Nathan and Lorelai's Excellent (Soccer) Adventures

 Both Lorelai and Nathan have been quite busy with soccer since January. Lorelai's played two seasons straight, and Daddy's been the head coach. This Saturday, the Spring season finally came to an end, and we're taking a soccer break...at least for a little while.

Lorelai's winter season team photo

As I've mentioned previously, Nate became a soccer coach pretty much by accident. He'd only signed on to be an assistant coach, mostly because he welcomed the opportunity to bond with Lorelai and help out the head coach. Then, unexpectedly, the head coach contacted him two weeks into the Winter 2012 season and said she couldn't coach the team any more, for personal reasons. Thus, without having ever played soccer before, let alone coached the game, Nathan found himself trying to lead a group of kids to victory every Saturday.

There was a steep learning curve, and Nathan was intimidated, but he was determined to do well by the kids. He read online coaching manuals. He bought a set of scrimmage jerseys. He researched age-appropriate skill drills. Most importantly, he tried to get the kids running, kicking, and generally enjoying themselves. He encouraged the kids to laugh, have fun, work together, and get fit. In other words, he did basically what a coach of five-to-seven-year-olds in a non-competitive league should do.

The Winter season was challenging. Nathan felt overwhelmed at times, as his team lost just about every game 7-0 or so. The kids would kick the ball away, then stand and watch it go. They wouldn't pass to their teammates. And most of the goalies were afraid to use their hands...hence the high "goals against" total.

One exception to this was Lorelai, who became a halfway decent goalie over the last few months. She still struggles with dribbling the ball, and with follow-through; she seems intimidated moving the ball downfield. However, she has no such compunctions about pouncing on a ball as it approaches the goal. She doesn't have a perfect save record, but she proved to be a bright spot on a team that struggled to cohere. Lorelai is a surprisingly competitive person; she took each loss very hard (after one game, I had to carry her to the car as she sobbed uncontrollably).

By the end of that season (the team ultimately won a whopping one game), Nathan still enjoyed working with the kids, but felt discouraged and wondered if continuing on was worth it. However, Lorelai's good friend Clark and his brother, Parker, were going to continue playing into the Spring 2012 season. They (and Clark's persuasive mom) convinced Lorelai to play again. Despite her dislike of losing, Lorelai still loved to play the sport with her friends. And Nathan decided that if Lorelai was playing again, he might as well coach again.

The Spring team--other than Lorelai, Clark, and Parker--was full of new faces. Instead of being a 50/50 team of boys/girls, this new team consisted of mostly boys (there were only two other girls besides Lorelai). And this team was much bigger than the last team--12 kids, unusually large for this league. Right from the start, though, Nathan recognized a lot of raw talent and potential in these kids. 

Lorelai's Spring team photo--what a cute gal!

The kids liked Lorelai's suggestion for the team name, and thus they were christened the Angry Birds, after the popular computer game. The team won most of their games, and tied a few others. It was psychologically completely different than the previous season. One particularly talented boy scored a majority of the team's goals (his parents insisted that he'd never played before); however, there was much more teamwork involved.

People passed to each other! Players hung back on defense and protected the goal! Goalies used their hands! Kids kept the ball inbounds, while simultaneously managing to move it down the field! There was great rejoicing! Nathan knew that their winning wasn't totally his doing, but he was definitely feeling more confident as a coach, and was gratified that the kids listened to him and followed his lead.

The only real drawback to the season had nothing to do with the quality of play...and everything to do with Arizona and its crazy-hot summers. The last few games of the season were sweaty, unenthusiastic affairs; it was not uncommon for games to be called on account of kids just not showing up. The final game of the season (played today) only lasted three quarters (Angry Birds won 4-1, remaining undefeated!); all the players amicably called it quits and ran for their snacks. Despite missing half our players, the team did well; in fact, two different kids scored their first goals of the season, including Lorelai's friend Clark!

