E and I got to inspecting a termite-damaged log on our hike. K was fast enough to catch the moment.
Another from Last Week’s Hike
the boy
Soccer
Today was the first day of the end-of-the-season tournament for E's soccer team. He didn't participate last year because his team didn't participate: it's an additional event, with additional fees.
We went into the first game hopeful: the boys had beaten them a couple of times in scrimmages, but this, I believe, was the first time they played an actual game. It was tied 2-2 when the referee made an awful call, calling a foul on our goalie when it was clearly a legal play. He'd dropped to the ground to reach out and stop the ball, and the attacker fell on him. How that was a foul I'll never know. No one will ever know. But the ref awarded the other team a penalty kick, and that put them over: our boys lost 2-3. Technically, they didn't. But technically doesn't count.
The Boy was devastated. For the first time this year, he was on the verge of tears about the game. "We tied them!" he insisted, and I agreed. Still, what's done is done: refs make awful calls all the time.
The boys' second game went much better, with a stunning 6-1 win. They'd played that team twice before, beating them both times. So we go into tomorrow's games 1-1. We'll see how it goes.
Autumn Soccer Practice
Pinnacle Mountain
18.46 km, 767 m elevation gain.
Game Night
Family game nights are rare these days. They hit a peak during the Covid lockdown, I think, and then as everything slowly returned to a semblance of normalcy, our evenings filled back up with obligations and promises.
Tonight, though, we played a game.
One evening, it will be the last time we play a family game with everyone at home. Will we know it's the last?
Side-note: My most recent musical discovery
Evening Walk
While the Boy was at soccer practice, I took my normal walk...
Basketball Practice
The Boy is playing basketball with his church team again this winter. This year, he moves up into a much wider age bracket -- middle school players. So there's up to a two-year difference between the boys on the team.
He looks much better than he did this time last year, but he's still unsure of where to go, what to do -- how to play the game. The other boys are aware of his inexperience as well: there's a wide range of skill levels on the team. And of course, the Boy is aware that they are aware. I find myself wondering how this affects his self-confidence in the game. He said nothing about it on the drive back home this evening, and that's a good sign. Still, we have to start going back to the Y for practice again.
Steve Hackett Live
It's something D and I have wanted to experience since we were just a little older than the Boy: a live performance of old Genesis music, in this case, the entirety of Foxtrot, which includes their magnum opus, the 23-minute "Supper's Ready."
The whole show was amazing -- but I obviously didn't film the whole thing...
Coming Home
The Girl was heading out to Target.
"I want to go, too!" the Boy exclaimed.
What was going to be the reaction? She's often reticent to take him anywhere, but surprisingly she simply said, "Well, you can come with me."
So our children went clothes shopping alone.
Soccer Evening
