My attempt to coach 4yr old soccer

Purple POWER!

That's the name of our PeeWee Girls soccer team. I am so excited about this opportunity to coach because I have a passion for the game, I'm competetive, and I know my Lydia will be awesome. The Rules: No scores are kept, its only 4v4, no goalies, and no off-sides. At this age, soccer is just about having FUN, and that's what we're trying to do.We had our first game last Saturday, and it was funny. Lydia and Shylo were captains, and even though they won the toss, they chose to let the other team kick off! How sweet.
As I'm giving my pre-game talk to the girls, I hear things like
"Hey look - we have the same shoes!"
"Why do those girls have orange?"
"Coach Cassie, can we have our snack now?"
and my favorite..
"Mom, how come we don't have a real coach?"As the game progressed there were even more laughs. We scored the first goal of the game - on ourselves! And we all cheered.
Unfortunately only half of our girls will actually go after the ball, while the others just watch, or jog along with their friends and make no real attempt to get the ball.

Lydia has the unfortunate fate of being the coach's daughter - so she didn't get to start the game. I don't want to look like I'm playing favorites! But then I felt bad that I made her sit out. In the 2nd half Lydia was off to a great start. She did the kickoff, and was dribbling down the field pretty fast! Then something unimaginable happened - the other team got the ball *gasp*. And this really offended Lydia. She stopped in her tracks and WOULD NOT MOVE. She just stood there and pouted like a baby! I cheered her on, and the game went on, but Lydia just stood there on the other side of the field, pouting.What?! That is not my daughter. We play soccer for family night, and she is awesome and aggressive. She does well at practice. So what's the deal?
Is it because her mommy is the coach, so she knows I'll come to comfort her? She walked up to me with a tear-streaked face and wanted me to hold her, but I refused. I just held her hand and tried to get her involved, but it wasn't working. So she sat out and had a talk with daddy.
Daddy learned that Lydia was upset that the orange girls wouldn't give her the ball. She's not used to being challenged, and not used to competition I guess. She just always wins.

So this week we are trying something different with Lydia. She has to be tough, and learn that the other girls are the "bad guys".

The annual "Bloodgusher" Race

This weekend in Midland there was a big racing event - the Bloodgusher. There was a 1K, 5K, 10K, and Half-Marathon - all sponsored by United Blood Services to raise awareness for blood donations, and the catch was that if you donated blood, your entry into the race was free.

I had beed training for the 10K, but as luck would have it, we found out that Lydia had a soccer game that day, and I wouldn't be able to finish the race in time to coach the game :( So instead, we just ran the 1K, and then supported daddy as he participated in the 5K with some of the youth from our ward.

Josh and Lydia getting ready for their events.Lydia and I ran the 1K, which was a "fun run" for kids. It was basically just down the road and back. Lydia was one of the youngest ones there.But she ran almost the whole way, and was allll smiles as we approached the finish line.The proud finisher, with her certificateThen we sat and cheered on daddy in his race.
Daddy did well, he came in around 27 minutes, and was still able to smile and wave at his girls. Not bad for someone who doesn't even train.
But later that night all he complained about was how sore he was.

What Spring Means in Texas

In the Spring, we play on the slip-n-slide and in the splash pool...until grandma & grandpa's big pool is warm enough for swimmingSpring is the start of "naked season" for Claire. Spring is for working in the yard......and getting your hands dirty finding all sorts of creepy-crawlersIn the Spring, the kids play outside every day - we even got out the bouncy castle. Now I have to keep my mini-fridge stocked with kids drinks!

Springtime is the time for March Madness

We eagerly followed Jimmer Fredette as he led my beloved BYU Cougars to the sweet 16. They lost in overtime to Florida, but created a lot of national headlines along the way.

And then there's that other team we support - the Jayhawks.

My girls ARE Viets afterall, and the Viets bleed Jayhawk blue. We have no shortage of KU gear.In the Spring, Miss Scarlett is able to enjoy more time outside with us. She's even made friends with our dogs. She giggles whenever they come up for a friendly sniff.
And in the Spring, daylight savings is over, so we have longer nights. We can ride our bikes and scooters until past bedtime.So while parts of the nation are enduring snowstorms still, here in Texas - we LOVE the SPRING!

Sea World San Antonio

We couldn't leave San Antonio without a trip to Sea World - the number 1 attraction for families. It was awesome. Of course the biggest stars are the killer whales, but this year the Shamu show was different:
NO trainers in the water.
This time last year a killer whale at Sea World grabbed its trainer and drowned her in the pool. That's all I could think about when I was watching this show. Josh and I came to Sea World a few years ago, and the trainers were in the water with the whales, swimming on their backs, standing on their fins and noses doing tricks...but this year all the training was done from the outside of the pool.But on a happier note, here is a proud mom and her new baby whale, born just last year, and already very good at her tricks. It was still a fun and impressive show. The whales are just amazing.
And these pictures sum up how the girls felt about the show.
Scarlett: mildly amused
Lydia: mildly frightenedClaire: pissed off at the whale for splashing her (and we were 5 rows up from the splash zone). Those whales have some powerful tails.

