Falls Sport Rally

Tonight was the GOHS Fall Sports Night Rally.  Allison's field hockey team was being recognized, Taylor's was working it with her WSB class and Matt and I volunteered at Allison's team booth.

 We were there early to set up the pop up and get everything ready to sell hot dogs, chips and drinks.

 I prepped food and took orders and Matt grilled hot dogs.  We sold all 144 hot dogs and almost all of the chips and drinks for a successful first team fundraiser!

 It was great sharing in the event as a family!

Taylor worked with WSB and this SPIRIT can picture made it on to the home page of the GOHS website!

The field hockey girls were called out along with water polo, tennis, football, cheerleading, cross country and a few others I may be forgetting. Allison loved getting loud cheers from all of her WSB buddies too!

She is looking so cute in her new uniform and is excited for a fun season of field hockey!!  Thanks for the pictures Taylor :)

OC Kickoff Classic Champions!

I was in Irvine all weekend for Allison's tournament.  They had 2 games on Saturday and won 3-1 and 3-0, with several girls scoring and great teamwork!

They were back at it Sunday morning with a 6-0 win to advance to the afternoon championship.  They played Golden State and although it wasn't their best soccer, they won 3-0 to take home the title.

These girls are growing so much as players and really connecting on and off the field.  They scored 15 goals and only gave up 1 and played some great soccer!

Way to go Arsenal!!

Senior Spot

One of the perks of being at senior at GOHS is getting to paint your senior lot parking spot.  Taylor and her friends all got spots next to each other and spent the morning painting their designs.  She went with her love of the Hawaiian islands.  

I think it turned out great!  I also loved that the freshman spent last weekend prepping the spots and Allison got to prep Taylor's.  Fun little connection!

Back when Taylor was a freshman, her group of friends all took this picture on the day they prepped the senior spots.

Today they recreated the same photo as seniors! Still great friends, but so many changes in just a few years!

Field Hockey

Thanks to the encouragement from a middle school soccer teammate, Allison decided to take a leap of faith and tryout for the GOHS field hockey team!  We watched it during the Olympics to learn the rules, bought gear online and went out to the park the day before tryouts so she could practice using the stick.  She went to 3 days of tryouts this week and anxiously waited for the coach to post the roster on the school's website.

Allison was #14 for tryouts and she made VARSITY! As a Freshman!  So incredibly proud of her and loved seeing the smile on her face.  She was beyond excited!

She is going to be one busy girl trying to juggle M-F field hockey practice, T/Th soccer practice, homework and WSB, but she's got this!  We are excited to learn a new sport and cheer her on.

Way to kick some field hockey butt Allison!! 

First Day of School 2016/2017

Our sweet Allie-cat is officially a high schooler and couldn't be more excited about it!  She spent time at the orientation and Welcome BBQ yesterday and was all dolled up in her Red Wave attire for the first day!  Allison is already enrolled in WSB and looks to join Interact and play soccer.  She is also showing an interest in field hockey and I look forward to seeing what else she finds.  Class of 2020 has a nice ring to it!

 Thank goodness I have 4 more years with Allison. Otherwise this day would have been even tougher!  Our Taylor B is a senior and I just can't believe this is our last year with her at home.  With college applications underway, it all just got very real and I'm just trying to enjoy each moment rather than cry uncontrollably.  She will finish out her 4th year of WSB, continue her role as Secretary for both WSB and Interact, complete her 2nd year of NHS and hopefully get a part-time job.  It's going to be a busy year!

I'm thrilled that these 2 get one year together and hope they form an even stronger bond!  I'm also thrilled that I don't have to drive carpool this year! Wishing you both a fantastic year at GOHS!

Birthday/Goodbyes

Andrew turns 18 on Wednesday

and leaves for college on Saturday so we took him out for a birthday/goodbye dinner at BJ's.  He is very excited for his new adventures at KU and all that awaits him, but these 2 are sure dreading saying their goodbyes.  We wish him the best of luck and are grateful he has a few scheduled trips home throughout the first semester!

19

It was a busy day with soccer championships, high school registration and work for me, but we made time to celebrate our 19th anniversary!  

