Farewell Infinite Soccer Season

I like soccer. I like my kids playing soccer. I even like the whole AYSO organization at makes it super cheap and possible for my kids to play soccer.
I could just do with about four weeks less of the soccer season. I miss my Saturdays. I really don't appreciate watching my kids play in bad weather. And AYSO should really invest in some heavy duty stakes, because I'm not a fan of having to actually stand and hold the goal posts down to keep them from blowing away in 100mph winds.
With all that being said, I think that being a part of a team was really good for my kids. The other kids and parents on Bekah's and Jacob's teams were awesome. Bekah and Jacob didn't like the bad weather either, but other than moaning about that, they never complained about actually playing soccer. I think they really enjoyed themselves. Here are a few pics from their last games last Saturday.
If Bekah could have had it her way, she would have been goalie for every period of every game. And she was pretty good at it too! There were about three games in a row where she didn't let a single ball past her whenever she was goalie. We called her the brick wall.

But when she did get her turn playing the field, she did a great job. She wasn't really the one to take charge of the ball and score a goal, but she always played her position well and paid attention to what was going on on the field.

 Her team was the Tigers. I took my face paints to their last game and gave them all tiger eyes. They were a super good bunch of girls.

Jacob's game was after Bekah's game. It was late in the afternoon, and we were just doing our best to be there. That's why we arrived with a kid wearing a cape, a giraffe with some worn off face paint, and a girl with tiger eyes. Oh and Jacob had leopard-print arms.
His team was the Decepticons. (He was a big Transformer fan at the beginning of the season...now all I hear about is animals).

Jacob was an AWESOME defender. He loved to hang back and make sure that absolutely nothing from the other team got in their goal. (He's in U7 - they have smaller goals and no goalies). The other teams got past him some of the time, but for the most part he really kept the ball rolling the other direction.

And now for some pictures of the giraffe. Marianne LOVES this giraffe costume, and it was just her luck to find it as we were walking out the door. The weather had turned a little chilly and I figured all the fur was just some extra insulation.
She hugged her dad, (note the crazy remains of face paint),













played with Bekah,

And did some good ol' fashioned tackling with Beau and Bekah.

 We'll be out there again in the fall, but I really am happy to have my Saturdays back!