breath football starting tomorrow--there is no over-exaggeration.

We will no longer be able to plan anything during the week because there will be practice. As for the weekend, Friday's he will have school and not be able to talk afterwards because he will be in game mode. Then, it's game time. After the game he meets with the team, then with the press and gives interviews to about three newspapers and a couple of TV stations. Following this he will review film---sometimes until 3 AM. Saturday mornings he meets with the team for breakfast and then he spends a large portion of the day analyzing and taking notes on film and he must meet with the coach he plays the following week to exchange films. Sunday, we go to church and then he meets with the team to go over the film as a whole and pass out and discuss his notes with the players. Throughout this entire process he is filtering through calls from other coaches, players, parents, press, etc. Many people do not understand what goes into this whoel ordeal. I will tell you firsthand, this is no joke.

I don't want it to sound like I dislike football season in any way but to say that it is not a stressful time would be a lie. It does get frustrating at times and I do want to pull my hair out when a coach or parent decides that it is okay to call past 11 PM when we have a baby at home sleeping or when we have to work the following morning. At the same time, I admire and respect Clint for doing what he is so passionate about and I know he truly loves every moment of it. He is greatly rewarded by working with those kids and seeing them progress. It makes me proud to see him on the sidelines or to hear the great things people have to say about the connections he has made with their child or how great the team is looking.

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Anyways, the title says "our last adventure" because we went out of town for the last time as a family til the conclusion of football season (apart from any traveling we do for games). We decided to go up north to Grandma Hodack's and enjoy our last weekend there. She had a couple of things for Clint to take care of that she couldn't do herself, so he felt that we should go. Luckily, we were able to take a day trip to the beach and grab dinner as a family on Saturday. It was so much fun. It was Jude's first real trip to the beach besides the one in Florida at the resort which I don't think counts.

We arrived at Grandma's on Friday around 12:30 PM and hung out mostly up by the house. It was odd because we didn't go down by the water til the very end of the day when things were being set up for the campfire and smores. Then on Saturday we finished Grandma's projects and went down to the water. Jude went down for a long nap so it gave Clint and I the opportunity to ride the jet-ski just like old times. Of course, Clint gets all crazy and I hang on for dear life.

When Jude woke up, we headed out to the beach. On the way, we stopped in Ironton to take the ferry across the lake. Jude was thrilled to see that we had driven our car onto a boat and that we could get out and walk around. What he didn't enjoy was the fact that the ride was so short and he had to be returned to his carseat so we could go the rest of the way to our destination. He cried the entire way. When we arrived in Charlevoix though, he was happy to be walking around town. Then we walked the walkway to the beach and then he was amazed. He absolutely loved the beach. He has no reservations when it comes to water...so he tried going in tright away. It took him a little while to get used to walking in the sand, but it was fun to watch him learn. There is a playground there as well and as always he loved to swing most of all! We then ate dinner at the pub and headed back to Grandma's for a bonfire.

We departed early the next morning and returned home for a few hours before heading to Lobdell Lake to go out our friends pontoon for the day. This was Jude's first time and he loved it. He even was able to drive and go for a swim which made his day. He was so tuckered out for the adventure that he fell asleep within approximately 45 seconds of being in the car and slept the rest of the night.

Jude with his first store-bought popsicle.

Jude's fave thing at Grandma's.

Jude with daddy for his first time at the beach.

Too cute.

Daddy and Jude swinging.

Jude and myself swinging.

Jude enjoying the scenery and the birds.