Philadelphia-Driving and World Cup!

 

When we heard their would be a couple World Cup games within driving distance we knew we had to find a way to get some tickets! Who knows if we'll ever have the chance to go again! We got tickets for Philadelphia and headed out late Thursday night after Paige finished at dance. We decided to stop around 2am and struggled to find a place to stay until Pat was able to book a Budget Inn. It was...less than ideal...the bathroom was disgusting and the kids struggled to sleep. Everyone was trying not to touch anything! Pat fell asleep but we woke him up around 5am hoping to just get out of there as soon as possible!! The kids slept in the car and then we did arrive in Philly, everyone but me took a nap. I wandered around the city a bit to check things out! The city was covered in World Cup signage and people dressed in jerseys, it was so fun to see! Once everyone was up we found food and headed over to the stadium to watch the game. We watched Brazil vs Haiti and even though we knew it was extremely likely that Brazil would win, it was still just so fun being in the World Cup atmosphere! I'm so glad we got to have the experience together!

First stop-scary motel

On the road and much happier

Welcome sign from out (nicer) hotel

Ready to explore 

Family selfie

Wandering

Fun artwork

In the stadium

Me and Paige

So excited to be in our seats

Opening ceremony

UC Orientation

Owen is transferring to a new school in August! He picked University of Cincinnati and he couldn't be more excited. We took him down for orientation and it was my first time seeing the campus in person. I was worried about what it might be like but I ended up being very impressed. So excited for Owen and his new adventure!

 

Recital!

 

I love recital time even though it feels redundant after all of the competitions. It's a different and more relaxed atmosphere that feels nice without the stress. And family finally gets to watch also and see how hard Paige has worked all year!

Towpath 10k

 

I did this same race last year (Towpath Twilight) but ran the 10 mile race and I was so relieved to just be doing a 10k this time. It's a tough course with a lot of hills! My time was 55:47 and I finished 4th in my age group. My parents also ran the 10k and both won 3rd place in their age groups!

Gilbert wanted a picture too. He came from Florida to do this race and didn't bring his cell phone so Pat took a picture and texted it to him!

     

May Roundup

A cardinal!

Owen and the cats scouting out birds

Paige marching

Watching Paige march

Binx and puffball

Brunch at Cafe Blanc

New piercing

Playoff Game!

Griffin is 7!

 

Paige's Awards!

 Paige had three big award ceremonies to round out her sophomore year so I waited until after all of them to post! The first was for the Spanish Language Honor Society! Paige was inducted this year and she'll be taking Spanish again next year. The second was for the National Honor Society of Dance and Arts (NHSDA) which Paige was newly inducted into as well. The chapter is run through her dance studio and you get accepted based on the number of hours and variety of dancing you've done and GPA. The third ceremony was for sophomore academic awards and Paige earned magna cum laude!