Sandusky Tournament

Owen played in his first tournament of the season last weekend! They actually won this tournament last year after the other team got so incensed at the ref that they quit. We were really hoping that team wouldn't show up this year! We heard that they did show up under a different club name and got kicked out so our team never had to face them.

The tournament started early Saturday morning with a 9am game against the 07 team from our own club. Owen scored one goal in the game and his team won 3-1. Their second game wasn't until 1 so we wasted time sitting around eating lunch and talking and then the boys had a pretty easy game and won 9-0 with Owen scoring another goal. We thought they were through to the finals for sure but we found out the next morning that they needed to win their first game to get in. The team they needed to beat was pretty good competition so the game was a little stressful but they made it through with a score of 2-0 and Owen scoring both goals! 

We had a long wait until the finals at 2:15 and everyone was tired by after waiting around and sitting in the sun but the boys pulled it together and won the championship 1-0!! It was so exciting and a great way to kick off the season!

First Day of School

Well, the kids were not at all interested in returning to school but we decided it was in their best interest to go anyway:) We had such a fun summer, I don't blame them for not being ready for schedules and waking up early. Despite that, they both had a great first day and both liked their teachers. Owen is a seventh grader now has one more year in middle school and Paige is a fourth grader and this is her last year in elementary school. That means next year they will be in the same school and ride the bus together!

Birthday!

My birthday came on a very busy day this year. The kids had cross country, dance, soccer, supply drop-off for school and an orthodontist appointment! We still found a little time to celebrate though! Pat took me out the day before and we went shopping and I had an amazing donut (from Duck Donuts) and then on my actual birthday we had some ice cream cake once everyone was home and I was gifted with some succulents and cards.

Goofballs

If you are ever looking for a laugh take these two to the mall and they'll crack you up:) And then they'll share a face mask because there's only one good one.

Cactus Party!

Jamie and I were brainstorming party theme ideas and when our first one didn't pan out (Taco Bat!) she came up with a cactus theme which I loved! She really ran with it and showed up with all sorts of fun decorations. We had decided on a taco bar so I did my best to bring a bunch of ingredients and made cactus cupcakes, and everyone brought a salsa to share! Owen brought his taco costume but ended up being a sad taco after his soccer team lost to Pat's.

Paige and Mikayla

These two always crack me up when they're together! There was a tryout at the studio to be in a hip hop dance and they were so nervous and anxious to get in there! The tryout lasted for an hour and a half and Paige's abs were sore for days afterward. They worked so hard!! Luckily, they made it, I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Nervous!

I told them to pretend to be confident and this is what I got from them:)

Rinky Dink

The kids and I met up with one of Owen's soccer teammates for an afternoon of fun--go karts, bumper boats that spray water, putt-putt...so much stuff! The girls were a little shy because they don't run into each other at the soccer games too often and don't get a lot of chances to interact but they were running around and having fun together by the end!

Everyone got soaked!

Putt-putt

Parade

Paige got to march in a parade for her dance studio! Before the kids had to be dropped off, we met up with a bunch of people at Max and Erma's for dinner so the kids would be well-fed before the long march. The weather was super nice and Paige loved handing out the candy and hanging out with her friends. Afterwards, we all stopped for giant slushees!

Downtown Adventure!

This was our third annual downtown adventure with our blueberry-picking friends! It took us awhile to get downtown because a lot of the RTA track was being fixed which meant we had to take a bus from the rapid station until we could get to a stop where the track was working. We didn't plan anything specific so we just decided to start walking toward the lake and see what happened. We went past the Brown's stadium where they were setting up for a scrimmage and then the kids were hungry so we stopped and ate outside the Science Center where there were over friendly squirrels and birds. We tried to rent some paddleboats but they were closed because of the high winds! We stopped at a Cleveland sign and the Free stamp, which the kids had never seen up close. Then we decided we needed dessert before we headed back! We all agreed on ice cream but surprisingly, there aren't a lot of options downtown. We settled on milkshakes at Shake Shack and they were really really good!

At the station

Waiting for the transit after a long bus ride

Brown's stadium

Cleveland!!!

Waving at the Coast Guard (they waved back too!)

The skyline

Paige playing around

Owen wanted to do some acro too! :)

Shuffleboard and foosball while waiting for our milkshakes

Another Camp!

Owen went to another soccer camp with the exact same soccer friends as the last one but this time the camp was local so our commute took about 5 minutes instead of 25. I like this camp because Owen gets to work with kids that play on our local high school team and the high school coach, who is also a friend of ours. Owen can't wait to play for his school when he gets to ninth grade!

Supplies!

Time for the dreaded, yet awesome, school supply shopping trips! Owen and I headed out first while Paige was at dance one afternoon. He chose a blue raspberry slushee and I got a strawberry-acai refresher. I think he was done with it before we even got back to the supplies! 7th graders don't actually need much and we were able to reuse some supplies from the previous year. At one point I had to go looking for him and found him watching soccer on the tvs:)

I was planning on waiting a few days and then going with Paige but she was eager to go so we went out later that same night while Owen was at soccer camp. That means I got two fun drinks in one day! And Pat got to come too! Paige got a coke slushee, Pat got a Coke and I got...? I don't remember...We found most of Paige's supplies but we're going to have to go out again for shoes and a backpack.

Griffin