The Years Have Rolled Around....

Today Ashton, Kate, Paul and I took Scott and Gavin roller skating for Scott's birthday. Kate was so excited and couldn't wait to get her skates on. Ashton was amp'd up and was ready to go. Paul was nervous and mumbling things to himself along the lines of "It better be like riding a bike...". I was just happy to have the kids out of the house doing a physical activity. We had a blast.

Ashton looked like an octopus on wheels because at his skate size the wheels moved. Because Kate has smaller feet, the skating rink fixed the wheels so the wouldn't roll. She basically walked around the rink and danced to the music.

Gavin slept peacefully in his "wheels" (stroller) and when he awoke watched his daddy fly around the rink countless times, happy and smiling.

The afternoon took me back to the weekends of my youth, being dropped off at the rink around 7pm and being picked up at 11pm, spending time as an adolescent among my friends discovering who I was and where I fit in.

The most amazing part of the whole afternoon with my kids was laughing to myself how the Hokey Pokey song played was the exact same version that was played when I was a kid. Somethings never change!

Slow Like a Turtle...

Ashton started "Soccer Shots" Wednesday and based on what he demonstrated at home, it's a great fit! Basically it's an elective he takes each Wed. Coach Josh gathers all the kids that signed up for it and takes them outside for 1 hour and works with them on the fundamentals of soccer. Ashton's been working on his soccer skills with Paul and seemed excited to go to school for soccer. He reported to us that he likes "Coach Josh" and that he learned the following and demonstrated the skill very proudly!

1st you kick the ball s-l-o-w like a turtle, then FAST LIKE A RABBIT!
Slooooow like a turtle, then fastlikearabbit!

Cracks me up when I seem him do it and glad to see he learned something and found his niche. I'll try and snap a photo of him or video of him doing it and post it up here soon.

Seemed Like a Good Idea!

Tried to teach the little ones to ski over the holidays. Two- and four- year olds with waxed boards strapped to the bottom of their feet pointing down a steep snow-covered slope. Yeah...seemed like a good idea at the time. The good news is noone broke ANYTHING! :) (That's Paul's ski next to Kate's ski!)

Check out Grandma Darlene's photos of the excursion: http://ronanddar.shutterfly.com/58

Here are my photos:http://the704reids.shutterfly.com/2991

Olympic Fever at Our House

This is the first year we've all really been into watching the Olympics, actually...it's the 1st Olympics Ashton & Kate have been alive to see! This is how we are involving it in their lives:

Lego Beijing Olympic Renderings: Check this link out...holy cow these are LEGOS - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1046255/On-marks-set-Lego-Welcome-Olympics-everyones-quick-blocks.html

• Getting ready to witness history = 8 gold medals by 1 Olympian: We've spent all summer at the pool learning to swim so Ashton could begin his quest for the 2020 games and 9 gold medals!
• Making sure the coverage is ALWAYS on tv. Kate stayed up late and watched the opening ceremony on 08.08.08 and absolutely LOVED it! It was so colorful and fluid and simply the most amazing thing I've ever seen. (Outside of Micheal Phelps in a swim suit!) Can you beleive these are PEOPLE 2-3 high making a model of the stadium they are standing in?
  
• After watching the ENTIRE 2 hour 20 minute coverage of the Woman's marathon, which was sooooooooooooooooooooo much more exciting then I thought it would be, Paul and I have started going aggressively back to the gym and try to pretend we are marathon runners when we are on the treadmill. (And FYI, a 38 year old woman from Romania won which means...I still have time if I really want it!)
  

Daddy's Little MVP

What could make Paul happier than a child that L-O-V-E-S to watch basketball games? You see, the playoffs are on and every night Paul tries his hardest to watch any game he can. But, in this house the children rule the roost, and by roost, I mean remote control. So, you can imagine, Blue's Clue's always seems to make it's way on to the screen. But there has been a recent development that almost brings a tear to a dad's eye. Tonight, while Paul was stealing a look at a game's score Kate grabbed the nearest floor pillow, dragged it over right next to her Daddy and quickly plopped down while pointing and saying "Baket-ball daddy! Baket-ball! Yea!". She was very much into watching the game saying, "Hurray!" during either team's baskets and "Uh-oh!" when they missed. (This was a little unexpected as it was all done on Kate's own accord.)

While Paul is somewhat sad that neither Ashton nor I are ones to spend time watching sports on TV (although both Ashton and Kate REALLY enjoyed checking out a Steeplechase on tv the other day), I'd like to believe that his heart has been lifted when he realized he will have a Reid as a couch buddy when the sports seasons start.

Kate is very interested in and already VERY good at kicking balls, bouncing balls, throwing balls...but don't count Ashton out when it comes to athletics. My guess is he may shy away from team sports like soccer or baseball, but I anticipate we may have one heck of a golfer, swimmer or maybe even tennis player on our hands. Only time will tell!