Father's Day. Really, Baseball.

As we've done over the last two years (2015, 2014), we spent Father's Day weekend at an All Star tournament!  This year was a little different because Brian was the manager of the team.  He and the other Raptors coaches coached the team in the All Star tournament.  Most of the boys on the Raptors have played All Stars together over the last few years.

Because the boys moved up to a new division, our "work up tournaments" were at different fields than we've played in the past.  We started this season in Suffolk over the weekend!  The boys had 4 games over two days, and because it was about an hour from home, there was a lot of waiting.

Fortunately they all like each other!  Ha!  We're resting those arms on a long break right now, and I know that they are all itching to play ball again...and to see each other.  Ha!

One thing that I LOVE about this team is that we have the greatest group of parents and siblings.  My three younger kids are always excited to go to the games because they have friends there, and one of the boys has an older sister who is terrific with the little ones.  She keeps them busy and they love it!  She is a gem!

The boys went 1 and 3 that weekend.  And Wyatt's struggle at the plate was real.

He loves to be behind the plate.  Although he probably gets annoyed at me for constantly shouting, "Be a wall!"

We had a break between games, so the boys had lunch in the dugout.  Which is not to be confused with the day that Wyatt walked out onto the field with pizza in his hand.  There were words with his father after that....for real.

After the games Brian took the day off and came home with us!  We had pizza at Mimi and Baba's and then came home for early bed times.  These kids were wiped!

Reese's School Year Wrap Up

Reese is done with First Grade!  First seems to be the year that they start to lose their "baby faces" and start to look bigger!  She has grown almost 3 inches this school year, and she learned so much!

After the Field Day extravaganza, the kids made shirts.  Some of them wore them to the class party the following week.  Reese had quite a design on her shirt.

We had to get a picture of these 4 with their fantastic teacher before the end of the year.  I know that they are going to miss her so much!  Reesie learned so much and developed so many new reading strategies this year, and her teacher is just the best. Hopefully we have her in another year for Hudson!

At the end of her class party they handed out class "superlative" awards. Reesie got the Team Player Award (Wyatt got the MLB Award two years ago...check out that picture and we can have a moment of silence for when he wore pants with a button to school, that doesn't happen anymore).  Her teacher said that she is tough, brave, and smart, but that her favorite thing about her is that she works well with others.  It's because she's such an easygoing girl and knows how to strike a compromise, but she's probably also learned a thing or two from having so many kids in the family!

Daddy took them out for their traditional "last day lunch" after he picked them up on the last day!  And their summer began!

Wyatt's School Year Wrap Up

This kid is moving on the the fourth grade! The school year just started, didn't it?  This year was an absolute DREAM.  I'm not kidding.  Second grade was tough for him.  There were PACKETS and PACKETS of worksheets.  And overall, it just wasn't a great fit.

But when I say that this year was the total opposite, I'm not kidding.  We all have teachers that we remember forever (I ran into one of my favorite teachers ever just a few days ago), and I really think that Wyatt will always remember his time in third grade.  It was a perfect fit, and he thought his teacher was the greatest guy ever.  There wasn't a complaint about going back to school after breaks, he always wanted to be prepared for tests, it was just fantastic.  When I say that I was teary eyed at the end of the school year, I'm not kidding.  I know that this school year, with this teacher, is something that will always stay with him.  They were even twins for awards day!  :)

He also had a great year academically!  Soooo close to straight A's at the end of the year, but he missed an A in math by 60 points.  When he tallied up the silly mistakes that he made and realized how close he was, he realized there was a reason his teacher had him write "I checked my work" at the bottom of those pesky tests.  He was actually supposed to check it.  Ha!  He still ended up with Principal's Honor Roll for those A's and that B.

He had lots of fun friends in his class.  Several of them also played in the sand soccer tournament, so they were all wearing their gear.  When I walked in Wyatt's class for the party, his teacher said, "So, I heard Wyatt got a yellow card this weekend.  It was the first thing he told me today."  I know Wyatt will miss talking sports with him!

