Non-Stop

That's what today was.... Last night we had the kids (and us) out late at a church retreat. Bedtime was after 10PM. Since Eli had his first soccer game at 9 this morning, the kids had to be woken up before 8. No grouchiness yet, but it was only a matter of time given what the day held for them. We arrived at the field and moments later Tyler showed up. The two boys changed into their new soccer uniforms (jerseys and shorts - both HUGE on the kids) and started kicking around the soccer ball. They take their soccer player status so seriously!! Of course, Maddie followed them around, kicking a ball also. That little girl is going to be good when she finally starts playing. Once the game started, Eli shifted into focus mode. He got very serious and intense about watching where the ball went and following it all of the time. He made a goal (unassisted by coaches) sometime in the first half... I ran down the field with my camera, but only got a shot of him throwing his hands up to celebrate. Sometime in the second half, Eli's friend Logan showed up to cheer on the game. (Logan plays also and his game was right after ours.) Then Noah, another friend, showed up also! Each time, Eli and Tyler got so excited to see their best buds on the sidelines. (The four boys are a bit of a chummy group.) The game ended and the four boys played together, chasing the soccer ball around the field. Eli let Noah wear his other jersey and they all pretended to be in a soccer game. Maddie ran around, chasing Noah. (He appears to be her favorite.)

From there, we packed up the soccer gear and drove to a nearby park to meet Tyler (and eventually the other boys) to play some more sports. Baseball was on the agenda first, which both Eli and Maddux were happy about. It was approaching noon though, and fatigue was setting in. Not long into the game, something set Eli off and he started crying and pushed his sister. Time out. He wailed and wailed and wailed. Only about five more minutes of game was played before we had to (once again) scoop up the kids and move to our next destination. Lunch. We had a pub run (5K-ish walk) to attend with friends at 2PM. We met them for lunch first at a nearby sandwich shop. The kids fell asleep immediately after lunch as we drove to the start of the race. They woke up as we pulled into the parking lot, just in time to see some their friends loading into their wagon. We had the double BOB, so there was some jockeying for seats: both in the stroller and wagon, but eventually we got settled. Maddux rode in the stroller for the entire trip, but the boys alternated stroller, wagon, and walking/running. It was a beautiful day, so despite how long it took us to walk, no one complained about being outside for so long.

When we got back to the pub, we went inside to partake of the free food and drink. The kids ate up all of the snacks brought by the other family, plus some free food. And then right before we were about to go (the tired eyes were once again showing on the kids), Maddux fell and hit her head on a table. Then the floor. It was actually a very good thing she hit the table first. Had she not, she would have landed (head first) on the floor only, causing major pain from falling so far down.

The kids fell asleep again on the way home. By now it was 5PM and only two hours from bedtime. Since tonight is daylight savings, we intended to put them to bed an hour earlier....a good plan given the day they had anyway! Eli wanted to change back into his soccer gear as soon as we got home to play some more. He takes such pride in that soccer jersey! Maddux was miserable, crying when she and I played with some bubbles outside. She cried when she tried to blow the bubbles. She cried when I blew the bubbles. She cried when no one blew the bubbles. Misery! A quick dinner and bath later, they were in bed and asleep. What a day!