Welcome to flamingobear. We're the Martin family. Jenn cooks a lot. Tim eats it. And the trees are awesome.
The kids (ours and the cousins) were all about the waves this year. While it makes me nervous on occasion, I can’t really argue with them. The waves are absolutely my favorite part of going to the beach too. For you, I have a review of the best wave jumping seen at Port Trinitie last week…
Today was a good day, a memorable one. Like most Saturdays, it started at the market, where we bought some 32 quarts of strawberries… But that’s another post.
From there, to the soccer fields, where the Purple Pandas (Aspen’s team) managed a 1-1 draw against a team that had beaten them 7-1 weeks ago. Yes, the Pandas ended the season on a hot streak.
Next up? Oakley’s team ran into a wall… perhaps the most physical team I’ve seen in U7 soccer. Some of the girls did physical right, clean, others, well, not so much. But Oakley’s team, the Smashing Dolphins played it just right. They didn’t back down from anyone, they went after them, and they dealt with the checking in just the right way… They put the ball in the back of the net 5 times…
From there, we all caravanned to the Martin house for a soccer celebration… I’ve had a great season with two fun teams of girls… some of whom we’re getting to know really well. I’m thankful for that… even in a season where the Panda’s won but one game, the group of girls is growing closer, and that’s pretty awesome to see.
Every teacher should have to create a video summarizing their year, right? I mean, why wouldn’t they, what with everything else they have to do at year’s end?
Well, the incomparable Miss Drury did just that for her kids, and she shared it with us at their final publishing party. You get to hear the kids talk about the things they’ve learned including the techniques and concepts… complete with some words you may not know.
If you’d like to skip ahead to hear Oakley’s bit, you can click right here. Otherwise, enjoy the video in its entirety.
If you’re a fan of Lindy, and face it, you should be, I have a treat for you. I have 7 minutes of video… and every frame features little Miss Lindy (well, every frame except those in which she bounces away…)
As always, so much credit goes to Miss Donna, who is so kind to me. You see, Miss Donna spares me the tedium of a monstrous dance recital in which my child performs just two songs. And in turn, I can share with you a video that features Lindy throughout.
Sorry it’s been a while since I posted… I’m gonna drop several on you in a row, so that should be fun, at least!
Last night was Aspen’s church musical, entitled Power Play. I wasn’t in the mood to video the whole thing, but I thought I’d try to catch Aspen’s big moment. You see, earlier this week, the director James realized the kids were struggling with the words to one of the songs. So he decided to break it up into a few solos. And he offered for Aspen to do one of them.
I enjoy watching my kids grow up. Some parents are crushed by the passing of time, but so far, I find that I like my kids more and more all the time. So, when they move past some moment in their life, I’m happy for them, not sad.
Well, this weekend, we passed another milestone in our familial development. As of yesterday, April 4, 2010, the Martin family no longer needs training wheels (in a very literal sense).
Late Saturday afternoon, Lindy asked me to watch her use her sister’s razor scooter… a two wheeled device that requires control and steering and balance. And you know what? She could do it without issue. So, I thought, why not throw her on Oakley’s bike and see how she does? She couldn’t quite manage the size, but she could balance to some degree.
So, out came the pliers and off came the extra wheels. You can see the results for yourself.
And here we have Oakley’s team, the Smashing Dolphins. Enjoy this two game set as well. (It’s probably our last soccer video for a while… we’re gonna try shooting some stills!)
More soccer, folks. Another game with some improvement from Aspen’s team. Enjoy.
We’re equal opportunity here, so we have some of Oakley’s soccer team video as well. Admittedly, this one is a little shorter as we had some video camera battery failure (and I edited it second, so I was more aggressive).
This one comes complete with a good tumble for Oakley, and lacks a sweet sharp angle goal she scored.
And the Purple Pandas return to the field. It’s early in the season, the result was a 6-1 loss, but there signs of hope for the Pandas. The second half was a 1-1 tie, so that’s something to build on. Keep reading…