Girls' Weekend in DC

For Melanie's and my birthday, we went to DC for the weekend with our mom. The goal was to relax, look at some good art and watch a soccer game. We definitely had success. I'm having a really hard time paring down the pics so bear with me here.

We arrive Friday night and try to figure out the timer on one of the two cameras we had with us. Hilarity ensued.



Gorgeous view while we ate breakfast.



Had to get the usual pics in the Metro.





and in the Mall



Now, I took a lot of pix of art and I'm going to post a second post of my favs, but here's some pics of us in the museum.









Outside for a quick snack before going on to the modern art museum.





So by this time we were pretty tired and I know my feet and back were hurting so we headed back to the hotel to get a quick bite and the tickets to the game. I met an awesome guy online who happened to be travelling to Alaska with his wife at the same time that we were coming down for the game so I bought his tickets from him. They were awesome seats. Here's some of my fav pix from the game.

Ok now look, it was a long day. None of us look our best but I think I look especially bad. Plus it's a self portrait LOL!



Just loved this guy.



My dad is a big Chivas USA fan and he has a love/hate relationship with Klejstan



The first goal was so pitiful, look at our goalie's reaction



This halftime thing was hysterical. I have no idea what they were doing. Pushing a giant inflated ball for some reason.





Yes, yes, we lost. It was horribly embarrassing.



We relaxed afterward in the hotel restaurant-bar with fondue, crab cakes and drinks.



Melanie's was a little full. I don't even know how the waitress got it over to her.



We couldn't get the hotel room open with her insurance card. Turns out only the hotel room key will work for that.

Soccer Weekend

Note: videos are less than 30 seconds long.

Did you guys get all that rain on Friday? It POURED it's brains out here. And since there was no lightning, all games were on! Ty's team went first and won 3 - 0. He's #20. Can you see all the rain? It was really pouring.



Look how wet G got:



I didn't grab any stills of S3 - just video. We were creaming the other team 7 - 1 before the half so the coach took out all his juniors and seniors and put in the freshmen. The other team got frustrated and started playing really rough. There was this huge guy - and I mean not just tall but big and bulky - who had it out for my kid. I got a clip of him (below) taking him out at the ankles but what I didn't catch was later in the game when S3 manuvered around him with the ball, the kid pulled S3 down by his shoulders and when he was on the ground this huge kid stomped S3 on the hip. He's still limping a little today.



But the best of the weekend was G. She had a game in Hockessin, DE. Watch the video. Bri sends the ball in to G who is in position to score. G flubbs and sends the ball back out to Bri who sends it in to G for a second chance to shoot on goal. G shoots and....

This Post Is Mostly For My Dad

But you can read it too ;)

I was particularly keen on going to the DC United game last night because it's the only home game against Chicago Fire who has on their roster the man I LOVEloveLOVE to hate, Cuauhtemoc Blanco. He was a very popular Mexican player who, like Beckham, is getting older and is probably going to finish his career in the US. But the man is such an actor it's unreal. He's constantly rolling around on the ground trying to draw the foul. I love to hate him. I was super excited to be able to hate him in person.

Here's our first sighting of the hated man:

Check out the crowd...

AWW! Poor widdle Blanco got hurt!

Dang, he scored.

Eh, we totally lost. S-h-u-t-o-u-t. Bleh.

The hated man greets his hated fans:

One of the MANY reasons I like this sport... They tend to take their shirts off when the game is done. Hubba, hubba!

My two brats, after the game:

New MasterCard Commercial

Holy Sports Weekend Batman

I must be nuts. That's the only reason I can come up with for why I would say yes to two kids playing soccer and two kids playing baseball all in the same weekend. Here's how my weekend looked:

Friday 6 PM Ty had baseball at our home field
Saturday 7 AM Ty had soccer 30 minutes away
11:20 AM Ty had another game - same field
1:30 G had soccer 1.5 hrs away - 1.5 hrs back to...
4:20 Ty had another soccer game - same field as before.
Sunday 7 AM S3 had baseball 1.5 hrs away.
12:30 PM Coaches for S3's team decide to play a double header
5:30 PM Ty had another soccer game 2 hrs away.

I put somewhere around 250 miles on my minivan iin two days. That was a lot of running, even for me. And now onto the pictures...

Ty is the one with orange sleeves and black socks.

I'd forgotten how much I like to watch him play. He really focuses on the game and plays hard and even though they usually lose, he's always in a good mood afterward.

Waiting to sub in.

She hasn't been terribly aggressive with the bigger girls but when the ball comes near her, she wins it every time.

I've decided I must need to invest in some catcher's equipment because look who else decided to give the position a try...

Honestly at first I was a little disappointed because he's so good in the 2nd base/short stop position plus I really felt like it was cool that Ty had something kinda special by being catcher but once I saw S3 play I stopped being disappointed. He was fantastic.

It must be genetic. My dad was a catcher too.

Poor E. Doesn't she look totally worn out by all the sports?

The girls were driving me crazy by the end of the day so I let them play with my camera so they'd let me watch the soccer game. G accidentally caught a generational pic. It's not a great pic of any of us but I thought it was kinda cool.

