This was Carly’s third season playing lacrosse and
her team has become quite dominant in the league. Her final game was during the weekend Justin and I were in
Sunriver.
Again she played with friends Chloe and Ashleigh.
The team had three separate pods (grey, black and
red) and two pods were assigned to each game.Carly, Chloe and Ashleigh were assigned to a different pod
since they don’t play in Sunday games.
Carly really enjoys playing lacrosse. I think she’s lacking some of the
confidence she has in other sports which causes her to not be as aggressive and
get into the action that we’d typically expect to see from her. I still feel like it’s a new sport for
our family but I’m sure we’ll have at least another year or so to watch our
girl play and grow.
We started planning our 2017 couples trip before
our first ever couples trip in 2016 ended. Originally we’d tossed around the idea of Hawaii, but we had
to scale down to fit it into the Reynolds travel budget, which was already
maxed out with other trips they had planned. Since their family owns a home in Sunriver we only have to
pay the cleaning fee to stay there and not a one of us would ever be
disappointed with time in Sunriver.
The LeeMaster’s moved to Atlanta last summer and didn’t join us this
year. So it was just us, the
Reynolds and the Barlow’s (now living in Dallas).
Benjamin had a work conference in Minnesota that
week so we had to tweak our dates a little from the original plan.He flew into Bend and the Barlows flew
into Portland.So it was just
Sommer, Justin and me on the drive down. We stopped at Miners in Yakima for
lunch.I should have taken a
picture of the HUGE burgers Justin and Sommer got – the size of my Reece’s PB
Cup shake may give you an idea of the portion sizes.
The Barlows were already at the house when we
arrived so after giving them hello hugs we jumped on the bikes for the inaugural
welcome to Sunriver bike ride.
We ate dinner at the Grill in the Village that
evening and then enjoyed a leisurely bike ride back to the house to await Benjamin’s
arrival and bunker down for some reality TV time.
Saturday morning the Twin Towers (Justin and Ben)
went running with Sommer and the leftover spouses from each family went on a
power walk.
Then we all geared up for a 18-mile bike ride out
to Lava Lands.Justin took this
picture while we were riding which pretty much sums up how we rode all
weekend.The three ladies up front
chatting and the three boys messing around in the rear.
Switched things up this year with a group picture
in front of the bridge instead of on the bridge :)
View from Lava Butte
The SHARC opened this weekend, a weekend earlier
than usual, in celebration of it’s fifth year.We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine and
lounging around in the lazy river.Perfect.
We cleaned up and enjoyed a yummy dinner at the
Brewery and then spent the evening watching the first Guardians of the Galaxy
in preparation to see the newly released movie – both were funnier than I’d
imagined, but definitely more for the guys entertainment than our own.Laura brought Sommer and I some fun
presents – two custom tee shirts (she claimed that one was to make up for the
last years t-shirt that was a big large) and a matching muumuus.Super comfy tee and I love the
meaning and thought she put into it.
Laura made a Boomerang clip of us showing off our muumuus.
Sunday morning we attended sacrament meeting in
Bend and brunched at the McKay Cottage – a delicious find from last year.Again we were seated outside and the
food was outstanding.
The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting at the
house, leisurely bike rides, polar pops and bocce ball.
so leisurely that the guys didn’t even need hands
This was my first time playing bocce ball – and the
Fletcher’s caught on quick – winning the first ever bocce ball tournament.
Monday morning we sent the runner from each family
out to clock in some miles and Laura got Benjamin and I to do a Beachbody workout
with her.Ugh!
Then it was time for the pickleball tournament –
with the LeeMaster’s out of the picture Justin and I were able to reclaim the
number one spot I’d earned at the Sunriver Girls trip in 2015.Always lots of fun – these are three
super competitive couples so I’m grateful they continue to allow us to be
friends when we continue to win everything {wink, wink}.
Since the Reynolds drove down last year, we were up
for driving down to Sunriver this year.Since it was just the four of us coming from WA it made more sense to
take Justin’s corolla down.The
day before we left home Sommer texted me and said she needed to bring something by.She showed up at my door with two huge
duffle bags.The Barlow’s
paddleboards were up in Snoqualmie and they wanted us to bring them down for
them.I wasn’t sure we’d be able
to fit them and all our luggage in the car, but we managed.Once in Oregon both the Reynolds and us
decided we also wanted paddleboards and with zero sales tax it made sense to
buy them there.We had no clue how
we’d fit four boards, four people and all our suitcases and bags back home, but
we decided to go for it.Justin
and I had never even been on a paddle board before.We took out the boards on Monday afternoon and thankfully we
both loved them and were happy for our tax-free purchases.We’d get those buggers home even if we
had to strap them to the roof.The
float down the river was lovely.Sommer and I shared a board and the others each had their own.
Laura went big ole’ Texas on my hair as we readied
for our last evening out.Dinner
was at the local Mexican restaurant.
Where Justin bribed Benjamin into drinking a dish
of hot salsa for $4 – well earned.
