A Gorgeous, Fall U8 Soccer Day

Another Saturday, another soccer game. But wait.....something's different about these pictures.

It's because I'm on the field. The coaches couldn't make it, so they asked for volunteers. Jonathan's Dad and I ended up coaching.

These two pictures are it. I was too busy coaching munchkins for anything else.

Sports, Sports, Sports

I swear I'm not trying to turn my kid into a professional athlete.

That said, I'm looking at signing Shane up for basketball in addition to wrestling this winter. I'll be trying to coach my middle school team, assist with the high school, and run an upper elementary club.

Am I crazy?

Turns out basketball is cheaper than wrestling. Shane's runs into some random opportunities to shoot on our neighbor's hoop with Raheem and I've seen kids shooting in the gym some days when I pick him up after school. I remember when I was in middle school and I played some pick-up games with friends during PE or at someone's house.

Wrestling doesn't pop up as often. It is actually the most expensive youth sport I've signed Shane up for (and by a fair margin, too). It's clearly my sport (I'm coaching how many different groups?!) so I want Shane to understand wrestling, but I want to make sure he tries basketball, too. It's unfortunate they run during the same season, but such is life. I figure that any sport Shane tries younger will be more forgiving and give him enough experience to pick whatever sport he wants to do later on.

I feel a little bad about scheduling activities for at least four days a week (Basketball + Wrestling + TKD + Game day), but maybe if Shane wasn't so high energy we'd stay at home more. We talked to the parent of one of the girls in his class and they talked about how their daughter "likes to sit and do art with her sisters." I forget what else was said, but it all sounded delightfully easy to facilitate. Carrie will have to help with transport more often, but she should be more available with the job switch.

Wrestling Busy

Three weeks of preseason down.

6 HS practices so far. I ran 2 when the Head Coach couldn't make it.

3 Wrestling club practices. We got to use a room at the rec center with some decent mats the last time.

1 coach has contacted me about setting up matches for December and February.

I was thinking about taking over scheduling matches from my AD this year, but I don't know if it's going to happen. I've still got to get CPR certified, file for my re-licensure, fill out an application packet for a doctoral degree, and keep up the current pace in my off-time.

TKD + Walls = Fun

I think Shane enjoys climbing on the walls outside of TKD as much as he enjoys TKD. Maybe even more.

Wuv

Carrie sent me a picture on Hangouts. 

Here's how it went down:

It was waiting for me when I got home.

Bedtime Stories with Shane

Shane has opted to read to himself for bedtime story the past couple of nights. He said, "I can read and listen to you!"

I didn't buy it and that was okay. Shane read on his own and looked through books for a while each night. I read silently to myself.

Remembering the goal is always important: I want Shane to enjoy reading. Sharing stories with him is one way, but him actually wanting to read is another. We'll get back to Prydain eventually.

Friend Visit

Took Kingdomino over to a friend's house. Didn't finish the instructions. Building play ensued and that's okay. 

Harry Potter Town

Once a year, Harry Potter fans flock to Staunton, VA. Shane and I decided to investigate. We parked at Patrick's and then we all walked the half-mile into downtown.

Shane enjoyed walking on every wall we came across.

When we arrived downtown, the streets were blocked off. The smell of popcorn and food trucks wafted through the air, heavenly.

Patrick and I wanted to poke around before we bought anything. I wanted to get Shane to pose for a picture with a Hagrid cosplayer in platform shoes, but instead he found....

...a dragon to climb on.

Truth be told, I'm not sure it was meant to be climbed on. There were a ton of other kids up there first and a cop walked by and said nothing. I could see some gaps in the structure where it was assembled, though...

...so we moved on to the train station.

Sadly, there were no trains. There were some decorations, but the event seemed mainly about local vendors and fans dressing up.

Shane wanted to explore the bridge that went over the tracks.

Staunton's a quirky town. I like the odd design and the hills.

Several old rail cars had been transformed into a quilt shop, a restaurant, and something else.

There was a neighborhood on the hill that overlooked downtown. It would be neat  to live on a house on a hill where a short walk over a bridge would drop you downtown.

Shane managed to find a loose brick on our way back into town. No surprise was hidden inside.

Staunton is normally a sleepy town. Patrick was amazed at all the people. He's seen it before, but not ever there. We passed numerous closed and abandoned buildings as we walked around. The streets were crowded when we got back into the thick of it.

We didn't stop anywhere, because the lines all looked far longer than we'd want to deal with. Shane wouldn't have stood still either.

We ducked down a side-alley on our way out. There was a door for what looked to be an apartment next to a restaurant. Again, I really wonder what it would be like to live in that type of setting. Shane wondered where the water flowed through the grates.

Patrick half-tried to convince him that when people flushed it came out the pipes on the side of another building.

We walked around in the sun and the heat for at least an hour, maybe two. Patrick bought some water bottles and I bought some loaded fries to split as a snack. Our wallets escaped mostly unscathed. Shane wanted to climb up on all the walls on the way home.

Shane was mad when I made him hop down to walk normal later on down the road. Patrick handed him a screw. The "present" distracted him long enough for us to continue on (but then he started trying to use the screw on every telephone pole that dotted our path!).

It was tree-climbing time when we made it back to Patrick's.

Patrick and Shelby settled in for dinner when Shane and I hit the road.

U8 Maroon Game 2

Game 2. Shane's #8 and in the red trunks.

