Fargo Squirt International 2024

Lincoln's Squirt team headed north to play in the Fargo Squirt International tournament this winter. And boy did they play! But before we played, he participated in the Opening Ceremony and the Squirt Olympics. The Scheels Arena was flooded with a sea of hockey players; hundred of boys gathered together for a picture and opening skate. It was complete chaos and so much fun! 

His team played hard through their 5 games of play and ended up taking 2nd place in their bracket. Between pin trading, pool time, hockey and dinners, we all had a great weekend with some great families. 

Lincoln played his heart out, taking the Hard Hat for his grit and determination after one particular game. He was all smiles to know his hard work is paying off. 

We were blessed to have Kari and Natalie come watch on Saturday afternoon as they took a 5-3 win. We cheered loud and had fun watching him play with a great group of friends. 

The boys played so great in their final game: Championship Sunday, but came up one goal short and lost 4-5 to take home second place. It was a heartbreaker since they were up the whole game until just 4 minutes left of the 3rd period. Although sad and disappointed at the outcome, I was so very proud of all of them. They really did play a great game and it was so fun to watch. 

 We made countless memories on his first big hockey tournament; more than we ever dreamed. I think the boys would say their favorite part was pin-trading, and boy was it intense! The parents would probably say evenings poolside created the most memories :) But watching them come together and play hard, day after day, was really the most amazing experience. 

Summer 2023 ball

105

That's the number of ball games we sat through this summer, over a span of 2.5 months. 

We averaged 10 games/week. 

It's no wonder the rock beds could use some weeding, we rarely sat around the kitchen table as a family of 5, and there was a pile of never-ending dirt at the back door. As though they brought half the field home with them every day.

But there is not one place we would rather be, than sitting near a field watching our kids play sports they love. 

Breaking this down a little, we'll start with the youngest. This year, Lincoln had a choice to play in the local 'travel' association, or stay with the city rec team. He chose the latter, signing up with a hockey buddy and a great family friend. We lucked out with an ah-mazing! coach, who found the importance of not only teaching the boys baseball skills, but also teaching them to keep their chins up, and reminding fans that this was about the boys. And man alive was it an incredible season. What started out a little like "Bad News Bears", ended with them catching pop flies, understanding rules and taking 3rd place in the championship tournament. Lincoln spent the majority of the season behind the plate, never afraid to catch....except when his buddy started throwing some heat! Remind us to get a lefty catchers glove before next year :) 

The girls, on the other hand, continue to play high level competitive softball. Sidney traded in her former team for an entirely new club this season. And it was literally the best decision she could have made. 

The story goes a little like this: in 2022, she played in a tournament game against a really really incredible team, whose coach looked like a literal jerk to his team during the game. Seriously, most of us wondered "why on earth would anyone want to play for him!".

 Sidney got the only hit in that game, walked off the field that night and said "I want to play for him next year". We all thought she had lost her marbles, Regan joked she wouldn't make it one single practice without crying. We were all wrong. During tryouts for the 2023 season, that coach remembered Sidney's hit in that game and offered her a spot on his team. 

She went on to be coached by one heck of a coach, who taught her more than she could have dreamed of learning, and who cared deeply about his team both on and off the field. Don't get me wrong, he was HARD on the team. And she did shed a few tears. But boy did we all have the most amazing year, and like to think when one door closes, another opens. And we are all so thankful for her opportunity to be coached by the infamous Jake, in his final year in MN. 

At the end of the year, the team gifted him heartfelt letters from each of the girls, along with a book of all the things he would holler to them in the middle of a game, that would make us all giggle, and make opponents cringe wondering "why on earth would anyone want to play for him!". 

Things like: Swing like a big girl
Are you mad, or is your hair just red?
Y'all better pick it up
Be a good teammate (knowing you were about to lay down a sacrifice bunt)
Don't make excuses, I'm in the solution business

We will miss his sarcasm, his passion for the game, and his deep desire to develop strong and confident teenage girls. Truly one of the best!

 With a core team of only 9 girls (we'd pick up players for a tournament here/there), Sidney got opportunities to play every single position except pitcher or catcher. Heck, she even caught bull-pen! And according to Regan "no one is above catching bull-pen". 

Sid was the definition of a utility player this year, though if she has her preference, would spend most of her time at first base. 

And last but not least, Regan's incredible season! This girl caught 110 innings over the course of the season. This may not seem like a lot, but if you average 4 innings/game (softball is stupid this way because games are time-limited in most cases), she caught nearly 75% of her teams' games. 

She was sore, and exhausted, but would never ever complain. She was thrilled to be behind the plate and quickly gained the confidence of her coaches to be calling her own game. It was incredible to watch her dominate the dish. Regan's team had a lot of success and growth this year, peeking just at the end of the season. 

She even had an opportunity to travel out of state with the 18's team at the end of the summer where she had a 2 run single to score the winning run(s) in extra innings! They promptly awarded her with the horse-shoe for her hit. 

