Sophie's done with soccer too!

Sophie's season has wrapped as well and she is also signed up for fall soccer with starts in August. Sophie had a great year and loved being on her team. She pays attention most of the time - when she isn't turning her shirt around and laughing with her best friend Jillian! Yes, I am aware that her hair looks ridiculous in these photos. I was having a bad mommy day and only had a huge rubber band in the car to pull her hair out of her eyes!

Here is her team.
Sophie is extremely proud of her soccer trophy and keeps it on the table near her bed!

We are done with soccer . . . until August

Spring/Summer soccer has finally some to and end - it's a good thing too as the mosquitoes are a bit fierce this summer and those 7:30 games were turning into torture sessions!

Here is Max with his team at the last game. So serious.

This is Max's friend Matt who was on his team. It was nice to have his parents at the games to talk to while the boys played soccer - or fooled around in the goal - whatever the case may be. Max is still passionate about defense and has yet to really expand his skills into offensive playing. He is very serious about soccer though and seems to enjoy playing so he is signed up for the fall season. He had the same great coach he has had for several seasons and he won an award for his "powerful kicks" - a soccer ball emblem with a band aid on it.

This is Matt's brother Sam. He and Calvin bonded over thier love of Calvin and Hobbes and spent several games laughing over the comics together. Sam is really good with kids.

It's That time of Year Again!!!

It's that time of year again - SOCCER season!! I know you have all missed kindergarten soccer, so here are some photos to get you started. Max is also playing this year which means we have soccer practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Fun for all. Really.

We always start with some important stretching.

Sophie has been working on her kicking technique.

It's getting there.
Ooops, uh . . . air ball.
This is some sort of secret code thing she is doing . . . or she's just tired and decided to rest for a bit.

Hmm, here I think she is trying to kick up a dust storm to confuse the other team. Or, she's distracted again.

Sophie LOVES soccer!

Just for kicks

Sophie felt you needed to see some shots from her last game on Saturday. I was actually watching Max's game and Bryan was at Sophie's, so I only caught the very end of this exciting game!
RUN!!

Fish face. Why?
More fish face.
Still illegal.
Fish face throw-in.
Sophie loved her trophy and gave me her best fake smile!

Extreme version of the fake smile and Sophie's awesome team!

Weekend Happenings

It was another busy weekend here in the Erickson household. I watched our friends kids on Friday night while they went out for dinner and when they got back Bryan joined us and another fun couple from our ward for a massive game of Settlers of Catan. So fun!

On Saturday Max and Sophie finished up the soccer season and then in the afternoon Max's team had a coaches BBQ at one of the team members homes. They BBQ was a lot of fun with some really great food. The boys were out of control but what can you expect when you put 12 seven year old boys together on a hot Saturday afternoon?

I did not take many photos, but I had to snap a shot of the food because it was so yummy! They burgers were cooked on the grill and had a selection of great toppings - roasted red peppers?! Yum! The asparagus was also grilled and had been marinated in garlic, butter olive oil and salt and pepper. The guy who made it said the trick was to marinate it in the fridge so the butter and oil congeals onto the asparagus before you put it on a very hot grill for just a minute or two. It was crispy and oh so good! I made one of my favorite recipes Quinoa and Black Bean Salad. I did not have the regular quinoa in the cupboard so I used red. I follow the basic recipe except I cook the quinoa just like rice and when it is done I spread it on a cookie sheet to cool. I added one fresh jalapeño instead of pickled, cucumber, celery, red pepper and green pepper and red onion. I also add more lime juice and cilantro and a bit less olive oil. It is really, really good and quinoa is all sorts of healthy and a great source of protein. Try it!


On Saturday night, our friends watched our kids while Bryan and I and Koo went to see the Minnesota Orchestra season preview concert. Koo had received free tickets from a colleague and gave a pair to us - free date! The concert was excellent and it felt so nice to go somewhere so adult! I feel like we do very few things that do not involve children in some way so it was lovely to go to the concert and not be on pins and needles wondering if the kids next to me was going to be quite or disturb the whole concert!

