Tramontana Party of Four : The Burn

Zach completed his first season of soccer two weeks ago. Can you believe it? It went by so fast! It was so cute to see how much the kids changed since the beginning of the season to the end of the season. They have more confidence, they go after the ball more and they are a LITTLE less interested in the butterflies. :) Smile!)

Sam was the Coach and he did an awesome job wrangling the kids in and keeping them in place. He had the patience of a Saint - I got tired just watching him most of the time. (Important note: Most of the time consists of 3, maybe 4 of the games - they played every Saturday from March something until May 17!) Unfortunately, our team did NOT have a great season (luckily they don't keep track of wins/losses at this age) but we had all first year players who where between 3-4 years old, except one little boy - a cutie name Chase - he played in the fall and he was really good. They played against teams that had mostly players with a lot more experience and more 4 year olds - which really makes a difference when you're talking whether a child is mentally ready to play in an organized sport. 3 year olds just don't take direction very well, and they are really more interested in snack time, LOL. But - they got so much better towards the end and the last game was the best because they actually played a team where the kids were all their size for the first time, so they actually had a chance and I think it was fun for them.

We had a party at our house after the last game for the team where Sam handed out trophies and the team gave a gift to the coach (an iTunes gift card, hmm, think the Team Mom hooked him up??) The kids all had a great time playing on the play set and the sandbox and kicking the soccer ball around in the yard. The parents on the team were all great support and we enjoyed having the chance to spend some time getting to know them rather than the hour spent on the field. I have to give a special thanks to Johnathan's Mom Katie for all the help she gave me with the twins during the games I was there - usually she'd help me locate them after I lost them - and YES, I seriously DID lose them at the fields a couple times - only to find them holding the hand of another mom looking for who ever they belonged too, lol. One time Katie actually caught them about to escape through a hole in fence at the park that leads into this forest. Seriously I see Katie running through this grassy area where the kids practice, I look up and my girls are about to go into the woods. By themselves. Unreal!!! They're sneaky buggers, I stop for one second to tie Zach's shoe or help him get on the field and one of the twins is either three soccer fields away or they're trying to escape to the spooky forest. Is it only my kids? LOL! I will tell you that the one day that we had to chase after the like three or four times (that is how many times they sneaked away) I got home that afternoon, and I made a cocktail (at like noon), put the kids down for their naps and laid down on the couch and passed out from sheer exhaustion from being stressed about losing them three times. This last game, I sat them on a blanket, and told them they WOULD NOT go to the park after Zach game if they did not SIT on the blanket the WHOLE time and they WOULD NOT get McDonald's for lunch and they WOULD NOT get a lollipop when we got home if they wandered off anywhere beyond these orange cones we had set up. For whatever reason, I don't know if it was the threat of the park, the lollipop, or the McDonald's ... they did NOT wander off at all, which made the game MUCH more enjoyable.

Anyway, here's some pictures of the kids at the soccer game prior to this last one (of course I FORGOT my camera at the last one!!) and then party at our house after their last game where they got their "trophy" from Coach! They're all a bunch of adorable kids and I hope Sam gets to coach some of them next season.

Some pictures from a previous game

Zach coming off the field

Picking up acorns is the "thing to do" before and after the games (it's Avery)

Addie's ticked because she has to SIT now and watch for awhile.

Chase getting all warmed up for the game ... nice kick buddy!

Woohoo Shelby! Awesome!
At our house after the last game....Coach giving them their last Pep talk...
One more team Cheer "gooooooo Burn!"
Coach with Sydney ... all year she wouldn't give him five.... on the last game she gave him high five without him having to ask .... he was so excited. She's a bit shy ...but ADORABLE. This is who gave us Trixi!

Coach with Jonathan .... he is a little sweetheart who played like a champ this year...and scored a goal in the last game! Way to go Johnathan! (Can you tell he's excited to get his trophy?)

Coach with Alyssa - she was a last minute aaddition to our team but she had such a sweet personality she was very shy on the field, but she would come up to Sam and tell him things like "I got new nailpolish" or "I went to see the Doodlebops this weekend." She always made him smile!

Coach with Shelby - Zach and Shelby got along so well during the season - Shelby loved to run after the ball and she really blossomed by the end of the season! And by the way, this girl is only FOUR! She is going to be one TALL girl, look at those legs!!

And last but not least, Coach Dad with his scurvy pirate - or Popeye. We weren't quite sure of the face Zach was trying to make. He's always such a ham. Zach's been very proud of his trophy and hopefully by the fall he'll be more "mentally" ready to play. He's very physically ready - fast, able to block, kick - but just does NOT take direction very well and we can all FORGET it if I'm there....lol. Too bad he looks so darn cute in his uniform. :) Heheee!

Addie - or Avery (can't tell) with Anna - Jonathan's sister on the BIG girl swings. Anna is only 18 months.
Sydney on the slide.
Johnathan ...did you just eat something blue you silly boy?
Avery?