Spring soccer wrap-up

Clyde and Will had their last soccer games a couple of weeks ago, concluding a highly fun season for both of them:

 Will pulled a Brett Favre and came out of retirement to play some more with the Scoring Rockets and it was a GREAT experience.

 I stayed firmly IN retirement, so another dad from the team awesomely stepped up to coach the kiddos. Will was so excited for Wednesdays and Fridays so he could go to soccer practice and work on his skills.

 

 Game days for Will were so fun to watch - he willingly went out on the field and played, which was a complete 180 from last fall.

 (these are all of his blue uniform games, he's #4)

Granted, he was usually a few steps behind the action, usually swinging his arms and humming, but we're SO proud of how far he's come. 

 (shots from his green uniform games, still #4)

 He even got his foot on the ball a few times, and Coach Rob was so great about having Will kick or throw the ball in after it went out of bounds.

 I was so excited to see four of Will's teammates from the fall return to the team so that I could still watch and cheer for them.

  

 Clyde was SO excited to rejoin the 'Avengers' for another season; his practices were Tuesdays and Thursdays and he loved every minute!

 Well, minus the running at the beginning of every practice... luckily we were late on a fairly regular basis :).

 Clyde was a superstar player once again; he had three games where he scored three goals and (I think) only one game where he didn't score at all. (Blue uniform games, he's #5)

 

 As always, we loved watching his hilariously goofy running style and facial expressions :).

 (Green uniform games).

 Between the two teams, we had soccer practices four nights a week which meant LOTS of hanging out for little Jackers:

 He can't wait until it's his turn to play and have everyone's lives revolve around his activities :).

Jack was also a champ at the Saturday games, even the chilly early-April ones:

 Those first games were pretty cold (and rainy!) for all of us...

 The boys ended up playing at the exact same time three different weeks... none of which Chuck was able to attend (work, Scout campout, work), which left me scurrying back and forth between two (blessedly nearby) fields or watching one boy while constantly swiveling my head around to see the other boy. 

One such week, Cody and Grandma Pam were able to come, which helped a LOT:

 And I think Cody learned his lesson about defying a wise mother's advice and letting Jack out of his stroller :).

As I said, both boys had such an awesome season, and so much of that is due to their respective Coach Robs:

 Clyde LOVED his Coach Rob, who was so good at pushing Clyde and encouraging him to get better and reach his potential. Such a great guy. We're all crossing our fingers that Rob coaches again next year and that we can finagle Clyde onto his team again!!

And I'm not even sure there are words to express our appreciation for Will's Coach Rob. He was the PERFECT coach for Will this season - he was kind and enthusiastic and patient (SO patient) and taught Will so much about soccer/teamwork/etc and genuinely cared about Will and his progress.

To help distract us during the soccer off-season (and in an effort to fulfill some sort of sports-related bucket list), the boys are signed up for a co-ed t-ball league for June and July, on a team with each other and some friends from the ward, which promises to be all sorts of fun - stay tuned!