"Gonna be a good day"

New York is coming to a close for SoccerPlus...after being here for 2 weeks I can call this home more than any other sites because we have been here the longest. These 2 weeks have flown by, I cannot believe it is almost over. Right now Bobby and I are sitting in the camp store jamming out to Disney music (currently playing Eye to Eye from the Goofy Movie) we have also jammed to "Good Day" by Nappy Roots every morning...it can put anyone in a good mood :)

The staff game is today and our team is in the Ship' woooo....after playing a double header yesterday we will take on Drew's team in the final in front of all the campers. Winners win Lord DiCicco's cup which WHEN we win I will gladly throw that thing in the mote.

We had a lot of extra marshmallow's leftover from the bonfire so Thor decided to play Chubby Bunny....

 

Oh and here are the pictures of the banana's from the story I told you about in the previous blog....we wiped out the store

And this is the bruise I have had for a week now from Drew all because he was mad I beat him in a game of crossbar....haha I'm the little sister he never had so he loves to pick on me

This is the view we get to watch at sunset everyday and it's amazing

Oh and yesterday after pressure training we got to go swimming in the pool and I got to do a couple flips off the diving board...Amy and Dad I did a gainer...proud? because I was scared out of my mind.

Well today I have a couple errands to run and hopefully I will get to meet up with Coach Kristy, my cross country coach in high school who is awesome and they just adopted a little baby boy so I'm hoping to meet up with her later in the day.

Our next stop is Northfield Mass and we are either planning a trip to NYC over the weekend or just stopping in Hartford for a night.

My plans for today are:

Take Pics at the field

Go to the post office and mail off my freaking ticket

Pick up the U-Haul

 Print off some e-vals

Staff Games

Star Wars tonight

I figured out how to get videos off of my phone so here is the chubby bunny video and Bobby's dance to the peacock!

Hakuna Matata

Peacock

Week One is done...over...and out here at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. The two week campers stayed the weekend while we have been setting up for week 2.  Week 1 went really well, lots of fun, lots of soccer, lots of parents calls, and LOTS of sweating because there is no AC in the dorms and it feels like we are in Alabama...so just imagine Alabama heat in the dorms with no AC (thank goodness for fans)
Here is a list of what happened during week 1
Treated myself to a yummy ice cream cone during the sweltering heat

Star Wars (we dominated...naturally)
Ran up a huge mountain/hill

Made an amazing creation with coffee and swirled ice cream in the dining hall
only had one hospital run
had a girls only venting session/walk with Lisa and Julia :)
Ran thru the moat
Had a slip n' slide

Went swimming in the pool
Drew and I dominated campers in the card game KEMPS
played in multiple scrimmages with the campers
lost in the staff game
ran up and down the stairs and to the library a million times for laundry for the kids

Week 2 at Colgate

more laundry runs
went on a search for s'mores and skewers
went on a search for bananas and bagels, we cleared out the stores supply of bananas
finally got a fan...after the temp dropped 15 degrees
we got a printer...hooray (no one is as excited for that as Bobby and I are)
had a going away lunch for Lisa (ps come back pwease)
played Wizard Staff (kind of)
Made a few airport runs but also got to eat at a place other than the dining hall
Laid out at the top of some hill with an amazing view of the campus (an hour later realizing I was fried)

Had a mock fire drill
more Laundry
I have now become "besties" with millions of parents from this camp
Delivered mail to this one camper EVERY DAY ...she gets at least 8 letters a day (Mom step up your game...I have received 0 and it's been a month and a half)
with that being said if YOU truly love me send me a letter to
Summer Programs Office
SoccerPlus:Kelly Shaffer
13 Oaks Dr
Hamilton NY 13346
we had a bonfire a few nights ago for the over night campers
Oh and Bobby has made up a dance to Peacock by Katy Perry...compliments to Lisa for introducing us to that song...so whenever there's a stressful situation we play this song and we all dance to it


Peace and Blessings

Old School

I just found this picture of my coach when I went to SoccerPlus in 5th grade...I flew all the way back to California by myself, stayed with Ruthie and Hartsel, and had a great time.  Janusz Michallik was my coach and I actually got the chance to introduce myself again...10 years later, my very first day of my internship I was introduced to him again.

