mid season soccer update

We are about half way into the Spring Soccer season so I thought I'd give a little update with some pictures of the season so far!

Here's Kela and her team.
They are the Purple Lightnings.

Her solo shot.
I'd scan the actual picture I got from the photographers but...it's not all that better.
Bright sunny day = not the best picture.
Oh well.

And with that...here's a few pictures from random games so far.
Kela has improved by leaps and bounds this season!
She's still a bit timid and not as aggressive as most of her teammates, but she's becoming less nervous and shy on the field.
She averages about 1 goal per game...but today, she was able to score 2 goals!
Yay!

She hussels pretty well on the field.
She's good at running up to the ball, but has a tendency to hold back at the last second-especially if an opponent is heading for the ball as well.
We're hoping that by the end of the season, she'll no longer hesitate and have the courage to run up to an opponent. I think she'll get there!
Way to go Kela!

And on to Anna's team.
They are the Teal Sharks.
There's only 4 girls on the team...and I'm the team mom.
How cute are these Kindergarteners?!

Here's Anna.
You may have noticed that while all her teammates have matching teal socks, Anna's are black.
I left home earlier than Mitch and prior to leaving, laid out Anna's Teal socks in the kitchen. Which Mitch didn't see. Nor did he think to call me and ask.
Hence, the back-up black ones.
Oh well. They're just socks, right?

And then some action shots of Anna with her teammates.

Anna is actually pretty aggressive.
She just needs to acquire the skills to accompany the energy!
Since she's starting much earlier than Kela did (Kela started at age 6, while Anna started at 4) I think she'll go far in the future!

Here's a shot of Anna DURING her game.
While her teammates were huffing it on the field, she was NOT the best cheerleader.

And this was only the FIRST QUARTER!
Don't worry...she woke up to hustle in the 2nd quarter, I promise.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

And then...while the Kela and Anna are running around on the field, the REAL action often has NOTHING to do with soccer.
No, it's the antics Jolee and Kaden find themselves getting into in order to occupy themselves for 2-5 hours, depending on what time the girls' games are.
So, here's a few random shots of what the younger two do to keep themselves busy.

Every now and again, we see Luke (who's often hanging around his brothers' teammates while they play) and invite him along to hang with Jolee.
Jolee and Luke like to get into a lot of trouble together.
Here, they're "swimming" back to us...after I scolded them for wandering too far.

Granted, there are some times I can keep them occupied with food...
But more often than not, this only lasts so long.

No, Kaden likes to wander....to play with the soccer balls....

...or flirt with the line referee...

...or play with the cones ...

...and don't forget stealing the girls snacks..

(or maybe just finding creative ways to cool his teething gums)

Have I mention he likes to wander?
He does.
With the stroller...

...or without...

Or, simply flirt with the ladies.

Whew! Any wonder why our Saturdays are filled to the brim with hot weather, adventures and excitement!
Only 4 more weeks of this left...I'm sure by then I'll have plenty more fun pictures to show as well.

And...there's always our photo site where I update tons of pictures of the girls and their teammates.
For Kela's team pictures, look HERE.

For Anna's team pictures, click HERE.

jojo's first cut!

We've known for some time now that Jojo has been well OVERDUE for a hair cut.
Part of me was avoiding it, simply because I just love her hair!
It's superfine, light brown and cute as all baby hair is.
BUT it's also always tangled, frayed at the ends and all different lengths.
Also, since Jolee doesn't always like to have her hair pulled in a pony tail or a braid...it's always all over her face!
So, a hair cut it was.

As you can see, she wasn't too keen on the idea.
Well, she was super excited BEFORE we got to the salon...however, as soon as we got there, she did a complete 180 and refused to go through with it.
So...in the end, how did I manage to convince her to sit in the chair?

Can you see my hand in the bottom left corner of the picture?
Not only was I holding her hand the entire time...she has a lollipop in her other hand.
Yes, I bribed her. Shamelessly.
So sue me!

So, while the waterworks ended...the constant head-turning didn't.
I even resorted to kneeling right in front of her so she could stare at me, instead of the lady sitting next to us with curlers in her hair.
Kaden in the background did great!
And remained patiently nestled in his carseat throughout the ordeal.
Because yes, it WAS an ordeal!

Ugh, I was one of THOSE mothers...taking picture after picture.
But who cares, right? I made sure I documented it all! Ha!

Jojo showing off her shorn locks.

*sniff, sniff...I think I was sadder than Jolee at this point.

And on a side note, the lady who cut her hair kept trying to hold Jolee's arms up while I took this picture! As in BOTH arms up. I was so annoyed, I finally had to physically removed her hands from my child because I didn't want her hands in my picture! Nor did I want her manhandling my child! Boundaries, people!

Anyway, here's the final look.
And a happy Jolee with her blue lollipop.
I like it! Even though it makes her look more grown up and reminds me that she's not a little baby anymore!

(sniff...sniff...)

beach...and surfing!

Saturday, after hanging around a soccer field for FIVE hours (2 games, one at 8:45AM and one at Noon...with no time to go home in between), we headed out the beach with some good friends. I can't remember the last time we went out to Waikiki beach...it was a bit crowded and parking wasn't the best, but it was good fun!

Something different...was that Anna got to try surfing for the first time ever!
Our friend, David took Anna out on their surfboard and she got to realize one of her dreams:
To learn how to surf.

Ever since we got Barbie and The Mermaid Tale...she's been asking to learn how to surf.
And since neither Mitch nor I are avid surfers...it's taken this long for it to come to fruition.

Here David is taking her out to where the waves are breaking...
The best part about Waikiki beach is that the water is super shallow!
But also with enough waves to make it fun for the kids.

Getting ready...

And riding a wave!

Maybe after a few more tries, she can learn how to stand up and ride!

With the sun starting to set...it was getting pretty chilly out.
After a few runs, Anna heads in.

Her first surfing lesson complete!
She's pretty anxious to go again!
Maybe in warmer weather, though...

Anna and her huge board.
I know..I should have taken another picture to try and get one that isn't blurry...

After that...the kids played around in the COLD water for a little while longer...

And then ate dinner.

Don't know if you can tell...but it was FREEZING cold by this time.
I never went into the water, but even I felt a bit chilled.
The girls who were pretty wet, were literally shivering!

Kaden got all sandy and wet.
And seemed to love it all!

tidepooling

Last year, Mitch bought a tide calendar.
So he knows just when the tide is low enough to take the kids tidepooling.
Today was the day!

Here's Kaden's cute little feet.
This was the only time his little feet touched the ground.
I mean, it's pretty rocky! Jolee even slipped and fell on her bum.

No, we held him the whole time.

We brought their little nets and a bucket (with a hole in it, we found out) and headed out onto the rocks.

As I mentioned before, it was pretty slippery.
Anna was a good big sister and helped Jojo across some of the rocks.

After spending a few minutes catching hermit crabs, Kela and Anna busted out the nets and tried for some fish.

Anna caught the first fish!
Kela caught some too...I think they caught 4 in all!

Towards the end, the sun started to set and a lot of sailboats started appearing on the horizon.
It was pretty beautiful!

Trying to catch one more fish...

The booty.
Jojo caught the majority of the hermit crabs.
All the little "rocks" are actually tiny hermit crabs.

Lucky we live in Hawaii so we can enjoy beautiful evenings like these~!