Tiny Tot Soccer

We put M in the soccer league for three- and four-year-old kids this fall.  Chris was lucky enough to be the coach (ha ha).  There was only one other girl on the team, and she and M became fast friends.

They would even hold hands during practice.  It was adorable.

I think it was a fun experience for her, even though she didn't understand why the other kids wouldn't share the ball with her.  I noticed a lot of physical improvement in the four weeks they played, though.  Her endurance and coordination both increased a lot, and we're hoping that if she wants to play again she will do even better.  Chris did a great job teaching the kids the basics.  They always had a great time at practice, and A loved to run around with them.

Lagoon Day 2012

It's so fun to see the change in the kids from year to year at Lagoon Day.  They both enjoyed the rides so much this year.  I think we rode almost every kid's ride they have, and some more than once.  M's favorite is definitely the egg/ladybug drop.  A rode Bulgy the Whale over and over while M was on the big kid rides.  We had fun and love to go each year!

Memorial Day Colorado Trip

Better late than never, eh?  We took a trip to Colorado over Memorial Day for a family reunion.  We had fun at Heritage Square, the Denver Zoo, and the Bolder Boulder 10K, along with lots of family lunches and dinners.  Little A got a cold and didn't sleep very well all weekend, but we were still able to make her have fun (most of the time).

M did some serious bubble popping with Uncle Tommy.

A loved to play in the gravel.

Both the girls loved the pony rides.  It was the first time that A was interested, and she mostly got the hang of it by the end, but for a while there I had to hold her hands on the pommel for her.

She really didn't want to leave the ponies. . .

But banana boats with Aunt Kjerstin are pretty great, too!

We couldn't get by without a couple of times on the carousel, either.

M and I got to do some "older kids" rides together.  We had a great time.

Last ride of the day was bumper boats with Clark and Tom.  It was pretty great, if you got a boat that worked!  (Which I did.)

Here are some pictures we got at the zoo.  The girls loved to see all the animals.

The Bolder Boulder was a crazy race!  There were so many people, at least 50,000.  I was able to finish under an hour, so I was very happy with that, even though it was way off my PR.  Overall, we were glad we took the trip, but ready to go home by the end!

The Playhouse that Mann Built

When M broke her leg, we thought it would be fun for A and her to have something to play on in the backyard when she got better.  After perusing the KSL Classifieds, we decided that people want a lot more for their junk than it is really worth.  Once we started thinking about building our own version of a playset, we stopped looking around.  Chris designed and built the whole thing and got all the lumber and the slide from Lowe's.

The kids love it!  We put their picnic table underneath and they love to hang out under there in the shade and have lunch.

Chris has plans to add more towers, swings, and other fun playthings to this in the next few years.  Our neighbors had a bunch of extra pea gravel, and they gave it to us, so we will be putting that out around the play area next.

A True Spring Break

M gave us some excitement over the weekend when she broke her leg Friday night.  She was jumping on the trampoline with friends, and as she was landing got double-bounced.  Her tibia got a buckle fracture right under the knee, which is why she has to have such a big cast.  So, her bone didn't actually break, but it was compressed and couldn't handle the pressure, so it buckled in that spot and bulges out a little on the x-ray.  You can't tell a thing just from looking at it, but when it happened she started screaming and holding her leg and wouldn't let anyone touch it.  We ended up at the 24/7 Wee Care clinic at 10 pm on Friday night after she hadn't calmed down for an hour or so.  They told us what happened and put her in a soft cast splint for a couple of days to let the swelling go down.

The first night was very hard.  She didn't sleep more than an hour at a time for about half the night, until we loosened the wrap and she slept the rest of the night.  Yesterday, we went to her regular pediatrician's office to see what they thought and have it cast if necessary.  They had to take x-rays again because I didn't have the presence of mind to get the others.  When the PA came in, he said we had two options, and I was hoping in my mind that one would be to just keep a splint on it, but that wasn't what he said.  We could either get it cast in their office or take her to an orthopedic surgeon.  Since the fracture wasn't interfering with joints or growth plates, we opted to have them do it.  When they asked her what her favorite color was, M said, "Pink," very quietly.  Luckily, the hot pink stuff was in stock.

She is not allowed to walk on it, at least for the next week, which means a lot more work getting her around.  She has been in pretty high spirits, though, and the cast is much more comfortable for her.  She will have another x-ray on Monday to see how everything is going.  Maybe by then she will be able to either get a shorter cast or walk on it?  If not, recovery time is only 3-4 weeks, so I am hoping it will go by fast and we can find lots of fun things to do regardless.