Today because of the heat wave we made a slip n slid for instead of one of the sessions and it was a huge hit!

"I don't feel like dancing"

The title of this blog has basically been the theme song to this summer....first time I heard was when Thor was singing to it...it has now caught on to the whole entire group..and of course add Julia's finger shaking in it as well (not complete without that) 

Just do yourself a favor and look it up...it's by the Scissor Sisters

actually I will add it right below this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H5I6y1Qvz0

Add Bobby's peacock dance and you will find yourself laughing for hours.

So today was a pretty relaxed day here at SoccerPlus, I am now a champ at sleeping thru my alarm and calling Bobby freaking out after he notifies my it's only 8 am....sheesh

I printed some evals, took some pictures, watched pressure training, made a few water refill runs, took a camper to the orthopedic clinic (sadly, i missed the staff game) and got some lunch.

We then had a training session in the pool, which was so much fun and so refreshing because it has been Alabama up here y'all! haha  After the pool and dinner campers head our to the night session while Bobby and I decide to run up this massive hill and take Bryson, Anthony's puppy, with us as well.  It was a struggle but well worth it.

Some of the staff during pressure training

Bryson!

Death Hill

Struggs at the top with Bryson

Cut my time in half and this is what Bobby got

Such an awesome view

Monkeys or Teletubbies?

Sheesh

 

 

 

Well after the run and watching the rest of training we start to head back to campus and make a pit stop at the gas station but before we get there we see these lights in our rear view mirror

Whoops

 

So Ant gets pulled over for not completely stopping at a stop sign....I think cops have a radar for when I'm around or something these past few months.  SHEESH

Well on to the next day...peace and blessings

Word to Lisa and Bobby: Step up your blogging game it's weak sauce! :)

HELLO FROM HAMILTON, NEW YORK!

We will be at Colgate University for the next two weeks working camp.  The staff is back together and couldn't be better! (hehe) After leaving Cali at 4 in the morning with a million suitcases and bags to check we arrive in New York and check in to campus and then head out to a cook out for the staff members. We showed up at the very end but it was so good to see everyone that wasn't in California with us. We grilled out and some people went swimming in the lake. After we got back we were greeted with water balloons and water guns by Lisa Bobby and Dre. We then all went downtown as a group to a place called the Hour Glass for the night.

Hansel and Gretel

 

 

 

 The next day was registration which was of course super hectic not to mention a speeding ticket I received on the way to pick up a camper from the airport. (Tears would not shed from my eyes even though I tried) So after that stressful day and watching a pathetic performance of PK's by the USA in the world cup match we all called it a night. 

Monday was less stressful since everyone has jumped into the swing of things now. At this site we are doing staff games so it's basically staff scrimmages (Lord DiCicco's cup)

This week Bobby and I have dealt with  MILLIONS of phone calls from parents (most so far from all the camps I've been to) picture taking. serving balls into keepers, organization of camp store, printing evals, making copies, running errands, unlocking dorm rooms...list goes on but this Internship has been a blast. The staff at every camp has been amazing and the environment at these camps is so awesome and exciting for upcoming soccer stars.

There have only been a few psycho incidents.

