First away tournament, lazy summer days, sleepover, and Father's day

Here we go again...another catch up. This summer is cruising right along.

A couple of weekends ago Grace's team played a tournament in Elk Grove, CA which is about an hour and fifteen minute drive away. Not crazy far, but with a game scheduled for 8am on Sunday morning, we opted to book a hotel for the night. The tournament itself was really fun. The fields were great, the competition was tough, and the girls all played really well. Grace hit a couple of solid doubles and had a single too. She also played some great defense as a third baseman.

After our last game on Saturday, we all headed over to the hotel. Thankfully it had an outdoor swimming pool. We had a great time socializing with the team and playing in the water. We ordered pizzas and chatted the evening away. After our pool time, I headed home with Neil and Claire, while the other 2 stayed the night. I wish we could have stayed because day 2 was pretty fun apparently.

The next week the younger two started swim lessons everyday. The first day was only in the mid 60's so it was a bit cold to be at the outdoor pool. Each day it warmed up though, and they have been having a blast. By the end of the week it was in the 90's so the kids convinced me to take them back to the pool for the afternoon to play. It was a perfect day for swimming. They even talked me into the water. I usually just sit by the side and watch. It was fun playing with them.

On Friday night, Claire had an early birthday slumber party with her friends. She invited three of her friends to spend the night. It's really the first time that I've allowed such a party. It turned out really well. Everyone came over and we BBQ'd some dinner. Then they all went outside to play tag. Afterwards we built a fire and they all sat outside by the fire. We ended up doing cake and ice cream outside. Then the girls decided to relax in the hot tub. They were out there for a good long time before coming in to settle down with Beauty and the Beast. They chatted and probably stayed up til around 1am. Then they were up bright and early around 6. I didn't hear them until 7. It was wayyy tooo early for me! I got up and made them a pancake breakfast. Claire was really happy with how it all went. I'd say it was a big success! I can't believe that she is about to turn 12! Yikes!

Once the girls all went home we had a fun day out together. We tried out a new restaurant for lunch and then we went to see Cars 3. Everyone really enjoyed the movie. The next day was Father's day. It was one of the most fun days ever! The girls both had practice, and Grace's team did a fun daddy/daughter scrimmage. The adults all batted lefty and it kept things interesting. Despite the crazy hotness of the day, (like 106+), it was so much fun! After the game we all headed to a pool for a lazy afternoon of food and friends. We are having a great time with the families from Grace's team. So glad we are playing summer ball with them.

Last couple days of school

The last week of school was jam packed with activities. It seemed as though there was a party happening every single day.

On the second to last day, I accompanied Grace's class to the bowling alley. With the entire third grade bowling, it was insanely loud! She had a great time.

The last day I spent going to the morning assembly where Grace was recognized for her work on the student council. Afterwards I helped in Neil's class. They got to draw on their desks with shaving cream and then we all walked to Rite Aid to purchase ice cream cones. Then it was off to the field to enjoy pizza and fruit followed by recess.  Basically one giant party. He had a great time and it was nice to have one last hurrah with his classmates.

Here is the morning picture on the last day of school. They are so happy to be photographed.

All done with 1st, 3rd, and 6th grades. Where has all the time gone?

So much catch up...

Here's just a dump of lots of things that have happened over the last month or so.

Mother's day...was a really nice relaxing day. The kids and Chris made me delicious french toast with orange juice and eggs. Unfortunately, Grace was pretty sick that day with a fever. We mostly stayed home and relaxed. It was a nice break.

Claire and her softball team had their end of the season party at one of the girls's house. It was a backyard pool party along with BBQ. The kids were in heaven as it was a 94+ degree day. We really had a fun season on Top Gun.

Neil "graduated" from occupational therapy at school. His teacher presented him with an award and a small stuffed Beaver. He named it Maxwell.

Grace's class went on a walking field trip tour of downtown Livermore. I went along as a chaperone. It was pretty interesting to hear all the fun facts about our town's history. I think the kids all had a really good time.

Our summer softball season has officially started. The girls both played in their first tournament over the Memorial Day weekend. We were lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa Phillips in town to help cheer them on. We also had Aunt Katie, Uncle Mark, Savannah, and new baby Owen. It was a short and busy weekend, but it was fun to see everyone.

We went out on the town for dinner with the family after the games. Yum Cravings pizza!

Grace's team did a garage sale fundraiser and they decided our house would be a good location. Yay garage sale. It was a lot of work, but it was also fun to hang out with our friends from the team.