Shortly afterwards, about one-third of our team and their families (the only ones who hadn't already left for summer vacation) met at a nearby Peter Piper Pizza's to celebrate the season's end:

 Lorelai got her trophy, of course; she may never be a star soccer player (in fact, I can almost guarantee she won't be), but she has had lots of fun and had a good time bonding with her dad. She's had her moments to shine; at one point today, she actually broke free of the crowd and started moving the ball upfield. She didn't quite make it all the way, but it was more aggressive than I've ever seen her. She has improved, even if only a little bit, and I am glad Coach Nathan has been able to help her even in these small aspects.

Then, to our surprise, Nathan received some prizes of his own; an Angry Birds T-shirt, as well as a gift certificate to the nearest movie theater! It was completely unexpected and very touching. Last week, Nathan had received a framed photo of the team from another one of his players (who'd hand-made him a card and hand-made the picture frame!). All these things have caused him to re-think his future with soccer.

We (mostly I) assumed he'd be done with soccer after this season (we're still not sure if Lorelai will resume playing in the fall or not). After seeing how much his kids appreciate him, though, Nathan is thinking of returning in the Fall season to give this coaching thing another try. Who knows? Maybe we haven't seen the last of "Coach Nathan" after all. It's been a time-consuming experience, but something he's really enjoyed. Here's hoping that enjoyment continues.

Friday Family Fun Day Pt. 2: Panning For Gold & Swimming With Fishies in Phoenix

Whee! I'm still a bit exhausted from yesterday's adventures, but I thought I'd share the joy we all had for our latest Family Fun Friday. We took a day trip to Phoenix and visited some attractions we'd never seen before...as well as have lunch at a restaurant that we had eaten at before. We had a great time; this may have been our most exciting Family Fun Friday of the summer!

Friday #3: We visit a museum, a mall, and an aquarium (mostly in that order)

 Our first stop of the day was the Arizona Museum of Natural History in Mesa. Turns out, it's only a few blocks away from the Mesa Arizona LDS Temple. Some LDS friends of ours had told us about the museum before; it's a place they would often take their family after a temple visit, to better take advantage of their time in Phoenix (and to spread out the long drive back home). So we decided to see if the museum was worth visiting multiple times!

Mostly, the museum reminded me of Denver's Museum of Nature and Science. Sure, there are dinosaur bones and a hallway recounting the origin of the universe, but there are also lots of cultural history and state history exhibits on display as well. But...an important distinction is that the museum in Mesa is only about 50-75% the size of the one in Denver. This is actually an advantage (at least, at this point in my life); it means the kids get less tired out visiting it, and it's perfect for the attention span of the younger kids!

Not that there weren't lots of dinosaurs at this museum...far from it. In fact, a huge portion of the museum was taken up with this life-sized diorama of a dinosaur-infested canyon, complete with periodic flash floods! It was pretty neat to look at from a variety of levels...

There was also a mock-up of an ancient Hohokam Native American village, complete with baskets & other tools the inhabitants might have used:

There were other exhibits featuring ancient cultural artifacts, as well.

However, my girls' favorite activities lay beyond. Outside, in the rear of the building, there was a cute little courtyard with an artificial "stream" where visitors could pan for "gold" (at least, little golden flecks!) The heat was (briefly) forgotten, as the girls got to work!

They got a little wet, which was welcome in the 107-degree heat (whew!). In the end, we only managed to gather a few little flecks...even if this was real gold, I doubt it would fetch much of a price...

Afterwards, the girls found their absolute favorite spot of the museum: an old jail cell block used in the Mesa City Jail until 1975. It was all-metal, dirty, dark, covered in graffiti, and generally pretty creepy...but the girls couldn't get enough of it! Close to half our time in the museum was the girls playing around in these cells, swinging the huge creaking doors open and shut...

I guess my girls are morbid!

"No-body knooooows....the troubles I've seeeeen..."

There was also a small gallery which featured a celebration of Arizona's "Hollywood tradition." Dozens of major motion pictures have been filmed entirely (or in part) within Arizona...mostly Westerns, but also several science-fiction films (including the Tattooine scenes in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi). There was also a small green-screen booth for the kids to stand in...

...from which they could "become the stars" of the old movies showing on the other side!

