Soccer and Soup

Human Highlighter Suit Tally: 10

Early on Saturday, Alec left for a few days in the states, so we’ve been a threesome since. Milo played his first ever soccer game on Saturday morning, which Alec was disappointed to miss. His team is part of what they call the mini-champions league, and all of the teams are named after pro teams. Somehow Milo’s team got to be Barça.




It was a gorgeous day—fall-feeling, and the field full of 6-year olds was impossibly cute. Milo is the starting portero, or goalie, mostly I think because he is the only kid who regularly goes to soccer class twice a week. He has completely embraced the role, which is kind of interesting because most kids his age would rather score goals than anything else. He now wants a Victor Valdez jersey for Christmas. Whenever one of the other kids scored, he’d run back the length of the field to high-five Milo and they’d all hug and cheer. I had trouble keeping score—the coach told me the final score was 6 – 6, but Milo swore they won 11 – 8. I guess it doesn’t really matter—they had a great time.



We spent the rest of the afternoon trekking around for shoes and some clothing items suitable for wearing to holiday concerts and other events at which jeans and sneakers won’t cut it. Now that the kids are wearing PE uniforms to school twice a week, I’ve kind of slacked off in the clothing department. I think we are all set now, but walking around the city did us in, so we came home, crashed on the couch, and had pizza and movie night.



Yesterday the kids got up and played, allowing me to sleep in a bit. Milo had an afternoon birthday party to go to, so we all hung out in our pajamas until it was time for him to get ready. I made a big pot of soup inspired by the harissa I bought in the Mauguio market. It’s delicious, and vegetarian and hearty. I highly recommend it. You can find the recipe at Epicurious.com: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tunisian-Soup-with-Chard-and-Egg-Noodles-351436.



I read the reviews on the site and heeded some of the advice, using ground cumin, and adding shredded roast chicken and fresh cilantro. Also, check your harissa before you put it in to see how spicy it is. Mine is pretty spicy so I added one tablespoon instead of two. You can always add more at the end if you want more heat.



C.C. and I went for a great hike up in the hills while Milo was at his party—it was warm enough to be walking in our t-shirts, which felt great. Then we picked Milo up and watched the original Horton Hears a Who video, which also features several other Seuss cartoons—much better than the recent Hollywood version. We had a sleepover in my bed last night—something we often do when one of us is out of town—which meant I got jabbed by little elbows and knees all night. To top it off, C.C. insisted on bringing her entire stuffed dinosaur collection, and Milo appeared with Blue Bear (who’s not really blue), Pink Monkey, and a soft baseball. But I didn´t really mind. Whenever I got woken up, I thought about how little time I likely have left during which they will want to snuggle in with me.