We did it!

That’s right, everyone! We made it to the apple orchard!

The very sad news is that Lyndsey’s, where we used to always go because we like the ladders and the serenity, has closed. The girls had to improvise at Riverview, where they were almost-but-not-quite out of apples for the season.

I have also cried not once but twice at the girls’ sporting events lately. First, M’s soccer team lost their game in the sectional finals. That wasn’t unexpected, so none of us were too broken up about it, especially since they’d managed to beat our big rivals in the previous game, which was more important to us. But then, the loss meant it was officially her last high school soccer game ever, and a bunch of friends had come to watch the game, too, and in between the game and the bus ride home, she and a bunch of other seniors came over to the stands and to hug friends and family. Believe it or not, she was the first of our family to start crying–normally she’s always the last to crack! Anyway, all that’s left of the school soccer season is the banquet in a couple of weeks and my massive scrapbooking project before then, because of course NGS has this stalwart tradition of presenting each senior with a painstakingly crafted scrapbook, and if you don’t do it, you are officially Neglecting Your Daughter, so that’s a work in progress for me. And meanwhile, M’s already shifted gears and started practicing with her club team.

The second cry came during J’s first volleyball game with the varsity girls. It was really, really lucky for her and all the other just-called-up-girls, because they had a home game, which means that they got to do all of their traditions, including running out and doing this choreographed warm-up to raucous music and then singing the national anthem themselves. This is stuff that the varsity girls do at every home game while the JV girls are there, watching every time and wondering when they’ll get to join in the fun. That first sectional game was their least challenging one, which means that the coach found a chance for each of the new girls to get onto the court for a few quick plays. Each time one of them got her chance, the other girls would yell for her like crazy. As it happened, J didn’t go in until the last few plays of the last set, which means she and I had a little time to start fretting that the coach wasn’t going to remember or get a chance to put her in. So when she did, I was super-excited for her, and since she was the last girl in and they were all about to win the game, her teammates were cheering like crazy for her, and it was all quite lovely to witness and tear-inducing. Since then, they’ve won another sectional game, which means that they’re playing in their sectional championship game on Saturday, against that same rival school that M’s team beat for soccer. Wish ’em luck!