So far there is only 1 hospital run

0 scares from the stupid owl

and millions of laughs and funny stories already

Today we had our staff game and then I was able to jump in a scrimmage of the fieldplayer staff vs some of the older boy campers which was so much fun to just go out and play and not having to worry about getting yelled at! (woooo)

Tonight some of the staff decided to "sheesh" around in the front room and Bobby puts on a show for us with his peacock dancing moves and hey there delila song...and of course we all jammed to "I don't feel like dancing" by the Scissor Sisters

Tomorrow is pressure training day and going to be another hot day...nothing like Alabama though

Oh and here is my baby room I call home for the next 2 weeks

 

 

Much Love

Lord DiCicco's Owl

Some of the Staff in California...after the fieldplayers dominated the keepers in Star Wars :)

Grub with the Owl in the Chicago Airport

So here is the story behind this STUPID owl....it's supposedly "Lord DiCicco's Owl" and in Colgate (where we finally arrived after chaos in California and flights being canceled and switched) there is a tournament in honor of this Owl called Lord DiCicco's cup. Well the Owl and I have become besties to say the least...it has been with us this whole trip and in California the staff thought it would be hilarious to hide it all over my apt and scare me.....well it worked. Some of the places they hid this creature was my closet, wrapped in my sheets, hanging from the smoke detector, the shower, my bathroom, sometimes just directly behind me so when I would turn around it's little beady eyes would be staring at me. The worst part was that this owl freaked me out even when I knew it was hiding somewhere....whenever I did not see the owl on the counter I knew it was hiding somewhere but yet I still let out a few screams each time I walked into a place and saw it staring at me from my closet.

I will blog more about my journey in California and the many In N Out Places we stopped to eat at along the way but I have to go for now....ta taaaaa my friends

Oh PS congrats to Mary Shelton and Pat on getting engaged could not be more excited for the the two of you guys!!!

With That Being Said

This was about the most exciting stop we took on the way to Vail from Indiana, the I-70 diner in the middle of nowhere, Kansas. While looking for tornado's and exciting windmills we came across this little diner and scarfed down our breakfast for lunch meal and got back on the road for Vail



There are two pics because we had this great idea to crop me into this one since we couldn't find someone to take a pic for all 3 of us...plus we had to add the SoccerPlus bumper stickers that have been on every single one of our vehicles since our adventure had begun





We eventually start seeing these mountains and start getting super excited about being in Vail...don't let if fool you we were hours away because of traffic but it was fun to take pictures...all of mine all look the same even though when I was taking them I thought every single one was better than the other.



This was also interesting to see...Buffalo's on the side of the road...people were actually pulled over feeding them...I didn't get the people in the picture because everyone has seen one of those things :)



We finally arrive after a long long drive and Clara greets us at the door and we walk upstairs to her families condo and after meeting her AWESOME family they were nice enough to put us up in another place and this was our view from our place

I will show you a picture later on of us in the gondola but we ride the gondola all they way up to the mtn in the pic above this one...Drew's buddies who he works with during the winter when he lives here let us take the last ride and we saw the most amazing view of the stars from up there. It was incredible and unreal!





This was my room for the night! It was so amazing not having to sleep in a dorm twin bed for the first time in a month



This is everyone that went to dinner with us in Vail. The Kridlers took us to Garfinkels and we sat outside and got to know Clara's family and it was such a good time.

Clara and I! (my roomie in Indiana) she's a baller

These guys.....Drew, Doody, Louis, and Grub
these are the four boys that I got to spend 24/7 with for a week as we traveled across the country to California

My family/brothers for the summer...couldn't have asked for a better group



Riding up the Gondola



Scheemin....Huh? So the story behind Huh is Grubb is from Baff England and they are apparently pretty proper over there and have really good manners...well apparently down south Yes Mam is not enough because whenever I say "huh" he corrects me or just says huh back to make fun...so I'm working on saying excuse me or pardon instead of huh? :) thanks Grubber

Such a fun night in Vail

On top of the mountain looking at the stars

Louis, Grub, Doody, and Clara

The next morning we had an amazing breakfast that Mrs. Kridler and Rika (Clara's super legit friend that runs iron mans) and Clara made and after watching a few hours of the world cup we walked around downtown Vail because there was a farmers market going on...this farmers market was HUGE and so neat that it occupied us girls and Louis for 2 1/2 hours while Doody and Drew pancaked with the soccer ball around downtown and Grub was somewhere biking all over the mountains of Vail.



