Soccer Practice

Ridge's soccer practice is held at the jr. high near our house. I think that Cannon and Laine look forward to practice more than Ridge does because they get to run around the school and the track for an hour. We have developed a little routine that continued even in the rain a few weeks ago (we've been having beautiful and sunny dry weather). First they run around the buildings and stop to swing on the hand railings. Tonight as they were doing that the football team came clomping around the corner and Cannon said, "it's the scary football guys! Run!" So they took off running again around the corner and up a few portables ramps. Then we go off to the track where we usually do some spinning (Laine comes up to me with both arms up and says "fin fin") and we find rocks to throw down the drains, then we race down the track a ways to where we can see Ridge's team again. If it looks like they are getting ready to finish we go back and Cannon gets to play duck-duck-goose with them at the end. Laine sat down with everyone and tried to play too. She doesn't get it but when everyone else laughed she laughed as loud as she could. And Cannon was chosen tonight as "goose" and got up to run and put on his best serious face -- brows down, mouth pursed -- then he put his arms up in his best running form and ran as fast as he could around the circle. He almost fell over he was going so fast for himself.

Ridge still says that he doesn't like practice, and maybe he doesn't like the soccer practice part, but I think he likes being with the other kids. He is one of the head-in-the-clouds players and he likes to wrestle and poke the other kids more than run for the ball. Today as they were scrimmaging he was running around all the players in wide circles instead of going for the ball. But he looks like he is having fun and that is why we signed him up. So I try not to yell "go for the ball!" and "pay attention!" too much. I just close my eyes for a few moments.