Handley's 1st Tennis Lesson

Today was the beginning of our hectic weeks.  I knew that going in to this fall, we would be extremely busy, but seeing how excited and happy the girls are doing their activities, makes it all worth it.  Today Handley had her very first tennis lesson AND cheerleading.  The only reason she is doing both on the same day, is because cheerleading is a very short season and it won't be all year.  

She was excited, but nervous about tennis.  She kept asking me who her coach would be, if there would be anyone there she knew, and she was nervous about not being able to play it very well.  I assured her that was the whole reason she was there was to learn how to play and that her coach would teach her all she needed to know.  

She absolutely LOVED it.  It's probably too soon to say if this is going to be her one "thing" she really hones in on, but she had a blast today and had a huge smile on her face the entire time.  There are two coaches and they keep the kids going the entire hour. I don't think they stopped running around once, and when Handley came off the courts her face was bright red and her water bottle was bone dry.  The coaches keep it really fun for the kids with all sorts of games, are excellent with this age group and kept them laughing, all while teaching them some skills, too.

I need to talk to the coach before Handley's next lesson though.  When she was with one coach she used her left hand and did really well, but when she went to the other coach she was using her right hand and it seemed awkward for her.  She is left-handed, so I think it's just a matter of figuring out which is her dominant side for tennis.  

After tennis we made our way to cheerleading practice and had an hour to kill so we had a picnic in the back of the car.

Handley had fun at cheerleading and was excited to get her uniform tonight (including the pom-poms and megaphone).  She has several friends on her squad, so it should be a fun season for her, too.

Sweet Harper had fun playing with some of the other kids and was so supportive of her big sister during her activities today.  Hudson, on the other hand, was not.  If I thought he was a handful last week during gymnastics, today he stepped it up about 10 notches.  I've completely given up on him staying off the ground and even if it's concrete he is crawling on, it doesn't slow him down.  However, I came home feeling like I'd just run a marathon after trying to chase him down and keep him out of harms way.  I remember a few years ago there was a mom at the pre-school who had a little boy about Hudson's age.  Every time I saw her she was chasing after her crawling baby, would bring him back kicking and screaming and he'd just take off again.  I remember feeling sorry for her because she always seemed so frazzled and exhausted.  Well, let's just fast forward a few years and I am in the same position doing the exact same thing.  I wouldn't trade it for anything and I'm thrilled to get to experience my all-boy little guy, but he's going to wear me out!