Sunday, June 29, 2008

2008.07.01. - Sore Lips and Painful Finger

I could use many phrases to describe the kids first week of summer holiday. Let's just use one - unforgettable.
Daniel's daily soccer camp was in town and the coaches even managed to arrange good weather for the kids to play outside 5 days in a row. It rained just one day but the nice Nike rain jackets the children got as a present were enough to keep them dry on the field.

Daniel's wish came true and most of the week he got trained as a goalkeeper. Not even the fact that he accidentally got kicked in the mouth after the first 10 minutes on the very 1st day while trying to get the ball made him change his mind. Even with swollen, bloody lips for a week - he ate and spoke a lot less than usual - he felt most happy in the goal.

The highlight of his week was the match between the parents against the kids on the last day.
Mothers played against the youngest (8-10), fathers against 10-12 and the coaches against the older kids. (This arrangement was more than justified!)
I am rather proud to say, the kids won every game (to the delight of the children, the trainers and the parents). It was so much fun. And also so amazing how much you actually have to run during a game! (According to the latest statistics of the European Cup currently running, a soccer player can run up to more than 14 kilometers during a game!

What do you do after 4 trainings of soccer a day? You relax? Not the children. Their energy proved to be endless and therefore we went swimming and to the playground at the outdoor pools in the afternoons.

One thing is sure - you do get hungry by the end of the day - very hungry - especially for pancakes - yes, I am afraid with nutella and cocoa.

And once you are finished with re-charging your batteries, the games can start all over again!


Julia's camp turned out to be very adventurous. After the very first night we heard reports on the media how the area surrounding the camp's location got flooded by major summer downpours.
Then on the 4th day I got a call from the camp nurse saying Julia cut her finger by a cookout and needed to be stitched up - "no, she does not want to go home, she absolutely wants to stay at camp" - "she is a real trooper you know, you got yourself a fine young lady". Julia was so busy, did not even have the time or need to talk to me so I phoned the nurse in the next days to make sure the finger was healing properly. And so it was...
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