For anyone who didn't see or hear from us much the second half of the summer, I have one explanation:
Soccer.
And what a soccer season it was! This was Victoria's 4th summer playing soccer, and Alex's 1st (since last summer he hated Little Netbusters and said he'd only play "real soccer," I'm counting this as his first). And this summer ... they both LOVED it. Smiles on the field, lots of running, lots of friends.
Victoria first. She was lucky enough to have daddy for a coach, along with Andrea Minnehan, who was also the coach last year. Her friends Gemma and Amara were on the team too! Here she is holding hands (yes, holding hands) with Gemma... awww...
And with Gemma carrying snacks (snacks is the most important part of soccer, after all).
... and waiting for their turn to get called in.
Practices were held at our local Piedmont field. The big thing this year was BIKING to the field since Victoria learned how to bike without training wheels! Sometimes we had to drive, and one of those days I brought the pups with me. Piper in particular loves going places!
Our home field for games was Wheeler Field.
It was a very wet season. This was a normal occurrence.
So wet that Alex, after playing in a nearby puddle, came back to our chairs and, when the neighboring parents heard sloshing, made them exclaim, "ohhhhh Jennnn!! Look at your son!" He literally poured mud out of his boots. LOL - check out this video:
I already mentioned snacks after the game. Sometimes, if you "get enough kicks" (i.e. mom and dad's goal for you) you get treats AFTER too! This night was Dairy Queen with Grandma and Grandpa.
They got silly. These two video clips are the best!
Victoria is timid about digging in for the ball, often waiting just that extra split second that someone else nabs the ball instead. But she sure loves being part of this team:
Sometimes Alex even joined in the practice of the older kids!
Now for Alex! He's seen enough of his sister's soccer practices and games that he was totally ready to run right out there and kick the ball. He always wanted a parent on the sidelines with him though ;).
On the sidelines, he was patient, watchful, and paid attention. Even when many other kids were running around and goofing off, he stayed put.
Sometimes, he got a parent or sister to warm up with him before the game.
His first game, he was ON FIRE.
His only problem came up after a few games, when he started getting obsessed with guarding the net. Being a "goalie" is a bad thing when a) your league isn't supposed to have goalies; b) you run back to the net at the first sign of the other team getting the ball -- even if its the other end of the field; and c) you don't actually stop the ball.
But ... he was hyper aware of the net being open. We can only hope this translates into a future goal-tending career?
There were many other times, though, where he focused on the ball and trying to keep it away from the other team.
Because Matt was Victoria's coach, he got fewer pictures of her. We have a lot more of Alex!
Like his sister, he was usually all smiles. When the season was over he was so disappointed and has asked to play in the winter league!
Here's a shot of the teams giving each other high fives and saying "good game.
Getting ready to kick the ball in:
Here's Alex's whole team:
And the team with coaches:
And more pictures playing ... there's so many I should have weeded them out, but I love them all!
I believe these photos are with Grant, one of his preschool friends, who Alex instantly had a blast being competitive with:
Here's a sample of his shoe problems. They kept falling off!
And, the shoes being switched, this time it was Victoria on the sidelines kicking the ball around:
Thanks to all coaches, teams, parents, and these two remarkable kids for a great season.
