Mid-run soccer with tiny Lightning Bolts

I had a special treat on my "long" run this weekend.

My cousin Amy texted last weekend to say that her youngest kiddo, Ryan, was having soccer games every Saturday at the elementary school right down the street from my house. We were headed out of town, but I put it on my calendar for this past Saturday and stopped by during my run.

I saw about half the game, and those little guys and gals are so cute! The teams have 3-, 4- and 5-year-old players who are just learning. Ryan is white jersey No. 1 - with the white shin guards.

They usually play three-against-three, but it was four for some reason this week.

Ryan is quite aggressive and loves to run down the field with the ball. He scored almost all the white goals while I was there. In fact, he received this week's team medal:

Although we're the same age, Cousin Amy and I have never been very close. We didn't grow up living near each other, and her mom's the oldest of four while my dad's the youngest by 10 years. It just didn't make for a lot of cousin bonding when we were younger. But I really love being a part of her family's life in the small snippets I can! I'm so glad she let me know they'd be close so I could come by! Hopefully we can do it again soon when Brad's not working - and maybe get some post-soccer brunch :)

After the Lightning Bolts left to make room for the next game, I left to finish the rest of my 45-minute easy run. My legs were so tired from a big week, but I took it easy, kept my heart rate down, and enjoyed the fall morning.

Fall in Portland is the best :)