Another Successful Saturday

I agreed to coach Shane's soccer game on Saturday, but Paul beat me there and had already started. He knows more than me about soccer, so I was happy to fall into the role of assistant. 

It was a solid game with a final score of 4-4. There were good plays on both sides of the field.

Shane got to play goalie for a little bit. A long kick bounced in front of them and then over his head and out of reach for a score. He jumped and tried, but he's a little man protecting a large net. I'm surprised being a goalie has stuck, but he's owned it. I want to make him do something this summer to give him a little training if he's going to continue, but I don't know what that is.

Carrie requested we visit Samwise with her. There were dogs at the barn in Powhatan and one really liked to lick.

Who's Samwise you ask? Carrie's new horse, of course. His name was originally Hudson, but she's renamed the younger, half-draft cross gelding she's acquired to be Nibs' future barn mate.

Shane made friends while Carrie treated Samwise's ear and prepped him for a ride.

Shane showed some interest and got to pet Samwise.

Carrie hopped on Samwise for a quick ride.

It was raining, but there was a covered arena.

Shane showed an awful lot of interest in the electric fence. I could hear it humming.

If he really wanted to check the charge, he would have been in for a shock.

I wouldn't have stopped him either. I warned him up front I thought it was live.

Shane touched it with a blade of grass and said he felt a tingle, but never truly tested it.

He did try some jumps of his own.

Here is where we got in trouble with Carrie. There was  a trampoline near the arena and some horses in a field. We'd been there for a little while and Shane was trying to stay entertained. The trampoline was near horses and everything, so I figured "Must be okay."

It wasn't. Carrie saw us and said, "Make him stop."

I asked if she was sure and then started to tell Shane to knock it off. He complied fairly quickly, but not instantly. I thought Carrie might be being overcautious, but figured horses were her world.

Carrie was right.

It may not have been the bouncing, but Samwise visibly flinched as Shane climbed out. Carrie and Samwise were over 50 ft away and I saw it. He seemed skittish to my untrained eye.

Carrie certainly felt it and dismounted. She walked Samwise over to the trampoline to try and introduce it to him, but he recoiled a little when they got near. She got him to examine for a moment before walking him back to the barn.

Carrie was not happy with us.

Lesson learned.

We returned home via Scottsville to check out the construction of our new homestead.

Progress had been made since the last time I was there.

Carrie took Shane in for a walk-around.

Everything was wet from all the rain. Roofs help with that, but ours wasn't up yet!

The ground behind the house had been leveled to prepare for the barn and arena.

It was highly muddy. My feet felt like they weighed an extra couple of pounds after a few minutes.

We ended a packed day with going to the movies.

Originally, Carrie bought tickets for a matinee showing. She'd done this weeks before. At the time, I'd said I wasn't sure I wanted to see the movie. We never really discussed it further and I ended up volunteering to coach (See the top of this post!). 

We went back and forth when we realized the conflict. I was going to coach regardless of Shane went to the game or the movie, but Carrie managed to change the tickets to an evening showing.

Shane loved it.

It wasn't terrible either. I wouldn't have ever gone to see it on my own, but Shane's joy and some good lines made it a fun time ("I'm great at being alone at night!" "Have you ever talked to a woman before?").

Pokemon Night

Shane and Samuel talked about it after basketball practice, so we had to make Pokemon night happen this week!

Shane was more than a little gun shy about taking Samuel on. "He's got all the best cards! I don't have a chance!"

I told Shane it was more about having fun and getting better than winning........and making your own victories. "Try taking at least one prize card. If you get one, go for two!"

Winning can happen after you get better and have fun. It's like dessert. It will complete the meal, but it shouldn't be necessary for a healthy diet!

Samuel did whoop on him twice. Shane hasn't even played the physical or the online card game in forever and a day. 

Their games ended when one of the adults advertised they were going to have a Gameboy battle and display it on a computer. Shane was excited to tell them everything they were doing (but the guy seemed to enjoy counter-narrating, so everyone won, I guess)!

Shane got in one more game after Samuel left. "I finally won one! YES!"

Meanwhile, I walked around, talked some, and played a little solitaire card game to kill time. I bought a booster pack on the way out as a "Thanks for hosting." Shane was thrilled to tear into it and type the online code in.

FUTURE UPDATE: Shane was all about Pokemon Thursday night, but he hasn't cared about it since. I've had to make him pick up his cards after he left them out. He wants computer time, but he wants to play games like Slither (Snakes) on Poki instead of anything Pokemon related. We'll see how he feels about Pokemon night next week.

Quick Sam Visit

We didn't have much else going on for a rainy weekend, so I was glad Sam was up for a visit.

The boys hit the Pokemon cards right away. I was hoping they'd play a game, but that didn't happen.

They ran up the stairs and went searching for the cats. There was discussion about a cat trap, but I shut that down.

For a split second, the boys looked like they might listen to my suggestion to make a comic book together.

Shane was all for it, but Sam was "bored."

The rain stopped, so I let the boys outside for a bit.

Shane wanted to show off a hole he'd dug and look for more worms.

Sam wanted to ride around or do something else!

It was hard to get the boys in sync this time. They were both happy to be together, at least.

What got them in sync were electronics. Sam was amazed I could link the computer to the TV.

They laughed and danced together (Shane did most of the dancing and Sam did most of the laughing!).

I let Shane boot up Plants vs Zombies afterward. I told him to make sure they took turns, but Sam only wanted to watch.