The teams looked a lot more even this time. Blue scored, but then we followed up with a score of our own.

Then, something strange and wonderful happened: Shane scored a goal!

That has to be the first real goal Shane has ever scored. I mean....he scored once when everyone was on a water break, but this had to be the first concentrated effort with a payoff I've seen.

I feel like I say this all the time: Shane has improved! He ran, he got overheated, pointed out every time the ball went out of bounds and then he asked to do the throw-in or goal kick soon after.

On the way out, we saw Miles riding his bike. His brother, Mason, was playing. Miles showed off some wheelies for us before we continued on.

I imagine the coaches are much happier with the showing today. Shane let swearing they won by one.

Board Outdoors

Shane and I taught Raheem how to play Kingdomino. 

Henry came over to watch the second round. He's too little to learn. Sam would have chewed on the pieces.

Random Work Thing

Downside of being a teacher having a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science: Occasionally, I have to sit through tech trainings where I know more than the trainer. Sometimes, I provide technical support.

Upside: I got a lot of grading done during one of those trainings today. Last time, I guessed a password and made a student named Bruce Wayne when the trainer wasn't looking. She was very confused.

Same Horse and Pony Show Every Time...

"Mom...Dad....Can you pick me up early today? I get sooo tired of after school sometimes," Shane said.

And yet, whenever I get there....

"Oh, hi Dad! Can I play some more?"

Wrestling Club Take 2

Thursday - I decided it wasn't safe or feasible to use the small mat with how hyper the kids in wrestling club were. I thought about it over the weekend.

Monday - I emailed the coordinator. I wanted to hop on the activity bus. I was told the Tennis Club used it weekly to go to the CHS courts.

Monday Night - Got the "I'll look into it."

Tuesday - I had to run the HS practice and then there was Back To School Night for Shane. Both went well, but I didn't think to write back about the buses until that night. The response came....

Wednesday Morning - "No activity bus. We hope to have one soon" The city is short on bus drivers.

Poop.

Wednesday Afternoon - No bus. No mat. Practice #2.

For no mats, it went really well. I started with a small warm-up outside to get some energy out, went over stances, hand-fighting drills, cleaning-wrists, arm-drags and a hip switch. To finish practice, we cleaned up the room and played BS (Coach Frederick would have been proud).

The kids are still hyper crazy. Two of them especially so. If they were MS or HS wrestlers, I would have conditioned them into the ground in response to being talked over. That's a lot harder without mats. Plus, these guys are much younger than I'm used to. A couple seem almost criminally unaware of their own body and voice. There's a fine line allowing excitement and enforcing the discipline needed for a safe wrestling room.

When I get access to mats, I can let the kids wrestle more and I can introduce some wrestling games to wear them out. If there is no activity bus next week, I may ask if we can walk/jog to the high school. That'd get some energy out of the kids (provided they don't try to play in traffic on the way over).

Anyway, 2 out of 15 weeks of club down.

Back to School Night

Shane's back to school night was tonight. I forgot to take pictures. Apparently, the school forgot to get a working microphone for the principal, as well. We couldn't hear a word he said, so we hung out in the office until it was time to visit the classrooms. Sounds like Shane is off to a good start. He enjoys school and being around other kids. I hope that lasts a couple more years.

Pool Noodles Aren't Only For Pools

Soccer Practice Monday!

Carrie came with us to soccer this week! I was so happy I snuck a selfie. 

Shane started off in full ham mode, but ended well. If anything, one of the coaches slipped into ham mode himself (maybe that's why he seems to like Shane so much). The kids were split into teams and supposed to kick the balls into their opponent's field. The coach started punting balls across creation to make the other coach run after them ("Cleats on asphalt.I was having fun. Thanks, Brian.")

We all went out for a treat afterward.

Was a happy end to a busy day.

The Greensboro Science Museum

After soccer, Shane showered and we drove to Greensboro, NC with Mom to return a trailer (That's another story). I hoped Shane would snooze on the way down. It didn't happen.

Anyway, the mission was accomplished, but Carrie and I wanted to turn the errand into a trip.

So we went to the Greensboro Science Museum! 

It turned out our museum membership at the Discovery Museum got us free tickets. We saved $40!

We only had a little over an hour before the museum closed, but that worked out well with Shane's attention span.

Whenever Carrie or I tried to stop and watch or read a plaque, Shane ricocheted to the next exhibit.

Shane fascinated by everything, so he had a blast.

He looked at fish, snakes, otters, eels, touched a stingray...

...and ignored the talk on sharks I wanted to listen to.

But that was ok. He'd been a good traveler in the car, so this was about making the drive worth something to him.

We were all full, because Carrie spotted a Mexican restaurant on the leg over (which I guess was my treat).

There were enough exhibits at the museum we could have stayed for hours.

They even had extreme weather (a Shane favorite).

Outside, there was a zoo.

Including a barn - Possibly Carrie's favorite attraction.

Because horses. They were minis, but they count.

I got a lot of pictures and could have taken even more.

King Julian!

The next time we're in Greensboro, I expect we will drop in for another visit.

I may have to Google some of the species the next time I'm bored. A "European Legless Lizard?"

We stopped by the gift shop on the way out. We managed not to buy anything, but if I was willing to pay for something stupidly overpriced it would have been this pencil.

Shane did such a great job in the car, we stopped at Chic Fil A for ice cream halfway home. We got a through the first three chapters of The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander and then he got to play on my phone the last hour.