GA West Regional Showcase

Last weekend, Sadie's soccer team was invited to the GA West Regional showcase, which is the same tournament they played in last year also in Oceanside, California:

It never gets old going to the beach for soccer:

Last year we stayed a few blocks from the ocean in Oceanside itself, but this year we did things a little differently. Several moms went in & rented a house that slept 18. For those who had dads travel & couldn't stay at the house, we stayed at a hotel in Carlsbad. I would say it was about a half & half split. Sophie did not want to come this trip but Bryan & I both came so we were at the hotel, but we took turns driving the girls to the house & they spent most of their time there for team breakfast & team bonding during the day:

Oh yeah, did I mention it had a pool & a hot tub so they might have jumped in when they came back from their games:

We flew out on Thursday night & their first game was Friday afternoon at 2:00. After the girls met for breakfast, they did yoga:

They basically hung out, played games & chilled until it was game time:

Meanwhile, since we didn't have Sophie, Bryan went to a coffee shop on the beach to work all day while I went for a hike:

That night, the girls had a team dinner at the house, so Bryan & I went out for a date night. He found this amazing restaurant that I loved! If we ever go back to Oceanside, we will definitely be going back here:

We sat at a high table in the bar so we could be next to the live music. They had a piano player who was awesome & Italian food is my favorite, specifically carbonara & they made it with GF pasta & it was one of the best I have ever had:

I mean seriously, they even served it with a Hawaiian flower on it! 

Meanwhile, the girls were at the house with 2 of the younger teams who Coach T also coaches. They got team gifts & celebrated the weekend:

Check out that sunset:

The next morning, we had to be up earlier because their game was at 11:00. I remembered this great bakery that had vegan & GF donuts, so I surprised Sadie with them for breakfast & we had a quick meal at the hotel before I took all of the girls back to the house:

That afternoon, they all cleaned up & did their own thing:

The girls were starving & wanted to grab a late lunch, so we tried another new spot that I loved! It was a few doors down from the Italian restaurant Bryan & I went to:

You guys, look what we had - fried mozzarella sticks! I know, I know - that's not anything special but for Sadie & I it was because they were GF!!

We even ordered one of their cinnamon rolls for dessert & it did not disappoint:

Technically both of those restaurants were in Encinitas & we were meeting her team back in Oceanside, so we went early to walk around. We stopped by the Top Gun house:

before walking to the pier to meet her team:

We had beautiful weather all weekend long, but as you can see, it was a little chilly out there:

That night we went to a brewery with all 3 of Coach T's teams to hang out for dinner:

While we were there, the girls had fun walking around to the pop-up tents & stores in the area & they all found permanent jewelry. Sadie has wanted one for a while, so she got a permanent ankle bracelet with a few of her friends:

She was SO excited to come home with her new souvenir. 

Sunday morning, we woke up extra early for an 8:00 game & then we headed straight to the airport afterwards. It was a fun weekend, Bryan & I enjoyed a little time together just the 2 of us, Sadie had fun with her friends & we got to watch a few good soccer games. We always love watching Sadie in action:

7th Grade Track - Sadie

We went straight from basketball to track season & it was definitely a season of learning. I hadn't been to a track meet since I was in high school! She really had fun trying everything, especially the field events. I think she tried everything, but her favorites were pole vault & triple jump. She spent a lot of time practicing them, but let's be honest, she is a runner. More specifically, a long-distance runner. Probably because all of the conditioning she does for soccer. 

Unfortunately, their first 2 meets in February were cancelled due to rain/ice/snow/cold weather so it ended up being a really short & quick season, but she LOVED it! She said it was her favorite sport so far because they got to leave school early, there are several schools there and it's for boys & girls so there was a lot of time just hanging out with friends:

I didn't take many pictures to be honest because everything is going on at the same time & it's hard to watch everything & visit with everyone else. Sophie even had fun because there were lot of siblings there also, so it was like one big play date for her:

Looking back, this was the only picture I took of her running. Ha! I think I was so invested in her races & cheering for her, that I forgot to take any pictures or videos:

That was her very first race, the 2400. It was always the very first race of the meet. Do you see her in the middle? She ran the 800 & the 2400 at each meet & improved her times each week. She technically qualified for the 1600 also but there were more girls that wanted to run that & less who wanted to run the 2400 so she did it instead. And the coaches limited how many events you can run in, especially the long-distance runs. The first meet she also ran the 4 x 400, which was also fun. I love watching the relays! And one of our friends did get a few pictures of her running with the baton:

Quick side note, I never thought of this, but she was really in her head this race because she is left-handed but everyone else is right-handed, so she ran with the baton in her left, then switched it to her right while she was finishing so she could pass off with her right. Talk about stressful trying to run as fast as you can without dropping it!

For quick reference here are her times & placements for all of the middle schools in FISD:

800: 

Meet 1 - 3:00, 19th out of 40

Meet 2 - 3:01, 23 out of 45

Meet 3 - 

2400:

Meet 1 - 11:14, 22 out of 39

Meet 2 - 9:39, 9 out of 40

Meet 3 - 

She started the season a little of out of shape after breaking her toe & hurting her hip flexor, but as you can see, she definitely improved as the season went on. She was pretty upset with her 2nd 800, because she got knocked down with a group of girls at the beginning, so she fell behind & had a hard time catching up. Griffin 7th grade girls won the first 2 meets & it was fun watching them all in action! 

