Nethen Beach Club

After the mudflats we rode by bus to the Nethen Beach Club where some of the girls tried out water skiing/boarding. The other girls lounged on the beach until it started pouring rain. More photos to come and I'll try to post a little video also.....

Mudflats at the North Sea

Not sure if you've figured out the times I have been posting but it's getting later and later and we are getting up early every day. The days have been filled with fun and there is lots to share but my time online is limited right now and Ivan and I have started falling asleep at meals and such so we figure we should get to bed before 1am if we can. So - I will post some photos of today (Sat) with a promise to catch up soon.

First we traveled by bus to the Mudflats at the North Sea. When you first hear about it you're like "What?!?" but it was very interesting and the girls had fun. It was a lot of walking for some but we made it. There was some rain so you can see Ivan with his snazzy umbrealla (OK, it's Hannah's). At one point the mud came up to their knees and it "ate" Christina's socks when she finally got out of it. Ivan and I were betting on who would fall in and what do you know... it was Casey.

End of the Day...

At the end of the tournament we took home 3rd place. The girls played very, very well. So well that we added things up and figured we were in 1st or 2nd. There were rumors that we had 5 points taken off due to being American..... (I'll never admit that I started that rumor.....). But 3rd place is something to be proud of. Ivan and I were discussing the fact that perhaps 20 hours of travel should have come before all of our other tournaments. The girls will be bringing home a trophy and each of them received a medal.

In Between Games...

In between games there was plenty of time to relax and for the girls to "mingle" and even for Ivan to take a photo of himself with the team in the background! The German girls taught our girls some German words and phrases while our girls returned the favor with English words and phrases. They also each did -- not sure what they are called - maybe someone can comment with the "name" but when they sing the rhyme and do the hand motions like the big girl version of "pat-a-cake." Our girls also taught the Westerstede girls how to play "ninja" which I am sure is a life skill that will prove valuable to them. I also included a photo I took of the Westerstede girls and Redlands Rush while the newspaper photographer was taking his. We're going to ask for copies of the article to be sent to us.

FSU - Ami - Cup der Juniorinnen

Today (Fri) we played in a tournament in Westerstede. There were seven teams total and we all gathered on the field before play began for instructions - which were in German. Luckily, we figured it out. We played all six (6) other teams. We played for 15 minutes and then two - four other 15 minute "games" would occur and then we would play again. It still took all day to complete the tournament. We tied four games and won two!!!! The girls played very well. I tried to take a lot of photos but some did not come out so well (the girls are moving so fast). I posted some of the better ones above. The girls soon discovered what was getting called by the ref (not much) and what was not. The girls also commented on the "mood" of the game. Even though it was a tournament - a mini tournament if you will - the games were very friendly.... I think I saw anything near a push 1-2 times and certainly no cards. One of the girls even commented about how a player from another team helped one of the girls up off the field.

Editor's Note

For those of you that are new to viewing a BLOG - the oldest posts are at the bottom and the first photos I put in each post are at the bottom of that post. They are best read from the bottom up :)

Westerstede Arrival

We finally found the clubhouse and were greeted by our host families. After drinks and snacks that they provided everyone went home with their host families. We haven't heard anything from them (and see that a few have been on FB) so we're figuring they are doing fine.

Then Came the Bus Ride....

We then took a bus to Westerstede, Germany..... 6 hours long... considering we couldn't find our driver and then part way there he told us he didn't actually have the address he was supposed to take us to, we realized we didn't have the exact address he was supposed to take us to, and it was the middle of the night in the U.S.... we made it safe and sound.