Spring sports

June is almost over.

The boys last day of school is June 30.

And spring sports?  They just about blew up this tired mama's brain.

Quinn played t-ball with cousin Jack.  Ross was the coach.  He did a great job always trying really hard and I don't think he ever had to use the tee, always hitting one of his dad's pitches.  I was very proud of him, even though he called every game "soccer practice" all season.

Wyatt played soccer on a team with a bunch of friends from school.  He had fun and played especially hard when grandma or grandpa were there to watch him.   He also played kid pitch baseball and it was mostly a disaster.  His team was very small (in stature and skill), very young, and he had a first time coach - recipe for...very LONG baseball games.  Add in all the spring rain-outs, it felt like the season was never. going. to. end.  Oh, and he pitched many innings in many games.  He did his best, and I'm proud of him for that, but this child of mine maybe isn't destined to be a pitcher.

Baseball did, in-spite of everything, end on a win.  The second win of the season.  Want to know something good about being on the bad news bears?  No post season tournaments.

Elliott played spring soccer.  He seemed to be the glue that held his team together, most games only sitting at half-time.  His team had its struggles in the spring, losing two players and their dads who were the assistant coaches.  I'm not sure what happened there, but it's hard to win games when you lose kids from the team and the majority of the rest of the team doesn't come to practice.  But, they ended strong and Elliott did a great job.

I tell my boys the exact same thing before every single game:  win or lose, you need to be able to walk off the field knowing that you did your best.  Elliott has figured this out.  Wyatt, well Wyatt is still working on it.

And, it is indicative of the craziness of spring sports that I failed to take any pictures of Elliott playing soccer; took my nice camera to Wyatt's last baseball game to take pictures and realized when I got there that I left the memory card at home; and managed to get a few pictures of Quinn at one of his last games.







Now - with summer here officially (summer solstice yesterday) we are knee deep in soccer.  Elliott and Wyatt are both on competitive soccer teams for USA (Utah Soccer Association) soccer.  I'm finally getting over the amount of money we've paid for the boys to play - and now I need to get over the summer practice and tournament schedule.

Good thing I like these kids.  A lot!

New Year, new season

Basketball is in full swing at our house.  University of Utah games and Elliott and Wyatt are both playing junior jazz this year.  Both boys are having excellent seasons. Ross is coaching both boys teams and Coach Karl is helping out with Elliott's.

Wyatt is still playing in the "developmental" league, so no real practices until next season.  No score board, either.  But, the kids do a pretty good job of keeping score all on their own.  Wyatt's team is pretty good and he has managed to score during every single game.  And, he looks good.  He always makes sure that from head to toe - hair to shoes, he is on fleek.  (Is "On Fleek" still a thing?)

Elliott's team is doing great this year.  So far, they are undefeated in their league, and seem to be the team to beat.  Uncle Willie gave him some Dennis Rodman socks for Christmas and they seem to be bringing him a lot of luck.  He has become a rebounding machine and not a single kid that defends him knows how to stop someone who shoots a left handed lay-up.  One game before Christmas was pretty intense and Coach Karl yelled at the opposing coach, "Shut up, Dude!" but otherwise, good sportsmanship abounds.

It's fun to watch the boys play every Saturday and I am one mama who is very happy her boys LOVE basketball!

#BoompaGoesToDisneyland

We went.  We played.  We drove home.  Sounds pretty simple, but the reality of getting our family of five somewhere, let alone somewhere at the same time as the other 7 members of our extended family is a pretty significant feat and now, days after our most excellent vacation, I am still exhausted and sleepy and have very sore feet.

When we all finally settled on a date for our Disneyland adventure, the countdown began.  In the days leading up to our vacation, the boys were more crazy than if Christmas were impending.  And, after a very slow start on day one, I really never thought we'd get on the road.

Rather than a travelogue, as I'm apt to do, the next few blog posts will just hit a few highlights of the trip.  There is just too much detail to ever try and write it all down.

So, let's commence the highlights.

We left on Thursday, October 6 in the evening.  The boys had to attend school, Ross work, and of course, there was a soccer game that Elliott needed to play in.  We waivered for the whole week as to whether or not we should go to the soccer game or just get on the road.  But, we decided yes to soccer and a very late start.  It was the better decision.  Elliott played an excellent soccer game.  His team squeaked out a win.  We got dinner and then headed on our way with the goal to spend the night in Mesquite.

After a (thankfully) uneventful drive south we caught up to my parents, passed them, and all ended up staying in the same hotel for the night.  Quinn slept on a bed I made him on the floor and Elliott and Wyatt shed exhausted tears as they drifted off to sleep lamenting the fact that they were sharing a bed.

Elliott plays soccer!

Elliott has been playing soccer now for so many years, I've lost track.  Like the other boys, he's been playing since he was 4 years old and he just loves soccer.  Lucky for him, he's a really good soccer player.

