Less Words Wednesday

Carson had water day at daycare recently. He was ready to go, just like he is everyday.

He looked like he was having so much fun.

In all the pictures, it seemed like everyone was invited to HIS water day :)

We celebrated Father's Day and Granny's birthday over the weekend.

One of Darrin's former players came to watch Miles play baseball last weekend since we played in town. She helped watch Miles last summer. With Covid this year, and with Miles being a little older, we didn't need her help this summer. I miss having her help though.

We also celebrated Father's Day with Darrin. We are practical, little gift givers, so he got a pair of work boots and a charging pad for his phone. He was actually really excited about both.

Sometimes Carson occupies himself so well. Not as much as we would like, but it's so nice when he does.

We went to church for the first time last Sunday. It was so good to be there!

They don't have children's activities yet, so they had to come in the service. Miles was great, of course. Carson was good enough.

Our gym is sooooo hot in the summer, but I love it so much. I missed it while they were shut down. I need to work out with people or I won't do it. Misery loves company.

The boys love to eat outside. Tonight they got straight out of the pool for dinner.

I have gotten really into audio books. I've listened to several books by this author. I love them all, but this is probably in the top two. It's a little dark, but so good. I think she's an amazing author. I can't imagine how her mind works to write like that.

Miles has been playing golf every week.

Today, he shot 3 strokes less than the last two weeks. Darrin said he hit the ball so well. He placed and won a prize. He's definitely enjoying golf more this year than he did last year. I'm glad to see that. I wonder a lot which sports he'll commit to as he gets older. He says it will be baseball and bass fishing. They have bass fishing in high school now and college teams too. He's wishing his life away to get to that point!

The boys came in second place on Father's Day. Our team has an amazing group of invested dads.

Darrin was happy to spend his day at the ball park watching Miles do what he loves.

We've played for five weekends straight, which was welcomed after the pandemic interruption. Now, we are ready for a little break.

Wordless Wednesday

  

Weekend Wrap Up

We had the BEST weekend! I took a million pictures and there's so much to say. It's hard to wrap it all up into one post, so I'm going to lump everything into five highlights.

1) Miles hit his first home run! He said the night before that he was going to and asked me to record every at bat so Darrin could see it since he wasn't going to be there. On his first at bat of the day, he hit it out on the second pitch. Thankfully, I recorded it. We were so happy for him! His hitting has been a work in progress and he made major strides this weekend.

He has the best teammates. I love the way they cheer each other on. What a great life lesson.

2) My mom came for the weekend and Granny & Pa came to see Mile' game. They were only able to come for one game and it was the one that he hit the home run in! I was so happy that they were all there to see it.

3) I got to hang out with my friends. Kimberly, Abby, and I have been hanging at the ball field since the boys were on the 6 & Under team, which was Miles' first year. This is their fifth year together. The boys have come a long way and I've enjoyed my time with these mommas so much.

Kelly and I have waited a long time to watch our boys play together. Mason finally joined our team this year and I am loving getting to hang with their whole family.

4) Carson was such a trooper this weekend. He really does a great job during baseball games. He has definitely turned a corner with his behavior. He loves to be outside, so he's pretty easy to please during games. He didn't even ask for much from the concession stand!

He only had one sno cone all weekend. I think that's a record.

He loved playing with Mason's sister, Addison. As soon as we pulled out of the parking lot last night, he said, "I miss her."

5) The boys played incredible baseball this weekend and won the tournament! There were five teams in the tournament and we finished the 5 seed after pool play on Saturday. It was a battle on Sunday, but they knocked off three teams to win it all. It was one of the most exciting weekends we've had. Miles pitched the entire semi final game. That team beat us 10-2 on Saturday and we beat them 10-2 on Sunday. Darrin was able to get there just in time to see Miles pitch that game. Knowing how it all turned out, I am so glad that he came.

Instead of handshakes after the games, they tip their hat to each other. I didn't think I would like it, but I actually do. It's not a bad compromise at all. We've seen some losing teams not be very respectful with it, but I'm sure that was the case with handshakes at times too.

The boys went on to beat a very good team 9-6 in the championship game. They were so happy! The coaches and parents were pretty ecstatic too. We've watched a lot of baseball to get to a weekend like this where everything clicked. It was a special weekend for sure.

Rings are the ultimate reward for 10 year old boys. When they learned that they were getting rings instead of trophies, plaques, or medals, that was the icing on the cake.

