Almost Famous

Ever since I was a little girl I have always wanted fame.

I wanted to be in movies, on tv, on magazines, anything really.

Did I ever do anything to progress towards such fame? Act? Sing? Write? No.

I just figured someone would come up to me one day and say - you need to be in this movie and hire me on the spot with out any training or impressive resume.

Well even though my dream of being in the lime light hasn't been fulfilled, I feel like there are many people around me how are achieving such fame. One such person is my dad.

When I was younger my dad was the coach of the USA women's national team. I was very happy to ride on his coat tails of fame. When he told me he was resigning from the national team I burst into tears. I was so upset he wasn't going to be famous anymore and therefore I wouldn't have my fame by association.

Well I am happy to report that this past weekend I was able to once again ride on my dad's coat tails of fame and have that burning desire to be sooo cool and famous fulfilled for a period of time. Finley and I were invited to join my dad and family up in Baltimore for the NSCAA annual convention. The whole family was treated to a mini vacay in Baltimore while my dad taught lectures and clinics to some 6000 coaches.

Walking around these soccer conventions with my dad is like walking around with the biggest celebrity. You can't get five feet without someone stopping him to talk, have their picture taken with him, get his autograph, or tell him how much they support him. Finley and I often felt like we were part of an entourage.

Finley was gobbling up all the soccer balls all over the convention center.

He and Pa Pa couldn't help but play with every ball they could get their hands on. Luckily we were able to take one with us as a keepsake.

One of the many luxuries we enjoyed while on our mini vacay was treating ourselves to room service. Finley was very happy to be able to eat breakfast in his room AND watch TV at the same time. What a life!

To take a break from all the convention craziness we decided to head over to the National Aquarium. We met up with my cousins and Uncle to enjoy all the fish.

When we first started planning this trip and I realized that David wouldn't be coming with me I was a little worried about handling Finley all by myself and out of our comfort zone. Luckily we had lots of help from Uncle Donovan, Auntie Michelle, and of course Mimi.

I wish we lived near an aquarium. I enjoy them so much more than zoos.

I think Finley does too.

When we first entered the main level of the aquarium there is a huge tank filled with sharks, sea turtles, and sting rays. They were all huge! I didn't know sting rays could get so big! Here is a tiger shark.

Finley and his 2nd cousin Claire had a blast running around the aquarium and pressing their noses up against the glass.

Fish Fish Fish!

Here is Auntie Chelle with Claire's mama my cousin Linda. She is expecting in June and we are so excited for her!

We had fun looking at sea horses, turtles, and a 4 month octopus.

A view of the sea turtle from above.

We even got to see him being fed some lettuce by some of the workers who got into the tank with them!

Cousins!

Here is one worker cleaning inside the shark tank.

There is one job I do not want.

And here is a shark circling in the tank.

One of the coolest parts of the National Aquarium was the dolphin show.

It took a while to convince Finley that these animals were in fact dolphins. He kept calling them whales and then when I told him they weren't whales, he called them sharks.

The show was spectacular!

It was just like something you would see at Sea World.

This is one job I would love to have. Dolphin trainer. They are so cute! And amazing.

I didn't know dolphins could do a complete flip in the air.

I wish Finley could have enjoyed the show more. He was so tired his little eyes were glazed over most of the show.

But I sure got a kick out of it!

Finley did enjoy seeing the dolphins play with balls.

Look at these two friends flying through the air together.

And look at these cuties.

Check out these amazing jellyfish.

We were all pretty tired by the end of our aquatic adventure. Time to head back to the hotel for naps!

After resting up we were able to go spy on Pa pa during one of his clinics.

I was amazed that they had these huge rooms set up like soccer fields. It was really neat.

Then we checked out all the sponsor's booths.

This was Finley's heaven. Tons of soccer balls and goals to test out and play with.

We found this one huge ball. I wish I could have gotten this ball for Finley, but alas it was too big to bring home on the plane.

GOAL!

Now onto the real reason for our trip to the convention...on Friday night we attending the annual NSCAA awards banquet in style. My cousin Diana was kind enough to come up and visit and then watch Finley so I could attend the rest of the banquet.

The award my dad received was called the Honor Award.

We were all very excited for him and proud we could share this moment together as a family.

Yay Pops!

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of him receiving the award, but they called the whole fam up on stage. If this is the closest I ever get to fame, I can live with it :).

Congrats daddy! We are so proud of you!

Preschool

This week was Finley's first week of preschool!

We decided back in the fall that starting school in January would be perfect timing with my soccer camp work starting to pick up.

As this week approached I started second guessing myself and thinking that maybe he was too young to be away from me for so long (3 hrs a day/2 days a week). But with working from home, my new church calling (Primary Pres), and keeping up with the regular SAHM stuff, I decided that for my sanity this would be a good move.

Finley's first day was great!
He walked right into his classroom and starting playing like he knew what he was supposed to do. I stayed and talked with the teacher for about 20 minutes before leaving just to make sure he was comfortable. No tears when I left! He simply kissed me and said a quick goodbye and got back to business.



I went home a little sad, but no tears from me either.
I do think this was harder on me than on him though.
I was able to get a lot of work done from home and now all my time with Finley seems more special. I am more patient with him, more engaged, and have more energy for creating fun things to do (let's hope this lasts).




When I went to pick him up Finley did break down and burst into tears. The teacher was confused saying he did great the whole time. Maybe Finley just realized I was gone that whole time? Or he was sad to go? Or maybe he was just tired and hungry.
Later that day he did take a 3+ hour nap!

Even though we had a dramatic ending to his first day of preschool it did go very well.
I wasn't at home worried about how he was adjusting or if he was sad.
I think in the long run this move will make us both very happy.
I am really looking forward to the rest of the school year and so is Finley.