That night we went to a BBQ at one of Drew's co-workers house and it was a blast. There was corn hole going, redneck gold, badminton, and lots of foods. Everyone was so nice and welcoming too. We then walked over to Avon and sat and watched fireworks around a lake. It was a good way to end our last night in Vail. The next day we were headed to Vegas for the fourth!!



They did a penalty kick shoot out,,,video should work right below this....ps by this time we were going pretty crazy in the car because we had been driving for a long time and ready to get to Vegas.












This picture might be the best pic of the whole trip....we drove thru so many beautiful areas of Colorado and when we saw this sign we decided to stop and snap a pic....the car behind us had the same idea so they were nice enough to take this picture of us! I love it!!!

These next pictures are from our trip to Vegas

Wooooo we finally made it!

I could have been in this store for hours upon hours

I can dream right?

Well I just had my whole blog finished and it just deleted all my pictures from california so just bare with me on these next pictures....these will all be from California. We drove in on the 5th and stayed at a hole in the wall place but hey, I can't complain we have been living in the fast lane that past few days...so after sleeping in the crack of two full beds pushed together we head to UCSD campus....but before I begin stories from camp here are some pictures from Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach...we were able to catch a few sunsets, farmers market, and some awesome burrito places. We also went to a nude beach on accident..guess we should have followed instructions from the signs

I drank this drink like it was water when I was growing up living here

whoops

We then checked into UCSD and picked up Mecchi from the airport and went to the beach, Louis was stung by a jellyfish and wouldn't pee on his leg, we jumped in the waves, had a good time, did some work since I am still doing my internship right? (ha doesn't seem like it right?) we set up some goals get ready for registration and then head off to Ruthie and Hartsel's (I talked about them in my previous blog) but I will just reiterate how AWESOME they are...they have been married for 66 years and are 85 and 86 and are such amazing people...so welcoming to everyone and I call them my "non-related" grandparents...here are some pics from their house

Grub passed out in the car ride home from such a good meal

So for the most part I am fully caught up on pictures and stories...camp has been pretty good so far. Registration was crazy but we got through it with minor problems. Parents here are pretty psycho...this will definitely my busiest camp talking to parents on the phone but oh well...that's what I'm here for.  I've already been woken up with a 630 am call from a parent basically just chatting with me bcs the conversation went no where.

I also have circled the San Diego Airport so many times that I can officially become a Nascar Driver I am that skilled. The camp here there are about a little over 100 campers. My apartment is also the training room so there are always lots of knocks at my door.

There is also an awesome trail I have ran on a couple times that has millions of little paths to take with hills and ditches and lizards and probably snakes just have not seen one yet (PTL) :)

Good News the Budget is back where it belongs...at the Budget place hahah just kidding it ran like a champ....I actually rode in the very of it on the way to the beach (which ended up being a 30 min drive plus Louis' road rage) but there's always a first for something right!?...just kidding Louis

The staff here is awesome...there is actually a girl here, Mandy, that played soccer with all my good friends growing up in California...small world huh!? I have been strictly admin this camp so far because it's such a large camp and Bobby left me for Virginia...jerk!


To leave y'all with a funny story....there is this owl figure..they call it Lord DiCicco's Owl and at the Colgate campus there is this tournament for the Owl (i think) it's called Lord DiCicco's cup...well anyways the owl has been with us on the whole trip...(for those from Samford reading, kinda like Spring Break Sally,except this owl is still in one piece, sorry Mom) well the Owl has been in my room this whole week and it's a pretty creepy owl. It just always stares at you and three different times SOMEONE keeps moving it in a different spot in my room to scare me...so this is where I found the Owl last

until next time....Peace and Blessings and Hootie Hoooo