SPRING BREAK - - SEAHAWK\SCHWENK STYLE

Hello again from the Lady Netter’s. I hope you all enjoyed the last blog written by Hartley. My name is Kayla Schwenk. I am a senior from Coconut Creek, Florida, which happens to be my location as I start writing this blog. The Lady Netter’s, John Ware, Coach and her two youngest kids, Corey and Carly, spent Spring Break in my hometown. The time here has gone by way too fast and no one is ready to say goodbye. However, we aren’t saying goodbye quite yet, our flight is delayed due to the weather, and we are chilling in the Ft. Lauderdale airport, so let me start from the beginning.
Rob Brickels, the Director of Seahawks Sports Marketing, graciously offered to drive us to Raleigh Sunday morning. He did get something in return though; Mr. Rob and Ware destroyed the oatmeal cookies that we brought with us, leaving us 2 out of 20 cookies! Thanks for the ride though!
Lindsay has been having some awful luck these past two weeks and it only continued when we got to the Raleigh airport. As we went through security she somehow “lost” her ID. Thirty minutes later it was found wedged between the rollers of the security table. She also got the luxury of sitting in the middle seat between C-Lee and muscle man. The only thing keeping him from being the actual Hulk was the fact he was not green. He didn’t want any of the snacks provided on the plane, just his protein bar, shake and powder would suffice. I want to take this time to introduce Hartley to all of you since she had the pleasure of telling you a little about all of us. Hartley has a lot of determination and has worked hard to get to where she is today. She is the person in the van who is always making things “awkward” or trying to get someone to wrestle with her, just to back out when they take her on. Hartley is also a little afraid of flying so needless to say, Casey is still trying to getting the feeling back in her left hand from Hartley squeezing so tightly.
Once we arrived at my house we grabbed some lunch courtesy of Publix and mamma Schwenk and headed to the pool to blind my neighborhood with our paleness. That night, my parents had a “treat” for the Lady Netters; they had rented a Hummer limo to take us to Taverna Opa in South Beach Miami! It is a Greek restaurant where they dance on the tables and yell, OPA! They encourage the dinner guests to join them, so of course C-Lee was the first up, followed by me and Lindsay. We walked around South Beach taking in all the interesting specimens. Our next stop was Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor, where the Sundaes are as big as my head and can’t be finished by four Lady Netters, which is saying a lot! We were all surprised by the sweet ride, and had a great night. Thanks a lot mom and dad!

Monday-Happy Birthday Baby Dash!!



Casey wanted to take in as much sun as possible for her birthday, so on Monday after a solid hit, where John Ware almost got knocked out by one of my NO swing volleys, we headed to the beach. Everyone got a little color, but Riley took the cake with her stellar finger marks from where she missed the sunscreen-it’s starting to blend though, no worries Riley! That night we had a packed house for dinner including Coach’s brother Mike and Patti Leblang. Thankfully my grandma had cooked beforehand so nobody had to endure my mom’s cooking (just kidding mom).We had a great dinner highlighted by Patti’s broccoli casserole, my sister’s chicken tacos, and our favorite, the flaky rolls. We played a Chinese gift exchange sort of game, which Carly Garrity dominated; winning all sorts of prizes that her mom was thrilled about including marshmallows and two huge chocolate bars. C-Lee had some difficulties with the game, but with just one second on the clock, rolled a 7 and stole the chocolate bar she had been eyeing the entire game. We finished up the night singing Happy Birthday to Dash as she blew out her candles.
On Tuesday we had our match against Nova Southeastern, ranked number 24 in Division II. Introductions of the players were a little unorthodox, with Chelsea’s shin tape drawing the most attention. Since we were at their courts we played Division II format, meaning every doubles match is a point. Nova played some aggressive doubles but we were ready for them and pulled away with all three. As singles got underway, we pulled ahead on all the courts, and did not drop a set on any court. Riley and Linz came away not dropping a game. Seahawks take the win 9-0, and are 5-3 overall…Great Job Hawks! We had a great group of fans as well. Mr. and Mrs. Kahle drove all the way from Punta Gorda with their dog Charlie to show their support. Lindsay had her parents, brother and Aunt cheering from the fence and my parents and sister were there too! From there we grabbed some lunch and headed to Orlando. However, we had a little confusion on where 95 intersects I-4, for all of you travelers, it is not in Orlando! Just a minor detour…Oops. It all turned out ok though, we made it to the Cirque de Soleil- La Nouba. Our seats were amazing (thanks Coach) and the show was insane. We were all fired up for Magic Kingdom the next day.
We started the day with a trip to good old Waffle House and then headed toward Magic Kingdom, where dreams come true. The great thing about this trip was that we all participated in the “Give a Day Get a Day” program through Disney. We volunteered at Angel Food Ministries and in return we received a free day at Disney. The crowd favorite was Space Mountain. Seven year old Corey Garrity rode Space Mountain, but Riley was afraid of the dark, so she sat that one out! Riiiillllleeeeyyy!
(Coach took care of Riley and took her 5 year old and Riley on the Peter Pan ride!!) Casey and Coach dominated Buzz Light-Year, and Chelsea, well her gun must have been broken. I am sure that’s what happened Chels! Just when we thought the excitement was coming to a halt, Priscilla Roberts, a former Seahawk made an appearance. It was a great surprise. We went to dinner and spent the night catching up. It was a long day, but we had a great time.
On Thursday we headed back to my house, hit some balls and vegged-out. We were exhausted. Once again we had a fantastic dinner and Denny’s pie (courtesy of Mr. Leblang). Chelsea won a very close, down to the wire game of Left-Right-Center. The night ended with watching a classic, Dumb and Dumber…don’t worry Ware we didn’t even think about you when we saw Lloyd Christmas! We headed to bed, and breakfast at First Watch came way to fast. Coach had been talking about this breakfast for a month now, and it lived up to the hype.
Well, that about sums up the Seahawks Spring Break! A HUGE thanks to my parents for putting up with us for the week. We had so much fun and appreciate everything. We are back in action all weekend in Wilmington. You will be getting some much missed “wisdom” from John Ware next. Flight 630 to Raleigh is now boarding!