The Inevitability of Boys and Sports

The snow has begun, which means it's time to hunker down on the couch with a warm blanket and look back on the Fall sports we just finished. The days were breezy and sunny and perfect for outdoor activities.

Trenton ran cross country again and this year the race was a mile instead of a half mile. He came in around 8 minutes each time, which I proudly told him was faster than my best time ... ever! Guess he takes after dad, the runner in the family.

Before the race, raring to go.

Finishing strong, with dad running alongside for encouragement.

Tired, but proud.

The first race was just his school, so he placed 4th. He's never earned a ribbon for an individual performance and he was ecstatic.

The next race was the District Meet! There were 400 second through fifth graders running at the county fairgrounds. I used my telephoto lens to capture him razzing runners from a competing school. It was such a fun atmosphere.

It was his hardest race as he got a little distracted by some chatty friends, but he persisted and earned that participation ribbon.

The final race was against another elementary school and he finished strong. Just watching his face made me tired and out of breath!

We had such a fun season! You always hope your kids will surpass your own limitations and weaknesses ... watching him run a mile without giving up because it was difficult filled my heart with joy.

Next came soccer. We've reached a new stage in parenting, which is bittersweet. Trenton has advanced to the 7 on 7 games with actual officials, making the games so exciting to watch! I tried to watch one while holding Elliot and kept making her cry because I'd be screaming and running down the sidelines. The unfortunate result, though, was separate fields meaning Landon and I had to split up each time to watch either Sawyer or Trenton. It's only the beginning, I know. Wait until all 4 have something ...

Sawyer's team was a little rough with only 5 kids total, two of whom didn't even want to play! Poor guy ended up playing a double header every week without sitting out because there weren't any subs. He has such a good attitude, though, and played hard the whole time. His enthusiasm when he scored was so contagious.

Trenton has become quite the natural soccer player and we hope he chooses to stick with it. He made the paper almost every week for goals scored! By the end of the season, he, along with two other boys, became an unstoppable force. They learned to pass more (instead of hogging the ball the whole time!) and how to predict where to kick the ball to set each other up for a goal.

After such a busy September and October, we're taking a couple months off. Then January brings baseketball!