Lil' Tykes Soccer Clinic

Last night marked the last night of Brady's first exposure to organized sports.  He participated in a soccer clinic for 3-5 year olds in Wamego.  It started off pretty rough, but last night he actually stayed on the field for the entire 30 minutes!!!!  That was major progress.

Smiling afterwards with his new soccer ball. He's such a cheeser.

 Posing with his buddy Braxton.

 Running back to us after getting his ball and certificate from his coaches.

 This pictures is from the first night.  The first night it was 102 out and Brady played for 10 minutes and then promptly came up to me, sat down, and stated "Mommy, I no play soccer no more.  It's too hot!"  Well son, I don't disagree with you on the heat, but sometimes you just gotta suck it up and get back out there.  We weren't very successful in getting him back out on the field that night.

 But the 2nd time he went he stayed out for 15 minutes and then he stayed out the entire time for the last 2 sessions. 

 It's pretty amusing to watch toddlers playing soccer.  That whole you-can't-touch-the-ball-with-your-hands concept just doesn't go over very well.  But hey, what do you expect with 3-5 year olds!

There will be a Lil Tykes basketball clinic in February and I'm sure we'll be participating in that one.  Especially since it will be the middle of winter and I'm sure Brady will need some outlet for his energy.  Let's hope they do lots and lots of sprints at basketball camp!

Who needs toys?

Who needs toys when furniture can entertain you?  Some little girl continues to be enthralled by climbing onto/into the end table. 

Warmer Days

On this cool, rainy day I'm going to post some warm, sunny pictures!

The kids' preschool was closed a couple of weeks ago for teacher prep day.  We walked to the park in St. George and played for a long, long time before heading home to eat lunch and take naps.  This was our first time at this particular park; both of the kids loved it.

Brady and his gross motor skills--no problems climbing through/over/in/under obstacles!

 Brenna was happy to just run around in the grass.  She just likes to be FREE!

 No trip to the park is complete without some swinging.

 Both kids did enjoy this thing (what is "this" thing called, anyway?).  Brady tried to climb to the top but didn't quite make it.  They both played under for several minutes.

 Brenna did eventually stop running around in the grass and decided to play on the playground equipment.  She was a little skeptical of this at first.

 But quickly figured out how to traverse it!

Chiefs!

I broke out the pink Chiefs jersey over the weekend in hopeful celebration of the upcoming football season.  Brenna looks adorable in it!  I'm sure I am biased, but oh my goodness, could she look any cuter?

Baseball!

Brady has become a baseball-loving kid in the past few weeks.  Driving his truck remains his favorite outdoor activity, but playing baseball has moved into the #2 spot.  He REFUSES to hit off the tee and insists that we pitch to him.  It's been quite fun and you know it makes mom and dad happy to have a baseball-loving kid!

Pre-School

Tuesday, August 21st marked the first day of the fall term of pre-school.  Pre-school for Brady and then Brenna is in the infant/toddler room at the same place.  Having one drop-off and one pick-up makes life much easier for Mom & Dad.  And both Brady and Brenna seem to be very, very happy and well-adjusted. 

There were both pretty excited when I stopped to take their picture outside. 

Brenna was really, really, really excited!  

They both have been getting glowing reports from their teachers. Brady is very helpful and is a very good napper.  Brenna is not a very good napper and is kind of bossy, but is all smiles and loves to dance and throw balls.  

Reading Books

A couple of weeks ago (Tuesday, 8/21, to be exact) Brady "read" his first book.  He loves to read books and has really started to enjoy longer books, including several by Dr. Seuss, and P.D. Eastman, along with the Curious George books and the Berenstein Bears books. 

Well, The A Book featuring the Berenstein Bears was his first book.  I sat down on the bean bag chair to read with him and he picked out the book, sat down, looked at me and said "Mommy, I'll read this book tonight." Oooooh, mommy was so proud! 

So he proceeded to read the book to me.  Fortunately it has lots of pictures to describe angry ants advancing over an apple, apricot, ax, etc. 

He read the entire book and then wanted me to read it to him to make sure he didn't miss any parts of it. 

I love this kid!