Today we are practicing to be empty nesters. All three boys are away for the entire month of July. We stayed up late last night drinking wine out on the deck. What a beautiful steamy hot humid night. Then we slept in late and woke up to an empty house. We are out side painting our pool to take advantage of this sunny holiday Monday.
Stephen signs with Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri. He accepted a very generous athletic/academic scholarship and will be playing baseball for the Hawks this September. He is persuing a 4yr degree in Sports Science, BScn-Human Kinetics. We are all singing the tune and thrilled at Steve’s choice.
Stephen and Nick just got back from a fantastic 4 day trip to Kansas City, Missouri. Their purpose was to check out a wonderful opportunity to attend a US University on a baseball/academic scholarship. Rockhurst Hawks are very interested in offering Steve a place as a starter in their Lineup. Rockhurst University (additional info) is a private Jesuit University situated on beautiful grounds in Kansas City. The offer is very impressive and now is the hour for Steve to make his choice. We are all very much excited for him. They even took in a KC Royals game at Kaufmann Stadium to watch Paul Bako (no relation) catch. Weather was hot 37°C and the city was clean and modern. You can see all their pictures in our photo album.
Stephen and his girlfriend Kailey joined up with friends at a pre-prom party for group pictures and Mumms champagne to toast the grads of 2006. It was amazing to see everyone in suits and prom dresses like something out of the “OC”. It was all glam, bling and spike heels. All these kids are jocks so it was nice to see them in something other than sweats and sneakers and ponytails. They all traveled in a luxury tour bus to the Mississauga Convention Centre for the Prom Dinner Dance. The bus also took them to the after party. These kids really know how to go in style.
Brian ran the Mississauga Marathon on Sunday morning. It was Mother’s Day and my job was to get him to the race start on time. It was actually really exciting to be at the start and hear the cannon go off. It took almost 12 minutes after the gun for Brian to cross over the start line. The runners all wore a micro chip attached to their running shoe that recorded their where abouts and their chip times. He reached his goal of under 2 hrs (1hr 42min) and was in the top 300 men running the event. He got a pressure blister on one foot but that was about it for any discomfort afterwards. He is pumped to train for the full Marathon next year. Well done Brian. More Photos Here.
We are all snug in our new beds. Nick and I got a new pillow top KING size bed. The thing was so big that it was near impossible to get it up the staircase. We had to almost bend it in half and shove like there was no tomorrow to get it up the stairs. Peter got our Queen and Brian got Peter’s Double. Steve hates change so he was content to keep his ol’faithful. Big is beautiful.
The spring semi formal dance enticed the Bako boys to get out and buy some new duds. The planning, msning and shopping leading up to the before party was quite the ordeal. This was all new to me. Their first dance and my first severing the ropes. They were really excited as the ratio was 70:30 girls to boys. They took cabs everywhere so it gave the parents a Friday off not having to drive kids around. A great Friday night was had by all.
Brian is having the time of his life participating in his high school musical production of Grease. He does not have a lead role or speaking part. Being his first time on stage he is Charming Charles the Jock who is one of the chorus members. He is in the background singing, dancing and being in character. He is in practically every other scene and he has 9 wardrobe changes.
He went to the cast finale party Saturday night and I think that made all the hard work worth while. The play performed 2 matinees, and 3 evenings with sell out crowds. We laughed and were wowed by the excellent talent from his school. Now Brian has to come down from his theatrical high and crack down to studying (catch up) for his upcoming Easter exams.
While everyone else has fled to places of fairer weather I headed north to Collingwood with Brian. He was participating in the Ontario Winter Games over the weekend. He raced Friday and Saturday and came in 9th for both his Classic and Skate style races. This is great as he made top ten. His sr boys relay made podium and they received the bronze medal. They were able to do really well on this final race of the season as the gold squad was at nationals in Thunderbay. This gave way for Brian and the other kids on the silver devo squad (b team) to place well and get provincial points.
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Brian and Nick are off to Ottawa tonight. They are driving up with Team Hardwood coaches and racers in a big suburban hauling a trailer. Nick will share with the driving and the kids will watch movies for 5hrs. They are all off to the “O Cup” races, one in a series throughout the ski season. This is Brian’s new found love and he is really excited to go. He and his Buddy Patrick were also invited to participate at the Ontario Winter Games in March. This is a big honour as this is his first year with the race team. We have no snow in the city but once you drive past Barrie you are in a snow belt and they have been training up there all winter. [EDIT] Added pictures of the race here.