draft 9/26

More gymnastics and soccer, plus a carwash…

"What good does it do to be afraid? It doesn't help anything. You better try and figure out what's happening and correct it."
-Chuck Yeager

It was time for another meet this weekend, this time in Denton at the Texas Women’s University campus.  I’ll be honest and say it wasn’t Isla’s best meet.  It happens in gymnastics, and all can do is learn from your mistakes and keep a positive outlook for the next meet.  Isla took the falls in stride and she was even able to laugh at herself afterwards.  That’s something many people can’t do and we hope she keeps that attitude as she gets older.

The 6th grade held a carwash fundraiser for a day camp and Ashlyn joined for a shift to help out.  We had to visit of course, especially since the van was in need of a good wash.  James had fun watching his older sister work out in the heat while he stayed inside with the air conditioning.

James has 4 more soccer games in the season, and we’re all happy that the weather is finally cooling off a bit.  James is now shifting his sights from soccer to hockey, but he’ll still play out the rest of the season with the team since he committed when he joined.

Comic-con, soccer, and a robot…

"Comic-Con is a special kind of crazy."
-Denis O'Hare

FanCon, the largest comic and movies convention in Dallas, happened this weekend and we let the kids talk us into taking them.  What we didn’t expect was for the older girls to go all out on their cosplay outfits.  They looked awesome, and they were frequently asked to pose for pictures with other kids who had cosplays from the same anime.  James and Isla also had a lot had fun.  We got to see Star Wars characters, played games, and explored the endless rows of shops with all kinds of crazy comic memorabilia.  Everyone said it was a blast and we’re already planning on going again next year.

James had another soccer game this weekend and he was pretty tired during it as he recovered from a bug.  But he still went out there and gave it his best.  The team was ahead at last time but it seemed like the rest of the team tired out quickly as well in the second half so they ended up being behind at the end.

James continues to say he wants to get into robotics when he gets older so we opened up a robot he received as a gift and got to work building it.  James did everything himself, from connecting the wires, screwing the parts together, and then testing it by chasing the cats with the completed robot.

Swimming, reading, and another gymnastic meet…

"Books are a uniquely portable magic."
-Stephen King

Meet number two was this weekend and it was held at a gym where Trinity, LD Bell, and the local Junior Highs compete at.  There were a lot of gymnasts competing, but that didn’t make Isla nervous.   She improved in several events compared to the last meet, which is all we can hope for as the girls learn the new routines.

We took a quick trip to Nina and PaPa’s to burn off some energy in the pool.  Sadie went along with us.

Isla is one of the best readers in her class and she wants to be the top reader.  Luckily she enjoys reading, so improving will come naturally for her.  This week her favorite book was one about bees since she could see the bees flying around in the garden while she read.

A meet, soccer, and games…

"Cards are one means of bridging differences in age and habits, drawing children and parents, old and new friends together in fair and friendly competition."
-Florence Osborn

Isla’s meet season started and the first one was at our home gym.  Isla’s group moved up to level 3 not long before the meet so they weren’t expected to have all the skills down.  They still did a great job, and Isla said she had fun even though she doesn’t have everything mastered yet.

We’re also approaching a string of soccer games and the first was this weekend as well.  The team lost, but James had some good moves in there and enjoyed getting to be back out on the field after all the practice.  Or he just wanted ice cream afterwards, sometimes it’s hard to tell.

As we get into some of the hottest days of the summer we also had to find things to play indoors.  Board and card games are becoming popular choices, and we’ll play when it’s just us or when we have guests over.  This week, Grandma and Grampa stopped by to visit and play some cards.