Markel Family Combo Breaker 2026 Getaway–Day Five

On Saturday, we were all once again scattered across the event doing our various jobs. Chickadee and I were back in the Crew Lounge, but we did get a moment to walk through Artist’s Alley, where I found my favorite booth, Splendid Treasures, and added a new bracelet to my Eeveelution stack…I only have a few more to go before I complete the set!

We served more meals…Saturday is always pasta night, and there was also a really good Cesar Salad.

And we summoned up all of our energy to do a more thorough walkthrough of the event, including another visit to the artists, and a stop in our favorite spot, the Combo Breaker arcade, where I got to play Pokémon pinball!

The arcade is right next door to the Crew Lounge and we could hear music while we were working…we quickly found out why, and we really enjoyed it!

Up next…how is it already the final day of Combo Breaker 2026?!?

Sartorial Saturday–A Sunny Playsuit

Dresses may be my favorite style of clothing (and the most common item in my wardrobe!), but I love a good playsuit. Miss Candyfloss makes them well, and the Zena-Naia from this year’s spring/summer “Legendary Liz” collection is the perfect piece for summer.

I love the sunny color, the gingham on the bodice, and the fact that it’s sleeveless, which is great for warm days, but easy to throw a cardigan over when it’s cool.

I accessorized with a necklace and Duchess Bangles from Splendette, an Erstwilder brooch, and my favorite neutral hat and lace gloves.

Playsuits give the best long lines!

I especially love how wide the legs are:

I’ve really enjoyed how bold and colorful this season’s collection is!

Graduation Redux

Turkey’s college graduation was almost two weeks ago…today we decided to run it back!

When he graduated, we knew he had earned Latin Honors (summa cum laude, if you’re keeping track), but because he was a transfer student to UMSL his junior year, they had to wait for each of his classes to be finalized so he had the proper credit hours as a Triton to make the Latin Honors official. I won’t even start on how ridiculous it is that they don’t either require the professors to have those grades in prior to graduation, or simply delay graduation until they know which of their transfer students (a large percentage of the graduating class) have earned them, thereby depriving all of them the experience of having those honors read at graduation in front of everyone. OK, I started a little bit, and it is ridiculous…Bunny didn’t run into this problem when she received her honors as a transfer student to WKU at graduation last year. But he will have summa cum laude on his diploma, and today we drove out to UMSL to pick up his honors tassel in the school colors of red and gold (and took a few more pictures with it).

We did a replay of his graduation dinner of Ronto Wraps and the “High Republic Cordial,” from the new Star Wars: Galactic Drinks cookbook:

But I made a different dessert this time…since we’ve been in Chicago recently, I made a Portillo’s cake!

I’m still really frustrated for him (and the other graduating transfer students), that he wasn’t recognized the way he should have been at the ceremony, but as least he knows he earned the honors!

  • Bachelor of Science in Mathematics
  • Alumni Award for the Senior Math Student With Highest GPA
  • Summa Cum Laude
  • Dean’s List
  • Pierre Laclede Honors College
  • Accelerated Master’s Program
  • Phi Kappa Phi
  • Highest UMSL Score–MAA Putnam Exam
  • Mathematical Association of American Missouri Section Meeting Attendee
  • 2026 Graduate

Markel Family Combo Breaker 2026 Getaway–Day Four

Last Friday was a long and busy day for all of us. Ryan was busy directing things, Turkey was doing production with 10/0, Bunny, Moose, and Ladybug were working registration and/or the info desk, and Chickadee and I helped staff the Crew Lounge, starting with the very important task of getting the coffee going before 6 a.m.

We also helped serve all three meals for the staff and volunteers, including sandwiches from a local deli for lunch, and everyone’s favorite dinner of the event, Portillo’s Italian beef!

The two of us were so busy that we only managed a quick walk through the event before we returned to our room, exhausted!

Up next…another early morning, more meals served, and a visit to the Combo Breaker arcade!

Markel Family Combo Breaker 2026 Getaway–Day Three

By last Thursday morning, things were really starting to come together on the main floor of Combo Breaker:

But before things really kicked into high gear, Chickadee and I took around the Schaumburg Sculpture Park, which was a lot of fun (we even got to see a nesting swan!):

And the lilacs were still in bloom:

And then we got to work in the crew lounge…on Thursday, we only serve dinner, but we also have coffee, water, and snacks for everyone working so hard to get all the last minute details taken care of.

The real highlight of the day, though, was the delivery of the Red Bull fridge to the Crew Lounge!

Up next…Combo Breaker 2026 begins!