Soccer Camp

Travis has been talking about soccer since last year after Sports Camp.  He is all about soccer so I have been trying to give him opportunities to practice and learn more about what it's really like.  So Travis participated in a soccer camp this past week.  It meant early mornings, which are not a problem for us, but Alaina has added a new twist.  I decided that camp would be a good thing since I would only have two to worry about in the midst of potty training.  Plus we had less therapy since I have yet to figure out how to be in two places at once.

I learned after the first day that Travis is really more interested in the social aspect of soccer more than the actually sport of it.  He came home very tired and slightly disheartened because they had to stay outside the whole day (it was really hot) and they made them keep moving to different stations without hardly any rest!   And he was more concerned with telling me what color ice pop he got rather than what he learned.  I asked him if he wanted to wear his soccer jersey from earlier this year one of the days to camp and he said no, it would remind him too much of his old coach.  And that would make him sad.  Oh...

But the week progressed and he liked it more and more and the last day was World Cup day and Travis was assigned to team Brazil (so he had to wear a yellow shirt).  They had the teams cheer for their country and he would say who cheered the loudest.  Brazil was very much the quietest group (they were also the smallest).  I hated to tell them when I was an exchange student and we had large gatherings, the Brazilians always yelled the loudest.  I can still hear it ringing in my ears sometimes...

Here's Team Brazil.  It included kids from every age and then they would play the kids who were the same age from other countries.



Cheering rather half-heartedly...

Down on the field they carved 6 soccer fields out of one baseball diamond.  It looked like organized chaos with all the balls flying everywhere.  As the morning progressed the kids were running slower and slower.  And their faces were redder and redder!

They only played 6 minute games so they could get plenty of rest because there was no shade at all on the field.

Travis got three goals!  I was so glad I got to see them since I missed the one goal he made during the earlier season.

Pop came and watched the games with us.  Justin enjoyed that!

It really was hot and so we dressed as coolly as we could.  Alaina fell asleep so we tried to get her a little shade.

When she woke up Justin wanted to give her a little affection.  Do you notice something missing from Pop's head?  He took Justin to the bathroom and while leaning over to help him his hat fell off in the toilet!  Justin really wanted him to get it out and put it back on his head, but Pop declined!

Travis had a good time at the end, and he still really likes soccer, but I don't think he has the competitive spirit for the sport quite yet.  He is all about being the best and winning when it comes to anything involving Justin and wrestling, but soccer isn't quite up there yet.  I am not sure how much I want to encourage his sporting endeavors.  Right now, I am anxious for school to begin and our schedule to get back to normal so I can figure out how I need to manipulate Alaina's schedule for my benefit.  Our family's benefit, I mean, of course!