Pepperdine & Santa Monica Pier

 Lauren and Reanna's cousin Kevin is in town and wanted to take a tour of Pepperdine.  Taylor and Allison were invited to tag along for a fun day with them.  

 Everyone loved the campus with its beautiful scenery, small class sizes and prime real estate housing.  Taylor also liked the idea of being able to study abroad at one of their many "sister campuses".

 Taylor was able to cross another item off of her summer bucket list…Santa Monica Pier.  They had so much fun shopping at the 3rd Street Promenade,

 eating dinner at Bubba Gump's 

and riding the roller coaster on the pier.  They shared lots of laughs along the way too!

Team Bonfire

 Leslie and Darian organized a beach day/bonfire at Oceanside Harbor for a little team bonding.

 The girls had fun splitting their time in the water, digging holes in the sand and playing sand soccer.

They also recruited the older girls to help them with a  little photo shoot on the lifeguard tower.

They BBQ'd burgers and hot dogs and each of the girls brought a side to share.

 

As the sun went down, Darian lit up the fire pit for smokes and relaxing around the campfire.

Anika and Allison didn't waste anytime.

 Taylor joined in on the fun with Saige and Emily.

 I think the girls really enjoyed their time together.  They really are so much more that teammates!

Dave Shelton Cup Finalists

We were in Escondido this weekend for the Dave Shelton Memorial Cup.

Allison has been working hard all summer to earn some playing time on the field.  It paid off because she was the starting left midfielder and played great!  She had several very nice runs up the line and crosses to the middle.

She even scored a goal in the 2nd game Saturday!  The team beat FC Heat 2-0 and Matrix San Elijo 

3-0 on Saturday.  Sunday morning they lost a tough game 2-0 against the Rebels, but still advanced to the championship.  They faced the Rebels again, played much better, but still came up short with a 1-0 loss to take 2nd place.

 Allison was awarded the "Lifesaver" for her performance in the 2nd game and loved the time she got to spend on the field.  Her effort in goal really helped the team too!

 Great job Hawks girls

and Coach Charlie!

 I guess this is their new tradition!

Photo Shoot

 Chris took the girls for a fun photo shoot throughout town today.  Taylor and Devan have become very close friends this year through school, WSB and soccer.

 They are beautiful inside and out

 and share a fantastic friendship!

1000 Steps Beach

 Leslie found the coolest beach online and we were up for the adventure today.  The beach is called 1000 Steps Beach in Laguna.  The name sounded a little scary (it was actually only 250 steps), but it was still a great workout!  Before we got to the stair entrance, we spotted an Open House at one of the oceanfront properties along PCH.  We set our stuff down in the driveway and took a tour.  It was unbelievable and can be ours for only $6.8 million!  Sigh!

We came back to reality, packed light (as suggested on Yelp) and made the steep trek down.

The beach was even prettier in person, complete with lifeguard and bathrooms!  

 Unfortunately, the tide was too high to enter the caves, but the girls had fun playing in the very clear water and posing for a photo shoot.

We packed a cooler of food to last the day, each got a nap in and lounged into the early evening.  

The steps looked a little daunting for our trek back to the car, but it wasn't as bad as we thought.  Our calves burned a bit so we took our time.  The beach was well worth these crazy steps.  I still can't believe some of the oceanfront homeowners had trams to get them down!  Happy to say we crossed another great beach off of our SoCal list!

UCSD Summer ID Camp

Taylor unpacked and then quickly repacked for a 4 day stay at UCSD.  She is attending an ID camp put on by the women's soccer team and will be run by several college coaches from around the country.  She was a little nervous about going without "a buddy", but was excited for the opportunity.  It felt a little weird dropping her off in the dorms, but I knew she was in for a great few days.  She is rooming with a girl from Chicago and another from Encinitas.

They will have trainings and conditioning throughout the day, 11v11 sessions each night and plenty of time to mingle over meals, watching the World Cup and an afternoon at the beach. 

 I'm sure she will fall in love with the campus

and learn so much from the coaches and college players!

Baby Jack

We knew our timing might be off to actually be in Danville when Baby Jack was born, but we had no idea we would miss it by hours!  While we were loading up the truck to drive home, I got a text from Elizabeth that her water broke this morning and they were at the hospital.  As much as we wanted to stay, we had too much waiting for us at home and we would have to see Jack in pictures when he arrived. 

 He was born this morning…5 lbs, 15 oz and 20 inches long.  So sweet and I just can't believe we didn't get a chance to hold him.

He looks just perfect and we can't wait to meet him.  Congrats to Scott and Elizabeth!!

Weekend in Danville

We finished out the rest of our trip with some nice visits.  The girls had breakfast at Valley Medlyn's with my dad and we spent Saturday night with Scott and Elizabeth again…pizza at Ascona's, bocce ball and fro yo at Yogurt Shack.

We spent lots of time walking the many trails across the street from my parents' house

and Kaia loved being off leash at Osage Park.

 We drove the girls by Matt's first family house in Danville

 and had a great night with Renato, Sarah and their girls.  They invited us over for a swim

 and a fried chicken dinner.  Taylor and Allison loved spending time with Brooklyn and Molly and I think the feeling was mutual!

 Love this sweet face

and Taylor loved the cuddles!