Wordless Wednesday

-Bethany

Hockey Camp

I heard and wrote about the Little Rookies FREE hockey camp for Dallas Moms Blog last year.  The gist of the program is: we live in the South where hockey isn't as big as it is for our friends who live closer to Canada.  The Dallas Stars and Mike Modano created a way for parents and young children to try out the sport for free.  

Palmer has been attending his cousin's hockey games for the last few years and has recently shown an interest in playing.  So, we've enrolled him in the camp.  It's a great way to trial the ice, the sport, and all of the gear without investing any money.  

And then if Palmer is really interested, we can consider all of the 36 pieces of protective equipment (plus skates and a stick) needed for hockey....

Before his first lesson, I took him on the ice a skating lesson.  

Checking out the ice:

Rick and I have told Palmer a lot recently that he can't play hockey if he doesn't learn how to skate first.  My goodness, Palmer was so focused and determined when we skated.

 Not bad for Palmer's second time ever on the ice:

Next stop: gear fitting.  I wasn't joking about so many pieces for hockey.  We spent an entire hour the night before practice getting fitted for all of the pads, skates, etc.  Some sweet volunteer high school players helped us figure out how to get dressed.  Palmer had three high school boys helping and we still spent nearly 30 minutes getting dressed.

I kept taking photos of Palmer and Grace was sitting over in the corner going, "cheese!!".  Oh my.  Is someone not getting attention, little one?

Rule number one of hockey: You gotta carry your own stuff.

It is laughable to see all of these children at the rink carrying gigantic bags.  Always ones to take the burden off of ourselves, Rick and I made it clear to Palmer that he had to carry his own stuff if he wanted to play.  Palmer happily rose to the challenge.

Palmer has watched Coleton play hockey many times.  Now, the tables were turned.

Sweet Coleton was so eager to come help Palmer get dressed and cheered him on during the first practice.

The tiny kids were so cute on the ice and I think Palmer forgot that he didn't know how to skate very well.  He did his best to get over to the pucks as fast as possible and took an aim at the goal immediately.

I found a creeper dad...

Three more weeks of the camp and then we'll make some decisions on if we continue the sport (or transition to tee-ball or soccer or tennis.  So much to choose...)

Of course, Palmer tells us he wants to play every sport.  Um, this mama says one at a time!

-Bethany

Wordless Wednesday

-Bethany

The Halloween Frontier

I gotta hand it to Palmer... For the past few years, he has chosen a costume in August and stuck to his guns all the way to Halloween.  This year's choice was Davy Crockett.

Grace fulfilled her sidekick role (how many more years do I have left of that??) and was an Indian princess.  Thanks to Grampi for the arrow holder.

Our first seasonal stop was a fall party at the club.  Complete with carnival rides (do NOT let me ever EVER get on those swings that DO NOT stop again!) and carnival food, we had a fun time despite the damp weather.

There was a costume contest during the festival.  Before the contest, Palmer and some buddies were smack-talking with the ninja turtle...

The non-princess princess...

Lo and behold...

 We have a WINNER!! "Mom! I've never won a real trophy before!!"

A few days later, Palmer desperately tried to organize his playgroup friends into a costume contest.  He was disappointed nobody listened to him.

Can you believe our lil playgroup has grown to 20 tiny humans??

Last but not least, we had a wonderful time on Halloween night trick or treating in the neighborhood.

Grace was excited to get in on the action:

Grace did really well and mustered her best "trick or treat" and "thank you" at about six houses with the coaching of big brother and Dad.

And after about 6 houses, we stuck Grace in the stroller with a sucker so the bigger kids could move as fast as they thought they needed to...

Speaking of the big kids, Palmer enjoyed having Cayman (and family) join us for the third year in a row.

The neighborhood gang was all tough until they got to Ms. Liz's haunted house...

A bush (who was really a human) jumped out and grabbed the kids.  Palmer was totally freaked out and told every.single.house. afterwards to "watch out for that bush at Ms. Liz' scary house!".  My boy just doesn't have a shy bone in his body.  Mr. Social warned the entire neighborhood!

Such a fun Halloween in the books!

-Bethany

Wordless Wednesday

-Bethany

All Things Pumpkin

While visiting in Houston, Adrienne took us to such a fun pumpkin farm out in the country.  The spectacle was so much more than just a mere pumpkin patch, that I hate to even allude to it just being a patch.

Think more mini-carnival with kettle corn and roasted ears of corn and hay mazes and slides and duck races and train rides and much more.

 

We had a ball running around (and with these two crazy kids, I DO mean running.  Poor pregnant Adrienne was a TROOPER!)

The icing on the cake (vine on the pumpkin??) was the pumpkin patch at the end of our visit. Adrienne taught Palmer the tricks of the trade ("pick a pumpkin as big as your head so that you can carry it" and "the stem is the key to a good pumpkin") and off they went...

Meanwhile, I chased lil "miss I can run away from you now"...

At least one kid wanted to pose for me:

Two kids?  Haha.  Yeah, right.

Love these little pumpkin carts.  They work well for children, too:

Back at home, we decorated the pumpkin Jordan-style: with stickers.  This might be the last year that I can get away with avoiding a proper carving, but I will take it.

"Palmer, smile!"
(umm, thanks...)

Much better (with pre-carved fake pumpkin, mind you...)

-Bethany

Wordless Wednesday

-Bethany