We had such a great time last year hosting a soccer coach from England, that we jumped at the chance to do it again this year. We were so excited to find out that we got to have two this year! We had a great time taking Andrew and Daniel around town and spending time with them.
Monday, we went to the Lake on base. It was empty there, so we sat in the sun and played in the water with Coach Andrew.
It was funny to see Nathan and Andrew/JJ passing up the other cars on the track. Their cars were much faster. Poor Coach Dan wanted to race Andrew, so we let them "Have another go" after the kids were done.
MaryLynn tried to drive by herself, but she was pretty scared, so we ended up being the fourth team on the track. We got passed up too, but she had a great time steering. All I had to do was keep the gas peddle mashed to the floor.
One funny thing happened this day: I took everyone to Cows n Cones for some yummy ice cream. Andrew was trying to ask if he could try a particular flavor, but with his accent, the girl behind the counter couldn't understand him. I leaned over and said, "He wants to try it." Andrew laughed and said, "I guess I need and interpreter." I guess English to American is not so easy.
I think the coaches' favorite day was Thursday. We took them rock climbing. Neither of them had ever climbed outside before and they were both willing to give it a shot. Look at MaryLynn, she is being "cheeky" again.
They both made it to the top of the easiest section pretty quickly, so Brad moved them over to the harder spot. Nathan was happy to see that he could climb higher than Coach Andrew, but that's because Nathan is on the easy section.
Coach Dan took some lessons from Brad on how to get past this tricky section. He learned well, and after this fancy move made it further up the cliff. (Check out the manly chalk bag--it's Katie's old one, I hooked it on him before he had a chance to see what it was--hee hee)
MaryLynn's favorite part of the climb was finding this cool white and black frog sitting on the rocks. She loves frogs and had to pick it up and play with it. It's so cute.
Here I am! I actually made it to the top! Yeah, it was the easy section, but it was the first time I made it all the way up.
After some great climbing, we walked around to the top to check out the view. It is beautiful.
Friday we took them to the Nautilus (the first Nuclear Powered Submarine) Museum. I think they enjoyed going down on the sub, but I wish Brad could have been there to tell them interesting things and answer their questions. I really don't know much (except that submarines are gone all the time!).
Oh yeah, we played soccer, too. The kids spent everyday from nine to noon playing soccer. They learned lots of new skills and had a great time.
Here are the campers with their funny face picture.
Nathan decided that he wanted to try the evening camp, too. This camp was mostly older kids and he enjoyed the faster pace and harder skills. So it ended up that he went to a morning camp from 9-12 then the afternoon camp from 5-8 almost every day. By the end of the week, not getting home until "half eight" every night, Nathan said his legs were so sore. I bet they were! But it was a testament to the kind of camp these coaches ran that he was that interested in going each day.
We were all so sad on Saturday when Andrew and Daniel had to pack up and head to their next job. I didn't cry in front of them. I saved it until they were gone :(
We had planned a trip to Boston to watch the Boston Cannons Lacrosse team but Andrew and Daniel kind of got "stitched up" and had to leave earlier than expected. It wasn't all bad, though, we called the coach that stayed with us last year, and he happened to be working nearby, so he met us at the game.
The kids were so excited to see Seve; they almost knocked him over with their hugs.
The Cannon's lost in overtime, but it was a great time for us! We sure enjoyed seeing Seve, and hope to see him again soon.
I think I realized from this great week that I just get too attached. These young men were only in our lives for a week, but they have a special place in our family now! What a blessing!
See how I'm learning all the English sayings!!
What a great week! Glad you had such a fabulous time.
ReplyDeleteLooks like everyone really enjoyed themselves. I think it's wonderful that the kids have the chance to go to a camp taught by those that have played the game all their lives.
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