7th Grade Volleyball

Olivia and Emma played middle school volleyball this year.

Emma played setter and did amazing.

Olivia was also a setter and was equally amazing.

Love watching these girls in all they do!

California

Our first stop after Disneyland was Newport Beach!  We had a lot of fun in the sand...this was my idea and it turned out so cool!

The first day it was sunny but very windy.  The girls and I didn't care...we were just happy to be on the beach!

What a great way to start 2019!

One big happy family!

Amazing kids!

Flying away in the wind.

The weather warmed up throughout the week.   Marcus even swam in the outdoor pool at the hotel! 

We had most days free so we went to the beach again.  Olivia and Mommy soaking in the sun.

Emma and Mommy...we love the beach in the winter!

It was super warm; the girls were in shorts and tank tops!

Emma sat in the sand soaking up the sunshine.

Marcus and Olivia swam in the ocean!

Beautiful artwork!

Very creative!

Love this sun!

All art done by Olivia!

Emma found a lot of rocks and seashells.  Happy girl!

Grami and Poppie came along too!

Love!

Family photo by the lifeguard stand.

What a great time!

What a great day!

Olivia couldn't believe her hair by the end of the beach day!  Crazy!

We had sushi for lunch!  YUM!

Marcus was glad Grami and Poppie were there...he got to take some good naps!

Our ride home was a bit chilly...we hit snow on the pass! 

Olivia wrote about her experiences in her journal.  She will remember this one forever!  Emma spent most of the car ride in the back seat sleeping so I didn't get any car photos of her.  

We had such a great trip; the kids did amazing on the 40 hour drive; I think we might do more trips like this in the future!

All-American Softball Youth Games

We were the first in line at check-in for the All-American Games!

The girls got their uniforms and posed for pictures.

Emma was very excited and proud.

Olivia can't wait to start playing some softball.

We are so proud of these two!

Emma got to be #70 on team Freedom.

Olivia was #75 on team Freedom.

These two are stars!

Opening ceremonies was a lot of fun.

We are so excited for some softball!

We met some girls from Arkansas and Texas and practiced with them after opening ceremonies.  We learned a lot and had lots of fun.  Such a great sport...we have met some great people through softball and it just keeps going.

The first game was a night game at Great Orange County Park...they had an actual hot air balloon that looked like an orange!

Emma played catcher and did amazing.

 

Olivia got to pitch and also did amazing!  

Emma at bat.

Olivia up to bat.  

They lost their first game of the tournament but had a ton of fun!

The next day we played at 4:30 and again at 6:00pm.  Emma got some more catching in.

Nice hit Olivia!

Emma's eye is on the ball.

Emma got to catch for Olivia too.

The last day was bracket play.  Emma did amazing at catching.

Olivia got in some more pitching too.

Run Olivia!

Emma crushed the ball!

Team Freedom!  We lost our first bracket play game so that was the end of our tournament.

Closing ceremonies was pretty neat.  They all got rings and a few girls got some other awards.

The girls' coach was very nice.  She was from one of the local colleges. 

The girls' first rings!  So cool!

Grami and Poppi were there too!  Thanks for the support!

These girls are all stars for sure!

What a great tournament and a great experience!  So proud of our girls and so glad we made this trip!