Volunteering and Lacrosse

 We are pretty involved in Lacrosse. Both kids travel with their team. Daddy Volunteers as a coach for Lacrosse, I am the photographer, and Zoe shakes the coin tin and goes around to collect change for their end-of-season Party. We all have volunteered at a big game and plan on doing it again. It was fun!

 Austyn was so proud of himself this weekend. He got his first goal of the season. He was made Player of the Game and was given this hat to wear until the next game. He also was made Assistant Captain! He was SO HAPPY!

Hockey's Partner

Yes, Lacrosse can get rough. The kids eventually learn to check each other. Some days, I have to admit, I am a little mixed on what I think about it, but my kids enjoy it and it's a fun game to watch. I think I enjoy watching lacrosse more than hockey.  

 

 Even the little tiny kids, like my youngest, get to play it. Sometimes they are really amazingly good and seem to know what they are doing and yet, they still have those cute little kid moments like the one above, where Zoe decided to sit on the ball right when everyone was fighting to get it.

(as an aside... Austyn took this picture of her sitting on the ball with my camera)

Learning positions has proven to be tough, but the positions and many of the rules in lacrosse apply to hockey. Many kids who play both increase in ability dramatically. They also aren't afraid to be pushed around when the time comes that they are expected to do so. They gain, stamina. They learn to sweat and work hard. Even watching the older kids play can improve skill, especially when comparing what they learn about the rules and positions to what the players of the more professional teams do.

Homeschool Skating Ends

 There were only a handful of us on the last day of skating, but this year went well. We had families who came from the surrounding towns to skate. Some of the children have NEVER been on the ice before in their lives!! They have come so far and many of them don't use any kind of support anymore.

 The winter this year didn't give us many days with ice or snow, so it was nice to have the local arena to use during the day when all of the other kids were in school. 

I can't believe how well Zoe is doing. She does cross-overs now and skates so professionally for her age. She wants to take figure skating and hockey in the fall.

Austyn has benefited from the extra ice time as well. While many kids are finished with hockey and put their skates away he was doing 3-on-3 and homeschool skating every week.

I think we will have to organize this again next year!

Homeschool Gymnastics

 Doing gymnastics constantly all day and everywhere Zoe goes is paying off.

 She is going into level 5!!! They said that she has talent!! I'm now super glad that we are in Ontario for gymnastics, considering that the club in Edmonton area wasn't going to move her past preschool level since they were not allowed due to age!

 Austyn is moving forward at a normal pace. He is now in Level 3!! He passed!!

 All of the kids really seemed to enjoy this session of gymnastics. The teachers were great!

 After they got their badges they got to show us some of their moves and let us take pictures.

 Gymnastics is a hit! I can't wait until next fall. I'll be setting this activity up again!!

3-on-3 Hockey

After being on a home team for winter, Austyn decided that he wanted to try 3-on-3 hockey. He loves it and has been getting some great goals! It has been proving to be great experience for him. We may decide to continue on with it instead of signing him up for a hockey camp this summer. Grandpa has really enjoyed watching these games. They are very exciting. I think he hollers more than we do! LOL!!!

First Year of Lacrosse

Zoe has started to play Lacrosse. This is her first year and she seems to be enjoying it. If you didn't know, Lacrosse is the official national sport of Canada. It can get rough, but it's great exercise and goes hand-in-hand with hockey.

Zoe Playing with Tikes!

After playing in the beginner level tournament and proving herself with a couple of goals, Zoe was asked to be bumped up and help out the Tikes with their game. She loved it, but wasn't plowing everyone out of the way and getting the puck as usual because she was worried that they would give her a penalty. LOL! She wasn't sure if they were more strict in that level. 

She was so happy to be there. I never thought she'd love hockey this much.

Zoe's 1st Hockey Tournament

Zoe attended her first hockey tournament and got a metal. She scored two goals for her team!

Snow is Rare

 We went from spending a winter in Edmonton, Alberta during a year with record snowfall to living in Ontario during a record breaking warm winter. When the snow DOES fall, we try to make it to a hill for some tobogganing. We act fast. The snow can disappear the next day.

We have made it when school is out and the hill is covered and we also have made it during a school day where the hill is practically our own. Both are fun!

