Nana and Pop Watch Soccer

With storms forecast all weekend, Shane's soccer game looked doubtful. Thankfully, the storms were all bluster and no thunder! I took Shane to TKD at 10 AM and then to soccer at 12 PM. 

This game was special: Nana and Pop were coming. From the top of the hill, I saw their car driving up and gave them directions over the phone.

They parked next to us and hiked up the hill.

Play was already underway. Shane nearly ran off the field.

Nana demanded furniture. I explained the benefits of exercise.

She got her chair. I got the exercise walking to my car to get it.

It was a good, used buy.

Shane's game went as many of them do. He was a space cadet and funny to watch, but he did okay. Nana and Pop got to see him get a goal, too!

It was nice to have company to talk to and cheer with during the game. Some of the other parents seem to alternate who comes, or they have other kids they're chasing the whole game.

There were plenty of things to laugh and talk about.

I cropped this for some poses.

Sports are great for kids.

The kids all dog-piled on Coach Brian at the end.

Coach Jeanluc took a picture and laughed.

A lot of the kids played after the game. Shane was all about Nana and Pop.

We collected Carrie for lunch and then drove down to the barn together.

I helped bring in the ponies while Pop watched Shane harass the ducks.

Aside from the property taxes and needing more jumps, this property is the epitome of Carrie's dream land.

The adults all talked and enjoyed the animals.

Shane got restless and went to explore.

He was on his own until he started throwing rocks into the pond. Pop had told him not to earlier, so I laid down the law. Shane was wise and didn't object or whine, so he was free to go again momentarily.

So long as he avoided going in where two guys were working on a semi. There's some heavy equipment laying around the owners use for their family business.

When the food ran out, it was time for the ponies to return to the herd.

Carrie loves how she can call Nibs over and she'll come.

Carrie ran up the hill with Nibs, so she wouldn't have to return to the herd alone!

Nana and Pop had to drive on after our group barn visit. Shane mourned as usual, but shook it off. We were able to rest for the remainder of the day, because we had plenty of  fun and adventure through the afternoon.

A Different Ride

I took a different ride to work today. Rainbow Dash distracted me every time she swung into my peripheral vision.

Carrie sent me a text to make sure I got to work incident free. I don't get those texts in the Volvo.

The reason for the switch was tire related. Carrie made friends at a tire shop while she was living at Sonya's and raising Nibs. She drove my car to help Sonya and pick up tires for a nice price.

Which left me with the truck.

It took Shane a moment to realize what had happened when I picked him up. I let him walk out into the parking lot (he marched so determinedly) and then I asked, "Where's the car?" That made him stop and look around. He put it together and changed direction. I don't know where he was walking to before!

We had our soccer practice in 90 degree weather.

Since my school is attached to the field, I was able to go inside to refill Shane's water bottle. That let him share some.

Only one coach was present. He made the wise choice of talking less and keeping the kids active. They played a bunch of games. It was one of their best practices all year!

It's amazing how kids improve even when it seems like every practice and game is chaos. The doing is the important part. 

Fun practice. Shane asked for blob tag and there was blob tag. 

Day of Games

Happy International National Tabletop Day! John was hosting an event at his library. I was happy to help. I packed more games than we could possibly use into my trunk.

I resisted the temptation to throw more in.

Once we were packed up, we headed to Shane's soccer game.

My plan was to let him run around and get tired before subjecting him to a car ride.

Energy was exerted. The field was a muddy mess.

Shane's continued the habit of trying to stay on defense. He's got energy in spades, but is surprisingly hesitant to spend it.

It's not like he sits still and rests on the sideline. He got in trouble for pouring out the coach's water to make a 'lake.'

Jeremiah is the other player who likes to hang back on defense. Maybe they're bonding.

Another game, another wave of high-fives and a snack for the road!

Two hours (and one Hank the Cowdog) later, we were at Tyson Regional Library. Cooley and several of Matt's JMU friends were already there. We used to play DOTA on Warcraft 3 with the guys, but Alex was the only one I'd ever met in person. It was great to reminisce ("Remember when we all made power ranger names?" "Or what about LN and how we became the Lithuanian National Team?")!

Shane inspected the fragiles,...

...but John was smart enough to bring other entertainment options for him.

With Shane on the Switch, I was able to socialize with less distraction.

John and Cooley ran through an Age of Sigmar skirmish. Alex and another guy tried Warhammer The Adventure Card Game. I talked to Nick and he started to pull out Space Hulk for a run through (Can you sense a Games Workshop Vibe?).

Nana and Pop stopped by after visiting Dad's friend, X B, at a track meet. Shane gladly gave up the switch in favor of Pokemon and grandparents.

That left me free to talk and try Space Hulk for a little bit. We actually had a pair of guys walk in who had heard about our event online. They joined John and Alex for a game of Welcome Back to the Dungeon. I hopped back and forth and did my best to be social and facilitate before settling down to finish Space Hulk.

I won as Genestealers. Cooley wanted to play a round, so I switched sides and played Marines. I'm glad I played the game if only to spend time with friends and to learn I don't want to buy it.

Nick, Alex, John, Cooley, Shane, and I met up at Noodles and Company after the library closed.

Alex was nice enough to play Love Letter: Batman with Shane after we ate. Shane dealt me in only to knock me out before I knew I was in the game!

Nick and Alex had other plans and said good-bye after dinner. The rest of us went by a friendly local gaming store to poke around.

John took Cooley home and then rendezvoused with Shane and I at Dairy Queen for ice cream. Shane spilled an entire cup of Hi-C in front of his chair. Calvin and Hobbes was a casualty.

Of course, I made Shane clean it up. I had almost thrown away his drink when we left Noodles and Co. Almost! Shane chose to prioritize his Pokemon cards over the drink. See them in his cup holders?

The cup was not in the cup holder, but on the seat.

Oops.

Lesson learned, I hope.

I got on Shane's case some, but not much. He knew he was in trouble. He worked to clean up the mess and take responsibility which is what I wanted to see.

Shane kept saying he didn't want ice cream because he messed up. I told him he'd done his penance, but he insisted. He was stubborn about it, so I switched up my approach. I told Shane he couldn't have a fancy blizzard, but he could have a small cone.

The cone was accepted.

I had an Oreo Blizzard in case anyone's interested. It's the best Blizzard out there.

Shane and I said good-bye to John and met up with Nana and Pop at Jama's apartment to spend the night. Shane was pumped to see them, but still fell asleep.

Which was great, because the adventure would continue in the morning.

Side note: Nana thought he looked filthy and needed to shower before hopping in bed. She also combed his hair for what was probably the first time in his life

More Soccer

Soccer may end up being Shane's sport.

He won a dribbling game twice. He threw a minor fit when he came in second for another game.

He should have been thrilled. I hadn't expected him to do so well in either game!

I thought practice was going to be cancelled for rain. The forecast predicted dreary weather from Tuesday on, but Thursday ended up nearly 80 degrees and perfect soccer weather.

Shane has never forgotten Coach Brian swinging him by the arms at the end of last season. He's asked at every practice to go for a spin!

I'd love to get him to practice some at home.....but I'm going to need more energy for that!