A diary of our two years in Seattle/Bellevue/Kirkland
Some post Christmas exercise was in order for the boys (and probably the grown-ups) and so we took them to do a little indoor surfing. After sitting through a brief safety video it was time to get into their wet suits and hit the surf. They got an hour of body boarding and as you will see, they had a lot of fun!
httpv://youtu.be/Ok4wKXio5X4
httpv://youtu.be/zoSfqWbfE80
httpv://youtu.be/_VZ_m9wl8UA
Next visit, whenever that is, may include some indoor sky diving too!
As part of their move to the US the boys have taken to American sports. They still love their soccer but they are also partial to some American football and baseball. Part of the fun of long summer holidays is going along to various sporting camps and their first of the summer was a baseball camp.
It was based at Robinswood park, not far from home, and they loved it! The final day of the camp was on July 4th which meant that I could go along and see whether they really were both as good as they told me they were!
As it turns out they were pretty good! I would say they are natural sports stars but then I guess I am a bit biased! Here is Toby running home from third base to give his team the lead:
Harry was the all action fielder who ran wherever the ball went!
Speedster Toby running from second base to third – he made it!
Here’s Harry making the same run – from second to third base:
The game they played, with both on the same team, ended as a draw. There were some great contributions from both. This first clip is Toby on strike with his brother on third base. Could Toby hit it and get his brother round for the run??
httpv://youtu.be/FJ3XWpSWOgc
This clip is Harry showing his hitting skills as he hits a double:
httpv://youtu.be/OzHUHNwWM4c
We’re not sure what the next camp will be yet but baseball was a definite hit, in more ways than one!
A year and one week after our last trip to Safeco Fields (yes I am writing this a bit late!) it was time to go back and see our next match. This time we were here to see the Mariners take on the LA Angels in the third of their 4 games. Mariners had won the first and then been beaten in the second the night before. We had bought the cheapest tickets we could find in the bleachers seats but we had a plan! If you buy the cheapest tickets and get their early enough you just go and sit in the “hit it here” cafe and you get a better view plus food it delivered to your table!
We also had to get their early because it was Dustin Ackley bat night which meant that all kids got a free baseball bat signed by Dustin Ackley which both boys thought was very cool! So with our bats secured, we sat at our table and started eating and drinking!
Toby struck his usual pose for photographs:
And the game began with King Felix pitching first:
After plenty of food and drink we decided it was time to leave the cafe and head towards the seats we’d actually paid for and enjoy the final two innings of the game – which the Mariners were losing 2-0. On the way to our seats the boys had their photo taken with a statue of a former Mariners game announcer who is very famous but whose name escapes me!
Once in our seats the roof had to be closed again as the rain clouds started to close in. The Mariners were obviously inspired by the rain as the hit back to score three runs and win the game:
This was the hit for the third and winning run – it was pot luck that I happened to take this particular picture!
So with the win in the bag all that was left was for Toby to strike the winning pose and end the evening as he started it!
Go Mariners! We will try not to wait another year before we go again!
The Gunners league season finished yesterday with a 2-1 win over Seattle Celtic. They faired much better this season, compared to the fall season, as they finished 3rd in the league (joint second really!). They were playing against under 11’s again so they did pretty well to only lose 2 games. Harry also managed to bag himself a couple of goals this season and started putting a lot more effort in over the last few weeks which was good to see!
You’ll need to click on the image below to see the larger version but there are the Gunners in all their glory – just 3 points off the winners – and the only team to beat the league champions!
Next up we have 3 summer tournaments and some try-outs for the under 11’s. Will Harry go to try-outs or will he go play baseball and American Football? Who knows – but with Toby keen to try out for the Gunners under 8’s I’m sure it’s not the last we have heard of the Gunners!
