Leucadia Surf School

The girls had an "epic" (my attempt at surfer lingo) 4 days of surf camp with Leucadia Surf School! Each morning, we met at Moonlight Beach to get them fitted with wetsuits and boards.

 Each student was responsible to carry their own board except for the kids 10 and under.  Allison was thrilled she got out of that job!

 On Monday, they were given a brief land instruction on proper form, beach safety, etc.

 The rest of the time was spent in the water.  There was 1 instructor to every 2-3 students so they got lots of attention.  The instructors helped them set up and catch the perfect waves.

Allison made the craziest faces!

There were lots of spills along the way...Taylor even took a board right to her lip, but they both got right back out there and did so well!

 They are both now asking for their own boards and wetsuits so they can become true Surfer Chicks!

Huntington Beach Xtreme Cup

We took both teams to this weekend's Xtreme Cup in Huntington Beach.  Unfortunately, most of the game times conflicted and were at different fields, so I didn't capture any pictures since we were running around crazy!

Taylor's team beat FC Heat 1-0 and lost to Canyon FC 1-0, which put them in Sunday's consolation game.  They beat Madera 2-0 to finish strong, but it wasn't enough to advance.

Allison's team lost 1-0 against Exiles Saturday morning and tied 0-0 against the Raging Bulls.  However, a 2-0 victory over Dynamite Sunday morning was enough to advance them into the championship.   They faced Exiles again and won 1-0 to take the Xtreme Cup title!!

 Allison played goalie for all but one half of the first game and didn't allow any goals to be scored against her team.  So proud of her!

 This championship makes it two in a row for this great group of girls and they are improving with each game.

Allison and Turbo were all smiles as they held up the Champions trophy!!

It was a very fun weekend staying at the Ayres Hotel in Costa Mesa.  The kids all loved the downtime hanging out in the pool and having Sunday breakfast together too.  We have such wonderful families on both teams and I love seeing them all together!

Holy Jellyfish!

Leslie and I took the girls to Surfrider Beach on what turned out to be a gorgeous beach day!

However, the jellyfish were EVERYWHERE!

Every time the girls attempted the water, they encountered jellyfish big and small.  It actually became a game to collect them on boogie boards or shovels and take them up to the lifeguard tower.  By the end of the afternoon, this is what had accumulated, but none of us got stung!

Instead the girls stayed busy posing for pics,

 catching sand crabs,

 hanging with their buddies

and mastering hand stands.  We stayed until most of the crowds had dispersed and enjoyed the perfect beach weather!

Cal Coast Jamboree...Summer Edition

We had such a good time doing this 3v3 tournament over Spring Break, we decided to try it again for the Summer edition.  We were able to put two teams together from each age group.  Unfortunately, Charlie had to work and there was no way I could coach 16 games in a day between the 4 teams, so we enlisted the help of some of our parents to fill in as Coach.

 Dan coached the SHOCKWAVE...Lauren, Jessica, Madison, Taylor C., Taylor and Rachel

 Rachel coached the WILDONES...Iz, Maylie, Jenna, Nena, Bella and Cierra

I coached the SURFMONKEYS...Hannah, Aubree, Megan, Allison and Saige

I also coached the HOTSHOTS...Reanna, Turbo, Faith, Olivia and Leah (missed the first game because she was sick)

It was a very hot day for soccer, with games at 8:00, 10:30, 2:00 and 5:00, but all of the teams played well.  All 4 teams made it to the Semi-finals...

and the WILD ONES even won the Championship!

 I wasn't able to watch any of Taylor's games due to the schedule conflicts, but Matt was able to catch most of them.  We spent many hours huddling under shade, picnicking and just relaxing in between games.  After over 12 hours at Lake Skinner, we were all exhausted, but found the energy to meet at Stadium Pizza to celebrate the day!

THE WAVE

The Wave Waterpark in Vista had a coupon deal last week so several soccer families purchased for a fun day together.  We were having weird thunderstorm-type weather with rain and humidity, but the kids sure didn't care.

 Allison and Turbo were paired up all day to do the watersides, float down the lazy river and play in the pool.

 The big girls spent most of their time trying to boogie board on the wave

 or floating through the lazy river.

 Getting a group shot was tough since the kids were scattered all over the park, but Julie was finally able to catch one before the day was over!

Even sweet Joey got in on the fun in the water, but had more fun being passed around!

Pool Party

Lauren's family hosted a fun pool party for the soccer team today.  Only half of the girls were able to make it, but they loved being able to beat the heat, eat some snow cones and just hang out together!

Road Trip to AZ

The girls and I left early Thursday morning for a long weekend visit to Arizona.  Wendy, David and the boys moved into their new house in January and we were anxious to see it and spend some nice time together.

 Our first stop was the Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks game at Chase Field.  Luckily, they close the roof and crank up the AC during the summer time!

 The boys are quite the baseball fans and were all decked out in their gear!

 Two blue-eyed buddies!  I love how quickly the boys felt comfortable with the girls! The D'Backs lost 4-1, but we did get to see a home run and even got a quick visit from my friend Chessa, who was at the game with part of her family!

 On Friday, Wendy and David both had to work so we had a "jammie day" since it was so hot outside. We watched cartoons, played Kinect, went on the back patio to play with the water table and read books.

Allison even brought a few games from home for the boys to learn.

On Saturday, we beat the heat (113 degrees) at Big Surf Waterpark in Tempe.  It was perfect!  The kids all loved the wave pool and the girls even got to boogie board too.

Taylor and Allison attempted some of the bigger slides alone and we all had a great time doing the slides that were suited for all ages.  

 Wendy's sister Trina and her family joined us for the day too and gave us great discount coupons, which was an extra bonus.  Although my girls had never met her 3 boys, they all loved being together and taking turns going on the slides.  They were so comfortable and it was tons of fun! I actually got this picture of everyone looking and smiling on the very first try!!

 On Sunday, we had a Girl's Day Out shopping all over town before meeting David and the boys at the movies.  I couldn't believe they had never been to the theater and it was fun to watch them watch Madagascar 3!
Although we had to leave early this morning, I am so excited to have them closer and will hopefully get to see them much more often.  Wendy and I have been friends for nearly 22 years already and we love her family so so much!!