NFC in Virginia Beach

Round two in our game of Catch Up: National Futures Championship!

Look! There she is, our little medalist! That's a bronze medal around her neck there.

Redheaded Snippet is in a field hockey program through which she was selected as one of the best players under the age of 14 in our state to represent said state in the National Championship Tournament! And her team won the bronze in their age group! We are so proud of her!

Now, of course, she didn't do it alone. Here's the entire team! They won some, they lost some, they all had to play many different positions, including the ones they aren't all that familiar or comfortable with (Redheaded Snippet got stuck in her least favorite position a few times) but it's all part of the experience.

Redheaded Snippet has a certain threshold when it comes to standing still, even if it's for photos. We've passed it here and so I am mocking her. Doesn't she look like a brat, standing there with a medal around her neck, pouting? What's wrong with that girl's parents?

The Viking looks so very proud and not at all mocking of his sweet, little daughter. He must be the good parent. He didn't even mind driving 6 hours to get to the tournament (I complained, of course) or having to leave the hotel at 5:10 in the morning to be at the field at 5:30 (I am not kidding), or sitting in the sweltering, blistering sun (literally, I got sunburned for the first time in 15 years) for hours on end to watch her play. But then, he likes to drive, doesn't mind long bridges over water (the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel is no fun if you have frequent nightmares about bridges like I do), falls back to sleep easily, and doesn't have the kind of weird humidity-induced asthma I seem to have. It's a good thing he's around to balance me out, isn't' it?

Anyway, for good and for bad, it was a road trip we got to take as a family. It's the only thing close to a vacation we'll be able to have for a long while and we did our best to make the best of it (more photos to follow in another post) and we made memories to laugh about later.

Not to mention, I got a killer new favorite family portrait!