Saturday Sports

Saturday was sports, sports, and more sports.

I started the day off at a wrestling tournament. Shane went to Mommy's barn first and got dropped off later.

Coach K's kids were there!

The kids raced all over after our first match. I played line guard and stood on the far side, so no one could run onto an active mat. I made the awesome move/mistake of showing them how to sling each other around in circles. When the boys each grabbed one of Kira's arms and tried to sling her opposite directions, I had to establish some guidelines. There were no injuries to report. Only lots of fun. The kids hid in a corner and played Perry on my phone when the wrestling started back up. I don't think most people realize how kid friendly wrestling tournaments can be.

That night, Shane and I drove down to Lynchburg for hockey. Kyle was in the neighborhood again!

December 17th, before bed time and out-of-the-blue,

Shane: "Daddy, am I going to see Kyle again?"

Me: "Kyle? Sure. Did you like hockey?

Shane: "Oh yes!"

Of course, I texted Kyle. "Tell us when you're in our neighborhood again!"

Saturday, was the day.

Kyle reffed a match between Liberty and WVU. It was a beautiful arena. Shane and I saw every inch of it.

"I tried to keep track of you all, but you were in a different part of the stadium every time I turned around!" Kyle said.

Yup.

Everywhere.

We even rode the elevator between periods.

It was a small arena, but it smelled of new. New and expensive.

We thought the mini-kids rink was awesome.

 We found a stray puck in the stands, later. It performed admirably.

I never knew soccer would help Shane in hockey. 

When the match ended (9-0 for Liberty), Shane ran the locker room corridors to wait for Kyle. 

When I tired, I forked over my phone.

Shane, Kyle, and the other refs went to dinner after they cleaned off. Shane wedged himself next to Kyle in the booth. I wish I had a picture. Shane probably thought it was the coolest thing. He got to eat a fancy PB&J, sit next to Kyle, at a table of hockey refs/players, and watch Little Einsteins on my phone.

I enjoyed talking to Kyle and his colleagues. There was a melee on Friday night that refused to quit. Round 2 was scheduled the next day. Everyone voted Kyle to don the armband (head ref). They talked shop and I learned what I could. It's neat to hear about the behind the scenes world they walk. All of the refs travel much farther than you'd expect, too.

I thought Shane would fall asleep on the ride home. He proved me wrong. The trip was worth it. I didn't realize the first trip was way back in October. Where did the time go?