Last Weeks of Soccer.

Well soccer has officially ended for the fall and now it is onto basketball, but before we go here are some pictures and updates from the last couple of weeks. The kids played on some really good teams this year and I look forward to watching them develop even more next year when they are on the same teams. Brooklyn has become a little more aggressive and managed to take quite a few more shots than her previous years. Maddux is starting to understand the game and is quite the goal scoring machine. Nolan loved playing in his first year. He had a really good team and managed to score quite a few goals this season. I was also very fortunate that I was able to see all but 2 of Brooklyn's games this season. The last couple of years I was not able to see very many as Maddux's games were at the same time. I love watching the kids play and am so proud of all that they did this season. Here are some pictures over the last couple of weeks.


Brooklyn booting the ball out of there while on defense.


Last year Brooklyn would have never thought about dribbling the ball down the field. She had a really good coach that worked well with the girls and really helped Brooklyn develop some offensive skills.


Here is that new found aggressiveness coming out. In the past she would shy away from contact and now she has no problem getting in there and throwing her elbows around.


Maddux lining up to tee off on the goalie. Maddux has the best foot on our team and often will score from quite a ways out. He has started to learn that he can kick the ball over the goalies head and score pretty easily. He finished the season with two big goals in his last game. I wished I would have had a video camera so I could show everyone.


Maddux getting ready to stop those goals. I was asked if he was going to play football because of how far he can throw the soccer ball. He throws a lot farther than he can punt right now and has impressed some of the refs this year. He will throw the ball to midfield or further which is a big asset to the team. Most kids are not able to clear the ball and often give up goals as a result. Maddux can throw it past everyone and can help lead to a break away for one of our players.


Maddux leading the charge down the field.


Nolan and his rock star hairdo. Nolan has really picked up the concept of the game and does a good job at using his size to get wherever he wants to go.


One of Nolan's favorite parts of the game is the high-five after a goal. Here he is the first one back after one of his own goals. He usually haves to give high-fives to every one of his teammates before the kick-off.


I love this picture of Nolan running down the field during his game. I was very proud of Nolan this year and look forward to seeing him build his skills. He had the chance to play in one of Maddux's game because we were short kids. We only had 5 kids show up and you must play with 7. Him and his friend got to play the entire game and were able to hold their own. What was really impressive was the fact that they played on a normal size field for the first time and were able to run around the whole time with no subs. He even had a couple of moments where he was able to dribble the ball down the field and through the other team. Not bad for a 4 year old going up against 7 and 8 year olds. The only downside is that he played his game right after Maddux's and both him and his friend were worn out. They still managed to win but not in the convincing fashion they are accustomed to.

Brooklyn finished the Fall season being undefeated. They tied two games and won all the rest. After suffering loses in the first two games of the season, Maddux's team did not suffer another loss the rest of the season. They ended up tieing two games while winning four including their last three. Nolan's team really didn't have any problems with any of the teams they played. While most teams have one or two decent players he has four on his team that just dominate the games. They are very aggressive and know how to play the game and what to do with the ball. There were many games where the other team didn't get the ball on our side of the field. They won most games by double digits and really had a lot of fun. I really do love watching them all play.


Here is Brooklyn taking care of Payton at one of the boys games. Brooklyn has turned into quite the big sister and has started to watch after and take care of her little sister. She has even changed a diaper or two.


I can't leave Payton out of this post so here is a little update from her. Payton is into the stage where she loves to take her pants and diaper off and run around naked. We figured there was no better time to start her on big girl panties and she loves them. We just have to make sure that we keep an eye on her as she loves to walk around naked and has not yet learned how to control her potty times. Jennie and I can't wait until we are finally out of diapers.

The Greatest Show in the World.

Last night we used the tickets that Brooklyn won at the CAV's game to go to the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Brooklyn took her two brothers and cousin, Addysen, to partake in her night. It was a lot of fun and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves. Here are some pictures from the night.


This is what your mouth looks like after a night of sno-cones.


All the kids getting ready for the show to start.


This was Nolan's favorite part of the night. He loved the elephants.


The tightrope walkers did some pretty amazing stuff.


One of many clowns that were there.


Brooklyn just had to have a picture of Terminal Tower all lit up in purple.

It was a very fun night and I am glad that I got to be a part of it. Thank you Brooklyn.

Nolan Riding his Two-Wheeler.

This past weekend Nolan decided that he was going to be a big boy and ride his big boy two-wheeler. We took the training wheels off his bike and moved him to the backyard for some practice. It took him a couple of times to figure out the brake thing but is doing just fine. He needs to work on his balance a little bit but that should come with practice. The above video is his first three rides which were actually pretty good. I love the excitement on his face after his third ride. He was so excited that he did it, all he wanted to do was run up and give his mom five. He is getting bigger and bigger by the day. You also have to love Jennie's willingness to push him on the bike while holding a little baby. She really can do it all.

