soccer practice

Soccer practice is very entertaining.  I hope you all get a kick out of these photos.  The first one is the starting line up - toes on the white line, listening to coach.  Meg is hanging out drinking her sippy cup watching warm ups.  In case you are curious, the jumping picture is part of warm ups - you crouch down and then explode out and say, "I'm a star!"  They do this five times and then hop like bunnies... Most of the practice is spent on individual skills, and they do a short scrimmage at the end, which is pretty much "swarm ball".  Scott scored a goal tonight, and I snapped a picture of it.  The video is of part of individual skill practice.  Everyone was a pirate trying to sink the ship (goal) by shooting it. 

Clemson Girls

Meg went to her little friend Mason's first birthday party today and had a wonderful time.  She enjoyed playing in the pool of plastic balls and she REALLY enjoyed eating some icing.  The theme of the party was to dress in your favorite team attire, so of course she had her Clemson outfit!  The last picture is one that Brian took of us Clemson girls. :) 

ITS GAMEDAY!!!

Big thanks to Cindy and Travis for including us in their tail gate party.  A great start to the day, more eating, playing football and posing on the big orange thing in front of Lowry.  I wasn’t much help in answering why the building had the same name as our cat or in stating what the big orange thing was – go ask your Mom.

Off to the game.  The most exciting 25 seconds in College Football were appreciated but were also a bit noisy.

It was pretty hot, but exciting to watch a Clemson win over Ball State.  Scott provided regular reports on the Tiger and when he was doing pushups (picture by Scott).

Due to the heat, we concluded our adventure just after half time and toasted our good times with Purple Flurp on the car ride home.

First First Friday

It was a man-cation weekend for the boys – Scott’s first trip to Clemson and in-person football game.  The fun started off Friday morning with Dunkin Donuts (of course) followed by a tour of Brian’s work.  Then it was off to Clemson for First Friday festivities.

Clemson activities started with haircuts for all at Clemson House.  Not much has changed.  It has been over 15 years since I have sat in the chair but Dennis and Joe are still taking care of customers.

We then had some of the best ice cream in the world.  Scott also discovered both the echo in the atrium of the Hendrix student center and that if you repeatedly yell “Go Tigers” you can start a cheer with others on the upper levels.

Off then to Bowman field to play a little football, enjoy First Friday activities and, of course, get Central Spirit Tiger Paws – both cheeks.

First Friday Parade – Despite the heat, Scott insisted on staying for the whole thing.  Tiger Tubas are looking good this year.

Capping off a perfect day was a trip by TTT for something to eat.  We hit all the food groups as long as you count the jalapenos on the garbage fries as the vegetable for the day.

learning to walk

Meg has figured out how to walk behind this toy and she LOVES it!  The only problem is that she has a very low tolerance for the frustration of running into furniture and getting stuck.  She gets pretty mad...

Lake Lure

After the thunderstorm went by, we went to the beach playground at Lake Lure where we had some fun shooting water balloons, and we enjoyed swimming in the lake.  One of us chased ducks... We had a fun afternoon and enjoyed a fabulous dinner at a restaurant with a deck overlooking the water. 

This is Meg waving "hi".  She is turning into quite the little social butterfly, and she made friends with people at two neighboring tables while we were eating dinner. 

Chimney Rock

We had a great time at Chimney Rock State Park.  Here are the kids with a great view of Lake Lure, and a picture of Chimney Rock from the parking area.

 

Here are the little mountain goats - Scott, the king of the mountain showing his big muscles at the flag pole, and Meg the rock crawler going "all terrain" at the top of the big rock. 

We split up to go down the mountain.  Meg and I took the elevator (due to the stroller), and Brian and Scott went down the trail.  When we met up at the bottom, Scott said, "Dad found the BIG thunderstorm Mom because he HEARD IT!"  So, here is a picture of the thunderstorm that was found. :)

hike to Hickory Nut Falls

Our first activity at Chimney Rock State Park was the hike out to the falls.  Meg fell asleep in the stroller about halfway there, so she never saw the falls.  She woke up when we were almost back to the trailhead.  Nice nap!  Lots of people were jealous of Meg's mode of transportation. Scott was a great hiker - bounding all over the trail and every so often acting like a squirrel...