Then we took one final evening bike ride, stopping
near the lodge for some until-next-time photos.
Holy smokes, I love these people. Not only are
these two women some of my closest friends, but our spouses love spending time
together also.We all mesh
together so easily and comfortably – I think that is a rare find and I’m so
grateful for it.So much fun!
Laura and Ben were off early the next morning to
make the drive to Portland for their flight back to Texas.We cleaned up the house a bit, took one
final bike ride, and then loaded up home bound with the Reynolds.
We were actually able to get everything off of
everyone’s laps and didn’t have to strap anything onto the roof, but the Reynolds
did have three suitcases piled between them for six hours – but we’re all proud
new paddleboard owners so it was worth it!
This year has brought with it many changes for
Abigail as an athlete. She had to
choose between soccer and volleyball this fall. She’d played soccer since kindergarten and volleyball for
only two years. She chose
volleyball and thus ended years of soccer. Coming out of a crazy busy fall schedule she wasn’t feeling
at all interested in pursuing basketball – a sport she’s played each year since
second grade. Another sport she
has really excelled at. Odds are
that since she missed playing as a freshman she’ll be even less likely to give
it go as a sophomore – so more than likely – thus ended years of
basketball. As the spring sports
season started to gear up I tried to encourage Abigail to tryout for the tennis
team. She and I bought a little
tennis lesson at a church auction two years ago and we both really enjoyed
it. She was super hesitant. The girl likes and expects to be on top
so I think that part of her hesitation was that she would be trying something
new that she might not be amazing in.
At the time she also didn’t know of any of her friends trying out – a
big factor for my social daughter.
We were going to miss the first two days of tryouts
due to our Mexico vacation.
Abigail talked to the varsity coach before mid-winter break and
explained the situation. He was
very encouraging and she left feeling like she had a good chance at making JV –
he loves volleyball players and the skill set they bring onto the court. She was excited that she had several
friends also on JV with her. She
mainly played doubles with her friend Kassi (fellow volleyball player) – they were
always seeded in first position.
She also played several singles matches during the season – most of which were also in a
seeded position (which means her matches count for team score).
This season will forever go down as the wettest
tennis season in history. During the
ten or so weeks of practices fives days a week, they only had FOUR outdoor
practices - that's FOUR TOTAL outdoor practices for the entire season. Our school
doesn’t have indoor courts so when they practice indoors it’s nothing like
playing on an actual court. Some
of these girls had never played tennis before so their first time on an actual
court was for a match. Crazy wet
season!
Of course the rain doesn’t only affect practices,
but matches as well. We seemed to
never know if I match would be cancelled until just before. Most matches were cancelled and rescheduled
– some multiple times.
These
two started the season strong winning their first double match
Some of the JV players following their first match
with Coach Job
Coach Job asked me to take pictures of the JV team
so I borrowed a zoom lens from a friend and had fun catching some action shots
of all the girls.
Kassi was super pumped that Abigail won her singles
match
Not sure who they had take their team photo that
they printed and gave to each of the girls, but pretty sure I’ve never seen a
poorer quality team photo ever.Too bad.
At the end of April, near the end of the season, we
played Newport.Coach Job prepped
the girls before by letting them know that Newport is a top team and that they
shouldn’t be discouraged about losing and to just play their best.When I arrived at the game Abigail and
Kassi told me not to expect a win from them.They were convinced they’d get trampled on.First I was shocked when the entire
Newport team – the ENTIRE team – was Asian.Sure there are a lot of Asians in the Bellevue area, but the
ENTIRE team???Blew me away!So much so that I had to take a video
cause it was that unbelievable.
Not only did Abigail and Kassi win, they killed
Newport.I didn’t have my DSLR
that day, but this picture will have to suffice (winning 8-2).
Coach Job also had Abigail play in a singles match
after winning her double match.It
was an incredible game.She was
exhausted and her opponent was well matched.I took this video of Abigail serving 40-30, second serve
with the match at 7-6.
Abigail won two matches that day against one of the
top ranked teams in the area.The
rest of her team didn’t fair so well.
The varsity team has one final game after the JV
season had ended.They were down a
player and asked Abigail to play with them.She was nervous and excited.I took her uniform down to the school and just as they were
about to start the head coach found out she couldn’t play because she’d already
played against that school and won.If the other school or the league found out it could cause issues.So she ended up not playing varsity but
the fact that she was the one asked to move up is exciting.Perhaps next year she’ll find herself a
place on the varsity team.
The tennis banquet was mid-May and Coach Job raved
about Abigail and Kassi’s season.Seriously, she didn’t say nearly as much about any other players on the
team.They easily won the most
matches during the season and Abigail's ability to play both doubles and singles
as a freshman was impressive to both Coach Job and the varsity coach.Abigail and Kassi were both awarded the
MVP trophy for the JV team.
So proud of these two girls and amazed at their
talent! Looking forward to another
great tennis season next year!
