On July 25th, I headed to Chicago with Cade and three of his teammates for the US Club National Cup Finals. The U14 Boca Jrs. White team with the help of Cade, Ryan and Liam (who all normally play on the Blue team) won the U14 premier (2nd tier) division of the US Club Regionals in Seattle in June earning them the birth in the National Cup.
Cade, Pascal, Dan, Ryan and I arrived in Chicago Wednesday afternoon and promptly found an authentic Chicago style pizza to try out. It was delicious!
Thursday (which was my birthday), we spent the day at Six Flags Amusement Park. The boys loved it and went on all ten of the big roller coaster rides; I joined them on about half of them. It was fun trying out some of the big roller coasters but, unfortunately, I can't ride amusement rides all day like I used to!
Friday morning the boys played their first game, losing to a Northern California team 0-3. This NorCal team ended winning the National Championship. After the game, we headed into Chicago with a big group of boys and parents and explored the Sears (Willis) Tower, The Navy Pier, Magnificent Mile and the downtown beach area. I've been to Chicago once before and it's a great city. It is so pretty right on Lake Michigan.
Saturday morning brought another game which they boys lost 0-2; it was a close game and Cade played well but they were just outmatched, this time by an opponent from New York. After the game, we went to a gorgeous state park on Lake Michigan. The sand and water was amazing; we all swam in the lake and and I relaxed in the sun.
Sunday, the boys played a game they should've won against a team from the South (Mississippi, I think); the Boca Jrs. were up 1-0 with about 12 minutes left and we really thought they'd pull out a win, but it wasn't meant to be. The team kind of imploded in the last 5 minutes and lost 1-5! The boys were pretty bummed BUT a return trip to Six Flags cheered them up pretty quickly; I didn't join them this time but instead got in a little relaxation and some shopping :)
Monday, we packed up and headed 20 miles north to Wisconsin mostly so Cade could check another state off his list of states he's visited! We went to an outlet mall near the border and shopped a little and then headed to the airport for our flight home. It was a great trip but pretty tiring and I was very happy to finally snuggle back in my own bed at about 2 am Tuesday morning!
At the Portland airport, ready to fly. This was Dan and Ryan's first time flying!
Chicago Pizza! Yum!
So many fun rides at Six Flags!
Love my fellow roller coaster rider!
Free fall rides are not for me...I watched Cade and Pascal ride this one!
Cousins Pascal and Cade
The facilities of the National Cup were pretty cool!
Chicago skyline from the 96th Floor Lounge of Willis/Sears Tower
The boys enjoyed a drink at 96 floors up with a view of the city and Lake Michigan
Navy Pier was a neat and busy place
Cade was very hot after walking around downtown and the water felt so good; he stripped to his boxers and jumped in! Liam eventually joined him as well.
Jason (Liam's dad) and I took the boys to a very authentic and yummy Chicago pizza place downtown for dinner. The boys loved writing their names on the walls and chairs of the restaurant.
The teams were announced before each game. It was pretty cool!
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| The Lake Michigan beach at the state park was gorgeous |
In the evenings when I wasn't chasing after the boys, I really enjoyed watching the Olympics and I read a book
The Team
I was bummed to miss Willem's birthday while we were away. Chad sent me these pictures via text. It was so nice to see these smiling faces when we returned Tuesday...
1 comment:
I love that you captured so much of your trip with all those boys. Cool pictures of the rides and the boys signing that wall and the city and the beach. Too bad they didn't have as much luck with their games, but what a fantastic experience!!
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