Here, there, and everywhere

Emma spent last weekend with Grandma & Grandpa H, but not before another soccer practice. Lucky for us, she mostly wanted Grandma to be out there with her, so Tim and I got a break for about half the time, while Grandpa played his role as the official photographer. About 2/3 of the way through this week's lesson, I think it finally clicked that she was supposed to be kicking the ball around instead of picking it up in between each set of cones, and all of a sudden she was a little soccer superstar! Okay, I might be exaggerating a little.

Sounds like Grandma & Grandpa K might be joining us at soccer this week, so hopefully we'll get another break on the sidelines!

On Saturday, G&G H ran all over town with Emma, picking up her very first American Girl doll (Kit) and stopping for a ride on the mall carousel before heading down to the zoo. No wonder they were all exhausted by the end of the day!


This Friday, Emma starts her ballet-tap class. They have it during the day at her school. Tonight we went out to get her dance gear. Looks like she's all set for some twirling fun!
And just for laughs, here's an old picture I took of Emma & Alex playing with her princess dress-up clothes a couple months ago. If it helps any, at least Alex is playing with a toy snake while dressed up as Cinderella!

Soccer kickoff

Last Friday was Emma's first day of Mini League (3 year olds) soccer. She was so excited when she got to gear up in her super-spiffy (and way-too-large) soccer socks and the tiniest pair of shin guards you've ever seen!

Each of the kids got a t-shirt and a ball, and then they broke off into 3 groups of 15. That's 45 three year olds running around -- it's no wonder she got a little overwhelmed when they started practicing little drills. Once they switched to an exercise that was a little less chaotic, she regrouped and enjoyed the last half of the session, with her personal coach, Tim.

I think next Friday will go a little smoother, now that she has an idea of what to expect. It would be nice if it was less than 90 degrees too...

Corny

We haven't had time to update lately because we've been busy putting the final touches on finishing our basement. It's so nice to finally be able to enjoy it! We'll put up some before and after pictures very soon. But in the meantime, we said goodbye to summer today with a good old fashioned Labor Day cookout dinner. For the first time, Emma was allowed to eat her very own ear of corn on the cob, and boy did she love it! Daddy is working on getting the pictures posted to Flickr from his & Uncle Mike's trip to Denver a few weeks ago. We'll put up a link as soon as they are ready.

Meanwhile, Baby Brother appears to be working on his soccer skills inside Mommy's belly. He seems to have the makings of an all-time superstar. Ouch!