Lacrosse

Sports are kind of a big deal around here.  Since he was tiny, Jackson has always preferred sticks, balls, throwing and catching to most any toy we could purchase.  As it turns out, he's pretty darn athletic too (so far anyway).  So when the fall soccer season ended we turned to Edge, a local indoor sports complex that offers a preschool program for most any sport you can think of, as a winter activity for Jack.  We let him choose what he wanted to try next and the winner was...Lacrosse.  

At first I wasn't sure how he even knew about Lacrosse.  It was certainly not a sport that we ever encountered in Kansas.  Then I remembered some elementary aged kids that would have Lacrosse practice after school in the neighborhood park at Mom & Dad's house while we were living in Castle Rock.  Apparently it stuck with him.

I can't help but note the first two sports Jackson chose to play are nearly the only two sports his Dad has absolutely no experience in.  Although, Lacrosse was certainly a choice Drew was excited about.  Unlike soccer.

So off to Lacrosse class he went.  And oh my gosh was it adorable.

The timing of his class fit better with Drew's schedule, so more times than not it was a weekly activity just for the boys.  I absolutely love Drew's story from the first day where one of the other kids was praised for "checking" Jack.  (Or, using your stick to knock the ball out of another player's stick.)  Drew said he could practically see the wheels in Jack's head turning as he came to the realization that not only were you allowed to chase people and knock their ball away with your stick, but you were praised for it!  From that moment on Jack was a fan.

He loved it so much that we signed him up for a second session when the first six weeks were over.  I realize that I'm his mother talking, but the kid really is good.  From our perspective anyway, the concept of team sports just comes pretty naturally to him.  It is so much fun to watch.

We've decided to encourage him to try some other sports next (I think we'll do basketball and football at Edge before the summer baseball season starts) rather than just stick with one at this young of an age.  But I wouldn't be at all surprised if we are back to Lacrosse before too long.

It's Official...I'm a Soccer Mom

First, let it be known that my husband hates soccer.  I'm not sure when or why this hatred developed, but it may very well be his least favorite sport of all time.  I could go on, but suffice it to say, he's not a fan.

Jackson, on the other hand, loves anything and everything that involves balls and sticks - including soccer - and has been playing sports (from golf to basketball to baseball to football) with his Dad since he learned to walk.  This is his mother talking, but the kid is athletic.  He can throw a spiral, hit a golf ball, run faster than most his age and has pretty awesome hand-eye coordination.  But we've never had him participate in any organized sports. We neglected to put him in soccer while living in Lawrence (see above). Tee Ball would have been an option this summer but since we were temporarily in Castle Rock, and somewhat unsure how long we would be there, we didn't pursue that either.  Once we got settled in Fort Collins getting him enrolled in some sort of fall sports was a top priority.

After some research, we decided that the programs the Parks & Rec Department offered were probably not the best fit.  They were mostly basic skills classes which we thought would be a little boring for Jack.  He's still a bit young for any football or basketball leagues and with tee ball season behind us the only real option at Jacks' age, much to his father's chagrin, is soccer.  Enter the Fort Collins Soccer Club.  

I discovered FCSC less than 1 week before the season's first game.  Based on the registration policies (teams are formed by geographic location on a first-come, first-served basis beginning in June and based on date and time of application, etc.) getting a spot less than a week before the season seemed like a long shot to say the least.  I'm pretty sure that's why Drew went along with it and we agreed to give them a call.  Long story short, while Jack's elementary school team was full there was one other team with a spot left (a private Catholic school in town) that happened to be using our neighborhood school as their practice facility.  He was in!

Reluctantly, Drew agreed that it would be great for Jack (although I think he secretly hopes that after playing it for a bit Jack will decide it's not his favorite either) and that very day we hit up the sporting goods store to buy shin guards, socks and a soccer ball.  

When Jackson learned we had found him a team he was absolutely overjoyed.

First Soccer Practice

Warming Up

Dribbling Drills

Flirting?  There's no flirting in soccer!

Go team!

I have to admit, soccer at this age is absolutely adorable.  One little girl declared, about 1.5 minutes into practice, "Coach...I think I'm done with soccer now."  A few minutes later 2 kids disappeared from the field to go pet a dog that was being walked in the park.  It's like herding cats.  And to top it off, Coach Chris let the kids vote on their team name this year.  The winner...Giraffes.

And so it begins.  Our calendar is now booked with soccer practice on Wednesdays and soccer games on Saturdays.  Jackson absolutely loves it.  He practices almost every night (at his own request) and despite knowing absolutely nothing about the game until last week, he's already getting the hang of it.