When you win it all, that usually means a very late night. It was a late night for everyone, but I was the last one asleep and it was after midnight. I've been ready for bed since I woke up this morning!

Weekend Wrap Up

Another weekend of baseball in the books. Carson went to stay with Granny & Pa again. He was very excited to see them.

Carson is the youngest of six grandchildren and he's a wee bit spoiled. He acts like a little angel anytime he's with Granny & Pa or Marmee...and they all eat him up. He can be tough, but he is also the sweetest kid ever. He's so loving and affection.

After dropping Carson off, we headed to Missouri for the third weekend in a row. This was a new place to play and we enjoyed our three weeks there so much. It was an easy drive, the park was clean and well managed, the parking was accessible (which is such a plus in baseball), you could take coolers into the park, the umps were good, and there was no admission fee. So many positives. We loved the three weeks that we played there.

We had a short break between the two games on Saturday. The weather was so nice in the shade. The sun was another story, but we stayed under tents and trees and enjoyed the day.

We were down two players this weekend due to sickness and a 4-wheeler accident (he's okay, just sore) and they are both pitchers and catchers. That meant that Miles caught all but one inning, all weekend long. The coaches took care of him and let him wait in the dug out before each inning while the team warmed up. He enjoyed catching, but missed pitching.

They won both games on Saturday and earned the 2 seed. We finished early enough to have time to socialize at the hotel.

The boys swam at the hotel and all but one ended up with a rash. We thought Miles was raw from the heat and sweat, but the next day we learned that siblings that didn't play, but swam, also had a rash. There were boys from another team in the pool and they said the next day that they also had the rash. It was not a pleasant experience for the boys, but powder and cortisone cream carried them through on Sunday. I'm very glad that Carson wasn't with us, b/c he would have gone swimming too. That would not have been fun at all.

We all got to spend time with our friends. It was an enjoyable, laid back kind of night.

While we were having fun at the hotel, Carson was swimming at Uncle Steve and Aunt Crystal's house, or has he calls them "Uncle Steve and Miss Crystal". He started calling her Miss Crystal last year and I'm not sure he'll ever say Aunt again even though he clearly knows who she is.

They grilled out and swam. I could tell how happy he was when I got this picture.

I do hate that we missed time with family. It looked like a good time.

Because we were the 2 seed, we didn't have to play until 2:30pm the next day. We had a leisure morning in the hotel. Darrin went to McDonalds to get breakfast. Then, he made several trips to Walmart and down to the truck for us. He is such a saint like that. I'm so glad my other half loves to run errands and stay busy, b/c I am not a fan of such inconveniences.

Sunday was another hot day, but there was a really nice breeze. I don't think Miles would agree :)

He caught the entire day and did a great job.

He had a big hit in the championship game, driving in three runs, but got thrown out trying to get to third. Even though he had 3 RBIs, he was devastated and will never remember that hit fondly.

They won a tough game in the semis, but lost in the championship game to a very good team. We were all so proud of them.

One of his teammates took a hit to just below his knee while he was pitching and he screamed and flipped as he fell to the ground. The boys went running. The other team was hitting so hard. It wasn't pretty, but in the end, I think it looked and sounded worse than it was. We were so thankful that he was okay.

Praying is the best way to end the day.

Darrin and I missed Carson so much this weekend. I guess three weekends in a row will do that to you. But he had a better time where he was and we were able to enjoy the games. He was excited to see us, well mostly Darrin b/c he is SUCH a daddy's boy (dang quarantine got me :). Miles let him wear his medal and he loved the hotel key that Darrin gave him.

He was all smiles until it came time to take the iPad away and go to bed. Then, the wheels came off. He was hysterical for over an hour. I finally was able to get him to stop crying and watch TV with me until he calmed down. Until then, nothing worked. He was delirious. Finally at 11:15pm, he said he was ready to go to bed. Both boys slept in our room, Carson in bed with us Miles on a cot, b/c that sounded like the right thing to do after being away from Carson for the weekend.

I text his teacher this morning to let her know that he had been up late, so she would know if he seemed tired. She said he had a great day when we picked him up. He seems to be enjoying his new classroom so much. So far, he appears to like his teacher and vice versa. Hopefully this can last a while. We had two more weekends of baseball and then we have a break. We are playing close to home the next two weekends, so it will be nice to not need a hotel. I'll be ready for a break, but we've had a lot of fun watching Miles play ball. And, I know Carson has made a lot of good memories too.