Lil' Kicker #2

Just when I thought there were no more sports to try for awhile, along comes flag football for the Big Boy! And wouldn't you know, it's the one sport he REALLY gets! Soccer was okay; baseball was better; swimming wasn't competitive and too much like fun; but FOOTBALL is like...SERIOUS BUSINESS!

Nicholas, age 8-1/2, has now had two games, both of which I was able to attend. Luckily the games are indoors because today Atlanta had its first snow storm of the season. No problem. We all got there and back without a hitch, even though several schools are closed for tomorrow.

The center of attention...well, MY attention, that is.


Here in the foreground, he PAYS attention. Really, he does.


And somehow he always weasles himself in next to the coach's side, eyeballing the next play!

Today Nicholas was the ball-hiker on offense. At first he side-hiked the ball but throughout the rest of the game, he did it through his legs like a pro. So cute! See the size difference in these boys, ages 8-10! Not to worry though because he's one of the fastest on the team!

And even Donica was there today with her video camera and this YouTube for show-and-tell (keep your eyes on #2 because in the first play, he captures the flag!):



YAY for YouTube! If this works, this is my first attempt at posting a video. HA! An old dog doing a new trick...showing a new dog doing an old trick. I love it.

Here's a small photo album from the last two games (20 images). You know how we feel about kids and team sports: it's a valuable life experience, for all of us!

Up, Up and Away

Believe it or not, there's one last "event" from our Sedona, Arizona, trip last November that needs to be shared...before I can lay that week to rest: our hot-air balloon ride (photo album).

It was my first such balloon experience in my life and is one I will never forget. It's hard to describe the feeling of 2 hours in the air at slow speed in the quiet beauty of the desert morning with the redrocks in the distance! But I'm getting ahead of myself....

Before the sun rose, we were picked up at our vacation house and taken out to the desert spot where 5 different balloons were being set up to fly together.

Part of the fun was watching all five balloons get blown up at the same time. Ours was the last (to the left out of the picture, just getting set up).

One by one, all that hot air....and then lift-off!

Then the ride! OMG! For the next two hours we watched the sun rise over the Cathedral Rock formation, one of the 7 vortexes in the Sedona area (see this post).

We even saw the San Francisco Peaks off in the distance, north of Flagstaff (below).

The rest of the trip was just as fun watching the other 4 balloons and taking pictures of where they were, either above or below us the entire ride.

Besides all that, the actual details of flying the balloon itself were so fascinating. I was enamored with all of it, from setup to navigation to takedown.

As I said, I'll never forget it.

And at the end, a celebration! Champagne, strawberries-n-cream, and a certificate of having taken a hot-air balloon ride over the upper Senoran desert! What more could we have asked for from "our beautiful, our beautiful balloon!"