Hockey Tournament

 We sponsored a tournament for Austyn's hockey team. They did great! They didn't make it to the finals but they did wonderful and it was a good experience.

 The girls had plenty of time to play.

 They got a free meal, which gave them plenty of time to chat.

 Zoe really bonded with the sister of Austyn's friend. She is much older, but Zoe seems to like to hang around older girls.

 While waiting for one of the games Zoe did her hair. I thought it was pretty good for a 5 year old!

 A bunch of the kids stayed to watch a game after their games were all done. 

I took that time to get a few pictures.

Homeschool Gymnastics Ends

 Austyn graduated from his level.

 Zoe graduated from Advanced Preschool level 1.

 After the class was over all of the kids went to McDonalds to eat and play.

I will be taking this activity over since the family who was in charge of setting up times with the gymnastics club won't be attending the next time. I'm glad my kids want to sign up again.

Beginner Hockey Fun!

I think these pictures speak for themselves. 

What fun Zoe gets to have.

First Goal!

 Austyn is doing great in hockey. The coaches seem great. He loves to pose when he sees me with the camera.

 He is already starting to make friends on the team.

I almost didn't get it because I was a bit slow with the camera and it ended up being a bit blurred due to me hurrying. At least I got it on video!

First Hockey Practice

Zoe decided that she wants to play hockey now. She never wanted to before and had almost no interest in skating, but with going to Austyn's hockey practices and starting the Homeschool Hockey and Power Skating in this area, she now wants to play. So, her first practice was at 7AM! Yup!! They were the first kids on the ice. It wasn't easy getting her up but she went out there and was one of the best skaters of her level. Grandpa and Nanny came to watch.

She was a pretty good skater. She is in goal in the picture above.

She enjoyed showing off for us and looked our way often.

Playing Outside On Their Own

One of the complaints that I always had about my kids is that I could never figure out why they wouldn't go out and play without me. We have always lived in subdivisions and for some strange reason they wouldn't go out to play unless I came too. If I couldn't go out they wouldn't go. 

 

When we are out in the country it's a different story! Here is a picture of them running through the fields. They love playing outside here and who needs parents!? There are wide open spaces. They seem to be drawn outdoors here. They spend hours wandering, playing together, looking for insects, or playing with the farm cats.

Dance Lessons with family

The same day as Track and Field I let the kids play as long as they possibly could at the park and then we went to Zoe's dance lesson. We had to drive hours and who knew what type of traffic we would encounter since it was a different direction compared to going home. So, we ate on the way and I got Zoe dressed at dance. It was funny because she had sand falling out everywhere. I wondered if the teacher would notice. Here is a picture of her with my cousin's daughter. They are both in the same class now. They just met a week ago and I think they will become good friends.

It's so nice to have some familiar people around. We are so use to moving around to places where we don't know anyone. Who would have guessed that we would choose the same dance studio as family?!

Track and Field - Where we use to live

On Friday we drove a long way to join in with our old homeschool group. We haven't seen our old homeschool friends for almost a year. The kids are growing so fast! There are two groups that get together and they are open to homeschoolers from their groups and surrounding areas to come out and join in on the fun. We all gather at a large park in the far South of Ontario and use items that families bring to set up track and field activities. This year was a huge turn-out. It was so much fun and something that we needed for a long time. It has been a while since we have been around that many familiar homeschoolers and having that much fun.

The weather was unusually warm. I think the temperature got up to 25 degrees Celsius! What a treat to be able to be out with friends in this weather and having this much fun while all of the school kids are in school. Who ever heard of playing in the water at the beach in October!! This sure isn't common here in Ontario!! I think the pictures speak for themselves, but where needed I'll add more information.

If you are wondering what they are doing here... it's a rolling race.

 This was a crab race.

 This is racing with a partner. Austyn picked a friend he has missed and talks about often.

 There is a Blue Heron in the top left corner of the picture. They usually share the beach with us when we come here.

The kids can sometimes get close to the Egret and a ferry is running not far away.

  There was a sand castle contest.

 It was a wonderful fall day that seemed more like summer. What a treat for us since we have been in Alberta all summer and missing the beaches. This was our beach time and we savored every minute of it. It was a refreshing day in many ways!