Thud!

The sound of Connor's hopes being dashed. But I guess I should say 'Splash'. Connor had his first opportunity, as a certified soccer referee, to ref a Capital Area Soccer tournament. He was going to make $144 for six hours' work. Not bad for a twelve-year-old. I heard him come downstairs this morning, about 7, all dressed in his referee uniform, only for me to tell him the tournament was cancelled due to the rain we had overnight (I had gotten up earlier to check, but fell back to sleep before O told him). DARN! Back upstairs to change out of his ref uniform.

At least now we know he'll get to his piano recital on time this afternoon. He and Kenzie are playing a duet for the first time in public. After all the battles between those two, while trying to learn their ensemble piece, I'm very proud of them for hammering through their "creative differences" and putting together this song. If I can get a good video of it, I'll post it here.

Alex's day is still on schedule. His high school baseball team has a game in Frederick, about 2+ hours from his school. I guess they got less rain than we, since they haven't cancelled the game, and the radar show all the rain has passed. He just got picked up by some friends to go meet the bus, which will be passing by our house on the way to the game in about an hour. Seems kind of pointless, but that's what you get when you go to a school thirty miles away, in the wrong direction.

I still don't know if all the other local games/practices are still on, or not. Tay has baseball at noon. Ty has soccer at 3. Kenzie also has softball at 3, but I don't know when she'll be getting home from piano. It really doesn't matter if she misses some of this softball. It's a rec team. Most of the girls could never play at a level any higher, which is fine, that's why we have rec sports. Kenzie will have fun because she loves the game, at any level. I'll have fun, because all the stresses of travel are not there; and because I, as an assistant coach, can be involved with teaching the kids what little I know about the game. Anyway, I'm thinking the fields, especially infields, will be too soggy for play.

I almost forgot to mention we had an attack this morning. We lost two hens to a fox. We actually saw him, this morning, munching on one of them for breakfast (only got a measly head because I scared it off). Too bad my .357 is too loud to be fired in a neighborhood; I really hate that fox right now. Kenzie and I, out in the mud this morning, tried to fix the holes it dug under the fence, but now that it knows food is so easily available, it won't go away, I'm sure. Kenzie's going to have to be a very diligent shep-, I mean chicken-herd, for a while, making sure her hens are secure inside the coop every night.

Tomorrow, we have another long distance game; this time in Hagerstown. It's a soccer game for Kenzie. She wants to ride with some friends, not her dad, so if I want to go I need to bum a ride with someone else, too. I'm not driving, alone, for a four hour round trip no matter how much I enjoy watching her play. On the other hand, some of my other kids will want to go, so I won't be alone after all.