Batter Up!

The girls had their first taste of softball this summer and let me tell you they absolutely loved it.  They loved everything from digging out their shirts and shoes to hitting and fielding.  I have to say the first practice run at the park was comical.  We went the the park as a family and Eric set up the bases so they had a little understanding of the how things worked before their first game.  Eric had them run the bases and yell the name of each base as they touched it.  They did this a couple times. When they were done he asked them "Where is 2nd base?"  They responded with just looking at him and pointing at 1st.  We decided we needed some more lessons in softball. 

Alexa is a natural born athlete.  Things come easy for her and she can be very determined for such a little thing.  She did a great job hitting and fielding the ball.  She wasn't one of those who played in the dirt she was after each ball no matter where it was hit!

Emma is our party girl and loves everything about life. Can you tell she is loving life after her big hit! She was excited if she hit it a little ways or a long ways.  She was the one that always had a smile on her face on the field and had to wave at me when she touched every base!  She makes me smile!

The girls thought it was so much fun being on the same team but they thought it was even more fun that daddy was on the field with them and helped coach them.  It was a fun family event for us on some of our summer evenings.  Shane and I cheered them on even though Shane was a little sad he couldn't participate.  He talked mom into playing catch and hitting some balls on the sidelines! 

The first game and first time on the field Alexa grabbed the catcher's mask and decided she was going to be catcher.  Eric and I both looked at each other like does she know what she is doing.  Even though Alexa is quiet and can be reserved she is always up for trying new things.  She did a great job as catcher and had fun while she was at it!

Alexa and Emma's first softball team!! I'm sure there will be more softball in the years to come! 

Time With Daddy

The kids love their date times with daddy.  Eric has made a point to take each of them out individually to do special things.  The girls love going for breakfast, ice cream or to the park.  Emma likes to go to Claire's with daddy.  Shane got new golf clubs for his birthday so his new favorite thing to do with daddy is to go golfing. Eric decided to take him golfing 9 holes one day.  I asked him if he was sure since I know what Shane's weakness is ... talking and sitting still ... he said, "It will be fun!"  Now if you didn't know this about Shane he doesn't stop talking.  I mean never stops talking, he talks more than the girls.  There are times we'll ask him to be quiet for 5 minutes at the dinner table and he just can't handle the silence.  He often is the last one standing at the dinner table.   School lunch could be challenging if he doesn't get the talking under control. Anyway, the bonding morning Eric envisioned didn't go as planned.  Shane would sit in the cart and sing as loud as he could "Wheels on the Bus"  and "Smashing up my Baby Bumble Bee!"  He also talked the entire morning.  So needless to say Eric came home singing "I'm smashing up my baby bumble bee" and ready for a little peace and quiet!  So now Shane and Eric spend their special daddy and Shane time at the driving range instead.  Shane loves it and feels like such a big boy golfing with daddy.  He also thinks it is pretty cool that the girls never get to go golfing with daddy and mommy doesn't get to go either.  It has been fun to see Shane and Eric develop this special thing they can do together.  I think down the road it could be a good place for Shane and Eric to have some good heart to hearts.  I am so glad that Eric makes building a relationship the kids a priority.  Their eyes light up when they know it is their daddy date time.

Since the boys in the family say girls aren't aloud to go golfing with them I had to send my camera with Eric so I could see what went on.  Shane starts by placing the ball carefully by the tee that Eric put out as a marker. 

If you look closely there are two more tees where Shane needs to line up his feet.  He is concentrating so hard on this picture to get those feet just right! He says to me you say, "Feet, Feet, Hand, Hand, Ball, Ball!"  That's his little saying as he gets ready to go! 

He is now ready.  Shane always says "Daddy says watch the ball with my eyes!"  I love the mouth on this picture!

He is winding up for the big swing.  Check out that mouth again!

Nice swing buddy! 

Shane says, "YES!!! I did it!"  He was so proud of himself!

Faces of the 4th

Just a few more of my favorite pictures from the 4th of July!

