The pool is officially open for the summer! We made our first trip to the pool on Saturday. We grabbed Jimmy John's and hung out for the afternoon. It was a beautiful day!
On Sunday, Morgan hung out with friends all day. Matt and I took Avery to her piano competition. She played Fur Elise and got a superior ribbon. She was disappointed that she didn't place. It was actually the lowest she's ever scored in the competition and pretty surprising to all of us. But, judging is subjective, so things can go differently with different judges. We told her you can't get too wrapped up in one person's opinion. We grabbed ice cream on the way home, which of course always helps! :)
Morgan's soccer league has a post-season playoff and the first game was Thursday night. They were short four players because they had their 8th grade graduation. They were up against the LG Celtics, who they had just beaten 2-1 in the Wheaton tournament. It's usually a pretty tough game with the Celtics. Morgan's team played great and won 6-3. Morgan had some great passes.
They play next Thursday night, but most of their team will be at the 8th grade graduation for Herrick and O'Neill. So, they are going to have to pull some players from the 2013 team so they will have enough players.
Morgan played in a shootout on Saturday morning for Team MC. They only had five players to start the first game, then another showed up during the first game. It was a mix of players from grades and levels. They lost both games. :(
She also played in a shootout on Sunday morning with the same group of girls plus one more. They won their first game, but lost the second one.
Avery had her photo shoot for her dance recital on Sunday afternoon. She did her own hair and makeup this time! She's getting so good at it! :) Can't wait to see the pictures!
On Sunday, we drove out to Brett's house to celebrate Calvin's birthday. The weather was gorgeous and the kids had a blast swimming. Grayson had just broken his ankle, so he had to sit out of the swimming and activities.
Avery's dance class wasn't canceled, so she had to go to hip hop after we got back from Brett's house.
Such a fun weekend - so ready for the end of school and for summer to start!
From one event straight to the next... we all headed from Wheaton to Elmhurst to catch the piano recital. Avery had lunch in the car and changed clothes at Jimmy Johns because she had to be at the church early to warm up. Morgan and Matt met us at the church later (Morgan had to get her medal and grab some lunch). My parents also came to the recital. The boys and Avery all played songs. Hunter had to leave early for a baseball game.
She wasn't super happy with her performance, but it's a tough song! We are still proud of her for getting up in front of a church full of people and playing. :)
Morgan's travel soccer team is on a roll! They played in the Wheaton United Invitational tournament over the weekend and won 1st place! I managed to take no good pictures. I did get a couple of videos - one where Sydney got totally trucked by a girl from the other team and another where Morgan shot at the goal, but missed. :)
My parents were in town for the weekend, so they were able to join us for a couple of the games. The first one was bright and early Saturday morning vs Lisle FC. The girls won 4-0! Morgan had an awesome assist! We came home, grabbed lunch at Olive Garden and relaxed until the next game. They played at 5:40 vs Wheaton United Premier. Morgan had an awesome goal this game! They won 4-0 again!
We grilled out at home with my parents for dinner and went to bed early! Morgan played on Sunday at 11:40 AM vs the LG Celtics for the championship. We have played against the LG Celtics quite a few times and it's always a tough game. This time was no different. It was a physical game. Morgan played very aggressively... she ended up getting a yellow card after getting a couple of fouls called on her. She didn't get subbed out once during the game (and it was a hot day!) At one point, she took a ball straight to her face - hard! I thought for sure she would get a bloody nose, but luckily she didn't. It took her a second to recover, but she kept playing! They ended up winning 2-1! :)
Avery and I had to bolt right at the end of the game to get to the church for her piano recital, so this was the only pic we got! :)
Morgan's travel soccer team finished up their regular season on Thursday night with a tie against Wheaton United, which secured them 1st place in the league for their level! They played great this season!
It looks like she's about to set the ball when she's getting ready to do this header!
They had a little medal ceremony afterwards and the girls got to take pictures with the trophy!
Congrats Roadrunners! They still have playoffs in a couple weeks to finish out this league. The two games for the playoffs are both on nights that girls on their team have 8th grade graduation, so those games are going to be short-staffed. Morgan and three other girls are still in 7th grade, so they'll be at both playoff games! :)
The coach has already said they may be moving the team up to the higher level in the league. When they originally started in the NPL last spring, there was just one level and they lost all but one game and finished last in the league out of 10 teams. It was a rough season! Then, more teams joined the league and they split it into two levels of 7 teams each. This coming year will be different because we won't be playing in the spring. The older girls aren't allowed to play high school and travel soccer at the same time.
Avery's dance team participated in the Showstopper dance competition again this year. It's held at the Renaissance Hotel/Convention Center in Schaumburg. This was the last comp of this season. Because her schedule had her dancing really late Saturday night and then again early Sunday morning, we decided to get a hotel room for Saturday night. That way we could get a little more sleep and just walk to the dance comp instead of the 30 minute drive.
On Friday night at 10:20 PM, she danced her lyrical group number, Leave a Light On. We had to stick around until awards which were around 10:45 PM. They got 1st in category and 6th overall!
I made her take this picture - ha!
Avery's cheering section in full force!
Showstopper always changes up the backgrounds to match the songs/costumes
On Saturday we checked into the hotel around 5:00 and relaxed in the room until it was time to check in for Avery's dance call time. We ordered pizza to the hotel room and binge watched Pop Star Academy. Avery had her lyrical trio, Grow as We Go, at 9:55 PM. Awards were at 10:50 PM - another late night! Matt met us at the dance comp - Morgan was staying in the hotel with Avery and me. Avery's trio got 1st in category and 6th overall (again!) The point differential between the places is very small. Like the difference between 5th and 6th place was 0.1 points (112.05 vs 111.95).
Morgan and I hung out at the bar in the hotel while we waited for the awards ceremony. The bartender made her some fancy juice drink with pina colada mix, which she loved!
Morgan also showed off her flexibility!
We had a very early morning on Sunday! Avery's call time for her dance was 6:15 AM. So, we got up early (Morgan slept in). Luckily, there was a Starbucks in the lobby of the hotel that opened at 6:00 AM, so we grabbed that on our way to drop Avery off.
Hair, make-up, ready to go at 6AM
She had two dances Sunday morning. They were originally scheduled for 8:10 AM and 8:22 AM, which is really close together! The girls had to do a super quick change between dances. The dance comp let them go one dance later for the second dance, so they would have enough time to change and take a breath before heading back on the stage. For their jazz dance, 4+4, they got 1st in category and 3rd overall - which is awesome (and the best they've done all season)! For their hip hop dance, The Rhythm, they got 7th overall (they were up against the jazz dance for overalls).
Love this pic - they are all airborne!
Backstage pic from DPDC's Instagram
Showstopper wished the moms happy mother's day!
Avery had a lot of fun at the competition and being on the dance team again this season in general! I love watching her dance on stage!
Morgan's Herrick soccer team had four games this past week. They won all their games! It rained on us on Monday and Thursday nights. We even got a double rainbow on Thursday night!
This was the only picture I took all week at the games. Ugh. I am slacking!
Morgan played with the 8th graders in a one day tournament on Sunday. They only had six girls, so she got a lot of playing time. They won the first game 38-14. She got fouled quite a bit and made a lot of free throws! It was one of her best games!
She took a break between games outside to cool off!
They ended up losing their second game 27-26, which was disappointing. They played really well and had a couple of chances at the end. Morgan had another great game! :)
