Back to school/Life update

Attending one of our former Scouts wedding this month

Every year I'm amazed how fast the summer months go by. We always seem to have grand plans to spend a lot of time on the boat and for one reason or another it just never seems to happen. By the end of August Amy is usually busy with ice skating stuff and trying to get all of the kids pulled together across the various teams and learn to skate programs she coaches during the school year. Max is back to playing tennis again this year. I'm starting to think about how we might recruit and what the season events/budget should look like for the Trap team I coach. Mean while we have two boats in the water not really getting used with no real plans to use them rest of the season. I'm still holding out hope to at least get the Tug out for one more trip to Put-In-Bay or Middle Bass Island this year but it's not looking good for the Catamaran. I was hoping to take it over to the Annapolis area for the big fall boat show there but some friends of ours that did that a few years ago and sort of dashed my hopes of finding a good anchorage the week of the event. So I suspect we will just stay on the boat that weekend at the dock using it as our hotel room when not visiting the show.

Sending Annabelle off to Disney

In other news our daughter seems to be struggling with what she wants to do with her life and does not seem to be especially enjoying college. We suggested that she consider taking a year off to figure out some direction. This summer she got a job woking at Cedar Point as a life guard and really enjoyed living and working there so she decided to apply for the Disney College program again this time without taking any classes and allowing her to enjoy the Disney bubble. So she will be taking at least this semester off and maybe the next one as well while she figures out what might be next for her. She will be working as a life guard & recreation leader around a few of the resort pools for the season. I'm sure it's something she will enjoy and who would not like working and living with a bunch of college kids with no real responsibilities other than just showing up for work :). I think it was a good choice to take some time away and I can't imagine a better place to look around to figure out if you really want a carrier in hospitality. I also know her Disney loving mom is looking forward to visiting her while she is there. In fact we are in the process of planning to take much of Amy's extended family down to celebrate Annabelle's 21st birthday in October.

Max's last Court of Honor?

In other sort of sad news it feels like Max is done with Scouts this year. He and I started Scouts when he was in first grade and I've been an active leader the entire time doing everything from Den Leader to STEM & Shooting sports director. It's been something we both really enjoyed doing together over the years and has lead us to a number of adventures we would not have had the opportunity to try otherwise. I feel like we have both learned a lot being so involved in it over the years. Unfortunately our current Troop had not been very good at recruiting so we decided to merge with another Troop this spring. For Max & I this was our third Boy Scout Troop. Our first one folded during COVID. When we got back from the Great Loop trip we joined another small troop in the area, and now we are shutting that Troop down and merging. This is partially due to Scouting not being very popular in our area and a lack of Cub Scouts feeding the Troops. It seems most of them folded in our area as well during COVID and are just now starting to get going again. Sadly neither Max or I really had the heart to start the process over again and ultimately he ages out of Scouts in April when he turns 18. We had tried a Venturing Crew last year with the hopes of going on one last adventure to the other big Scout camp in Philmont, NM but for whatever reason Max did not feel the connection with them. Not to mention that both Scouting and sporting events take up a lot of time it seems he would rather be spending with his girlfriend these days :).

Our favorite tennis player

So our last few weeks has been filled with cheering Max on 2-3 times a week at his various tennis matches, scheduling college visits while settling back into our fall schedule of activities.  I don't know that he really knows what he wants to do next but he is leaning towards something in Engineering or possibly Pre Med at the moment. He has visited Central, Bowling Green, & Trine this fall. We have plans to visit MSU, Western, and Hillsdale in the next month or so. I'm not sure if he wants to check out Ferris or not but other then visiting Eastern he will have at least seen all of the bigger colleges in our state including Northern, Michigan Tech, and Michigan. I suppose the next step there will be filling out applications then waiting to see what kind of scholarship offers he might get. Fortunately he has maintained good grades through high school and did pretty well on his SAT so he should have his choice of schools. 

Max and the GF out sailing

In other good news we finally got the little sail boat in the water. It's an Interlake that was designed for racing in the Sandusky Bay. We got it out sailing a few times before school started and Max even introduced his girl friend to sailing in it a few times towards the end of summer. I am always pleasantly surprised how easy that little boat sails and just how much fun it is. I'm a true believer that if you really enjoy sailing the little boats are the most fun. Sure the big boats can take you more places and handle bigger weather but they just are not as much fun to sail. Not to mention they cost way more to fix when you need new sails, run aground, or any other number of dumb things sailors do. For now the Interlake is back on its trailer and will be put back into the barn soon for the coming winter months here in Michigan.

Amy & I with her parents cheering Max on at tennis