Monday, August 27, 2012

End of Summer

Backpack, check.  Lunch money, check.  Teacher treat, check.  New school clothes, check!  It’s in the air.  Although summer flew by, the kids are excited to start school tomorrow, they weren’t a week ago.  We’ll miss the fun summer days hanging out at the pool, lemonade stands, time with friends, summer novels and beach vacation… but looking forward to hitting the books and being on a good schedule.
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Hang gliding park near my home, there were at least 30 Hang Gliders and Parasails in the air!  Beautiful night.
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The girls were way too quiet the other morning, so I walked in and found this.  Pretty heavy duty fort, the young architects later remodeled (even drew a floorplan in case wanted to rebuild) and added a game room and reading nook, making it bigger and better, lol.  They enjoyed sleeping in it and having part of Activity Days there with their friends  :)

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Sophie- pink, Sage- blue.  Cute Old Navy tiered skirts
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3rd grade here we come! they’ll be in their own classes this year
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Happy first day of school! 
Sophie and Sage are in 3rd, Trevor in 8th, Josh a senior and Nick in college (good thing for teenage drivers and Trevor’s Jr. High right next to the girls).  Sigh… they certainly don’t stay young long!
When tucking in the girls tonight, Sophie asked if I was going to cry when she has to leave for school tomorrow, sweet.
 
Disney /  Beach post coming :)

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Color Me Mine…

A fun shop in town where you pick your own ceramic dish or decor to paint however you desire…

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Sage went straight for the soccer mug, then took her time painting in her favorite Avalanche colors

 

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Sophie chose a large mug and wanted it multi-colored

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adding green with the sea foam sponge

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This is serious work, love her stoic face

 

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They turned out great

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Sophie made a Boppie mug, since she called herself Boppie when she was 3 :), and Sage wrote her name in the hexagon shapes.  Nice job ladies!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Soccer highs and lows…

long post, but want to record this for our girls
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Beautiful soccer girls, their blood red cheeks and lips from playing so hard :)
Our girls are passionate about many things…  but Soccer and Piano are two of their favorites.  Gymnastics is getting up there too, doing cartwheels and round offs everywhere we go.

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Winning the championship in double overtime!
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Woot Woo!!  They played their hearts out for the win!  Such joy on their faces
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Such a good team, each with a love for soccer and very skilled in the sport, many of their best friends are on the team, and a great assistant coach

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Unfortunately, not a great head coach.  I won’t go into too much detail, hate talking bad about others, but one of the hardest things I’ve had to do with the girls was tell one that she was no longer on this team, she got moved to another.  Really?  He is splitting up my girls this late in the season?  They have played so well!  He admitted they are some of his strongest kickers, and read the ball better then others.  He also made other changes on the team that really hurt the team.

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I almost changed leagues for them right away, but he talked me into staying, saying it was best for the girls (it was a no win situation, either they both leave their team and friends, or stay and one goes to the Select team).   He kept Sage on his Premier team and moved Sophie to the Select team, at least she had a great coach (the assistant coach).  Only a couple months left of the season so we finished up with them.
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They practiced together, but had separate games each Saturday. 
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Sage
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Sophie’s cute new team, celebrating at Yogurt Stop after a good win.  They loved having Sophie on their team, they won every game after she came on when they were loosing before.  But Sophie was a little heartbroken at first.  First time I’ve seen her cry in a long time (I cried too, but not in front of her).  Her first words after I told her were, “will I still be friends with…”  Then, shortly after, she asked “Does Andrew (coach) even like me?”  With 3 boys growing up playing sports, I know how competitive and cut throat it can be.  Sports are a lot of fun and competition pushes you to do your best, and I love team sports and the friendships they make, but sports/coaches can be cruel, and they are sweet 9 year old girls, they don’t need this stress in their lives.  Sophie’s a winner and didn’t let it get her down for long, she really shined on the new team, although it wasn’t quite the skill level she’s used to playing, but she enjoyed being the star of the team :).  He was the first coach that didn’t absolutely adore our girls.  He has a military style of coaching and would often boot the girls (whoever was talking) ball several yards away if he didn’t have 100% of everyones attention at all times, so they had to run and get it.  The team was afraid of him and Sophie and Sage were starting to dislike their favorite sport.  
So this year, they tried out for a different league and made a great team (Sparta tried to talk us into staying).  They will be playing against their Sparta friends, but they are liking their new Avalanche team, have a great coach, and are quickly making new friends.  The best thing I heard from Sage was, “Hey, I like soccer again!”  The coach keeps it fun. 
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Sophie (blue socks middle) and Sage (blue shorts, behind Sophie), with their new team and league
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They were invited on the REAL field for Opening Ceremonies at one of their games, they flashed each players picture on the Jumbo Tron
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Then they got to play a game on the field for the half time show!!  Awesome
We heart REAL games!
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Sophie and Sage- we’re proud of our soccer girls!  Regardless of what team you’re on, win or lose, you play your hearts out and help your team a ton!  Keep kicking! 

Friday, August 10, 2012

American Idol auditions in LA

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He did it.  Josh has a love for music, a great voice, and loves to sing. 

He’s been in many local plays, concerts, and talent shows, he plays guitar and gives lessonsWe enjoy American Idol, so with some coaxing from Sophie and Sage, he decided to go for it. 

 

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We flew in early, got registered at Dodgers Stadium, then with some time to spare, went straight to the beach (Santa Monica Pier).  Yummy lunch at Bubba Gumps.

 

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A drive down the PCH (sweet drive in the Charger), then around Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

 

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Walk of Stars.  Fun walk down Hollywood Boulevard.

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So nice catching up with good friends!  Thanks guys for being such great hosts and showing us the best places around!

 

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LA, just waking up.  Pretty at 5:00 AM

 

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Gotta love Casey Abrams!  (if Josh grew out his hair, it would look like his)  I guess he auditioned 3 times before making it

Auditions went well, for the most part.  We were there for 8 hours before he was up (that’s what happens when you register the second day), but everyone had fun and I caught up on some good reading amongst all the music.  Josh came real close to getting a golden ticket, his voice stood out in his group, the only one that the judges read his paper, but after reading the paperwork… (no story), bummer.  He may try again.

 

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His first time surfing, quite different then wake boarding and snow boarding

 

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Good times!

 

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I reserved an economy rental car (thinking good on gas, expecting a Civic or Sentra), but they had a Fiat for us.  Ha, ha, I don’t even think his guitar would fit.  They must’ve seen the unimpressed look on my face, and gave us a deal on an upgrade, Josh chose the Charger of course :) 

 

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What a nice experience Josh, and well done!  Always go after your dreams