Papa and softball

My dad just can't stop his love for sports. He loves softball and has played since as far back as I can remember. He plays softball on 2 different teams and just can't get himself to retire. Last night I loaded up my family to go cheer him on. I had to laugh at this picture- if you look at his socks he has shin guards on. He has been hit in the shin, ankle, etc so many times he has a permanent bruise at this point. So to protect himself he now has shin guards!

As I mentioned before he plays on 2 teams- a 60 and over team and a 70 and over team. He still has a way to 70 so I don't know how that is legal, but he does it. Last night his 2 teams played each other and we were amazed. Those old men nailed the ball. You would see them between innings and they could hardly move, but after they hit the ball they were flying around those bases. It was so fun to watch.

Lincoln did a little coaching. My dad always pointed out what I could of done better in the games I played in, so Lincoln was helping him out in this way too.

But as I'm sure you guessed, my pops was amazing and by far the best one on the team. It was so fun to watch. Way to go PaPa!!

After the game, we figured Papa played so hard, that we deserved some ice cream.

Cousin Fun

Today turned out to be cousins day- Maci wanted to have her cousin MaKenzie come to a movie with her so we took off to see Junie B. Jones.

Thankfully Uncle Darrin provided the gift card for the fun, so there was popcorn and drinks all around!

We found out our other half, Camden and Trenton were going to see Cars 2 at the same time
so we sent the boys off with them. Here's our crew after the shows.

MaKenzie, Trenton, Maci, Lincoln, Maddox and Camden

Of course, you know how it goes- you have a little fun and you need more- so Maci decided to have MaKenzie spend the night.

They decided they wanted to have a spa day so they started with facials. The mask consist of the ingredients above.



After they gave each other facials they moved on to pedicures. Lincoln begged and begged to have his toes painted too!

After the spa day they enjoyed trying on everything in the house and having a fashion show. I will admit it was fun seeing the things they could put together. Lincoln and Maddox even decided it looked like fun and joined in. Unfortunately I was busy making cookies for our night-time snack that I didn't get any pictures!

KU Summer Camp

We opened up the world of summer camp to our kids this year. We've always used the summer to swim and relax, but this year we found a fun camp that we knew the kids would love. The Sports and Fitness Camp that was offered at KU sounded like a lot of fun. They play a lot of games- tennis, kickball, dodge ball, sand volleyball, archery, gymnastics, etc... plus spend the last hour of every day in swimming lessons. The camp is 3 hours long, 5 days a week, for 3 weeks. I wondered if they would get tired of it- but they LOVED IT!

heading to camp-

The group coming together

Maddox and Camden talking to their leader

Camden and Maddox and Trenton

swimming lessons


This was a great camp that kept the kids active when they would of been vegging out in the AC. I love that they played new sports and sports they already knew. Maci came home with a love for soccer, and Maddox can now swim so much better then before.

Summer nights

Most evenings we can be found in our front yard after dinner. One of the kids will have some activity they want to do, and as I clean up the kitchen, the rest of the family heads out to play.

always an accident that needs a little loving to make it feel better

loving these times with my little ones!

Garden

We decided to neglect our garden this year. Each year we buy flowers and mulch and such to make it pretty, but this year we didn't. We allowed Maci to buy a bag of bulbs for $5 that she planted around the flag pole, but for our main garden- nothing! To my surprise it bloomed into a beautiful garden!

T Ball Champs

The Lightening Bolts pulled it off! They won the world series (as Maddox calls it)... or the t-ball tournament last weekend. We got to enjoy the hot day with no shade... but it was so worth it. The kids had a blast.

Father's Day

Our Father's Day weekend started off with daddy being out of town. Being a single mother for a few days showed me how much I appreciate and adore my kids daddy! It showed me how much they adore him also.

I spent some of my time without him reminiscing the last 9 years. Looking through pictures of what seems like just yesterday. I will say that I love my husband dearly! But there is something about the amazing father that he is, and the way he interacts, teaches and plays with our children that makes me even more attracted to him. He's an amazing dad and I'm so glad our kids have him as a role model!

2002 (he was smitten from the start)

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

And I also know how lucky I was to have such an amazing father. My dad is my everything. I still call him for every question I have. I know he will always be my biggest fan! As we gathered with my family this weekend we were talking about the 3rd child syndrome. How the last child has less pictures, doesn't get to participate in all the activities, etc. My brother boldly reminded me that I never suffered from the 3rd child syndrome... that I was more of the only child syndrome. I had to laugh, because it was true. (Being the only girl helps in that department!)

I love you daddy! You are and always will be my hero!

and I had to include some of the other amazing fathers in our family!

Eric's brother Chris and his 3 kiddos

My brother Josh and nephew Maverick

Eric's brothers and his dad

Craziness

Since we've been back from vacation, the summer has taken off in full swing.

During the school year a friend of mine told me about a sports/fitness camp at KU. It is 3 weeks in June, 3.5 hours a day, and they do all kinds of fun activities. They learn how to play tennis, archery, sand volleyball, along with the other traditional games of soccer, tag, etc. They end each day with an hour long swim lesson. When I heard about this camp I knew it would be perfect. In the summer, when the heat hits, we start to get a little lazy, so why not keep them active?

However, maybe the July session would of been better! We haven't stopped moving since we've been home!

Maddox is playing t-ball this year and since we've had so much rain, he's had a lot of canceled games. They rescheduled them all this week. Mon, Tues, Wed, and Thur he had make up games. So 3.5 hours of running and swimming at camp, and then coming home to play ball at night. Luckily they are loving camp, and he loves ball!

I don't know that I enjoy anything more then watching my kids participate in activities. I'm one proud momma!

This is Maddox's 2nd year at t-ball so he has the game down. He's not the kid that plays in the dirt or watches the bugs crawl along. He's ready to go!

The only hard part about the game for him so far.... is not talking to his friends (on the other team). It cracks us up because if he's playing first base, you know he will be chit chattin with everyone. If he didn't know them before the game, he will know them after!

Strawberry Patch

My friend Beth called me and asked me if we wanted to go Strawberry Picking with them. There was a strawberry patch about 4 miles from my house and I didn't even know it. I'm always up for getting out of the house so we loaded up and met her there!

Our crew for the day!
The owner spent some time with the kiddos explaining the ins and outs of strawberry picking.

and off they went!

She told the kids to be sure to taste some, and Trenton did just that. Between him and Maci, I think we got away with a couple extra pounds we didn't have to pay for!

Lincoln was by far my best picker. He picked and picked and picked.

Lincoln picked while Trenton ate!

My crew!

My older kiddos are in a Sports and Fitness Camp at KU in the afternoons. That's why they all have the green matching shirts. We enjoyed the strawberry patch on the way to camp! The strawberries we bought were gone by the time we got home- so I think we will be heading that way again soon!

Thanks for the invite Beth- we had a GREAT time!