Coming Soon

Jessica and her theatrics
  . Two plays in one month... 8th grade DRAMA and school "A Christmas Carol" production
Stephanie & her travel soccer tournament
Jacob and his awesomeness

Volleyball... Champions

I thought about writing this really dramatic account of the volleyball tournament my daughter (whose name is Jessica, for those of you who don't regularly follow the Daniels Family BLOG) played in this past weekend.  It was going to be really, really dramatic with a surprise ending, but then I remembered what I titled this little beauty... it's hard to be dramatic and have a surprise ending when it's titled, "Volleyball... Champions."

Instead, I'll get right to the point.  Jessica's 7th and 8th grade girls volleyball team played in the BIGGEST Volleyball tournament in the state... No, the country!  The biggest tournament in all the land.  They competed against all forms of competition, in three different "pool" games.

Pool game: A game that cannot result in your team's elimination from the tournament, but instead is used to "seed" all the teams when the tournament begins.  Win 'em all and your seeded #1... Lose 'em all and your seeded LAST.

The Summit Christian Academy 7th and 8th grade girls volleyball team won two of their three pool games and were seeded THIRD overall.  Summit won the first tournament match two games to none (each match is best of three).  They then played Hill Country (the #2 seed)... and emerged victorious, again winning the first two games in the match.

Summit then moved on to the Championship game where they locked horns with the #1 seeded team, the feared and dreaded girls of Round Rock Chapel.  Most of Round Rock's Junior High girls are taller than Goliath.  They are fiercer than Ray Lewis and even more cunning than a unicorn.  You heard me.

I won't draw it out any longer.  Jessica and the Summit Christian Academy Junior High girls (but mostly Jessica) Volleyball team TOTALLY wiped the floor with at least two of the Round Rock girls... winning the first match, losing the second match, but then winning the third and deciding match 17-15.  The game should only have been played to 15, but in serious volleyball, you have to win by at least two points... which means the deciding, Championship game went into volleyball's equivalent of SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME.  Thankfully, Jessica was not killed, and no animals were harmed in the dramatic ending.

Below is a picture of the VICTORS, the Summit Christian Academy Junior High girls volleyball team:

The Summer Project

As you may have heard, Barb and I went away for a week and a half, and this is what we came home to-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyYy1VMB_Cg&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Best Roller Coaster picture

This is (arguably) the best Roller Coaster picture, ever.  Why, you ask?

Check out the kid in the front row seat, sitting to the right of, "his Dad."  ALL six years of his young life are passing before his eyes...

Summer Camp - 2010

The BLOG has laxed a bit the past couple of months which means we (you and I) have a little catching up to do.  Let's take a walk down memory lane... back to August 2010.  The location - err, well... I can't remember the city, let's just say it's a small town somewhere within the 250,000 sq. mile borders of the state of Texas.  Barbara, myself and our two youngest are at church camp and did I mention it's August?  And it's Texas?  What I shouldn't have to say is that it's FREAKin hot!

Now for a real horse lover-

It's obvious this kid is a natural... put him in the PBR.  Have you ever seen anyone look more confident aboard a horse.  And yes, I'm the one living in Texas, when someone is on a horse, it's called, "aboard the horse."

With Jacob aboard playing cowboy who do you think wanted to play indian?

As you can tell from the pictures, I'm not much of a photographer... Camp was awesome this year, as it is each and every year.

Theatrics at the Daniels...

This morning, Jessica had theatre practice at school.  I feel compelled to remind you that Jessica is in 8th grade - Jr. High.  She's in an incredibly competitive "fashion" environment, where literally fortunes are won and lost on the hue of one's eye shadow.

Back to this morning's account... Jessica needed a ride, and I, being the coolest Dad ever, elected to drive her (never mind that my wife was doing a jigsaw puzzle and asked me to drop off).  Knowing how "competitive" Junior Highers are on the fashion/coolness front, I got all dolled up to drop her off and get my wife and I some coffee while out.

I drove us both to the school, where theatrical kids and their parents were hanging out waiting for rehearsal to start.  For some reason, I can't quite put my finger on it... but for some reason, Jessica didn't want me to get out of the car...

... I guess it'll just be one of those great unsolved mysteries like the Lockness Monster or the Kennedy assassination....

Summer reading

No summer vacation could be complete (or sadly come to an end) without
the requisite, "Summer Reading."
Back in the late 70s the people at RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) began
a propaganda campaign to convince parents that there children's brains
will deteriorate if they don't read at least seven books every three
months. This summer, all of my kids have been feverishly reading all
summer... Again. I know their misery, as I did 13 years of forced
reading during my most crucial formative years.
Jacob, who somehow seems to prefer playing over reading (and more than
willing to risk brain deterioration)... Has been the last of our
children to complete his reading regimen. In fact, we were laying down
the law last night that he had to do 2-hours of reading to catch up...
45 minutes in, Barb asks Jacob how much he liked the book she got for
him at the library off the book list...
"I don't like it very much." Jacob exclaimed. Why Barb asks
innocently? "Well, it's all about dresses and girls... It's going to
take me forever to finish this book..."
I don't think even women like books about dresses and girls...