I'm officially a "Soccer Mom" now. Brandon has team practice every Tuesday, skills training every Wednesday and a game every Saturday! He's been enjoying it. I like the small team format for practices - it's a better opportunity for us to get to know the other parents since there are only 6 kids per team. On Saturday the kids play actual games, unlike the group we had him in last year. It's fun to cheer the kids on and they have fun competing. This is Brandon's team with Coach Dave. Brandon loves coach Dave.
During the games, each team only plays 3 kids at a time. There are no goalies as the kids seem to have enough trouble getting the ball into the goal as it is! Most of the time they miss the mark and chase the ball AROUND the goal!Brandon cheers on his teammates from the sidelines...and has a snack.
Laedyn took over Nick's chair and insisted on holding Brandon's ball. I guess we need to get her a chair of her own now!

RAZORBACK TAILGATING

at War Memorial Golf Course in Little RockAs usual, I'm a bit behind...but we went tailgating on the 6th with Nick's friend, Rich. Brandon gamely tried on a snout, but didn't like it. I was lucky to get evidence.
Mark came along too.
Rich entertained Brandon by playing catch with him for awhile. Steelers football??? BOOOO! (Sorry Rich, beings Cleveland area natives requires some animosity to the Steelers - we have to cheer the Browns!)
I think someone needs a little guidance on football throwing technique...
We brought along some toys for Laedyn. Looks like she was fully engaged doesn't it? Well that lasted about 5 minutes - then she was off and about and into everything! As usual...
Eventually Rich's son, Jackson, arrived. The boys had fun playing together the rest of the time we were there. The boys thought it was great fun to be way up on top of the truck & Laedyn was happy under the pickup cover for awhile. What an adventure!
Rich's truck didn't have a cover & he moved all the kids into the truckbed. Great containment option for kids & no danger of falling from up high.
There were cupcakes to eat, so the boys had to do some begging for everyone's amusement!
As people started filtering away to go watch the game, there was a little more open space for the boys to play. A valient effort by both boys.
Laedyn wanted to play too.
We all had alot of fun. Thanks for the invite Rich - we're looking forward to the next game in Little Rock! All that running (not to mention the walk to the party) tired everyone out.

Before all this torrential rain came down on us, we spent an evening in the back yard letting the kids literally run off some steam after a long afternoon of errands. Brandon has excellent running form - he'll do his Daddy proud! Laedyn's still a little wobbly, but she's getting the hang of it pretty quickly. She has to in order to keep up with her big brother!
Nick and Brandon face off before the chase begins...
Oops! Brandon got caught. Laedyn's hoping to get caught too...
She's hoping for a turn at the swing too.
Laedyn was so happy to get to swing with Daddy. Listen to her happy little noises when her Daddy starts to swing her. She gets content really quickly and almost decides to doze off. Bedtime was not long in coming!

Soccer started again last night, but we've moved to a new group. The group we did last season met in Burns Park. This group meets down across from Alltel (in the Riverdale area). It's much more convenient for us. Hopefully it will be far less muddy than Burns Park too! Brandon had a great time. This group is far more casual than his previous group. There's only 5 kids per "team" so it's alot more one on one. His previous group had about 30 kids in it.
That's his coach - Dave. Coach Dave says Brandon has great protential. Brandon guided the ball around the cones like a pro. He was very pleased with himself.
There are 3 girls and 1 other boy on Brandon's "team." Brandon sat on his ball to wait on his turn to run the ball around the cones. These girls lined up right behind him and sat on their balls too. They were practically on top of Brandon - it was cute.Jennifer came along to watch. It was her last day of vacation. I don't think she'll be able to come to our Tuesday night practices from now on since we meet at 4:30... What a crazy time! I have to leave to get Brandon at 3:30 in order to be on time. We'll also have skills training on Wednesdays at 6 and games on Saturday mornings. Whew. And Nick's talking about getting Brandon in T-ball too!
I brought drinks for all of us. Laedyn wanted Daddy's drink or Brandon's drink or my drink - never her own.

Last Sunday we decided to get out of the house for awhile. We've been pretty dull lately - nothing fun. Nick suggested we go to Lorance Creek and see if it had changed. I think Brandon was about Laedyn's age last time we drove out there. The water was pretty low which surprised me considering all the rain we've been having this year. We were also sad to discover they had taken out the tree frog machine. You used to be able to push a button to hear tree frog calls. It's gone...
Lovely expression on Laedyn isn't it??? I couldn't get all three of them to cooperate at the same time. This was the best of the bunch.

Nick was going to carry Laedyn - she's so spoiled! I insisted on the stroller - Brandon was happy. He practically rode the whole time which made Laedyn very happy.
He wasn't really playing peek-a-boo with her - he was hiding from the camera. Laedyn was entertained regardless.OHHHH! A laugh caught on camera. Brandon helped with this one. Thanks B!Brandon asked us to read all the informational signes out loud to him. Once he noticed all the spiderwebs though, he was anxious to get moving. I'm afraid I've passed on my spider-phobia. I tried not to, but apparently I've failed.
The entry into the cypress swamp.
Midway into the swamp there's a large open platform and another boardwalk going deeper in.
TONS of dragonflies buzzing about. This one was kind enought to rest patiently on a branch so I could get a good picture. There were others there that had blue/green irridescent bodies & black wings. They were all too far away to get a good picture.

The love of swinging must be innate. We only have one place to hang a swing, so we have to take down the baby swing when Brandon's swinging. Laedyn wasn't interested in waiting for a turn. Maybe she thought it could swing on the ground. She even knows where the restraint is supposed to be...Hmmm ... why isn't this thing moving? I'm ready to go!!! Daddy? Daddy!! SWING ME NOW!!!! (much high pitched piercing screaming ensued at this point...she knows what she wants & is VERY demanding)
Ahhhh - much better. (See the chains for Brandon's big boy swing to the sides? We just hang the baby swing from the big kid swing links...)

Nick bought an "outdoor screened room" so he could work on his table without bugs and leaves getting into the wet resin. Brandon was pretty excited to be able to help put it together.Brandon was an old pro at hooking the poles together. He certainly didn't need any help (God forbid...).
Guiding the poles thru their sheaths was a little more challenging, but they managed to get it done. VOILA! Pretty nice huh? Brandon immediately identified the tent as a "boys only" location! Who knew that started so early...

Where's Jennifer? Why running the Big Dam Bridge 5K of course! See her there in her pink shirt? Once all the runners had passed us by, Brandon moped along down the center of the road wishing he could run the whole 5K too.

We decided to wait for the runners under this lovely sign. Unfortunately there was an unpleasant sewer smell there too. Brandon & I moved to the other side of the road .. Nick, Laedyn & Mark toughed it out.
Brandon and I chose this non-smelly sign to stand next to...Brandon gave the runners high 5 as they passed by. Alot of them thanked him & then he'd ask me why they thanked him. People seemed to really like the encouragement. Nick says you usually only see people doing that at marathons!
Between groups of runners Brandon was hamming it up for the camera - one of his favorite pastimes.Here's Jennifer looking stong with very little distance until the finish line. WAY TO GO GIRL!!!!