The boys' first soccer tournament, of perhaps many

We are finally finishing up our last camps for the summer.  Charlie gleaned much knowledge from his Ecology, Energy and the Environment camp.  Highlights included making candles, lip balm, eco-wrapping paper, paper from pulp, paper beads, and keeping a scientific journal of plant growth observations.  I wanna go to camp!  Charlie demonstrated how to fill the world's largest plastic bag with air (and very little exertion), after I nearly hyperventilated trying to blow it up!   There was some scientific principle behind this, but I forgot the name.   Cole, once again created many artistic masterpieces, which now adorn the mantle.  The boy is very serious about his art! Both boys have two more days of golf camp, then it's camp-free (and probably "boring") days until Hawaii.  Well, not counting soccer practice and piano lessons.

This Saturday the boys both played in their very first, all-day-long soccer tournament:  The Sun Cup 3v3.  We learned that packing for a soccer tournament is sort of like packing for camping.  You need lots of water, food, towels, changes of clothes, sunscreen and even a tent, which we will be purchasing soon, I think.  Shade would have been nice.  The grass was wet, the air was humid, and the sun was hot.  When we loaded up to leave at 4:00 the car thermometer said 103 degrees.  I nearly died of heat stroke six times, but kept my suffering to myself so as to not upset the boys.  Instead I focused my energy on ensuring everyone was well hydrated. 

I was really proud of how well each of my guys played.  Charlie is really good at soccer!  His team scored four goals total in the three games--Charlie scored two of those four, which was a real morale booster for the team.  He ran around the field with seemingly endless energy.  Apparently others noted it as well because he was just invited to play in a season-long tournament every other Monday night with 9 and 10 year old boys in a competitive league.  He plays "select" soccer, which is a bridge between "recreational" and "competitive".   He was the only kid in his "select" league who was invited to play.  This boy of mine is good at soccer AND he loves it.  What a treat for him! 

Cole played really well too.  His skill as a soccer player has improved sooo much since last year.  He was the smallest kid (height and weight) in the entire tournament.  His team, comprised of three first graders and three second graders, were the only entrants in the U8 age group, so they got to play with the U10 "recreational" kids.  The girls and boys towered over Cole and I don't think he knew quite what to make of it.  He had fun though and loved getting treated with Italian Ice and a snow cone. 

All in all, our first soccer tournament experience was a success.  Both kids had a great time, despite losing all of their games.  We look forward to many more.