Our Weekend

 *Disclaimer, none of the pictures in this post were actually taken the past weekend, but I've added them to help with your imagination as you read about our weekend.

 Saturday morning dawned early at the Buschelman household.  We had two 8 AM soccer games and pictures at 7:30 AM.  Eric made everyone pancakes and we all headed out to our respective fields.  Since Eric is coach of Dom's team, I get to watch Will and corral Molly on days when the games conflict.  Luckily, Molly had decided Friday night to stay up late with her parents so she was a little more subdue for the early morning game than she had been the week before. 

 Will's first season of soccer has been fun to watch.  He has his moments when the game seems to click in his head and he knows where he needs to go and what he needs to do.  Then he has the moments where he is living in his imagination and just running around the field aimlessly.  Generally when he is on defense.  Though, after 4 seasons of watching kindergarten soccer, this is more common than uncommon.  He is very social and I see him telling stories and laughing throughout the games and practices.  Not exactly what he should be doing, but I like that he is having a good time. 

 I've only been to one of Dom's practices this season so I get all of my information from him and Eric.  We've realized that some switch comes on in Dom at game time.  He is sort of goofy during practice, but then becomes incredibly focused as soon as the whistle blows.  On Saturday, he was one of four players to score in their game (which they won).  Eric was particularly pleased that all of the kids who scored are the kids with the best attitudes.  I am looking forward to next Saturday when the games are offset and we'll get to watch both boys.  It will be a long morning of soccer and we may see about a sitter for Molly at least for one of the games.

It's funny, but after the morning games, we were all really tired.   I ran a few errands, but really had no wish to do much else.   Eric made the suggestion that on Sunday we go straight to Destin from church and spend the afternoon at the beach.  On Saturday, this seemed like a lot of work, but it turned out to be a great plan.

There is restaurant known for their brunch: Another Broken Egg.  Eric has been wanting to take us there for several months.  We got there at the height of the brunch rush and learned there was a 45 minute wait.  No problem, across the street was a beach shop advertising "Up to 75% off!".  Of course, that means there is one item that is 75% off and everything else might be 25% off of really high prices.  But, we did buy some boogie boards which we've been wanting since we moved.  By the time we got back to the restaurant, our name was next and we all enjoyed a nice meal.  And Molly discovered breakfast potatoes.

After brunch, we headed to our favorite beach: Henderson Beach (see above picture).  This was the first beach we visited in Florida when we came to look for a house.  And it made us all a little more excited to live here.  The water is unbelievably clear and blue.  It is not free, but the $6 fee is worth it for the beauty of the beach and the facilities.  As we drove up, I looked back to see that Molly was fast asleep.  No problem, I was feeling a little crabby due to missing my Sunday nap, so I stayed in the car with Molly for a half an hour and we all benefited from this time apart.

By the time Miss Molly and I walked up to the waves, Will was a boogie boarding maniac.  He barely looked our way.  Molly and I sat in the waves for a long time just letting them wash over us.  I can't express in words how peaceful it is to just watch the waves roll in.  The thought occurred to me that when God rested on the 7th day, he must have been looking out at a body of water (though, I would probably have the same thought at the top of a mountain or anywhere one can get away from the noise of traffic and technology).  Eric and I sat for a long time and just watched our kids frolic happily in the waves and felt like life couldn't get much better...and then we introduced Molly to the boogie board.

That girl is fearless.  I don't know how many waves she rode, but she caught several.  A few times she fell in, but she always got right back on her feet and went back for more.  Waves smashed into her face and she only lost her footing a couple of times. Molly loves the water.  Watching her run along the waves is to see pure joy.  I see the same look on Dom's face as he rides down a hill or Will's face as he eats bacon.

It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday and I look forward to doing it again soon.  I hope everyone else had an equally pleasant weekend!