And there were several other exhibits in the museum besides these, too! It was a really fun place, and a great way to kill a few hours on a hot day (which would be pretty much every day in Phoenix in June). But at last, it was time to go get lunch:

 Yes, we returned to the Rainforest Cafe (it was a convenient option: the aquarium is located in the same large mall as the restaurant). Since we'd visited this place before, I knew pretty much what to expect--a large bill and fair-to-middling food.

Well, my sandwich was decent, and all the girls got pasta. What did Aurora actually end up eating? One bite of her $6 mac and cheese, then half of my fries and half of my sandwich. Grumble grumble *toddlers* grumble grumble. The good news: our waiter, who noticed I was taking care of three wiggly kids on my own, took pity on me and gave me a free drink. So at least my bill wasn't as big as it could have been. Thanks, guy!

 And at least my girls got to sit next to the elephants this time...they loved them.

As usual, they also enjoyed looking at the many aquariums scattered throughout the restaurant. But after this, it was time to visit the real Aquarium-with-a-capital-"A"...the SeaLife Aquarium, located at the other end of the Arizona Mills mall:

The girls were so excited, they were "air-swimming" in anticipation!

Look! A Finding Nemo family reunion!

Long story short, followed by a bunch of pictures: this wasn't the biggest or best aquarium I've ever seen. It was also overpriced (if anyone ever wants to try this, I strongly recommend getting discounted tickets somehow--it isn't worth the full price). However, the aquarium was clean, orderly, and had lots of beautiful displays. It was large enough that we could take our time without feeling crowded or rushed. It took up about 2 hours of our time (with older kids, you could probably do the whole thing in about an hour). And, there was a large playground for little kids at the end of the exhibits, as a "cool-down" type of area. Overall, my girls and I had a very nice time, and I hope I can take them again sometime...not just to this aquarium, but to others in other cities as well.

The girls were fascinated by these starfish...they were pretty bumpy to the touch

There were fun "peepholes" like this in several of the aquariums; the fish will swim inches from your face. Neat!

The girls thought the rays were all pretty amazing; they loved their long tails!

I don't know what kind of fish this is, but Lorelai found it lying at the bottom of one of the aquariums and took this picture. She was very proud of finding it, so I thought I should include it!

This was a large, horrifying octopus, that blubbered & shuddered back and forth in its cage the whole time we looked at it. It is nightmare fuel for me; I don't know why, but I find octopi horrifying animals.

We saw several sharks throughout the exhibit, but I was never able to get a really good picture of any of them. They just swam too fast, I guess! Oh well, it was still quite fun to spot them.

The girls are "grief-stricken" in this picture, due to their being swallowed by giant shark jaws.

Cute little seahorses!

My favorite picture of the day. Such a thrill to walk through this tunnel; it felt like a sneak peek into an underwater world!

Celeste was thrilled to see "Nemo!"

Well, I hope you enjoyed all the pictures, dear readers...they were quite fun to shoot! As you can probably tell, we've had a pretty eventful summer vacation so far. I'll try to get in one more quick blog post this weekend, then it's off to Colorado for our annual summer trip. No doubt, I'll have more to talk about then. Hopefully our Family Fun Fridays will still be in effect out of state!

Friday Family Fun Days, Pt. 1: Getting In Touch With AZ

Aaah, summer...that time of year when at least one of my kids is bored, like, all the time. They'll grouse that I'm not letting them watch enough TV, or they'll constantly lurk behind me, waiting to seize the computer and play computer games as soon as my back is turned. Or they'll bug me for snacks (usually something frozen) all day long. Or they'll retreat to the playroom, where they get into start fights with their sisters. Thus it goes, on and on and on...always with the dreaded background chorus of "Mom, I'm bored" murmuring nearby everywhere I go.

Thus far in my mom-hood, I have purposefully left our summer schedule pretty loose and free. However, while this has its advantages, I've discovered that the school-year schedule (while much more crowded, rigid, and high-maintenance) also provides a nice structure to our family life, a structure whose absence can be keenly felt during summertime. Some of my friends have shared some of their solutions to the summertime boredom: they have Craft Days for their kids, or New Food Days, or even Science Days for their school-age children.

