Summer games

We hosted the Fourth of July picnic that my in-laws used to host at their house. Before we moved here, we would travel the 300 miles just to attend. Now that we are here, they quit having it. It pissed me off, so I decided to host it myself. We bought the chicken and made the baked beans, and asked everyone else to bring a side dish and their own drinks. It was fun, and not nearly the hassle she made it out to be.

We invited one family who has a son The Boy's age. They played on the same hockey team, and were opponents in soccer and baseball. Mom CC asked if we were interested in putting The Boy on a 3 on 3 ice hockey team in TheBigSkyStateGames. We had received emails and mailers about it, and really hadn't given it much thought.

The Games are Olympic-style contests on a much smaller scale, for athletes of all skill levels and ages. Most of your states probably hold the same type of contests locally.

I asked The Boy and got a resounding "YES" in answer.

CC thought we needed three players. Well, hockey players tire, so we really needed six players so they could take shifts on the ice. We also need a goalie, which is no problemo, as The Boy would say - he has all the gear and loves the position. But we needed three more players.

So, I spent Monday and Tuesday evening putting together a team of seven 5 - 8 year olds and getting them registered by Wednesday, while MFH rounded up a certified coach and jerseys for the boys, and contacted our old community to put a team together so we'd have some competition at our age level.

The Games are next weekend.

We have no ice yet, and these kids haven't been on skates since the end of March. It should be fun!