This past winter and spring we played lots of soccer. In previous years Luke had enrolled in several sessions of the city-sponsored skills classes, but in those classes there are no teams and no actual games. Luke was ready to play in a real league with real games. For Maddie, she had played a single season of competitive soccer a couple years ago but at the time she didn't enjoy the experience (or at least she didn't enjoy it enough to keep playing).
So this past winter Luke signed up and played on Team Crew (photos below with yellow uniforms). He really enjoyed playing and learning and he met several new friends. He enjoyed the winter season so much that he signed up for the spring season too and played for Team Union (photos below with gold uniforms). The highlight of Luke's spring season was when he scored two goals in one game!
Maddie was a spectator during the winter season watching all of Luke's games, but she got bit by the soccer bug and enrolled to play spring season. Maddie played in an all-girls league for Team Crew in the spring. Maddie loved playing (more than she thought she would) and made great improvements in her game throughout the season. She also loved the team camaraderie (more than playing, I think).
Both kids are looking forward to playing again in the fall.
Several nights ago Luke lost his first tooth! The tooth had been loose for many weeks and had become extremely loose over the previous several days. Each night after brushing teeth, Dad would wiggle it a bit after Luke reluctantly agreed. Not wanting to make it painful, Dad wouldn't wiggle it too much. When asked if he was wiggling the tooth to help it fall out, Luke replied that he was "waiting for nature to take its course". It had reached the it-could-fall-out-and-he-could-swallow-it state so Dad gave it a gentle (but slightly firmer than usual) tug. With no resistance the tooth was removed. When the tooth was placed in Luke's hand, he didn't even know the tooth had fallen out (he just thought that Dad wiggled it too hard). He was very excited to lose his first tooth and the Tooth Fairy visited that night.
The whirlwind month that was October wrapped up with Halloween night and several Halloween-related activities at both kids' schools. At Luke's school there was a Halloween party and trick-or-treating to the classrooms. At Maddie's school there was a Halloween movie night on the lawn. The actual Halloween night was enjoyed by all of the neighborhood kids. We met together to gather a large group of kids at one neighbor's house before sunset. The kids run around and play, asking if it's time to start trick-or-treating every 10 minutes. Finally it was time. Maddie's night lasted for hours, first gathering candy, then trading candy, then playing into the late-night hours with neighborhood friends. Luke has less endurance and is ready to call it a night after about an hour (with a 20 minute break between two 20 minute trick-or-treat sessions). Enjoy some photo highlights below.
Luke's class in Halloween costumes
Luke plays Halloween bingo at school party
Luke in partial costume
Maddie in Perry the Platypus Costume
Maddie with girlfriends at school
Luke and Maddie prepare jack-o-lanterns, notice the focus and concentration
Luke in full Minion Costume, with fake banana
Minion and Rock
Paper, Rock, Scissors
The neighborhood kids count down minutes to darkness
Our October wouldn't be complete without our annual visit to the pumpkin patch farm, or so I thought until Maddie pointed out to me that we didn't go to the pumpkin patch 2 years ago and last year it was "boys only" because she was sick and Mom stayed home with her. Oh well, so much for annual family traditions. Our pumpkin patch visit is a family tradition even if it's not annual! (For the record, we've only skipped the pumpkin patch 1 or 2 times in the past 10 years). Several weekends ago we took advantage of our beautiful fall weather and continued our "annual" tradition. It was a fun-filled day. Enjoy some photos from the day!
A late afternoon photo of two tired kids
Mom and Luke ready for the train ride
Maddie and Dad are on the train too
A field of sunflowers
Notice the looks of joy on the kids' faces and the look of sheer terror on Mom's face
As parents we discourage running with sticks, however running with "magic wands" is totally acceptable
Maddie and Mom on the hayride
In the pumpkin patch
While wandering through the corn maze, Luke became obsessed with making a "film" to document our adventure. Every few steps he demanded that I turn on the video camera to record him giving status on our progress through the maze or just to see himself on camera. You may notice he even refers to me as "the camera man". I eventually had to remind him that Mom was waiting so we could stop "filming" and find the corn maze exit. I've put together all of the clips without editing... it's amusing.
The annual 3-family camping trip once again occurred in early October, maintaining a fun tradition that's been ongoing since 2010. For links to previous camping trip blog posts, click the links below:
As in years past, everyone had a great time this year. With the kids getting older, they enjoy a bit more freedom to explore the campground together. Luke sometimes joins the "big kids" for their excursions but also is happy to spend time with Mom or Dad around the campsite. The playground is an attraction that Luke enjoys more than the big kids, so Mom and Dad will take him to the playground without the big kids. At the playground he usually meets and plays with other kids near his age. All of the kids enjoyed other typical camp activities like swimming/playing in the creek and pool, swinging into the "Tarzan hole", fishing, camp games, smores, and evening viewing of the local raccoons and skunks. This year, the kids put on a play for the parents on the last evening at camp. They spent an afternoon writing and rehearsing the play, and the "big kids" even included Luke to introduce the play and call out the "scenes" (see video link below). Enjoy some of the best photos (and video) from our 2015 fall camping trip!
Night time dance party with all kids on the "dance floor"
Four girlfriends
Luke enjoys the "big swing"
Maddie on the "big swing"
Luke and Dad sit by the campfire... Dad looks mad (confused?) but I promise, I was not
Camping provides lots of time for the girls to sit and chat
BFFs
Girl power in the river
Sharing a seat around the campfire as night falls
Nature comes out at night
Luke introduces the play (note: "Guesstures" game prop borrowed from campsite game room)
Luke and Dad break down the tent on the last morning
Four girlfriends, again
On the last morning of camping, all of the kids write in their camping journals
More chatting at the camp site, waiting for breakfast
Luke enjoying the outdoors
Mom and Luke play corn-hole
Muscles on display from Mr. Marty and Luke
Maddie on a rope swing
They hope the weekend never ends
Smile!
Luke and Dad await dinner one evening, note Luke playing with his iPad!
Luke adjusts the score on the corn-hole board
One of Dad's favorite camping activities: reading/relaxing/etc in the hammock
Tarzan hole swing and plunge into the water
Luke on the playground...boys need more than trees and logs to climb!
Link below is video of the play (skit) that the kids performed on the last night. The play is a Harry Potter parody. The audio is poor, but you can see how much fun the kids were having. It's relatively long, approximately 9 minutes.
