More swimming

On Wednesday while Cash was enjoying field day and his last day of Kindergarten, Baylen had another swimming lesson with Miss Ann. He gets so excited when he knows it's a swim lesson day! This boy loves attention and having his own things to do!

They warmed up with some kicking first. Little did he know, a surprise was on the way!

Next he got his face wet and blew some bubbles...

This boy has seriously come a long way. Last year he didn't want to stick his face in the water. He didn't even want his head to get wet! :)

And then look who showed up to watch B practice his swimming! I didn't get a picture of Baylen's face when Heath showed up, but it was priceless. For Daddy to take some time to swing by and watch him absolutely made his day!

It seems that everyone gets pretty excited when Daddy's around.

Finished up the lesson with some floating. I really thought he would have a hard time floating since he doesn't have an ounce of fat on him, but surprisingly, he does pretty well with it when he can just relax. :) 

Play ball! (one last time)

On Tuesday night, the 3rd, Cash had his last game of the season. Grammy and Grandad were able to come down to watch it since it didn't start until 7:15. It was kind of late for a school night, but the next day was the last day of school, so I wasn't too worried.

While Cash and the team warmed up, Baylen and Grandad decided to do some warming up of their own. Getting to be in the batting cages was pretty cool.

Sister just propped up her feet and enjoyed the game -- she did get tired closer to the end of the game, but after 7pm, she starts going downhill. Happy here though!

Game over - time to give high fives one last time.

Happy ballplayer. I shot this through a hole in the fence, thus the blur. Cash said he was sad that the season had to end, but I honestly think we were all relieved to have it finished and move on with the carefree days of summer.

It was a great season. Coach Jay was so encouraging, patient and took such strides to teach each player. We all had a great time!

Birthday snack

On Monday, the 2nd, Cash was in charge of snacks for his Kindergarten class. It wasn't just any regular snack day though, it was supposed to be his birthday snack day. To Heath and I, this was odd because his birthday isn't until the end of the month, but his sweet teacher, having a summer birthday herself, realizes the fun of celebrating in class with your friends and made sure each child, even the summer birthday kids, had a chance to do so. (We loved his teacher, by the way!)

So the day before he picked out Ninja Turtle cupcakes for the boys and more girly cupcakes with flip flops on them for the girls. Mom was able to watch the littles for me so I could go to school for the party.

"Birthday" boy with his crown -- he was so excited!

They sang to him -- two different songs!

And then he got to take the first bite! Yummy chocolate cupcakes with oodles of icing!

Almost six, and oh, so happy to be partying with his friends!

Looks like even his best buddy, Reeve, was enjoying the birthday snack!

Silly sister

So sweet girl is definitely in the Everything-Goes-in-My-Mouth stage. EVERYTHING. This has been completely different than it was with the boys. When the boys were going through this stage, there weren't Legos and tiny littleNinja Turtle weapons lying on the floor.

But we do have plenty of things for her to play with that are safe and fun -- even if they don't quite fit in her mouth.

Silly sister

Not only does she like putting things in her mouth, she likes putting things, like her fist, in brother's mouth, too.

Odd enough, he lets her do it over and over.

Maybe she'll be a dentist! :)

Lessons

Heath and I both agree that learning to swim is a must for our boys. For anyone really. And I'm not talking about the specific strokes, Olympic athlete type swimming. We just want out boys, and eventually Ann Hadley to be able to stay above the water. Tread water. Doggie paddle. Whatever. 

So we have signed up with a friend at church for some lessons this summer. We've heard great, great, wonderful things about how she teaches, and we are excited. Did I mention the boys are stoked? Any reason to get in the water gets them arm-flapping happy.

Since Cash doesn't get out of school for a few more days, we decided to go ahead and get B started. He's a little guy, but pretty energetic in the water - when he's not freezing. :)

Getting his face wet and blowing bubbles!

Kicking those legs! Stay tuned for swim lessons updates...

Fellowship

At the end of May, we were invited to our good friends' house down in Franklin. Quite a few families were invited, too, so it was sure to be a wonderful time of fellowship, food, and lots of kiddos.

The boys were super excited because these friends, the McAlisters, have a pool. And if you know anything about the boys, they love being in the water. We had just started swim lessons, so they were still using their floatees, but they still had a grand time with their friends in the water.

Cash cooling off in the water with his goggles, of course.

Their love for their goggles cracks me up. Are they really necessary if you don't go under water? :)

There were lots of kiddos, and there were plenty of babies, too. Shelly hung out with Ann Hadley for awhile while I snapped some pictures. Here they are with Courtney and Nola.

All the dads were in the water with their little guys -- it's always fun to see that test of "trust Daddy."

This is Gabriel. He's B's best buddy at church. He was all smiles playing in the water.

Speaking of all smiles ...

It's amazing he can see anything with that fog...

Ann Hadley met up with Knox, who is about five or so weeks younger. It's fun to see two babies interact, trying to figure each other out.

After a yummy potluck supper, the moms watched the kids and dads play ball in the backyard. Some got back in the pool, some played on the swingset and playhouse, everyone had fun!

Yes, I did say the dads played some ball, too.

And out of nowhere, B picked up Brody's bike, with no training wheels, and tried it out. Heath helped him get started.

And the rest is history. He was ready to take his off, too!

Oh, me! What a fun night! So fun, in fact, that we all decided to make it a monthly summer event. Even the chickens agreed, it was a perfect night of summer fun with our church family.

Heath's rod man

Whenever you're shooting grade, you have to have a gun man and a rod man. In my terms, the gun man has to know what they're doing, and the rod man has to be able to hold a stick straight and still. I've been the rod (wo)man a few times, but this weekend, Heath had a new rod man.

He was shooting the grade for the next slab off the basement garage. He had a few more points to shoot, and Baylen decided he was going to be Daddy's rod man.

And what a cute rod man he is!