I see evidence of divine mirth when I consider my children's personalities and interests in light of my own. I am as sports un-inclined as I imagine anyone can be. I have no coordination, no grace, no dexterity, and to top it all off, no interest. It is both amusing and terrifying to me that I have children who seem
quite interested. Evidently those Harris genes have cornered at least one market in the chromosomal economy. L is all about gymnastics right now. She's a lean lump of muscle in a leotard, and despite some strong evidence to the contrary in her early years, may just pull off this grace and balance thing. Maybe. The klutz is strong in this one, but she seems to be exercising some occasional semblance of control over it now.
N is more diverse. He loves golfing (because he thinks putt-putting
is golfing); and he's warming to soccer. Recently he's been quite taken with bowling, but his newest interest, one he's actually become quite passionate about, is hockey. The Stanley Cup finals and the Kings victory last year pretty much had our family glued to the tube, and both L and N quickly gained an understanding and familiarity with the game that quickly outstripped mine. This year as we watched the Stanley cup semi-finals the enthusiasm was back, but N had really bumped it up a notch. I was simultaneously amazed and shamed by his ability to recite off players' names and to give his list, in order, of all his favorite players. Where did he get all this. Not from me. Maybe from Stacy. Probably from Uncle Kyle. This year, now that the Kings are out of it, N has the difficult decision before him as to whether or not he will support the "Chicagos" or the "Bostons." In a half-hearted attempt to sway him (as if I really cared), I remind him that he is of New England stock. But Mom and Uncle like the "Chicagos." -- and it is so very difficult to disappoint Uncle Kyle. So he carefully straddles the fence, cheering New England when Daddy's in the room, but quickly siding with the Windy City when the breeze blows from the Harris direction.
So sports were on his mind when Stacy asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday a while back. "Bowling!" was the enthused response. After a few minutes consideration we agreed that little harm could come of that, so we decided on a bowling birthday party. Today we brought in N's Big 7 at the Palos Verdes Bowl with about 15 other avid rollers. Bowling can be a lot more raucous and full-contact than one might expect!
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| N understands the importance of picking up pointers! |
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| But after you've done your research you just have to go out there... |
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| ...and choose your weapon... |
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| And put the theory into action. |
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| Letting the chips (pins?) fall where they may. |
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| N and his chums |
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| Rocking the power pizza! |
After the party wrapped up we returned home to open presents. All the presents, of course, were sublime, but one set of gifts transcended transcendent. Uncle Kyle had taken two of his hockey sticks and had them cut down Nate-sized and re-taped. Those, along with a dozen-odd pucks, a Jonathan Quick jersey (#32), and a fully-assembled goalie net, made N the happiest child alive.
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| Coolest uncle EVER!!! |
I'm exceedingly glad that he already has most of his teeth out.
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