Gold Cup

We took the boys to their first international soccer games yesterday!  Their was a double header Gold Cup match at Nissan Stadium - USA vs. Panama and Martinique vs. Nicaragua.  We got tickets through Nashville Soccer Club and sat behind one of the goals in the 100 level.  Unfortunately we were in one of about three sections that stood the entire first game.  And it was probably the hottest day of the summer so far.  But we made the most of it and the boys got to see enough of the game.

The boys dressed to support their team!

The big boys were able to stand in their seats so they were able to kind of see.  I held Gray most of the game but he was only somewhat into watching (he was more into the beachballs bouncing around the crowd and airplane that was flying over the stadium).

I'm holding my phone above everyone but this was our view (sort of).  And this was one of the about three times a cloud crossed the sun during the game and gave us about 30 seconds of relief from the heat!

The US scored first and the boys celebrated!!!

Unfortunately Panama scored a goal too and the game ended up in a 1-1 tie.  The US didn't play that well and Panama looked like the better team.  But we still had fun cheering on our team!

Between the games we took a break in the shade by the concessions and had some dinner.  When the second game started, we moved over a few sections to sit in the shade.  The majority of the fans left after the US game and we were finally able to sit and actually watch a game.  And it was definitely the better game.  There were a ton of shots and fun to watch.

One of our cute soccer fans!

I attempted to get a group shot of the boys but they would only make silly faces.

Martinique won 2-0.  The US plays them on Wednesday in Tampa.  Hopefully they can pull out a win!

Doughnuts & Blueberries

This morning we took the boys to get doughnuts at Krispy Kreme.  Carter had two indoor soccer games last night.  A few weeks ago there was a deal made between the boys and Brian that if Carter scored four goals, the boys would get a treat.  Apparently that deal was still good because when Carter scored four goals, both Carter and Rylan told us they earned a treat :)  Last night we decided on doughnuts.

We love watching them make doughnuts!!!

After doughnuts we went to Golden Bell Farms to pick blueberries.  Since Carter is the only one that eats them, we didn't pick too many (it ended up being 2 1/4 lbs).  We found out this afternoon though that Gray likes blueberries too :)

Gray was a good picker too when we found low enough berries!

This year we brought a step stool to help with the higher berries.

 

Summer Basketball

Carter played basketball through WNSL (West Nashville Sports League) this summer.  Last year we put together a team (Brian coached) and they played through Flight at BA.  The league was way too competitive for the team we put together and they got crushed most games (there were a couple that weren't blowouts but they never won a game).

This summer we signed Carter up as a free agent with WNSL and he would either be on a team of all free agents or added to a team that needed more players.  We had a friend from soccer (Ian) who also signed up as a free agent and the boys were together on an all free agent team.  Unfortunately the dad that got picked to coach didn't want to do it and didn't put any effort into it.  He finally organized a practice a couple of days before the first game and then only had a couple more the rest of the season.  Brian really hates coaching basketball but would have done it if we knew it was going to be that bad!  There were some reasonably talented kids on the team but they didn't know how to work together and struggled since most other teams have been playing together for awhile.

The boys played double headers for 4 weeks in June.  They only won one game (and it was against a girls team with the same aged players).  Carter isn't a strong basketball player but he really enjoys it.  He did good but it was a frustrating season.  He finally scored a basket his last game - yay!  He tried really hard though and I think he had fun.

Basketball has been a tough sport for us to find a good league that fits our boys.  We even had the boys in two different leagues last year in an effort to find one we liked.  We need something a little more recreational or a league with coaches that want to teach the kids the sport instead of finding their couple of good players and letting them do everything so they get the win.  We are thinking Brian may coach this winter and we'll have the boys play on the same team since they are in the same age group this year.  We liked the league Rylan was in last winter best so far so we'll probably do that one.  We'll see.  We have to get through fall soccer and baseball first!

I took a few pictures of Carter on the last night he played.  They aren't great, but here they are!

Splash Town

I took the boys to Splash Town in Smyrna today.  We passed it earlier in the summer when we were going to swim lessons and it looked awesome.  It's part of Smyrna Parks & Rec and opened this summer (I love brand new pools that aren't disgusting yet!).  There are waterslides, a lazy river, a huge splash pad and shallow pool, and a regular pool.  And it only cost $4 for the kids and $5 for me.  We spend 3 1/2 hours there and loved it!

Rylan coming down one of the long waterslides ...

 
And the other one ...

Gray had fun in the splash pad area and liked going down the green slide in the background with me.  There was a giant bucket above everything though that would dump every few minutes and he was not a fan of the few times we got the edge of that.

The big boys went down this slide into the deep section of the pool dozens of times ...

