Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Soccer, Sunsets & Sleet

After basketball ended, we asked Jaxen if he would like to play soccer.
A few boys from his basketball team were going to play soccer together,
and Jaxen said he wanted to try it out - so we signed him up!

Our soccer season so far has been a mix of beautiful nights, warm temps, sunsets,
and very cold sleeting mornings!

The field where they practice and play is seriously awesome to see the sunset….
but on the flip side, bitter cold when the ‘Kansas-wind’ is blowing strong! 






Nice sunsets, but also cute kids :) win win.





Zane was busy perfecting his basketball-shooting while they were practicing last week!
See him in the red shirt (below), throwing the soccer ball into the net?



Saturday was their first game.
It was supposed to be the Saturday before…but that game got cancelled due to cold weather.
Jaxen was pumped. 
Until we stepped out the car.
It was cold.
Low 30’s. Strong winds. And then the sleet came.
Sideways sleeting, for a time.
I did not dress him or myself appropriately.
I knew it was cold…but thought he would warm up as he ran around.
I’m thankful for the (prepared) mom who had an extra beanie and gloves Jaxen borrowed!
I did think to bring a chair and a (thin) blanket.

Look at these people, ready to watch 5 year olds play soccer!

Poor Jaxen.
He tried. But would not move. An inch. He was frozen solid.
We kept telling him he would warm up if he moved. Nope.


 Once the game started, I thought he would maybe start moving.

Nope.
He is literally standing in the same place he was in the above pic (right before the game started).
And did not move. 
They just carried on, playing all the way around him.


 Finally, after about 15 minutes, the coach put him as goalie (he loves goalie).
No movement.


It was finally half-time and he ran to sit with me and my blanket.
I did my best to warm him up.
When it was time to play again the coach asked Jaxen if he was ready.
No.
The coach said “What if I carry you out there”?
Jaxen thought it was funny, so he let his coach carry him on the field.
The second Jaxen’s feet hit the ground, he came running back to me.
It was pretty hilarious and everyone laughed…
but by the time he got to me, he was crying. 
He was so cold and so sad and did not want to stand there in the cold again.

So - I held my boy as close as I could, trying to keep him warmed up,
and we cheered on his team.
We stayed until the end and high-tailed it out of there!
On the way home, Jaxen was so serious,
and said “Mommy, I really don’t want it to be so cold the next game.
I did not like this winter day in spring!”
Neither did I buddy.

Saturday is supposed to be 45 and raining.
And he has 2 games scheduled.
I’m seriously re-thinking this soccer gig :)



Sunday, April 15, 2018

Celebrating TWO

Sorry for the lack of blog posting last week…
I had good intentions, but life happened :)
more about that later!

The Saturday before Zane’s birthday, we headed to the aquarium!
We had planned on going to the zoo - but weather had us indoors.
I invited our friends to join us - the Chandlers and the Robbins - and we had fun exploring!

The hour and a half we were in there was a blur…
between Jaxen running full steam ahead, because he was so excited
and Zane so entranced he didn’t want to move on - haha!
Good thing we had 7 adults for our 2 children…we needed it :)

Here are a few pics to enjoy.

Zane, at the entrance. 
So happy with the fish. Not wanting to move on, and wanting to climb in!

The aquarium had lots of fun kids things - like this:

Going through a tunnel and having the biggest sting ray’s swim all around us!

They had a cute play area by a large tank full of sea creatures.
You can (barely) see Jaxen standing above it at the lookout.

Zane loved loved loved the fish!

After we explored we let the boys pick out a toy,
and Zane talked Mr. Jim into buying him this shark!

The toys!

We enjoyed lunch out and then made our way back home for some cupcakes!
We put 2 candles in it and sang to Zane. 
He never touched the cupcake. 
He just laughed.
Should have given him a plate of lettuce…or peas - lol!

On the night of Zane’s actual birthday, we opened presents

He got dinosaurs, bubbles, swim gear, pajamas...



…and a bike!
It’s one of those little balance bikes (with no wheels).

We had to immediately go on a family walk to try it out!



It was a little hard for him at the beginning but started to catch on.
By mid-summer, Zane is going to be crusin’ along!  

We had a great time celebrating his 2nd birthday!