End of Season

Today was the last day of fall soccer for the kids. Amazingly it was not raining though it was about 85 degrees and 100% humidity! This was a really fun group of kids and parents and Max lucked out with two wonderful coaches as well!

Kindergarten Soccer - A Gathering of Serious Athletes

Today I thought I would share a little lesson in the "sport" of kindergarten soccer. If you think you know the rules of soccer, set that information aside. It does not apply to kindergarten soccer. It's a whole new world people.

First, we keep things real, and fun. Here is Sophie and her best girlfriend, Jillian. They are on the same team. This can be both a good (they LOVE each other) and a bad (they LOVE each other) thing. They spend a lot of the game hugging, and dancing and laughing with each other. When Max was in kindergarten soccer, he liked to lie down on the field and watch the planes pass overhead.


Kindergartners tend to travel in packs. They find it is more effective this way as there is no need to ever pass. Ever.


Sometimes, when they are all kicking the ball and no one is moving, they get creative. Right after this photo, a little guy on the red team picked up the ball, moved out of the group, put the ball down and headed off towards the goal. Very clever, red team. This is why they ultimately won the game - it's called innovation.

Jillian is demonstrating an excellent advanced kick technique here - but where is the ball?

Sophie finds it helpful to do a bit of zen meditation on the field. She finds the good karma most helpful.

See? Look at the results! Here she is flying down that field in hot pursuit of the ball - or to give Jillian another hug.
Here Sophie collaborates with the other team to redefine the goal. They simply pick up the cones defining the goal space and move them where they are more convenient. So easy, and yet so effective.

I'm pretty sure this is illegal even in kindergarten soccer.


Here Sophie gets tough and lays one on that poor kid from the other team.

Are you following? Here is a quiz for you - which way are each of the teams supposed to be heading? Can you tell from the photo below?

Ouch - Sophie takes one for the team. Wait, that guy is on her team! why is she trying to steal the ball from him?

Sophie is evidently "open" in this shot. 99% of kindergarten soccer is throwing the ball back in from out of bounds. Sophie is merely indicating that she is open - along with every other kid on her team and conveniently, they are all in the same spot.


I don't know why these red players are consoling each other - they did technically win the game. How they bested our superior skills and speed is beyond me!


Only a few more weeks of this on-the-edge-of-your-seat action! Go team!

Max - Thunderbirds Soccer!

Max is also in fall soccer this year - conveniently at the same time as Sophie in different locations. He has the same coach that he had in the spring who we absolutely love! He is just a great coach and is really wonderful with the boys. Max loves to play soccer!

Max is on the same team as his friends Gregory and Cole which makes it nice for me as many times I have to attend Sophie's game and have someone else watch Max.

Attending Max's games are always amusing to watch as the boys still tend to crowd the ball and usually when they get near the goal they stop for some reason like they are thinking "OK, what now?" which gives the opposing team enough time to steal the ball away again. Max likes to play defence and no matter what position he is assigned, he acts like he is on defense!

Cole's sister Carson - Sophie loves to play with her at soccer!

Greg and Max on the sidelines - notice how they are intently watching the game, learning from their fellow teamates, studying the plays in order to better their own game - or not.

Natalie enjoying a soccer treat! The treats are Calvin, Johnny and Natalies favorite part of soccer!

Sophie - Soccer Star

Sophie is finally old enough to play in EAA Fall Soccer. She is on the Stingrays with her new best friend, Jillian, and could not be more excited! She has been going to every one of Max's soccer games since he started kindergarten and is thrilled to finally be able to be on a team as well! The one catch for Mommy? Both Max and Sophie have soccer on the same nights, same time on different sides of the city. Convenient.

End of Soccer!

Spring soccer is finally over! I think we are all happy to not have to run out the door two nights a week to the Blue Cross Blue Shied fields for soccer practise. This year Max was on the same team as Greg and Matt from church which he loved and I loved as I could spend the time talking with Susan and Paula. A neighbor of ours was also on Max's team - Cole. In the fall both Max and Sophie are signed up for soccer which will most likely mean 4 nights a week at the soccer field!


Matt, Max and Gregory celebrate the end of the season!



Sophie likes to dress up for soccer practise wearing as many accessories as possible!




Max and his coach.