soccer saturday!

go fireballs!!!! gabe getting ready to take it down field!

on saturday, we had our first traveling game....fortunately we only had to travel about 25 minutes from home! now that is my kind of traveling soccer league! it was a beautiful saturday morning for a soccer game, but as we all know the fireballs do not seem to perform in optimal weather conditions!! well, today was no exception!! the fireballs played the blue thunder with an ending score of 8-4. bummer. gabe's team only had 8 players which meant they were rotated in every 5 minutes...our coach is great he makes sure every player gets the same amount of field time, but usually there are a few more players and the kids get a little more of a break. so needless to say by the end of the game our kids were pooped! gabe played goalie twice...and a couple of those sneaky little scores got by, but he definitely stopped more than he didn't! the blue thunder made the most of the home field advantage, plus they had an awesome kicker...he seemed to just always be able to find the sweet spot! even though the fireballs didn't come up with the win, one of the little guys on our team had his first score--i was sitting by his mom, she was so proud! his name is junior and last week he was soooo close several times to scoring, so it was just wonderful that he finally got to score!! so that is our silver lining to a fireball loss!!! we have another traveling game this weekend....we'll see how far we travel for that one!

gabe getting ready to steal that ball away from the blue thunder!!

playtime with josiah!

yesterday, carla and i took the boys to the country village in bothell! they had a great time playing on merry-go-round, in the sand box shaped like a boat, on the swings, and the best part...the train ride!!! the boys loved the train ride--they rode together in the caboose--and the best part, the moms were 3 cars ahead of them!! who knows what was going on in that caboose...no doubt, tons of giggles!! the best part of the train ride though had nothing to do with the boys! carla and i were busy gabbing away and saw a lady with her child waving at us...so carla and waved back and said hello--it didn't even dawn on us we didn't have our boys in the seat by us and how crazy we must have looked! after we noticed the confused look on her face, we started pointing at the caboose, telling her our kids were in there!!! everyone got a good laugh from that one!! i guess two gals in the tiny train - alone - seemed a little odd to her!! what a great day!

just another soggy soccer practice!

as the title eludes too, yes, i sat through another drencher of a soccer practice!! the start of the practice, by the way, the only picture i took (sorry!) was actually only misty, but then the clouds opened up and soaked us to the bone! grady seemed to be bothered by the rain this time, he spent a lot of this practice spinning in circles and blowing dandelion seeds!! he was interested in the beginning, running races, dribbling, and shooting goals, but when the scrimmage started he lost all interest. i can't say i blame him, i would have lost interest too!!! let's keep our fingers crossed for a dry game next monday!!! thanks!!!

actually, this was before practice - what a good little boy, practicing his dribbling!

soccer, soccer, soccer!

on sunday, gabe had a rematch of last week's game! it was the rhinos vs. the fireballs--and as you may remember we beat them soundly...this week however they came for redemption! the final score was a tie, 3-3, so a sound win we did not achieve, but happily they did not either. as i write this i am contemplating the next thing i am about to write.....another not so wonderful part of the rhinos team is their coach. i believe i mentioned this fella last week, but if i didn't i was a bigger person last week than this one! this coach is competitive to say the least, now there is absolutely nothing wrong with being competitive - i feel a little is healthy, but when he starts degrading his players that's where this momma draws the line!! you'll be relieved to hear that i did not get to speak with this gentleman personally - shawn held me back!! he told me i would need to behave myself or i would have to go sit in the army!! at the time i was a little annoyed, but looking back, i thank him..i would have only been bringing myself to his level--thankfully, we will not be playing this team again!!! i have to remember we have a lot of years of competition ahead of us....hopefully shawn will always be there to hold this crazy momma back! okay, with that off my chest, let's return to the stats of yesterday's game!!! gabe did awesome!! he agained played goalie, and not a ball got past him! he also scored 2 of the 3 goals---hopefully someday i will be able to sit calmly enough to snap a picture of the actual goal-making, but it didn't happen this time! i was jumping around like he'd just won the world cup---hey, he's my kid and i am super proud!! and topping on the cake yesterday, gabe was not only the lead scorer for his team, he was also team captain yesterday!!! GO GABE!!

