SPRING SOCCER: GAME #1

James and Cora with her "boyfriend" Jamie and his little brother Aiden

Jamie, Cora, and David out on the field together throughout this game

Looks like Cora is getting an awesome goal, but that was a white team goal. One of MANY. Our U5 team was not well matched for our first game, and it was frustrating for the kids and adults alike!

Loved seeing David out there giving it his all and having fun! It's his first season and we're hoping he likes being on Coach Jay's team with his buddies Cora and Will!

Proud of Cora for employing some of her new moves, like the pull-back I caught here

The U6 game was much more exciting to watch. These big boys know what they're doing and they're all so aggressive. We were missing two players today, but these 4 were thrilled because it meant that they all got to play the entire game.

I think Cora's favorite thing about the soccer games is the snack shack...

James, Jack, and Devon seen here (Derrick was just off screen to the left)

4TH HAIRCUT

It's easy to remember how many haircuts someone has had when it hasn't been many! Since she didn't have ANY hair until she was 2-years-old, and didn't get her first haircut until she was almost 3.5-years-old, I suppose it's not too surprising that she's only up to 4 cuts now that she's over 4.5-years-old... We're not quite taking her quarterly, but it's easy to know when she needs a trim - the tangles become too much for any of us to handle. We let Thelina take off 2 full inches today though, to help even things out. Pretty sure that was the last of her light blonde baby hairs too...

 Thelina has the best candy...

 I wonder how long she'll keep this cornsilk color?...

FROZEN FIELDS

Spring Soccer officially commenced this evening with the kids' first practices, in the freezing temperatures. Cora's U5 team practices from 5:30-6:30 on Thursdays and James' U6 team follows from 6:30-7:30. Jay is coaching both teams again this season, and the U5 teams are now doing academy-style group practices, just like the older kids. I arrived on the scene with dinner around 6:00 and it was already down to 35 degrees. By the time the U6 practice ended (20 minutes early due to the cold), it had dropped another 3-4 degrees, putting us in the freezing zone. The poor kids looked like colorful marshmallows running around the field because they were so bundled up, and their peripheral vision was certainly impaired by hats and hoods. And the poor parent and sibling spectators weren't much better (and were definitely colder, as we all stood still on the sidelines). Jay was thrilled that everyone on his U5 team showed up to the first practice! He only had 2 show up for U6... We're suppose to get rain all weekend, so there's a good chance our first games will be canceled. We shall see...

That's Cora in the middle, awaiting the return of the ball...

...and happy to be closest to it when Coach Daddy threw it back into play.

Field-side ChickFilA dinner

James is all in blue, left field

Practicing drills before scrimmage

EARTH'S BIGGEST FAN

 As soon as we turned the show on, Cannon was there front and center to watch all the on screen action. Lots of fish and sharks this week. He intently watched from the ground for a while, then jumped up to the TV (first time he's done that, at least that we know of), and eventually tried to chase the sharks around behind the TV (and was very confused about where they went).

 Naughty, but oh so cute!

 That's a Great White Shark mouth in the background. I ALMOST caught the photo in time to frame Cannon inside the wide open teeth...

GREEN, GOLD, AND PURPLE

Or, just the green. Happy Mardi Gras!

(You can't get GOOD King Cake here in the 'Burg and we have yet to attempt to make our own, so we improvised a Mardi Gras treat with mint chip ice cream in CONES, which sealed the deal for the kids.)

AIRBENDER JAMES

FAMILY HIKE / TRAIL RUN

It's suppose to rain all day tomorrow, so we decided to head to the military park after a late lunch and go on an adventure!

Buster is always excited for an adventure that involves the car...

Throwing kids across the ditch near the tunnel to begin a longer than ever before hike/trail run on a portion of the Black, Blue, and Gray Death Trail

Big jumps over trail obstacles!

Following the orange blazes to stay on track. The kids were great at spotting them!

What's an adventure without taking breaks to explore and climb?!

We went up, up, and up, then down, down, down to the creek

Careful to follow the blazes through here... the horsetail grass has gotten REALLY tall in places!

From near the lowest point in the park up to the highest point in the park... Quite the effort and we were super proud of the kids for (mostly, in James' case) getting it done without whining or complaining!

We sat to enjoy the view and rest a bit, and when I asked her if she was tired, she flopped back with a "Heck yeah!" (we had already walked/run 2.5 miles at this point - we should have brought water and snacks!)

Firing the cannon at daddy...

We parked at the tunnel, went across the ditch and up the trail to the road you can sort of make out in the background behind Cora at the top of that huge hill (but further north), then looped back onto the trail to head down to the creek, went over the bridge near Mint Springs Bayou, and up and around towards Fort Hill, up the steep road to the overlook, then back along the road all the way to the top of that hill, where Cora and Jay ran and tumbled down while James walked carefully with me (my quads did not appreciate the steep drop, after 3.5 miles of hilly hiking the day after running a marathon, but the rest of my muscles did feel better after walking and running out some of the stiffness). The kids picked violets and rolled down the hills and ran through the tunnel a bunch more times until we were ready to go get ice cream.

3.75 miles of total hiking/running for Team Lindsay this afternoon, by far the longest our kiddos have ever hiked, and we all enjoyed some well deserved Orange Leaf before dinner!