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!

A wednesday in review

So, after that flurry of pictures yesterday, I'm pretty much sure I can't top that with today's activities. Dare I say that we are settling into a "normal" routine?

Cyndie's had a busy week of meetings (CE board at church, Leadership Team at church, a photography meeting ... she took family photos for some friends, sailing last night ... okay, that's not really a "meeting"). Whew, she must be tired. Tonight she's headed out for her "2nd Thursday Ladies Night Out" group while I have some friends over to watch the Vikings open up the NFL season.

Yesterday Timmy and Grandpa D hiked from our house, along the Lake Como trail, over to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It's about a three mile hike I think, but Timmy's got really good endurance. Here's the exchange between Tim and I when he got home from school and we were talking about the hike:

Tim: I'm tired.
Me: Maybe we should sit down and relax and eat a little mac and cheese to get some energy.
Tim: Sitting makes me tired.
Me: Okay.
Tim: I need to run around to get energy.
Me. Okay.
Tim: Let's go play soccer.

So we went out and played soccer for 15 minutes or so to "get some energy". Strange boy! He did the walk like a champ!

Today the kids have school pictures, then soccer in the evening. I hope it's not as windy as last time!

Plain old post ...

Yes, and now, a plain old, vanilla flavored, picture-less post. Just to keep up to date.

The name of the game yesterday was soccer. The kids started, Tim in a 5/6 league, and Emma in a 7/8 league. By and large it was a success. Emma did well and enjoyed herself. Tim was a bit grumpy to start with which was, I think, a manifestation of him being shy and scared of being in a new environment. He got a bit better as time wore on, so I think he'll be okay. It was crazy windy at the fields ... probably 25 - 30 mile per hour winds with gust up into the 40s!

When we got home, after dinner, the kids wanted to play more soccer. So we formed Wildwood FC (that's Football Club for you Americans), and did some drills in the yard for another half hour or so. We even came up with our own cheer!

So, we're soccer centric for the next month or so as the weather cools!

Pix from the fair

Here is the culmination, the final upload of pix of the day. I guess, through the randomness of the reverse ordering logic that blogger.com uses for it's picture uploads, we'll start with the end of the day, the demolition derby!

At the derby (notice the ear plugs

Emma's favorite ride ... the superman one.

In the butterfly house ...

Watching the pig races ...

Random pix ...

Here are some random pix that were on the camera ...

The kids with their friends Alton (a buddy from pre-school, Autumn and Rose). They're the kids of a friend of Cyndie's. I guess Peppers in there too. They were getting ready for a ride in the trailer behind the tractor.

The deck ...

On the boat with some friends ...

Cyndie and I out for dinner ...

Pix from family camp ...

Apparently we didn't take as many family camp pictures as I thought ... or else they were on the other camera which Cyndie recently cleaned out. Anyway, for your enjoyment ...

This is a bear we saw on the side of the rode ... look hard!

Emma and I on the iceberg ...

Pix from vacation in Chicago

In rather random order, these are some pictures from when we did the home exchange in Chicago a month or so back ...





This was the view from the roof of the building we stayed in ...