Sports Camp

Clara attended Sports Camp at church a couple of weeks ago. She was so excited to have Leah and Kate join in the fun. The older kids got to choose between soccer, football, basketball and cheerleading. Being the mean mom that I am, I conveniently forgot to tell Clara that cheerleading was available. Oopsie. So she and Leah chose soccer. I know cheerleading is big right now for little girls, but I think it just adds to the problem of little girls growing up too fast. No judgement. Just my opinion. I want it to be something that she looks forward to doing when she's in junior high (but I'm secretly crossing my fingers that she won't be interested when the time comes).

I didn't think Clara was going to make it all week. When I picked her up the first night, she looked exhausted. She was crying because she didn't know the memory verse and she had a mark on her face where she had gotten hit with a soccer ball. She got hit a couple of other spots too. It was eleventy million degrees outside and she was just a mess of emotions. She woke the next morning saying her legs hurt and she didn't want to go back. She was better by that night though, and thankfully it rained the next two nights so they played inside. She did much better the rest of the week. She learned the memory verse the next day and received a pin on Tuesday for knowing it. Becky and I traded off kids several times throughout the week so we were both able to have some free time and date nights. It was nice.

This picture was taken right after Leah won a cd. She wasn't excited or anything :)

Travis was on their soccer team too. Yay for friends! Clara had a sleepover with Leah on Thursday night. They swam all afternoon on Friday and didn't take a nap. That night at Sports Camp, they played a short game against their coaches and parents got to come cheer them on. I don't think 'game' is the right word for what we witnessed though; it was more like a free-for-all with every single kid on the field running amock. I'm just going to assume she learned some actual soccer skills at some point during the week. Clara and Leah were holding hands a good portion of the game and Travis couldn't seem to stay on his feet.

Clara ended up having an allergic reaction to the fresh cut grass. First her eyes started itching and it probably didn't help matters any when she started rubbing them with her hands. Then she started itching all over and ended up with a few hives as well. As the game came to a close, I gave her some benadryl and splashed some water on her to try and rinse her off. The benadryl hadn't stopped the itching yet, but I think it was starting to make her drowsy as we headed inside for the last few minutes of singing and prizes. She started crying, so I took her to the bathroom to try and rinse her off a little better. Then horror of horrors, Kate won a soccer ball. And then one of the older boys gave Travis the soccer ball he had just won. Clara. lost. it.

I mean, completely lost it. She was a blubbering, itchy, exhausted mess who was unable to contain her disappointment any longer. Oh, the humanity! Her coaches wanted to take pictures with her but she couldn't compose herself long enough to pose for a picture. I was able to convince Kate to let her hold her new soccer ball for a picture and she perked up long enough to snap this quick pic. All in all, Clara had fun at Sports Camp but I was soooooo glad when it was all over.