College Road Trip Day #3

After spending the night in Capitola (too bad we didn't have time to see the town or the beach!), we were up early for a quick drive through UC Santa Cruz before driving home.

 This is one of the most unique campuses we have toured.  It sits high up on a hill overlooking the ocean, but feels like you are in a mountain ski village as you drive around.  It's like a forest on the water!

 We had quite a few laughs as Lauren started calling this wild turkey we spotted on campus.  He quickly ran towards the car, started circling and pecking at the car and would have probably jumped in if given the chance!

It was a cold morning and Lauren was the only one willing to get out for a picture.  We loved these cool bridges that we saw around campus, but didn't really see much else.  None of the girls seemed interested enough to investigate further.  It was a long 8 hour car ride home, but a successful few days!  I can't believe these girls will be starting the application process in just a few short months :(

College Road Trip Day #2

Leslie booked the guided tour at Cal Poly SLO for this morning.  We had already seen the campus, but were anxious to hear about it from a student's perspective.  This one was a big hit!  The school is surrounded by gorgeous green hillsides, the town is adorable and the campus has a lot of updated buildings and isn't too overwhelming.

 25% of  students study Engineering at Cal Poly, but they also have Nutrition, Kinesiology and Bio/Pre-Med.  Taylor and Lauren are both leaning towards something related to these sciences.  Reanna seemed interested in the Engineering though too!

 Who knows…maybe some of these girls will be future Mustangs!

 A few more hours in the car for an evening stop at Santa Clara University.  Wow!  What a gorgeous campus!  

 We all loved the clean, beautifully-landscaped buildings and the long walkways.  The gym is being redone, the soccer training complex is state of the art and 

the chapel was so pretty!

 Unfortunately the price tag for tuition is quite high and the cost of living in the Santa Clara/San Jose  is outrageous!  It may be extra incentive for scholarship applications!!

We ended our day with dinner and shopping at Valley Fair Mall while we waited for traffic to die down.  Taylor found her prom dress, so she was thrilled and that is one less thing we have to do once home!

College Road Trip Day #1

 I'm not sure we thought this through very well, but less than 24 hours after returning from Las Vegas, we were back on the road for a college trip up the coast with the Lebitski girls.  Luckily Leslie was "on it" enough to book hotels and we mapped our route the night before.  Who needs more planning than that?  It all worked out great!

After some unexpected traffic on the 101, we were starving so first stopped in Isla Vista for lunch.  The girls spotted this cool mural (which may actually lead to a business idea some day!).

 We found this cool spot on Yelp called Buddha Bowls.  Start with a sourdough bread bowl and fill it with whatever toppings you want.  We tried the Mediterranean, the Pizza, the BBQ chicken and Mac and Cheese.  Very good!

Then it was on to the UCSB campus on a gorgeous day.  Students were on spring break, but we were still able to visit the bookstore, student union and visitor center.

 

 The campus is huge and very bike friendly.  It is right on the water, but wasn't a hit with any of the girls.  The buildings didn't really follow a traditional feel and Taylor is looking for a bigger sports school,

 but you sure can't beat the location!

 Then it was back in the car for an hour or 2 for a quick stop at Pismo Beach.  We got an ice cream cone and walked down to the pier.  It was super windy,

 but a beautiful beach!

Our last stop of the day was San Luis Obispo.  We checked into our hotel and drove to town for dinner at CPK, a little prom dress shopping (no luck) and a stop at the famous gum wall.  We will tour campus tomorrow...

Las Vegas Day #3

Leslie and I rallied all of the kids for a delicious Sunday breakfast at The Cracked Egg before today's final.  I really wanted to see Red Rock Canyon since we were only a few miles away, so Leslie took Allison and Reanna to the field and I took the big kids with me.

It seemed like all of Las Vegas had the same idea today so we didn't have time to do the driving loop, but did stop at some pretty photo spots.

