Raised By Wolfs: Soccer games 3 and 4

Let's all pause for a moment to give thanks that we are officially halfway through soccer season! Game 4 was this past Saturday, but I'm going to lump it in with game 3 for this post.

So, game 3 was last weekend. Given the outcome of games 1 and 2, we went into this one with our low expectations... which, apparently, is right where they should remain.

{Reid}

{Grant}

They look totally amped up and ready to play, right??

We got in a few minutes of warm-ups before the game started. (And I use that term loosely, to say the least.)

Which of course necessitated a break:

Honey was still in Israel at this point, but you can bet Big was there to cheer on his favorite little soccer stars.

{Big & Grant}

I will say, this game was 100x better than game 2. Both of the boys actually made contact with the ball:

{Grant}

They both got to throw it in at one point, too:

{G}

{R}

{G}

If you're wondering why I have so many pictures of them running toward me, it's because that's how they spend about 80% of the game. It makes for thirsty work, too:

{R}

What you see there is the #1 motivational factor that keeps them coming back to the field for more each week: juice boxes.

{Grant's on the move!}

{Reid's not impressed}

{Daddy & his ducklings}

At least they're polite competitors -- here's Grant cheering on the other team:

And Reid pretending to be asleep as he ignores me:

Speaking of polite competitors, they may be a little too well-mannered and *ahem* sensitive, and in need of some toughening up. Grant got shoved down at one point and when he stood up, he told the other kid "WE NOT PUSH PEOPLE!!!! THAT NOT NICE!" and Reid chimed in with "YOU NOT NEED TO PUSH MY BRUDDER. THAT RUDE!" They're still talking about it.

{Reid}

This is my favorite part of each game -- when they just sit right down on the field and pout. (Ok, not really -- it's really when I want to grab them by the arm and drag them to the car for acting ridiculous.)

It's like a game of whack-a-mole; when you get one to stand up, the other one plops down.

Finally it was time for our favorite part of each game: the end. Yay snacks! We had snack duty for game 3 and brought popsicles, which were a big hit. Except every single kid wanted red. Is that a thing??

{Reid L, Grant R}

Because it was our most successful game to date (and because it was lunchtime), we celebrated with Big at Five Guys.

Game 4 was yesterday, and we were excited to welcome Honey back to our cheering section. Warm-ups started off pretty solid:

{G}

{R}

Oops, wait, not so fast -- Reid is "very firsty."

{R}

{G}

Now Grant's turn:

And then this -- the melodramatic pouting that makes me want to scream. I mean, could his head be hanging any lower???

{Grant}

Bless Coach Daniel's heart. (Have I said that already??) He has the patience of Job. This is in the middle of the game -- Reid was supposed to be playing goalie, but he decided to just sit down and Grant decided to join him.

Grant was having a rough day -- more pouting, with an escort off the field by his brother:

Even Reid's face says "What are we gonna do with this kid??"

Oh, and here's how the coaches tell them apart: blue painter's tape on Reid's jersey. We're classy.