Elliott's season runs fall and spring.  This past spring, the leagues across Utah changed their rules and decided that teams would be made up of kids in the same birth year, not the same school year.  Unfortunately, this meant that the team he had been on for the last year which was made up of kids from his school class would be dissolved.  And, all the kids would have to find a new team to play on.  Oh man, it was a stressful couple of weeks.  Ross and Elliott knew that he wanted/needed to play at a more competitive level, but to do that, you have to try-out and make a team.

The first frantic try-out was a bust.  There were about 70 kids trying out for maybe 3 spots on a team.  It was a disappointing mess.  The next try-out was smaller and luckily, Elliott made the team after a couple rounds of "auditions".  He was excited.  His dad was excited.  An entry level competition team seemed perfect for him.

Well, the fall season is nearing an end, and so are the bad news bears.  There have been a few more downs than ups - one kid broke both of his arms, another just up and quit the team, a few kids are pretty sporadic practice and game attenders....but, my kid has persevered and I'm proud of him.  He LOVES to play soccer.  There is a level of aggression that comes out of him that is pretty interesting to watch when he is on the field.

I tell the boys, especially Elliott, that all that matters at the end of the game is that he (they) did their best.  That he (they) needs to be able to walk off the field, regardless of outcome, and know that a good game was played.  I don't get soccer at all, but I'm really happy to watch my kid(s) play so well.

Wyatt plays soccer!

Wyatt has been playing soccer for a few years now, but this is his first year on a bigger field with someone else's dad as the coach.  He also lucked out this year and has 4 of his best buddies from school on his soccer team.  They yell and cheer and hug each other at the beginning of every practice, even though it's only been 90 minutes since they last saw each other at school.

Wyatt is a great athlete.  He is strong and fast and powerful.  He does however, sometimes, base his performance on how many people are watching him on the sidelines.  The more fans, the better the performance.  What can I say - the kid loves an audience.

All of Wyatt's games this season are at 8:00 am.  That is so early, and lately, so chilly to get the 5 of us out of bed and to the field on time.  But, it's worth it.  Wyatt has already scored a dozen or so goals and is really doing well - and looks good in a uniform.  It's fun to watch him shift gears on the field and go from regular to super speed.  He's really doing well.

Quinn plays soccer!

This is the first year my littlest buddy is playing an organized sport.  Starting with soccer, when your dad is the coach, and your bestie cousin is on your team is a pretty good introduction to competition.  Ross is an excellent coach and Quinn is pretty competitive apparently - more so than I ever thought was possible.

The first couple practices, he melted down a little.  The first game he wasn't sure what to do and only RAN when we all yelled at him, "QUINN....RUN!"  But, since then he has been a goal scoring machine and last week, out ran and hustled a giant bully of a girl (who, by the way, was not a 4 year old) and even scored a girl on her as she tripped him and knocked him down.

It's so exciting and fun to watch him get excited and have fun.  Let's face it, kids a couch potato who loves TV, french fries and riding in shopping carts so to see him have energy and run and be enthusiastic is really really great.

The Griswolds Go : Argentina! (Seattle, day 4)

On this, the last full day of our vacation, we didn't really have a solid plan for the day.  We had a few options, like the Japanese Botanical Gardens or the Ballard Lochs.  But, we decided to start with the Woodland Park Zoo and see where the day took us.

This day, Tuesday, was the "worst" weather of the trip.  Pretty chilly and off/on rain for big chunks of the morning and afternoon.  Luckily, I managed to remember to pack enough warm clothes for us so we were pretty okay.

We started the day with the zoo and it was pretty impressive.  Not so much for the animals, but the scenery.  It was so green and wooded and the zoo felt like you were more on a nature preserve than a zoo.  All the animals had really big habitats, and in 4 hours we walked almost 3 miles.  Yes, the zoo was big and yes, we were there longer than my boys have ever spent anywhere.

The zoo had a few interesting animals on exhibit too.  They had a small farm area with cows, pigs, sheep and a few goats.  Strange, but I guess city kids don't regularly see such animals.  And, even though we didn't see them, they had a small herd of elk, too.  There were four white wolves, a stellar sea eagle and 2 komodo dragons which were super impressive.  The zoo was also proud of a brand new baby gorilla but even though she was out on exhibit with her mother, they were not visible in the enclosure.










After our time at the zoo, it started raining (again) and we were hungry.  We found a little taco joint and got our food to go.  It was time to carb load and rest ourselves before the ultimate event of our vacation, the Copa America soccer game between Argentina and Bolivia.

Now, Ross should really write the next part, because soccer isn't my thing (I mean, I just don't get it.  The whole thing just feels like a giant time suck and all that anticipation for nothing?  Maybe that's why everyone does freak out when a goal is scored, because they get so little out of their 90 plus minutes of watching).  Anyway, the jersey's were broken out, the jumping and skipping (Elliott and Wyatt) had started and that dad of ours just couldn't stop smiling.

