Toast 2 Mom

Team England

The soccer season has come to an end .... trophies and pizza! Great job Team England!

Back on the Field

After a three year hiatus, Miss Soccer Syd is back on the field. Today was her now "all-girl" team's first game. She took three years off because she got tired of the boys. Now that she can play for real :) with just the girls, she was all in. 

While they didn't win - Sydney did make a goal for the team. She's back, y'all! 

I don't know if this is her "oh yeah, I scored a goal" pose or her "Call Me Maybe" pose?? haha.

Final

Final swim meet....final photo for June.

Love Love

Sport

Some recent rock-climing photos.... Sydney is a champ on the rocks (like her Daddy). Natalie is timid - but tries (like her Mommy). 

Competitive Dancing

Yesterday I got to sit in Sydney's ballet/tap class to see her practice and do the routine they'll be putting on for her recital in June. 

While  my oldest really enjoys going to dance class, and she loves to dance and show me her moves, one thing became very clear to me after watching her class yesterday. My competitive girl is better fit for sports against others - like running. 

I do think as she's grown, her moving art skills has improved. She has more grace and coordination that she once did. But gotta love her, she is so competitive. When the girls are to practice their ballet moves across the studio floor, she doesn't delicately kick and passe. She basically makes it like a race to make sure she is the first one across the floor. And it's been like that forever. 

She does look like a ballerina - but she's fierce like a track star. 

That Girl Can Run

We've known it for years now, but today her running was put to the test - and the clock. Sydney ran her first timed race today. It was a 1-mile race downtown - the kid version to the city's Capital 10K race which is tomorrow (which I will be running). 

Syd got up earlier than the alarm this morning. She was amped. We picked out her outfit the night before and had energy snacks ready to go this morning. The whole walk to the start line, she was bobbing and weaving like a prize fighter.

Daddio stood with Sydney at the start line. There were about 160 six and under kids who ran. Daddio had her placed about half way or more back in the pack. His strategy was to get her to have the feeling of passing people - and passing she did! Cheekers and I were parked about a 1/2 block down from the starting line to take pictures. Several kids ran by before I saw her. After she ran by smiling, I went back to the finish line to capture the end. 

The winner of the race came in a little over 7 minutes. (These kids are fast.) Recalling where I saw Sydney pass me at the beginning, I assumed I'd have to watch another 30 or more runners go by before I needed to get my camera set to snap a finale shot. But I looked down the road and saw these bright pink leggings come tearing down the road. As my eyes focused I realized 'that's my girl!' 

She was kind of holding her side, but the determination was still strong. The longest she's ever run in one stretch was the 1k she did a few weeks ago. So this was almost double that. 

In the end, Sydney was fourth girl in her age group and tenth overall! So impressed. Her time was eight minutes and 30 seconds. Now if I'm going to be really specific here, Syd actually probably would have been top 3 because she started quite far back. They don't have chip times for the kids. Her time was based on when the race clock started. So, who knows how it all went down officially - but we're still SUPER proud. 

Below are some photos before the race, gearing up for the race and at the end with the final stretch to go.