Ahhhhh....Water Polo

If you know anything about our life, you know that a lot of it revolves around the world of water polo. It is Matthew's passion, so I support it. I have to say that I'm pretty proud of him right now. He is currently in Columbia, MO at a national tournament called the Speedo Cup. His 14U 680 Drivers team won the entry to this tourney about 2 months ago, much to my chagrin. It was an accomplishment, sure, but when it comes right down to it, it means more travel time for Papa (5 days gone!), more quality time for Mama and the kids (note the sarcasm in the word Quality!).

But througout the weekend, I have realized what a big deal this really is. This tournament is the best of the best for this age-group, and Matthew's team is playing...not only are they playing, they are holding their own and competing with these other really great teams from all around the country.

They won their first game against a team from Washington, lost the second to a team from SoCal, then went on to win the next 2 games on Saturday. This put them in the championship bracket for Sunday. The first game on Sunday was a tough one, as we got our back-sides handed to us...Matthew said the kids were a little apprehensive, just not playing the way they practiced. So, they lost that game pretty handily...to another SoCal team, I think maybe from El Toro? Don't know where that is...

The last game where they were playing for 3rd or 4th, they met up with the team that beat them big-time on Friday, called Rose Bowl. This time the boys were ready, but unfortunately, due to some bad reffing, we took the loss. But, FOURTH?! They took FOURTH!!! That is quite an accomplishment for a team that has only been together for a little over a year...maybe not even that long (you see, I have very selective memory when it comes to water polo!!! heee, hee!!!)

Anyway, I'm really proud of Matthew and this accomplishment. It is a big deal...and I can't wait for him to be home tomorrow night!

P.S. The kids are great...we just got back from our first ever movie theater experience! I took them to see the Bee Movie. They LOVED it!!!

Halloween Parade

Wyatt and Annabelle's Halloween Parade was on Tuesday at their preschool. It was a weird thing to do when I was a teacher...walking through the ocean of gawking parents all saddled with every type of event-recording mechanism possible, kind of making eye contact, but kind of not. It's funny to watch from the parent side, especially with kids this young. The oldest group (the Grizzly Bears - Wyatt's group) are pretty o.k. with it all, but still a little unsure. The youngest group (the Little Bears - Annabelle's group) mostly look terrified! You can see the tears welling up in some of their little eyeballs! I'm sure they have no idea what they are doing and what is going on. Each group (there are 4 in all) sing a song and then it's over.

"Parading" out to the playground.

Wyatt (Jango-Fet) and his good friend Chloe.
The teachers are singing the song...Annabelle's just trying to keep her tiara on!

The Grizzly Bears singing "5 Little Pumpkins"

Halloween was great. The kids had a ton of fun trick-or-treating! Annabelle would go back and forth between wanting to be with the big group of cousins and wanting to go back to the house and "take a little break". She also had a hard time putting the candy in her bag. She just wanted to hold it in her hands!!! Wyatt could have kept going and going...he was loving every minute of it! Grandma and Grandpa are here to enjoy in the festivities!