Go Silver Bullets!

Today was the start of Allison's first season in U10. Her coach is David Guinn and Matt is excited to help out. Their team is the Silver Bullets and we have quite a few girls from previous season's on the team and think they will do well.

Matt helps the girls warm up.

Taking practice shots on Allison

Coach David gives the starting lineup and pep talk

Allison was picked as one of the team captains

Allison started off the game as goalie. She let one get by her pretty early, but held them for the rest of the quarter.

She had a nice big foot on her goal kicks.

2nd quarter, she played midfield. She isn't used to that much running so she was wearing down fast. She had some nice passes up to the forwards and we were up 4-1 at halftime. We have several fast girls with big, solid kicks and all of the shots went in the net!

Allison player left forward in the 3rd quarter and had some nice opportunities, but really needs to work on staying in her position so she is ready for a break away. I think once she conditions a little more in practice, she will have the stamina to do a great job anywhere she is needed. It was a real team effort in their 5-2 victory. Great job Silver Bullets!!

SUPER DIAMOND at the Races

Several years ago, we saw SUPER DIAMOND at the Solana Beach Street Fair and have wanted to see them again. When our team was playing in Carlsbad a few weeks ago, it became the topic of conversation and a group of us was interested in seeing them again. Tonight, they were playing at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, so we all sent our kids off to sleepovers and headed down. We got there in time for the fourth race, but it was too late to place a bet. After looking through the book, I noticed that "Princess Taylor" was racing in race #5. I couldn't go wrong, so I placed a $3 bet.

"Princess Taylor" pulled through with the victory and I won $1.80!!! I know you have to play big to win big, but this was good enough for me.

Nice to finally have a date night!

Leslie and Hank

Mary and Charlie

Tim and Stacey

Then it was off to the Grandstand Stage for SUPER DIAMOND, the best Neil Diamond tribute band around. They have become quite popular, so a free concert was a real treat.

I didn't know that many songs, but loved singing along to Forever in Blue Jeans, Sweet Caroline and America! It was a great show and fun time with friends.

BMX Family Night

Matt took the girls to a fun Family Night at school to see an awesome BMX show. It was a very hot, muggy night but it was still a good turnout and the girls had a lot of fun.

Mr. McTasney was even brave enough join in on one of the stunts, although he doesn't look to confident! I heard that the stunts were amazing and the riders were nice enough to sign posters for the kids after the show. Thank you to PTA for sponsoring the fun event.

CoPay After CoPay

Thank goodness for health insurance! This family is certainly getting our money's worth as Scripps Clinic seems to be our home away from home lately. We started the year off with Matt's neck issue, which continues as he waits for word on a surgery date. He will most likely need a bone fusion surgery to help with the disc degeneration. Then, Allison had eye surgery to remove Molluscum from her eyelid in February.
At Allison's June 8-year checkup, we discussed recent headaches and have been keeping a headache diary ever since. The frequency of them continued so this week she saw a Neurologist. It appears she is suffering from heat/tension related migraines and we will continue to monitor their frequency.
Not long after, Matt came down with a sinus infection and ear infection and was put on antibiotics. Unfortunately, the ear got worse and had to go to urgent care again...seems the ear infections moved further into the ear canal and he is now on a stronger antibiotic.
At Taylor's 10-year checkup a few weeks ago (yes a little off schedule), she had warts removed from her elbow and was referred to an Pediatric Orthopedist for knee pain. We found out this week that she is suffering from Plica Syndrome and needs to stay out of PE and soccer for 4-6 weeks. We have been told that she will battle this issue until she stops growing, which could be a while because her pediatrician says she will be 5'6! For now, she is doing lots of stretching exercises and icing and hoping to reduce the inflammation.
We wait for word on Matt's surgery and hope we can avoid the doctor for a while...

Glen Ivy Hot Springs Spa

We have been talking about a Glen Ivy "Spa Day" for months now and never seemed to find a day that worked for everyone. Thankfully, Wendy took the initiative and calendared it with plenty of notice so there were no excuses. The kids are back to school, so we headed out right after drop off and took advantage of our gift cards.
Our first stop was "CLUB MUD". We sported old bathing suits and lathered ourselves in this lovely mud. Then we let it dry while relaxing in the lounge chairs. When we couldn't take the heat anymore, we hit the showers to clean up and enjoy our newly softened skin!

Then it was on to the lounge pool to relax on the floaties and soak in the sun.

I was a little surprised by how crowded it was, but apparently everyone had the same idea that we did. The lunch line was long but worth the wait...BBQ Chicken Salad and Chicken Nachos piled high. We had enough time after lunch for one more dip in the pool before getting back to school in time for pick up. It was a fun treat and great time spent with friends. I think we should make it a yearly Back-to-School tradition!

Merritt's Baptism

Merritt Elizabeth was baptized today at Saint Raymond's Catholic Church and Matt and I are proud to be her Godparents. She looked beautiful in the gown that has been worn by me, Chris, Taylor and Allison for our baptisms. She stayed quiet for most of the service and didn't even cry when the priest poured the water and rubbed the oil.

After church, we went back to Chris and Aimee's for a nice outdoor luncheon in their greenbelt. We drank fruit bellinis, ate yummy sandwiches and cheeses and "M" cupcakes. Merritt loved playing with her toys on the blanket and opening her cute gifts and we had a nice time visiting with all of the family before heading off to the airport.

Bay Area Weekend

We flew up for a quick weekend in Danville and had a fun Saturday morning in downtown. Matt and I walked the Iron Horse Trail and met my dad and the girls for breakfast at Valley Medlyn's (a local breakfast favorite and one of Matt's old employers). The girls got giant hot cocoas, although I can't make the picture any bigger from my dad's phone.
After breakfast, we walked to the Farmer's Market and bought some delicious chocolate chip macadamia coconut cookies and some kettle corn to munch on. The girls loved watching the crepe makers and sampling all of the organic fruit.

Once home, we got a nice visit from the Mascardo girls. Molly loves playing with Taylor and Allison and they had fun playing hide and seek and doing some puzzles.

Brooklyn is now 5 1/2 months and cute as a button. It was so sweet of Sarah to bring them down for a quick visit, but we sure wish we could see them more often.

Then it was off to Chris and Aimee's for dinner. The girls ate pizza with Zack on the patio and played games in between taking turns holding Merritt.

Taylor took quite a spill on the scooter which quickly ended the evening. She came in bloody on both elbows, one knee and one foot. Wearing flip flops while playing tag on a scooter probably wasn't the best idea!

1st Day of School 2010

Well the dreaded day is here, but actually our house was full of excitement. Taylor was up early, painting her nails and curling her hair. I think she got all of the nerves out at orientation yesterday so she was nothing but excited. Allison was up early too, getting her hair done, eating an early breakfast and helping pack both lunches.
Teresa came over for her traditional "1st day blessing" and we took the traditional photos on the porch.

Taylor picked out this cute outfit at American Eagle a few weeks ago and couldn't wait to wear it! Middle school drop off was a little hectic so we found a good spot to drop her off and watch her cross at the crosswalk. No more walking her in :( She can't wait to meet Madison after school and walk together down to the Hot Dog Shoppe. I think this will be a good spot to pick her up. I know she will be eager to share all of the stories from her 1st day!

Allison picked out her cute outfit at Old Navy. She didn't seem nervous either, just excited.

It wasn't long before we found friends on campus.

Mitchell, Allison and Lorien are all excited to start the year with Mrs. Siptroth...

and Allison is so thrilled to be sitting right next to Kaylee! I think it is going to be a great year!!