Soccer

I keep taking my camera to take pictures at the soccer games, but somehow I never take them. Ryan is very strong and hits a baseball amazingly, as well as a golf ball. He has a strong kick. Put him on the soccer field, and he is just frustrating to watch. He picks flowers, he races with the other boys (oblivious to the ball at all times), he chats with any child who will listen, he makes underarm noises, he plays in the mud, he slides on the grass, and flops on the goal. Yesterday, he accidentally kicked a ball because someone kicked it at his feet. He spent the next 5 minutes laughing about that with anyone who would listen on the field. I believe he is having a good time, but it is hard to watch. At other times on the field, he'd just run up to the boys on the other team yelling out the score of the game. During all of this, the other boys are actually playing soccer. He is just turning 5 this weekend, but Joel is pretty sure that soccer is not the game for Ryan. It is true that he is not very fleet of foot. I guess if you look at a picture of him from when he was a baby, you might have guessed that speedy may not be his nickname.

He has lost all of the rolls on those legs, but he is still thick, and his feet are as long as Lydia's, but much wider. When he hit a ball far out of our yard the other day, he said, " Mom, maybe you should put me in baseball." He is probably right. I thought that soccer would be good exercise.

Now Lydia is very fast. She is on the short side for her age, but is as fast or faster than those long legged girls. She is a natural defender and hangs back. When the ball comes anywhere near her goal, she chases it down and clears it. Any goals that have been made against her team have been when she has not been in the game. Her games are fun to watch, as she has good and fun team mates, too. You may say, Lydia is older and has been playing longer. When she was his age, she had the same qualities. Her skills have improved, but she has always been involved in the game.

Our Saturdays are filled with soccer because we have two games. We also have 2 practices apiece per week. I'm thinking that I should start playing for the exercise, too. That would be a fine idea to have practice for the adults at the same time as the kids. I'm usually so pooped by the late afternoon. Where do the kids get all the energy?

Peace Walk

We did a Walk for Peace and Friendship Festival with the Kids for Peace organization in Balboa Park on Sunday. It was really a wonderful event and truly peaceful and full of love. The kids really enjoyed it and are learning to be global citizens.

Peace out.

Update

This will be the short and succinct update.

End of summer at MN. Tons of fun. Glorious for the kids and me as well. Joel couldn't make it and we missed him, but did some tubing for him. Now, I tubed this year because the kids begged me too. I went with a young cousin who is a crazy tuber and went over and under that thing...thinking for sure my fall was a back breaker, but somehow I was just fine. The kids and I also knee boarded. It was great to see our MN family and I am grateful we have this yearly time to spend with them in such a beautiful spot.

Lydia had a 7th birthday pool party at our house. She had a Webkinz pool party. She printed out all of the games, refreshments, and activities from Crafty Critters on Webkinz World. Have I ever mentioned that I am not crafty? We drew and crafted and cooked to a grand successful party. I was up late creating this mess of a cake, but the kids loved it.

First day of school was great. Ryan entered the Kindergarten classroom. That alone was remarkable (that I didn't drag him in kicking and screaming). The kids like school and everyone is healthy and happy.

When picking out 1st day of school outfits, Lydia rejected many because they didn't make her look smart. Apparently, that is the smart outfit.

Ryan still says "f" for "th". He has had a couple of funnies with that. One was during soccer camp. I had heard he was not well behaved during the first day at camp, so I talked to him quite a bit about it, and was also in close contact with his coach to make sure he did better. This was an Irish run soccer camp and on the last day, the parents were invited to play games with the kids. The coach was yelling directions to us with his great accent and said, "Now, run around the ball t'ree times!" T'ree for three. Ryan looked at me and said, "He means free. See, that's why I can't follow directions. I don't understand a word he says."

Gustav Update

My parents are back at the house. They had 7 feet of water in their yard, but no damage. Electricity went back on today around 2:30. Not bad for a hurricane.

Gustav

My parents have weathered another hurricane. They went to a home of friends of the family about 30 minutes north of Gulfport. They were fine there and will find out tomorrow if there was much damage to the yard. This hurricane went ashore further west and was nothing like Katrina with her 23 foot storm surge in my parents' area. We were all a little worried because they just got back into their home in June, but, "Phew!"

I'm sure many on the Gulf Coast are breathing a sigh of relief, and were having flashbacks to Katrina. I still think of my parents and Marie and Abigail driving around during the hurricane in my dad's F350 trying to find a way through and escape rising water. They were out in it twice having to change houses two times because of the water. They ended up in a house on cinder blocks that my mom was sure was going to float away. Thank goodness Gustav did not pack the wallop of that Katrina. I'll update if they sustained any damage to the house, but everyone is OK. Linda and Heimana stayed at her house, which was fine during Katrina, so they were fine as well.