Things Other Than Baseball

We actually do things other than baseball. Such as...

Vacation Bible School. It's a shame Carson doesn't have more fun.

Top Golf.

Crossnet. This was a gift from Santa. I don't think Darrin and Miles love playing with Carson and me because we aren't as good as them, but I think it is so fun.

Shopping in their favorite store with some friends.

More Vacation Bible School fun.

Top Golf with his Beast teammates in Hoover, Alabama.

Carson spent the day with Marmee. They played Yahtzee, SkyJo, and watched some game shows. I used to love watching gameshows with my grandmother!

Naptime on the couch after all the above mentioned fun. Their summer has been anything but relaxing so far.

Carson went on a cleaning binge before church last week. Both boys do this randomly.

Buying a new washer and installing it. I know I'm getting older because this new washer has brought me a lot of joy.

Video game time.

Shopping at Sam's. Darrin stayed in the car while Carson and I took our time and ate all the samples. It took me way too long to learn that you don't feed two growing boys with weekly trips to Kroger. You feed them with expensive hauls from Sam's!

Reading. This accounts for a very small percentage of time, but at least it's something.

Learning to drive. Two more months until he's on his own. He's ready!

Playing cards with Marmee, and Granny & Pa. 

Shaved ice with friends. 

McDonalds with friends after football camp. Carson took his own wallet, ordered & paid for himself. This was a first.

Football camp. I learned the other day that his sports preference is baseball, basketball, then football. I wouldn't have guessed basketball ahead of football. Him loving an indoor sport wouldn't hurt my feelings :)

Less Words Wednesday

There were probably 500 people at the sub state tournament that we hosted a few weeks ago. A lot of local little boys were asking for autographs.

I'm not sure who was more excited, the little boy or Miles. It was a fun night.

Miles and Tyler played against two of their travel teammates. I think sports are so fun when you make friends on other teams.

Marmee got to experience the tournament and watch Miles catch one of the games. 

Miles & Dre.

We bought Miles a pair of sunglasses for having a successful freshman year in the classroom. We appreciate that we don't have to do anything school related. He takes care of everything himself. Miles gave Carson his old glasses. He was so happy!

A little coaching before we had to leave for Miles' practice.

Another view of the cool slide from the park we went to at the state tournament. I went down too. It was fast!!

I was giving a pep talk because he was bummed about not having the courage to climb over the rock wall. I'm sure he'll get it next time.

Don't mind the apple core on the arm of the couch. He still eats an apple a day.

Playing some Skyjo on a rainy Memorial Day weekend.

These two are proof that you can still be close with a 7 year age gap. I would argue they are closer because of it.

Champions....(of the silver bracket :)

Our Airbnb had a walking trail that we thought was loop. We discovered 1.1 miles in that it was a down and back, so we promptly turned around. I'm glad we got more exercise than we set out to do before we figured it out. 

End of School

Just like that 2nd grade and freshman year have come to an end. Miles finished with a 4.0. He had 1 B in his first 9 weeks, but quickly figured out how to manage high school. Super proud of him for being self motivated and getting it all done. 

He has a great group of friends. That hair trend tho.

Carson had the best year with Ms. Rachel. She's great in every way and I wish we could take her with us to third grade. 

Carson received the PE award. He wasn't too thrilled with that because he wanted the Citizenship award for the third year in a row. I didn't learn until days later that they only give one boy & one girl the PE award for the entire grade. I think that's pretty cool!

Lillie was in his class again.

This is the first year he had some of his friends. I wasn't sure how it would go, but it turns out he is a big time rule follower and they all did great together.

Goodbye handshakes with Carter.

I wish I knew what this was about.

His buddy, Emmitt, from church. 

The boys will stay home together again this summer. Last summer we paid Miles and treated it like a job. The plan this summer is for Miles to watch Carson as a way to help us since baseball will be a big expense. No doubt is will fly by and soon we'll be talking about back to school for third grade and sophomore year. 

The State Tournament

Miles' team made it to the state tournament!! There was so much to do to get ready to go. One of the most important things was the hair! It's a thing for all teams to bleach, highlight, or buzz your hair. Miles and Gage opted to highlight theirs so I took care of them. It took me a couple tries to get Miles blonde enough.

After the hair, we had the send off. Baseball, soccer, and cross country all made it to state so they had send offs on the same day. 

They loaded up the bus and drove past the elementary and middle schools for the kids to cheer them on. Sadly Carson's class was at lunch so they didn't get to be outside. I can only imagine how happy they would have been to see each other. I love the pure joy on Miles' face in this pic. I think all the boys loved the state experience.

It was hard to plan because you don't know how long you'll be there. Turns out the tournament was pushed back a day due to rain. We drove in thunderstorms and tornado warnings which very nerve racking. We stayed in an Airbnb the first two nights. Darrin and I had to work some so this gave us more room rather than having Carson confined to a hotel room for 2 days. 

After the first day, we enjoyed three beautiful days of sun and 70 degree weather. 

Granny & Pa came the first day. Unfortunately, Miles did get to play that day, but I know they enjoyed watching his team anyway. 

He got to catch Jack on day two and they got the win.

We had some time to kill when we checked out of the Airbnb on Friday. We found the coolest park. 

Carson was fearless with the tunnels and huge slide, but the rock wall was too scary. He was so upset with himself for not being able to overcome his fear.

After winning the first game on Friday and forcing the if necessary game, their season ended after a loss in the semi finals. 

Miles was sad for the season to be over and to say goodbye to the seniors. Carson was very sad for him.

These freshman are excited for the future.

Cam was a great friend to Miles from the very beginning. He drove him across the street to practice every day. Cam will be missed.

Miles got his first opportunity to pitch in a varsity game in the very last game. He did a great job in a big game, but it was too much to overcome.

We have spent countless hours at the ballpark over the last ten years. The boys have been on the same teams since they were six. And we have a full summer ahead of us!!

It was a great week with lots of memories made. I can't wait to see what the future holds!