Drew and I laughed our way through the first game.  I should have kept a tally of how many times a coach or parent yelled "Wrong way!  Go the other way!"  There was a giant stuffed unicorn (or as Drew thought, a giant My Little Pony) in one of the goals to help the kids remember which was theirs.  There were snack breaks at halftime and following the game.  And while we were chuckling at being called Team Giraffes, our opponent was Team Mickey Mouse Club.  So there's that.

Pre-Game Warm Ups

Game Time!

Getting some pointers from Coach Chris.

Who knows if Jack will stick with it or not, but for now it's fun for all of us.  

Here's a video (from my phone - sorry for the poor quality) of the Giraffe's in action.  And yes, that's Drew, Mr. Anti-Soccer himself, you hear cheering in the background!

Calling All Superheros - Brody Turns 4

There's one more event from June to write about and then I think we're finally caught up.  Jack's best buddy Brody turned 4.

I'm so thankful for the Meyer family.  Our relationship is one of those rare occasions where the guys get along, the girls get along and the kids along.  As fellow transplants from Kansas (and Jayhawk fans), husbands who used to work together and are both in the landscape/construction industry, wives who both work from home and boys that are all boy, we have so much in common and so much fun when we get together.  And we get together often.  We owe them a week's worth of barbecues when we finally get into our new house!  Of course, when Brody's 4th birthday party was planned at the Denver Children's Museum we wouldn't have missed it.

The theme was superheros and the party was adorable.

Birthday Boy

Each kiddo had a superhero cape waiting for them in the trees. 

They decorated masks and gave themselves superhero names.

Jeff getting in on the superhero action.

Checking himself out in the mirror.

Party room.

Superheros unite!

Happy Birthday, Bro!  I hope we are able to celebrate many, many more with you.

Swimming Lessons

Another June activity that I have yet to write about is Jackson's swimming lessons.  With a pool in the neighborhood at Mom & Dad's house and one less than 100 yards from our new house in Fort Collins some basic swimming skills are a must.  Plus, after not being a fan of the water as a toddler at all, Jack has finally taken an interest and we've been spending lots of time at the pool.

He no longer hesitates to dunk his head, jump in the water or pretend to swim.  But he always has floaties on his arms.  Without them he has absolutely no skills.  Enter Maggy and private swim lessons.

Maggy is a total sweetheart and Jack's first lesson was a huge success.  He tried everything she asked and did way more than I expected him to.

Unfortunately, he went backwards from there.

While he never threw a total fit and always went through the motions of lessons, by the last one Maggy said she had done all she could with him until he got over his fears.  She was walking a very fine line of pushing him to his limits without scaring him away from the pool forever.  And she was stuck.  Turns out he has gotten way too dependent on those floaties.  As long as he is in shallow water where he can stand, he has absolutely no fear.  As soon as he gets to the deep end, he gets nervous and refuses to do any of the skills he is totally capable of doing.

As a result, we're taking a break from the private lessons for a few weeks to see if we can get him over his fear of the deep end on our own.  And the floaties have been retired.  No more safety net.  Hopefully we'll get him in a few more lessons before the summer is over, but for now we're just going to keep working on it on our own.

If you're looking for us...we'll be at the pool.

Taste of Fort Collins

As often as possible, we have been spending weekends in Fort Collins.  It gives us a chance to check on the house progress and get acquainted with our new hometown, gives Mom & Dad a break from our family of 3 plus the Labradiva living in their basement and, most importantly, gives Drew a break from making the dreadful commute back to Castle Rock every day.  Plus it's a super cool town and we always have a blast.  So when we heard that the annual Taste of Fort Collins was June 7-9 we marked the calendar, booked a hotel and headed up north.

Taste of Fort Collins is one of the biggest events of the summer in FoCo.  A 3-day festival featuring local food and beer, national bands and lots of other activities from a kid zone to eating contests to a craft fair.

We started the day by meeting some friends in nearby Windsor, CO where the fire station was having an open house.  One of our friends is a chief at that station and we knew the kids would love to see the equipment and hang out with the firemen.  From the kid-friendly obstacle course, to the firetrucks, ambulances and police cars to the free hot dog lunch to the jaws of life demonstration to the burning up of an old beater car it was a huge success.

A pause from the fire excitement to give Slapshot, the mascot for the Colorado Eagles hockey team, a five.

After all of the morning's excitement, we headed downtown to the festival where Jack and his buddy Brody (ironically wearing matching fedoras) worked up quite a sweat playing on all of the inflatable slides, bounce houses and obstacle courses.

Of course, we indulged on lots of delicious food (The Waffle Lab is quite possibly the most dangerous food truck we've ever encountered) and drank our fair share of local brews.  Even Jack recognized the logo for his Dad's new favorite by New Belgium.

