The HENDRICKSON Family: June 2024

Sarah and Phoebe played on the high school's summer team. They played on Tuesday evenings in June for summer league basketball. The first games in June were in Goddard. There were JV and varsity games. Phoebe got to play in both JV and varsity. It was fun to watch our girls on the court together. (They do play well together. They know each other's moves and plays and can anticipate passes from one another. They also have each other's backs. During one particular drive by the other team, the ball handler got around Phoebe and Sarah was able to step in front of her and swat the shot from going up. I cheered loudly for that! It was as if Sarah was saying, "Mess with the little sister, you get the big sister".) We had four games in a row that night in Goddard, 2 wins and 2 loses. (Phoebe is #5 and Sarah is #23.)

The next Tuesday, they held Summer league basketball games at Campus. That night we had four games, 2 varsity and 2 JV.

Popee came to cheer on his two favorite grand-daughters.

The last Tuesday of Summer League games was in Sedgwick. We played 3 games there, and won all 3!

Silas and Eric have been fishing several times this summer at some ponds about a mile from our house. One evening they reeled in this big Carp.

Silas and I headed to Newton one day to watch Sarah play in a volleyball tournament. We drove through Dunkin Donuts to get yummy drinks on our way out of town.

We got to go fishing at Mitch and Karen's one evening. We caught several large Perch and Bass.

Phoebe, Lindsee, and I helped Dad go through some things at his house. We came across this burgundy-colored velvet dress that Mom had worn to a dance with Dad while in college. When I was in high school, we had it altered a little bit and I wore it to a Homecoming dance my Junior year of HS. We had Phoebe try it on, and it fit almost perfectly! Beautiful! With a few slight alterations she may be able to wear it to a dance in High School as well.

Phoebe and I attended the Hand-In-Hand Hospice butterfly release with Dad, Lindsee, EP, and Will. When Mom's name was read, we all released our butterflies. It was a fun evening. Dad ran into an old coworker and friend, Wayne Eikenberry at the butterfly release. Afterwards, we went out to dinner with Kevin, Cindy, Kathryn, Mitch, and Karen. Then we had dessert and played games at Lindsee and EP's house.

Sarah played in two volleyball tournaments one in Newton and one in Derby.

We had a beautiful butterfly on our front porch on day. It was attracted to my Geraniums.

After church on Father's Day we took the obligatory Father's Day photo. My crew was looking good! Next Eric opened his gifts from the kids. They also made him a funny candy poster this year too. I made him a fruit pizza and we watched one of his favorite movies, "The BLIND" together that evening.

I didn't spend Father's Day with my Dad, but I did go up to his house for a couple days right after Father's Day. So, we did FaceTime with him on Father's Day. It was a funny phone call while he was in his car, and Will was peaking in the window.

Our girls both attended the Emporia State University (ESU) Basketball Team Camp with some other girls from their high school team. This is a great opportunity every summer for the girls to get away together, play ball, and build relationships on and off the court.

Popee, Lindsee, Will, and I watched a LOT of basketball games during the two days of Team Camp.

These girls played so well together over the course of the two days at ESU Team Camp. Below, left to right, Brooke C, Brooke P, Illysia, Sarah, Shawna, and Phoebe.

Three SENIORS (Class of 2025) that attended the ESU camp... Brooke, Sarah, and Alia.

Sarah is #23 and Phoebe is #5.

Super fans with Sarah and Phoebe below, left to right, Karen, Mitch, Paul, Sarah, Kevin, Phoebe, Cindy, and Stacee

We got to go to Bella Vista to spend a few days with Uncle Ernie at his lake home towards the end of June. Dad went with us. Dad likes to sit in the back of the vehicle on the way there and back with one of the grandkids... I guess that is more fun for him and the kids. While in Bella Vista, we spent a lot of time swimming, boating, floating, and fishing. A tree had been blown over onto Ernie's boat dock during a storm a couple weeks prior to our visit. The tree did a lot of damage to the dock. Workers had come to cut up the tree before we got there, but had left some big pieces of the trunk in the water around the dock. Eric and Silas were able to help tie ropes onto the huge pieces and help Ernie pull them farther out away from the dock, into deeper water, so that boats and swimmers wouldn't hit them and get hurt.

Silas found a dragon fly that was changing. It was a cool process to watch. Sarah, who is usually very much afraid of bugs, actually held this one.

The weather was perfect and the water was great!

Boat rides all around Loch Lomond Lake are always a highlight of visiting Ernie (and Judy). We all love looking at all the huge houses, docks, and amenities that the houses surrounding the lake have.

While in Bella Vista, Dad and I attended a memorial service for his first cousin Lois Wheeler who died last December. She and her husband Bill lived in Bella Vista for many years. Lois's parents were Duane and Ida Hempsmeyer. Ida was a younger sister to my Grandpa, Howard Hastings (my Dad's Dad). Ida and Duane had two children, Lois and Jerry. Below, is a picture of Dad and his first cousin Jerry wearing matching shirts at the memorial service.

Back at the lake, later that day, we enjoyed more time fishing, swimming, tubing, and floating.

The last evening we were there, we drove over to the "Bat Cave" to watch the bats come out to hunt for bugs as it got dark. This is always an amazing thing to watch happen as the sun goes down, and thousands of bats emerge out of the dark hole leading down into Crystal Cave.