This was a bit of a crazy weekend, with me not getting home from Uppsala until eleven o’clock Friday night, then leaving the house, with a sleepy Petra in tow, at 6:45 Saturday morning to drive down to Umeå for a two-day soccer tournament. The tournament itself wasn’t particularly successful, with our girls losing all four games and not scoring a single goal, surely a consequence of them being the youngest team in a field that was actually made up of teams a year older than they are. Not only that, but the weather was truly awful, and even all bundled up, both players and spectators were chilled to the bone the entire time. Even so, the girls remained in remarkably good spirits, and especially enjoyed themselves sleeping over in one of the classrooms of a nearby school. (Most of us parents took ourselves off to hotel rooms, not being overly eager to share sleeping quarters with a group of giddy grade-school girls camped out with sleeping bags.)

After the fourth and final loss this morning, Petra and I did some shopping and had lunch before heading back home, where I immediately retired to my bed for a long nap. The whole experience was more fun than I had expected it to be, but still, I wouldn’t mind not doing it again for a while. For her part, even though she had a good time, Petra is nagging again to be allowed to quit soccer. I’m pushing back, but I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep the upper hand here. When I see pictures like this one, though, I want her to keep playing forever.