Soccer Season!

 Elizabeth began playing league soccer again, and man, am I glad she picked the sport back up. She is on a recreational team which is right up her alley. There is competition, but the girls playing are mostly playing just for fun. 

The two years that she has taken off since last playing this sport seem to have been good for her. Her last team was pretty toxic and that was not good for her psyche. She is a pretty sensitive kiddo and being in that environment was damaging to her for a lot of reasons. She needed some time to recover from that and decide if soccer was something that she wanted to continue playing. 

While I am glad that she is playing organized sports, I am more glad that she is doing so on her own terms. It makes it so much more enjoyable for us all. 

Her first game was last weekend and her team won 3-2. It was a good game with good competition. Both teams seemed to be pretty evenly matched which always makes for good viewing. She started and played until she was asked to be subbed out. Taking two years off was good for her mind, but her body is taking a little bit of time to get used to running around for two 40 minute halves again. 

Sarah came to support Elizabeth which has to be hard for her as Sarah was a tremendously talented soccer player in her time. I know that she misses the sport very much. I am proud of Sarah for the maturity it takes to be able to support her siblings at something that breaks her own heart because her body no longer allows her to play. 

The game weather was sunny and hot. Sarah and I miscalculated how hot it would be and we both paid for that by not coming to the game prepared. Bobby is the assistant coach on Elizabeth's team which is so cool because he is a really, really good coach. It is nice to see them share in this experience together. 

Elizabeth is AMAZING at throw ins. I was trying to get an action shot of her, but I could not. My camera needs some repairs and no longer focuses in time for action shots. (At least most of the time.)

Stone Mountain State Park

 Several weeks ago Bobby, Andy, Elizabeth, and I went on a hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We visited Stone Mountain State Park and hiked one of its more vigorous trails which ended up being around 5.5 miles of up and down climbing. It was probably one of the most intense hikes I have ever been on, but it was also one of the most beautiful hikes I have been on in years. It was worth the soreness the next day and the pure exhaustion when it was over. 

It is nice to live in a state that has relatively easy access to both the ocean and the mountains. I am reminded again and again when I visit these places how healing nature is for me and also how much I need nature to be a constant part of my life - especially the older I get. 

The trail head

This picture does not do it justice, but it was so cool to be surrounded by hill after hill of tall trees towering (east coast style) overhead. 

The beginning scenes of forest fire damage. 

All those pine cones just waiting to fall!

I find it neat to think about what life was like for the person who used this fireplace to heat their home and also what the area looked like when there was an actual house on the spot where I was standing. 

Fire damage

This rock formation was HUGE. It went all the way down the mountain in one contiguous piece. I was not about to go near the edge to take a picture though because I am very afraid of heights. 

My crew. 

A piece of burnt wood among the forest regrowth. 

Elizabeth almost stepped right on this guy as he slithered across our path and into the forest floor. 

This trail was one of the best marked trails I have ever been on. 

A forest trying to regrow...

That rock actually had a ton of water coming down it. There was a river at the top of this gigantic hill that flowed down over the rock formation and into a river bed below.  (It was about 25 flights up stairs up - no joke. It was grueling - especially at the end of our hike)