Moscow Weekend...

Once again we hit the road this weekend, with a late start Saturday morning. The Vandals were playing lacrosse in Missoula, MT on Saturday. We opted to skip this trip as we didn't want to drive the mountain pass thru snow again - been there done that.

Throughout our drive north we received texts from parents who made the trip from Northern Idaho to Montana, advising us of current game updates. The team was behind by two - the team scored - they scored again - Krieg had a picture perfect goal - Krieg had another goal - and the final score - Vandals win and Krieg had an amazing game... Dang!

We arrived in Moscow early enough to spend some time with Erin and her roommates, Chris2 (that's Chris squared as there are two of them). We went to a UI Women's hockey game, coached by Chris. Definitely not as rough and tumble as lacrosse but those ladies got into their game. It was fun to take a few pictures of them and post them on Facebook. They were as appreciative to see the pictures as the lacrosse players.

After hockey we met up with our wandering lacrosse players, Krieg and our "self appointed alternate son" Eric (Krieg's roommate), at the Alehouse for dinner. I was informed (with a wink and a smile) by Krieg, that he plays very well without Mom on the sidelines... he sure knows how to push my buttons. It was fun to sit and visit with the boys as well as Erin and Chris. Several of their friends dropped by to say hey too.

Sunday morning we headed for the Sprinturf next to the Kibbie Dome. The Vandals were hosting Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Yes, I have my favorite player(s). I take pictures throughout the game and share them with the team on Facebook. It makes me smile when I see them acknowledging their pictures. They "tag" themselves and then it's on their page to share with their own friends. Sometimes it's mere seconds from my uploading the pictures to the first acknowledgement.

This is a very special team of young men. They just seem to have made a connection with one another. It's a tight bond. You can't help but be proud of every one of them.

Though the game wasn't pretty, the Vandals got the win. The referees, perhaps not as professional as some we've had before, made lots of calls for penalties. The crowd didn't always agree. Thus the reason I take pictures down on the sidelines instead of sitting with my very loud daughter and vocal husband. It's all good...

Once the game was over, we headed back for Boise. It's always bittersweet leaving our kids behind.

This coming weekend we are staying home. We are trading in our lacrosse gear for birthday hats to celebrate Taten's 3rd birthday. His party was pushed from Saturday to a family event on Sunday. I scrambled to check airfare for a flight to Seattle so not to miss the Vandal game vs the Husky's... but at $300 for a 3 hour game, reality won. Birthday cake wins again!