Fall Soccer (Lydia's team)

Here are some pictures from Lydia's fall soccer season, which has finally wrapped up (I thought were were done a week ago, but then I wound up spending almost the entire weekend shuttling the both kids around to tournament games).

This season I took a shot at being division director for Lydia's age group (for the in-town teams, not the travel teams). It was interesting; the early part of the season (forming teams) was trickier than I had anticipated, but then the second part of the season was a breeze. I shared both coaching and division-director jobs with my friend Noah, which as always worked out really well.

Here's a little "action sequence": Lydia receiving the ball and then taking off towards the goal with it:

The final game of the season was great-- the weather was perfect (nice and warm, no need for the long underwear, gloves, or hats. Couple of team photos:

Lucky us, one of the parents brought in some cupcakes to celebrate the end of the season. All thoughts of soccer were left aside as the team concentrated on the more important business at hand...

It was a nice way to finish out the season.

Found in the woods

[[ I seem to be making a habit of writing blog posts "out of order", as it were-- this one I really should have written up months ago, but somehow I never got around to it. These pictures were taken back in early September, when we were visiting my dad's place in Tyringham. ]]

A group of us set off for a family walk in the woods; at a certain point we wound up dividing into one group that wanted to charge ahead and another group that wanted to head back to the house (Lydia and I were the second group). We decided to skip the regular trail and instead bush-whack through the forest. About half the way home we were walking along the top of the north bank of the stream that runs closest to the house, when we saw something white on the ground. At first I thought it must have been mushrooms, but when we got closer it turned out to be the remains of a deer skeleton (at this point just skull, few sections of vertebrae, and a couple of larger hip bones). We decided to bring them back to take a closer look.

 

It was really interesting to look over the bones at close range; there were many surprises. For starters I was surprised at how large the skull was. Normally I think of deer as having fairly small heads, but this one seemed quite sizable. Second thing was the teeth-- I would have expected to see molars or grinding teeth with fairly flat surfaces, whereas the surfaces were very wavy/pointy (perhaps some of the tooth had decayed away?). Another really cool thing was that you could see the little seams / joints where the various pieces of the skull had fit together (as the skull had developed, I suppose). The last surprise was how incredibly picked-clean the skull was: not a scrap of anothing even close to resem,bling meat or skin, even in places on the inside where no larger predator could possibly reach. A fascinating thing to run across.

Word games

There is a game that the kids and I play every now and then (often when we're stuck together on a car ride): you make up a "story" with each person contributing a single word at a time, e.g. Ethan picks the first word, then Lydia does the second, etc. This morning we were sitting around the computer room and Lydia suggested that we play a round, so I decided to write down the results. Here is what we came up with:

Ethan	Lydia	Than
		Suddenly
Underdog	licked	popsicles
ferociously,	creating	storms
above	the	kitchen
stove.	By	now
everything	was	exploding,
and	sending	purple
probes	to	the
giant	peach	strudel.
Unfortunately	acorns	flew
across	heaven,	zooming
with	cakes	and
croissants.	Champagne	dripped
onto	yellow	wailing
plankton,	and	finally
the	cats	peeled
onions	while	Thanksgiving
loomed.	Harry	Potter
dramatically	cast	the
death	frog	aside,
while	eating	chocolate
pants.	Dumbledore	giggled
at	outstanding	fruit
flavored	pictures	of
Voldemort.	Hermione	jumped
over	the	pickled
frogs	and	threw
sizable	chocolate	tantrums
because	she	wanted
a	balloon	for
her	hair.

The entire creation:

Suddenly Underdog licked popsicles ferociously, creating storms above the kitchen stove. By now, everything was exploding, and sending purple probes to the giant peach strudel. Unfortunately acorns flew across heaven, zooming with cakes and croissants. Champagne dripped onto yellow wailing plankton, and finally the cats peeled onions while Thanksgiving loomed. Harry Potter dramatically cast the death frog aside, while eating chocolate pants. Dumbledore giggled at outstanding fruit flavored pictures of Voldemort. Hermione jumped over the pickled frogs and threw sizable chocolate tantrums because she wanted a balloon for her hair.

Now that's high-quality fiction writing... The other fun thing you can do at this point is read down the columns. I enjoyed Ethan's "Onto plankton the onions loomed dramatically", not to mention my gem "Exploding purple, the strudel flew zooming". Heh.

Spelling redux

I heard something in my kitchen this afternoon that shocked me: my daughter remarking that "spelling is fun" (I immediately looked out the window, but no flying pigs were there to be seen).  The 4th grade spelling program has been revamped since Ethan had it; on Tuesdays the kids now take home a "menu" of homework options to choose from, including making a drawing that incorporates the spelling words, making up crossword puzzles drawn from the word list, etc. Lydia decided to create a word search puzzle with her words:

I am impressed with the way the Estabrook teachers have taken a boring chore and turned it into an interesting game. Three cheers for inventive teaching techniques...