Clearly, Fort Collins is well versed in the execution of an outdoor festival.  Despite crowds of over 30,000 people, the lines were extremely efficient, the bathrooms plentiful and even fairly clean and the trash/recycling readily available and never overflowing.  The meeting planner in me was more than impressed.

After pausing to listen to some live music for a bit, we decided to call it a day.  On our way back to the car, we walked through the kid zone again and despite being a bit timid earlier, Jackson asked to give the giant trampoline a try.  We were skeptical, but let him give it a shot.

He started slow, but got the hang of it pretty quickly and before we knew it he was quite the daredevil.

Cheers Fort Collins!  We can't wait to call you home.

Colorado Living

One thing is for certain about living in Colorado - there is no shortage of things to do!

Here's a peek at a some of what we've been up to lately.

Boys Day at the Ballpark
While I was traveling back to Kansas to attend a few meetings, pick up our car and say some final goodbyes, Drew and his friend Jeff treated their mini-me's (it's scary how much these little guys are like their Daddies!) to a day at the ballpark where Brody & Jack enjoyed their first Rockies game.

Those boys have become instant buddies.  In fact, Jackson was furious with Drew for making him go home and leave Brody (who had fallen sound asleep on the drive home).  Jack too nodded off eventually; however, still managed to wake up every few minutes to declare that Drew was mean, breaking his heart and is no longer his best friend. 

Thankfully, Drew's back in his good graces now.

Spring Canyon Park
Our realtor drove Drew & I through Spring Canyon Park on our very first visit to Ft. Collins back in January.  I've been anxious to take Jack ever since.  As expected, he was a big fan.

It's the single largest piece of playground equipment I've ever seen.

 

Of course, the rock slide is always a big hit.



And being nestled right along the bottom of the foothills makes for some superb views.

There are all sorts of other amenities such as picnic shelters, modern bathroom facilities, a 2+ acre dog park and seemingly endless bike/walking trails. 

Of course, it's also a prime location for all sorts of community events.  Such as...

Fort Collins Kites in the Park Festival
It's a 90 mile drive from Castle Rock to Fort Collins so I really debated making the trek up north for the Kites in the Park Festival last Sunday, but I'm so glad we did!  It was a picture perfect day and we had a lovely time with our friends the Meyers and O'Briens.

This is our crew.

 

Jaime is holding her girls Riley and Reagan.  Next is Brody and Gavin.  Their mom Mary is not pictured, but she and Jaime are sisters.  Then there's Jack, of course. 

 

The festival included all the usual food vendors (kettle corn, funnel cakes, hot dogs, snow cones, etc.), music, kite flying contests and raffles.  Here are Jack & Brody decorating their own kites.



Then we just hung out with a few thousand others and enjoyed the beautiful day and the colorful view.  (That's Mary below holding baby Gavin.)

There were many reasons we wanted to move to Colorado.  A career change was at the top of that list.  As was being closer to family.  But another driving force was the desire for a lifestyle change as well.  A more active lifestyle.  The opportunity to spend more time together as a couple (because now we have a bigger support system near by), as a family (because Colorado has so much to offer) and with friends (a groove we never really found in Lawrence).  I'm not sure if it's because we're making more of an effort or if we're just in a better state of mind these days, but something is working.

Colorado is treating us right and we couldn't be happier!

Spirit of the Season

A couple of weeks ago I shared some of our advent calendar activities as we counted down the days to Christmas.  Well, the fun didn't stop there.  Through the month of December we filled our days with all sorts of projects and special treats to get us into the spirit of the season.

Christmas Craft
Styrofoam floral cones can easily become a festive tree.  We chose peppermints and pom poms as this year's decoration.

Toys for Tots Donation

Santa!

Ice Cream Treat
As the organizer of the calendar, I made sure this activity fell on my birthday!  Jack chose "The Grinch" while I enjoyed "Winter Wonderland". 

Hot Cocoa Sticks
These were our teacher/co-worker treats this year.

Wrapping Presents

Hand Print Ornaments

Gingerbread House
Cousin Attia was over on gingerbread house night so she got in on the action too.

We also drove by the holiday lights set to music, opened two new Christmas books and watched Christmas movies.  This year's favorite was The Grinch which may or may not have been viewed in excess of 30 times this season.

December can be a crazy and, let's be honest, stressful time of year.  Especially when you're fitting 3 birthdays and an amped up work schedule into the holiday mix.  Our Countdown to Christmas Calendar is a perfect reminder for me to slow down and celebrate the true spirit of the season.

And a blessed season it was!