Father and Son

This is the first weekend that my son, G., and I have had a father and son weekend where we've stayed overnight somewhere. His soccer team has been competing in the Midwest Soccer Cup in St. Charles, Illinois. They had a tough 2-1 loss this morning, but with two wins yesterday and the point totals, they made it into tomorrow's playoffs as the wild card team. It is fun to watch them grow into young men, the current pretzel tossing contest aside, they've taken to competition with a healthy attitude. They are still at the stage where they are playing for the thrill of playing. They like the competition more than practices, but, hey who doesn't.

I remember fishing and hunting trips with my father. There weren't club soccer teams or traveling baseball teams when I was my son's age. Now there are both and club volleyball, basketball and other sports where the kids play throughout the year. I don't know which is better, or maybe it is just that things are different. The joy of trying various sports and activities is missing sometimes, but the level of competition seems to be at such a higher level than in previous years. Either way it is fun to be with the children throughout these endeavors, either athletics, dance, music, or speech (as any one of the children have done at one time or another).

Time for some sleep, as the next game comes around early in the morning.

The Long Weekend

The Twin Cities were the sight of our recent and rare chance to get away for a few days. We are grateful that our daughter and son-in-law are willing to help out with our special-needs daughter, and our other two younger children. This week is special for the fact that my beloved, Irena, will be 50 on Friday. She didn't want a vacation, or a trip to Hawaii, or a "surprise" party. She wanted to go and have an "Oprah Makeover" as was featured on her show. reVamp Salon in Minneapolis is where Christopher Hopkins and his extraordinary staff of designers, estheticians, among others brought out the "new" Irena. Not that I saw anything wrong with the old version. She literally received the royal treatment and the photos do not lie. It is said a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll stop here...