We had a nice dinner and drinks at 1909.  It is still hard for me to believe we met 26 years ago as I was just about to get my driver's license.  Matt has been my best friend for all of the adventures, struggles, highlights and everything in between.  I'm grateful that he continues to challenge me, works so hard to support our crew, still makes me laugh and is "usually" up for my crazy adventures. I get excited talking about future plans and also cherish the day to day.  I love you Matt!  Happy Anniversary!

Class of 2020

Allison is officially registered for high school!  After soccer, she rushed home for a quick shower and I took her to registration.  She got her class list, took her yearbook pic and picked up all of her spirit wear.

Each freshman also got a chance to put their handprint on the 2020 boards.  These will be left in storage for the next few years and then displayed at their graduation!

One more week of summer vacation...

Carlsbad Cup Finalists

Allison's team played in the Carlsbad Cup this weekend, with games at 3 different fields around Carlsbad.  They won Saturday's game 1-0 against Portland.  On Sunday, they tied LA Galaxy 1-1 and lost to Livermore Fusion 3-2, but still had enough points to advance to the championship game this morning.  

I had to work so Matt went down to watch.  The game was tied 1-1 after regular time so they went to PK's.  For some reason, the coach pulled Allison and put in the other keeper for PK's.  We are all puzzled by it, but had no control of the situation.  Her team ended up losing 3-1 in PK's, but ended as Cup finalists!

Portland Day #4

Today was our last day in Portland. We didn't have much of a game plan but knew we wanted to see Mt. Hood.  The drive up was so pretty!  Greenery everywhere, crisp blue sky and a snow-capped mountain in the distance!

We stumbled onto this SkiBowl Adventure Park in Government Camp.

Matt and the girls bought wristbands to do all of the activities.  They started with a few trips down the Alpine Slide.

 They said the chair lift ride was really pretty and the carts went quite fast if you let them.

 The girls tried the tube hill,

 the trampolines,

 the aqua rollers 

 and the batting cages for a fun morning!

 It was getting hot and we were getting hungry so we had lunch at Mt. Hood Brewing Co.  before heading down the other side of the mountain into Hood River.

 We stopped for coffee and to check out the waterfront. What a cool spot to beach around or do water activities!

 Our last stops were along the Columbia River to see a few more waterfalls.  This one was called Horsetail Falls and you could actually just walk up and swim under it!

Vista House is a great lookout spot to see the breathtaking scenery along the river gorge.  

 The land to the left is Washington and on the right is Oregon.

Portland Day #3

Another 8:00am game this morning at Lakeridge HS.   They had a fun time meeting each other downstairs for breakfast before heading to the field, although they probably would have preferred doing it a little later than 6:30am!

A tough 2-0 loss so no advancement out of bracket play.  The upside was more time to explore Portland, but we had hoped the girls would make it to Sunday playoffs.  They have improved as a group and are playing in top brackets so their skills will continue to get better. Well done ladies!

 After quick showers, we drove down to the waterfront for the Portland Saturday Market.  This place is booming!  A ton of craft booths under the Burnside Bridge and then

 lots of flowers and food heading into town.

 We were only about 2 blocks from Voodoo Donuts so decided today was the day to wait in line.  Matt wanted no part of it so he went and found a pub to get lunch and a beer.  Taylor joined him for a bit and Leslie took her girls for some sushi while Allison and I waited in the line. It took about 40 minutes, but I think its well worth it.

 We tried some new ones this time…some better than others.

 The No Name was one of the favorites…a yeast donut coated in chocolate, rice krispies and peanut butter drizzle!

 I also loved my Dirty Snowball…chocolate cake donut coated in marshmallow creme, coconut and a dollop of peanut butter!

 We walked off our donuts with a stroll to Powell's Bookstore.  This place is huge!

 The rooms are even color coded!

 We were still too full to eat, but we toured the food trucks and this was my favorite.  Mac & Trees!  I would have ordered the mac and cheese with chicken, broccoli, bread crumbs and parmesan!

 Our final stop was along the waterfront to check out all of the bridges and local activity.  There are so many homeless in Portland, but they just sort of intermingle with all of the hustle and bustle in town.

 We attended the team pizza dinner at Belaggio's and then drove back into Portland to get Salt and Straw.  The line wrapped around the building!  Amazing how social media helps drum up business.  When the girls and I went last year, we just walked right in.  Not anymore so no Salt and Straw for us this time.

We went across the street and loved our gelato from Alottogelato!