the great pumpkin patch!!

the great pumpkin patch!

on saturday we ventured north to the pumpkin patch! we had a wonderfully sunny day to hunt for the perfect pumpkin! this pumpkin patch was awesome--it had a pumpkin shooter, corn maze, kids maze, farm animals, tube slide, tractor rides, apple cider slushies, and 1000's of pumpkins!! we started out at the pumpkin shooter--that thing was amazing!! it sent small pumpkins hurling hundreds of feet into the air--lots of fun for a buck! after sending a couple of bucks flying through the air, we decided it was time to board the tractor in search of the perfect pumpkin! of course we aren't satisfied with the first pumpkins we see--no, no we have to tromp all the way to the back of the field! once to the back of the of the field, the great search began! after turning, inspecting from every angle, ensuring that each would set up perfectly--we found 3 perfect pumpkins!!! we loaded them up, scrubbed 'em down, paid for the beauties, then took them to the army! the boys talked nana into hurling some of her money through the pumpkin shooter, and then we headed over to grab an apple cider smoothie and pet the farm animals! we had a great day on the pumpkin farm! after leaving the farm, we grabbed a quick bite and headed to the country village in bothell! there was a craft show we thought we should take in, plus the boys love playing at the playground there! we checked out the village and then stopped off for some seafood to cook at home! we had a delicious dinner of shrimp and rock fish--we completely stuffed ourselves! ah, what a wonderful day!

it's wild out there!!

it's wild out there!!!

my mom was up for a visit this weekend, so to keep up with our touristy selves we decided to take in the great october weather and head south to the point defiance zoo and aquarium in tacoma!! we had a great time seeing all the animals and sea life. there were elephants, tapirs, lemurs, tigers, beluga whales, polar bears, monkeys, penguins, sharks, and so much more!! after taking in the entire zoo, letting the boys play in the play area and checking out the gift shop--of course the boys hit nana up for a sweatshirt!! -- we decided it was time to take in some fresh seafood for lupper (lunch & supper)! we headed just down the road to anthony's and devoured some wonderful seafood!! with our bellies full we headed back to the house for some rest and relaxation

a perfect day for soccer!!

if only you could sense sarcasm in a written blog!! today was anything but a perfect day for soccer!! it was rainy, windy and cool..and not the misty rain i have grown to ignore, but the rain where you actually get wet!! shawn somehow lucked out and had class tonight, so good ol' mom went and sat in the rain to cheer on her little fella! tonight, the coach thought the kids were ready for a scrimmage, well i guess some of the kids did not agree! there were 8 kids that came tonight and out of the 8 only about 5 played in the scrimmage! grady, brennen and dante stayed in the whole game--they did great! the kids at this age play without a goalie--it is a feat just to get the ball down the field! grady had a great time...i don't even think he new it was raining!! he is a very aggressive little player, which is very fun to watch - he is not usually one to take a toy from another, but when it came to that soccer ball he was all over getting that thing back!! he took the ball down the field a number of times but about the time he was ready to shoot - brennen would steal it back...it continued the whole time like that! tonight was our turn for snacks--grady thought that part was awesome. he handed out the snacks to everyone...and he kept saying, "now, you only get one!" i guess he wanted to make sure he had some extras to take home!! that's my boy!

the fireballs vs. the rhinos

gabe bootin' the ball away from his goal!! good job goalie gabe!!

on saturday, we again started our day at the soccer field cheering the fireballs to a win! my prayers for a rainy, gloomy saturday were answered and the fireballs made the most of the weather. i am now more convinced their choice weather is definitely rainy...they played awesome! they scored 11 goals in all! gabe played goalie again and did fabulous!! he was able to stop every shot--not a point got scored on him! gabe absolutely loves playing goalie....i hate when he plays goalie...i get soooo nervous! when the coach says ,"gabe go in as goalie", i automatically start chewing my nails---i know it is just a game, but i don't want one of those nasty little balls to get past my boy!! i can't wait for this week's game--go fireballs!!