Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet Olivia

Lisa is always the queen of party planning and I know she couldn't have been more excited to plan Olivia's 1st Birthday. It was an adorable Pinkalicious/Cupcake extravaganza!!

The girls and I drove up to Valencia (Matt stayed home to study) for the 12:00 party. We were excited to see all of Lisa and Daniel's family and friends we have met over the years and of course, to see the birthday princess.
This cute table was filled with paper and pens and a message asking us to leave a blessing or wish for the birthday girl. Olivia looked adorable in ther cupcake dress and bow, although the bow didn't last all day.

The kids all gathered around to sing and watch Olivia dive into her cake.

Proud Mommy and Daddy had to coax her into just taking a lick...she doesn't like to be dirty!

Shannon and Taylor try to tempt her with a cupcake, without much luck. Lisa had these cute party hats for all of the kids.

I am so proud of Lisa and the mom she has become. Olivia is one lucky little girl and I am lucky to have her as a dear friend!

Cupcake pinata time!

Auntie Jenny had to sneak in some time with the star of the party.

Lisa made these adorable party favors... baby food jars filled with pink gumballs.

Chloe, Stella, Taylor and Allison wishing Olivia "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" We all wish her a wonderful year being one!

Winding Down

We are running out of summer days, so trying to make the most of each one. We have officially given up on the sun and headed to the beach anyway. Last year we spent so many days at Moonlight Beach topped off with dinner at Kealani's, so Leslie and I were determined to cross that off of the list today. Mary and Julie met us at Moonlight around 10. We arrived to overcast skies, but thought surely it would clear eventually. WRONG! Allison, Reanna and PJ

More time was spent playing in the sand than playing the waves

We agreed that staring at the waves is still better than being home staring at each other or the TV!

We hung out until around 4 and then packed up for dinner at Kealani's. It is the closest thing to Maui without actually being there... teriyaki chicken and sticky rice just like at Aloha Mixed Plate.

On our way home, we stopped at Target in Encinitas to see this cute display of Maylie in the girls section.

Such a cute photo... so proud of you May!

Sun or No Sun...

We are running out of summer days to wait for the sun to come out at the beach, so we decided to go sun or no sun. It was our first time getting together with Lisa, Laura and all of the kids. We came prepared with sweatshirts and started the day off with them on.

The waves were tempting and the girls were debating.

Allison chose to stay on the sand and dig.

The rest of the girls braved the cold water and had fun jumping the waves.

Dominic entertained us with his Just Dance versions of Cotton Eye Joe and Womanizer. He had us laughing so hard!

Lisa's friend, Jennifer, and her twins joined us as well. Allison had fun playing with all of the preschoolers, digging and playing with the cars and Barbies. It was nice catching up with Lisa and Laura too. We can't believe summer is almost over and this was our first time getting together :(

Harveston Lake

Well another fun beach day was cancelled due to our unusually cool summer, but it gave us a great opportunity to explore a pretty spot in our own backyard. Wendy suggested packing lunches, renting paddleboats and riding scooters around the lake. Unfortunately, the paddle boats were closed, but the kids didn't seem to care much.

They had a fun time spotting turtles, fish and ducks in the lake. We found a nice shade spot for a picnic and Wendy and I even had time to chat while the kids rode their scooters along the path.

There were lots of trees to climb and a fun playground, although the kids informed us "it was for babies".

Normally in July it is too hot to do something like this in town, but this hasn't been a normal July. Although, it was hot enough for a quick ice cream stop at Rite Aid before heading home. Thanks for the fun idea Wendy!

Pool Party Celebration

A big thank you to the Gregory's for hosting a fun pool party for the girls. It was a well-deserved break from practice after an exhausting 3 full days of soccer.

They had such a good time swimming, snacking...

jumping off the grotto...

sliding down the rock slide...

and playing fetch with Abby.

Amanda spent the night at our house, so Allison was excited she could come too!

Carlsbad Cup Finalists

Another amazing weekend of Hawks soccer...this time in Carlsbad. Most tournaments are 2 days, but this one was spread out over 3 so we only had 1 game @ 8:00am on Saturday. The girls played La Costa Matrix (a team we lost to 3-2 last weekend in Oceanside). We were hoping for some redemption and we got it with a 3-0 victory! Since we had the rest of the day free, we all celebrated with a family/team day at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas.