I was surprised at how timid the girls were around the animals. I was so excited for them to feed the dolphins, but they were too scared, and just wanted to watch them from the side.We took in a couple other shows - Azul, which featured dolphins, a Beluga whale, and acrobats/divers, and then the Cannery Caper, a comedy sketch that featured sea lions as detectives.Claire kept saying "there's the naughty mouse!"...which was not a mouse, but an otter...which I guess looks like a large mouse.Scarlett actually watched the shows. She really enjoyed being out of her stroller for a change :)

Later when it got hot, we headed over to Sesame Street's BAY of PLAY, which was essentially a large water playground, with some kiddie rides and a Sesame Street Show.Lydia said this was her favorite part of the day:(Zoe, one of Elmo's friends on Sesame Street)

Then, to wrap up the day we took turns on the rides with the girls. First, mommy on the carousel.

Then daddy took the girls on the Rockin Wave ride.

By this time, daddy was sunburned on his neck, so he had to wear his collar up! Lydia was pretty tired after waiting in line in the heat.
But Claire was all smiles :)

They were worn out, so we headed for the gift shop and then home. They each picked out a beluga whale, and they were making their whales do flips all night in the hotel room :) Then they cuddled up with them for bed.

All in all, a great day.

Spring Break in San Antonio - Part 2

VIETS v. FOOD

There is this show on the Travel Channel that Josh and I love, called Man v Food. The host, Adam, travels the country and takes on eating challenges at popular restaurants. It's gluttonous and disgusting, but some of the dishes that are featured are mouthwatering.
On one episode he visited San Antonio and went to Lulu's bakery, home of the 3-1/2 pound cinnamon roll!
So one morning, as soon as we were up and dressed, we decided to take on the challenge. Could we finish a 3-1/2lb cinnamon roll??

No.

We barely got through half of it. And that was with Claire's help. Lydia was picking bits and pieces, but Claire tore. it. up. She loved it. And the best part of this massive creation was ripping it open to a thick, oozy, cinnamon-y and icing-drenched center to die for.


We ate too much. And we didn't eat again until dinner that night.





Funny enough, another highlight of our trip was visiting Bass Pro Shops. After being out of the country for nearly 4 years, this is one of the shops that Josh missed the most. It's SO very American. In fact, most Europeans would be disgusted with the decor of this place, with all its antlers and stuffed animals. We found that in Scotland most people not only hated guns, they hated hunters.
But not in America.Josh picked up some camping gear, and the girls were entertained with the displays and pools of fish inside.
Then we explored some of the boats. Someday, when we have lots of money, we're getting a ski boat. Until then, we just need to find a friend with a boat.


And here we are again on the Riverwalk. We ate at The County Line and had some tasty barbecue for dinner.
But the best part was sitting by the river enjoying an evening with my favorite people.

Spring Break in San Antonio - Part 1

It's Spring Break in Texas, which means all the kids are home all day and moms are going crazy trying to entertain them. Fortunately we started our break with a long weekend in San Antonio!
It was a great weekend to go - not too crowded, perfect weather, and the St Patricks Day festivals were underway. San Antonio is famous for its beautiful Riverwalk, and this weekend they DYED the river GREEN for St. Patricks Day! They had a parade down the river, then released something like 40 pounds of environmentally-friendly dye into the river to turn it into this "greenish" color, which is much improved from its usual brownish color.

Here we are at the Rivercenter. The river is lined with cafes and restaraunts, and the Rivercenter Mall is the middle of all of it.
While in SA we toured the Wildlife Ranch, which was a real treat. It's motto "African Safari: Texas Style". Unfortunately most spring-breakers had the same idea, so there was a long line of cars going through the park.It reminded me a lot of the Highland Wildlife Park that we would always go to in Scotland, except at this park they give you food for the animals, who weren't too shy to approach the cars and eat from your hand. Even little Claire was feeding the deer and goats.

Josh wasn't so brave. He dropped some food for the Buffalo, and when it got too close he's like "ohhhhkay buddy" and then we drove ahead before it poked its head inside our window :)
Claire mastered the art of driving without looking. That's one advantage of a 5mph speed limit.
There were signs warning you NOT to hand-feed the zebras because they may bite, and when I told this to Lydia, she overreacted and thought that the zebra would come up and bite my hand off! So I had to throw the food away from us because Lydia was such a chicken. Such a beautiful animal though.
And everyone's favorite: the friendly Llama.

After the drive-thru safari, we all got out and visited the little petting zoo. The girls chased around and petted and groomed the baby goats. We had some extra food and were anxious to feed it to them, but everyone else had the same idea, and there was just animal food everywhere. All the goats wanted to eat were pieces of paper, and my jeans.



Scarlett was just thrilled to be out and about.