 Andrew moved to Temecula from the Vegas area about 7 years ago.  We were only a few miles from his house, so we also made quick stop at his house in Summerlin.  He shared some cute stories about his childhood and drove us by his elementary school too before we headed to the field.

Again the girls played amazing and beat West Coast FC 3-0 to win the game!

This win was a true team effort!  Several different girls scored, the defense saved so many scoring opportunities and Allison did her job very confidently.  

This year has been such a growing experience for Allison and we are so grateful to Coach Heidi for providing such a wonderful environment for her.  Her skill and confidence continue to improve and she is so motivated to continue to improve.

 These 3 should be proud of all they have accomplished this season and it was 

a great weekend of soccer and team bonding!  The win made it extra special!L

Las Vegas Day #2

I was out of the hotel early this morning to get Reanna and Allison to the field by 7:00.  As we arrived, Taylor called to ask if I had her purse in my trunk…nope!  Luckily Allison remembered seeing it on the back of Taylor's chair at Subway last night when we ate at the hotel.  After some searching and praying, she was happy and grateful to learn that an employee turned it in with everything in it!  

Leslie and the big kids got the field just in time for the game and it was a nice 2-0 win over Irvine Slammers!

The team advanced to the Semi-finals with 3 shut out victories! 

We celebrated and killed time between games on The Strip!  

We parked at New York New York and got some treats at Hershey's!

Chocolate-covered Rice Krispie Treat and S'more…yum! 

 Andrew had fun seeing all of the Kansas gear in the Adidas store 

 and Allison stocked up at the M&M store.

 These 3 had quite a good time together this weekend and Taylor and Andrew were great cheerleaders during Allison's games!

 We got a delicious lunch at the very crowded Shake Shack

and left time to ride the roller coaster at New York New York before heading back to the hotel for a little break before the night game.

 Arsenal faced their toughest competition tonight.  They were down 1-0 pretty early against Claremont Stars, but never quit and tied it up with just minutes left.  However I knew that meant penalty kicks again to determine who would advance to the finals.  Again Allison's team was amazing!  All four of her teammates scored their goals and the opponents only scored 2.  One went wide and Allison blocked the other to win the game! On to the finals tomorrow!

 We were pretty tired after the busy day, but stopped at The Strip again for dinner at Caesar's Palace

 and some shopping at the Nike Store.  The Strip is exhausting-so much car traffic, foot traffic, smoke-filled casinos and lots of chaos, but it was fun for the day!

Las Vegas Day #1

Yesterday I checked the girls out of school at lunch time and we picked up Andrew for a weekend in Las Vegas for Allison's Player Showcase.  The drive was smooth and we checked into the hotel with enough time to get dinner at PF Chang's and dessert at Cream with the Lebitski crew.

This morning we were able to wake up without an alarm and eat breakfast in the room before heading to the field in Henderson.  They faced Eastside Hawaii in the noon game and won 2-0!  After the game the girls from Hawaii gave our players macadamia nuts and seashell hair pins.  It was a fun experience for them and a nice win!

Between games, we all went to an italian restaurant for a pasta, pizza and salad buffet.  

We were back at the same field for a 7:00pm game under the lights.  The weather was perfect and the girls beat Colorado 4-0!

Celtic Cup

Friday night I got a text from Troy, the Arsenal North coach, asking if Allison could play in a tournament this weekend in San Bernadino.  She already had a scrimmage scheduled for Saturday afternoon and futsal in the evening, but I drove her up for the Saturday morning game and all day Sunday.  The team finished with a tie in Saturday morning and a win in the afternoon.  They had to win Sunday morning's game to advance to the finals.  The game ended tied at the end of regulation so they had to go to penalty kicks to determine the winner.  

 Allison's teammates scored all of their goals and Allison blocked one of the opponent's goals to win the game and advance to the championship!  

 They won the final as well with a 3-0 victory!  

 The team was so grateful to have Allison play and she got some great practice before her tournament in Las Vegas next weekend.

Each of the players got a medal and Champions t-shirt for the victory!