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I think we finally found a sport that my kids enjoy: Soccer.  As you know from reading this blog, t-ball did not work out due to various reasons.  Soccer seems to be working out well.  Both kids had their first game this morning, and the only thing that could have made it better is if I didn’t have an awful cold.

They play through the Upward program at a church within walking distance of our house.  The program is extremely well-organized and the coaches are very enthusiastic.  The program is designed so that every child plays and every child is a winner.

I volunteered to be an “assistant coach” for Mackenzie’s team and it’s great.  I don’t really know much about soccer, but I seem to be okay at rotating the kids out every three minutes and getting them plenty of water breaks.

Here are a few photos from this morning:

Tristan started first grade this morning!  We went to open house last night and were pleased to find out that he got the teacher that I wanted him to get.  She actually taught first grade at the school when I was in first grade and has taught first grade there longer than Kimberlie has been alive!

It’s hard to believe that I’m old enough to have a kid in first grade.  I can’t wait to get home and hear about his day!  I’m sure I’ll have to fill out tons of forms too.  Sending your child to school is more complicated than buying a house.  Mackenzie starts 4K on Monday and then our lives will be back to normal.

Two weeks ago, we spent almost a week in Philadelphia.  I had a work-related conference across the river in Camden, New Jersey so I brought the family along to see a new city. We flew to Philadelphia, but decided to try something new (or old) and take Amtrak back to Atlanta.  It was a great experience.  If you ever get the chance to travel by train, take it!  It forces you to relax and enjoy the scenery.

Since I’m so far behind on blogging, I’ve decided to just post photos from the recent trip.

One of the highlights of our recent trip to Philadelphia was visiting the Please Touch Museum.  It’s similar to the Imagine It! children’s museum in Atlanta, but on a much grander scale.  It is housed in a building that was constructed for our nation’s bentenial celebration in 1876.  The grand building looks like it belongs on the mall in Washington D.C.  You would never guess that it has a museum for children inside.

Philadelphia had many first class attractions.  I only wish we had arranged to stay longer and see more of them.

This morning, after running a quick 7:30AM 5K, we met some of my colleagues for a trip down the Ocmulgee.  We went with Ocmulgee Expeditions, which is one of the best kept secrets here in town.

They put us in the river at Water Works Park and we paddled/drifted for about 4 miles to the Riverwalk.  The kids loved it.  It was amazing how we were right in the middle of town, but it seemed like we were out in the middle of nowhere.  Even when we passed by the trails, you couldn’t see anyone because we were so low in the river.

I highly recommend taking a trip sometime soon!

Although the season ended weeks ago, T-ball officially ended Tuesday night with a party at Stevie-B’s.  T-ball is a mistake I will never make again.  We originally decided to put Tristan into team sports so that he would learn that you aren’t always a winner.  Of course, we ended up on a disfuctional team that couldn’t ever win.  Unless Tristan specifically asks to do team sports again, that chapter in our lives is over.

And yes, those are Silly Bandz that my kids are sporting in the first photo.

Last night was Tristan’s kindergarten program/awards ceremony.  I can’t believe that Tristan has almost conquered kindergarten.  It seems like his first day was yesterday.

In case you can’t figure it out, Tristan was a cow in the Kindergarten Farm.  Now that you know that, you can crave Chick-fil-A too!

Here is a video of the short performance:

Tristan did get an award for Accelerated Reader.  But then again, about 90% of the kindergarten class got the award so perhaps they should rename it “Average Reader”.

Somehow, our Saturdays have been consumed with running and t-ball lately.  I fondly remember sleeping in on Saturdays.  This Saturday, we woke up at 5:30 to get ready for the Run4Missions 5K.

The kids participated in the one mile fun-run.  No, I’m not forcing my kids into my sport.  They WANT to do this.  I am happy that they are picking up on positive habits.  We know several kids who sit and play video games all day.

Tristan placed 3rd among boys 10 and under.  He ran the mile in just over 10 minutes.  That’s a lot faster than I was two years ago!

Mackenzie finished 4th among girls 10 and under.  She beat out girls three times her age!  She finished in about 14 minutes.

Here’s a picture with them sporting their finisher’s medals.  I regret that I didn’t get the pictures of them receiving their trophies at the awards ceremonies.  I wish I had brought my video camera so that you can hear the “AWWWWW”s when Mackenzie ran up to the stage to get her trophy.

After the fun run, it was time for my 5K.  I ran the race in 23:48 — a new personal record!  I was pleased.  Since I’m in a tough age group (30-34), I ended up 5th and didn’t get any bling bling.

Next, it was off to t-ball, which no longer has a “tee” as you can see above.  I’m still not sure what’s up with that.  I think maybe the ballpark lost all of the tees.

Here is Tristan getting tagged out on the way to first base.  It turned out to be a pretty good shot.

After lunch and a nice nap, we headed off to Downtown Macon for the Moonlight Miles 5K.  I’ve never raced twice in one day, but it worked out pretty well.  It was my first local night race and the only one I’ve done other than the Tower of Terror 13K at Disney.

Kimberlie isn’t great at getting good night shots, so you won’t see any pictures of me running at night.  My time was about 2 minutes slower because of hills and trying to avoid the Macon potholes at night.

We finally got home about 11:30 after a nice meal at the Waffle House (the only thing open).  Needless to say, we slept in this morning!

Kimberlie and I went to Kindergarten Field Day this morning at Tristan’s school.  It brought back quite a few memories.  Enjoy the pictures and remember your field day as well:

We got a call from Tristan’s school this morning.  Our boy-genius (sarcasm) had put an eraser in his ear.  I drove all the way to his school, wondering whether I should take him to his pediatrician, his ENT, an urgent care facility, or the emergency room.  I wasn’t happy about it because I had important things happening at work.

I signed him out of school at 9:50 and took him home.  First, I took pictures (of course).  Then I was able to eventually remove the eraser with a pair of tweezers.  I took him back to school and checked him back in at 9:57.  He missed seven minutes of school.

Needless to say, I’m not too happy about it.