Summer Sports

This summer Punky participated in both t-ball and soccer.  She liked playing on the teams, but at this age, I think she is mostly in it for the socialization with her friends.  By far, her favorite thing was going to the playground with her friends after the games.

T-ball was a spring sport but with all the rain we had in May, the season lasted through July.  There were a few weeks when we had t-ball on Monday and Wednesday evenings and soccer on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  It got to be quite exhausting!

I should have wrote this blog post a month ago, but I was waiting for her team photo to come back.  And, now, I've forgotten a lot.  Here's what I want to remember from the summer.

T-ball- The Lizards

Punky's BFFs put together the team, so we knew most of the teammates and became fast friends with everyone.  The girls were so good at cheering each other on.
Although there were a few close calls, no one got hurt (or beamed in the back of the head since they were often times not paying attention at all)!
Buddy loved going to t-ball just as much as Punky because he became friends with another player's sister.  The two would run around and play together the whole game.  Next year Buddy will be able to join the same league so that is something to look forward to!

After the game, the kids took turns bringing a snack to pass out.  Buddy quickly figured this out And (twice!) lined up in ANOTHER TEAM'S treat line.  He even scored a dilly bar once.  I was mortified, and a little proud.

Soccer- The Parrots

The first six weeks of soccer were practice- running relays, drills, etc.  The last two weeks were games.  We missed two games and were late to one (there was a time change that I forgot about).  But it was so much fun to get to see Punky in those one and a half games!  She really got in to soccer.  She stuck with the bigger kids and could run and kick the ball with ease.  I know nothing about soccer really and wouldn't choose it myself.  But I do think soccer might be Punky's best chance of becoming an athlete.

Everyone's favorite part of soccer was their team cheer.  (According to one of her friends, Punky came up with the cheer and taught it to everyone.  If that is true, I am very proud of her.  So creative!)  The team would gather in a circle with their hands in the middle and shout....   Gooooooo!  Parrots!  And then they'd flap their arms and shout "Polly want a cracker!  Polly want a cracker!"  

It was fun to be involved in sports this year.  We were able to meet new friends and get outside.  Next year, we'll have two involved in activities.  I hope we are able to coordinate their schedules and not have two kids in two places at the same time.

Supper - Monday Night Style

Erin works late on Monday nights, so I get to pick the kids up from daycare, make supper, have a little playtime, then it's bedsnack, stories, and bed.  Monday's tend to have a slightly different schedule than the nights that Erin is home - we don't usually get home until about 5:30, then we've got to build a consensus about what to make for supper, then the cooking gets done.  Usually we eat at about 6:30.  That's usually - but when Dad's in charge, the schedule is a bit more flexible...

However, this Monday night I picked the kids up a little later than usual at just after 6 PM (golf tournament for work - yes, poor, poor me) and we finally got home at about 6:30.  After some negotiating, we settled on hot dogs on the grill, sweet corn (for the kids), and Brussels sprouts/carrots for Dad (with some extra Brussels sprouts for Buddy because he loves them).

I went out and started the grill and Buddy follows me outside with a backpack full of animals.  Because what 3 year old (don't say almost 4 year old - we've still got 3 more weeks people!) doesn't carry around a backpack full of animals just in case they meet someone new.  Lo and behold, our neighbors had some friends over, and Buddy decided to go over and show them his backpack full of animals.  One of the nice girls sat down and talked to him while he proceeded to take every animal out of the backpack and show them to her.  Punky soon found her way outside and joined in the conversation - she LOVES talking to older girls.  I busied myself grilling and getting the rest of supper ready while the kids talked.

We finally got to eat at around 7 PM and settled into our meal - Buddy with a hot dog on a piece of bread, oddly with no ketchup or mustard tonight, and Punky with hers cut up and lots of ketchup and mustard (I'm not-so-secretly proud that my kids like mustard, much to Erin's annoyance).  After a little while, the kids started telling knock-knock jokes.  (A little background - we heard that they were telling knock-knock jokes to their cousins Abby from Grandpa Max and Grandma Debbie's house into Yankton on Friday.  I hope their laughter cheered Deb up a little on a hard day.)  Buddy's best joke of the night went like this:

Buddy: "Knock-knock!"
Punky: "Who's there?"
Buddy: "Stick."
Punky: "Stick who?"
Buddy: "Stick."
Punky: "Stick who?"
Buddy: "Stick."
Punky: "Stick who?"
Buddy: "Stick."
Punky: "Stick who?"
Buddy: "Stick."
Punky: "Stick who?"
Buddy: "Ummm...aren't you glad I didn't say stick?!?!"

Punky and I busted out laughing, and Buddy soon joined in after giving his mischevious little smile.  Sometimes the best knock-knock jokes are told just a little bit wrong :)  He also tried the same joke with 'Bugs' and "Brussels sprouts" (the kid seriously loves him some sprouts!) but not quite with the same effect.  Punky tried a few jokes too, and we all had a good time laughing at the dinner table.

Some play time, a snack, two stories, and then bedtime soon followed.  These Monday nights with the kids are a little bit hectic sometimes, but I love them and am sure I'll be looking back fondly on them in the future.