Between both girls, we spent 26 nights in hotels, almost all of them in the month of July. It's a wonder we have time to work. We traveled to 5 different states in a matter of 5 weeks and became experts at playing Tetris with luggage and softball gear in the truck.

The map below of a two week road trip was a doozy! Just under 24 hours of driving, and it took a table top exercise to plan. Between the girls, there were six tournaments over a span of 4 states (plus one in MN at the end). 

We've done laundry in hotel sinks at 10pm because the washing machine is in use, using hairdryers to help the drying process. We spent more money on Panera (and Starbucks) than I care to admit this summer. I was constantly asking "what food should we pack for the field?". We are a well-oiled machine when it comes to navigating this routine. 

And do you see that scooter in the background?, Lincoln was a professional at dodging players, fans, foul balls....and sometimes Tournament Directors as he raced around each complex. 

Parents would giggle when they heard that we added an air tag to him so we could keep track of his whereabouts; it was a life-saver! 

Regan's team played in the Colorado Sparkler this summer. The backdrops on those fields were beyond incredible. And the downtime between games meant some amazing team bonding! I'll have to do another post on its own with more about that trip. 

As we hang up the cleats for a week before the next season's tryouts, I'm scrambling to weed the rock-beds, eat dinner as a family, and enjoy a dirt-free back door. I know darn well, this season of chaos will end for us too quickly, so for now, we are going to enjoy every second of it. 

Hockey season

Lincoln's hockey season is well underway. He had a small set back in December when he broke his collarbone, but he was back on the ice in just over 4 weeks and eager to get back out there. It's been non-stop since! 

He is in his final year of Mites, and the association has a lot of exciting things for these 3rd graders to keep them excited and involved in hockey. 

One of the highlights is when the 3rd graders get to be flag bearers at a Varsity hockey game. And bonus, Lincoln has been able to do it twice! He loves skating with those big boys, and man are they great to those little kiddos. 

Regan's friend-TJ is extra sweet to Lincoln (TJ's little sister happens to be a classmate of Lincoln's). He always looks out for Lincoln who lights up when he sees him. 

This month has also been filled with loads of practices and scrimmages. Sometimes doing twice/day! He's really come a long way in the last several years, working on his skating skills and stick handling. It's incredible to look back and remember he could barely stay upright just a few years ago. 

He's made some good buddies and learned a lot not only about the sport and game, but also about teamwork and working together. 

Sports are good for life-long lessons.

 

Twins opening weekend

Sometimes you just have to pause and take it all in. 

I had an opportunity to take Lincoln and his good buddy to a Twins game on opening weekend this month. With nothing else on my calendar for the day, we spent over 5 hours at the field and had a great time! 

Of course there was an obligatory glove picture

The boys asked to climb to the tip top of the stadium, where they sat and chatted and enjoyed nearly half the game! They loved having the whole section to themselves. I laughed as I wondered what they were talking about, like two old men "solving the world's problems" watching a game.

I stayed several rows down, enjoying some ballpark snacks and watching homer after homer hit into the stands. Such an exciting offensive game on a beautiful spring day.  

At one point, they heard an announcement that after the game, all kiddos under the age of 12 were allowed to run the bases. And I knew we were destined for an entire 9 inning game, plus running the bases. 

Boy were they excited! 

What a fun experience for a couple of 8 year old baseball players. To be right down on the field, Base running where the professionals play. I'm so glad we took the extra couple of hours to enjoy not only the full game, but to take in such a wonderful memory!

 

And that's a wrap: Hockey 2021-22

Lincoln wrapped up his third season of hockey last month, with eagerness to start the next sport. Although he grumbled before every practice as he put on his gear (it's a lot of work to gear up for hockey), once he was out on the ice, he was full of energy and excitement. Ryan coached him again, and I certainly think he loves having dad on the ice. 

The improvements this year were amazing, watching him stop and cut edges and steal the puck from his opponents. He really made a lot of gains in the last 9 months. 

We love watching number 8 out on the ice and can't wait for the next season! Click to catch a glimpse!

 

Life Lately and Christmas prep

 It's a little challenging to prep for Christmas with all the chasing kids around that we do each week. But we're squeaking in a little cookie baking, tree decorating, present wrapping and just days before Christmas, we finally added lights to the house (perhaps with a lot of begging on my part). You see, these kiddos of ours are in love with their activities and sports, tugging us in every direction 6 (sometimes 7) days/week. We put on at least 150 miles each week driving them to practices, games, lessons and training.  Sometimes I manage to run in/out of stores during their longer 3 hour trainings, or shop online from the comfort of my car during their shorter 1 hour trainings. I search Pinterest for the latest Elf happenings and set reminders on my phone to be sure the sneaky thing has moved when I finally crawl into the house at night, often after 10:30pm. I turned my car into a "carfice", in other words my car office. 

And in between all of those sports and activities, we are sledding and crafting (more like science-kit building) and trying to find a good Hallmark show. 

It doesn't quite feel like Christmas to me yet, maybe it's because I haven't had a chance to slow down. We have one more day of school/work this week, and then we'll take a breather and try to enjoy the season, because at this point, I kind of feel like Ellie our Elf!