Winter Cup

I was spoiled going to St. George for a second weekend. Kade, Tag and Sienna went with me for Kade's tournament, Winter Cup. The weather was really great again so it was so awesome! We left a snowy rainy Thursday morning. There was a scary accident near Santaquin where a car was rolled over in the median. It rained most of the drive but thankfully we made it safely. We got to St. George right after lunch. We had some time before Kade's game so we went to Dragon's Tail staircase. It is 333 steps. We didn't officially time going up the first time but we went a second time and it took around 2:15. There were signs at 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, and the finish. It was easy to spring the first 100 steps but then after that the muscles were burning, lungs were out of breath and it was slow and steady to the top.

Kade played at Pine View High School. I played here in high school so that was cool. It was a beautiful afternoon. His team played really hard and it was a close game through the first half. Then his coach yelled, screamed and chewed them out so badly at half, you could hear it through the whole arena. I really wish I would have filmed it to show everyone how bad it really was. I was in complete shock the whole time and so embarrassed that I didn't think to record it. Second half was terrible and the other team scored more and we didn't score at all. It was rough. It's one thing to be critical and help a team improve, it's another thing to tear them down and be degrading. This spring will be Kade's last season with Brad for his coach.

We cheered ourselves up at Chuck-A-Rama. The kids were in heaven going there. They were so surprised when they suggested going there and I said yes. We all love the sticky buns. Kade got a plate full. Then we were making jokes about sticky buns. Kade said, "The sticky buns are going to stick out my bun!" Haha!

That night we played mini golf at the hotel, the kids swam in the pool and played in the hot tub. It was so fun.

Friday morning I ran circles around the temple and watched the sunrise and the sky turn to cotton candy. This is how it looked when I first got to it. It was about a mile from our hotel.

This is how it looked when I was heading back to the hotel. It was breath taking!

The kids ate breakfast at the hotel. We stayed at Red Lion. They have a pretty decent breakfast. Then we rushed to Kade' game. His coach didn't even show up and so the assistant took over and did warm ups and coached first half. He didn't even have the soccer balls so you could tell it wasn't a planned thing for the coach not to be there. Brad seemed like a little kid having a tantrum.

Tag and Sienna loved playing together. We were at Sandtown Park and there were the perfect climbing trees all around. They found one and played in it the whole game and even a little bit after.

That afternoon we went to Fiesta Fun Center. That was also a fun surprise to the kids. They were so happy that we got to go. They played mini golf, did the bumper boats and played some arcade games. 

Kade had his last game that night at Sullivan Virgin River Soccer Park. I think it is such a pretty soccer complex with the red rock to the North, a pond and a river to the south. His team played the best they've played all tournament but unfortunately it wasn't enough and they lost. No team picture or anything because the coaches we not happy. Ugh, usually there is a  team picture taken no matter what the outcome.

That night we went to the Rinq because it is on the Getoutpass. It is a fun roller rink off of Dixie Dr. We stayed for an hour.

After the rink we went to Zeppe's. Mmmm! We got back to the hotel too late to swim or play mini golf. Since Kade didn't have games the next day, I let the kids watch Disney channel until midnight. They were pretty happy about that.

Saturday morning I ran north to Red Cliffs Blvd. There is a trail that runs along side so I took that until I was 4 miles out and then I ran back. I love running in St. George!

We had breakfast when I got back. We had about an hour before check out to play pickleball. 

We had to make a stop at Pinkbox so Sienna could experience it. We got a dozen to take home. 

So the other team Kade plays for is Al's team. Both teams were playing in the tournament so Kade couldn't play for both. He chose Brad's team because he was committed to Brad's first. We really wish he would have played for Al's at the tournament. It would have been a much better experience. We went Saturday morning and watched their last game. They team played hard and looked good. Kade got to sit on the bench with them. The team was coached in a positive way. Kids need to be told what they are doing wrong and how they can improve but there are different ways of doing that. Some ways are good and some ways are bad.

We headed back home after we got lunch. The weather was perfect and we made it home by dinner time. It was another great weekend in St. George!