Campfires and Cleats: May 2016

Monday, May 23, 2016

NY is Cosmos Country! 5 Reasons to Take Your Family to a NY Cosmos Game #5faves

So you're a fellow native New Yorker ......yay!!

Or you're traveling to The Big Apple.......welcome!

You've got kids and you're into fun, frugality and family friendly events?

Throw in world class athleticism and

have I got a phenomenal afternoon ( or evening!) for you.

Actually 14 of them remaining this season.......:

The New York Cosmos, NY's very own pro soccer league!

The Cosmos, currently 1st place in the North American Soccer League,

upon their victory last night over the Tampa Bay Rowdies,

offer a truly unbelievable family experience for fans of all ages.

I know that may sound cliche, but it's true.

Soccer junkies and even lukewarm fans of the sport will undoubtedly enjoy

a game, replete with many engaging activities for all ages

at Shuart Stadium, home of the Cosmos.

Here are my Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Take the Family

to a NY Cosmos Game

this Season~

( But beware: one game will turn into an addiction and your family might

just become a group of soccer fanatics devoting themselves to

all sorts of healthy, fun, daring "football" maneuvers in the yard!)

~ 1 ~

The entire Cosmos club cares about their fans.

Really.

And I'm talking about everyone.

Management, box office staff, ushers, parking lot attendants,

athletes, everyone.

No where else in pro sports have I had the experience of

phone calls being returned,

deals being offered ( really awesome ticket deals too!)

and cell phone numbers of upper management given.

I know, right?

Not only that - but how about athletes who take the time to greet players

before and after their game?

The guys have got to be drained, mentally and physically and yet they stop to take

pictures, give autographs, smile with little ones.

David Diosa, #21, a defender, signing my son's ball!

Meeting Lucky Mkosana, his all time favorite player!

I can't tell you how this made him feel......

Andres Flores, #11, midfielder, takes the time to greet fans, too!

All of the athletes stopped to take care of their fans.....

these players are simply the shots I was able to grab.

They care.

The NY Cosmos soccer club epitomizes nice.

The positive energy and enthusiasm exuded by the entire club at

every game we've attended this season and last--- unparalleled.

~ 2 ~

Cultural awareness and education

The melting pot that is NY is evident everywhere in

The Big Apple and surrounding areas.

Celebrating a variety of ethnicities is huge within the Cosmos 'culture'

and last night was no exception.

We were treated to magnificent pre game and half time shows

honoring Croatian and Portuguese Heritage Days.

Here's a short video I took:

I filmed a longer segment,

which unfortunately, is tooooo long to load here......

The music, dancing and costumes were phenomenal and exciting for

all the guests and hopefully, you'll get a glimpse from this~

Enjoy~

~ 3 ~

The Cosmos club is into involvement & FUN

for all.

In addition to being sure that every guest has a positive experience

at every match, the Cosmos offer the opportunity for

kids of all ages to participate in events and games during

half time ( and before the match) that are tons of fun!

Just last night, kids representing a local elementary school regaled the

audience with their lovely version of our national anthem:

They were wonderful!!

The Cosmos also host training camps for local youth soccer teams,

which are wildly popular...the kids refine skills with an amazing coaching staff

and meet players too....

talk about inspiring and motivating young soccer players!

~ 4 ~

World Class Athleticsm

The NY Cosmos has a long history.......

the club began in the early 70s, when the USA was a non soccer loving country,

folded in the early 80s and made a comeback in 2013.

Even non fans of the sport know one name, am I right?

And yes, believe it or not, Pele did play for the NY Cosmos ...

he was signed in 1975 after leading Brazil to 21 World Cup titles!

Amazing....

Here, by the way, are some shots of the game last night.....

NY vs Tampa Bay

Currently, the NY Cosmos soccer team is ranked first in the NASL....

As a NYer, I'm very proud and as a Mom of soccer loving kids,

I couldn't be happier that such a family oriented pro sports club is within

a 60 minute drive and offers such wonderful amenities!

~ 5 ~

~ Affordability~

We've all come to associate "exorbitance" with "professional sports."

Not so with the NY Cosmos.

Not only are fans offered a variety of affordable pricing and seating options,

but we can also choose multi game discounts, purchase season tickets

AND coordinate ticket prices with concession stand deals.

Click here to check out the options and purchase tickets

Additionally, at many games, the team offers giveaways of some sort!

Last night we were gifted with a Carlos Mendes bobblehead,

sure to become a highly treasured collectible

by young soccer fans for a LONG time!

Seriously, for sooooooo much less than you'd assume,

your family can purchase seats and a concession stand voucher,

OR a Buffalo Wild Wings ticket/meal package........

Thanks SO much for stopping by for a peek into the NY Cosmos world.

I'll be back next week with more on the Cosmos after we attend

the May 28 game opposing the Oklahoma City Rayo....

We're SO looking forward to the game!

Friends, as always,

thank you for stopping over and

spending some of your precious time

here at my home on the web!

You might wish to follow on Facebook

and Pinterest as well.....

Until next time,

~Chris

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Backyard Sunrise ~ WW

You know I'm sunrise/sunset picture junkie.

I just can't get enough.

This caught my eye from the kitchen window at about 6:20

this morning and I had to snap it....

Friends, as always,

thank you for stopping over and

spending some of your precious time

here at my home on the web!

Have you signed up to receive my posts in your email inbox?

If not, just enter your email address here

so we can be in touch regularly!

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You might wish to follow on Facebook as well.....

Until next time,

~Chris

Monday, May 2, 2016

What I'm Into, What We're Reading, Years Past on the Blog ~ April 2016 Edition

Welcome May and another What I'm Into style wrap up where we

link our faves, our current obsessions and

what was happening on the blog this month in past years....

Lots of fun, thanks to Leigh of What I'm Into ~!

Books: Let's see....... I'm nearing the end of The Lakeshore Chronicles series

Wow, I'm loving Susan Wiggs. After I devour all of this series, I'll be

haunting her site for new titles!

In preparation for our trip west ( again!) this summer, I'm tapping many of

Fodors books to be sure we "see" allllllllll the amazing states west of the mighty

Mississippi has to offer.

What else.....

My oldest is rereading To Kill a Mockingbird as part of his literary studies

Ernest Cline's Ready Player One for how own edification:

If you're enticed by a story combining mystery, tech,

gaming strategy and lots of "Easter eggs," then Ernest Cline is

for you...or your kids.

I picked up a copy of Cline's newest, Armada, as a

summer-mountain-beach read for my son.

You know, for our annual trek to the lake.

Love that his nose is always in a book.

My youngest, book 1

The Ranger's Apprentice

as well as sooooo many snippets of

books for his history, science, English studies.

He's truly enjoying journaling in his Bible, which we gave him as a memento

for his work in our parish's Good Friday living Stations of the Cross.

If you haven't yet looked into Bible journaling, you might like to

head over to my friend, Emily's new Facebook grou p for a great community

of gals venturing into this "new" way of exploring and living our Faith.

TV: We're over a dozen years behind the eight ball with this. But we are finally finally finally

watching Lost ...is it considering just watching or is it a way of life.......?

Oh my goodness.....I can't even begin to tell you how we're hooked....... We're Losties through and through.

4 8 15 16 23 42.

Can't tell who we love more and why. We're in the middle of season 4 and ....... gotta slow it down or the series will be over!!!! So many beloved characters from Once Upon a Time too! And characters we love to hate. If you're a Lost-lover, you know. If you're not.....wow. Go and check it out! By the way, we don't subscribe to cable or Netflix. It's a frugal way of life thing. So library DVDs or amazon is the way we roll.