Sidney's softball 8U state 2016

Sadly, Sidney's softball season has come to a close. 

This girl, her teammates, her coaches, they had an amazing spring/summer. They worked their tails off at twice weekly practices learning the game and had so much fun in the process! We lucked out and she was coached by Regan's former 8U coaching team and we were so happy for that fact. Sarah is incredibly positive and an all-around great coach (she will move up to 10U in the fall and maybe Regan will luck out again!). One of the assistants-Mark, happens to be a former MLB pitcher and has a heart of gold. That man doesn't even have a kid on the team but he is there to help every step of the way! During the final game this weekend, he walked over to the crowd and said "you could pay $20 to watch the Twins but I'd rather sit and watch these kids!". They make for an incredible coaching team I tell you!

Sidney is a natural out on the field. She's got determination in her blood. She simply loves to play and have fun, but this girl also wants to hit, run and score! (and oh boy will she get upset when she gets out...even when it's no fault of her own!). 

Her team this year was made up of 12 wonderful girls, 7 of which were repeat players and 5 who were new to the sport (she was one of the newbies). Though she had played fall ball last year, she is still considered new to the sport. She has learned so much about how to field, where to throw and sportsmanship from these "upperclassman". We are so thankful for the experience she gained and are so happy that she loves this sport so very much. 

Her Black Panther team was ranked #14 out of of 37 teams in our league for the state tournament. That put them in the gold bracket near the bottom (top 16 teams went to gold). Those little girls played hard and ended up winning the consolation bracket at the end of the 2 day tournament.
To say that we (and the coaches) were proud is an understatement! 

This little video is of the cheer they did before each and every game. Now no one thinks a panther actually roars, but we all still love their little cheers! Ryan's favorite part is when they get super quite (in the beginning of the year they would quietly count in unison "1-2-3") before hollering ROAR! 

Following state, we were tagged with hosting the end of the season party. Which obviously turned into a pool party! 

Hands down, it is the most people we've had in the pool at one time. I think there were 35 people in our backyard and at least 20 of those were swimming! Wowzas.
It was all hands, and eyes, on deck (thanks Grandma Jan for being an extra set of eyes). 

 Everyone did great swimming around and had so much fun splashing in the warm evening sun. 

mid-party, we lined up all 12 girls for a fun jumping picture..

and the progression of a jump was so exciting for all! 

I love how the ends landed in the pool first with the middle a bit behind.

And just like that our season is over. 

Here's to another great experience of fastpitch softball! 

Lincoln says....

Toddlers have the best language. And little kid voices are so precious! They are trying so hard to speak and yet sometimes, it's tough to decipher what is being said. I love to hear Lincoln talk and generally, I can understand everything he's trying to say. I would say other people can understand most of what he says, but every once in a while, he says something like THIS and throws everyone off. It is, by far, a favorite phrase for all of us right now. He strings together "wa-oer-there" (aka: way over there) and everyday, one of us will try to get him to say it. Place a toy in another room and ask him where it went. See a dog across the street and ask him where it is. Yep, we all love it that much! 

Last month, we waited to pick up Ryan from his office and had a little conversation. (Ryan has some pretty awesome perks at his office, and Lincoln thinks it's the best when Ryan brings him a treat). He was waiting for Ryan to walk out and kept telling me he wanted a "le-a-abe" (aka: lemonade). Click HERE. This boy cracks me up! 

But his singing?! That takes the cake above almost everything! He sings wheels on the bus all day long currently and we love it around here! Click HERE. He repeats the same phrases over and over "all srew town" and Regan couldn't get enough of it this weekend in the car :) We love this little boy to pieces and each new stage is more fun than the last!  

10U qualifiers

Regan's softball season is in full swing. We spent our weekend split between 10U qualifiers and 8U state (more on that later). Two tournaments, two cities and one very tired family! 

It was a great weekend and we love to watch them play ball. 

This little guy gets dragged around from game to game. Mostly he carries a smile on his face (he is 2, so he has his moments!), and he just loves those girls who oohh and aahh over him. 

He's been a great sport about all of the ball playing, digging his trucks in the dirt or playing with his big bouncy ball. After each inning (when the girls are switching from hitting to fielding or vice versa), he'll ask "all done?" or sometimes "pay more?". 

His cheeks are sun-kissed and his knees are skinned up, but he's does great cheering on those girls! 

Through their eyes

We took a quick trip down to New Ulm last weekend, and couldn't pass up a visit to Herman the German. The kiddos love going up all of those stairs and seeing the town from up above. 

Ryan and I have to laugh, that this was a trip we took countless times growing up. My childhood home was not terribly far from Herman and I remember going there over and over as a kid. And to our kids, it is such a special experience; each and every time. 

I just love their smiles. 

And how we get to see something through their eyes. This time, Lincoln looked at those lions (pictured below) and commented that it was the "lions butt" in his face. 

Thanks for that comment buddy :) 

We headed over to Hudson's birthday party after Herman and Lincoln spent the bulk of the afternoon jumping on the trampoline despite the 90F heat. His hair was a curly humid mess!

These cuties help us see life through their eyes and we are so grateful for them!

Bloomington BASH 2016

The girls got to play in another softball tournament this weekend. Sidney's was a one-day (one VERY LONG day!), while Regan's extended the full 3 days. Combined, they played 7 games and we are incredibly proud at how well they both played. 

(And Lincoln is just a cutie!)

Friday night, Regan's team couldn't pull out a win as we faced a tough pitcher and a team that seemed twice our size. It was a 7:30pm start and Lincoln was less than thrilled to end his night at the ball fields. