Memorial Day Weekend

We had a busy weekend of sleepovers, swimming and lots of SUN! The weather couldn't have been better for our 4-day weekend. Allison started off with a Glamour birthday party of Thursday night and then had Lorien spend the night. They spent lots of time practicing for their Eye of the Tiger dance for the 2nd grade talent show.

On Friday, Reanna came over and spent the weekend with us while Lauren had her soccer tournament out of town. Emily joined us on Saturday too and the girls had lots of fun going to the movies and spent most of the day in the pool. Although somehow I only managed to get pictures of Allison and Reanna.

Then on Sunday it was up to the Taverrite's for more swimming and a delicious BBQ. The kids loved jumping off of the waterfall, chatting in the hot tub and took lots of breaks to play Just Dance in the theater. We ate way too many appetizers, carne asada and desserts. We had brownies, chocolate covered strawberries, cheesecake and homemade rocky road ice cream. Good thing we danced alot! CANNONBALL!!

Gator as the lifeguard.

Dominic and Allison

Karen's family is moving back to Georgia in a few weeks, so it was a nice opportunity to get everyone together one last time.
I hope this is the 1st of many summer get togethers.

The festivities continued on Monday with a BBQ at the Sommer's. The kids swam and we ate too much again. Wendy is known for her fabulous baking skills and she didn't disappoint. I was stuffed after all of the yummy dinner, but left room for her delicious cookie/brownie bars. Yum!

Unfortunately we had to keep it an early night since we still have 2 weeks of school. Definitely looking forward to next year when we get out on May 27th...

Family Day

It has become an annual tradition to have Family Day follow Open House night. Parents bring lunch (or breakfast if that is more convenient) for their kids and pull them out of class to have a picnic together. Since kids are being pulled out at varying times, it makes teaching a little difficult. Taylor's class spent most of the day watching movies and Allison played some games and did some other activities. They were so excited when Chessa and I arrived with In N Out. They had fun eating with some of their friends too.
Maddyn, Taylor and Demi entertained Denton.

Allison and Lorien being goofy!

Hawks Soar to Title

WE MADE THE PAPER AGAIN!!

The GU11 Hawks White team competed in its first tournament on May 22nd and took 1st place in the Beach Soccer Tournament at Oceanside Harbor. The girls tied Hawks Red 4-4, beat Pumas USA 7-3 and Temecula United 6-0. In the semifinals, they defeated Mission Viejo 2-1 to advance. Hawks White battled to beat the Pumas USA 5-3 in the championship game.

Open House

Open House is a sure sign that the school year is coming to a close. The girls have worked so hard all year and were excited to show us some of the highlights from their year. We rushed from soccer so we would have plenty of time to check out both classrooms. Allison first shared her 2nd grade memory book with Matt. He loved reading through all of her writing samples and seeing the improvement she has made since her 1st weeks in Mrs. Falciano's class.
I loved their watercolor flowers!

The classroom was decorated from top to bottom.

The kids wrote stories about their recent trip to the Sea Life Aquarium.
Loved the display!

Then we were off to Taylor's class for a history lesson.
I loved these Liberty Bell tear art projects.

Taylor has been working on her Abigail Adams project for weeks. She researched her life history, letters she wrote to her husband John and the many artifacts associated with her. Each student prepared a display board with all of the research about their historical figure.

Her 13 colonies stitching project was also a major project this year. I hope it isn't required when Allison is in 5th grade!

Matt was so impressed by all of the hard work Taylor has put into her final year at Tony Tobin. I can't believe this is her last Open House :(

Green Machines

The Green Machines' season comes to an end this Saturday. Allison loved having Matt and Matt as her coaches and having Reanna and Marley on her team. There were a few 1st time players on the team as well, but they all really came together over the 8 week season and won quite a few games (but who is keeping score)! Allison really blossomed as a goalie and uses her big foot and aggressiveness pretty well on defense. She isn't a big fan of running, so forward and midfield are a little much for her.

Tonight was their last practice, followed by the team party at Pizza Factory. The kids spent most of their time in the arcade, but didn't manage to eat a slice of pizza and stick around for the medal presentation.

Matt praised Allison for her big foot and aggressive play.

