Two on the pitch

Soccer season is upon us again, this time with two on the pitch. So for the foreseeable future, our Saturdays look a lot like this.

Caleb still seems to be most thrilled that we're all there to watch and cheer for him. He's come a long way since last year, when he was mostly interested in leisurely strolling down the field at every available opportunity. He's hustling this year, and it's a ton of fun to watch. And he's more than a little excited that his dad is the official time keeper for the games and gets to hang out on the bench with him.

I spend about half my time watching the games, and the other half trying to figure out where Jacob ran off to. Thankfully, once he's up in a tree, he's pretty easy to spot.

Levi loves the action of the game, but gets a little nervous when the ball (and the ensuing hoard of children chasing it) gets too close to the sidelines. He can cheer with the best of 'em, though.

And so far, no one runs harder or puts more heart into the game into Abby. Which explains why, 15 minutes into her first soccer game of her life, she was sitting in the middle of the field crying. Dad walked to get her back on her feet and find out what was wrong.

"I...haven't....scored....a....goal....yet!" she stammered through her sobbing.

Did I mention she had been playing soccer for all of 15 minutes? (That's Abby for you.) We spent the latter part of the afternoon explaining how a team works together to win a game, and how you don't have to score a goal to be good at soccer.

Especially when you're the goalie.

Here's to a great season!