It had been a weekend full of soccer. Friday night was training up at the highlands for Toby which wears me out as I walk round and round the pitch for an hour and a half while he plays! Then on Saturday morning it was an hour and a half north up the I-5 for a Gunners match in Burlington. Unfortunately it was another defeat but as the coaches keep stressing, it is a development year for the boys, playing against older, bigger, stronger boys and we will hopefully see the benefits next season. Hopefully!
Sunday morning we had to set the alarm and be back up at the highlands at 8am for the Gunners second match of the weekend. This time it was against another Gunners team in the same division but under 11’s rather than 10’s. In the most miserable rain and high winds the younger Gunners roared into a 2-0 lead against the older Gunners. It stayed that way until half time but, unfortunately, it was a game of two halves because the younger Gunners tired again and let 3 goals in in the second half. A very close game but unfortunately another loss.
The excitement will come in the last game of the season when Gunners take on arch enemies Cascade FC. These two teams are tied on points in second and third from bottom of the table. The Gunners are currently third from bottom and outside the relegation places so it is a winner takes all game on the 1st December – will Tracy be able to take the stress?
With that game over there was just time to take a break before Toby had to go to Arena Sports in Redmond for his inside soccer. For the first 2 weeks Toby had seemed to struggle a little with the whole concept of indoor soccer and the ball bouncing off the walls. This week though it obviously started to click. The Scorpions won 8-2 and Toby scored 4 – so finally we got a win in our weekend soccer bonanza!
After all that we only had one more game to go and this time all we had to do was watch. Seattle Sounders had their best ever season and qualified for the Western Conference final against LA Galaxy. Unfortunately the Sounders had got thrashed 3-0 in LA last week and so our hopes were not too high. After getting comfortable in our club seats, Tracy went to ogle David Beckham while I sat with the boys and they stuffed their faces with pizza.
httpv://youtu.be/mS35kX4S7_c
With national anthems and ceremonies out the way we waited and hoped for a miracle. For the first hour it looked like we may get it as Sounders were winning 2-0 and definitely the better team. Then the ref got involved and gave LA a penalty and it all petered out into a nothingy sort of game. Sounders lost 2-1 and the season was over – which is probably a good thing as we are over dosing on soccer at the moment – poor old Tracy!
Much to the delight of Tracy we were all set for a weekend of football! First stop was Friday night micro soccer for Toby at Issaquah Highlands. It was his third week and this weeks match was against Fusion. The game started badly with Toto forgetting which way the Dragons were shooting as he scored an own goal with 15 seconds of the game starting! A 1-0 deficit was, by the end of the game, turned into a 7-2 victory. Toby scored 4 goals and the Dragons played very well against a team that were very aggressive – they seemed more intent on kicking, grabbing and pulling but the Dragons showed that skill wins over dirty hooligans!
Saturday football was limited to the back yard and Harry and Toby throwing an American football at Waverley Beach park. As the weather continued to insist upon being so lovely we went to the Kirkland beach park.
Tracy and I relaxed in our Tommy Bahamas chairs while the boys played football, made friends with a little girl (sociable little things), climbed (and fell off) the monkey bars and, inevitably, got soaked in the water. After relaxing in the sunshine it was back to Kirkland for a spot of lunch at Rikki Rikki – the Japanese restaurant. Full of yumptious food we did a spot of shopping in the kitchen store and then went back home to play some football in the yard.
On Sunday more football was on the menu again. First of all watching it on the TV and then down to Issaquah for Harry and the Gunners to play their next league game of the season.
It has been a tough season so far with the Gunners playing in the u11’s league. Most weekends they are playing against some pretty big lumps but this weekend took the biscuit! They were playing Emerald City from Seattle and they were huge! I think some of them were pretty much as tall as me! Harry got stuck in though and was very pleased with himself for tackling one particularly large player. Eventually the Gunners lost 4-0 but they played very well and 3 of the goals were very lucky (keeper mistakes and the other team playing to their height advantage). Some time soon they are going to give someone a spanking though!
