Now that the kids are officially back into soccer mode I figured I would blog about their past two games. Brooklyn and Maddux are both playing U10 as there was not enough interest to form a U8 and U10 teams. That means Brooklyn is playing against 7 year olds while Maddux is playing against 10 year old. Both are doing quite well and having a lot of fun. Nolan is now playing against all boys and doesn't have to worry about running into little girls any more. He is clearly the biggest kid out there and can't always stop his body from charging into someone else.
Brooklyn executing a perfect throw in from the side-lines.
Brooklyn and her new aggressive self. She is not afraid to get in there and mix it up with the other girls. She even scored a goal in her second game of the season. That tied her career high for goals. She almost broke that record last week but didn't get quite enough mustard on the shot to get it past the goalie.
Speaking of goalie Brooklyn has played a little bit of that position for the first time ever. She has actually done a really good job so far and is yet to be scored upon yet.
Although Maddux is the youngest kid on his team and one of the youngest in the league he is doing very well and can hold his own. It took his coach a couple games to realize that he can play but now he is one of the better players. He went from playing 1/2 of the game to playing the entire game and playing of offense. He never gives up and runs all over the field chasing the ball where ever it may be. He is yet to score this year but it is not due to a lack of effort. He really has quite a few kids who don't really know how to play and where to be for the pass. This allows the other team to double and triple team Maddux when he has the ball. At least he is having fun.
Maddux running over his opponents on the way to the goal. As you can see there are three defenders to one Maddux.
Nolan with the wide open shot on goal. He may not be the best player on his team but when he gets going no one is going to get in his way. If they do, they usually won't the next time. He doesn't do it intentionally but is just so big and once he gets going it doesn't take much to knock smaller boys over.
Here he is again leading the charge.
We are hoping the weather will cooperate over the next month and allow the kids to get all their games in. They go up until Halloween weekend but already had their first rainout and the further we go the less likely they are to play those games.
This is the next generation of soccer. This is Payton with Atticus and Finn watching their older brothers who all play on the same team. Payton can hold here own against the boys and loves to hang out with her "friends".
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Well now that we are officially into school and summer is almost over I figured I would update everyone on what we did this summer to keep us busy. Most of you know about the trip to Bora Bora and our week in North Carolina but here is what I have not blogged about yet.
The Warrior Dash
In June, Jennie and some of her family members ran in the Warrior Dash alongside some friends. It is a 3.10 mile obstacle course filled with water, mud, fire, trails and obstacles. They do these races all over the United States and she would recommend you participating if you ever get the chance. There are thousands of people who participate in these races and provides for a really good time. This is what you can expect to look like after the race.
Here is Jennie at the finish line jumping over a trail of fire.
This was obviously before they started the race. Jennie heard it was a good idea to wear some type of eye protection when going thru the water and mud. This was all that she could find around the house. The funny thing is that it wen right along with the theme of the race. The idea is to dress up in the most bizarre outfit you can imagine and run the race in that. They award prizes for the best costumes at the end of the day.
Cleveland Indians Game
We managed to catch a couple of Indians games this year which was a lot of fun for the kids. Thanks to Mitch Talbot and his wife, a pitcher for the Indians, we got to go down on the field and watch batting practice before the game. It was a cool way to see the players and I was probably more excited that the kids to be at that level. We got to sit with some of the players families and there was a very cool fireworks show right after the game which surprisingly enough the kids enjoyed. Our kids don't always do that well with fireworks.
Nolan along with the Indians mascot, Slider.
Down on the field with the boys during the Indians batting practice. Most times the stadium doesn't even open up in time to see the Indians hit batting practice so we felt extra special to watch while everyone had to wait outside of the gates.
Grady Sizemore and Sandy Alomar during batting practice.
The Cleveland Corporate Challenge
Jennie had the opportunity to participate in the Cleveland Corporate Challenge of behalf of PNC Bank. She was discovered a couple of years ago and has been a staple ever since. The event is a month long Olympic style competition that faces the different corporations in Cleveland against each other in a series of 15 or 20 different events. Most teams are always lacking girls so once they find an athletic one, insert Jennie, they usually all upon them many times to help in various events. This year Jennie got to do kickball (above picture), dodgeball, volleyball, basketball, tug of war & the obstacle course. She helped PNC Bank to capture its 6th consecutive Corporate Challenge Cup.
A little action from the sand volleyball court. They actually finished third in this event with a pretty poor team. Personally this looks like an attempt at the Michael Jordan pose.
The African Safari
For Payton's 3rd birthday we took the kids to an African Safari off the coast of Lake Erie. We got a good price on the tickets and went along with Tacie and her kids as well as Liz and her girls. It was very cool because you got to drive your own car through the preserve and could find the wildlife from the inside of you own car. I would say from the comfort of your own car but there were some times when you didn't feel all that comfortable. There were giraffes, elk, deer, llamas, water buffalo, bison, alpacas and steer looking animals all waiting for some pellets or carrots. This is a great shot of Maddux feeding a giraffe through the sunroof of the car. It was also nice because you could drive through as many times as you wanted for the one price.
I am not sure what these animals are but they had some massive horns attached to their heads. We tended to keep the windows up when driving by these guys as we were not all that excited to have them hanging around. One car actually lost a windshield to this animal a little earlier in the day. It was shaking its head to get the flies away and hit some poor guys windshield in the process. The crazy thing is that the guy had the whole thing on video as he was recording them feeding the animals. Of course there is a huge sign upon entrance into the preserve that states they are not responsible for anything damage that happens to you or your car.
Here are all the kids that went that day.
Maddux and Nolan riding the ponies that we on hand. They also had camels that you could ride and I think that Payton was the only one who would not get on that.
Strongsville Carnival
Every August the city of Strongsville puts on its Homecoming Days and a carnival comes to town. The kids love going up and riding the smaller rides and playing the different games. It wasn't until last year that I got the three oldest kids to try all the rides and figure out that they loved them. Nolan will go on anything as he has no fear but the other kids usually require quite a bit of persuasion before they get on. The crazy thing is that once they get on they love it and want to go over and over again.
This was one of the weaker rides as you can tell by Brooklyn's enthusiasm and the boys fake smiles.
This is the favorite ride of the carnival : the Mummy Ride. It took a couple of hours to get Brooklyn on and once she did it the first time she had to do it over and over and over again. With there being no line I be they rode this ride over 30 times in a row. I just love Nolan's expression and he was the only one who would raise his arms up on the ride.
Summer Fun
As in the past, the trampoline got a lot of use this summer. Some of the kids have gotten a little more daring and started trying different degrees of difficulty while on. Maddux has gotten quite good at back flips and front flips; not sure where he picked those up from.
Of course any time that Maddux and Cannon are doing something Nolan has to be right in the middle.
