Going to the Big D!

We managed a trip south to celebrate a certain someone's birthday at his favorite place on Earth. With the help from a friend, we were able to make the trip affordable even for a family of four. (FYI: If you're planning your first-ever trip, plan on spending AT LEAST $500 a day including entry to the park, food, and lodging. It's no cheap vacation.) In a rush tonight, but wanted to get some photos up.

Kinda sad to see the girls shy away from the characters. They've grown out of them. Ah...the very innocent years are fading much too quickly.



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A Sad Farewell to Springtime Soccer

Today marked the end of spring soccer - a sad day for E who determined this season that maybe soccer isn't all that bad after all.

Wait.

Go back.

Last fall I signed up the girls for soccer because V wanted to play, and E needed a physical activity. Plus, I figured if she didn't learn the basics of soccer now, she'd never have a chance to hit the field in a game if she decided to pick it up later. (Teams around here are incredibly competitive, and players start at age 3 and 4 around here.)

On the first day of fall soccer, V was elated; E was borderline tears.

But as the season progressed, E found herself enjoying game days, despite the fact she never touched a ball during her gameday field time. Her coach was competitive, but still played her quite fairly, and cheered her all the way.

Fast forward to spring soccer sign ups.

I figured V would want to play again. She particularly enjoyed practices last fall, but it turns out game days really weren't her thing. So, when spring sign ups came around, she opted out. But lo and behold, E volunteered!

When E discovered spring soccer involved co-ed teams and a male coach, she was less than pleased, she told me on our walk home from the first night of practice. "But today was really fun! I like it!" Indeed, playing on a team with a friend she'd known for some time as well as an incredibly thoughtful, friendly, fun-loving teammates was a major plus. And the coach was fantastic - knowledgeable, but able to get the kids involved in game-like drills that taught them skills while they were having a hoot, but best of all, he laughed his way through every single game, regardless of the mistakes the kids were making on the field. "Good job," and "That's OK," were his mantras.

As the season wrapped up, E began asking why soccer can't be a summer sport, too, and started looking forward to her next season of ball. While she did score her first goal this season, I'm most proud that she found joy in the game, the team and the time on the practice and gameday fields.

Thanks, Coach!



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Pac-Man Google Doodle Celebrates 30 Years - ALREADY!?

Friday, I turned on the computer to discover Google's best doodle ever - an interactive Pac-Man 30th Anniversary commemorative doodle. Google's front page often has special artwork related to particular days of note - great artists' birthdays, dates of historic interest, current events. But I've never seen one that was actually interactive beyond the simple click-through to information ABOUT the doodle and related event(s).

The mere fact that the doodle is a WORKING video game is cool enough, but click the "insert coin" button twice in quick succession and you get a head-to-head, Pac-Man plus Ms. Pac-Man, team board. The W, S, A, and D keys control Ms. Pac-man while the arrows control the original dot-munching yellow ball.

I found this screen shot, but couldn't figure out how to make the interactive Pac-man work here. So, check out the official Google site (where sound is also included) while it's still online this weekend. If you miss it, this site may carry it indefinitely.

Photo courtesy Aidan-Sally under Creative Commons License.