Finishing Up the Season

Lyla’s fall season finished up with two busy, cold weekends of soccer.  The weekend after her regular season games were finished, the teams headed down to Fredericksburg on a Saturday for ScrimmageFest.  While it’s no one’s favorite Saturday by any stretch, it’s not that bad if it’s warm (since you’re out at the fields all day long with no where to go in between scrimmages).  However, this time was cloudy and COLD. The girls still manage to have fun, but I was the happy one to get back in the warm car after a full day.

  

The following weekend was the Bethesda Premier Cup tournament.  Lyla’s team played in a tough group/bracket, and while they didn’t get off to a good start with their first game, they battled and played much better the second game and still better the third.  So, it was good to see them stay tough despite a rough start.  It was another very cold soccer weekend - much moreso than the ScrimmageFest.  I think Nina was the warmest one on the sidelines though!

  

Since she’s gotten into soccer, Lyla has always wanted to play an offensive position.  She’s either played in a striker or wing position.  However, for one of the last regular season games, two of their defenders were out, and Lyla’s coach had her play defense, and she did a good job.  After the rough first game for the team, Lyla’s coach put her in defense again for the second and third games.  She played tough, was very focused (wish we could channel that at home), and even though they didn’t get to advance to the finals, we were very proud of her and thought it was a great experience for her and a good note to close out the season on.

  

Halloween 2017

 

Last weekend was the annual Halloween party at my parents’ house. However, before the party, Nina had a mini-performance with her cheer team for a Breast Cancer Awareness event.  After the teams performed, the girls got to take part in some fun and get their faces painted.  Then it was a quick turnaround to head out to Haymarket for the Halloween party!

   

 Every year they put on such a fun party for the kids and families we are friends with. It’s a party that the kids look forward to so much every year, and every year it never disappoints!  Since it was a big hit last year, the donut eating challenge made it back again this year.  As before, the kids have to try to eat donuts hanging on a string without using their hands.  Evidently, it’s harder than it looks, but where there’s a will, there’s a way!

  

Poppy took them on a hayride after the donut eating...

…then they took part in a new addition to the Halloween party - Fear Factor.  Each of the items on the list below were things that they had to eat or do.  It was so funny to watch. From eating baby food, cat food, and drinking a blended up McDonalds Happy Meal, to seeing who could outlast the other holding a handful of ice, transporting dog biscuits in their mouth or cracking eggs on their head to see if they were hard boiled or raw, or using their mouths to dig for gummy worms in a whipped cream pie, it was such a funny part of the party for the kids.

  

  

  

Another new addition to the party this year was a capture the flag type game in the dark using LED bracelets and discs.

Of course, there was fun food, lots of dessert, and some nice socializing as well for the adults.

 

The evening closed out with the haunted walk through the woods and the bonfire to finish.

 

 

As always, the whole evening was a blast, and the weather was perfect for an outdoor party!  The kids and adults both had a great time, and while I know it is a ton of work for my parents, they always do such a great job making sure it’s a fun and memorable night for the kids every year.  

Halloween was also a great weather day!  The kids really lucked out.  Nina wanted to be a pirate this year...

 

…and Lyla was Mal from the movie Descendents.

 

Halloween is a really fun night in our neighborhood.  There are tons of kids and adults out in costume, houses decorated in really cool ways, and always lots and lots of candy!  The girls had fun trick-or-treating with each other and friends and had a great evening!

  

  

 

DC United, Parade, and Cox Farms

I’m playing catch up on the blog.  It’s been a busy fall around here, and I’ll hit some of the highlights.  

DC United ended an era of playing games at RFK a couple weeks ago.  The stadium has been their home since the league started in 1996, but with a new stadium being built for next season, they played their final game in the stadium and invited all the alumni back to help in the celebration.  There was a fun get together on Saturday night downtown, then festivities before and after the game Sunday afternoon.

  

Not wanting to risk his replaced knee, Mark opted not to play in the alumni game that preceded DC United’s game, but he took part of the ceremony at half time and at the end of the game.  It was a fun weekend with lots of stories and time catching up with old friends.  Best of luck to DC United in their new stadium, and thanks for the memories, RFK.

Aslo that weekend, Nina’s cheer team took part in a local high school’s homecoming parade.  They did this last year as well, and the girls always have a good time being a part of the parade.

  

Lyla loves the parade because we walk alongside the truck that Nina’s team is in, and Lyla collects TONS of candy that’s being thrown.  It’s as good as Halloween!

 

The girls had off from school on the Monday following this busy weekend, so I decided to take them to Cox Farms.  It’s been a couple years since we’ve been there, and I was almost wondering if they were aging out of it, but they had a great time!

 

This goat was so funny.  He/she was standing on top of the tractor wheel and bleeting at people as they went down the slide!

Speaking of goats, one of the highlights was the goat villiage.  The girls got feeding cones to feed the goats, and they had the best time with the goats.  They acted a lot like dogs.  They liked being scratched and petted, and one even laid there and let Nina braid his goatee.  Evidently, it was pretty relaxing because he started closing his eyes to fall asleep while she was braiding!

  

  

 

We took a hayride, they swung on ropes, and slid down slides, walked through a corn maze, picked pumpkins and more.  It was a fun fall afternoon!