Sarasota Day 2

Today had a very different feel, literally. It was at least 5 degrees cooler and rainy. Looking at the forecast last night, I was not really looking forward to a rainy day at the fields with Finley but it turned out great!  Finley and Eliot were well behaved and had lots of fun, the rain turned out to be more bearable than the heat of Thursday, and Dan's team won both games--the second one being a come from behind barn burner victory!

I felt like I watched more frisbee today now that our hanging at the fields under the tent routine was set.  Here's Dan, #11, running during the first game against the Atlanta team.

Finley doesn't always like it when the teams score because people often scream, yell, curse, clap, etc. quite loudly, but when he knows it's coming--he gets into it.  Here's a blurry action shot of him clapping after a nice Ironside goal.

 Despite the rain, Eliot and Finley kept busy and mostly dry.

 Both Eliot and Finley are always on the look out for their own dads as well as each other's dads.  "Josh coaching!" "Dan throwing!" When Dan popped his head under the tent, it was hard to tell who was more excited to see him, Finley or Eliot.  The picture below may have the answer, though!

Finley loves throwing around the "fiz-fee" and despite the wet conditions, was very excited to play a "game" on the sideline.  His throwing form is pretty funny and totally full-body, in fact he often falls over after a long toss.  He gets great distance, but the direction is still a bit unpredictable.

He liked throwing around with me, but when Eliot came into view he called her over to join the fun.

 Watching them play catch was fairly hysterical since Finley will throw it far but no where near Eliot and Eliot will throw it towards Finley but usually less than 3 feet in front of her.  However, they are SO good at taking turns that no matter where the disc lands, the one who threw it will stand by patiently while the intended receiver tracks it down.

 Final two shots, just close ups of how cute Finley looked with his rain jacket hood up and how clear a picture my camera can take.

We had a lovely dinner out with the team tonight as Murray, now known as "Pan-pa" instead of "Geeka," babysat and put to bed both Finley AND Eliot.  Oh yeah! He said it went smoothly and both were asleep by 8, good work! He had to change two poopy diapers, now that's love :) Thanks, Grandpa!

More rain expected tomorrow for the quarterfinals, but possibly sunshine if we make it to the semifinals in the afternoon...fingers crossed!

Sarasota Day 1

Okay, this is technically Day 2 already down in lovely Sarasota for the Ultimate Frisbee National Championships, but yesterday was mostly a travel day so I'm not counting it.  So there.  But here are two pictures from travel day as we had a layover in Atlanta and decided to have a giant picnic in the gate area (picnic aka make a giant mess on the floor). Couldn't get both Finley and Eliot to look at me at the same time, but you get the idea.

 So onto Day "1".  Dan's team (Ironside) had three games today, starting at 9:30 so by 10am we were settled into our spectating spots.

 But to be honest, both kids didn't sit too much more as they bustled around playing with toys, eating snacks, and generally goofing around.  Here's Finley feeding Eliot's baby which I snapped a shot of since I'd never seen him play with a baby doll before.

 Sangwha had gotten a sweet sunshade the night before, so we popped that up and enjoyed shade in the second round.  Plus, Finley and I picked up Murray at the airport (Finley napped the whole way there and then woke up to Murray opening the trunk and said "Gan-pa" which is much closer to Grandpa than "Geeka") and he joined our rag-tag crew.

He may not be smiling here, but his body position is exactly how Dan often sits in chairs like this! Too funny!

Finley is fairly interested in watching the "fiz-fee" game and loves cheering for his daddy and Ironside.

But both kiddos seemed to have more fun being silly!

 After Dan's team won all three games, it was time to pack up.  Finley dragged his chair bag around trying to "help" so Dan showed him how to wear the strap, which really made his day.  Until he walked about ten steps with it and then cried out, "pick up, pick up." So Dan carried Finley and I carried the chair back to the car.

All in all, it was a great day.  Both kids were great and Ironside kicked butt.  Fingers crossed tomorrow is more of the same!

