Photography
Kids soccer, yet again.
It was a warmer start to our weekend soccer games than last week when the reported 55 degrees was warmer than it felt. This week is quintessential Arizona winter. Highs in the 60s, sunny.
Little brother had the first game. He loves it more and more each week. I didn’t get any shots of the big kiddo’s game but he also did well.
The difficulty now is the two babies are more mobile. Number 3 wants to play soccer so so bad. Baby sister loves running around. And those are both great but it makes it harder to focus on the kids when they’re playing.
I’m not ready for her to be a beautiful toddler. But she runs ahead to her future anyway.
📷: the inestimable Mrs. Perez
Winter time bliss in Arizona.
Mirror
Rotatation
Reading with grandpa. . . . . . My Dad got his turn to come out and visit. Itâs been longer since weâve seen him than my mom, at nearly two years. He was very excited to have his grandkids read to him. Here, Paco picked a board book. #family #monochrome #iphone12promax
Dancing with Gram. . . . . . #shotoniphone #monochrome #iphone12promax #blackandwhite
Portrait of the missus and the baby. Took this quick snapshot while the three brothers were playing in the splash pad after we got hamburgers and went to the park. 📷
Morning smiles.
Date Night, the first since the Before Times.
Playtime, Fall 2020.
Feeding the ducks. . . . . #lightroom #monochrome #blackandwhitephotography #sonya7ii #sonyalpha
Free space, May 28, 2021. . . . . #vsco #monochrome #iphonography #familytime #iphone12promax
Quick view from my building. My office is actually one of the windows off the left but this view from the top of the stairs is so much better.
The true, the good, and the beautiful.
Big kiddo has his initial assessment for fall classes at a classical school here in town.
Starting Soccer, pt 3
We conclude our three part story on the boys starting soccer this spring. Paco had his first practice. Other than missing the first half of the NCAA Men’s basketball final (and let’s be honest, after how bad Baylor dominated, I didn’t miss much), I was glad the start time was a little later in the evening.
Paco did a lot better at practice than in his first game. I had mentioned previously that he struggled during the game because he didn’t understand that other kids get turns at the ball, and he doesn’t need to score a goal on every possession to have fun. We still had a few pre-practice jitters. When we arrived, Paco demurred when I encouraged him to go say hello to his coach. Eventually, with some coaxing, he finally joined his team during the warm up.
He’s starting to get the hang of the concept, and when he’s on, he’s actually very good. I won’t post the video but during the scrimmage, he handled the ball well and scored a goal.
Starting Soccer, pt 2b (Opening Day!)
It wouldn’t be a full morning of soccer without the big kid’s first game. Our theme of jitters continued. In fact the pattern was the same: lots of eager excitement, followed by extreme shyness just before the game started, tears in and throughout the game, with moments of courage and elation.
Nacho got to play goalie for a bit of the first half and was surprising good. But he was also scared of the ball. Although that isn’t exactly a good virtue for a goalie, he nevertheless did his best.
After the game, he was slapping high fives with his team-mates and told us that he really loves playing soccer “even though I cried a little.” For us, that’s really all that matters—getting him to enjoy the competition, over come low-stakes fear, and learn to love the game.
Starting Soccer, pt 2a (Opening Day!)
Today are the first games for the boys. Paco went first. Although we missed our first practice this week because we never received the email from the city league, Paco was very excited to get started.
Of course, no game would be complete without butterflies. Paco ran out to start and immediately returned, crying, after the first scrum for the ball. He didn’t like that he didn’t get the ball. Then he said that everyone was too fast. (Paco is actually among the fastest of kids his age.) The shyness is new for him, as he is usually the the first to introduce himself.
Thankfully it was an aberration from our usual Paco. He got back in there and gave it another go. This jittery shyness is a theme, I bet and both kids will overcome it eventually.
Spring Soccer, pt. 1
Today Nacho had his first soccer practice. He wanted to do a sport for more than a year and just as we began to look at youth sports last spring, the world shut down. So he was, to put it lightly, more than thrilled to start soccer.
He struggled a few times. Thrice he came running back to me asserting he wanted to quit. Thrice he went back and kept at it. I was proud to see him persevere through his frustration.
Weeding
I spent part of my weekend working on the back yard. When we bought our home last summer, both the front and back had been neglected for a long while. What green did cover the ground was a mix between crabgrass and nutsedge. After months of spaying herbicide to kill what was up, watering until new weeds emerged before repeating the process, I was finally down to the last few stubborn weeds.
Not long after I started the two older kids decided that they wanted to help. First came the eldest with his toy shovel asking what I was doing. I explained that the remaining weeds had roots that went deep into the ground and needed to be dug up by hand. He began to help by digging around some of the smaller weeds. Of course, little brother realized there was fun to be had. I couldn’t help but recall all the times I decided to “help” my dad when he was doing yard work and reflected on how he must have felt having to stop work to teach me how to pull weeds correctly or make sure I was doing ok. But those were some of the earliest, and still fondest, memories of doing something with my dad.
I forgot to snap a photo of the full bucket when we finished. But it was a real threat to do something with my older two boys.