footy finale

october 30th was hazel's last soccer game and i'm pretty relieved to be honest. i was so excited to live vicariously through hazel when i signed her up(i played in high school and wish i'd tried out for college. *sigh*) that i didn't really consider her not enjoying it. come on! it's in her half-brit blood! anyway, you'll remember how it began well enough, quickly dissolved into a wet, boogery mess, and then hovered just around disappointing? i'm happy to say there is a fairy tale ending for you:

i mentioned in my halloween post that hazel earned pumpkins by playing the last 2 minutes or so of her 3rd to last game. these pictures are from the game after that. she was her usually whinny self, replying with a clipped, "no!" any time i suggested she play. then came half-time and she hustled over to claim her snack. while she was eating it i reminded her how much fun she had playing goalie the week before and how would she like to do that again? miraculously, she not only agreed, she did a jig:

 i can't remember if she let any goals in but she did get to do several goal kicks:

i was so proud of her and excited for her final game. she claimed she wouldn't play but warmed up anyway. first with a nice phalankasana:

look at that form! and, one of my personal favorites, adho mukha shvanasana:

she's even walking the dog. she makes such a great yogini. she finished her warm up just in time for half-time snacks:

and after a little convincing, took to the field. first as goalie:

but quickly switching to forward/mid-fielder/defense:

she showed off her throwing abilities:

and earned herself a trophy ("just like the piston cup!"):

lucy cheered:

here's a little clip for you. the opposite team had just scored and hazel had the honor of kicking off:

r & r

finally! a post! with pictures! and stories! it must be your lucky day. . .

on the very last day of september we had our carpets cleaned. i had planned on hitting the stores and having lunch somewhere the kids could run wild. instead grant surprised me by suggesting a spontaneous trip to the beach. hazel asks at least once a week to go. who was i to say "no"? so we picked grant up from "the forest where the cars live" (aka rice) and drove on down:

 it was by and far the most relaxing trip to galveston we've had.

the beach was nearly deserted. the weather was perfect: sunny, but not hot. the water was perfect: refreshingly cool and comfortable. 

 mud was at a perfect consistency for getting lucy's feet stuck:

 and for re-enacting the dinosaurs' demise:

 wah wah wahh:

then hazel found a shell:

 not just any shell, an occupied shell:

peek-a-boo!

the hermit crab was reallllllly shy and took ages to come out:

. . .waiting. . .

oh look! he's waving "hello":

um. . . . now heeee's loooooking at me:

 hermits weren't the only wildlife:

 once again the beach did it's job:

 kind of:

in other news:

 for those wondering how soccer is going for hazel:

we missed one practice (that was beach day) and one game. we gave hazel the choice to go and both times she quickly teared up and squealed, "no!" we brainstormed and decided to make her go, even if she refuses to play. i told her the deal: we're going, but you don't have to play unless you want to. last thursday was a blessedly tear-free practice. she wouldn't join the team in their drills but did kick the ball around with one of the coaches. we had hopes for saturday's game:

sadly, she spent the first half sitting on my lap wearing my sunglasses. i got her to interact with the team during half-time (there were juice boxes to be had) and even nudged her onto the field when the second half was starting. bad idea. the tears came quickly and it was all i could do to keep her there. we stood on the sideline for the rest and i occasionally asked if she was ready to help her teammates out. no go. maybe next time?

pigtails & game day

last thursday i did something i've been meaning to do for a while: i did lucy's hair. i've attempted several times to sneak clips in her hair. sadly, she found it supremely entertaining to pull them right back out so i gave up for a while.

it was a long time coming but she finally has long enough hair in the back for pigtails. i know i've reminisced in the past of hazel's full-head of hair. her first pony and pigtails were around 4 or 5 months. this picture is at 6 months:

anyway, having the more annoying pigtails to distract her, lucy now leaves her clips in!

*deeply contented sigh* no more "what's your little boy's name?"

hazel's first soccer game was on saturday. it started like this:

but quickly turned into this:

why? i'm not entirely sure. we arrived close to on time and hazel jumped right into the warm-up:

and even started in the game:

ok, she's facing the wrong way and flexing or something, but she's on the field, apparently happy to be there:

not long after this last picture was taken, there occurred the meltdown of the century. she came to me, sobbing and saying, "the game is taking too long! i don't want to pway anymore! i want to go to the park! carry me!" after several minutes of placating on my part, she finally said her head was feeling yucky. i got her a water and tried to talk her into "helping the team" but she was done. any mention of playing soccer again re-opened the flood gates. she eventually decided i wasn't comforting enough and found her daddy. 

while he tried to calm her down, i followed lucy around:

 and took some darn cute pictures of her (if i do say so myself):

we've continued talking to hazel, trying to figure out what happened. grant thinks that she was scared by the mass of chaotic kids kicking each other the ball. very possible. she seems to want to go to practice on thursday but is determined to avoid any actual games. . . . don't worry, i'll let y'all know how it goes.

fútbol

hazel's first soccer practice was excellent. not at first, though. as soon as we stepped onto the grass, the floodgates opened. "i don't want to pway soccer!" she sobbed. after 5 or 10 minutes, she bucked up and headed out. coach nate had the kids do drills. dribbling:

throwing:

and running:

hazel did pretty well at all of those. she struggled most with listening:

we're working on that. after their running, they all had a good stretch:

i think their first game is going to be entertaining.