Soccer

Well, soccer has long since come and past, and here are some pictures to prove it. Although, shockingly and sadly, I apparently only documented the fact that Sareny played soccer, while in fact Sareny, Isaac, and Finley all played soccer this year. I didn't even realize this picture dilemma until this very moment.

Sareny's team was The Lightning, and our good friend Coach Pete was her coach. Finley played in the pre-K/K division, and she also had Coach Pete. Fittingly, her team was The Bolts and they wore purple. Isaac's team wore gray just like Sareny's and I think his team was called The Wolfs.

Sareny really has had a lot of fun playing soccer, and continues to get better each season she plays.

Her team was really terrible this year, and they didn't win a single game. Sad. But they still had a fun time.

Here she is just after her last game.

A last talk from Coach Pete, with Keeley running over to be a part of the team. She was rather difficult to contain at practices and games, and occasionally tried to run onto the field.

Coach Pete had long hair at the beginning of the season, and at the end of one practice, he let his team cut his hair for him. They must have done an okay job, because he sported the haircut they gave him for the rest of the season.

After the season, we gathered at the park for pictures, trophy's, and ice cream. Although in lieu of an actual trophy this year, they got dog tags. Not as cool in my opinion, but oh well.

As far as the other kids go, Finley turned out to be quite the soccer player, frequently scoring one or more goals in a game. In one particular game, she scored 5 goals! After her 5th, we encouraged her to pass the ball to other players on her team. This was all particularly shocking considering how she played last year...if she agreed to go out on the field at all, she was usually just chatting with her friend Sydney, oblivious to the game going on around her. This year--she was a force to be reckoned with! Yay Finley!

Isaac also did well in soccer. I missed the game where he scored 2 goals, since I was home recovering, but it sounded really exciting. He was always quick to point out that he only scored his second goal because his friend David made a really great pass to him. I let his parent's know that Isaac recognized and appreciated the assist.

It is always kind of bittersweet to come to the end of soccer season. The kids love playing, and I love watching them, I usually enjoy chatting with other parents at practice, and depending on the practice location, the non-practicing kids usually get to play at the park with friends. On the other hand, we were so very busy. Somebody had practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then our Saturday mornings were spent at games. So I think this year, it was less of the bitter and more of the sweet at the end of it all. :)

Park Day

The first weekend after school started, we took the kids to the park. Ostensibly, we were there to practice soccer for the coming season, but inevitably, the kids did more playing around than anything else.

 Keeley was so cute in the swing.

  I just love her little face!

 Keith worked with Finley a little bit.

She actually did pretty good.

 As good as one can do barefoot, that is.

 And then this little girl came over to steal the show.

 Keeley is surprisingly good at soccer--she dribbles the ball quite well.

It does make us wonder how she will do in a few years. 

Sareny and Isaac did practice a little. I think Sareny enjoyed riding her bike to the park and playing around with our neighbor, who had ridden over with her.

I do love my handsome Isaac.



Evidence that Sareny did practice some...but since she wore flipflops despite knowing we were planning to practice soccer, she had to play barefoot as well.

 Love this cute picture of Isaac and Finley.

And then there is this cute little face! Don't you just want to kiss and squeeze that girl? I kind of think maybe I need to go rouse her from her bed at this very moment just so I can do that very thing...

 She had fun playing on the slides.

 I love the little tongue poking out.

 Sareny played on the slides with her.

And then our day at the park really turned into a full on photo shoot. Finley would do some sort of pose, and then call out for me to take her picture.

 A balancing act.

 So cute!

 Really, she is quite photogenic.

 At the top of the slide.

 At the bottom of the slide. Photos must be taken at both locations.

We had a fun day hanging out at the park.

Soccer!

The three older kids all played soccer this year, and they had so much fun! Sareny was so excited to have her tia Lexi volunteer to be her coach this year. That was pretty cool. Sareny wore number two this year.

Their team was navy blue and they were The Pirates. One of the (few) perks of being the coach--you get to pick the team name!

 Grammy Jo and Bampa took the above and below pictures when they were here. Sareny breezes by the sinister black team, and with Lexi after the game.

Sareny's best friend Emily was on the team for the first half of the season, and then she moved away. Sareny still had a lot of fun playing--she worked really hard and improved each week. Below is her and teammates Drew H. and Mason R.

Here she is lined up with Bryce J. and Dillon P. to play offense, her favorite, with Drew on D.

I really enjoyed watching her games this year--they were rather intense sometimes! It was a lot of fun to watch the players all get better.

The huddle after their last game.

I lined everyone up for a picture. Left to right: Dillon, Diego, Nathan, Bryce, Sareny, Drew, Mason, Lexi. Not pictured: Jacob H., Dorian B., and Emily, who had obviously moved.

Some of the boys started doing silly/teen model poses.

Our allstar!

Isaac and Finley played on the same team this year in the prek/k division. Their games ranged from being fun to watch, to being boring, to being frustrating. That age would be so hard to coach! The very first play of the very first game, Isaac drove the ball down for a goal.

That was pretty exciting! He was quite proud, and his coach, my friend Bridgette J., gave him five.

Isaac definitely played a lot better this year than he did last year. When he was trying and paying attention, he did pretty good.

Here is Chase G., Isaac, and Finley lined up for a kickoff. This year, Isaac wore number three and Finley wore number five.

This first game, Finley didn't actually do too bad. She mostly paid attention and was at least running after the ball. As the season went on, that was not always the case.

Here she is with teammates Kade C., Will., Sydney J., and Chase, and she is actually kicking the ball.

These are from the last game of the season. She wanted to wear sunglasses that game. I was pretty proud of her for stepping up this game and trying a little harder than she had been.

Isaac fighting for the ball. He scored at least one goal every game except for one. Near the end of the season, his asthma started acting up, and he sometimes had a hard time breathing.

This was Finley's best play of the season, she actually dribbled the ball down the field a ways. Pay no attention to the fact that she is slightly out of bounds--that's perfectly allowable in their league!

Isaac gets a high five after scoring another goal.

And the end of the season huddle and cheer for the other team.

Learning about sportsmanship by shaking the other team's hands. Their team name was The Speedy Wolves, which I thought was pretty cute. The funniest team name we encountered was The Tigerlions. Pretty clever.

The team: Finley, Oscar, Isaac, Will, Chase, Sydney. Not pictured was Kade.

My two soccer girls.

 Three soccer all-stars! Next year Isaac will be moving up a division, so his games should be more exciting to watch. I expect that Finley will play more like I know she can more often. Sareny will be in the same division again, and she really was fun to watch. And hopefully Lexi can return to be Sareny's coach again--that would be awesome!