Basketball Season

Do I even keep this blog anymore?

I know.  I know.  I have no good excuses.  So I won't.  We have a lot of ground to cover, so Imma break these up into a couple of different posts.

Nico's basketball season ended.  He had so much fun with it.  About half-way through the season, one of his coaches (Ira- the one in the middle above) asked if Nico wanted to hang out and play in the session following ours.  Well- we're a coaching family.  We know what is up.  So, we did- and Nico loved it.



Nico is #7 in the grey above.  We're working on him not running away from the ball.  Turns out, this is the same in soccer as in basketball.

The best thing that Ira told us?  He told us not to focus on the baskets- at some point, all the kids' shooting abilities will likely even out- and average shooters are a dime a dozen.  Ball handlers?  Now, that is a different story.  A good ball handler?  In demand everywhere.  Which is great, because one doesn't have to be very big to be a good ball handler.

Birthday Ski Trip

This weekend, we headed up to Wilmont (in Wisconsin) for skiing  (for Dave's birthday).  It was a great place to go, because overall, it was pretty mild.  Also, we didnt have to board the dogs anywhere, so that is a bonus.

Nico was pretty much a gem all day.  He listened to his instructors and tried hard.  After he realized that he didnt need to hit the deck all the time, he actually ended up being a not bad little skier.  

We let Nico do a kids' ski class, which put him on the right track to try the tow rope and the bunny hill.  He hit that hill a bunch of times, by the end, pretty much having the hang of skiing, which was cool. After, we hung out in the lodge with the ipad and let Dave ski some more.  He reported that the lines weren't that terrible for the 6-7 lifts that were running.  There were some steeper parts, but largely, it was a very comfortable experience for people who hadn't skied in 10 years.  

We had Cracker Barrel for dinner on the way home.  Even though it was his birthday, Dave humored me and let us have CB, which was okay.  Even though I didn't eat what I normally would (because I am doing this gym Whole30 challenge.  Funny, when they told me about peer pressure in high school, I just assumed that there would be more booze, sex, and drugs involved.  And less "healthy eating". )

Basketball Boy

Wow, we have been busy, so busy.

Nico is reading.  Really reading.  It's awesome.  He is still into just about every sport imaginable.   As I write this, he is running around the living room knocking a ball at a goal with a hockey stick narrating with a play by play "Henry runs the ball down, but he can't hold on to it.  Lauren is onto it now, she's hit a shot onto the back post, but now Nicholas brings it back..."

It's pretty great.  

We also started basketball.  

Dave has been hired by a company that staffs charter schools with subs.  During the interview, one of the interviewers picked up on his real mission (to get back into coaching) and called him on it (in a good way).  She suggested that he use this as a way of figuring out if there are any coaching gigs out there.  

Me- I am not teaching this quarter- but I am no less busy.  I have the incredible ability to jam pack my schedule with stuff.  A lot of it is stuff I like doing, so it's not too bad.  

My First CrossFit Competition

I participated in my first CrossFit competition this weekend.  It was weird/cool/fun/weird.  It was a really good competition- because a bunch of my friends and my main coach were there.  Nico and Dave showed up for two events- including the one where I set a new personal record.  On Saturday, during the competition, we had 5 minutes to find a max clean for both me and my partner.  

I had already hit 125, and got to the bar with 130lbs on it and 15 seconds left on the clock.  I must have had some adrenaline going because when I cleaned it, it felt likes it weighed 10 lbs.  So that was cool.  The above photo isn't the best, but you can see the weight and the time left on the clock.

Overall, it was a pretty fun experience.  

 

Nico's first soccer game

So, it is that time of the year.  The weather is starting to get nice.  Not today, (it is a bit cool), but generally.  There is no snow, so I guess I shouldn't complain all that much.

I have three more class meetings before I am done with this quarter.  While this is the second time I have taught this course, it feels hard because I overhauled the course.  So, I feel like I am constantly on the grind.  Will be very glad when the quarter is over.  I, will have to start prep for a new course that I have been asked to teach in the fall.  It's on the edge of my area of interest, but I never let not knowing much about something keep me from acting like an expert.

When I went to sign Nico up for soccer two weeks ago, they asked if we might want to finish out the rest of the spring season (3-4 games left).  We said yes and got Nico signed up, so he had his first game last weekend.

Let's just say this: there were three goals scored: and Nico had a hand in two of them, and his team lost. By three.  One of the goals, he scored, straightaway.  The other he took a goal kick and kicked it to the other team.  Who then scored a goal.

In all, it was pretty fun.  They started with like 30 minutes of "practice" where they warmed up and then just did fun little games.  For some reason, this kid was OBSESSED with his jersey and with sticking his tongue out.  It is very Michael Jordan, which is cool.

What is completely crazy is how completely unprepared Dave and I were for this day.  No water coolers, no water, no chairs!  It was almost like it was amatuer hour.  ALMOST!!

I think Nico might not have really understood what was happening with the game.  And he definitely lost focus for a bit.  On throw-ins, he'd zone out along with all the other kids on the field.  So, we will have to work on that- but overall, it was a pretty fun game.  I think he is going to like playing!