It was a short visit, but Shane and Sam had a ball.

Always Think, Kid

After church, Shane was looking in a fiction book. There was a photograph of some pigeons in a car with some kids. In the story, the pigeons had swooped in and taken food.

Shane was amazed. "If we drive with the windows down, birds will fly into our car and take our food!"

"Just because it's in a photograph doesn't mean it's real," I replied.

Shane could not fathom how this was possible. He kept going on and on, so I told him I'd show him some camera magic.

First, I had him lay down on the porch. Next, I told him to stretch out and put his fingers in between a board.

A quick rotate and voila! Shane was hanging on the side of a wooden wall.

He liked that.

I had him stand and hold his arms out next. Before he knew what was happening, he was fending off a giant's hand.

I love "Aha!" moments. I love moments where you're opened to whole new possibilities. It only lasted a moment, because we were literally getting in the car to go somewhere. But we both shared a moment.

Shane got to spend his allowance today. He gets $.25 on Monday for completing his chores. The money then doubles every day he does his chores and doesn't cash out. Maximum payout is $4 on Friday. The goal is to give him a goal each day (chores) and teach delayed gratification. Shane figured it out day one.

We went by the End Games on the way to Costco to let him spend his first week's haul. There was a tournament going on I wanted to take a peek at, as well. Shane bought an Incineroar GX for $4.89 + tax. I told him he'd owe me the difference.

A storm blew through when we were about to leave. The power started to flicker in the shop!

We waited. Samuel was the only other young Pokemon player there. In a way, Samuel's dad is the opposite of me. I don't mind Pokemon, but my interest is mainly out of love for Shane. Samuel's dad has gone all in on the game. He collects, plays, and netdecks.

It's a friendly community. A lady gave Shane a card he was looking at just because.

He's Ours to Entertain Again

With Nana, Pop, Kathleen, Stu, and crew out of the picture, Shane was ours to keep busy again.

The snowstorm forecast never materialized. Which was great, because Shane had a soccer game. It was cold and drizzly. From Tuesday to Friday, I never imagined the game would happen, so this was a huge turnaround.

But without a huge turnout.

Which is fine. Our team never has to do substitutions! Shane largely hung back and stayed near the goal. I'd hoped he'd have been more active after he won the dribbling contests in practice. I expected the coach to order him forward, too, but he let him hang back on defense.

Shane's friend, Sam, attacked relentlessly. Sam's gotten good at kicking and taking the ball right from under someone's feet and then chasing past them to get it and score.

Which was good timing for Sam's dad, Paul. It was his first time to make it out to a U8 game. He was really happy (And on a random note: Someone else from the UK wandered over. The guy and Paul recognized each other's accents and started talking. Accents draw themselves to their own. The guy kept offering his kid 'crisps.' That's potato chips for us Americans).

Shane was more active after a field switch.

With the usual Shane-annigans and playing around in between.

Shane had a few awesome break away plays once he started going on the attack. Twice, he drove on the goal ahead of the pack with the ball.

Twice, he tried to dribble the ball all the way up to the goal instead of shooting and came away empty handed. Other kids were able to catch up and mob him. Both times I was excited and yelling, "Shoot! Shoot!" Shane kept on dribbling and once it was contested started yelling, "I can't!"

The second time, Shane started to yell at me and ran off to stand in a far corner of the field. He stood there for a few minutes and refused to play. He came out of it for the last 10 seconds to defend the final goal attempt and that was the game.

We talked afterwards.

"You made me cry!" Shane yelled.

"I was excited you were doing so well! I was cheering you on! You did great!" I replied.

"I didn't like it!" Shane said.

"Did you think I was mad?" I asked.

"No."

Really, it was Shane was frustrated. To go from the elation of nearly scoring to being foiled was hard for him to handle. Which is normal. Learning how to deal with that sort of emotion is one of the reasons I've pushed sports! I gave him a big hug and told him I was proud of him.

After a little bit, I did ask, "Do you run faster with or without the ball?" He replied without and I mentioned, "That's one reason it's better to shoot from a little further away. You slow down to manage the ball and other players can catch up to you." He got the point once he was out of the situation and could look back.

We checked in at home and then went out for some errands. Shane read a Star Wars graphic novel from John as we drove.

Our first stop was the 8th anniversary of the FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store). Shane had $6.53 of Easter money burning a whole in his pocket. He wanted to buy a Pokemon GX.

He was able to afford two.

Which he was ecstatic about.

He talked about how awesome they were all the way to Costco. I sat on my phone and texted as he continued to elaborate on the strategies and scenarios he planned to win with them in.

The end of Rogue One was playing on a TV as we went into Costco. I mistook it as a remastered and CG'd opening to Episode IV at first.

Samples were out. Always a plus.

I almost bought a block of over 2 lbs of gouda for $5.79/lb.

Then I thought, "Nah. I don't need that much. I don't want it to go bad. It'll be a little more per pound, but I can get a more manageable portion at Wegmans." I had to go to Wegmans anyway to pick up a special Carrie request.

Wegmans was $8.99/lb! They had added in some smoked flavor, but yeesh. I would have been better off buying more and throwing away whatever molded!

Wegmans was also out of bread flower. Who'd have known?

Shane got to stay home with Carrie for the Wegmans run. He'd been busy all morning and afternoon with me. We unpacked, cleaned and hung out the rest of the night. All the activity felt a little bit like cramming all of our usual stuff in to make it feel like we were back home and not on vacation anymore.