Soccer and Prom and Mountains, Oh My!

On Friday, Bryan and I headed up to the western part of the state to spend some time with the sibs. Victoria & Zechariah had soccer games that evening in Salem, so that was our first stop. I don't know how it works in the "big city," but in the mountains, girls & boys play on the same night. Considering the school they were playing was two hours away, that makes sense, right? So we got there just a few minutes into Victoria's game. Victoria had missed a practice last week (tsk tsk) so she got her playing time cut a bit because of it, but it was still cool to see her out there. I know very little about soccer, so I couldn't shout anything really meaningful... but "Go Vic!" was good enough!

After the girls were done (they lost, unfortunately, 4-0), it was time for the boys! Zech is a starter, and I was surprised to see that he NEVER got a break! Two 40-minute periods, then two 5-minute overtimes, he was out there the whole time! He's very athletic and had some great plays. He plays defense, though, so he didn't get to score. He did manage to get down to the goal with the ball once, and BARELY missed a score. And the boys ended with a tied game, so that was good!

We stayed Friday night at The Gristmill in Warm Springs. It is a great little bed & breakfast, and we stayed there a couple of years ago when we went up. This time we stayed in the Silo Room, which is exactly what it sounds like. It was really cool to have round walls!! I want a round room in my house. :) And then breakfast: the picnic basket filled with fresh, hot breakfast breads and coffee and OJ... I love that part!!

Saturday was PROM DAY!! Got up early and went and picked up Victoria to take her to get her hair done (the place was an hour away... EVERYTHING up there takes FOREVER to get to). Her friend Sabrina's mom is a hairdresser, so she did Victoria's do and Sabrina painted her nails. I just watched and took pictures--I enjoy seeing the transformation! Of course, I was called away in the middle to help Bryan. My air conditioning went out in the fall, and he hasn't had a chance to fix it. Driving around with the windows down was fine, but that was not going to be acceptable once Vic's hair was done! So he decided while we were in the salon he'd see if he could fix it. In the street in Clifton Forge. With no tools. It was a sweet gesture, but the end result was a pissed husband with greasy black hands. Oh well! Luckily it had cooled down from the heat of the morning by the time we headed back to Bath County!

When we got back to Victoria & Zech's house, our mom was there to help Vic finish getting ready (and of course see the date!). Zech, Bryan and I walked down to the creek behind their house and Zech showed us where they swim and their little "beach." When I lived in Bath County, our house was on another branch of that creek, but I spent countless days on a pool float traveling down that thing... there's not much else to do there! We spent a few minutes skipping rocks (well, Zech and Bryan did... I tried, but am not so good at it.), and then Zech took us down to the old house (the one I lived in) and showed us some old cans and bottles and things he has unearthed with his metal detector.

Finally, it was time for Victoria to head off to Prom!! Her date, Michael, had arrived, and of course we had to stand them in front of the fireplace and take a thousand pictures. Poor Michael. Later, my mom asked me if I thought he looked nervous. Hell yes, he looked nervous! There were five of us standing there STARING at them!!! :)

They headed off to the Homestead for prom, and Bryan and I headed home. Yesterday, I got a phone call from a very excited sister: She was named PROM PRINCESS!!!! You go girl!!