End of Season Highlights

Well, we made it through an entire season of our first organized sport. Although, organized wouldn't exactly be the word I would use to describe the experience. Chaotic would be more like it. You see, they call it "tee-ball", but as you'll see in the pictures there are no tee's to be seen. Yeah, so after several practices where the kids did NOTHING but throw a ball (which got incredibly boring for them), they informed us that it was actually "coach pitch" instead (we were thinking this announcement was made after weeks of searching through equipment rooms for tee's, to eventually find none). Pitching to 4 year olds??? Are you kidding me? So, the kids eventually got to pick up a bat and hit, but not off of a tee. I was very irritated by this at first. No, I do not care if my child is the best athlete out there, but I would prefer for him to learn the fundamentals at an age appropriate level (and believe me, tee's are much better for 4 year olds than pitching...). But...we sat back and let it all happen and it ended up turning out all right.

The bottom line of it all was that Tyler LOVED going. One night we even gave him the choice of going to the circus or going to the tee ball (because we all kind of wanted to go to the circus, truth be told), and he chose tee ball without hesitation. And he didn't love it because he was into it for the game, he loved it because he was out there running around, goofing off, kicking dirt, and having FUN. And as painful as it was, at times, to watch my child out there--having no concept of what he was SUPPOSED to be doing--all I had to do was to remind myself that he was having a great time and it was all good. :)

Early on in the season, they gave us a run down of how things would go and they told us that the last day of the season would be "Party Day" where they would have one game, then they would get to have hot dogs, drinks, popsicles, etc, and then play another game. After the last game, they would get a trophy. A trophy!!! Oh heavens, you tell a 4 year old they're getting a trophy, and believe me--they'll ask you every single day when Party Day is until it actually arrives. He couldn't wait!

So, these pictures here are our end of season highlights from "Party Day". Enjoy!
We learned that goofing off in the dugout is perhaps the funnest part of all.








And let me say, watching my little 4 year old get up there and hit the ball that was pitched to him made my heart swell (even if it did take 55 pitches, I didn't care!). I really was proud of him and he was SO proud of himself!!!







This is the face of sheer determination...


And finally, a trophy of his very own!

And let me introduce you to Tyler's biggest fan. Sam LIVED for ball games this summer. He absolutely loved to go, but I must say it was SO hard to take him because he would throw such big fits since he couldn't go out there and play too. I was constantly running out on the field and grabbing him before he got creamed by one of the players. He is obsessed with balls of every shape and size and you can see in his eyes, that he wishes he was out there too! Some day, Sam. Some day!
And that's a wrap of our season highlights. Low lights would definitely be the HEAT. Oh, the blasted heat. I definitely questioned whether it was a good idea to put our child in tee ball in Louisiana that went from June, July, and August...but we survived the season and chalk it up as a success! And next on our plate...football. Yep, you read that right. We are deep into football season now (which is hilarious, I must say). More to come on that one!

Idaho Adventures, Part 5: The Livin' is Easy

Oh, my, my, my...these pictures are old, I haven't blogged in ages, I left you all hanging (all 2 of you who maybe even still read this)---I know! But I've just been, well, busy...but what's new?! Basically I came back from Idaho with a whole lotta pictures to work on for folks and I just so happened to take on quite a few photo sessions right when I got back (at least for my pace). So, that means that I have been editing photos for the last six weeks straight it seems. And when I have commitments to finish other peoples' pictures, I just can't justify sitting here working on my own (nor do I want to spend one more minute on the computer at that time!). BUT, things are calming down very nicely. I have a few little things to wrap up and then I am taking a few weeks off before starting sessions for the Fall. (so if you happen to be interested in what I have been up to, head on over to my photo blog...)

So, now I'm getting to thinking there may be hope for my dear old blog. I just may be able to catch up now. And with this post, I am going to have our Idaho trip all finished up and then move on to the rest of our summer (since we have managed to fit a few fun things in here and there!).

