Grandparenting

This was the last weekend for youth soccer for the year. 

What a pleasure it was to be back under blue sky after all those rainy games over the last several Saturdays!

 Irene and her Mud Dogs team were a lot less muddy this time. 

 Not everyone on the sidelines was always glued to the action. 

The Mud Dogs ran away with the victory to end a winning season.

We had time to go home and warm up and have lunch before going in another direction to Isaac's game. 

 Here we had not only blue sky, but a mountain view!

 Isaac teamed up with his cousin Carson to head off the opposition. 

 The Green Dragons have struggled this season, but there has been improvement, and while they lost their final match, they did score several great goals.

The field lights were on and the mountain was going pink under a rising moon as we made our way home. 

Sunday morning was cold and clear again and Tom and I got our walk in and a few outside jobs done before Jill brought Irene over to us. Jill and Isaac joined Jake at the Seahawks game, and we were responsible for getting Irene sent off to her Colorado Grandparents. 

We kept in touch via texting and Facebook, of course. 

Irene traveled as an Unaccompanied Minor, so check in is a bit more complicated. Her flight was scheduled for 3:50, so we were there by 2:30, went through the slow check in process, and the long lines at security. Lots of families were traveling on Sunday. It's parent conference week for our school district, so elementary kids have no classes.

We had time to stop at a Starbucks in the terminal and enjoy or goodies as we waited at the gate.  The flight was delayed so Irene and I shared my ear buds and listened to the Seahawks game on my iPod radio. 

 We kept Jill updated as Irene finally boarded, and we watched as the plane sat at the gate. Part of the "Escort" process is to wait until the place takes off. 

 Finally her plane was in the taxi-way, and then we had lift off as the sun faded behind the purple Olympic Mountains. At the same time, the Seahawks game ended in a victory. 

This evening we are hosting Isaac for dinner while Jill has evening parent conferences.  Isaac will be finished with classes on Tuesday, and then he will fly away too. 

The kids will be with their Dad and his family for Thanksgiving.  It's hard for them and for Jill to be separated from each other for this holiday, but it sure beats giving them up for Christmas.