Double digits. Yikes. Time fli... I can't even.
Evs celebrated her 10th year with a night of trampoline jumping, ninja warrior obstacle coursing, rock wall climbing and then slumber partying with nine of her closest friends... and Sawyer, who "[wasn't] invited, but [was] allowed to come with if she wants". Sisters.
The morning of, E got the breakfast in bed treatment (this year's order was pancakes, bacon, cinnamon rolls and orange juice), dinner at Raising Cane's and a movie night with the fam'.
Lordy, lordy, look who's 40!
Linds celebrated her milestone with breakfast in bed, a party at our new basement bar (here we are above, waiting for guests to arrive at 7:31pm, exhausted from preparing... #thisis40), and an upcoming Memorial Day weekend trip to Nashville, TN.
Sawyer's 3A (3rd grade) travel squad had a short, undefeated (11-0) season that ended with a state championship with little resistance along the way. The girls re-upped for a few "spring ball" tournaments, and, to push themselves, opted to jump into 4th grade tournaments. Us coaches were hoping to see how the kids handled playing with some adversity, how they'd rally when playing from behind, and how they'd deal with losing.
Well, we got what we asked for. The girls played a much taller and much stronger Centennial 4th grade A-squad in the opener of SLP's March Madness tournament, got complacent with an early lead, got sloppy with offensive execution, didn't box out... and ultimately lost their lead, and the game, by four points.
Tears, ref-blaming and some "but-they're-so-much-taller" excuses followed, as did a 20 minute "teachable moments" post game pep talk. :-)
Poor Stewartville (2A), their next opponent, didn't know what they were about to run into, and Wayzata's motivated and angry squad won 53-0 (!), allowing only two shot attempts.
The day ended with a wrestle-back rematch with Centennial 4A for (a share of) the championship, which Wayzata won by a dozen points. A fun, redemptive finish to the tournament!
Sawyer finally got to see her idol live and in the flesh when the T-Wolves hosted the Warriors this March, and he did not disappoint scoring 28 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out seven assists in a whooping of the home team. S & I showed up right as gate's opened to watch Steph's ridiculous pregame routine where he makes incredibly challenging shots look routine, knocking down, no lie, 90% of what he puts up, e.g. going 5-for-5 on left handed, one-handed shots from the elbow, and five straight threes from just a few feet inside half court.
Oh, and we ran into Sawyer's BFF Cade (see Steph splashing a 3-ball right in between the kids' heads in the top photo) and left our seats to join him in the second half... which weren't quite as good as the ones we came with, however, they were right next to KD's supermodel girlfriend... so, there's that!
S and her Oiler teammates wrapped up their second full season of hockey. At the year-end banquet Coach Steve called each player up and gave a brief review of each, and said of Sawyer how impressed he was at how hard she's worked to catch up to the pack, being only two years into the program (a late start in the State of Hockey), and how many more touches she was getting as the season progressed. S worked her tail off, loved playing goalie, in particular, was a blast to watch... and turned this household into a hockey family!
So proud of these girls. Particularly what great teammates they both were. Nobody was more respectful to their coaches, had a better understanding of the playbook, or gave more pick-me-up or celebratory high-fives throughout the season.
Sawyer's 3rd grade hoops squad earned the #1 seed for the State Tournament with an undefeated season (including some titles in 4th grade "C" tournaments), and handled their business in the "Big Dance" knocking off Stewartville, Farmington, Elk River, Mounds View and then Stewartville again in a "wrestle-back" for all the marbles.
The girls trailed for the first time this season in the championship, down 9-1 halfway through the first quarter. Sawyer had a handful of steals and boards that turned into fast break buckets that broke the seal for Wayzata and saved the coaches and parents from near heart attacks (admittedly, we all realized we were way more into these games than we cared to admit). The girls kept rolling in the second half and eventually coasted to victory!
Such a fun group of girls and season!
E's 4B squad got the #12 seed in the State Tournament's Lower A bracket and took two quick Ls on Saturday (Minnetonka, Lakeville) before winning their finale in an high tempo and physical game vs Anoka. Evs did a great job protecting the ball, finding and hitting teammates and knocked down a couple deep jumpers. The girls were disappointed, but happy to wrap the season with a win!
