I would love to be in the mind of Lukas - to experience a glimpse of his world. He has such an imagination and makes up a multitude of different scenarios during his play. He loves to tinker with small items and carry them around placing them into other things; he likes to wrap jump ropes around, twisting and tying things together. Lukas is the type of kid that comes home from school and his pockets are jammed full of the little pebbles from the playground.
An activity starts out innocent enough (like above) and then his thoughts get more elaborate. Next he decides to hook up a trailer to his truck...
...then proceeds to fill it with the earlier treasures.
And then, I got a glimpse into Lukas' future...and it wasn't pretty...
It's been a while since I have posted a Lukasism, so I thought I would let you know he's still up to his silly antics. This was a pic snapped after Charlie straightened the mask, but Lukas was running around with it cockeyed for quite some time (which was the funny part because he couldn't really see out of it). Still cute though! I love his imagination and pretend play.
This year, Charlie was old enough for the Columbia Gorge Kids Tri so we gave it a shot. It was a super fun introduction to the sport.
Here is Charlie with his buddy Jonah, waiting for the "swim" to start. **There were a few older kiddos that truly swam, the rest pretty much ran through the shallow water towards the shore.
Heading to the transition area.
On his way for the bike lap.
Headed in again for the final run leg.
The run portion was super short so I didn't make it in time for the action shot - It must be because Charlie was so speedy! We got the obligatory picture at the finish line on the way back to the car.
We had a great time! We'll be sure to return again next year!
Today was the first soccer game of the season. What a great game! It is fun to see the kids start to spread out on the field a little more and play together as a team. Charlie has great teammates. I know Charlie will learn a lot this year by playing with them (both soccer and Español).
Charlie made a few goals today - here is one that shows the power of team work:
Soccer season is here again! Charlie has been SO excited to play again.
We were "those" parents and asked if Charlie could play up an age group. We felt that he would be a bit more challenged with an older group and he seemed to gravitate that way during the summer soccer camp. We did that a little naively I would say, as I am not around 1st and 2nd graders much. It didn't hit me that kids that age are much bigger and much stronger - a second grader versus a kindergartener looks much different when shooting into the goal during the drills. I started to feel bad, worried that we had pushed him too far and afraid that he would feel discouraged because he felt he couldn't keep up. If you know Charlie, you know that he is pretty competitive and he can get frustrated easily if he doesn't feel like he is doing well.
Well, he sure did prove me wrong, and eased my worries at the same time. Once they got a practice scrimmage going, Charlie was right in there holding his own. The one thing he has in his favor is that he is an aggressive player and wants to be where the action is. He got bounced around off of the bigger kids a few times but he always got right back up and into the game. I saw his determination to do his best and play hard shining through, and I couldn't help but fast-forward in my mind wondering where he'll use that trait in his future. I think he impressed a few parents as well, as I don't think anyone was expecting a little aggressive power house in that small frame.
The most important thing of the entire evening was that when Charlie came off the field he said, "I had so much fun tonight! When do I get to play again?" That is what sports are all about!
Here is a video of some of the practice scrimmage.
And lastly, I will say that I am a little bit relieved to learn that there is another family who has their kindergartener playing on that team as well, so at least I have some company in "that parent category".
On Saturday, the coastal fog wasn't a deterrent for hitting the beach. The temperature wasn't that bad, but the visibility was lacking.
Charlie was a trooper and was frolicking in the waves until his lips were blue.
Lukas had a blast running away from the waves while Charlie was happy as a clam letting them wash over him. Brrrr - these make me cold looking at them.
Charlie is addicted to riding his bike at the moment. He rode up and down every path and knew exactly where every bump was so he could do a wheelie jump. I don't think he had his helmet off more than 5 minutes at a time before he was begging to ride again. By the second day we had a ramp jump in the middle of the road.
And of course we went on the hunt for a skate park so he could ride around even more in some cool bowls.
Lukas also zoomed around on his Strider bike a ton and is getting really good at buzzing around, coasting with his feet up and going downhill. He even went over the jumps and bumps a few times. But swinging is by far his favorite pastime right now - every park we go to, you can't tear him away from the swings. He usually likes the baby swings so he can go as high as he can without worrying about holding on too tight. This is how Lukas passed the time while Charlie was ripping it up in the skate park.
Well, we finally made it out camping this year. Better late than never, right!? We hit up our favorite spot on the Oregon Coast in the ol' Can-o-Ham.
The first night the coast welcomed us with this gorgeous sunset. This beach access is literally right off of the campground. I know, right!?! Ridiculous!!
Can't go camping without s'mores. (More about that helmet later...)
Well, I'll leave the details of the hectic day aside and show you the fun part of the first day of school.
There were a few tears from Lukas during drop off (and a bit of screaming and clawing at mommy) but his teachers texted a picture of him getting settled in very soon after.
