The Lawson Chronicles: Soccer, Sea World & Strawberries

I hope time keeps going by as fast as it has been lately. That way, next summer will be here before I know it. Why do I want it to be next summer already, you ask? Well, as you can see from my updated cruise ticker (above), we finally solidified our sail date for Alaska. Boo-yah! June 10, 2011 is our next goal, and we are already excited! Room 4050 is waiting with our name on it, and we could not be happier! It'll be the same group going as on our last cruise - me, Aaron, Z, my parents, and Ken - and everyone is pumped and ready to go. Thankfully, we've come up with a list of mini-milestones so we have small goals to look forward to, like summer, back to school, football season, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. (A Longhorn national championship game wouldn't be bad, either.) If we look at it this way, instead of the fact that it's 415 days away, I think the wait will be much easier to handle. I CAN'T WAIT!

Now, to update what the Lawson's have been up to lately. We had Z's soccer season officially begin two weekends ago, and it's going GREAT! He is loving it more than ever this year, and seems to be taking the game & his coach very seriously.

He was worried a little before the season started, because this is the first year he's played by himself - meaning, knowing no one on the team. Both years of kinder soccer, he played on the same team as some friends in his pre-K class. We took a year off (ie - Mommy forgot to sign him up two different times during the year, and monumentally disappointed said child), then finally got him in for the start of this Spring season. Well, I knew he wouldn't have any problem making friends on the team, but I tried making him feel better by explaining that no one would know each other - he wasn't the only one. That seemed to help, and now, only after three practices & two games, he's made one or two new buddies.

(He's #3.)

The coach really seems to recognize his skill, and has made a few comments to me about it via email. After the first practice, he wrote me to say "Zach is really good, and an excellent listener." Suh-weet! This last email after Saturday's game was to all the parents, and said:

"We played a good game on Saturday and allowed one goal on many attempts. Everyone did an excellent job. Zach really got after it and was all over that ball. Thanks, Zach."

Well, needless to say, that made him feel pretty spectacular. He's super excited about practice tonight, and the upcoming game this weekend. Here are a few shots from his last two games.

"Good game, good game, good game ..."

We recently embarked on the big end-of-the-year school field trip last Wednesday. This year, instead of the San Antonio Zoo, it was Sea World - again, in San Antonio. (Can we find anything to do in town for 2nd grade?) I was one of about 50 chaperones, and it was a fun, but exhausting day. We rode on chartered buses to the park, which was nice because they were air-conditioned and equipped with a million tv's for the kids to watch, but even nicer because I didn't have to drive one of my own cars to San Antonio, like last year. I have to be honest & say up front, I generally don't like places like zoos, Sea World, circuses -- basically, anywhere that has wild animals on display or doing stupid tricks for our enjoyment. I am not vocal or obnoxious about this, and I know it's educational for the kids, but the hippie in me can't stand that we, as humans, do this. I was very conflicted doing the two dolphin excursions on the two cruises that I've been on, but was able to feel better after researching & finding out that the place they keep the dolphins treat them with respect & spoil them rotten. That being said, I tried to derive enjoyment from watching the kids see a killer whale, otters, sea lions, and penguins, all up close for the first time. The best part was watching the kids play with the dolphins - I guess I'm not the only huge fan of these amazing creatures.

The kids were allowed to climb up here to touch the dolphins, as long as they stayed on their bellies. They were THRILLED with this.

A friend of mine's son - she loved this photo!

Looks like she is laughing.

For twenty minutes, I stayed perched with my camera & ready to capture Z touching a dolphin. The micro-second I turned to answer another Mom talking to me, it happened. I heard Z yell "Mommy!!! DID YOU SEE?!" and snapped the camera on reflex. [sigh] At least I caught his initial ecstatic reaction, albeit blurry.

This poor fella was missing an eye, so the kids were extra loving on him.

The gang I hung with the whole day.

He had the right idea.

An adorable Asian Otter. No, he's not rabid, I just caught him mid-chew.

Where we saw the Shamu show.

In light of this recent article, I was just hoping & praying this whale wasn't in a pissy mood during the show. It all worked out.

This was cute.

This annoyed me, but I acted thrilled for the kids.

We've had quite a bit of rain lately, which Z has found quite entertaining.

Not that rain is newsworthy (unless it's mid-summer in Texas), but it's made for some muddy soccer fields, as well as some muddy strawberry fields. Yes, we finally took the drive out to Sweet Berry Farms and picked ourselves some little beauties. What a day!

Aaron, Z, my parents, & my sister picking in the mud.

Aaron on the right, Z way up top in the distance.

Z's berries.

My berries.

We were hoping to also pick blackberries, but they weren't quite ready yet. We'll get some of those on our next trip. While there, you can buy some of their tasty berry treats, including homemade ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry), strawberry lemonade, strawberry popsicles, etc. Yum!

While on our drive out to the farm in Marble Falls, we saw a spectacular display of wildflowers, including the beloved bluebonnets. For the first time ever, I made my son sit in the bluebonnets and pose for me. I swore I'd never do this, because it's so cliche, and I hated doing it as a kid myself. BUT, he's just too cute to pass up, and the flowers looked gorgeous.

Since it just rained, the colors were so vibrant and alive. Greens were crazy green, the bluebonnets were electric violet, and the yellow wildflowers almost glowed in the dark. It was a great day, and I'm looking forward to our next trip back for the blackberries.

To wrap this up, I'm happy to fulfill many of your requests with another episode of "stuff on my cat".