Still another friend told me that when she was growing up, her family would always reserve Fridays as "family fun days," where the family would pick a special destination and then go there as a family. While all my friends' ideas are good ones, the "family fun day" idea really struck a chord with me, perhaps because my own mother took my siblings and I on many such "days out" when I was a child. As luck would have it, this idea dovetails nicely with the Summer Reading Program at the Pima County Public Library (we are frequent library visitors).

Since 2012 is the year of Arizona's State Centennial, the reading program encourages all its participants to not just set personal reading goals, but to get involved in the community by choosing several activities to complete. They are often personal activities (Read a ghost story! Write a poem! etc.), but many of their suggestions are designed to further your education about Arizona (Go on a hike! Visit a museum! Read a book by a local author!). This is when the light-bulb went off in my head; we'd spend the next few Fridays visiting several Arizona-specific locations. We'd not only have fun (hopefully!) and learn more about our state, but we'd get closer to achieving our library goals as well!

Friday #1: We "go on a hike"!

On June 8, we decided to visit Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, and explore its wild terrain. Our goal, taken from the library's summer suggestions, was "go on a hike." This is a park that Nathan and I visited (and hiked in) several times when we lived in Tucson,mostly before we had kids. I thought it would be nice to revisit it with my girls in tow.

Technically, we cheated just a bit on the whole "hiking" thing. Sabino Canyon actually has a shuttle service that will drive you all the way up the canyon (for an additional fee). I'd heard tales of the Old Watering Hole up near the top of the canyon--a small pool near the source of the canyon's stream--which was a great place to splash and cool off. I decided to spring for the shuttle trip; and the kids were very excited!

While we waited for a shuttle to arrive (and for our friend Lexi to get a little cash to pay her way up), we ended up taking our "hike," which was really a quarter-mile nature loop just outside the visitor's center. I know, I know--wimps. However, this ended up being a super-hot day (it topped out around 106 degrees), and with little kids in tow I had suspected our "hike" would be a bit underwhelming by adult standards. However, it was still an enjoyable experience--especially because this big guy walked right in front of us as we started off the trail!

For those not in the know, this is a Gila monster, one of only two venomous lizards in North America. They're protected under state law because of their "threatened species" status (mostly due to increasing human settlement). They're also pretty darn big--very unlike the finger-sized lizards you see zipping around everywhere. This gila monster was about a foot and a half long, and I'm sure he weighed about 3 pounds. We kept our distance (despite being venomous, they've never been found responsible for any human deaths), but luckily, he didn't seem too interested in us...or in any great hurry. He just moseyed across the path, and off into the bushes! I managed to snap a few quick photos of him as he walked away. It still gave the girls and I quite a thrill!

After that we took in some nature on the nature trail, then arrived back at the visitors' center just in time to board the next shuttle!

Lorelai and Celeste are clearly very excited to get going! Aurora was pretty happy too...except she didn't want to sit on my lap, which the tour guide had asked that she do. I ended up keeping my arm wrapped on her shoulder, or holding on tightly to her hand...anything to keep her from falling out the side of the shuttle car! She didn't take to kindly to this, but what can you do?

The trip up the canyon was narrated, with explanations for the rock formations we saw, as well as a history of the settlements in the canyon and the local flora & fauna. The kids loved listening to the tour guide, and loved spotting all the things he mentioned. The only drawback to our trip up the canyon was that our shuttle car wasn't covered, so we all got a lot of sunshine on the tops of our heads. Oh well. Sadly, the Old Swimming Hole was all dried up. That's what we get for visiting in June! However, the girls were so excited by the trip up that they didn't seem to mind. We decided to disembark at the top of the canyon and rock-climb a bit while waiting for the next shuttle to take us down:

Celeste was the most excited by this idea (odd, since she's usually the biggest complainer when we go hiking). She was quite the little mountain goat that day. Aurora, on the other hand...

...was not having the greatest time. Normally, Aurora loves to hike, climb, and generally run amok. This day, though, it seemed the heat was really getting to her.

We all cheered up quickly when we got onto the next shuttle--especially because it was covered!

