Team Ice

It is soccer season in the Zitzman household. Cole has been asking us for awhile to play and finally he is old enough. If you can't find him in the team picture, he is in the top, second from the right.

He really likes soccer, but he is still getting adjusted to all that running. He does really well, and doesn't ever ask to stop (or fake an injury like his mom did around this age). Saturday was his first two games, yes he had two in a morning. It was a crazy day. He had pictures at 8:15 and then his first game at 9:00 and then his second game at 11:00. I will admit that by the second game he was all too happy to rotate his turn off the field. Cole is one of a handful who has never played before, but is learning really quickly. He even stopped a goal when he was goalie. It is cute to watch the chaos of new players. Many times the ball was lost from vision, being surrounded my a lot of tiny feet.

I couldn't get a lot of pictures of the actual game, parents can only get so close, and I was missing the mega lenses some of the parents had. Seriously it looked like they were shooting for a sports magazine. But I did get some before and after the games. Cole says eventually he is going to coach soccer, that is after he plays all the other sports first.

Cole kicking the ball onto the field during before game practice

Cole reenacting his goalie time

Coles object of most excitement: Snacks!

Welcome Nephew Gus

My brother Greg and his wife Allice just welcomed their first son Gus Austin into the world. I just wanted to post/brag a little. Isn't he cute? Allice was a trooper and delivered him c-section, and he came out healthy and beautiful. I just wanted to share and let the new happy family know how delighted and excited we are for them. WE LOVE YOU!

An Apple A Day

Sweet Apple Joy! The apple orchard we like is back in full swing. Last year there was an early frost that ruined like 90% of their crop, so apple pickings were slim. I am happy to say this year everything has been set right. We went a little earlier than normal in the season because of the legendary honeycrsip apples. We had heard rumors that they were the sweet nectar of life. Friend after friend claimed that you hadn't had an apple until you had had a honeycrisp. So with much anticipation, we marked on our calendar to go up the first weekend you could pick them. Was all the hype true, you ask? YES! They were so good! We went with a group of friends and just picked our hearts out. Our bags were literally brimming and busting. 40 lbs of apples later we feel we are ready to bunker down for the winter. Yes, that is a lot of apples, but if you didn't know this (I didn't the first year), freshly picked apples can last for months and months and months in the right conditions. Here is a little "did you know" fact...Did you know that the apples we buy in the store were picked anywhere from 9 months to a year ago? Yeah I was pretty shocked. So note to self, pick when you can!

The only downside to the whole event was that in true Ohio fashion the weather was miserable. It was so hot and muggy. My poor boys were dripping from the scalp. They had fun at first as they helped pick and devour, but too quickly they just pooped out. I had intended to get quite a few more pictures (I even tried to coordinate the family in a nice fallish brown), but Cole is at the age where he turns his back on you every time a camera comes out, and Jack was too tired by the end. We still got a couple of good ones. As I tried to get one last family picture, Spencer nicely reminded me that pictures weren't the priority...aren't they always! So family and friends find your local apple orchard and pick away, and if you don't have one, you know who to visit in the fall.

The boys picking and eating apples.

Cole giving me the stink-eye for taking his picture.

Jack all done with apple picking.

First Day of Preschool

So yesterday was Cole's first day of preschool. Me and a group of moms are doing a moms co-op preschool. It has been in the works for a while and now here it is to fruition. I am in charge of teaching the first week. I have one day under my belt and one more tomorrow. We have a great set of kids and moms. In the picture is, back to front, left to right, Aliena, Cole, Brooklyn, Tanner, Lauren, and Addie.

We learned about where we live. We learned our addresses, we talked about our houses and who lives in them, and what we do in different rooms (no worries my son is the only one who drew himself going potty in the bathroom, everyone else did brushing teeth, taking bath...), and our favorite rooms.

Where I live Booklet, digital Scrapbooking is a lifesaver

We also talked about the letter A and painted with apples. Here are a couple extra pictures of movement time when they danced and then froze to music. Plus there is one of Cole diligently writing during writing time.

Tomorrow we are going to learn about Ohio. I pretty much had to look up everything being a newbie to the state and all. This co-op is a great alternative, but boy howdy I am glad that I am only teaching every 6 weeks!

So Much To Blog, So Little Time

We are back from our excursion to Washington state. I will happily and honestly admit that I did not want to come back. Who would? I got to be in the beautiful NW, plus we stayed in Richelle's beautiful and spacious house (with bathrooms bigger than a closet), there was actually good food in the fridge, and the boys were insistent that dad take care of them the whole time. Plus I can 't forget to mention that I got to see a lot of good friends and a little sneak visit from Natters, Nanny and George, and my dad! It was a marvelous trip. There were many highlights and way too many pictures to share. The major highlight was a trip to Longbeach, WA. We spent a couple of days hanging at the beach. Richelle's aunt and uncle have a beach house so we stayed there. We got there to a stinky fridge full of rotten food because the fridge itself had been unplugged. I will admit that I did nothing to help with that. It was really gross. Thanks Spencer and Richelle.

The beach itself was really fun, especially because August was Kite Festival Month. There were tons of really cool kites. The boys were really impressed. Both Cole and Jack were brave enough to keep their tootsies in the cold NW ocean. By the second day, Jack even got adventurous enough to play in the sand. He may have had sand embedded in his scalp for a couple of days (who is proud of me for letting that happen???). The second day our friends Andy and Elyn came up with their kids and we spent the day walking around Long Beach. The kids rode the go carts with the dads, and then the dads raced Richelle and Siobhan on the big, fast track. I will happily brag that Spencer kicked everyone's trash, video games apparently pay off.

We ended that day with yummy ice cream cones at Scoopers ( I guess it is famous there) and then went back to the house for some chili before heading home that night.

While that was the highlight, the whole trip was wonderful. Richelle and Siobhan took such good care of us, it amazes me how many great people are in my life. They opened their home not only to us, but to all the great people who wanted to spend more time with us while we were there. We were there on our anniversary and they gladly took our kids for the whole evening.

On that side note, let me just insert a little emotional insight about my marital bliss of seven years. It is hard to believe it has been, and yet has only been seven years. Time really does fly when you are having fun! I feel very lucky and blessed to be in this relationship. We are so compatible in the ways we are a like and in the ways that we are not. I love that Spencer will still let me cuddle right up to him in church (with the kids crawling all over the place). We take care of each other equally, if not differently. I love him and appreciate all he does, and I know he feels the same. So yeah for a great seven years, and a double hooray for an eternity more!

Just to brag about my awesome husband a little more, he said to not worry about presents this year because of the budget, we both agreed that dinner out would be enough...BUT little did I know he had already gotten my present and figured that was big enough for both of us. So on our anniversary I opened up a card that said "guess what your present is?" After pretending to be indignant because I didn't get him one, I started guessing. That led to a little game of hangman, which led to me writing out the letters SYTYCD! That's right my hubby got me So You Think You Can Dance tickets. So he got me a great present AND he showed how selfless he is because I know that is not is favorite venue.

Okay back to our trip, don't worry I am almost done...JUST ONE LAST THANK YOU. Richelle and Siobhan (who gave the whole family haircuts, I might look amazing) we love you. We are so grateful for both of you and how much you love us. We miss you daily. Thanks for the good times.