And the last day picture.  Here comes fourth grade!

Pool!

We took advantage of a nice May day and set our inflatable pool up in the backyard.  The pictures will do most of the talking of the fun that they had that day!

June Little Things

Here are a few of the small things that made our June so fun!  More posts to come on the end of the school year, Finley's dance recital, her first t-ball game, All Stars, and probably other things that I am forgetting.  Ha!

June began with Field Day for these four.  They are best friends!  Reesie and her friend on the right were in the same morning Kindergarten class last year, and her two friends on left had the same teacher in the afternoon.  They were inseparable this year.

In February, Reesie came home in tears because her best friend, Hunter, told her she was moving to South Carolina this summer.  There were literally MONTHS of tears from her because of it.  I told her she needed to make sure that the last few months were the best, and she did!

Reesie decided that she needed to up her skin care routine this summer.  Long sleeved rash guard, large straw hat, check!  #redhairdocare

In case anyone is looking for a great summer drink...this is my fave!  The WalMart Clear American waters mixed with Moscato are the best.  I like to mix in peach or strawberry.

We set up the pool in the backyard and they had a picnic on the deck.

Pony pictures were taken in May, but we got them back in June.  I can't believe how much bigger Hudson looks in a year's time.  Ah!  He's going to Kindergarten in the fall!

This podcast is my new favorite.  I LOVE The West Wing, but no one was talking about it when I watched it.  Now watching an episode a week on Netflix and listening is awesome, especially since I've now seen every episode too many times to count.

Poor Jeter was stuck in his crate for the entire day while we were at Sand Soccer.  He was ready to dole out some love when we got home!

Hudson's class celebrated the final week of school (and their Dr. Seuss unit) with a Wacky Wednesday.

Which gave me flashbacks to two years ago when Reesie had her Wacky Wednesday in Ms. Cathy's class, too!

We had a pizza party/trophy night for the baseball team, and then the moms went out for a bit!

I had to get a picture of Hudson with his buddies on the last day of school.  He has had the best year and the greatest group of friends in his class since he started preschool.

He and Mason have been together since the very beginning and they have been best buddies.  I am so sad that they are going to different schools this fall!  They will still be friends, though.  Baseball buddies, too!

I believe Finley's exact words in this situation were "Reese, you've been bad, and I'm going to need to tell your Mom about this."

After a long day at the baseball fields, it obviously makes sense to come home and run more catching drills, right?

She had her going away party for Hunter at the same time as one of Wyatt's games.  I dropped her off to play, and when we came home we sat on the porch and talked for awhile.

FQB was excited to see "Finding Dory" in the movie theater.  

They found a nest in the  backyard, and lined up to check for eggs.  Wyatt was ready to tell us exactly which kind of bird was living in the nest.

One last sleepover before Hunter moved!  

We made frames for their rooms with pictures from Field Day.

And the next morning she left our house and moved to South Carolina!

I ended up with an extra kid at my house one night after baseball practice.  And there's no escaping baseball with this group.

Softball Champs!

Reese's softball team is full of softball talent. These girls know how to hit the ball and make plays, and they are tough!  

One of the moms on the team took this photo in May.  It's now one of my favorites EVER!  The girls all brought dresses to their game and changed afterwards.  Then they rolled around in the dirt until they were dirty enough! Ha!

They went undefeated this spring, and then had to play in one playoff game to qualify for the championship.

Reesie went on a hot streak at the end of the season, and she was crushing the ball!  She tries to good at everything.  She's not happy settling with getting a single, or playing in the infield a few times.  She wants to be the best!

As luck would have it, her Championship game was on the same day, at the same time, as Wyatt's!  I stayed with her at her game, and it was great!  She hit two doubles, and drove in a few runs!  

And the Pride finished the season number 1!  This year of softball has been so good for her.  She loves the game, and her coaches and team mates were great.  Some of the girls will be moving up in the fall, but two of her coaches are staying and so are several of her friends.  She's already looking forward to it!