Chicago soccer

Note to self: do not travel to Chicago with Scott Smallie when the Blues are playing the Blackhawks in playoffs. Yes, in one busy intersection he did roll down his window and screamed "Blackhawks suck". It went downhill from there.

Back to soccer...

This weekend was Brady's final soccer tournament of the season.  That is, last tournament before the zillion 3v3 tournaments start in a few weeks. This time we were headed for Oakbrook Illinois...I love Chicago soccer trips!  Scott had a baseball game on Friday and Cate had her dance so we sent Brady to Chicago with the Ferguson's Friday afternoon and we drove up Saturday morning in time for the noon game. Bennett, Cate, and Carter chose to stay with my family Saturday night so we were only in charge of one kid...holla!  FOUR hours in the car with no kids...WOO TO THE HOO!!!  Of course I slept the entire time but Scott enjoyed listening to sports talk radio with no interruptions and we both loved not having to pass out snacks, change movies, turn up the radio, turn down the radio....etc.

 

We left around 6:15am and made it to the field waaaaay before game time so we stopped at a few stores and had lunch at Chipotle.



This is the type of things that happen when we are kid-free....wardrobe changes in the backseat :)   nice blue undies Coach Smallie

 

Only action shot I took all weekend.  Brady played great and his team rocks!!!

View of downtown Chicago from our hotel room

I pretty much slept the entire 36 hours we were there.  I guess I just needed it.  After the 12:00 game, we checked into our hotel and I slept until the 6:30 game while Scott watched tv and Brady and crew ran the hotel (sorry Embassy Suites!).  After the game, we ordered Giordano's pizza and ate in our room and then Scott headed down to the pool to socialize and I went back to bed.  I think it was the bed, comforter, and pillows...it was like being wrapped in a cool hug and I couldn't get enough :)

 

Wait!  We only brought one kid.  Why are all of these boys hanging out in our room??!!

Brady was digging the only-child lifestyle

Our final game on Sunday was in Hinsdale.  I love Hinsdale.  This neighborhood is just like Fran and Mike's in Clayton...people buy homes the size of ours, tear them down, and then build reaallllly fabulous homes on the lot.  The house on the left was one of my favorites...it's detached garage in the back was built to look just like the main house and was bigger than my house.  Love!

Cutest team ever!!!

Sock Hop

Once a month the Girl Scouts host a dance...Friday night was a sock hop. My friend Rachel let Cate borrow a poodle skirt and I found her a cute 45-record headband and glasses to finish off the "oldies" look. After school she had a slight fever but after a 3 hour nap felt good enough to go. Thankfully the dance is only 90 minutes long and Cate was able to rally through it :) 

 

"Come on ride the train"

They have the cutest Daisy group! 

 

"So call me maybe"

 

baseball season

Well-- baseball season is in full swing.  Good? Bad? Ugly? Yes, yes, and yes.

 

Over the winter Brady decided he did not want to play baseball this year.  A Smallie boy that chooses to quit baseball?  Unheard of.  But I was more than a little excited at the idea of having a lot more free time.  Brady's team was hard-core...I'm talking their schedule from mid-March through August only has TWO weekends without tournaments, and that's not including league games, or practices. It's a six-days-a-week commitment and although it was hard to give up Brady's starting 2nd base position on a nationally ranked team, we aren't the kind of parents to force our kids to play a sport that don't love so Scott made the call to the coach and that was that.

 

Bennett is playing for 12U Team Illini....this is his 4th season (or 5th?) with this team.  Great kids, great parents, great fun!  Looking forward to a fantastic season!

 

Carter is playing JV and Varsity baseball this year.  He wasn't sure he wanted to play, but after the first day, he got back in the swing of things and is loving it.

 

And finally, Scott is coaching the JV team this year.  Meaning, he is Carter's coach.  It sounds great, right?  Yeah, it's really not.  Carter is a really good ball player and has had a great season so far, but the discipline issue is, well...an issue.  For example, at Tuesdays game, Carter struck out, slammed his bat on the ground and yelled a bad word.  THE bad word.  Scott immediately ripped him out of the game, reamed him in front of everyone, and benched him. Are we having fun yet?  Although Scott was right, it didn't make for a stress-free home the next few days.  Scott has a hard job of being the coach and a players father...all of these kids are Carters friends, which makes disciplining the players even more complicated.  Come on June! (However, I do find all of the "dude, you're sleeping with a players mom" jokes the other coaches tell to be very funny)

:)

Cate and Coach Smallie starting the season off with a big win!

Ben and Brady love cheering on the Warriors

Even though Brady is not playing baseball this year, he has been heavily recruited by four other teams and is going to guest play a few tournaments with the E'ville Tigers.  Several of his soccer teammates play for the Tigers and he enjoys playing with them.  He added a 2nd place medal to his collection in the first tournament of the year.

Bennett's team played their first tournament last weekend.  The sun was shining and it finally felt like baseball season had arrived!

Kerrigan, Lauren and Cate back together again.  It was a long winter!

 

Uncle Josh came in for the weekend and spent an entire 12 hours with us on Saturday.  Poor guy

 

Trevor LOVES watching the games.  I can't wait til he is out there playing!

Perfecting his "mean face".  The scars and bruises on his face really help sell the look

On Monday, both JV and Varsity played at Grizzlie's stadium.  It's turf, which means the day-long heavy downpour did not cancel the games.  It's fun watching baseball in the cold rain.  Not.

Isn't that a strange coaches box?  Coaching from the stands?  Actually, Scott was serving a one-game suspension for getting thrown out of a previous game.  I told you this season is fun!!

This drives me crazy.  If Carter sees me taking pictures...even if there is a batter at the plate...he takes time to look over, wink, smile, and tip his hat.  Focus!!! Scott will kill both of us if you miss an infield play because I'm taking your picture!!!

Pretzel with cheese, markers, and baseball friends...what a great afternoon!

If we all survive baseball season, I'm totally buying this card for Scott. 

PLAY BALL!