First time inside Chik-fil-A since the before times. 🐓📷
Needless to say, the kiddo was very happy about it.
Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Kushner
A quick family photo after the Mass. (Note the water all over one of the kiddo’s shirt. He totally wasn’t playing in the fountain.)
She loves her biggest brother.
(Taken at Mass—a rare exception to my no phone policy at church.)
Kids soccer, yet again.
It was a warmer start to our weekend soccer games than last week when the reported 55 degrees was warmer than it felt. This week is quintessential Arizona winter. Highs in the 60s, sunny.
Little brother had the first game. He loves it more and more each week. I didn’t get any shots of the big kiddo’s game but he also did well.
The difficulty now is the two babies are more mobile. Number 3 wants to play soccer so so bad. Baby sister loves running around. And those are both great but it makes it harder to focus on the kids when they’re playing.
I’m not ready for her to be a beautiful toddler. But she runs ahead to her future anyway.
📷: the inestimable Mrs. Perez
Winter time bliss in Arizona.
Mirror
Rotatation
Reading with grandpa. . . . . . My Dad got his turn to come out and visit. Itâs been longer since weâve seen him than my mom, at nearly two years. He was very excited to have his grandkids read to him. Here, Paco picked a board book. #family #monochrome #iphone12promax
Dancing with Gram. . . . . . #shotoniphone #monochrome #iphone12promax #blackandwhite
Portrait of the missus and the baby. Took this quick snapshot while the three brothers were playing in the splash pad after we got hamburgers and went to the park. 📷
Morning smiles.
Date Night, the first since the Before Times.
Playtime, Fall 2020.
Feeding the ducks. . . . . #lightroom #monochrome #blackandwhitephotography #sonya7ii #sonyalpha
Free space, May 28, 2021. . . . . #vsco #monochrome #iphonography #familytime #iphone12promax
Quick view from my building. My office is actually one of the windows off the left but this view from the top of the stairs is so much better.
The true, the good, and the beautiful.
Big kiddo has his initial assessment for fall classes at a classical school here in town.
Starting Soccer, pt 3
We conclude our three part story on the boys starting soccer this spring. Paco had his first practice. Other than missing the first half of the NCAA Men’s basketball final (and let’s be honest, after how bad Baylor dominated, I didn’t miss much), I was glad the start time was a little later in the evening.
Paco did a lot better at practice than in his first game. I had mentioned previously that he struggled during the game because he didn’t understand that other kids get turns at the ball, and he doesn’t need to score a goal on every possession to have fun. We still had a few pre-practice jitters. When we arrived, Paco demurred when I encouraged him to go say hello to his coach. Eventually, with some coaxing, he finally joined his team during the warm up.
He’s starting to get the hang of the concept, and when he’s on, he’s actually very good. I won’t post the video but during the scrimmage, he handled the ball well and scored a goal.
Starting Soccer, pt 2b (Opening Day!)
It wouldn’t be a full morning of soccer without the big kid’s first game. Our theme of jitters continued. In fact the pattern was the same: lots of eager excitement, followed by extreme shyness just before the game started, tears in and throughout the game, with moments of courage and elation.
Nacho got to play goalie for a bit of the first half and was surprising good. But he was also scared of the ball. Although that isn’t exactly a good virtue for a goalie, he nevertheless did his best.
After the game, he was slapping high fives with his team-mates and told us that he really loves playing soccer “even though I cried a little.” For us, that’s really all that matters—getting him to enjoy the competition, over come low-stakes fear, and learn to love the game.