Brooklyn's CAVs debut.

This Thursday I took Brooklyn to our first CAV's game of the year. It was a preseason game but I got some really good tickets for really cheap and couldn't pass it up. The kids really don't care if Lebron James isn't there anymore but just love to go and do all the kids things and watch the mascot. Well Brooklyn was selected to go down at halftime and participate in a skills challenge. They selected 4 kids and Brooklyn was the only girl. She was also the youngest as the boys were between 10 and 12. I think her height must have fooled the selectors as maybe they thought she was a little older. So at halftime she got to go onto the main court and show off her skills to everyone who was there. The kids had to dribble down the floor around some stationary players, then pass the ball through a tire and then make a layup. Then they had to come back doing the same thing. I was very surprised that Brooklyn even wanted to do it in front of all those people. She had no problem getting out there and even talked into the microphone a little bit. Well she was the third kid to go and did not disappoint. The announcers pumped up the crowd for her since she was the only girl participating and the place went crazy when she started. She took her time going up the court but was the only one who made her basket on the first try. She then took her time coming back down and it took her 5 tries to make her final basket. She ended up finishing 2nd out of the four boys and only lost by 2 seconds. The winner was a 12 year old boy who finished in 39 seconds compared to Brooklyn's 41 seconds. If she would have made her final layup in 3 or less tries she would have beat all the boys. I was very impressed by her skills and proud that she did as well as she did. She had a lot of fun and was very excited about her accomplishment. They gave her a bag full of CAV's merchandise as well as 4 tickets to the Barnum and Bailey circus for her efforts. I am just glad that I was able to get it all on video. She was very excited to call Jennie afterwards and tell her what she had done. I will tell you that if you ever go to a game make sure to bring a child and get there a little early. Every time that I have taken one of the kids we have gotten to do something. Whether it was being on the court to take pictures, getting a ball from the players, having our seats upgraded or getting to play on the main court, the kids have always been chosen to do something. It was a very fun night and one that Brooklyn will remember forever.


Here is Brooklyn with all her loot after the game. She was also given one of the t-shirts that they throw out during the game by the CAV's play-by-play radio announcer. He ended up getting one and threw it right to her.


Here is Brooklyn's favorite player, Anderson Varejao. Both times Brooklyn has got to go onto the court to get game balls he was the player who gave her the ball. He has crazy hair and is called the "Wild Thing" because of his hustle and effort.


Here is the team mascot, Moon Dog, who the kids are probably most excited to see at the game.


Brooklyn up on the Jumbo-Tron right before her skills debut. You will notice the big guy taking a picture right behind the kids, that is yours truly.

Anyways, I look forward to taking the kids to some more games during the season and hope our run of good luck will continue. It makes the game and their experience so much better when they can be a part of some of these other activities. I think I may be just as excited when they are chosen to participate.

A Night Out At the Ballpark

Last Saturday Brooklyn, Maddux, Nolan & I had a night out at the ballgame with their cousins. There were 7 kids, myself and then Greg and Tacie. We had really good seats and the weather was quite nice. It was suppose to be fan appreciation night as it was one of their last home games for the year but fan appreciation night and the Indians are not all that impressive. However, the kids had a lot of fun and the Indians ending up winning the game (hasn't happened all that often this year) so overall it was a very good night. The kids could pretty much run all over the ballpark and do whatever they wanted as there was not many people at the game. We had 3 rows of field box seats to ourselves which made things for us really nice. In between every inning the kids could run down right to the dugout in hopes of getting a ball or prize being throw out. They also got to mingle with Slider, the Indians mascot, as well as the racing hotdogs (Ketchup, Mustard & Onion) during the game. I didn't get a picture of it but Slider actually came up and gave Brooklyn a kiss on the head just before the game started. She was pretty excited about that.


The girls chowing down on some York Peppermint Patty M&M's during the game. I don't know how many bags of candy the kids ate that night but it was enough that I was not bothered about getting cotton candy at all.


Nolan taking in his first Major League Game. I don't think he really cared about being there as much as he did just hanging out with his cousins and being a part of the crowd.


Maddux with glove in hand. I don't think he took that thing off once during the whole game. No matter where he went or what he did he always had his glove on. Unfortunately, despite having very good seats right on the third base line we didn't have a foul ball come even close to us. One of these days we will get one.

Anyways, we had a really fun time and even though the Indians stunk it up big time this year it is always good to get out and spend a night at the ballgame. Maybe they can turn things around in the next couple of years and bring some excitement back to the city.