Unexpected play dates are always lots of fun. During conference week, the kids got out of school and hour early. I picked Bri and her friend (and neighbor) Caitlin up from school and the girls wanted to play together after school. The weather was beautiful, so I took them to the neighborhood playground...
I texted my friend Laura to see if her daughter Ella was available to join us. She was available for a short while, so she came to the playground too...
The girls had a lot of fun swinging on the tire swing together...
And my friend Amy contacted me a few Saturdays ago and asked if Doug and I would like to have dinner with her and her husband. Bri and Mary Lin were very happy to be able to see each other that evening...
Sometimes the unexpected can be a really good thing. :)
Briana's first springtime 5K happened the morning of March 25. She managed to run in a 5K every fall for running club, but she never made it to a spring one. This was the "Zombie Run" and it took place at a local high school. Bri has known about this run the last couple of years and she was actually a bit scared to do it. The high schoolers dress up as zombies, and if you are wearing a belt with flags, they will chase you at certain points on the course and grab at your flags. Bri has never warmed up to that idea.
Since this was her last 5K for elementary school, she somehow she found her nerve and decided she wanted to run it. It helped that her friend Meredith was going to run too. Bri opted not to wear the belt and just run without being chased.
We got to the school quite early, so we helped set up...
Briana tested out the blender bike...
Bri's coach arrived and she was happy...
She was thrilled when Meredith arrived...
Bri was running around her friend Garrett...
Finally, it was time for some warm up...
Running club photo...
A group pep talk...
Finally, it was time to line up for the race...
I wasn't able to snap a photo of any of the "zombies" on the course, but I don't think they dressed too scary.
Here is Bri and Meredith coming around the corner to do the last lap...
Final lap and end...
The girls ran together the whole way and completed the 5K in about 40 minutes. Bri said there were some steep hills, but she got it done!
Then it was blender bike time...
My girl pedaling after a 5K...
Love the kind words her coach had for her as she pedaled...
Meredith on the bike...
Then we helped pack up too...
It was a great 5K. Bri was super proud of herself for facing her fear and going for it.
A few days after the 5K, it was the final day of running club...
The kids ate ice cream once again. They also danced and played outside...
This was the gift we gave to Bri's coach. It is a picture of the four 5Ks participated in for her elementary school...
Bri had a wonderful experience in running club. She is going to miss it so much!
It really feels like things are starting to wind down at school now. This week is the big "GA Milestones" testing and then after that, all the "final" things will start happening.
I attended Bri's final elementary school conference in March. She was giving me a sad face next to the welcome sign...
She is doing great. I am super proud of her.
This is how Bri's spring picture turned out...
Her pose is slightly awkward, but her hair is in place and she has a pretty smile - I'll take it!
Bri's final elementary school spring fling also happened in March (she can go again next year though if she gets an invite!). Bri and I went with our friends Jennifer and Caitlin...
Eat Mor Chikin (or not because it was $9 a sandwich at the booth and it wasn't going to happen)...
A fun ride...
The girls got sunglasses and fake tattoos at a booth...
They got colored hair at another booth...
Super cute selfie...
Bungee time (Jennifer and I waited while the girls visited the different booths). The wait was ridiculously long...
Inflatable jumping...
Petting zoo...
And finally, some Kona Ice...
The weather was gray and at times drizzly, but the temp was perfect. Storms were heading our way and I'm so happy we got through the spring fling before the skies opened up. The girls had a great time!
Once again, I got behind on blogging! Life has been busy, and we just finished up our spring break (we had a "staycation").
Spring soccer season started up again in mid-Feb. The first game was on March 4. The Golden Eagles have three games under their belts now.
Since it was spring break and also with Easter coming up, the girls won't be playing a game for a while now. They won't have their next game until April 22 (unless a makeup game is thrown in). We've had some rainy weather and one of the other teams needed to move a game, so the schedule has been kind of wacky.
The first couple of practices, the girls were looking a little rusty. They hadn't practiced together in months (except for one informal kick around about a month ago), so they had some work to do before the first game...
The first game was quite cold - we had to be at the field at 8:30AM...
The girls seemed a bit hesitant and still looked a bit rusty. A couple of players recently returned to the team that hadn't play with us for a couple seasons and we have one new girl too. The girls needed find their groove again...
The Golden Eagles are the defending champions and that means the other teams are extra fired up trying to beat them. The Cheetahs played super hard and the game ended up being a tied ~ 1-1.
Coach had some work to do getting the girls back into the groove.
Even though they had work to do, they still had time at practice to hang out and have some fun...
Game 2 was a big turn around. Bri was ready to roll...
Our girls were fired up and played super hard against the Knights...
I snapped the below shot right after Bri made a gorgeous goal. She committed so hard, she fell to the ground after kicking the ball. It went straight into the top left corner and the goalie couldn't touch it. It was a beautiful shot (so irked I didn't get it on video!)...
Bri and Maddie also have a cool system when it comes to making an indirect kick. They get the point almost every time...
Golden Eagles won the game 6-0...
I also took some video (see below) of Briana and her coach kicking the ball around at one of the practices. I love watching them kick the ball around together. They have a nice rhythm. Bri was using both of her feet...
The weather for the 3rd game was absolutely beautiful...
Bri played super hard and got a little beat up. Here she is coming back into the game after recovering from a hard fall...
The girls once again looked amazing and they beat the Cobras 5-0.
After a hard fought game, we took Bri to get some frozen yogurt. Ella and her family ended up having the same idea...
Bri was super happy about the win (and the yogurt too of course)...
There was no practice the week of spring break, so the girls will start up practice again tomorrow (Monday). Got to keep the momentum going somehow!
Looking forward to the April 22 game! This is the last season of U10 for Bri (then she will move up to U12) ~ very bittersweet!
