All good things must end.....

And soccer too. LOL

We officially survived the first year of kid's soccer. Oh. My. God. What an eight week whirlwind.

I will say that it's amazing how much progress five little five year olds can make in two months.

The first game: Six little girls stand in little trios opposite each other on a mini field. The coaches blow their whistles. All the little girls keep standing there, shuffling their feet and kind of looking at each other like "You kick it!" "Noooo, YOU kick it!" until finally, someone halfheartedly nudges the ball into play. Practices are spent mobbing the poor coach and asking when it's time for another water break.

Fast forward to today's game. Six little girls spread out across mid-field, shifting their weight from foot to foot and looking expectantly at the coaches, poised to make their move at the first tweet of the whistle. When it comes, they're off, pushing, shoving, and throwing elbows for all they are worth. THESE princesses take no prisoners and you'd better get the hell out of the way. There's tripping, there's falling and rarely, there's tears. We've gone from a walk in the park to a three and a half foot war zone people, and it's impressive.

So yeah. Soccer was fun. I'm soooooo very glad that it's over though. We did get a chance to get to know some fantastic parents and we were pleased with our coaches - talk about a big commitment. Every so often I think about trying to coach next year and then I realize that I must have temporarily lost my mind.

I think we're going to take the winter off from activities. I'm determined not to over schedule the hell out of my kids like so many parents do, but at the same time I feel like I have to give them as many opportunities as I can so that we can find something they can genuinely enjoy, something that inspires their passion as they get older. But for now, I think we're going to just focus on the holidays, go play on the mountain, and other stuff like that. Kbear will stay in dance, and *maybe* we'll think about swim lessons for the Banana.

After all, softball starts in the spring. *wink*