Sarasota Day 1, Part 2

During rounds 2 and 3, we needed to take a break from the fields and the sun so we headed off to the local aquarium.  Thankfully, both kids conked out in the car and got some much needed rest.

Sadly, we had to wake them up and get moving since we wanted to get back to the fields in time for the last game.  Neither Finley or Eliot were psyched to be woken up, but all was forgiven once we were inside the aquarium surrounded by fish.

We saw lots of great things, but I cracked up when we got to the seahorse tank and pointed them out to Finley. His response was "Mister!" from our beloved Mister Seahorse book by Eric Carle, quickly followed by "Tapia?" which means Tilapia another fish character in the book.  He was looking around the tank for the tilapia who should have been nearby...Wow--this kid has a memory!

Later we saw some teeny-tiny seahorses, some just a week old.  Just like in our book when the babies are born at the end! i was probably more excited about that connection than Finley :)

We walked through the indoor part of the aquarium and into the outside portion where Finley came across this tank and pointed out "round and round" and was just entranced.

 Some interactive fun here.

 Then, some hysterical photo ops.  Eliot had no interest, but Finley was a total ham. These are some of my favorite picts in recent memory!

 

Then, we got to some touch tanks.  Eliot touched, Finley said "enough" and refused.

 We ate some ice cream and french fries (hooray for vacation diets!) and then moved on the sea turtle exhibit.  Finley was nervous at first, but then totally enthralled.  Sangwha, Eliot, and I were, too.  These creatures are beautiful, graceful swimmers. And I loved how all the tanks had kid-level windows!

We finished up with some HUGE manatees and a dolphin.  Not bad for less than two hours! We raced back to the fields and the boys were already up 5-1 when we got back so at least we didn't miss anything too vital :) I love aquariums and everyone had fun, mission accomplished.

Caitlin and Justin Come to Town

Last weekend, my sister and her boyfriend came to town to visit us (and for the Head of the Charles, but that's not too important in terms of my post).  On Saturday afternoon, we played in the street for a while.  I had to show my sister that letting our almost 2 year old "play in the street" isn't as dangerous as she would have expected.  Finley brought his trusty lacrosse stick and two tennis balls.  Caitlin took some goods photos and a video of the fun and hopefully it captures this new-found "game" that Finley likes to play most afternoons when we get home.

We also took them around back to the sandbox for a while and when we came back around front, the mailman was walking up the driveway and Finley gave him a fist-bump.  Cool!  I think both Caitllin and Justin thought it was pretty adorable that everywhere we went, Finley was always sure that everyone was coming along.  Jus-in? KK? Mommy? As if we'd leave someone behind!

On Sunday, we went out for breakfast (Caitlin and Justin probably hadn't been up and out of the house before 9am on a weekend in quite a while!) and then hit up a nearby playground.  Finley went down the slide with Caitlin, played in the sand and the sold everyone some "tickets" at the counter.

Soon it was time to explore the rocks.  This area is a water spray park during the summer months (which would probably be quite treacherous slippery), but it a great running, climbing, and jumping spot now.  

The best part was Finley and Caitlin playing hide and seek/peekaboo around some of the big rocks.

Caitlin really brings out Finley's happy-girly-squeals and after all the peekaboo, she got a few more of out him!

Dan had to go off to practice after the playground so the rest of us went to Wilson Farms to pick out a pumpkin to carve.  However, Finley suggested we go on the Spooky Hayride (his 4th ride this month) first.  Ug.  Long line. But at least he let Caitlin hold him instead of me!!

As usual, it was probably worth the long wait...at least to Finley!

We finally made our way to the pumpkins and after scouring the piles, found just the right one.  Caitlin and Justin did the hard work scooping out all the goop and seeds and then I took the easy way out and carved a big F for Finley.  We showed it to him and asked him what letter it was and confidently, he said, "D."  Oops.  Guess we better move on to the next row of letters on his ABC placement :)

We had a great visit and can't wait to see Caitlin again soon when she comes back up for Finley's birthday next month!