So that was my crazy weekend. Now I'm going to go crash. If you need me, I'll be in bed.

Rage Home Opener

It was youth night at the Rage home opener so G put on her uniform and we went to watch the game. She got a free season pass and my ticket was only $7 so it was a cheap date! They had the really little kids and the U-10 girls make an alley on the field when they announced the starting line-up. G looked so small out there. Rage ended up beating the Virginia team 2-1 so it was a good way to start the season. Some pics from tonight (the mascot is a bull btw):

David Beckham Has Come to Our House

"David Beckham?" you say, disbelieving.

Yes. David Beckham was pooping on my kitchen floor just hours ago. I swear it's true.

What? You still don't believe me? Well see for yourself.











Meet Beckham, the newest addition to our family. We picked him up yesterday at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. He is a German Angora Hybrid in the color "chestnut agouti." We debated the whole way home between Beckham, Donovan and Hartman (my favorite goalie) and then because he's German we threw in Barrack but the kids all thought he looked most like a Beckham so Beckham he is.


He doesn't seem so very happy to be part of our family just yet but I'm told it can take a while for a rabbit to get used to a new home. He's a lot bigger than I expected but at almost a year of age, I'm told he won't grow any larger. When I first held him (the first bunny I ever held!) he winked at me and then kissed my nose. I knew he had to come home with us.

I know this probably seems sudden to you all but I have actually been preparing for more than two months and getting an angora was the reason we went to the festival. I'll leave you with a few more pictures of my baby.

Look at his adorable big feet!

What Excuse Can I Give?

I love DC United. I think they're as close to a home team as I'm gonna get when it comes to MLS - at least until Philly gets their acts together and forms a pro team. At the end of June, when David Beckham's contract is up with Real Madrid he is coming to the States to play for LA Galaxy.

In August Galaxy is coming to RFK Stadium to play United.

Tickets don't go on sale until July 2 and even then everyone is assuming it will sell out quickly. I found an auction on eBay selling tix now. What excuse can I give for buying them? My birthday is out - there's too much else I've already attributed to being my birthday present. How about Earth Day? Is $200 too much to spend for Mother's Day? Cinco de Mayo? Memorial Day? Help me out here people!

Big News About Miss G

First of all her cast came off yesterday. What a hullabaloo that was. I picked up G from school and ran her to the doc and we were even early. Then we sat for 40 minutes. Finally at about 3:30 and I knew Ty was going to be getting off the bus at any minute and S3 had stayed out at the school for a math thing and needed to be picked up at 4:00. It takes a half hour to get out to the school so I needed to leave the office right then. So I went up to the front desk and even though I was really upset I managed to hold it together and explain my problem. The girl at the desk said, "Oh well she's next but we're waiting for a cast room and there's no way to tell how long it'll be. Besides they want to re-xray the thumb after the cast comes off." Between us, we decided I'd better reschedule. I was disappointed because G had soccer later and it's a pain in the rear to wrap up that cast for every game. I knew G was ready to get rid of the dumb thing anyway and I wasn't looking forward to that pout either.

So she pulls open her scheduling thing on the computer and asks me how next Tuesday works for me. I squeaked, "A WHOLE WEEK???" That was their first opening. I couldn't put G through another week of this dreadful thing on her arm but I couldn't think of what to do so I stood there and stared at the wall for a good thirty seconds trying to make my brain work. Finally I decided I'd see if Mel was around and if she could pick S3 up (I figured Ty would be ok for a half an hour or so. He is going to be ten in a couple of months). Mel didn't answer so I called my friend J who lives near the school. She didn't answer so finally I called Amy the Pampered Chef Lady. It turns out her daughter was out at the math thing too - she's in S3's class - and her friend was going to be bringing the kids home. She quick called with her other phone and S3 had a ride to Amy's house. Phew, crisis averted.

In the mean time the doctor's office really pulled for me. While I was frantically making phone calls, the front desk girl got a regular exam room set up with a saw and G got her cast cut off. We jumped right into the xray room and then right back to the exam room. The doc didn't take two minutes to come in and go over everything and we were out the door. They really hustled for us and I couldn't have appreciated it more.

So if you have an orthopedic problem I can highly recommend Commonwealth Orthopedic Associates. No doubt they're busy but they gave excellent service.

Onto big news number two.... G has been asked to play on a premier team! And not just a premier team but up a level on a U10 team! The coach of G's U9 indoor team said his daughter is playing and they were looking for two more. Of all the girls on the team, they felt there were only three who had the motivation and drive to be in the league and one of them was my Gracie. It's pricey and they travel and it's during baseball season (of which we have two kids on three teams) and since it's up a level she'll be playing with 9 and 10 year olds even though she just turned 8 so I know it's crazy but how could I say no? She loves to play and I love to watch her play. The coach's wife said if we had a big conflict with baseball schedules she would be able to cart G back and forth to games or whatever and while it's more expensive than club soccer it's not out of our reach. We're going to a practice on Sunday to see if this is really something we want to do but I already talked to the coach of the premier team and she wants G for sure. Even if we decide this is not for us right now, I'm extraordinarily proud that my girl was even asked. Being a girl rocks!