Hungry Like the Wolves

Sweet Pea concluded her soccer season with an evening soccer jamboree. It consisted of all of the teams getting together to receive their medals, t-shirts and in SP's case, a little stuffed wolf. Since her team's nickname was the wolves, her coaches got clever with a going away gift.

After the awards ceremony, which ended with a half dozen parents clapping and taking pictures, and one last team 'howl' we ventured over to the 'jamboree'. The jamboree included multiple fire trucks to climb in, around and through. The local K-9 unit from the sheriff's department was on hand to answer questions about Sabre, the German Shepard police dog.

A couple of booths sold t-shirts and ice cream treats, which I wickedly denied my children. They were pretty well behaved though, so we went to TCBY afterwards. Besides, the booth didn't have any blueberry swirl.

The evening culminated with a drenching of all of the young soccer stars with the fire hose. Both kids got soaked.

N1S decided he was wet enough and wanted to dry out. I told him to run around until he was dry.

"Run where?", he asked.

I pointed and said, "Run until you stop and come back."

I should have known that you don't tell a kid with Asperger's to run without specifying a turnaround point. That poor kid ran to the very end of two and half soccer fields until the BMX bike track stopped him, where he stood and watched the races until SP and I came to get him.

Kickin' and a Chippin'

Last week, both kids finished up with their respective sports camps. Sweet Pea participated in a week long soccer camp. She went every morning from 9 to noon, and it seemed she came home muddier with each day. When I picked her up on Thursday, the entire swarm of six year olds were engaged in a water fight with their teenage coaches. They made it fun for the kids each day. Wednesday was crazy hair day, which SP greatly excels at. She has a superior talent to team up with Lady Di to create hair sculptures. This year the 'Zohans' produced a beautiful lion's mane with a rainbow assortment of pony tail holders. SP was having so much fun this week, I don't think she realized that she was actually learning how to play soccer.

She is also on a soccer league team again this year. Last year her team was the lavender gophers. This year she is on the pink wolves team. Whenever her team scores a goal, they all howl like a pink pack of wolves.

This looks like a pretty good action shot of her, but she was actually just hanging out in the goal with her teammates before the game.

Number One Son completed his golf camp this week also. He would get dropped off at the golf course for an hour in the morning. I really had to force myself to not take his place at the camp, since I am in need of much instruction. For those who know N1S, you know that he is not a natural athlete and struggles with team sports. Individual sports seem to fall more in line with his talents and temperament. This is the case with many kids with Asperger's. We are still involving him in some team activities, like his basketball camp later in the month, but so far he has shown the most success with solo activities. Even though golf is an individual sport, the instructors came up with team competitions for the kids to test themselves. I watched N1S's team win a chipping contest and it was nice to see N1S cheering on his teammates and celebrating with them when he chipped the last ball through the target.

I didn't get any pictures of N1S at his golf camp so here is one of him trying his best to chop a divot out of my beautiful lawn.

The golf camp couldn't have pleased me more. Now I have a real reason to spend some extra time at the golf course. I'm hoping that SP will show the same interest in golf and basketball when she is a bit older. We can then add a few more family activities to enjoy.

Goal!

Sweet Pea's soccer season ended last Monday with her soccer Jamboree. All of the teams met at the fields with their coaches to get their medals and water bottles. It was nice to see the girls show their pride in their team and clap for each other as they got their medals. Her coaches did a great job and you could tell they were having just as much fun as the girls.

After the 'awards ceremony' , kids from all of the teams got to take turns climbing into a real firetruck. They got to see the inside of a police car too. I hope that is the only way she will see that. The kids also got to see the police dog, 'Buck'. Buck entertained the crowd with a demonstration of how to take down a criminal. Another officer 'volunteered' to be the bad guy, as Buck dragged him down and tried to shred his arm. All the kids cheered for Buck.

The evening ended with the firetruck spraying the whole crowd with water. And on this 90 degree day, it was welcome. There were a lot of screaming, squealing and soaked kids.

When we got home we had a Popsicle and Sweet Pea showed her medal to her big brother who was quite impressed.

Our area really has an impressive number of opportunities for kids to be involved in group activities. Kids can choose just about any sport they want and can participate in something pretty much year round. In addition to sports, the community also offers many fun classes and camps for kids to learn and have fun. Where I grew up, we didn't have such choices. We could choose to participate in the one activity offered, or we could mow lawns. We consider ourselves pretty lucky to have so many different things for the kids to try and experience.