So, the heat of the day ended up abridging our plans somewhat (note to self: hiking in June in Arizona is not the greatest idea), so our "hike" ended up being a short walk plus some rock-climbing a bit later. Still, the kids and I all had fun, plus we had friends along to make it even more enjoyable! I think we definitely want to come back again later in the year, when there's water in the canyon and we can splash around! We read a little more info about the canyon back at the visitors' center, where we ate our packed lunches. After that, we stopped by the nearest Eegee's to get a fruity slushy treat, as a reward for braving the heat. All in all, a fun day.

 Friday #2: We visit an Arizona State Park, and an Arizona State Museum.

 Our next Family Fun Friday (June 15) was pretty ambitious, at least on the "educational" front. We also ended up driving all over the place, but it was worth it, 'cause I think the kids learned stuff! In summertime!!

Our first stop was about 30 minutes south of Sahuarita, in a tiny artists' village/golfing mecca called Tubac. As luck would have it, there's also an Arizona State Park located within Tubac...it's the Old Presidio, which was first built by the Spaniards to hold back the hostile Native Americans. It was later used by both Mexican vaqueros and American settlers. It's the oldest European settlement in the area now known as the state of Arizona (the Presidio was founded in 1752!). There were several things to explore there: the underground (excavated) foundations of the original Spanish presidio, lots of antique weaponry/kitchen goods/furniture/etc.; a handful of buildings remaining from both Mexican habitation and American colonization...

...but the building my girls enjoyed the most was definitely the Old Schoolhouse!

This schoolhouse served all the local children in the area for more than one hundred years; it was constructed back in 1885, and is now on the National Register of Historic Buildings. As you can see, it's been restored to look much as it did around the turn of the 20th century; this was fascinating to the girls. Also fascinating to them was the little "student" sitting in his pew; they liked to pet him & shake his hand. I found him a little creepy, myself...more so when, after a particularly vigourous handshake, his hand popped off & clattered onto the floor. Yikes! (luckily, it reattached easily).

The large teacher's desk had a big bell which rang loudly; the girls loved ringing it!!

For that, I had to put them in the "punishment" corner. The facial expressions that ensued were worthy of being photographed...

Here's a shot of a chalkboard in the schoolroom. It includes a list of punishable offenses for students (circa 1848!), complete with a list of the required "lashings"! I especially like that "playing with cards" is worth more lashes than swearing, hitting other students, or "being mean to girls"...

There were several other stops in the Presidio we enjoyed, including a museum with a working, turn-of-the-century printing press inside. It also contained many artifacts small and large, like these leg irons! Sort of like medieval stocks, vaquero-style:

The Presidio was a really interesting place; I plan on visiting again when the girls are a bit older.

After stopping to fill up gas in the car (our two destinations for the day were a fair distance apart), we drove up to Tucson...the University of Arizona campus, to be exact. That's where we took a gander at the Arizona State Museum, whose primary mission is to share information about the many Native American tribes of the American Southwest.

The girls watching the orientation video

At one point, the girls were supposed to write the museum a note, telling the staff which Indian quilt was their favorite. This mostly devolved into them scribbling, but at least an attempt was made!

The girls didn't quite understand the distinctions between the tribes the way I did; however, they did appreciate the section dealing with the Tohono O'odham people. They still remember that this tribe is the one that kept their daddy gainfully employed for many happy years!

Plus it had a cute, touchable cactus nearby

Just like their mom before them, the girls really enjoyed the dioramas throughout...

This diorama depicted a spiritual "deer dance." Aurora really enjoyed it.

However, Aurora was totally spooked out by this diorama, which featured participants of a "ghost dance." Those Native Americans have lots of awesome dances in their repertoire.

All the girls also enjoyed riding on creepy sheep statues and admiring Navajo rugs, not necessarily in that order

I was happy they got as much out of the Arizona State Museum as they did, especially considering this wasn't really a place aimed towards children. I confess to being quite the "museum nerd"--as a child, visiting museums (any sort of museums, really) was a huge highlight of my life. I loved learning new stuff and looking at cool stuff, and museums amply filled both those desires. I hope my children will grow up with a similar passion for learning, exploration, and discovery. I firmly believe it will enrich their perspectives and bring joy to them throughout their lives.

So...my first two Family Fun Fridays this summer were successful! (well, more or less). This coming Friday, I plan on taking the girls up to Phoenix, to explore some new territory!