At what age does school become more of a chore then something fun? I don’t know, but I’m glad Christian is excited to be back. He even said he was looking forward to homework?!?! As you can see from the photos, below, Christian loves being back with his friends. The first week went well, some problems with being antsy and whatnot, not a big deal just needs to get back into the swing of things.
The second week… Well, let just say it didn’t go too well. Apparently he got pushed down or something during play and he retaliated with a kick or something. Plus not listening, talking, etc… 3 not so good days, 2 okay days. Not a good week but he’s adjusting and after a good weekend I think week 3 will be better.
And being the stellar parent that I am I forgot my camera on the first day of school… Thankfully other families were nice enough to share some photos of Christian – thanks!!
Folsom Soccer Club had their soccer seeding tournaments this weekend. Basically we played five 15 minute games over the course of five hours. We’re on a bigger field this year, have one more player on the field and more rules will be enforced. It’s going to be interesting – we actually faired pretty well in the tournament, most games were decided by one point.
Christian, as I told him, did really well. He was aggressive to the ball, mixed it up and, yes, fell down a lot. In the first game when he fell down he just kind of stayed there, but between the games I talked to him and said unless you’re bleeding or really, really hurt then you need to get up and keep playing. And I’ll be damned, he listened to me!! That alone is a victory, but to see him play the other four games, fall down and actually get up and keep playing was a great change! He can play when he wants to, that’s never been an issue, but getting up after falling down is HUGE for Christian!!
If you’ve been over to our house swimming then you probably know the problems I’ve faced keeping the pool nice and blue. I thought it was a chemical issue so a couple of years ago I hired a pool guy to do the chemicals. Well, that didn’t work – the pool keeps trending to the green side so I stopped the chemical service and took back my pool. A week later I had the pool a beautiful blue, just like it should be… Another week later and it was a nice green again. UGH!
I’m working on it and working on it and now it’s almost back to a nice blue color. Now I’m considering getting a new pump, mine is over-powered and an energy hog and I think it would help to move the water through the filter at the correct flow rate. I’ve also seen that the overflow from my drips in the plants behind the pool seems to flow into the pool – perhaps this is the source of the algae in the pool. Now I’ll need to add to my to-do list something to address that situation --- but first I want a clear blue pool again!
Pauline has told me about the new nursery in town, Green Acres, a couple of times and I've wanted to change my backyard and freshen it up quite a bit... So it was time for a visit --- WOW! Great store, great selection. So much in there it's overwhelming, but they also have plenty of help out there which was nice. I told them what I wanted and where it would go and they walked us around and showed us a bunch of bushes and trees. Picked some stuff, the yard work begins anew... I’ve visited the store several times already and I like the change in my backyard. Its little things here and there, but the change makes me feel better. Now let’s just hope things I keep things alive!!
Do you remember that statement Christian made at the beginning of the season regarding the swim briefs… He basically had said no way, he did not want to wear one --- and he meant it, I got the impression he would never consider it. Well, a few Sea Otters wore them this year, Owen, James (and others we don’t know) and as Champs came around a couple of more kids we know – Jeremy and Jack – wore them and each one we talked to said they were swimming faster now that they got the briefs. Well, as we were driving home from Champs Christian told me, “Dad, I think I might swim faster if I wore a Speedo.”
While at Meet of Champs there was an on-site swim shop and Christian went with a friend to look inside (our tent was right next to it) and he came running out, “Dad, dad, they sell everything in the tent from the swim store! We can buy the Speedo right now!” Well, I didn’t check them out as if they were from the store they would be excessively expensive, but we ordered one for him to use in the fall clinic with the Marlins. We’ll see how it goes, but it has arrived and he when he first saw it, he looked apprehensive. After one day of swimming with it in our pool, he loves it – in fact he said he likes it better than the Jammers.
