Last weekend, Finley and I went up to NH and VT to be in the cheering section as Dan coached the Tufts frisbee guys in the regional championships. The weather was wonderful and there's nothing that Finley loves more than being outside running around. Running around with all his sports equipment that is...our "sports bag" carries a baseball bat (or two), a tennis racquet, his baseball glove, Dan's baseball glove, a football, a soccer ball, a plastic/beach ball, a couple of tennis balls, and a plastic softball. Good thing most of those items don't weigh much :)
We set up our chairs and spent the day back in forth between watching the boys play, eating snacks, playing sports together, and letting Finley run onto the field with Dan after goals were scored. While Finley enjoyed playing sports with me, he was also very interested in playing with Eli (3rd grader, son of another coach). Eli was a great sport and was very patient "playing" baseball with our guy. Finley even ran off at one point to join Eli who was playing soccer with Gavin, one of the Tufts players.
Getting to go onto the field with Dan was certainly a highlight, though, and Finley even got to go and shake hands with some of the opposing teams after games were over.
Thankfully, when I needed a break, we could go wander over to find Eliot whose mom was coaching the Tufts women's team. Finley and Eliot get along quite wonderfully and they happily shared some snacks, did some push ups, and then the giggling really got going.
After Saturday's games, we went back to our hotel and then went out to dinner. A delicious dinner that was followed by a visit to an ice cream stand in a Home Depot parking lot just down the road that Dan and I recalled visiting years back. What more could a kid ask for??
Yes, that was the "baby" sized serving that we had to scrape into a bowl to prevent a huge mess. Thankfully, after licking his way through 1/2 a scoop or so--he asked Dan to get most of the ice cream off so he could bite the cone. He also sampled my strawberry ice cream and Dan's mint chocolate chip soft serve.
We tucked him into his travel crib and crossed our fingers for a good night's sleep for everyone. Turns out he slept like a champ (until a heavenly 7am!) but I was up at 5am listening to him breathe...and trying to avoid walking past him to the bathroom (which at 31 weeks pregnant was more than a challenge!). We then had breakfast with all the other coaches and Finley's adopted big brother, Eli, before heading back to the fields.
The team played really well and despite some moments of pure exhaustion on Finley's part, we had another lovely day at the fields. During the finals, both Eli and Finley had fun trying out a new cheering strategy on the sidelines. Check it out!
Tufts beat Dartmouth in an uneventful finals game, phew!, and earned a bid to Nationals! Woo-hoo!
Here's the team photo that Finley was invited to be in as we were packing up :)
It was after 4pm at this point so we piled into the car with two of Dan's co-coaches, Mike and Mike, and by the time we were out of the parking lot-->
Both the Tufts men and the Tufts women will be competing for a National title at the College Championships in Boulder, CO over Memorial Day weekend. Dan will be flying out there but his two trusty sidekicks will be staying here in Boston checking updates online and cheering from the East Coast :)
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