FC Dallas Blue

Sadie played for the Renegades for 6 years under the same coach and then finally moved over to FC Dallas last year. It was a good transition for her, especially as she finished out middle school and played all of the school sports, but we knew she was ready for a new team this year. Tryouts officially began in May, but she started practicing with another coach in March and by May had officially joined his team. We had their team party & signing day earlier in July:

We had fajitas, a cookie cake & a dirty soda bar:

I couldn't help but take a picture of the tray with the Made Good, Oreo's & Chips Ahoy because that was all gluten free for Sadie! And take a closer look at the cute soda sign our host made:

The girls swam, the parents had a team meeting and then it was officially time to sign:

We are really excited about her new coach because we have heard great things about him & look at this great group of girls:

For those who don't know, soccer has always been based on what year you were born. So Sadie was always the youngest since she was born in December and played with girls a year older than her in school but this year they switched it to school year instead so she is finally playing with all girls in the same grade as her and she is one of the older ones. They have been practicing all summer, but they finally played their first tournament this past weekend:

It is a friendly tournament where there is not bracket play, just 4 guaranteed games which is good practice since their season starts for fall. Since our team is entirely new & none of them have played together, this was a great warm up for them. We saw a lot of soccer friends throughout the weekend and loved watching their new team come together:

It was super-hot out there, but these girls did amazing & went undefeated for the weekend! And technically no one scored on them so go defense! (Actually, one did, but it was off-sides.....) Sadie started & played most of the weekend & already you can see more confidence in her than she has had in a while. We are really excited for the year ahead. Let's go FCD!

Flying Horse Resort, Colorado

Last week we made our final trip of the summer & as fun as it was, I am glad to be home. We have been traveling for the past 6 weeks & I am ready to be home for a while. The girls kicked it off with Sky Ranch, while Bryan & I went to Fort Worth for a few days, then Maui, then Tokyo, then Houston and while they were on mission trip, Bryan & I went to Portland, then finally Colorado:

Bryan got invited on a work trip, kind of like a leadership retreat for a long weekend, which was the perfect way to end summer. We stayed at the Flying Horse, which is a golf, tennis & spa resort in Colorado Springs and let's be honest, I am not really a mountain girl, so this is my type of trip to Colorado. Ha! We flew up Thursday morning & were already enjoying the views for lunch that afternoon:

The golf course was in great shape, but the flowers were absolutely beautiful this time of year:

We ate lunch at the pro shop & golf club, but it was also where we ate dinner the next 2 nights at their steakhouse. The views were unbelievable at sunset so of course we all took pictures at night too:

The next 2 days were the same - the guys golfed both days while the girls spent time together. It was pretty fun because all of our husbands work together but this is the first time most of the women had met. We spent our first morning hiking The Garden of the Gods:

After we hiked, we went to Manitou Springs to walk around downtown & shop before stopping on the patio outside to enjoy lunch. It started pouring so we eventually made our way inside the bar to stay dry:

We had dinner at our resort again that night & a few more couples were able to fly in & join us:

The next day we had fun relaxing by the pool while the guys golfed again until we met up for dinner. This time we left the resort & drove to the hotel at the Air Force Academy. We went to dinner on the rooftop:

It overlooked the road leading on to the campus. That's the security checkpoint to enter & then you can see the campus farther away:

We had beautiful weather while we were there with amazing sunsets over the mountains:

After dinner, we went downstairs to the flight simulator where one of the guys got to take a turn:

We ended the night by going out for ice cream:

It was a super fun weekend & I really enjoyed getting to know everyone from Bryan's work more. 

So what did the girls do while we were gone? They came with us! They stayed at the resort Thursday night & had fun swimming and eating on their own and then Friday morning, Bryan's brother, Tim, drove over with his family & they all spent the day at the resort pool:

They live about 45 minutes away so the girls went home with them & spent the rest of the weekend with their cousins. We drove over to meet them on Sunday for lunch and got to spend the afternoon before flying home:

We had never spent Colorado in the summer because every time we have been, it has been for Christmas or spring break when we skied. It was hotter than I expected it to be, but definitely cooler than Texas and the perfect last trip to end our summer. Thanks Dodson family for hosting our girls for the weekend!