Basketball

Basketball season is over!  It pretty much took over my life for the last two months and so I'm so ready for a break.  Seriously with four kids all on different teams we had basketball five days a week, add in their swim and gym class and that makes six days a week.   It was insane.  On Mondays and Wednesdays we left the house at 4:30 and didn't get back until about 7:20, making dinner pretty much impossible.  I need to never sign all the kids up like that again!

Anyway, Leon's practices were very low key.  He didn't have games or anything and him being almost five he was the biggest on his team.  They spent most of the time lining the kids up for things.  Regardless of that Leon had lots of time to practice dribbling while we watched everyone else's basketball practice.  He improved so much over the two months.  He even learned to dribble under his legs and behind his back.

Scarlett cried through her entire first practice and her entire first game.  Other than those two times she did ok.  She ran out and tried each time, although it didn't seem like she was able to get the ball very often.  She didn't really like basketball and we aren't planning on signing her up again. 

Her games were hilarious to watch because half the kids didn't dribble at all.  It was pretty entertaining.

Tucker's practices were so much more serious and intense then everyone else's.  They played positions and had strategies, he now knows more about basketball than me.  Tucker absolutely loved it, and I think he did well especially since it was his first year playing.  He got so much better and braver during the last few the games   It was great.

Tucker made a few baskets but only during the last couple games.  I think my favorite part of the whole season for him was when the opposing coach started shouting, "WHO'S ON 53?  SOMEONE GAURD 53."  Tucker's favorite part was during his last game he got to shoot his first ever free throw shot, and he made it.

Penelope also had a rough start.  She was the only girl on her first team and it was a real shock because we thought it was going to be an all girl team.  She gave it her best try but after the first practice we switched her to  a different team.  This was the best decision!  The other team had three other girls who were friendly and she quickly started playing with them.  Her coaches were also great.

My favorite part of her season was the game when the coaches put in all four girls at the same time.  Before this the boys wouldn't pass to the girl, so they just put all the girls in.  The girls did great and passed it to each other a ton.

Scarlett's team wasn't organized enough to set up a snack schedule so instead she got four separate treats after the last game.

Track Camp

This was Tucker and Penelope's first year going to track camp.  I knew about it before but was hesitant to send them because we don't really know anyone there including the leaders.  I felt a little more comfortable this year because Penelope was old enough to go and I could send them together.  Learning to run fast and properly seemed to be a good skill that can help in all sports.  It is very close to our house and the cheapest day camp around so we decided to go for it.  Here they are on their first day.

Every day when I picked them up they only had good things to tell me.  They both seemed to love it.

On Friday the families were invited to come and watch a track meet.  It was kind of boring it was only my kids turn for a fraction of the almost three hours but we stayed and supported the whole time.

They did standing long jump and running long jump.

I was worried about it being too hot, but not this summer.  They had sweaters on almost everyday. 

And obstacle run, which Penelope flew through.  I was really surprised how fast she went on this.

The javelin.  Neither of my kids liked this one.  Penelope actually slipped and fell while throwing it.  I was waiting for her to start crying but she didn't and went on to try her second throw.  I'm pretty sure if that would have happened at our house she would have ran to me crying.

They also has 50 and 100 meeter races.

And the hurtles.  Tucker got pretty into these and wanted to practice them at home.

At the end of the "track meet"  they didn't do any awards but the did write down the kids scores on their number.  I took a picture of it so I can save it to compare if we do it again next year.

I only wish that they spent more time teaching the kids how to just plain run.  They did several different events, that they didn't do at the track meet, like high jump and relays, but they never taught them how to hold their hands or where to look while running.  They didn't even teach them to run through the finish line.  I think Tucker and Penelope learned a lot about the different events that they had never tried before, but I'm not sure they are better runners because of the camp.

I'm glad they had fun, and I think it was worth it.

 

Soccer Days

We were so busy during soccer season and some days were hard but I wouldn't trade it.  The kids learned so much and I loved watching their practices and games.  Now to brag about them a little bit.

Scarlett started the season out by crying through her first game and a half.  She did great at practices but was scared of the games.  In the next picture you can see her blatantly not doing what her coach said.

After her rough start she realized that the games can be fun and she wasn't scared about it again.  She played well, for a 3-year-old and was one of the big scorers on her team.  She wasn't really good at taking the ball from the other girls but whenever she did get the ball she loved to take it down the field and score a goal.  It was amazing how much she improved.  

Her team was the soccerinas (a lot of the girls did ballet) and they were very cute although not the most aggressive team.

Here is Scarlett in action.

Penelope's team were called the soccer fairies.  This being her first year playing soccer she also improved a lot over the season.

Each team had orange and black uniforms, mostly they wore orange but some games black.  Penelope was scared to go to her first practice because we didn't sign up with any friends.  She was lucky though because we did end up knowing someone on the team.  She was still very shy and barely said a word to either of her coaches.  But she wasn't shy about playing soccer.

