Rugby at Repulse Bay Beach

We had a very busy weekend.  On Friday, Charlotte brought home her classroom stuffed animal.  It is a mama and baby koala named Lemonade and Pom Pom.  We were supposed to take pictures of Charlotte doing things with them this weekend and fill out the classroom book for Charlotte to take to school and share.

Charlotte feeding Lemonade and  Pom Pom breakfast on Saturday morning

On Saturday, we wanted to go down to Repulse Bay for a rugby tournament.  Tom has expressed interest in learning to play rugby in Hong Kong.  He sent me a message earlier that week letting me know his coworker, Michael, had a team playing in a tournament this weekend and he wanted Tom to be on his team.  Tom was excited, but nervous and I told him I didn't think a tournament was necessarily the best place to play for the first time.  He doesn't know the rules or positions and would probably do better to attend a practice or 2 before playing in a tournament.  Another coworker of Tom's told him he would probably get killed if he played.  Tom told me he wasn't going to play, but he still wanted to go and watch and that Michael said the tournament was fun and good for kids.

When we were getting ready Saturday morning, Tom was taking a little while to get ready and put on much more athletic clothes than he would normally wear.  I had a feeling he was no longer going just to watch.  We saw Michael soon after we got there.  He clearly was planning on Tom playing.  I told him we were taking a trip to Japan next week and I was going to hold him personally responsible if Tom was on crutches for our trip.  His response was he would make sure if Tom broke a bone, it would be one of his arms instead.  I did not feel reassured.

The kids were really excited when they saw the beach.  Tommy had no interest in watching any rugby, all he wanted to do was play in the sand and water.

After playing in the sand and water for a while, Tom really wanted to go up and watch rugby for a little bit.  They had kids games in the morning and Tom thought Tommy and Charlotte might enjoy watching.  Tommy was not happy to leave the beach and made it clear he was not the least bit interested in rugby.  After watching for a little while, Tom went to see the rest of his teammates.  Once Tommy realized Tom was going to play, he was suddenly very into it.  We got a rugby ball and practiced throwing it around.  Then Tommy and Charlotte had a lot of fun running around in the sand playing rugby with an imaginary ball and occasionally tackling each other.

They love tackling each other

Then it was time for Tom to play.  He did a great job.  Apparently rugby is normally played with 15 players per side, but this was a modified game to play on sand, so they only play with 5 per side at a time.  Tom was not in the first rotation and there were several hard hits.  A few players got grabbed around the collar and dragged down to the ground.  I was getting pretty nervous.  Then it was Tom's turn.  He did really well.  He carried the ball a few times, but he didn't get hit too hard.  The kids were so excited to watch him and cheer for him.  His team didn't win the match, but we were SO proud of him!

Tom in his jersey before the game

In action, number 10

After Tom's game, he could relax and enjoy the rest of the day.  We spent some more time playing in the sand.  The kids wanted to go to the beach and spend more time running around and pretending to play rugby "just like daddy".  All Tommy talked about wanting to do was play rugby, which was quite a change from 4 hours earlier.  They also had bounce houses the kids enjoyed.  We got some hamburgers and an ice pop and it was time to head home.  It had been a really fun day.

Lemonade and Pom Pom chilling in the sun

After showers and dinner at home, there was time for a few quick games of Yahtzee.  Then it was off to bed.