After the game, Harry had a cool refreshing shower and we got ready for the final part of the football weekend – watching Sounders play local rivals the Portland Timbers. It was a huge crowd for the game – over 66,000 people, which was a record for a league game in Seattle. As we were there a little early we watched the Soundwave arrive and, just because I know you’ve missed them, here is a Soundwave video:
httpv://youtu.be/Af008OSH08Y
After watching the Wave we went up to our seats and made ourselves comfortable with garlic fries and beer – yum! Then the teams came out an the anthem was sung:
httpv://youtu.be/9pR1De6Cgrc
The game was a good one and the Sounders smashed the Timbers 3-0 which meant 1) free haircuts for everyone, and 2) free Tacos! I think that is what could only be described as the perfect result!
And with that a tiring weekend of football was complete – roll on next weekend when we can do it all again!
A year has gone by and we’re back to Toby playing Friday night soccer up at Issaquah Highlands. This year Toby is part of a team called the Dragons. He had missed the first game of the season the previous week because we had been in the San Juans but this week he was there and raring to go!
For his first game it was Dragons vs. Cougars. First up was the skills session and Toby obviously did enough to impress his coach and was in the starting 3 for kick-off! About half an hour later the Dragons had beaten the Cougars 4-0 and Toby had bagged himself a couple of debut goals. He got his goals reasonably early on and at the end his coach told us that he’d told Toby, firstly to only shoot with his left foot and then not to shoot at all. Apparently the Dragons had made the opposition cry last week and the coach clearly hadn’t wanted a repeat of that – although I think it is developmental for the kids and should be actively encouraged!
Next week the Dragons are playing the Grasshoppers and Toby will be playing against his friend Jake – that should be fun!
Before the game …
Two goals and a 4-0 win later …
So that was the Dragons setting the soccer tempo for the weekend, could the Gunners follow suit on Sunday? This year is a tough year for Harry. He has gone up to the A team and then in addition to that the A team are playing in the under 11 league and if that wasn’t enough, they are in the Gold bracket of the under 11’s. Soccer doesn’t get much tougher than this!
This week the Gunners were away to old rivals Cascade FC. They are based over past Sammamish so off we went on Sunday afternoon ready to see if the Gunners could get their first league win of the season.
Very early on the Gunners went 1-0 down but we remained confident and rightly so. Soon after coming on as a substitute Harry changed the game! He got the team passing, which soon led to an equalizer and then he received the ball out wide on the right, ran at the goal and belted a screamer past the Cascade keeper.
It stayed 2-1 to the Gunners at half-time and then midway through the second half they went 3-1 up but then the same thing happened as has a few times this season. As they are playing against bigger, stronger boys they seem to tire at the end of the game and with less than 5 minutes left Gunners went from 3-1 up to finishing with a 3-3 draw. Slightly disappointing in the end but at least they have got their first point of the season after losing their first couple of games.
Never mind Gunners – that win will come – hopefully in a couple of weeks against Emerald City in Seattle.
Go Dragons! Go Gunners!
After much talking and promising, we finally went to our first American football game this week. It was the Seahawks last pre-season friendly and it was against the Oakland Raiders. Despite the fact that many years ago, probably about 24 to be precise, I had bought a Raiders shirt from the Kays catalogue, I was going to support the Seahawks.
We’d been told to expect noise, even for a pre-season game, and things certainly did start with a bang, as the players emerged through smoke and fireworks.
Once this and the national anthem had been taken care of it was game time! The big moment! How exciting. Unless you were Tracy. If you were Tracy then it was just a big fat boring game of nothingness! It made no sense, it stopped every 30 seconds (which admittedly it does) and it got no better even when Toby and then Harry sat next to her and explained the rules (which they didn’t always know!).
But apart from all that – three quarters of the Stickells’ family enjoyed themselves! It was a beautiful evening, Seattle looked lovely and we got to meet the Seahawks band – Blue Thunder. They’re not as good as the Soundwave but it made for a good atmosphere nonetheless.
