Fun on the sidelines

As a kid, I remember sitting in the bleachers through plenty of my sister's gymnastics meets. And obviously I lived through it. Ditto for my brother's baseball and hockey games. I just don't remember them being as time intensive as what Sydney is now enduring as the younger sister of a hockey player.

Sydney has been a real trooper about coming to her brother's game and practices. Not that she has much choice. The hope of a concession stand visit is usually enough incentive to get her to grab her coat and hat and head out the door with as much as enthusiasm as her brother. (Let her change from her pink hat into her new black "ninja" hood, which you'll see in later photos, and it's even more exciting.)

At this past weekend's tournament, there was the added bonus of a playground on site.

Of course, chunks of snow/ice are also a great way to pass the time, as is any packed pile of snow that can be slid down. Sydney's made friends with many of the other players' siblings and enjoys running around with and recruiting them to join her snowball battles.

And then it's back to throwing more snow/ice. Note by mid-game, she was wearing my turquoise gloves because my white pair of gloves she'd started out in were completely soaked and frozen.

I guess I shouldn't be so worried about the unfairness of dragging her along. She's got snowballs, friends and a ninja hood on a sunny winter day, not to mention a candy-stocked concession stand. When you're four, those are all the ingredients you need for a pretty fun afternoon.

On a side note: Sydney may have set a record for the most lost/found incidents involving the same glove. She lost her new purple gloves last Thursday. I found them Saturday afternoon at the Esko warming house. She then apparently proceeded to lose them an hour later at the Duluth Heights warming house, something I discovered Sunday afternoon when I spotted it a pile on their lost and found table.