And I know you may think, how in the world could 4 days in Idaho make up 4 posts and then the rest of the trip get thrown into one? Well, after the reunion in Bear Lake, that was when I took on most of the photo sessions while I was there. So I got busy doing that and didn't take as many pictures of our day to day stuff. And I was too busy relaxing and enjoying the perfect summer weather to get off my rear and pull out my camera. :) But here is a sampling of what we did with the rest of our time there.

You'll see that we were very "busy" in the rest of our stay... Of course, the boys ran through the sprinklers over and over again and ate their fair share of popsicles at every house we went to. You'll notice lots of grass stuck to Tyler's wet skin, a sure sign that he was having a good time! Oh yeah, and really Sam didn't care much for the sprinklers. He is a little fish at the pool, but the sprinklers totally freaked him out and he didn't partake in the fun!

It's a tough job, but someone's gotta help Grandpa make milkshakes. Oh yes, did we ever enjoy my dad's milkshakes while we were there, with fresh strawberries from the garden. Mmmm, my mouth is watering right now! I have many memories from my childhood sitting right there like my boys are--assisting with the milkshake making. Doesn't get much better than that!



And of course you have to make sure it tastes perfect!
We stayed "busy" in Cash's backyard swing...usually after playing in the sprinklers on the trampoline. Did I mention yet that Idaho has the best summers on the planet? Well, yeah, they are.




And when it wasn't our "turn" on the swing, we had to go see to little Pierce's every need. My boys LOVED him, it was so cute. And no, you're not allowed to tell me that it must mean it's time for another one. Mmmkay?! :)



But really, isn't he to die for? Mmmm, I could just squish him all day long!!
Ok, and we were definitely "busy" jumping on all of the trampolines. We do not have the luxury of having one here in Louisiana, so we made up for it in Idaho. It was the best entertainment for the boys. The only downfall to it was that Sam could get himself almost all the way up and then he'd have to scream and yell for someone to help him--or vice versa for the way down. But he loved it, regardless. Trampolines are SO much fun!









Well, I guess that's a wrap...as far as the pictures go. Of course I had a ton more things that I just have pictures of in my head.

Like Sammy feeding the horses at my Mom & Dad's. He looooved it and still talks about it all the time (in his own little language of course, but he gets across that he is talking about a horse, then says "num nummy", then makes the action for it, then he says "Bampa"--and all of that means "I fed the horse at Grandpa's house"--I'm sure you'd all pick up on that in NO time, ha ha)--totally one of those "I wish I had a picture of this" things.

Also, I had my 10 year class reunion--the one I was in charge of. But not a single picture of the event. Oh well! It was great, though, and I was really happy with the way it turned out, and even better was just so happy to have it over with! ha ha. It was great to see everyone, though!

And I wish I also had a picture of:

*Garrett shooting the "badger"
*Sammy taking a "dive" in the creek
*All of the BBQs and hot dog roasts
*Carter's private firework show (for those of us lucky to get a ticket to attend)
*The actual "running through the sprinkler" and not just the popsicles afterwards
*Getting together with my friend Karin, who I got to know when we lived in Iowa at the same time (Oh wait, there are pictures of this...you'll just have to check out Karin's blog to see them--I'm too lazy to add them to this post now! Thanks, Karin, for taking some pictures!)
*A picture of Garrett's whole family from the reunion--instead of just pieces of each of us here and there
*The boys "helping' my dad at the shop
*Our (mine & Jim's) attempt to take the boys to the river on the 4-wheelers, only to never make it all the way there and then get caught in a torrential rainstorm!
*Oh, and the list goes on...I'm sure I've forgotten many things by now...

Whew, what a fun trip. It really was awesome and I love the memories we made. Summer in Idaho is one of my favorite (and most missed) things. I'm so glad we were able to go and hope we can have a repeat next summer. And now I'll get to working on blogging all the other stuff we've been up to...

And just a note--I have been thinking a LOT the last few weeks (maybe that's what taking a blog break will do to you) about going private here on the ol' blog. I'm still not entirely decided, but I'm starting to think it might be time. So just a warning I suppose...don't be surprised if I end up doing this soon. Toodles!