They also really liked the climbing wall ...

The lazy river was something completely new to the boys ...
 

We are all a little burnt and super tired.  Maybe the boys will actually sleep in tomorrow :)

National Anthem

We've been going to a lot of sporting events lately and hearing the National Anthem sung a lot.  Gray has learned he needs to stand up and he puts his hand over his heart (though he's stubborn sometimes - he is two).

He's also started singing the phrase "By the dawn's early" (often with his hand over his heart).  Here was an interesting version from tonight ...

He basically says ...

"Watch this
By the dawn's ... gibberish ... hit Carter
By the dawn's ... gibberish ... hit Rylan
By the dawn's ... gibberish ... hit Mommy
By the dawn's ... gibberish ... hit Daddy, hit Gray, hit Charlotte"

We still think it's pretty cute, even if he wants to hit us :)

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a relaxing day - nothing too much planned.  We took the kids to the park and played tennis.  This evening we roasted hot dogs and went to Crockett Park to watch the fireworks.  Hope everyone had a good one!

Swimmer of the Year

Rylan received a super special award last night at the end-of-season swim team party.

Our team gives a "Swimmer of the Year" award to a boy and girl in each age group.  To receive this award, you have to receive the most points for the team at the dual swim meets throughout the season.  If you aren't familiar with swim team ... if you are one of the top finishers in an event, you receive points (7 pts for 1st, 5 pts for 2nd, etc) and these points are totaled to determine which team wins a meet.

Rylan was the high points winner for the 6 and under boys!!!

What is even cooler ... instead of a trophy or plaque, our coach (who is also an artist and teaches at Brentwood Academy) painted a canvas for each winner.  It is really awesome!  And Rylan is SO EXCITED!!!  Carter is still trying to deal with it - he won the same kind of award when he was this age when he swam for the F.A.S.T. Frogs but the plaque he received doesn't mean as much to our little artist!

The award:

Branson (he was on Rylan's soccer team when they were 3 and I still coached!) won the award for the 7-8 boys:

Championship Swim Meet

The county wide championship swim meet was this weekend.  All the teams in the county (there are 20) compete against one another at this meet.  It is huge and spread across two days.

Rylan's age group (6 and under) was Friday evening.  Here is a group picture of our team after warmups in the pool ...

Rylan was extremely nervous about the meet.  He wanted to win a high points trophy so badly.  He wanted it so bad that he just tried way to hard in his first event (freestyle) and it caused him to go slower.  Instead of good, smooth strokes, he tried to muscle it and it worked against him.  He still did great but was 3.45 seconds off his best time.  However, he had his best time ever in backstroke and placed 8th overall in that event (which earned him a medal!).  AWESOME!!!  Rylan's relay also did well (though they didn't have all their best swimmers because some were out of town) and they placed third (which earned him another medal).

Coach Jim and Rylan thought there was a slight chance Rylan could still end up a high point winner with his great backstroke performance so we stuck around for awards.  Unfortunately he didn't win but Rylan did get to hold the trophy that our team won for winning the 5A regular season!

Rylan's events and times:

Boys 6 & Under - 25 Yard Freestyle - 32.92 seconds (25th)
Boys 6 & Under - 25 Yard Backstroke - 29.59 second (8th) - BEST TIME BY 1.62 SEC
Boys 6 & Under - 100 Yard Freestyle Relay - 2:17.73 (3rd)

Carter's age group (7-8) was Saturday morning.  Here is his team after warmups ...

Carter swam all the individual events (no IM) and both relays.  He did a great job for him but as you get older, it just gets more competitive so he didn't win anything except for placing fourth in both the relays.  However he did set two PRs - both significant improvements!!!  We are super proud of his effort and for doing so many events!

Carter's events and times:

Boys 7-8 Years Old - 100 Yard Freestyle Relay - 1:29.09 (4th)
Boys 7-8 Years Old - 25 Yard Butterfly - 42.49 seconds (36th)
Boys 7-8 Years Old - 25 Yard Backstroke - 25.41 seconds (24th) - BEST TIME BY 3.82 SEC
Boys 7-8 Years Old - 25 Yard Breaststroke - 34.35 seconds (29th) - BEST TIME BY 2.29 SEC
Boys 7-8 Years Old - 25 Yard Freestyle - 23.66 seconds (39th)
Boys 7-8 Years Old - 100 Yard Medley Relay - 1:50.20 (4th)

We are so sad the season is over!  We are going to miss having somewhere to be each morning.  The boys never complain about going and always work so hard each morning (even though the water has been freezing all season).  We all love it and can't wait for next summer already!

Seven!

Happy Birthday, Rylan!!!