Fun on the 4th

We had such a fun 4th of July at the cabin.  My whole family was there and we had such great day enjoying the sun and fun at the lake as you can see from the post below.  In the evening we got everyone ready to take a family picture and then the festivities began.  

Oh look at the cute little gang that grammy got 4th of July clothes for.  Shane was pretty sure he wanted a dress too but then decided that his new shorts and shirt were pretty cool.  Oh how life has changed for our family.  7 little ones in 7 years.  Wonder what the next year will bring? 

We may have a gang but look at this little tribe.  We have wonderful neighbors at the lake that live at the lake in the summer.  They have 7 little grand kids and our kids have a great time with them. They love to swim from dock to dock and enjoy playing together in the sand and of course looking for toads.  My parents put a swing set on our lot line and they put up a play house so the kids have a fun time playing with each other between our cabins.  So this little tribe is 13 kids from the age of 7 and younger and they actually have one little grandchild that is missing on the picture.  

My older brother Jay and his wife Alissa and their 3 little ladies; Darby, Tyra and Mya.

Our little 4th of July gang! 

My younger brother and his wife Ang and their sweet little girl Bailey.  I think Bailey enjoyed her first 4th of July.  She even stayed up for fireworks!

My youngest brother Jon and my mom! 

Papa and Grammy and their little firecrackers! 

One of the highlights of the evening ... S'MORES!! The kids had fun roasting marshmallows but even more fun eating the s'mores! 

Then the fireworks began.  The kids had so much fun with those little pop things you throw on the ground.  They had some of the best expressions!

They also loved the sparklers! 

The highlight was the big fireworks.  Eric was in charge of the fireworks and Shane was his right hand man.  Eric would ask who wants to light this one.  Shane was always the first to say, "I do, I do, I do!" with more excitement than you could imagine.  Eric would ask all the girls and they would usually say no so Shane got to light most of them off.  I guess that is one advantage of being the only boy.  Shane would go to the middle of the dock with Eric and help him light it and then turn around and run back down the dock as fast as he could and assume this position you see in the picture.  I'm pretty sure that after everyone he would say, "That was cool" even if it wasn't that cool.  I guess in the eyes of a 4 year old anything he lit off was cool! On the way home we asked the kids what their favorite part of the weekend was and Shane's was definitely FIREWORKS! 

We enjoyed watching the BIG SHOW!!! We can't wait until next year! 

I may just have to do one more post of fun pictures that I took on the 4th.  I think I took close to 400 pictures in one day so I may need to post a few more! 

What's Not To Love About Life At The Lake

We feel so blessed that my parents have a cabin that we can spend time with family and build memories with.  We had a cabin when I was growing up way up north and we have such fun memories from our trip to the lake.  It is so nice that we can be at the lake in an hour and a half.  I'll tell you that the cabin didn't look this peaceful the whole weekend.  It was full of people and lots of laughs and smiles.  

We had such a fun weekend as you will see! 

There was rock throwing .... 

wave  runner rides .... 

fun with uncles and aunts ....

fun with cousins in the hot tub....

swimming in the lake ...

jumping off the dock ....

fun with baby Bailey ....

trying to ski for the first time ....

way to go Alexa .... so close ....

tube rides .....

making flag rice krispie bars for the 4th of July ....

crashing in the afternoon because they had so much fun! 

A Lil' Pampering At The Lake

We had such a great weekend at the lake.  The kids had tons of fun which you'll see in posts that follow!  Grammy brought her foot bath and some pampering things along of the girls.  They had so much fun at the Grammy's Spa at the lake.

The girls were all giggles and smiles as they soaked their feet in the foot bath! 

A little foot and leg massage! 

I love this picture of Tyra.  Her feet were so ticklish she just giggled during her foot massage !

Everyone got their toes and fingers clipped, cleaned and painted.  It wasn't an easy task after spending the day at the lake and in the sand. 

The girls were so excited about their toes and fingers.  They were ready for the 4th, red toes with white and blue flowers.  

Look at all those girls.  Someday Shane is going to think those odds are pretty nice but now he says "I don't have a fwend!"  He also tried to convince us that blue was a boy color and so the thought he should get his nails painted too with the blue polish!