The third meet was the zone meet. We have 18 middle schools in Frisco, they split them up into 2 zones, with 9 schools each. That track meet was the biggest by far & unfortunately, our girls ended up getting 3rd overall, which was kind of disappointing. We had a few girls get sick & drop out at the meet. It ended up being really hot & they weren't used to the heat. We had to scratch the 4 x 400 for not having enough girls to run & one of our best field athletes, ended up hurting her ankle & not completing her events either. But Sadie was on fire & we couldn't have been prouder of her times! Unfortunately, I never got the results for her 3rd meet so I'm not exactly sure what her time or placement were but either way, she finished the season strong & will be prepared for next year!

Spring Break in Paris, Part 3

Friday morning, I had originally planned a day trip to Normandy which was a 12-hour tour & would have left at 7:00 am. After our early morning photo shoot & our long day at Disney, the girls & Bryan decided they didn't want to go. So, I let everyone sleep in & then we had the next day to take it easy & explore Paris with no plans. Instead of eating breakfast at our hotel, we decided to go to Montmartre & have brunch at a cafe up there. Cafe Mareva was on my list last time, but we never made so I was so excited to try it & it did not disappoint. I ordered the glow toast, which was homemade gf bread, peanut butter, sliced bananas, granola & a drizzle of honey:

And Bryan went with the option on my list - it was the waffle of the month which peanut butter, chocolate & sliced bananas:

I tried not to talk too much about food & restaurants this time, but I couldn't help but share this meal because it was definitely a favorite!

Once we were energized, we headed up to the cathedral. It is not as busy as Notre Dame, so it was easier to walk around & just as beautiful. Of course, the view is amazing, even though it was a cloudy day:

We spent the afternoon walking around & shopping:

We bought most of our souvenirs up here but their favorite was the candy store. Bryan has a sweet tooth also so the 3 of them went a little overboard:

It was definitely easier to walk down, although there were a lot of stairs:

We continued shopping & strolling all the way back down to Champs de Elysee. Along the way, we discovered our favorite chocolate store in Paris! There are macaroon & chocolate stores everywhere, but this one caught my attention because they had huge chocolate statues of some of the Paris monuments:

We realized this was where our hotel bought our macarons & the majority of their items were gf & surprisingly, they had a lot of df also!

We may have bought a bag of caramel & chocolate to go with our gummies from earlier in the day.......

We continued shopping at Champs de Elysee that afternoon/evening. Sadie really wanted to go to the Nike store & she actually bought a new pair of dunks she is so excited about. And I can't believe I didn't take a picture to document this, but Sophie lost a tooth inside the Nike store! They called security because it was bleeding a lot & they refused to let her go in their bathroom. Seriously?! They gave her a trash can & a paper towel and thank goodness I had a water bottle, so she had to clean her face & her hands right there in the middle of the store leaning over a trash can. Ugh. 

BUT, that tooth had been loose for months & she refused to pull it. The other tooth had already grown in & her baby tooth was being pushed out anyway! They have dentist appointments in 2 weeks & I had already told her the dentist was going to pull it. Bryan had the bright idea to bribe her with a Sephora shopping spree & sure enough that was all the motivation she needed & we were shocked when she actually pulled it! Needless to say, you know what store we headed to next:

Eventually we were shopped out & we went to dinner at Little Nonna, which was my favorite restaurant last time we were here. Again, 100% gf & some of the best pizza I have ever had in my life! Why don't they make gf pizza hand tossed like this in America? Somehow, I didn't get a picture of the pizza, but they also had a creamy parmesan gnocchi which was also my favorite meal of the trip besides brunch in Montmartre:

Saturday was always designed to be our free day, but since we had already gone to Montmartre, we had even more time to explore. Sadie wanted to go back to Shakespeare Library & she bought a few books. She loves reading & could have stayed here all day:

Sophie, not so much:

I wanted to shop all week before I made my big purchase. My birthday is in March, so I treated myself to an early birthday present:

And we finally made it to Bryan's favorite store. He loves Magnanni & this is their only store in the world. Otherwise, they sale in department stores:

That afternoon I surprised the girls & took them to the Jardin des Tuileries, which is right outside the Louvre. We told them it was a really big park, kind of like Grand Central Park, so we walked around & enjoyed the gardens in the middle of the city: 

Secretly, I was walking them to the back corner where they had fun activities for kids. They were beyond excited when they saw the trampoline park:

And just like Disney, they are never too old for a carousel:

It was the perfect, chill way to end our last day until we were walking to dinner. And it started raining. We had perfect weather the entire week until our very last night there & then it rained the rest of the night, so it was a long 10-15 walk/run in the cold rain until we finally made it to dinner:

That is a horrible picture of me, but I had to include it because it was so comical that night. I think it actually rained most of the night & it was still dreary the next morning, of course we were up early to head to the airport:

We had the direct flight back to DFW all day Sunday & again, these girls went 9-10 hours with no sleep. They were glued to their screens & eating all of the gummies & chocolate we had bought. Not a bad way to end spring break, I guess!

All in all, we had a great time in Paris & I thought they were the perfect age to fully understand, appreciate & enjoy a trip abroad. I hope we have the opportunity to explore more countries with them next time!