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!

Goggles

The boys are signed up for individual swim lessons this summer. We don't get to swim very often, but when we do, Heath and I want the boys to be able to keep themselves above the water. We're hoping a few lessons from a friend at church might get them on the right track.

One thing that Miss Ann asked us to pick up was goggles. The boys didn't have them, so after two trips to Target, both the boys had them in their favorite colors. Could they wait until their first lesson to try them out? Of course not. On Friday afternoon, it was hot and the boys were anxious, so we set up the sprinkler to "see if they worked."

And they did! 

They look hilarious in their goggles. Not sure if they're on quite right. Maybe they were too tight. But they loved them and enjoyed cooling off.

Four years old and ready for a fun summer! Are the goggles upside-down?

Heath got home from work in time to see the boys having fun, and of course, he held Ann Hadley in the water so she could get her toes wet. :)

We are definitely ready for swim lessons!

Softball and dirt

Heath has played softball for our church since before we even met. There's only been a few summers that he's "sat out." This year we weren't sure what his season would look like since Cash was playing ball, too, and it seemed that most of the church's games were scheduled for 8:15. So after weeks of going to the games solo, we joined Heath for our first game of the season on May 29th.

I was thinking since they were a bit older, and Cash was playing ball they would want to sit and watch the game with me, but I was wrong. They packed their new tractor and loader (thanks to some wonderful neighbors) and were ready for the game.

The soft dirt around the dugout is always the best place for little boys.

Ann Hadley was getting sleepy, so she was becoming a handful, but I was able to watch most of the first game. Heath had some great hits, too. Here he is on third.

They throw off their shoes and waste no time moving dirt from one pile to another. It was and always is bath night after a softball game. :)

Game balls

This past week Cash had two ball games, and they ended up being two very special games to him. The first game he played in the outfield and had some good plays and a few good hits, and then out of nowhere he was awarded the "game ball" after it was over. He was super excited!

The next game he played catcher for the first inning. Although he was excited at first, it was obvious after the first few pitches he wasn't so into it. There was no hustle in his step, he wasn't guarding the plate, he was unsure of what he needed to do. So the next two innings he played pitcher. It took him a few batters to warm up to the position, but after he did he was turned on, ready to stop the ball and make some plays. And he did!

Here he is in his (very hot and heavy) catcher's gear. Big smile! Obviously this is right before it started...

I didn't get any pictures of him as pitcher, but here they are giving high fives at the end of the game.  The boys always love this part!

After high-fives, Coach Jay always has them huddle up. Surprise! Cash got the game ball again! He was so shocked, but so happy!

Go Blue Jays!!