Soccer

Despite the threat of rain, we managed to have our first soccer "game" today!

 At home before we left.  Someone was a little more excited than someone else, as usual!

 A little pre-game warm up.

 Posing with some fans before they hit the field!

(Check out how many people in the background are on their phones - crazy!)

 Is she a crack-up or what?

 Stretching out. (Chase is #14 and Bryce is #11)

 I love that the socks touch the shorts.

 A little dribbling.

 A little instruction.  This coach does 5 hour-long classes with kids this age. No thank you.  He is good (or crazy!).

 Balancing or resting or something?

 Water break.

 They were supposed to be touching the ball with some part of their body but I'm as confused as they are about which one.  Can't tell from this picture!

 Giving themselves a round of applause and taking a bow at the end of class.

 High-fives for the coach.

 Trying out a new trick.

The best cheerleaders there!

Catching Up

I can't really seem to catch up, but that's ok. We've been plenty busy but with only an odd picture here and there to show for it.  Here's a random assortment of our recent life.

 Sadly, the first soccer game ever was rained out.  We didn't find out until we were half-way to the field.  Chase was more than ready, but he will have to wait another week.  I was slightly relieved to not have to stand in the pouring rain and act excited about it! (Please no rain this Saturday!!)

 We've been taking care of Keagan a couple of days a week. 

The kids love him and he doesn't mind that they NEVER leave him alone! 

 They always want to hold him,

 and then ask me to take their picture!

 Taylor and I went to Vanessa's bridal shower on Sunday.  She was very excited that Emmy came too and she got to hold her.  Emmy is looking at whoever just put her down there like they must be crazy.

 This was the only other shower picture I got.  Taylor was liking the purple cupcakes.

 For Sale.  Oddly sad, but the poor little house is finally, officially for sale.

 PaPa took a trip to Arizona to watch some Spring Training baseball games.  Taylor loved her Cincinnati Reds heart shirt!  Chase liked his monkey too, but doesn't care to have his picture taken quite as much!

 Today we tagged along with Bryce on a duck-feeding adventure. 

 I was sure that someone, Taylor, was going swimming with the ducks.  Luckily it didn't happen.  It was not as warm as the shorts would imply.

Happy to be with their buddy Bryce.  They still see him a good 3-5 times a week but you would think they never get together as much as they talk about needing to go see him!

Soccer, Zoo and a House

 Last weekend we went to "Meet the Coach" day for Chase's soccer team.  Unfortunately the coach had the flu so we didn't really meet him but, Chase did get a jersey and find out that he's on the same team as Bryce.  There are 5 teams in their age bracket and they ended up on the same one - lucky boys!

 Back at home sporting the official soccer look.  Their first real game and practice are next week!

 Poor Max.

 Chase took his first trip to the dentist last week.  He was super-brave and did his best to try to have a good time.  You can tell he's not completely convinced that he's supposed to smile!

 Taylor was all smiles when she found this new outfit in her spring wardrobe collection!

 We took Grandma and Vickie on a trip to the Richmond Zoo during one of the nice days last week.  This was a close as Chase was willing to get to the giraffe.

 He was a little more brave with the goats.  It helped that this goat followed him around trying to get his food!

 A typical brother-sister moment.

 Part of Taylor's unhappiness came from a few moments earlier when this bird actually tried to land on her stick.  She just liked the idea of it - she didn't really care for it to happen!

 The entire zoo gang.  We had Kenley spending the day with us too - Taylor loved having a new playmate and Chase kept saying "thanks for bringing that baby with us to the zoo."

 Feeding the fish.

 A little post-zoo picnic.

Finally, our new house!  We signed the papers yesterday and now we just have to go through inspection and so forth.  If all goes well, we'll close on April 26th! 

More of Our Week

Quick recap of our time with company... First, we hesitantly sent Kerry off on her big date.  Dave was not exactly the well-behaved older brother he was supposed to be.  I'm sure Kerry's date had a few things to say about him once they got in the car but she is too nice to admit it. :) 

 While she was gone we checked out the George Marshall museum.  The kids look a little frightened!

 Then we strolled around VMI for a few pictures.

 Then back to the hotel for the night.

 The kids were most looking forward to going swimming at the hotel.

 Chase finally got brave enough to swim on his own for about 10 minutes before he was finished.

 Taylor stayed in just long enough to make Chase share the swimmees with her.

 We also checked out the VMI museum.

 Once we made it back home (with Kerry safe and sound under the protection of her older brother) we made the obligatory trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

 Serious competition.

 Taylor taking out some of her aggression issues.  She clearly did not leave them all with Chuck.

 Cashing in the tickets for a big prize.

 After Chuck E. Cheese you can only expect to go bowling.  Chase came in 1st and Kerry, well, let's just say Taylor was 2nd and .... well, it's ok.  They do practice too much!

 Back home taking it easy.

 We were able to Skpe with Megan, Carl, and Andy a couple of times.  The kids were facinated with how they could appear on the computer screen. Unfortunately, they were also facinated with making them dissappear just as quickly!

 Kerry got to meet Emmy for the first time.  Emmy even smiled for the picture!

 Chase had plenty of time to practice up on his soccer skills.

 Kerry must have been teaching him something pretty important.  He looks like he's paying attention!

There were more than enough Apple gadgets around last week to keep the kids entertained. 

Now Chase wants an Ipad for his birthday.  Great.