The girls have become good friends both on and off the field. They loved burying each other, playing in the waves and just hanging out.

Isabelle's Dad, Frankie, even taught Taylor how to surf.

After 5 or 6 tries, she was able to stand briefly before making it to shore. She loved it!

Allison had fun playing with Sophie, Tyan, Lindsey and Amanda. The siblings spend quite a bit of time together at practice and at games, so they have become good friends.

Lauren's team played at 9 and then joined us at the beach. Madison, Taylor and Lauren playing in the sand.

Sunday we were back at the field for another 8:00 am game. Allison took a while to wake up before playing on the playground with her buddies and running around the field. In this game, we played Scripps Ranch. We anticipated a tough match up after playing some of their players in an All-Star tournament. Taylor played left mid most of the game, but did play a little on the right and up front. We won 4-1 and then had a few hours before our 12:40 game.

We set up our EZ up and most of the team stuck around to eat and relax.

Love this cute photo of the Schreck's...They could all smell victory!! At 12:40, we matched up against Rancho Santa Fe. We had 19 tournament points going into this game, but knew we needed a victory or several goals to seal a spot in the Monday semifinal. Our Hawks sealed a semifinal spot with another convincing 4-0 win! We even won our 4-team bracket with 29 out of a possible 30 points!

This meant another early wake up call for our third 8:00am game. The girls were pumped up for our game against Encinitas Express, a team we think we will see in Presidio League. It was a tough match up because they had a solid sweeper and several girls with big kicks. We played a lot of ping-pong style play instead of staying composed and playing the ball on the ground, but we did squeak out a 1-0 victory to advance to the finals!!

The final game wasn't until 1:20, so there was lots of down time. The girls watched some of the other games being played, lounged on the blankets and ate some lunch.

They had fun turning on the IPOD speakers and dancing to California Girlz. I guess the pressure of the big game wasn't getting to them much. It's just the poor parents whose stomachs were in knots and unable to relax.

As 1:00 approached, we got the girls ready for the championship...stretching, jogging and mentally preparing. They saw the big trophy they would be playing for and were pumped. The final game was against Menifee. After about 6 offsides calls on us in the first 10 minutes and lots of missed opportunities on goal, we were tied 0-0 at half. Charlie stressed the importance of the 2nd half... staying composed, controlling the ball and putting one in the net. Unfortunately, Menifee scored first and we fought hard to get one in for the tie. Emily was in the right place at the right time and tied us up!! We had lots of other chances and Ashley played the game of her life, saving some amazing shots by Menifee so the score remained tied at the end of the second half.

It was on to penalty kicks. Taylor finished the game on the bench because of a sore knee, so she was unable to be selected as one of our 5 shooters. It was up to Delaney, Madison, Jenna, Maylie and Reese to score for us and up to Ashley to defend the other team. We felt very confident about our chances, remembering our penalty kick battle in Scripps Ranch that ended with us taking home the championship. The tension and emotion was over the top, but we fell 1 goal short of victory. A heartbreaking end to a hard fought, wonderful weekend of soccer. There were lots of tears and "what ifs", but it just wasn't meant to be :(

The Medal Ceremony

Taylor finished the weekend a little bruised up with a bad knee and sore foot. I think we will be making a trip to the doctor next week, but she played great. She had some great assists, a beautiful goal and lots of athletic play to be proud of. However, for some reason, she struggled with her throw ins this weekend. We will have to practice those before our next tournament! She was very emotional in this last game. Crying under pressure and crying tears of joy, but lots of crying nonetheless. She is often so hard on herself, although we explain over and over, that it is just a game and we encourage her to play for all the fun she will have and memories she will make. She must take after her mother. I am glad this weekend is over. 3 days of waking up at 5:00am, making the drive to Carlsbad and having my stomach in knots was exhausting and I didn't even play.

This team has so much promise, heart and support for each other. Looking forward to a quiet few weeks and then on to the Encinitas tournament August 7th and 8th...