Sawyer

From the age of five, I played soccer every spring and fall, and still remember how much I loved lacing up my cleats before practice or a game. Though I haven’t played in years, I still love the game more than any other, so you can imagine the joy it brings me to see Sawyer begin to play it too.

I have been looking forward to this day ever since Abby told me about SoccerTots. I even bought him some soccer shoes of his own, which he would not let me take off last night when he tried them on. We arrived early this morning to get him in his new uniform:

His shorts might as well be pants, and I could probably fit his entire body in one sock, but he sure looks sharp! And look at how well he dribbles:

The field was on a pier on the bay just off of Telegraph Hill, which explains why it’s so windy:

Sawyer mostly ignored the structured play, preferring instead to try to escape the fenced-in field or talk to the parked cars surrounding it, but every now and then he joined in the fun, especially when it involved running:

He really liked that BMW at the fence. Here we go the other way:

In fact, he ran back down to see it again, while the rest of the class sang “Wheels on the Bus” and their “ABCs.” Click on the picture below to see where he’s hiding:

He eventually decided to rejoin the class:

I could see a boat docked on the other side of the pier, and heard from the instructor that it was worth checking out, so Sawyer and I walked over after class. It was the Cuauhtemoco, a 270 foot long sailing Mexican Naval Training Academy vessel that holds 260 crew members and still navigates the globe with sails only:

He and I climbed aboard and walked around the ship, the masts were gigantic:

Here’s the view from the bow:

Just amazing:

And a lucky shot of me and a very tired Sawyer:

But not too tired to spin the wheel:

Fortunately it was tied off:

And that was locked too:

Back to the wheel again:

From the stern of the ship looking back toward the city:

GO!

Sawyer was asleep not even five minutes after getting in the car. He woke up for lunch, then took a nap, and went down without a fight tonight. I finally found something of my own to wear him down!