First Football Game of the Season

Forrest, Alyssa, and I dressed for the partly cloudy, intermittent showers that were forecast for today in Bellingham.  What we got was bright sunshine, a slight breeze, and 80 degrees for Noah's 1:00 PM game.  Forrest and Alyssa both got sunburned, especially my fair English complected daughter.  Both my make-up and moisturizer have sunscreen in them so I was fine.  Even with his helmet on Noah managed to come home with red cheeks.  Noah's elbow got bashed by an opposing player's face-mask.  It's bruised and swollen, but he has a break from football till Wednesday to heal up.  Several of his teammates were nursing minor injuries too.

Bellingham's Regulators are traditionally very big boys.  They weren't that much taller than Noah and his teammates but the Eagles gave up 20-50 pounds on the line per player.  The Regulators scored on their first possession and then were held scoreless till the second half.  Noah's team lead 24 to 6 at half-time.  Noah and the rest of the offensive line have perfected the wedge, and they powered through Bellingham's defense to grind out lots of yards.  

Bellingham scored twice in the third quarter when the coach put in the second team defense.  In the fourth quarter the Eagles managed the clock and scored one last touch down with two minutes left in the game to seal the victory.   

Noah is spending the night at a friend's house tonight and will then go to Wild Waves to celebrate his friend's birthday.  He was pretty worn out so I think there won't be any problem with him wanting to stay up too late before his big day at the amusement/water park.

Alyssa put the final finishing coat on her refinishing project.  The table is going to be gorgeous.  Now we're going to move the old table out of the dining room, paint it, and then move the newly refinished table into place and attach the top to the base.  We can't get it into the house in one piece.  Alyssa is anxious about the class schedule she picked up last week.  She's missing a graduation requirement, and the computer gave her two classes she doesn't need.  Hopefully she'll be able to meet with a counselor this week to sort it out.

Busy Week

Last weekend we made a quick trip to Portland to visit the family, allow Alyssa to use Dad's planer to work on her table leaf, complete some school shopping, and visit some old friends. Mom and Dad treated us to some great meals, both at home and in restaurants.  We finalized some of the plans for Grandma's party Labor Day Weekend.  Jim's wife, Enid, was visiting her dad, but the rest of the clan was in attendance.  Noah made a basketball stained glass for his bedroom. And as usual we all took lots of photos.

Today I took Alyssa, Noah, and the neighborhood kids to the zoo.  They had a great time.  It was like traveling with 6 year olds.  These teens ran from one exhibit to the next insisting that their picture be taken with every piece of animal statuary at every exhibit.  It was great fun, but I'm pooped.  So very glad that Forrest offered to take the boy to football practice tonight. 
Another great shot of Mom and Dad with their grandkids.

Alyssa and Rowan

3 on 3

Noah and his Hoopfest teammates participated in the Tulalip Casino 3 on 3 tournament over the weekend. This was the first 3 on 3 tournament Noah ever entered 4 years ago as a 4th grader. His team has never won this particular event, but they keep trying.  Their first game was a bye so they started off with an automatic win. Then they lost their second game to the top team from Stanwood. 

On Sunday they beat the other team from Arlington made up of their AAU teammates.  Then they beat a Stanwood team. They were eliminated by a different Stanwood team.

There were only 7 teams in their age group.  Two from Arlington, 4 from Stanwood, and one from Lake Stevens. 

I don't know why this, but this tournament has gotten smaller every year.  Hoopfest keeps getting bigger, but Tulalip is shrinking.  I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last year.  Rumor has it that the Tulalip Tribe doesn't want the Boys and Girls Clubs to host this tournament on their property any more.  Maybe the market is saturated.  You can find a 3 on 3 tournament somewhere in the northwest every weekend all summer long.  Forrest told the boys to coach themselves and take care of their own substitutions.  The boys opted to draft their friends from the high school team to be their coaches.  I know Noah looks older than 13, but it's never more obvious than when he's standing with some of the high school players who are 15 and 16.  He's definitely not my little boy any more.  Basketball will be put on hold now as the focus is on football.  Noah's team has a jamboree on the 22nd and their first official game will be on the 29th.

Cousins Visit

The Jones and Worman cousins always love a trip to the beach.  On Thursday temperatures were still above 90 at the house so we sought refuge at Kayak Point Park.  There was a nice breeze, cold water, and lot of logs to play on.  Usually the kids line up by age so Alyssa would be on the far left, but Noah decided they had to line up by height instead.  He's enjoying being the tallest in the crowd.  At 13 he's nearly 5'10".  Alyssa and I have bet a coffee on when he'll reach 6'.  He's grown 5 inches in the last 9 months so I think he's going to take a break for awhile.  My bet is he won't be 6' tall till his birthday in May. Alyssa is betting that he'll be 6' by Christmas.

The kids love to roll the driftwood out into the water to float on.  It's much more interesting than using the inflatable toys.

On Friday while Alyssa and Forrest  were at work Michelle and I took the boys to Anacortes and Deception Pass.  Our plan was to have a picnic on Whidbey Island at the state park.  But it was all socked in with cold fog.  We retreated to Bayview State Park.  Fuller complained about the chilly (70 degree) temperatures.  He even put on his sweatshirt. Once he warmed up the boys all made their way to the water.

Forrest kept an eye on the boys Friday night so the girls could go shopping.  We found some great deals at Kohl's during their nighttime Power Hours.   While we were shopping Rowan got sick so Forrest had to clean up vomit which is usually my job.  Poor man.  The Wormans are now on their way home.  I hope Seafair traffic in Seattle wasn't too bad.

Tomorrow Alyssa and I will be heading east.  We'll spend Sunday night with my cousin, Margaret, and her daughter Nicole before heading to  Cheney for a tour of the Eastern Washington University campus and a meeting with an admissions counselor. EWU has a major in Early Childhood Ed. which is the field she's interested in so it sounds like it would be a good fit. 

On Monday night Forrest will take Noah to the official start of his football season, the parent and player meeting.  He'll have his first practice on Tuesday. During the month of August the boys usually practice 3 hours a day 4 to 5 days a week.  Thankfully the end of the week looks cooler for his first practices in full gear.  I get in lots of walking during football practice, and I also spend time getting my classroom ready as my school is only a mile from Noah's practice field.