Landsharks.

I thought about opening up with the old land shark bit from Saturday Night Live. But, sometimes I think I'm funnier than other people do.

Madelyn and Sawyer are doing Landsharks this Spring. It's a track club. It's not exclusively with their school but because Ben Franklin Academy has enough kids to fill a team, our school has its own team. For the last month, they've had two practices after school each week. This week the meets start.

Last night was their first Landsharks track meet. Their team ran against four other teams. And, I'd say their team did really well. Each school has its own color shirt. Ours is red. There were a lot of red shirts and most of them in the front half of all the packs, if not leading.

How did our Mile High Madelyn and Sweet Sawyer do you ask? AWESOME.

They each ran a 50 meter and 400 meter race with boys and girls of their respective gender and grade. While they did not win either of their individual races, more importantly, they Did. Not. Quit. And, to me, that's HUGE. Also, they didn't come in last. They had great sportsmanship and cheered for their friends, teammates, and each other.

And, most importantly, they earned gelato from Mici afterwards.

Way to go, Madelyn and Sawyer! Dad and I are super proud of you and hope you are proud of yourselves, too!

And, if you still want to see the old land shark bit from SNL, here you go -

via GIPHY

Soccer...It's H E R E!

I feel like Jack Nicholson in The Shining anytime I say, "It's here!" a little sing song-y. Although now that I think about it, I don't believe that's actually what he said when he popped his face through the bathroom door. Perhaps I should re-title this post "Here's Soccer!" in his honor. I digress.

Spring brings all kinds of wonderful things in Colorado -- sunny days and lots of playtime in the backyard, seedlings all over my house, garden prep, Easter (and non-Easter) bunnies, and the return of soccer. For the first time, we have TWO kiddos in soccer in this year. Yes, we are becoming those people.

Madelyn's team, the Sparkly Dolphins, began their season a few weeks ago. They practice on Monday afternoons and have games on Saturdays. In spite of their intimidatihg team name, they're not the best in their league. BUT, they're a good group of girls with wonderful coaches and a supportive fan base. I've been really happy with her experience this year. She's learning a lot and having a great time.

Last week, she even scored her first goal! Yay...Madelyn!

Madelyn keeping the ball away from her team's goal.

Go get 'em, girl!

Sawyer's team, the Dragons, began this past weekend. Theirs is a shorter season consisting of 3 weeks of soccer fundamentals followed by 3 weeks of scrimmages. They only meet on Saturdays and, for the most part, both schedules work nicely together so we won't be making extra trips back and forth or having to divide and conquer.

I'll be honest, Sawyer was a little nervous at first but he warmed up quickly. And...I think it's safe to say he had a great time as well.

Some "Red light, green light."

After the initial tears, there were LOTS of smiles.

Look out soccer world. Here comes Sawyer!

Hopefully the nerves are done and he can go straight to the fun part when we return on Saturday.

Until then, go Dolphins! Go Dragons! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y, that's the Dolphins / Dragons battle cry!