Sons in Sports

I feel like much of our life has been wrapped up in sports these past few months, so sports deserve their very own blog post. :)

First, this is what it feels like to parent 3 sons this time of year...

Our days are fast-paced, a bit blurry, and yet--joyful!

Kaleb LOVES to play soccer. His knee injury last fall robbed him of his soccer season, so we said yes to spring soccer. He didn't miss a single game, and his team did very well. They won all but one of their games, and even ended up winning the tournament at the end of the season. I know it's not all about winning, but winning IS fun. :)

Some of Kaleb's games were at the same time as Aaron's games and Braylen's track meets. Grandma helped us out with that, and even Aunt Sarena and cousin Danny made it to one of Kaleb's games. Cousin Analise came with Grandma to one of his games, too. Kaleb likes to play mid-fielder and defender, but NOT goalie. That is great, because he is really good at what he likes. :)

Besides soccer, Kaleb ran and jumped in the Hershey track meet. He was in the 13-14 age group, even though he is 12. That was tough competition for Kaleb, but he persevered and we were very proud of his efforts. He likes soccer so much more than track, even before running in this latest track meet!

Kaleb in the standing long jump

Speaking of track...
Braylen rebounded from his back injury and finished his 8th grade track season strong. The coaches could only take the top 4 athletes for each event to the remaining meets, and Braylen earned a spot every time. He is not the fastest runner, but he is fast enough to qualify for his events! He consistently ran in the 100, 200, and 4X100 relay. At the last meet of the season he had a personal best in the 200 and his relay took first place at conference. Great job, buddy! :) I have a feeling that high school track will be lots of fun!

In the center, wearing blue, Braylen gets ready for his 200.

Aaron.
When Aaron plays soccer, he plays ALL out. He does nothing halfway, including sports. He is fiercely competitive--our most competitive son by FAR. Every game was the World Cup in his mind, I'm pretty sure. :)

His favorite position is still to play goalie. So different from Kaleb!

Taking his turn on the field and out of the goal

Aaron's really come a long way this year. He is a different player than what we saw on the field in 2nd grade. He is much more aggressive, and did I mention he is competitive? ;) There were 2 games that Derek and I missed--and yes, Grandma helped with one and Aunt Pam helped with the other. Wouldn't you know it, one of those games was the one time all season he scored a goal? And Grandma had just left the field to go to Kaleb's game, so none of us were there to see it. I will never hear the end of that. One of the other soccer parents told me about it, so at least I knew what to expect when Grandma brought Aaron back to the track. Thankfully, Aaron's true love is keeping goals OUT of the goal box when he plays goalie. I saw PLENTY of those. He is small but mighty, that Aaron. :)

Standing long jump for Aaron

Aaron also participated in the Hershey track meet. He ran the 50 and the 100. Like Kaleb, he decided he likes soccer much better than track. At least we had a nice day for it. Last year we all froze in 40 degree temps and 40 mph winds--at least! ;)

Sports are lots of fun, but when you have more than one child, sports wreck a lot of havoc in a schedule! With church activities, school, and music thrown in the mix--not to mention everything else life brings our way--you can see why these past few months have felt rushed and blurry to me. But through it all, I've had fun watching our boys run and kick and run some more. :) And that's why they play sports, after all. To have FUN!!!