Weekend at the Lake

Just like last year, we were invited to spend the weekend at the lake with some of our friends.  We were the last to arrive Friday evening, making it there just in time for a pizza dinner.  We ordered in and played around the house that night so that we could be well rested for a full day on the water the next day.

We rose early on Saturday to eat breakfast, make sandwiches, pack coolers, slather on sunscreen, and load up for the lake.  Matt and I rode in the back of Justin's ranger down to where they keep their boats.

We had the best weather for a day on the water.  The sun was out so it was warm enough to swim, but not so hot that it was miserable and unbearable.  

The big kids could hardly wait to jump into the water!

Not totally eager to jump off the boat?  This guy.  My little Alfalfa.  :)

Thomas enjoys boat days a lot like I do.  We're just there for the snacks.

Levi (and Mason, though I didn't get a picture of him) was so brave he jumped off the roof of the boat!

Justin had a really cool inflatable slide to hang off the side of the boat, and Thomas warmed up to that.  He thought it was way better than just jumping in.

After lunch, we split the two boats up so the bigger kids could do some tubing and the babies could nap.  Since Thomas is just a year behind the big kids but two years older than the babies, he got to go on the tubing boat too. 

The girls went first while the boys watched.

And then the boys took a turn.  Even Thomas gave it a try!

We made a quick stop to fill up with gas, which was a good time to shoot water guns off the front of the boat.

Jeff let each of the big kids take a turn driving the boat. 

We were just be-bopping along, enjoying the ride when I looked over and saw this.  Poor T-man.  He tried so hard to hang but just couldn't stay awake!

We made sure to recreate a couple pictures from last year for comparison.  And this year we added Chase to even the siblings out!

Here is a year-to-year comparison of the big kids.

This year we added in a picture of the younger siblings, and the mamas and the daddies too.

What a fun day on the water we had!  Sadly, we had another commitment on Sunday so we had to hit the road early the next morning and missed out on day two.  We made sure to time our departure so we could stop at the Bulldog Cafe for lunch.

We are incredibly grateful to our friends Justin and Laura for inviting us to their house and out on their boats.  Our kids are already begging to go back again sometime!  Maybe next year...

First Season of T-Ball

As of this past spring, Katie Wynn is officially old enough to participate in team sports.  How is that possible?  I swear she was just born yesterday.

So, we signed up, paid the registration fee and bought all the necessary accessories (even though I pitched a fit about it because does a t-ball player really need their own bat, helmet, and bag?) and went to exactly one practice before the first game.

You guys, I laughed SO HARD during that first game that I could barely stand up at one point.  Did any one on either team have a clue what was going on?  I don't think so.  They were so funny to watch! 

We talked somewhat extensively about how to gently drop the bat after hitting the ball after the tee so that they weren't slinging the bat and knocking people out.  My girl?  She got a solid hit on her second try and then took off for first, carrying her bat with her.  When she made it to first base, she passed the bat on over to the coach.  No need to hold onto it anymore.  :)

The players got to advance one base after each player hit, so they rounded the bases every time at bat.  Here is a picture of Katie Wynn's first run from third base to home...by way of the pitcher's mound. 

She did better at for her second at bat and remembered to drop the bat.  But this time, she followed the ball instead of running towards first.  Hey, I get it - everyone else was running towards the ball so it made sense that she did too!

Fielding is where we really saw our normally shy girl hustle and show some aggression.  She wanted to get the ball every single time!

The team's uniforms did not arrive in time for the first game, but Katie Wynn was super excited to get to wear it to the next one.  And everyone was thrilled the day the helmet arrived at the house!

Katie Wynn's team was the Houston Astros and so I had really built up the excitement for her uniform being orange (her favorite color) and matching the orange glove she picked out.  I had to do some major back-tracking when the uniform came in and it was navy.  There was just a tiny bit of orange on the hat.  And even that was a let down because "her name doesn't start with an H."  (I blame myself for that since I monogram everything she owns.)

I didn't really snap pictures again until the last game of the season, and man did this team improve!  By the end they actually knew they were playing a ballgame while out on the field and everyone knew which direction to run after hitting the ball.  Basically, ready for the major leagues!

This is what I like to call a "swing and a miss, power roundhouse."  Sometimes you just gotta do a little spin.  :)

One of the reasons Katie Wynn enjoyed t-ball so much is because her buddies were on her team.  One of the reasons I enjoyed t-ball so much is because I got to hang out with her buddies' mamas.

And while I really, really enjoyed watching Katie Wynn play ball, you know who her biggest fan was, right?

Thomas would've given anything to just get to hang out in the dugout with her!

After her last game, they got to line up and receive trophies.  She is SO PROUD of her t-ball trophy!

The fab four!

Matt was out of town for the last game so we had to take our family picture without him.

And now, for the professional pictures.  I absolutely love this one of her!  When I texted it to my Dad, he asked why I sent him a picture of Thomas.  He really thought that was him!  What do you think - does it look like Thomas to you?  (It does not to me but I do think not seeing her hair can throw it off.)

