Soccer stars

So, the big excitement yesterday was that the kids both had their first "game" action for their soccer teams. I only call it "game", because they're really more just scrimmaging. What they do is practice together with their teammates for the first 30 minutes, then play another team for the second thirty minutes. They don't keep score (wink, wink), and there is no clock, there are no referees, the coaches are on the field, etc. But it's still fun for the kids to play against someone else and have a real "game".

I was helping out with Timmy's team (go Blue)!, so I have the most to report there. Timmy definitely likes the games better than practicing! He had a big smile on his face running around with the other kids and kicking the ball. He also scored the first goal for his team! Yeah Tim! His team "won" 4 - 1. Go Blue!

Cyndie said that Emma had a really fun time too. I have no details to relate, but there you go!

I had some friends over last night to watch the Vikings game. That was fun, though the loss was disappointing.

Big news on the vacation front ... we booked our flights down to Florida to visit Cyndie's mom and Fred over Halloween. The kids have two days off of school then (for various conferences), so, since it's so much cheaper to fly then than Thanksgiving, we decided to go for it.

This will be a fun weekend. My cousins* Christa and Kyle are coming over to visit from Minnesota, and Jane will be coming too, so there will be lots of hanging out and relaxing together. Which means that we need to clean up the projects around the house and get the house a bit straightened out.

* I always have called them my cousins. They are actually my dad's cousin's kids. So what is that? Is that a second cousin? A first cousin once removed? Anyway, we saw quite a bit of Christa and Kyle as kids (and they're very close in age to Laura and I). We re-connected at the family reunion in July, so it will be fun to have more time with them this weekend.

On top of that, Timmy is turning 6! Tomorrow is his birthday! This year is a family party, and I think we'll have more family than we've ever had for a family party what with the cousins being here, plus all my sibs and their families and Auntie Karen and Grandpa and Grandma D!