Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Summer, Summer, Summertime...Summertime

Summertime will forever conjure up images of Will Smith's sweet "Summertime" tune. You know, "school is out and it's kind of a buzz." You know you want to finish the next line - "but back then I didn't really know what it was." Summertime just does something to our senses; wakes us up, perks our attitude a bit. We smile a bit brighter, we enjoy being outside, we become more engaged and active.

This summer we have the added joy of including basketball on our list of things to do. By some good fortune my sweet Bball Girl was invited to be part of a summer recreational league. Could there be any better thing for her? She wrapped up winter basketball and flew head-first into track for the spring and we were expecting a lull in the movement of her body for summer. Not so. Not so sure why I thought it would be so either. So far we haven't been swimmers, never done the swim team, although I promise if I was a stay at home mother I would be at that pool nearly every day. But here we are, enjoying the first few days of summer and also enjoying a summer basketball team.

Dare I call them the "Dream Team?" It sure does seem that all the players that gave Bball Girl a run for her money on the court in the winter season have come together to form one very talented team. Now, let me be clear, every dream team goes through a molding mess of a process where it might not be pretty - at first. Last night's premiere of this team of rising 5th graders, was just that way. Ugly. In fact, Ugggghhh leeeee. There was a lot of confused looks, arms flailing, bodies scraping and some not so pretty shots. A lot of missed shots and a lot of ref calls. Could have sworn we were at the WNBA finals. Bball Girl can put herself right at the top of that list of not-so-smooth starts. She did finish with 3 of the team's points. As the game went on they got more and more of a rhythm going. They won 27-2. Poor other team. 2 points and those were foul shots. Ouch. Last two minutes of the game I seriously wanted to shout out for one of our girls to make a basket for them. They could not get that lid off the rim of their basket and get that poor ball to drop in.

Bball Girl was in the zone, face serious and I must admit, doing her Michael Jordan tongue-extended, "I am serious" run down the court for a fast break layup. Too bad she missed the shot. Okay, she'll get the finishing part eventually. For now, it sure is fun to watch her make that steal and run her incredibly fast little legs down the court and man, when that tongue comes out we know she is so serious. She's like a little Jordan in Lebron's shoes.

The rest of the summer will include a soccer break from my other sweet girl, Soccer Chick. After a not so great All-Star tournament experience she was certainly ready for the break. She and Youngest will take the summer off. But veg-not! Day two of summer has resulted in the second day The Hub has toted them to work with him. Apparently there will be no slumber in the Copeland household this summer. Sounds about right.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Things I Have Learned From Track

Ten things I learned from the Copelands' 1st track season:

1. I don't have to know much of anything about running, but I can be a fantastic cheerleader from the sidelines
2. Bball Girl's stride is amazing. There is a lot of natural talent there. She's a runner.
3. 4 laps around the track really does equal 1 mile. Also known as the "1600m" for you runner types
4. I am white. As much as I don't want to, I will burn as I stand around for hours waiting for each meet to begin
5. There are a lot of kids in youth track. A lot of kids means even more parents. And more than that are the suffocating parents that meet their kids at the finish line to smother them with kisses and praise
6. The Hub really will make friends everywhere he goes
7. The Hub's friendships benefit me in the form of free food from the concession stand
8. Soccer Chick is a sweet sister. She will skip hanging with friends to attend her sibling's track meet
9. Oldest is a sweet brother. He will also take time to come to his sibling's track meet...when his girlfriend comes with him
10. Bball Girl really can run a mile in 6 minutes and 41 seconds. Probably about half the time it would take me to do the same.

As this track season comes to a close, I must admit I am so glad we did it. It was eye-opening and educational for us to enter into this world. The kids enjoyed it; certainly Bball much more than Youngest. Did he decide not to even participate in any meets during the last session? Yes, I think he did.

Coincidentally, in my quest to shed the baby weight added from my now 12 year old, The Hub and I decided we would start training to run a 5k. Never having run before, this was truly a new venture for me. I've launched my participation in the Couch to 5k program and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is really ready to make a change, and is not sure what or how. I've lost 8 pounds so far and since I didn't make the 5 foot cutoff, that 8 pounds is a pretty big deal. I'll be running in my first ever race on June 23rd. Beyond excited!

Now our family moves to the close of the soccer season. Soccer Chick finished up her spring season with her team taking 2nd place in her league's U12 Girls finals. Soccer Chick scored her first goal of the season in one of the playoff games. This season she has spent most of her time playing Center Defense. While I like her at defense (she's tough, she's fast and aggressive), I miss those goals. Seeing her make a goal at the playoff game included a run from the edge of her own goalie box to inside the opposing team's 18 yard line.

Please take notice that as my children progress, so does my lingo. On to soccer all-star team practice for the tournament this weekend, and basketball practice for the summer league. Never a dull moment in the Copeland house. Never.