I hope Emery wants to play soccer next year. She likes to play with other kids and likes to do physical things. She also doesn't mind getting dirty. Sometimes she will complain about being too sweaty. But not very often.

Soccer Night

Tonight was Sweet Pea's soccer night. This afternoon was another scorcher. I'm glad Emery's soccer started at 7:30pm this time. The tight traffic leaving the soccer fields usually makes the evening a late one. But the air cooled off a bit when the sun went behind the trees and it was pleasantly comfortable. All eight of Emery teammates showed up tonight. I think it is the first time the whole team has been there since the first practice. Her team is showing signs of improving too. They are starting to spread out on the field a little. Usually, all the girls on the field collapse to the ball and follow it around the field as a group. Tonight a few of the girls hung around the group waiting for the ball to squirt out. Toward the end of the scrimmage, I think a few of the girls were spreading out because of exhaustion. They started walking toward the ball instead of running. But other than that, they all showed a lot of improvement and, as usual, had a lot of fun.

I also had a pleasant surprise from Number One Son. Those of you who know Ethan, know that he has a difficult time starting and maintaining friendships with his peers. It's hard work for him and we usually have to encourage and coach him about how to act. He usually doesn't go up to kids on his own and start playing.

Tonight, as Emery started soccer, Ethan asked if he could explore a treeline next to the soccer field. I could keep an eye on him so I said OK. A few minutes later I noticed that he was talking to two boys close to his age. This is when we usually start to feel a little nervous about how he will interact. I let him alone and watched Emery's soccer some more. A little later all three boys were intently examining something they were holding. I found out later that it was just some berries they had found in the woods. The important thing, however, was the fact that Ethan was doing something with his peers and was involved in the project. Many times he is an observer and doesn't participate. But tonight I observed him conversing with the boys and contributing to what they were doing. It felt good to not worry so much about Ethan's behavior. It made me think that he is learning and eventually he will be able to apply what he has learned towards persuing his own friendships. Later the boys found bugs, tried to start a fire banging stones together and played a small game of soccer amongst themselves.

Tonight both kids showed me how they are growing and improving. Emery is learning a team sport, improving her coordination and getting exercise. She is also making friends but that is usually easier for her. Ethan showed he could initiate a friendship and be an active participant. Tonight was a good night. These are the nights that let you know why you are a parent.

Kick It!

Our daughter Emery is now old enough to play on a team. And it's about time! She has had to watch her big brother play baseball and basketball. She has had to watch him in concerts and plays for the last 5 years. Every minute she had to sit on the sidelines would kill her. She always wanted to be right in the middle of the action. Now it is her turn to shine.

Emery is playing soccer this summer.

Now, I don't want to put any pressure on her. I just hope she has fun. She doesn't need to score in every game. Just most of them. And if one of her little opponents get a little too aggressive, I've instructed Emery to use a little intimidation when needed. The rules don't say anything about a little accidental tripping, or head-butting. Wait, I guess the rules do clearly prohibit such tactics. So much for cheating.

Emery had her first practice tonight. She is on the lavender Gopher team. Pretty intimidating, huh? Our area has about 30 teams of 8 to 10, five year olds. Tonight's scene resembled a chaotic anthill. Kids running, kicking and squealing everywhere. Emery was excited to say the least. She kept repeating, "I'm so excited!", over and over. On the drive to the soccer fields she instructed us on how to cheer for her. She said we could either say, "Go Emery!, Go Emery Go!, or Go Gophers!" We assured her we would abide by her rules.

When we arrived, Emery received her jersey, socks, and shorts. Her coaches ran the team through some fun drills. The girls didn't even know they were learning soccer. Emery got to run to the sidelines for her water bottle about a half dozen times. She informed us that she was really sweaty and that she was 'getting a workout'.

The coaches then organized a scrimmage with another team. They played a game of four on four which turned into eight little girls chasing the ball back and forth. Each team scored a couple of goals with both teams celebrating for each one. At one point, Emery was taking her turn on the sidelines, drinking her water. She looked back to see her brother, Ethan, entertaining himself with a soccer ball.

"Ethan! You are supposed to be cheering for me!", she scolded.

She didn't say we could cheer, "Sit, Emery, Sit!"

All kidding aside, I know Emery will have a blast playing soccer this summer. I've never played organized soccer before, so I will be learning too. I hope they allow foam fingers at her games.