Lightning Bolts Strike Again

Ian has started playing soccer - here are some great pictures of him taken by my dad with his digital rebel... only two more years until I'm going to have one! (I'm purposely waiting until Brayden is in kindergarten, so I will be able to have the time and free hands to lug one around!) All these pictures were taken from a cozy camp chair on the sidelines... aren't they amazing?

I'm still undecided on this league. We LOVE our coach and the other families on our team... but I've seen some coaching nightmares on the teams we compete against. This week's team??? So bad that I'm going to email the league and complain about the coaching and parents. It was appalling and embarrasing! Why can't the grown ups just let the kids relax and have fun?

Giddy Goalie

It's soccer season again... and Taylor finished up soccer tryouts this morning.... and he came home from school with a smile plastered to his face! Well, I didn't see him when he walked in the door, because I was at Megan's piano lesson, but when I did see him, he was still grinning! He made the 8th grade soccer team! I'm really glad he made it because I had to buy new cleats, socks and shinguards just for him to try out. Nothing we had on hand would fit him. He also wanted new goalie gloves and a new ball, but I told him he had to make the team before I would invest in those.... so guess what I'm going to be shopping for this weekend?

I'm excited for him to be on the team, but I will say that sitting through 8-10 soccer games in 100+ degrees after school is not a highlight for me. Anyone have any tips on how to keep cool on the sidelines?

MVP

Ian had his final soccer game for the season today. It's a winter league that runs for a six week season. Ideal for us (now that we have a boat) so we can keep the "warm" Saturdays free for wakeboarding, etc. With such a short season, the kids are just now starting to show improvement with their skills. Such is the case with Ian - the first couple games, he had really reverted to his "non soccer playing" self. The last two games were a dramatic improvement in both his skills and confidence! Today he scored 2 goals in the 4th quarter (something he's NEVER done before!) And, of course, he picked his day to be a superstar when I had to be home with a house full of girls who slept over! Oh well, maybe having dad there was his lucky charm!