Day 114 in 2024

Putting the season to bed by celebrating all the things we loved about it...

Day 113 in 2024

Monochromatic laundry

Day 112 in 2024

The friendship is maturing. Jon kept taking good care of them while we were gone, so we came home to crows (or at least one crow) who have become unwary and will come right up on the deck to take what we put out for them.

Day 111 in 2024

Last day of Worlds. For those who understand the lingo, we finished qualifiers in 7th on our field of 75, and ended up captaining alliance 6. We won one of our playoff matches and were eliminated in the third round. This is a wonderful accomplishment, and while the first moment after loss it is only the loss you feel, there was so much to celebrate. Field playoffs finished before lunch and someo of us celebrated wtih a crawfish lunch before heading back to the convention center to watch the full Worlds playoffs. Tomorrow we take these tired kids home. It has not yet set in that it's over. That will come later.

Day 110 in 2024

The full day of matches at Worlds! Yes, that's a photo of twenty kids in my Airbnb room at 6am where we set up a makeshift continental breakfast. That was followed by a long day, and we finished today in 7th place on our field of 75 teams. I have learned so much from these kids over the last two years, but one of the greatest lessons has been to never underestimate yourself (or your team). They went out there with stars in their eyes, and tomorrow they will return in the morning for alliance selection because they've made it to playoffs on the World stage. Amazing.