Well, if I had any doubt that summer was definitely over, it's gone now! We woke up Saturday morning to snow on the ground. A little early, if you ask me. It seems like we went straight from 70+ degree weather to 40 degree weather. Where are the 50's and 60's?
Zach was very excited about the snow, and Drew was intrigued. I don't know if he remembers snow or now, but he did enjoy watching it fall from the sky. Right after breakfast Zach got his "snow supplies" (as he called them) on and headed outside. Drew wanted to go, too, and was very happy to put his hat and mittens on, but refused to put his heavy coat on. He doesn't like jackets/coats because they make it very difficult to suck on his arm.
Finally I just forced the coat onto Drew, because I thought that once he got outside he'd be happy, and I was right.
Zach showed Drew how to use the little shovel, and Drew liked that.
Then Zach, Drew, and Mike cleared everything off the deck, thus completely erasing all thoughts of summer and warmer weather. It was sad to see the water table and bubble stuff be put away. I'm just not ready for snow yet.
After the playing outside, we had to get even more bundled up for Zach's soccer game, which was not canceled. So Drew got his first taste of snow pants, and boy, was he MAD when I put those on him. The poor kid was bawling and continuously doing the "please" sign while trying to get his snow pants off. I felt really bad for him, but I knew that he'd need that warmth out at Zach's soccer game. Once at the game he was fine, especially after he figured out he could eat snow (which he figured out completely on his own). The only problem with that is he doesn't yet discern between dirty snow and clean snow, so he was eating the snow that people had walked all over instead of the pristine, white snow. At times he looked just like our dog Foudy, with a piece of grass sticking out of his mouth. The game was cold, but the coaches rushed through it. I left early to go to my soccer game, which got canceled as I was about halfway home. So the adult soccer game got canceled because of the weather, but the four year-olds are so die-hard that they played in the snow. Huh. And wouldn't you know, as I was on a run at about 12:10, I looked around, and all the snow was basically melted. My game was supposed to start at 12:00. Bummer.
Today I was able to get in a 9.4 mile run before heading out to Zach's flag football game. It was another chilly day, but no snow, thankfully. This was my first time seeing Zach play flag football, and it was a blast. Basically every play is the same- the center snaps the ball to the quarterback, who then hands it off to the running back. The other kids block for the runner. The kids rotate around so that they get to try different positions. Some of the kids are pretty clueless, and there are even a couple on Zach's team who are unwilling to get out there and play. But not Zach. He loves every minute of it, and seems to have a pretty good grasp on what's going on and what his job is.
When we left for the game, Mike was in his stressed-out-we-have-to-get-going-NOW mode, and then we had to go back for the camera (we were only a few houses down the street), so I didn't take the time to grab the big lens, so the pictures are a little farther away than I would have liked, but at least I got a few. Zach's team is in yellow, and Zach has on black pants with white stripes down the leg, an orange jacket, and a navy hat.
In this first picture, Zach is the quarterback, and you can see him handing the ball off to the running back, who looks a little bit like he's wondering what he's supposed to do next.
In this picture, Zach is the running back, and he's right in the forefront of the picture, starting his big run. You can see the red and blue ball tucked in under his right arm.
He's breaking away from the pack!
Go, Zach! Run!!!
TOUCHDOWN!!!
After every touchdown, the team goes for a 2 point conversion, and Zach scored on that, too. He had so much fun. The great thing right now is that he's happy in any position. He loves being part of the play by carrying the ball or being the QB, but he also loves blocking. It's almost impossible to see Zach in this next picture, but I wanted to put it in to show him blocking. He did a great job blocking, but he did make a kid on the other team cry at one point. Oops. Anyway, see the tall kid in the rust shirt with the navy hat? Zach is blocking him, so you can just see Zach's legs in his black Adidas pants and his yellow shirt.
Zach also loves defense. It's so fun to watch him, too. The QB says, "Hike!" and then the center hands the ball to him. Then the QB hands the ball to the running back, all in slow-motion. Zach watches so eagerly for the running back to get the ball, and then he takes off straight for him to get his flag. The ref today told Zach, "Great job being so aggressive, but you gotta wait until the running back gets the ball." I guess he was a little too eager a couple of times. So Zach pulled quite a few flags, despite his cold hands not working as well as they normally would.
I know Zach is only 4 years-old and he is way too young for us to have any idea what he'll be good at when he's in high school, college, and beyond, but I think it's safe to say that at 4 years, he's definitely a better flag football player than he is a soccer player. Probably that's because soccer requires a longer attention span, is more difficult in concept, and requires more fine-tuned motor skills than flag football the way it is played in this league. I'll be honest, I hope that changes, because I think I'd prefer to have a kid play soccer than football. Whatever makes him happy, though, will be fine with me! As long as it's not wrestling, and preferably not baseball... No offense to you wrestlers and baseball fans out there.
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