Shake It Off

Jake loves football and has wanted to play football as long as he has been able to catch a ball. For a long time we weren't sure he was going to be able to due to his kidney thing, but we got the okay from the pediatrician, and he's in his second season of flag football.

We had to have a pretty tricky talk with him this week about the difference between being "hurt" and being "injured". He gets knocked around pretty good playing football as he is the QB and runs the ball quite a bit and is constantly getting "hurt". This generally dissolves into tears, the coaching staff having to come out and calm him down, him coming off and someone else having to go in and play his position and us kind of shifting uncomfortably on the sidelines because we know that he's fine.

It's happened in each game and a couple of practices so far. In his game yesterday, it went so far that they brought the cart out and, based on his dramatic reaction to the fall, diagnosed him with a mild concussion. 1/2 an hour later he was up running around, no headache, and feeling fine. He even admitted he was overreacting. Now, due to league rules, we have to take him and get him cleared by his doctor with a written release before he can play or practice again.

We're not quiet sure if it's just he's not tough enough to play football, or that he likes the drama, but it's gotten to be embarrassing. I was out with Faith at her game yesterday when Marisa told me he was hurt. We raced across town to the field in time to pick him up (worried out of my mind the entire way) and he ended up being fine.

Not wanting to come across as "that Dad", Marisa and I both sat down and talked to him about it

yesterday. I thought he got it I really did. Then he scraped his knee on the stairs and was screaming like his leg had been cut off. I looked at his knee and couldn't even find the scratch, so back to square one.

One of the coaches on his team is a dad that played for the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins in the NFL (he played for BSU in college which is why he lives here), anyway, he blew out his knee to such a degree that he was never able to get back. I'm thinking about asking him to talk to Jake about the difference between "hurt" and injured". I don't want Jake to not tell us if he gets hurt, and he has been injured while playing football (he got his face smashed last year and was bleeding) and we explained that is a legitimate injury and worth some tears. Stuff that he has forgotten about 10 minutes later, not so much.

It's a tough line to find and a tougher conversation to have. Hopefully it will resolve itself before tackle season starts next year or I don't know what we're going to do.

Faith Starts Soccer

After many weeks of anticipation Faith started soccer last Saturday. She must have asked me 100 times in the last 30 days, "Mom, is today the day I start soccer???". She has been so excited and has said things like, "Will you and Daddy watch me play like you watch Jake and Tanner when they play baseball?". As soon as she mentioned her interest in playing we took her out to get her gear: pink cleats, pink soccer shorts, purple ball, shin guards. I figured I'd take advantage of this break from her wanting to be a "cheerlead" and run with it!

She loved her first day on the field! It was great because her coach turns out to be the same guy that coached Jake's summer football team- the one that was a counselor up at Family Camp- so she was familiar with him and unafraid. She ran a lap, did warm ups, did lots of drills, and loved all of it. As soon as it was over she ran over and asked me when she gets to go back. In fact, this morning (Day 2 of soccer) the very first words out of her mouth were, "Mom, don't forget my water bottle. I'm playing soccer today!".

We have to divide and conquer today: I am taking Jake to football while Brian gets to watch his daughter play soccer. They get to have a little "father/daughter bonding" time with a stop to get donuts first- which Faith is almost as excited about as she is about soccer.

Family Y-Camp 2011

After having so much fun last year we decided to head up to Cascade again this year for some more Family Camp. We even convinced my sister and family to fly in from CA to join us! After freezing our butts off last year in the tent we went with the fully heated cabin this year. The heat wasn't the only benefit- it also had a full bathroom with two showers, two sinks, and two toilets. Luxury camping! The kids loved sleeping on the top bunks and made themselves right at home- checking out games and books from the camp supply and entertaining themselves in between "activity periods".

Also learning from last year's mistake, we brought a double jogging stroller along to help with the "tired factor" that Faith suffered from. She, Aidan, and Tanner took turns riding "Chariot Style" while the other two rode inside from activity to activity. All the kids rock climbed, Kim and I did the zip line (Which, by the way, no longer required you to "GRAB THE ROPE!" like last year so I did not do a repeat of knocking down the head of camp!). The kids fished and swam and jumped off the trampoline one day, rode in the canoes, tried BMX racing, and did rocketry again. They made friendship bracelets one day and chased/caught butterflies and bullfrogs before and after mealtimes. Everyone had a great time I think, and except for meals (I have to say the food was really quite bad) it was a neat experience again.

Being the last camp of the season, the counselors were not really as "ON" as they were last July when we went, and we definitely missed the energy, but we had some great activity leaders. One was Jake's football coach from July who was a really nice guy and a great role model. I am pretty sure Jake wants to do residence camp next summer with a couple of his buddies (a one week sleep away camp without parents). The YMCA values are something we really believe in and getting the kids involved at a young age and possibly on the road to being a Junior Counselor or a coach one day would be great!

Brian and the boys headed down the hill into the small town of Cascade on Saturday night to join all other campers within a 40 mile radius to watch the opening game Boise State vs. Georgia. I took Faith and Abby and drove the 9 miles down the hill to join them for a few minutes at the end of the second quarter and was so surprised to see this little town overtaken by hundreds of campers and locals in full blue and orange crowding the few restaurants/bars in town. Boise State won, starting our football season off right! I am sure Kim and Bill thought we were all a little crazy to leave camp for a football game but Boise State is a big deal here and it's hard not to get into the action!

It was a great weekend, but as always with our kids it was a yin-yang situation. Great family memories and a fun time had by all, but it accompanied the "miles to go before I sleep" exhaustion and subsequent fit throwing that seems to be the other bookend to our family. It started to hit Faith even before we left camp (the picture above was taken while packing to go home). Jake and Tanner felt it much later in the day. As usual it took several days before everyone was back to their normal selves.