I had to leave the garage sale for a couple of hours to run Neil over to his closing ceremonies for baseball. He was so happy to get his trophy, yearbook, and t-shirt.

The next day we headed over to his team's party at the bowling alley. He had a blast bowling with his teammates and eating pizza of course.

Yesterday was the elementary school's annual hoedown. Each grade prepared their own line/square dance and performed it for everyone. The kids always enjoy dressing up in their western wear. Neil was kinda going for the farmer look.

Other than that we've had service crews at our house over the last 2 days installing new AC's and furnaces. They just finished, so yay! Now I'm ready for the summer. Bring on the heat. Tomorrow is our last day of school. Everyone is beyond ready.

Spring Visit

We've just been plugging along. Chris has been getting around on his scooter, and we have been doing the usual. It's softball or baseball nearly every single day, but we are having fun.

My parents were able to come visit us for a quick weekend. They were able to see Neil receive a student of the month award at school. He was pretty happy about that.

On Saturday all three kids had a game and none of them overlapped. My parents were able to take advantage of this rare opportunity to see them all play. It was a really long day out on the fields in the sun. We started bright and early with Neil's 8am game. Lucky for us it was his special game where all the kids got to choose a song to play every time they went up to bat. There was also an announcer calling out the plays and the kids as they came up to bat. It was a really fun game to watch. 

Grace played next and then we watched Claire. By the time we got home we were all ready to just relax on the couch. The kids were all happy to have their Grandparents there to see them.

The rest of our weekend consisted of mostly resting. We went to Chili's and Cream. We BBQ'd and played in the backyard. The kids even talked Grandma into trying her luck in the batting cage. She can check that off her bucket list. They also spent some time in the hot tub. Unfortunately, they had to leave Sunday night. It all went by way too fast! Thanks for coming though! We can't wait until you come back. 

Since that weekend we've been busy with end of the school year type stuff. Lots of parties to attend, teacher appreciation gifts to get sorted, and ball to play. Both girls made it onto a summer travel softball team. We are excited to see how that goes. It will be challenging for sure with 2 of them doing it. I guess we will have to divide and conquer.

The kids got their spring pictures back. They turned out pretty cute.

Neil is happy because he finally lost his first tooth. He had been working on it forever. He was so excited for the tooth fairy to come because he really wanted some money. In the morning he was a bit sad though. When I asked him why, he said he only got $1. I asked him how much he thought he should get and he said $10.  Sorry buddy, that's just the way it goes. 

Ouch!

Wednesday night was a busy one for us. I had the usual weeknight run around of getting kids to their various practices, and Chris was at his own softball game. He plays on a team with people from his work. It was a later game, so I was waiting up for him after 10pm. He had called me from the road to say that he had injured his foot. I didn't think too much of it though. He said he was able to drive ok.

He had been running from first to second base and stepped funny in a divot in the dirt. His ankle rolled and had immediate pain.

Once he made it home I realized that it was more serious than he had made it sound. He couldn't put any weight on it at all. After thinking through our options, we headed off for the ER around 11pm.

Unfortunately, it was a busy night in the ER too. We had to wait a really long time for a doctor to see him and order the x-ray. Turns out he had fractured a metatarsal bone in a couple of places. They splinted him up, gave him some crutches, and sent us on our way. It was 3:30am before we got home. The morning routine of getting kids up for school came really fast.

We saw the Orthopedic Surgeon on Friday, and so far it looks like it will heal nicely without surgery. For now he has to be completely non-weight bearing. They fitted him in a boot. In 3 weeks we will go back for some new x-rays. Hopefully at that point he will be able to put some weight on it. For now we ordered one of these sweet knee scooters. The crutches were just super painful. 

You can tell he is enjoying it. Here he is racing circles around in the house on it. Hopefully we don't end up with any new injuries. :)

He'll probably be in a boot for 6-8 weeks. So yay! Life just got a bit more complicated.

Easter Fun

We did the typical stuff on Easter weekend. The weather wasn't great so we spent most of our time relaxing. The kids dyed some eggs on Saturday, and then they spent Sunday morning hunting for them. They each got a new book, some water color markers, paper, and of course plenty of candy.

There was no school on Monday so I decided to take them to Six Flags for a few hours. We had a good time hitting up all our favorite rides. We even spent some time in the butterfly house. The kids had a blast trying to take pictures of every single butterfly.

The dolphin show is always fun too!

It was a fun way to spend a Monday for sure.