Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Spring is in the air...

After what seems to have been the longest winter ever, signs of spring are beginning to pop up all around.
I finally dare to change out my kids winter clothes for summer clothes and round up all the mittens, gloves and snow pants. I never pack it too far away because, well, its Iowa. One really can't predict tomorrows weather here. But for now, spring is in the air, and I am loving it!

And with spring, comes soccer. Last year at this time we sat out there as brave parents and faced the 40mph wind gusts and 20 degree windchill. I am trying to remember what I love about spring...


Could be moments like these....
This year, we got started again on soccer with impressive winds. Fortunately we are sitting at 65 degrees so it only felt as bad as 50 or so out there. Yeah, this is a good thing.


vs





I want to highlight the differences between girls and boys soccer. As you can see above, boys are focused starting at a very young age. Girls,well, not so much.
What we have here folks is a riveting game of rock, paper, scissors. I suggested at this point that perhaps she should pay attention to which she stated very matter of factly that she isn't playing now, so she doesn't need to know what's going on.


Boys...
Boys, they have grit, determination, ready at a moment notice for that ball to come their way. (Mine is the one on the far left with the navy shorts and blue shirt, and what's that? No more hockey hair.:(  )


Girls...
Next, Maicy demonstrates proper stretching. During the game of course.


Boys...
Focused, fierce, playing to win it.

Girls...
Things are looking up, she is playing the game...
And now doing the happy dance. Without having scored. We are celebrating kicking the ball in the right direction. Yeah!! And this is where the poor college student who is coaching is wondering what he did to get the girls team!

There you have it, girls vs boys. Frankly, I love watching both of them. I just wish I could do it without 40mph winds.

3 comments:

Jennifer @ JenniferDukesLee.com said...

The rock-paper-scissors game on the soccer field is cracking me up. I just love little girls.

Ashli said...

I can SO relate to your post. My boy is 10 and they (the boys on his team) play with all the intensity of Manchester United! I think he runs 6 miles in a game and is all over the ball.

My 8 year old daughter, NOT SO MUCH! She is tiny, so I give her that, but she is usually NEAR the ball but not so much kicking the ball (well, to be fair, she did get hit a couple of times in the gut last night), she is trying, but my son was livid that there was a girl in the goal on his team who had the nerve to braid her hair, throw the ball to the other team players instead of kick it, and lean on the net while the other team scored repeatedly.

The poor college student coaches, my daughter said he tried to be fair and closed his eyes when he picked goalie... um, not so much a good choice when you want to WIN. Not that winning is everything...

The boy and girl thing,it is definitely in their DNA! Although there are a couple of great girl players on both teams, the boys definitely fight hard to stay in the game and on the ball!
Thankfully, NO WIND for us, just three hours at the field.
Are you SURE you don't want to move to the south?

Emily Ann Benedict said...

Ah, I remember making my parents get up early on Saturday and sit out in cold. lol It was character building for them, right? ;)

Glad you're finally seeing spring. I'm living on a yoyo right now. :P One day I'm getting sunburned and the next I'm avoiding the thunder and lightening. :?