Expectations were high because, well, it's Lionel Messi and because Messi had scored a 19 minute hat-trick the previous Saturday.  Aren't you impressed with my soccer lingo?  Hat-trick?  Yeah!  We got to the Seahawks stadium a mere 2 hours before the start of the match to see some of the festivities.  Lots of crazy and drunk Argentine's chanting in the streets, and a few Bolivian fans spread out in the crowd.  I'm pretty sure that it was at least 80% Argentina fans to 20% Bolivian fans, and of all those Argentina fans, at least 80% of them were wearing some kind of Argentina or Messi jersey.  I wore a blue scarf.











The short version: Argentina won.  Messi played the second half.  He didn't score but he had some penalty/corner/whatever kicks and nutmeged the goalie (More soccer terminology for you).  Everyone in the whole stadium, including my husband, got their phones out to record anything that guy might do that had the potential to be amazing.  That was pretty funny to watch.  My boys left happy.  Wyatt drank almost 2 full 32 oz. diet cokes (The NFL does contracts with Coke, not Pepsi, hooray!) and used the bathroom about every 12 minutes.  We got some great souvenirs.  The boys were excellent, even Quinn who struggles to be excellent.  But, watching soccer laying on my lap was about the same as watching TV at home laying on my lap, and he had a box of skittles so he was at peace with the world.

That night, after finding an open late gelato shop near our apartment, we all went to bed around midnight.  Exhausted.  But, ready to go home the next morning.

The Griswolds Go :: Seattle, Washington (day 1)

When Ross told me that our rental car while on our trip to Seattle was going to be a suburban, I wasn't thrilled.  Mostly because it didn't feel like such a large vehicle was appropriate for such a small city with no place to park.  But, I have to admit, now that we're home and we aren't driving the brand new (only 7 miles when we picked it up), Quinn and I miss it.  Quinn asked on Thursday morning where the black shark car was.  It was a winner and possible my future.

Anyway, we'd been planning a trip to Seattle for several months.  The Copa America soccer tournament was taking place this June in cities all over the United States and Ross wanted to cross seeing Lionel Messi play soccer for Argentina, in person, off his bucket list.  Who am I to argue with bucket lists (Remember our trip to the Redwoods last year?  Yeah, bucket list.)

We arrived in Seattle on Friday evening, around dinner time, piled into our pimped out ride and headed towards our vacation.  The excitement of the boys was pretty palpable and we were starving.

Note:  Flew to and from on brand new planes with tv's in the headrests.  Quinn watched Jurassic World both going and coming.

Our first stop was dinner on the westernish side of Seattle in a hip neighborhood.  Zippy's for burgers, fries and tots.  Delicious.   It was a super small joint with only 4 tables and greasy, hipster, beatnik types working and heavy metal blasting on the radio - and no AC so we were sweating and swimming in burger grease.

But, it was delicious.  The tots were diving and my burger was a perfect heart attack with thick bacon, and barbeque sauce.



After dinner, we drove to meet Autumn, the manager of our VRBO.  There was a mix-up and our first night the five of us were crammed into a one bedroom, maybe 400 sq. ft. apartment.  We survived and moved to a bigger, two bedroom place the next day.  It's pretty hard to get your kids to go to sleep when they are all in the same room, and Elliott and Quinn are sharing a sofa bed.  Wyatt chose to sleep on couch cushions on the floor.

We got up in the morning, Saturday, and got ready to play tourist.  On the agenda for the day: Pike's Place Market and doughnuts.  Aquarium.  Harbor Cruise on Elliott Bay.  Seattle Mariners baseball game.















The kids were pretty impressed with Pikes Market and the doughnuts we got there on the recommendation of a friend of mine. We found the gum alley under the market and then headed to the aquarium.  I had a great Cesar salad and french fries at Elliott's Oyster Bar on the bay.  The aquarium was tiny but interesting and the Harbor Cruise was very information.  Did you know that "Fraser" in all it's seasons on TV only filmed one episode in Seattle and that the Jetsons were set in 2062, and that the Space Needle was inspiration for the cartoon.









Oh, and I couldn't resist grabbing myself a bouquet of peonies before we left the market. The flower vendors were fabulous of course, but oh the peonies.  So many colors and they were all as big or bigger than my fist.  Just breathtakingly stunning.  Really, they were just too pretty to pass up and I got to stare at them the rest of our vacation.



Wyatt and Quinn spent most of the day starving because they don't eat real food but luckily, there was pizza at the baseball game.  Saved their bacon I tell you what.  Actually, I think they starved most of our trip but that's their problem and a story for another day.

We finished out the night with tacos from a food truck and a brisk walk to the baseball game, seranaded by a radical religious guy yelling into a megaphone about Jesus, the devil, and how we are all going to hell!  Pretty appropriate for baseball?  The weather was perfect, the game was boring (I mean, baseball right?) and everyone willingly crashed out when we got back to our apartment for the night.









A pretty good day one (and a half) of vacation.