May 2026

The EJ Hayes DanceBlue Mini Marathon was rescheduled to May 1st. The kids were both excited to participate. This one was going to be easy for Brinley compared to the full marathon she did a couple weeks prior to this one. I went to the last hour so that I could see the kids dance and reveal how much money they had raised. The total amount raised was $6,720.65. Our yearly tradition continued and I took the kids out for ice cream afterwards. 

Finished another puzzle. Number 32 for the year. 

Why so serious? One of Landon's baseball pictures, apparently the one where they told him not to smile. 

Happy 14th birthday Brinley! I had started this puzzle the night before and I left Brinley 14 pieces so she could do them and complete it on her birthday. She appeased her crazy dad and did it. 

I had asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she said Chick-fil-A for breakfast. I waited until closer to her time to get up and then picked her up 14 chicken minis. She was nice and shared with her mom and brother. 

Her birthday was filled to the brim with things to do. She went to school and then changed and headed to her softball game in Winchester. Afterwards we picked up Cane's and came home to celebrate with cake and presents. Pretty memorable too because she got her first varsity start on her birthday as the designated hitter. Went 1-2 at the plate with an RBI single. She played in the JV game and went 2-3 and played lock down defense at second base. 

Brinley was very excited about all of her birthday gifts. She got a record player and some records, a Polaroid camera, and some cash. I think from these pictures you can tell that she liked her gifts.

Grandma and Grandpa came up for the birthday festivities. They also spent two nights at the ballpark with us watching the kids. They got to see Brinley's first varsity start, then the next night got to watch Landon walk 3 times and steal multiple bases. He is still having pain in his shoulder, so he has not been throwing at all. 

I happened to be at Landon's game one night when Jennifer told me that Brinley got her first Varsity start in the field at second base. In my personal opinion she should have been there the whole season, but I don't make the decisions. I know I am her dad, but I honestly think she is one of the best middle infielders on the team, as an 8th grader.  

The first week of May usually is also Nurses week. I was nominated by a patient to receive a Daisy Award. Another family brought the nursing staff a cookie cake. The win for the week was that Dairy Queen gave out free blizzards. The kids were happy to take advantage of this deal. I showed my badge every day this week and the kids got it every time. Brinley and Landon both love themselves some ice cream. 

Senior Night for the Henry Clay Softball team. They had two girls that were graduating that have been really nice to Brinley over the past two seasons. I can't believe the season is almost over. They had a photographer that came to the game and got some good action shots of Brinley during the JV game. 

It was a beautiful weekend and we didn't have anything one night so I got a fire going in the back yard and we had some s'mores. I tried a Reese's s'more for the first time - it was ok, but not like the classic. The kids enjoyed poking around in the fire and then playing with the ash. They started drawing on the rocks in the back yard. They looked like cave drawings. 

These two made Jennifer a mother and they helped her pick lunch to celebrate Mother's Day. She and the kids all love some Culver's. 

Landon played his last regular season game at Southeastern. We have spent the better part of the last 7 years at this park every spring and summer. The mom's had a photographer come out and take pictures of the boys so they can have these to remember their time at Southeastern. Half of our team will age out this year as 12 year olds. 

He played on 4 different teams during this period - Red Sox - Tee Ball, Mets - Coach pitch, White Sox - Minors, and Angels - Majors. It has been a lot of fun watching him play. Had to get a picture with Landon. I am proud of the baseball player he has worked to become, but even more proud of the young man he is becoming. 

I got this Sleeping Beauty puzzle for Christmas and finally had a chance to put it together. 

Brinley's 8th grade class trip to King's Island. It was a pretty miserable day because it rained almost the entire time. She said that she had a lot of fun though. 

A co-worker let me borrow a puzzle of Dogs with Jobs. This was a 500-piece puzzle that went together pretty quickly. Both kids helped me with it. 

The same co-worker also let me borrow a puzzle made by the Magic Puzzle Company. Brinley and I finished it and then you open another package and it has you move some of the puzzle around and it creates a new space to put a tiny puzzle together. It was pretty neat. It also came with a list of things to try and find - like in a Waldo book.  

Landon definately showed that he belonged at Southeastern. He is a really good ballplayer, but he doesn't give himself enough credit. These statistics put him in the top of all the kids in the majors at SE. They didn't update the official stats on the website, but I believe that he might have finished with the most steals in the league. 

On Sunday I played a game with the kids. They had $25 to spend at Kroger - but they had to work together to figure out what to buy. If they went over - even by a penny then they had to put it all back. They ended up at $23.48. So, they got to keep all that they had picked out. On Memorial Day I had them help me with some of the outdoor work. Landon and Brinley both helped with the pressure washing of the back porch. Then the girls went out front and planted the flowers we had picked out while Landon and I finished the back yard. 

On Memorial Day I worked this country scene. It was a fun puzzle that Brinley came and helped me on. 

My puzzle friend from work gave me this beer puzzle - it was a fairly easy 500 piece one that I did in about an hour and a half.   

This 200 piece puzzle she let me borrow proved to be much more difficult. The pieces were crazy and very tiny. If you look closely you can see all kinds of animals. 

Landon played in his first tournament with the Canes. He had a heck of a weekend at the plate. He went 12 for 13 and got his clothes absolutely disgusting. Jennifer had quite the time getting them clean Saturday night because they only have the one uniform. I just hope that he can get his arm to feeling better so that he can play in the field again.