Soccer Saturdays

Soccer has always been an important part of Winter Saturdays for Dan. And he is often at his fittest in the winter. For me, it brings an opportunity to get out and see a different part of the Wellington region (when the weather is reasonable). Recently, we’ve enjoyed a trip to Wainuiomata and Eastbourne.

A cold, blustery day at Wainui (half of it was spent watching the game from the car!):

I have many fond memories of different soccer seasons and the experience has changed with the girls growing older. As babes I would push them round the bumpy field in a buggy to get them off for a nap, dread breast-feeding them in sub-zero conditions and frequently retreat to the club house for a cup of tea and hot chips; at the crawling stage I’d cover them in waterproofs in preparation for a mud bath; at the walking stage they struggled with the concept of, ‘Don’t cross the white line’. These days, they are standing on the side lines cheering their hearts out for at least half of the game (in Eastbourne, Dan’s team lost the first half – due to the cheer team being distracted at the playground and beach: 1st half – 0-4; 2nd half – 2-4).

We frequently make a day trip of it and last Saturday was no exception. Enroute to Eastbourne we stopped off at Petone foreshore to enjoy the new children’s playground (the old one didn’t seem to warrant an upgrade, but the council here are awesome in routinely upgrading the 102 or so playgrounds). Then it was time for a quick round of scenic mini-golf, before enjoying a glorious lunch in Eastbourne.

Whilst Dan enjoyed his game the girls and I explored the beach and neighbouring playground (with a super big slide!), before cheering on the team in the second half (they really could have done with us in the first half too). The weather turned drizzly and cold, but we weren’t to be deterred (having been rugged up for most of the week). It felt good to be braving the elements and there were plenty of big trees to shelter under. We found a great spot under the pier throw pebbles and draw in the sand. It felt so good to be out in the fresh air.

This winter, like last winter, has been quite rough on the Saturday sports teams, whereas historical winters we’ve been known to run around in t-shirts and marvel at the calm, glorious weather. Here’s hoping for a good spell this Saturday – though with this week’s almost constant drizzle there is a strong possibility many games will be cancelled.