Lets Go GGs!

I hope I never forget this summer with the GGs!  Pronounced gee-gee :)  The girls could never come up with a team name; they'd always "Green ________" so one practice, we said how about GGs and they could call it whatever they wanted!

We had such a great group of girls - all different personalities, different schools, different abilities - that made up one great team.  They made us laugh, some made us slightly frustrated, but most of all, they made us so proud!

We were very fortunate to have wonderful weather this season, except for our last game.  Probably the hottest day of summer yet.  The two head coaches were gone, so it was just us two assistants....and Chet.  Girls were dropping like flies; literally running off the field saying they were hot, their tummies hurt.  I just directed them behind the dugout....shade and safe to puke, which luckily, no one did.

Here are pictures from the last couple games of the season.












































































































































I can't express how proud of I was of Reese!  I was honestly shocked at how much she enjoyed it and how well she did!  Her favorite position was third base.  She never had a negative attitude; she just loved being out there with her friends and having fun!

These girls had so much fun together (on and off the field)!  They are all so different (all attend different schools), yet share such a sweet bond ♥ Izabel, Reese, Addie, and Cora



Back row: Amelia, Haely, Alivia, Reese, Addison, Kyara
Front row: Audree, Izabel, Claire, Cora





Thanks to my dad and Chet for snapping a lot of these pictures since I was managing the dugout ;)  My mom took this video, which happened to be one of Reese's biggest hits!




Sad to have our season end, but excited to see what these girls do next year....

Our 4th of July

Happy Birthday, America!  We love our country, and are so thankful for our freedom!

Dillon Nature Center

This is our down week.  Our focus has been laundry.  Lots and lots of laundry in preparation for Florida.  With a couple birthday parties and soccer practices thrown in the mix.

Yesterday, the only thing on our agenda was hair cuts for the girls; I was kind of relieved to have the day at home....and then I got a text asking if the kids wanted to have a play date.  I was thinking park, she was thinking Dillon Nature Center in Hutch.  I thought about saying no, but I definitely don't love laundry enough to stay home from a fun, FREE playdate to a new place!

Yes, I said free!  (fyi - the Hutch zoo is free as well) I was in somewhat of a rush when we left, so I forgot my camera, but take my word for it, it's beautiful there!  Plus, yesterday's weather was amazing!  The kids spent quite a bit of time playing in the HUGE sandpit.  Sandpit sounds gross and ugly; this was not, but I don't know what else to call it.  I was kind of worried if any of my kids would actually take their shoes off and get their toes dirty, especially Cru.  He is like me...doesn't like to get his bare feet wet, then add sand to the mix.  But they LOVED it!  It was great beach prep!






A little story about the picture above....the kids had been playing in the sand for quite some time.  There had been issues, no fighting, and then this girl (pictured above with Cru) showed up and started throwing sand and water everywhere.  After the third time, Reese said, "I'm outta here!"  She continued.  Then with her spoon full of water, she walked up to Cru and said, "Can I throw this on you?"

His reply, "No way!  And if you do, I'll throw this on you!"

She ran away :)

And not realizing it, but I captured the conversation in this picture above when I was photographing Everlee.

We decided it was a good time to move on, so we headed towards the trails.  There were two to choose from.  It was like you were in the woods, then you walked through a field of wild flowers.  Each trail was nearly a mile, but the kids never complained once.  I complained....because I was carrying multiple caterpillars!  And flowers!  Next time, we will bring our bug house!  My kids girls love bugs!






There was also a huge pond where you can feed ducks, but sadly, there were no ducks yesterday :(

We didn't take time to explore the indoors....too beautiful outside.

I'm happy we went - kids loved it, and now we have a new place to visit when we go to Hutch!


Kenna (born two days before Everlee), her brother Grayson peeking his head under the bear (born two days before Cru), Cru, Everlee, and Reese



 Until next time.....

3v3

Back in May, our neighbor/friend asked if Cru would be interested in playing in a couple 3v3 tournaments.

My initial reaction...what the hell is 3v3?

3 on 3 soccer for the not so soccer savvy.

We aren't soccer people; we don't know the lingo, we don't know the rules.  But we know our son loves to play!

Nothing was set in stone; Jon had to put together a team and find out if any tournaments had U6 divisions.

6 and under age division, again for the not so soccer savvy ;)

One thing we did learn this spring during Y rec league soccer is that McPherson does not offer a competitive soccer team under the age of 8.  So, this would be an opportunity for our soccer-loving boy.

A couple weeks passed, Jon asked if we were still interested because he had found a couple tournaments and put a team together.

So, practices started, and Chet and I quickly realized how lucky Cru is to be given this opportunity.  Jon is awesome!  I really don't know how else to describe him.  He's taught their inexperienced team of five and six year olds SO much!!!  They have plays and positions.  They have learned new skills, new vocabulary.  And Cru is loving ever single minute of it. 

Their first tournament was a few weeks ago.  I was nervous!  Unfortunately, the kids seemed to be even more nervous!  I'd be the same way if I were five and playing against boys and girls a foot taller!  They played only one other U6 team, the rest were U7, which was expected.

I was so proud of our team though!  They played hard all four games, stayed tough, and never gave up!

And also throw in a severe storm and several hour rain delay!

Here are the highlights....





We loved seeing all of Cru's crazy facial expressions throughout the day!








































































































































































































































































































































































Back row: Beckett, Marah, Brady
Front row: Dmitry, Cole, Cru

It was a long day, but man, it was fun!  And we didn't even win one single game!  Definitely not for lack of effort, talent, or coaching!  We are just young and inexperienced at the competitive level.  I was so proud of our team!