I did not expect her to be one of the better players on her team and that is totally fine with me.  We aren't trying to raise soccer stars, just good well rounded happy kids.  But she was one of the best ones.  It seemed like Penelope and one other girl did most of the playing.  I think it helped a lot that she was older (smaller, but older) than most.

It was exciting for me to watch her do something she knows she is good at.  It seems like she is always comparing herself to Tucker.  But I could tell that she was really happy when she played her best.

Tucker's team called themselves the Falcons.   I thought they were good and after loosing the first couple games they got it together and starting winning.  I could tell the teams improvement just by watching.  Tucker loved to win and so he was very happy about that.  Both of the girls times lost almost every time but it didn't bother them and we never really talked about who won anyway.

Tucker didn't play soccer last year so when we came in this year they seemed so much older and more coordinated.  They actually play positions and they have more people on the field.  He has never even played with a real goalie before.

Tucker always wanted to be striker so he could score a goal.  After watching him it looked like he did best at center or defense but he did ok at all.  Except he played goalie one time and it did not go well.  He even says that everyone gets it past him.  I appreciate that the coaches still rotated and let all the boys learn all the positions.

Even when Tucker was little he didn't score very many goals.  I don't know if it is because he is the youngest or what because he is a ball of energy at home.  But he always managed to score a few during the season.  This season he hadn't scored yet.  He really wanted to make a goal but I tried to prepare him by telling him things like "as you get older teams usually score less goals and because you play actual positions you get less chances.  The whole thing was very exciting because he scored a goal during his last game!  We were all very happy for him.

Overall it was a good season and I hope my kids want to do it again next year!

Soccer Rain

We got drenched at our last soccer games!  Every year we have at least one really wet and rainy game and last week was it!  We first got to Penelope's 11am game and it was raining so hard!  One of the girls left before it even started and one didn't show up.  So they only had 4 out of 6 players, making it hard on the girls.  Penelope played the entire game without any subs.  Some of the girls were just crying.  

Although we thought we were prepared with umbrellas and coats we were still drenched all the way through.  The chairs were soaked and it felt like we were sitting in puddles.  It was pretty bad so they ended the game at third quarter.  The girls were just not willing to play anymore.  Except for Penelope, she actually kept a good attitude the whole time.

 We all went home and changed into dry clothes.  Scarlett had an hour and a half break before her game so we got ready for that.  Because of the weather we decided that I would take Scarlett alone and let the other kids keep dry.  Scarlett's game started out dry but the rain came back and it even thundered so they ended the game early as well.  We have never had a game cancelled before because of weather so that tells you how bad it was.

A couple hours later I went back with Tucker for his game.  Luckily the rain basically stopped and the game was really good.  It was very close and intense, not at all like the girls games.  The boys won with a last minute goal and couldn't have been more excited.

Hopefully that will be our one rainy soccer day of the season!

Seahawks Game

Through the homeschool program we are doing Tucker and I were able to get tickets to a Seahawks game.  Tucker loves the Seahawks and we've never been to a game before so this was a big deal.  He talked about it for days ahead of time and we even worked together on a poster.

We rode the ferry over to Seattle and then walked to the stadium.  It was nice to hang out with just Tucker.  We listened to an audio book for part of the way on my ipod.  Here is Tucker carrying his coat and blanket.  The game started at 7 and said it might rain.  We weren't allowed to bring any bags into the stadium so we had to carry everything.  It was a little bit of a pain.

We got their right at seven when they were shooting off fireworks.  Our seats were in the hawks nest which is right on the other side of that big tower in the above picture.

It was pretty steep to walk up and the fireworks were going off so Tucker got a bit scared.  At first he didn't want to cheer or anything and he insisted that we hold hands.  He also said it was too loud.  I let him put on the headphones without anything playing to help with the sound.  And I bribed him with popcorn if he cheered.  By the end of the first quarter he loosened up and was comfortable.

It was kind of crazy to me just to see that sheer volume of people in one place.  And lucky for us my sister was there the same night.  She came over and sat with us for a little bit.

Tucker seemed to have more and more fun as the game went on.  He was shouting and even standing up dancing to the music.  I had fun too!  Although my voice went a little hoarse from all the cheering and explaining everything to Tucker.

We had to leave when there was one minute left to make it on the ferry.  But the Seahawks were winning and I was pretty confident they would win.

We actually should have left earlier because we had issues getting onto the ferry.  We made it there in plenty of time but right before we walked on the lady said she couldn't let anyone else one.  I didn't realize that it would fill up after the game.  The next ferry was after midnight and I did not want to sit in the terminal for that long, that late at night with Tucker.  Luckily after about five stressful minutes she said she could let 20 more people on.  Tucker and I were the third and fourth!  That is how close were were to making it in the first group.  I was really happy we made it on the ferry.

It was a great night!