First Brackets

We tried really hard to get Charlie to fill out a bracket. We had a whole system of Cheerios, raisins, and colored pencil-picking that got him through the first two rounds, but with only about 12 left to pick, he decided he'd had enough.

Steve concerned about Charlie's bracket-picking:

It's okay. I just made my first bracket this year, too. It was stressful. I get it. I used a highly scientific methodology involving seed rankings, my gut instinct, which states I liked (or knew someone who lived there who I liked), which school names I liked (I got kind of obsessed with Purdue just because I liked saying it), and, as a failsafe, which school had the least-lame mascot.

My gut said Kentucky. Steve's said Ohio. We'll see who has a smarter gut.

Gracie colored a Rapunzel picture while she filled out her bracket. I asked her over and over to pick between two teams. Here are some choice responses:

Mom: Duke or Lehigh?
Grace: LEHIGH!!! What does that mean? (raising eyebrows)

Mom: ...Is it from the scriptures? (we've been reading in the Book of Mormon about Lehi)

Grace: YES!!!!

Mom: Louisville or Davidson?

Grace: DAVIDSON! LIKE ABBY'S DAD!!! (who is named David, see below)

Mom: Murray, or Colorado?

Gracie: MURRAY!!! LIKE SESAME STREET!!!

Murray:

BYU fans, just FYI, she chose BYU over Marquette, but for no real reason.

Mom: North Carolina or Vermont?

Grace: North Carolina!!!! (She knows we live here.)

Mom: Temple or Florida?

Grace: TEMPLE!!! That's where you got married!!

(San Diego Temple)

San Diego or North Carolina (NC State)?

SAN DIEGO!?!?!?! (She knows that is where she was born, but since I know she has loyalties to both I asked her again, and she changed to North Carolina as her final answer.)

Ohio or Loyola?

MELORA. (She thinks Loyola is "Laura" the name of her favorite daycare leader at the Y.)

It went on like this for a while.

Then I asked her her favorite number (she held up 3 fingers, for her age/fav number) and added 100 to that for her final score guess.

In the end it came down to Abby's dad David (Davidson) and her Y leader, Laura (Loyola). Sorry David, but Loyola is her pick for the win. So far its not looking so hot.