This is a touchdown – just in case anyone is wondering:
And this is Blue Thunder:
We left a few minutes before the end – only the Americans can make a 60 minute game last over 3 hours – but the Seahawks won 21-3. They had now won all 4 pre-season games so our hopes are high going into the season. Apart from Tracy’s. She couldn’t really care what happens!
Go HAWKS!
A bit late but better than never, a short recap of Harry’s debut for the Issaquah Gunners A team.
No sooner had we docked from our cruise we we were rushing across Seattle back home and then down to the Issaquah playing fields so Harry could play in the Issaquah Invitational tournament with his new team – Issaquah Gunners A!
The first game was 10:30am and the opposition were duly dispatched 8-0. No goals for the Stickman but that’s ok because he still had his sea legs on! The bonus of the tournament was that George was back for a weekend appearance as a guest player. After a brief visit back home for a cold shower and a light lunch it was straight back to the tournament to play game two. This match was equally comfortable and finished in a 9-1 victory. Still no goals for the Stickman though – was the pressure going to get to him!? Let’s hope not but he had a night to dwell on it and think about the missed opportunities.
Sunday morning arrived and the sun was out. It was hot! After a brief distraction of some fighting eagles:
Harry decided it was time to get amongst the goals. In a tighter game he smacked home his first goal:
And then, if that wasn’t enough he decided to get a second one – look closely he’s on the floor towards the back:
The final score was 3-1 and the Gunners were into the final that afternoon. The final was against Kitsap Pumas. There were no nerves in the final though as the Gunners stormed to victory, 6-2. No more goals for Harry but he played well and got his first trophy of the season – hopefully there are more to come!
For the last few weeks Toby has been mastering the skills of the gymnasium on a Wednesday afternoon with his friend Ian. It all culminated in a “show” for the parents. Unfortunately I couldn’t get to it but Tracy and Harry did and they have captured some video and pictures for us all to enjoy.
Being silly:
httpv://youtu.be/iB6lF_wH8HY
Balancing beams:
httpv://youtu.be/s1tMdtS-tnY
Acrobatic assault course:
httpv://youtu.be/ntbL5fIQWLQ
Closing ceremony:
httpv://youtu.be/X3_MylALzuI
And if the videos are not enough, here are a few pictures…
After winning the league before Christmas with a 100% winning record, the second season, in Division 1 was always going to be that bit harder. By the end of the season, the Gunners had finished 4th in the league but that doesn’t quite tell the whole story! Firstly, although they finished 4th it was actually joint 2nd! It was only goal difference that kept them from being officially 2nd – so well done Gunners.
It could also have been even better. But for two last kick of the game goals in the first two games of the season which stopped the Gunners from winning and turned the result to a draw they would have been clear in 2nd place – just 3 points off the top of the table.
Obviously this is a completely impartial view but Harry was undoubtedly the player of the season and he finished the top scorer in the team with 9 goals, following on from 14 or so in the previous season.
This is the last season this team play together as some stay in the under 9’s next year and others have joined different teams. So congratulations to the Gunners, here is the squad list so we don’t forget them all:
Acero-Blyshak, Marcos
Bonnofsky, Ben
Burns, Benjamin
Buxton, Daniel
Guo, Brian
Isensee, Niclas
Lan, George
Linehan, Finley
Salgado, Daniel
Stickells, Harry
Walker, David
And this is the final league table – click to enlarge:
Toby is still going to Little Gym and learning all sorts of new skills. I’m sure none of us can forget the technically perfect forward rolls which he recently demonstrated and now he has moved on to the hand stand. This time the results are not quite as technically perfect but it is showing signs of potential:
httpv://youtu.be/LqhhaQax4xM
Not to be out done by his little brother Harry also took to the floor to demonstrate his skills:
httpv://youtu.be/u_-BgAmkmoM