Backyard Fun

A few weeks ago Brian was watering our fruit trees (we got an apple tree and a peach tree for our four year anniversary), and then the kids flew the coop.

Before I could stop them (we actually had places to go that afternoon), the big three had their swimsuits on and were outside running through the hose.  Because classy.

 Sometimes you want to run through water.  Sometimes you want to find a goal and basketball and drag them across the backyard.

 Turning a regular backyard slide into a water slide is also a good option.  Although it tends to get a bit dangerous.

Swim Lessons

Alternately titled, "Tales of a Blogging Slacker."

Soooo the kids started swim lessons.  On June 16.

There were tears.  From this guy.  I swear that his hair didn't get wet the first two weeks of lessons (he and Reese have taken three weeks of lessons, Wyatt has taken two).

Wyatt is still in the "Children's Program."  He passed the crawl and he's learning the Freestyle now.

Reese moved up from being a Preschooler to the Children's lessons with Wyatt.

She was pretty excited about that little fact.

Griffin is one of her BFF's from school, and she was very excited that he was in her lessons the first week!

She managed to get her bobs down and pass Station 1.

And she passed Station 2 (floats) the same day that Wyatt passed the Crawl (Station 4).

Hudson really got into things his third week of lessons.  He is legitimately getting his float on now.  

This girl is still working on her kicks (she keeps complaining about something in relation to her "streamline"), but she still gets to do her very favorite thing at every lesson - jump off the diving board!

They are signed up for two more weeks of lessons - we'll have to see how they do in the next few weeks.

Now Batting, Hudson!

Hudson had to sit out from sports in the spring because there was just no way to fit his games into our schedule.  He was signed up for soccer, but they moved it from Monday nights to Saturday mornings, and that didn't work with our already overlapping schedule for the Talls.

When we saw that the Y had a summer tee ball league for three year olds, we signed this boy right up!

 His first game was June 14 - the same weekend as Wyatt's first All Star tournament.  Fortunately there wasn't any conflict, so everyone got to see him play.

 Can you tell that he gets in a lot of practice at home?

Little brother swings!  Someone asked Brian what he did to teach Hudson his swing.  The answer is that he just watches Wyatt.  A lot.  

Wyatt said that Hudson shouldn't be standing like this, and ran over to adjust his stance on the bag.  He's been serving as Brian's "First Base Coach" ever since.

 He had to end the game on a sad note.  He didn't get to touch the ball or get an out, so he was feeling a little sad.  Obviously.  Ha!

All Star Season

Because I am so way behind on the times, I neglected to post anything about Wyatt's All Star season.

It ended two weeks ago, which is just unbelievable.  This summer is flying by!  He had several practices in the weeks leading up to the tournament, two "build up" tournaments, and then a big tournament at our field complex.

My father in law was awesome enough to take Wyatt to his practices so that I didn't have to drag the kids along, and they all did a pretty good job staying entertained during games thanks to, you know, fruit snacks and Gatorade.

This first tournament was a little bit crazy to me.  There's no other word for it other than MORE in comparison to the regular season.  More competitive, more pressure, more yelling (from the sidelines).  Just more.  Definitely fun and he was able to play a lot of baseball, but really interesting.  I was able to get used to it as the tournament went on, but the first tournament definitely left me a little shocked.

When it comes to baseball, you would be hard pressed to find a seven year old who knows as much about the game as this kid.

I'm honestly surprised that Brian hasn't started asking his advice on who to draft for his fantasy team.

When it comes to running, well, let's just say that this kid is probably going to get signed up for a speed and agility camp.  Pronto.  It took me awhile to figure out why he was moving so slowly.  Then I realized that he was actually running with arms up like he does when he's ice skating.  I guess that's one problem with not making him choose one sport.

The really great thing about the team is that Wyatt made lots of new friends and became better friends with the guys he already knew.  I got a kick out of taking him to places like Target or the Y and seeing him walk up to his friends (who I was not completely able to recognize without a hat. Ha!)

These boys wrapped up their time in the tournament, but there were still volunteer hours that we needed to perform (it was part of the All Star team commitment).  Wyatt had a blast going to the games and keeping score with Brian - because he got to announce the players over the loud speaker.  

We are super proud of what a great job Wyatt and his team did in the tournament!

June Little Things

Now onto June's Little Things.  They're a bit easier to remember!

Reese got her 17th reader at school.  She was so bummed that she didn't make it to 20!

When it was time for the Regional High School baseball tournament, Brian and Wyatt decided to go.  The quarterfinals involved the high school that Wyatt will go to versus the school that Brian's dad played for.  And the school that Brian played for was playing the school my brother played for!  It was a fun time for them to go watch some baseball!

It was finally nice enough for us to make a park stop while we waited to pick Wyatt up from school!

Watching the semifinal regional game!  He had a strong reaction to a call by the umpire!

Just a girl, hanging out, playing leap pad!

Wacky Wednesday at school!  She had this ensemble picked out for a week before her party!  I think mismatched shoes, mismatched socks, pajama pants, a tutu, and  four bows is pretty stinking wacky.  And cute!

She wrote her own thank you notes to her teachers!

Watching the College World Series, and we noticed a Louisville player using the same bat as Wyatt (but bigger!).  He was excited to see "Attack" on the big screen!  

Mondays in summertime mean "Daddy's Day off."  And ice cream.

Sleepy Huddoo.  Noticing a pattern?

Fashionista,

The World Cup and the Olympics inspire them to look at this map constantly.  "Where Uruguay?  Where's Brazil?"

I drove 45 minutes to a baseball game, and then this happened.  We turned around and came home....

and found out we lost power.

The All Star team's official team photographer.  Not.  The field is the other way.

Up and at 'em at 8AM to get in some practice swings.

I taught Wyatt to wash his laundry.  He said he likes it.  Time will tell.

This girl was the only one watching the game.  How did that happen?

Brian bought light saber Popsicle molds.  They're popular.  And delicious.

Everyone got haircuts.  Bunch of cuties!