Soccer 2014

Another soccer season wrapped up this week!  I love soccer season. I wish we could do it all year.  But I guess that could get kind of busy:)

Kevin had another great year. His team started out without a loss for probably the first half of the season. 

And then the second half of the season they hardly had a win.  Not sure what happened. They lost a few key players and the other teams just got really good I guess:)! 

Kevin likes winning and he actually doesn't mind losing now either.  It has been neat to see the transformation. He says he just got so used to losing at school that it doesn't even bother him any more.  I don't think he will ever completely lose his desire to compete, so I guess this is okay. I think his grade 4 teacher would be impressed:)  Some days I wish it bothered him a little more . . . but he's happy and having fun, so really this is exactly how it should be.

One of the highlights of the soccer season is the season ending tournament.  Though his team lost 2 and won 1, they had fun and it is a great day for the kids.

Kevin's team managed to come in third place despite their second half.  It also came right down to the wire and had to go to goal differential due to a tie in the standings.

Kade has really come a long way again this year. His coach is fantastic and really works with Kade and encourages him in different ways . . .  like strengthening his left foot kick. We have seen good results and one game he had four goals - and three with his left foot!  

Kade's team started out slow and has gotten hot lately.

 Kade's team came in a hard fought, last game determining second place!

 He was quite tickled with his medal:)

Kylie is my neglected soccer child.  I hope she will forgive me.  Kylie plays the same night as Kevin and since there is really no comparison in the "entertainment value" of their games, we tend to spend most of the night watching Kevin.  Kylie has a good friend on her team so she is quite content.  

I am looking forward to watching her more next year when she moves up a level and gets to play on a bigger field where they ball might actually be in the lines more than it is out.;-)

She plays hard and though I'm not sure they've won more than one or two games, she is never too concerned about the score.  She loves soccer nights and loves playing.

Last night before bed she prayed, "Thank you that I could play soccer tonight and even though we didn't win, you know we did our best and played hard."
That about sums it up:)

Summer and Kylie.

Clovermead

One hot (I feel I must mention the fact, b/c there were so few hot days this summer, that this one sticks out in my mind as a day that the shade was a wonderful thing), sunny, summer day in July we visited Clovermead with a few neighbour friends.

Karter wouldn't remember his visit here last year, so it was all very new and exciting for him.

Kylie and Faith

The bouncy pillow is always a hit, but because it was warm the kids tended to hop for about two minutes before running onto the next thing.

The zipline

Kade and Daniel

Kylie was excited for the big wagon ride all day and we had to wait till 1:30 because we missed the first one!

They did manage to take SEVERAL rides around in the bees though and if the driver didn't actually have other jobs to do, I think they may have stayed in for an hour.

Even Kevin didn't miss out on this though he was hiding from the camera at first;)  Of course he did it for Karter. Just for Karter.

Karter loved the bikes and left the track a few times and probably would have like to just take the bike with him from exhibit to exhibit. Unfortunately this isn't allowed.  

The go-carts were the main attraction for the big boys and they had lots of races and perhaps even a few mishaps. (no bumping allowed) Right.

Duck racing.

Another fun day trip with friends.  I think this might become a yearly tradition . . . and really . . . you can't beat the location!!

Swimming Lessons 2014

This summer has been great. Busy, but great. I love summer and the lack of routine and perhaps it is that exact lack of routine that made this blog seem like it took an extended vacation.  Well it has occurred to me in the very recent past that I am about 10 posts behind. So I am going to attempt to get a bit caught up on this scrapbook of our lives.

We did swimming lessons the second and third week of summer holidays. At the time it seemed like we had kind of cold weeks.  In hindsight, I am quite certain that we had the nicest and warmest session of the summer.  It sure has been a cool year.

We had all four kids in the pool this year and this went really well. Karter had a bit of hesitation at the beginning but usually got over it pretty quick.  I think it was here that "Vanna" became one of his best buddies.

Their teacher was great and often carried both of them around till they settled in and decided the water was fun.

As usual, Kevin was the least enthusiastic about lessons and the most prone to getting cold.  He was caught sneaking his towel way too many times.

This is the last day when they do fun stuff. He is wearing the lifejacket like a diaper. They had to do a few different relays and skills with it on like that. As you may imagine, it puts a totally different angle on swimming and jumping:)!

Kade continues to do well and really enjoy lessons and his favorite is still the diving well. He'd spend the whole 45 minutes in there if he was allowed.

Kylie is unpredictable.  One minute she will jump no problem. The next she will be scared of the little diving board and the next she will tackle the high diving board without hardly wavering.  Never quite sure what to expect with her. Her swimming is coming along really well. It is neat to see them swimming and doing thier strokes "properly".

These two have done lessons together right since the beginning and I think it is a big part of why Kylie loves going every day.  Summer pushes her in good ways too so it has worked well.