NSC - Game 17

Last night we saw Nashville Soccer Club play New York Red Bulls II.  The season is wrapping up soon and NSC is sitting right around the cutoff for playoffs.  They REALLY need some points to secure a spot.

There was an empty ping pong table as we walked in so the big boys played for a few minutes.  They are pretty awful at it :)

NSC was offering grab bags with $50 worth of merchandise for $25.  Plus 6 lucky bags had jerseys signed by all the players.  The big boys decided they really wanted to try their luck so I split the cost of 2 bags with them.

They (especially Rylan) were super disappointed to not get a signed jersey.  The guy in line behind us got one.  But they each got a new shirt and scarf.

Vanderbilt Health handed out these "cool" glasses for Eye Sports Safety Month ...

During the game one of our friends sent us a picture they took of us while watching the game on TV.  I never think about the fact people may actually see us during corner kicks - yikes!

Carter got another shirt and got to keep it this time :)

The game was exciting with a lot of cards, including a red for NY, a blocked penalty kick saved by our goalie, and a last second score by NSC that was called off because we were offsides.  The game ended in a tie so at least NSC got one point.  We'll be back for two more regular season games!

NSC - Games 15 & 16

We went to a couple of Nashville Soccer Club games last week.

The first game was on Tuesday (9/18).  Carter had a baseball game that night at 6 pm (his games last 90 minutes) and the NSC game started at 7:30 pm.  So Brian took the other boys on time and I took Carter late after his game was over.

Some of our friends were sitting several rows behind us and our boys were excited to hang with their boys.  They worked really hard to get on the Jumbotron during halftime.

Waiting ...

"Why won't they put us on?" ...

Finally! ...

Our friends have four boys.  Their oldest three now have the same NSC shirts as Carter and Rylan so they all match.

Carter FINALLY caught a shirt (Rylan had caught two and Gray one this season already).  But our friends' youngest was upset he didn't get one and Carter gave his shirt to him.  Sweet boy :)

NSC ended up losing 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Rowdies that night.  Their name is very fitting.  It was a rough game but at least this time Nashville didn't end up with several injured players (which is what happened when they played at Tampa Bay).

The second game we went to last week was on Saturday night (9/22).  It rained the entire game and since only about 2,000 people showed up, we were able to sit under the 200 level seats and stay dry.  We still essentially had front row seats, just a little higher up.

It poured a lot in the first half.  We lucked out with only sprinkles though when talking to and from the stadium.

Nashville just can't get a win lately.  They tied 1-1 against the Charleston Battery.  They played at Atlanta United II tonight.  Historically they aren't great on the road but they really need a win to have a chance at the playoffs.

Sunset

Soccer practice is still hot and muggy but at least we sometimes get sunsets like this ...

TN State Fair - Competitive Events

Carter and Rylan submitted some of their artwork to the TN State Fair competitions.  They submitted less than they did to the Williamson County Fair but still each had 11 submissions.  And they both won several awards!  Rylan placed in all 11 categories he entered and won $81!  He was in a different age category than Carter for everything except photography.  He was the oldest in his age group and there were less entries so he did a bit better than Carter.  Carter placed in 7 categories and won $45.

The boys are super excited about their winnings, even if Carter is a little peeved that Rylan won more :)  We still love everything they submitted!!!

Rylan's Entries

302A - Fine Arts - Youth Pre-K - 2nd Grade

Class Description: Line Drawing Black & White
Description: Aspen Trees
1st Place ($9)

Class Description: Oil or Acrylic
Description: Italian Door
2nd Place ($7)

Class Description: Watercolor
Description: Farm
1st Place ($9)

Class Description: Mixed Media
Description: Giraffes
3rd Place ($5)

304 - Photography - Youth

Class Description: Nature-Main Focus: Object/Animal/Etc
Description: Giraffe
2nd Place ($7)

306A - Handcrafted Art - Youth Pre-K - 2nd Grades

Class Description: Lego Original Model
Description: Shark Tank
1st Place ($8)

Class Description: Tie Dye/Painted T-Shirt
Description: Tie Dyed Shirt
1st Place ($8)

Class Description: Beads (Perler, Pixos, etc.)
Description: Smiling Emoji
2nd Place ($6)

Class Description: Ceramics, Pottery, Any
Description: Clover Bowl
1st Place ($8)

Class Description: Leather Craft, Any
Description: Bookmark
1st Place ($8)

Class Description: Miscellaneous, Any
Description: Owls on Tree Branches
2nd Place ($6)

Carter's Entries

302B - Fine Arts - Youth 3rd - 5th Grade

Class Description: Oil or Acrylic
Description: Foxes
3rd Place ($5)

Class Description: Watercolor
Description: Lighthouse
1st Place ($9)

Class Description: Mixed Media
Description: Peacock

304 - Photography - Youth

Class Description: General
Description: Rusty at Franklin Factory

Class Description: Nature-Main Focus: Object/Animal/Etc
Description: Flamingo
1st Place ($9)

306B - Handcrafted Art - Youth 3rd - 5th Grades

Class Description: Lego Original Model
Description: Coral Snake and Lunch
2nd Place ($6)

Class Description: Tie Dye/Painted T-Shirt
Description: Tie Dyed Shirt
3rd Place ($4)

Class Description: Beads (Perler, Pixos, etc.)
Description: Pineapple

Class Description: Ceramics, Pottery, Any
Description: Octopus

Class Description: Leather Craft, Any
Description: Bookmark
1st Place ($8)

Class Description: Miscellaneous, Any
Description: Birds in a Nest
3rd Place ($4)

Ohio vs Virginia

Because of Hurricane Florence, Virginia decided to move their football game against Ohio to Vanderbilt.  And because of the last-minute venue change, they decided to make the game free!  TSSA had a tournament at Crockett this weekend so the boys had no soccer games and NCSU's football game was canceled so we had a free afternoon and could make the UVA game!

We got to the game just after kickoff (the boys had baseball games and we had to get the grass cut).  There was still plenty of seating.  It was another hot day in the 90s so shade was a priority.  We still sat around the 50 yard line about 35 rows up.

Someone was handing out free balloons and we got one :)

During halftime we found some of our friends and they joined us.  Carter's best friend Whit isn't in his class this year so they enjoyed getting to hang out.

The game was surprisingly really fun.  Ohio kept it a game and there were a lot of big plays.  UVA won 45-31.

Art Class

Awesome pastels from art class last night ...

Rylan:

Carter:

Summer 2017 Camping Trip - Day 4

Tuesday, August 1st, 2017 was the last day of our trip.  In the morning we broke camp but left our car at the campsite to do a hike out of the campground.  We took a short connector trail out to the West Rim Loop Trail.  The hike was about four miles so we carried Gray in the backpack again.

As it's name implies, the trail is along the west rim of the canyon for most of the hike.

Gray fell asleep near the end of the hike.

We had a picnic lunch in the campground and then headed back to the Main Overlook parking lot where we'd been the evening before.  From here we hiked down into the canyon to a pair of waterfalls on the Waterfalls Trail.  The hike is about 1.5 miles round-trip.

To get into the canyon, there are a TON of steps - approximately 600 (one-way).

Cherokee Falls ...

The steps and boardwalks are pretty cool and unique.

A small fall we didn't know the name of ...

Hemlock Falls ...

The tough part - going back up all the steps!

Cloudland Canyon was a wonderful park!  We had never heard of it before researching the area for our trip and highly recommend it.

The Waterfalls Trail was our last hike of the trip.  We headed home after that with a car of worn out kids!