Back row: Coach Julie, Omari, Elton, Tycen, Smith, Coach Holly
Front row: Connor, Marcellus, Shaylie, Tatum
Here are some pictures taken before their first practice, I love that they do any pose I ask them to do :) They are too cute!
All their practices were at a church field that is only a few blocks away from our house. It was so convenient and we loved being able to walk/ride bikes, especially once Tycen and Shaylie's baby sister was born! Tyce and Shay would carry their ball and water bottle in their backpacks :)
Their first practice was August 29th, two weeks before their first game.
There were eight kids on their team, including Tycen and Shaylie. Their team name was the Green Hoppers. Their head coach was Coach Holly and their assistant coach was Coach Julie.
This picture cracks me up...Shaylie loves to wear dresses and skirts these days and it's often hard to get her to wear anything else. When we got home from her first soccer practice she went straight to her room and came out like this. Maybe she'll start a new trend :)
The kids' second soccer practice was on September 5th, which was a VERY special day (...more on this in a future post :)
We weren't sure if we'd make it to Tycen and Shaylie's first soccer game of the season, but with God's amazing timing...we all made it (...again, more details on this to come)!
Shaylie was SO adorable the first few games of the season. She was so excited anytime she got near the ball and had the biggest smile from ear to ear as she was running around the field. It was so, so cute!
Tycen started in the first game but quickly decided it wasn't for him and refused to go back in. We're not sure exactly what he was nervous about but it seemed to be a combination of all the people watching him, the loud commotion and hearing the referee blow the whistle. He also had a really hard time understanding why kids 'take' the ball from each other (it's not nice to take things, right?!) and didn't like other kids bumping into him as he tried to get the ball. Here I am trying to talk him into playing, as you can probably tell from the expression on his face, I wasn't successful...and also a little sneak peak of our big news!
The second game of the season was September 15th, the day before their 4th birthday. It was a special treat to have family in town and Grandma Jan, Aunt Kolleen and cousins Aralia and Zaiden all came to watch their game. Again, Tycen started the game and may have lasted slightly longer than the first game, but soon decided he was done and wanted to sit out the rest of the game.
We were so fortunate to have amazing weather this fall! We didn't get even one drop of rain the entire season for practice or games, which is such a miracle for the PNW!!
Tycen, Omari, Shaylie and Tatum:
Shaylie scored THREE goals in her 3rd game! Aunt Mar was in town visiting and got to watch their game :)
Tyce was still a little unsure about games, so we tried having Scott go out on the field with him, which helped a little bit :)
Even though Shaylie had been doing so well from the beginning of the season, she started to have a change of heart and didn't always want to go into the game when her coach called subs. It was hard for us as parents to watch our kids refuse to participate :( We knew they were a bit young for an organized sport and we wanted them to have a positive experience, so we had to think of a way to encourage them to play, which wasn't always easy or successful.
By the kids fourth or fifth game, Scott and I decided to sit across the field from the team and the rest of the parents in hopes that Tycen and Shaylie would sit with their coach and teammates instead of hanging on Scott. We also thought this would make it easier for them to go in the game when their coach called subs, rather than hiding behind us. Well, it worked! We were so glad to see them participating more and even though they weren't exactly the most aggressive ones on the field (they mostly just ran around with the crowd while keeping a safe distance) they played! YAY!!
Tycen scored his first and only goal of the season in the 6th game. It was on a kick off, so cute! He was so proud of himself, and so were his mommy and daddy!
We had their end-of-season team party at the Blind Onion pizzeria. All the kids got certificates as well as adorable medallions with their names and numbers on them.
Shaylie loves to make silly faces lately :P
Shay Shay has been asking to do ballet for a while, so we signed her up just before soccer ended. Tyce chose to have 'daddy time' while Shaylie is at ballet practice and will go with Scott to our gym on Wednesday evenings to play basketball, racquetball, swim, and so on :) He has also been asking to play baseball for the past few months, so we will try to sign them both up for T-ball in the spring.
We LOVE to watch you grow and take on new adventures, kiddos! We know this soccer season is just the beginning of us sitting on the sidelines, bleachers, auditorium seats, etc, cheering you on. We promise that we will always be your #1 fans!!