And finally, the sweetest team picture. All but 2 of the kids on the team go to the same school, so they knew each other pretty well.  (And because the hats make it hard to tell, the girls are all on the front row!)

What a fun season!  I can't wait til next year when we'll have two players on the team.  :)

Touch A Truck

While scrolling through Facebook, I saw an upcoming event near us called Touch A Truck and, after reading the description, knew it was something both kids would enjoy.  The following Saturday, we picked up our friend Addi Clare and hit the road to go see all kinds of cool vehicles!  There were fire trucks, ambulances, school buses, police cars, jeeps, an army tank, a mobile command center, and a few others I can't remember.  The best part was that the kids were able to climb in each one and check them out!

I think this jeep was their favorite because they got to honk the horn...over and over and over again.

After we'd touched all the trucks, the kids played in some nearby fountains.

And we didn't leave for home until after eating popsicles from a food truck.  Yum!

Small Fry Tri

For the second year in a row, the kids were participants in our town's Small Fry Tri.  It's a mini-triathlon event for kids ages 2 to 6 and is so fun!  First they run a quick race, then they hop on their bikes and ride, and then for the "swimming" portion, they run through the firemen's water hose sprinklers!  I mean, really, what kid wouldn't think that's the most fun thing ever?

Thomas, that's who.  Our little guy was not about to let go of his Daddy to participate in some race.

Katie Wynn, on the other hand, did awesome this year!  She was in a heat with five other kids her age and she took her place at the starting line, eager to go!

She took off running and was so fast I didn't get a picture of her!  Then came the jumble of all the kids trying to get on their bikes at the same time.

It took her a minute to get going, but soon she was off.

I raced to the next stop where she would ditch her bike and run through the sprinklers so I could be ready for a picture.  Her friends arrived on their bikes shortly after I made it there, but no Katie Wynn.  That's when I looked down the path and saw that at the 90 degree turn, she'd fallen off her bike and was still there with it tumped over.  Talk about breaking a mama's heart!  I raced to her as fast as I could!  She was being so brave and fighting back tears.  We got her bike back upright and even with all of her friends done, she got back on her bike and finished the ride.

She was all by herself for the sprinkler run but she still gave it all she had and finished strong!  I was SO proud of her!

She earned her finisher's medal and was proud to wear it.

Rocky the Redbird was in attendance for the event and Thomas thought he was cool until I got close to him.

The kids insisted on wearing their registration tshirts after getting cleaned up at home.  Katie Wynn had to wear her medal too, of course.

The medal was even worn to church the next day!  I have a feeling that's one trophy I won't be able to accidentally "lose" anytime soon...

Hopefully next year Thomas will be ready to give it a go too!

Thomas is THREE!

If you've been hanging around here for a while, then you know when it's your birthday, you get woken up with balloons!  Katie Wynn was so excited about Thomas getting three balloons that she was the first one up.  She couldn't wait to deliver them!  Thomas?  He thought his three balloons were a real yawn.

We came home from our beach trip on a Tuesday and Thomas turned three on Thursday.  It was a daycare day for the kids and I let them pick out the kind of dinosaur they wanted for Thomas's bday shirt.  T-Rex (and a matching K-Rex) was the winner!

We quickly threw together a dinosaur-themed party for that Saturday.  The week was a whirlwind but we were glad to get to celebrate our little guy with a Three-Historic (prehistoric?) Party!

I didn't hire a photographer and all three cameras at the party had dead batteries, so I just have a few phone pictures.  I ordered inflatable dinosaurs that were scattered around the backyard for decorations.  The kids played with them and bonus - some kids got to take one with them as an extra party favor.  In one corner of the backyard, we filled a small plastic pool with sand and lots of plastic dinosaurs for a very official fossil dig.  

Have you ever heard of a kid that doesn't love to hunt eggs at Easter?  Me either.  That's why our other party event was a dinosaur egg hunt!  Since our party guests obviously didn't have Easter baskets with them, we passed out brown paper sacks for them to carry their dino eggs in.  

We took a quick family picture before heading inside for cake.  Did I mention it was blazing hot outside?

I made Thomas a chocolate cake wrapped in Kit-Kat candy bars and topped with Heath Bar "dirt" and two dinosaurs.  He thought it was cool but then told me he doesn't like chocolate cake.  Awesome.  Good thing I also made some mini vanilla cupcakes topped with tiny dinosaurs.

As we ate cake and ice cream, a real dinosaur burst into the kitchen!  Matt threw himself on top of it and started riding it until he was able to calm it down and get it under control.  What a hero!  He saved the party!

The kids burned off the sugar from the cake and ice cream by all jumping on our tiny trampoline together.  Amazingly, no one was injured while they were all crammed in there together.  

Here is Thomas riding out a sugar low and high from his rush of a birthday party day.  

It's really hard for me to wrap my head around my baby being three.  Wasn't he just born yesterday?  I try to tell him at least once every day that he is my very favorite little boy in all the world.  I love him big.