Thank you to Hank and Leslie for the yummy (and very green) cupcakes!

A big thank you to the two coaches for dedicating lots of time and effort into the kids. They grew a lot as soccer players and had fun while doing it!!

Yogurt Island Celebration

We knew the girls would be sore after 5 games in two days, so instead of practice, we hung out at Yogurt Island to celebrate our championship. It was well deserved!

Beach Soccer Champions!!!!

We were out of the house at 6:45 hoping to get a closer parking spot and good base camp next to our fields. We achieved both by 7:45 and waited for all of the team to arrive. Our 1st game was at 10:30 against Temecula United. We asked the girls to play their hearts out and try for a shut out which would guarantee a win in our bracket. They certainly delivered. We won 6-0 and advanced to the 2:30 semifinal! In between games, the girls played in the sand, collected crabs, snacked, watched some professional games in the stadium and just enjoyed being together. The weather was much cooler today so nobody braved the waves.The girls munched on some of the fresh kettle corn. Yum!

Dynamic Duo

Bundled up under our tent.

Our official campground. We had two pop ups set up like this and huddled close together to avoid the wind in between games. It was a good way to get the girls to relax.

At 2:30, we faced Mission Viejo in the semi-finals. It was a hard fought battle the entire game. Taylor started out as left forward and finished strongly on defense helping the team protect our 2-1 lead. We knew this would not be a high scoring game, so once we took the lead we played very defensively and let the clock run out. Final score of 2-1 and we had 45 minutes until the championship game!

Kimette relaxed the girls with a little yoga before we took the field for the final game of the weekend.

Warming up

Pep talk

Team cheer

We faced the Chula Vista Pumas in the championship, a team we beat yesterday 7-3. Today they were hungry! They played with much more aggression and battled hard. But our girls battled harder. It was often a 1 goal lead for us, but we pulled out a 5-3 victory at the whistle. The sidelines went crazy and the girls were ecstatic!!!

Taylor was a true leader this weekend and we couldn't have been prouder!

Taylor and Demi

Medal Ceremony

Victory Swim

What an amazing experience for all of the girls and parents. It was a great way to kickoff our preseason and give the girls a chance to get to know each other both on and off the field. I'm sure they will all wake up with sore bodies, but their smile will be tough to wipe off. Can't wait to do it again next year...

GREAT JOB HAWKS WHITE!!!

Sand, Surf & Soccer- Day 1

Our new Hawks club team has been practicing for months and has been so excited for tournament season. This weekend we kicked it off with the Beach Tournament on Oceanside Harbor. Over 3oo teams and 25,000 flocked to Oceanside, making parking a nightmare and EZ UP space a challenge. But once to the fields, our girls couldn't have been more excited. We had special tournament shirts designed and all 13 girls were ready for their first soccer games in the sand. Joe's Crab Shack was one of the main sponsors

Delaney, Taylor, May and Madison chilling before the 1st game

Ready to take the field

Our 1st game was against the Hawks Red team. The Red team came out strong and took an early 3-0 lead. Our sidelines were silent and our girls looked dazed, but they quickly perked up and fought back. Taylor played well as left forward, stopper and even had some nice saves for her 1st time ever in goal. Yes, goalie!! We finished with a satisfying 4-4 tie.

The girls bonding in between games.

Allison and Reanna had fun in the water and admired Matt's beautiful creation!

The girls even got a little dirty digging holes.

We also spotted Maddyn on the beach in between games. We play her United team in the morning, although she won't be there. I'm glad we at least got to see her today.

Before Game #2

Taylor and Jessica were team captains

In game #2, we played the Pumas from San Diego. We came out tough from the beginning and took an early lead. Taylor again played very well as stopper and left forward and got her 2nd goal of the day in our 7-3 victory. I could tell she had played tough when I saw sand in every crevice in her neck! It was nice to see her play so aggressively and with such passion. The girls had so much fun and can't wait to do it again tomorrow. We are guaranteed a 10:30 game against United and think we have secured a spot in the 2:30 semifinal. My wishful thinking has us playing in the final at 4:00. Oh I forgot, one game at a time!!

Lets just hope parking is a little easier in the morning...