YMCA Short Vacation

The Y Camp in Estes has become a very dear place to me and the boys over the years.  We go there once or twice a year now and never leave disappointed.  This time we just happened to bump into our friend, Heather Dawson, at the ghetto roller rink.  Heather was my awesome high school youth intern/leader and is now a huge part of the children's ministry at Flatirons Church. 

My friend, Diane, came up with her boys, Jayden and Carson, this time, too.  All the boys loved doing anything/everything in the gym, and we tried playing volleyball with a big beach ball we brought from home...until the ball was punctured on the ceiling and instantly deflated.  Oops!

Unlike Diane's boys, mine could stay in the arts and crafts shack for an entire day if I let them.  They both painted and added some mosaic to these neat wooden treasure boxes.  Gavin usually spends a lot more time on his creations, but I have to say that Gage gave him a run for his money this time.  I was really proud of them both! 

Mountain View Performance

Every year the first graders at Mountain View do a cute little musical performance for the school (during the day) and the parents (at night).  Gage is smiling at us from the middle of the first row.  See him?  Cute as ever!  He really has quite a memory for lyrics, and his voice is beautiful, so he's a musical little dude in every way.  In the picture below, Gage is playing the wood block and singing loudly,  no doubt.  (See his open mouth.) 

Gavin (U10) and Gage (U7) Soccer

These are the first few pictures from Gavin and Gage's soccer games this year.  Gavin is playing U10 soccer which is 7 on 7 with a pretty good sized field, while Gage is playing another year of 4 on 4 with no goalies on some pretty small fields.  Gavin above is waiting for the kickoff.  I do love the fact that the referee in the picture is probably not more than a few years older than the players standing around him.

Here is an action shot during the game.  I think he is trying to intercept a pass that the other team was making.

Gage is in action here trying to make a move on two of the kids in front of him.  Hopefully he sees that he has an open pass to his team mate, Jake, who is making a run to the right of him after the defenders over-commit to Gage.  It is also worth noting how much bigger Gage is than most of these kids he is playing.  Because they switched the age group cutoffs around, he is almost always one of the biggest kids on the field.

Brent's Old Man Soccer League

Tara occasionally frequents a website called NextDoor which lists things that are happening within a close proximity to your house.  One day, Tara said there was a posting for someone looking for a few extra soccer players for a Men's 40 and over league.  I figured I was 39 but was turning 40 by the end of the year so maybe that would work.  I called Anthony who posted there and spoke with him a few times and a month later I was on an Old Man Soccer Team.

The games started in early March (which is still can be quite cold in Colorado) and here are the pictures from the first game.  I hadn't played outdoor soccer in probably 15 years, but I showed up and met the team and took the field.  I will admit I was fairly rusty but was happy to run around and act like I knew what I was doing.  I played mostly Outside Back on defense and we even came away with a win for the first game.

The whole family came out to watch the game.  Here is Gavin and I after the game.  As you can see, he was dressed in his winter coat.  I think it is fun for him to see my play as he is getting more and more into soccer himself.  Hopefully a fun season is ahead.