Robin Hood Shane + Willamina Scarlet Carrie + ???? Mike = Merry Band of Trick or Treaters
Shane's costume panned out.
But, he ended up like this.
Shane was sick.
We had wanted to go trick or treat on the Lawn again (for eats and passing out). I picked up Shane directly after school and rushed him home to get ready. Carrie left work early, met us at home, and tagged in while I went to wrestling. We would have met after, but Carrie called to let me know Shane had fever and coughed non-stop.
I finished practice, went home, showered, went back out to Food Lion, bought candy, rushed back, and said "Get your costume back on if you want any candy, kid!"
He did. The cold air worked wonders for his cough, too (Imagine that!).
We kept to ourselves and didn't wander far, but Shane complained his candy was "too heavy" by the time we finished. Everyone was extra generous, because there were next to no kids out. We only had three groups ring our doorbell.
I have a new candy added to my favorites list: Snickers Peanut Butter.
The truck broke down hard thirty miles from home with horses in tow. Carrie called, but my phone was on silent in church. Shane and I mounted up for a rescue right after.
AAA could handle the truck, but what about the loaded trailer?
An F-250 dually pulled up and checked on the stranded ladies. Not only did they offer to help, they took Carrie and Cassie out to breakfast! Carrie called them angels. Shane and I rendezvoused with everyone at the Golden Corral.
Shane and I drove Keith and Carrie over to unhitch the trailer while everyone finished eating.
The rest of the crew arrived shortly thereafter.
My honest first thought: "This is the oldest horse rescue team I've ever seen. Is this how they stay busy retired? Any why so many?"
You see, I was uninformed. The last Carrie and I talked, she had been called a horse trailer/rescue service. Then she hung up. I drove on the assumption there was a plan or there would be a plan by the time I arrived. Then when I did arrive at the restaurant, we only paused a moment. Shane and I walked in, walked out, loaded up, rolled out, and carried on.
Then Shane had to pee. I took him to the Wendy's while the trailer was unhitched. When we returned, Keith gave me a key and said that he accidentally took it with him, so Shane and I drove back to Golden Corral to deliver it. There was never an idle moment to ask Carrie, "Who are these guys?"
Whoever they were, they knew animals and how to haul. Keith talked donkeys and mules the drive over. I spent the whole time handling Shane.
The tow truck arrived after we said goodbye to the horses. Amazingly, the angels were from Charlottesville and lived not far from Jenny's barn.
William, the tow truck driver, was awesome, too.
He let Shane help load the truck!
We followed William all the way back to Charlottesville. Wendy's provided lunch for Shane (and an awesome toy that kept him busy the whole ride - I'd stop at that Wendy's again).
We cleaned out the truck and went to the barn to check on the horses and debrief. The angel crew had already moved on by the time we arrived. We need to thank them somehow.
We got home after 3:00 PM. Porch-Couch was ready for us.
Still don't know what's up with the truck. We'll find out tomorrow, I hope.
There was an actual photographer. Only five kids and one coach showed up semi-early (and Shane was doing Taekwando).
Smiling on cue remains difficult.
As does standing still.
It all works out when the moment is genuine!
More kids had arrived by this point. I got some to form a triangle and pass the ball. Other kids (including my own), built a tower out of the team water bottles.
Coach gave a rousing speech. Half the kids listened at any given time. The other time did group stretches and calisthenics.
I only got one shot of the game, before I got promoted to assistant coach. We always play on two fields. One coach can run back and forth if his team knows what they're doing.
Our coach can't run back and forth.
Shane played with Coach Dave and I had four kids on the opposite field. We got killed, but I made sure to find good things to say. The team has improved. They started the season unaware of what a center kick, goal kick, corner kick, and/or throw-in looked like. I told the kids we were going to take turns in number order and they remembered places better than I did (Mental note: It worked; Use again).
Snack was a homebrew mix of chex, goldfish, chocolate chips and graham crackers. The kids loved it.
The season is ending so much more positively than it began. Shane has made a lot of progress. I want to keep it up! I'll have to think more about what to do for a spring sport. Baseball? More soccer? Tons of swimming lessons or two TKD classes a week instead? Winter is easy. Wrestling!
Nova came up for dinner tonight. Shane and I picked up a salmon fillet yesterday.
I love it when Carrie cooks.
Side note: I'm never going to buy Alaskan king crab legs. $19/lb including the shell? Yeesh. That could be a great price and I'd still prefer peanut butter.
Shane was a toot, Nova brought up SAO, Carrie was beside herself, and I ate until I was full.
Shane's school had a special event Wednesday morning. We went in early for breakfast and books. I wasn't sure I wanted to leave so soon, but Shane had no qualms. He woke up extra early.
Shane's got a fever and the only prescription is more computer. He wants to play my Desktop Dungeons game. It's not a game I would expect to appeal to a kindergartner. Especially one who can't read, multiply, or divide.
Between limited access and seeing me play, I guess it was enough. Like father, like son?
Most of my life is devoted to work and family, so there's not many open time/energy spots for judo, social outings, or what have you.
I've decided I want to get better at chess.
I never had the patience or people to play against when I was younger. I still don't, but when your opponent is a computer it's easy to get up and walk away. Then, when I am active, the computer takes its turns much quicker than a person. With all of the free chess learning websites, it's a great fit. If learn enough, I'd love to pass some of it on to Shane or some students.
I've tried to avoid bribes. I want soccer to be the reward. However, it hasn't worked. I decided to give Shane an achievable goal to try and create a positive experience and get Shane over the slump. "Every time you kick the ball away from someone is 1 point. If you get enough points, you can have computer later," I said.
"What if I dribble?" Shane asked.
"1 point."
"What if I get a goal?"
"10 points. I don't care if you win, you're winning to me if you help your team and win points."
We've had many discussion about trying.
Well, Shane tried. He scored a goal, too. Only it was on the wrong side of the field!
Absolutely hysterical. I kept it positive and didn't laugh. Shane ran around, tried, and had fun because of it (I'm sure the computer bribe helped, too).
We had a positive experience. That's what I wanted. Hopefully, Shane remembers and it sticks. Our team is not going to win much if any. They fit the lovable misfits role. The other team was all male, all experienced, all serious. Their coach wore a tie, yelled for crosses, and only called back throw-ins if his kids weren't ready.
Our kids made dog piles during water break.
I like our team philosophy better. The coaches probably have the kids work on corner kicks, goal kicks, and throw ins Monday. I think we're all new to U8, so everyone's still learning the basic format of the game. It's a step up from the hot shots horde.
In the end, teams that play together snack together.
I was thrilled to see Shane play and have fun. There are only a few games left, so I hope we finish the season on a high note!
I arrived a little before the start to pick up Shane and walk up to buy tickets.
Shane threw hoops over pumpkins, tossed bean bags, and danced to the music during a cake walk.
The playground never fails to excite, either.
Some games were harder than others.
The "Nickels in a Haystack" was Shane's favorite. Possibly, because it had a extraordinarily high ticket to token ratio.
The other games cost 1 to 2 tickets to play and paid out 1 token. "Nickels in a Haystack" was 1 ticket and Shane crawled out with 6 tokens the first try.
That's how we afforded a lightsaber. We could have grabbed more, but Shane wanted to explore and I didn't want to clean house before other kids had a chance. When we returned to the prize stand there were slim pickings. We kept four tokens as souvenirs.
Shane's music teacher greeted me at the scooter race. "Does Shane sing all the time at home?"
Yes. Yes he does.
He sang about his lightsaber and flashing toys all the way home.
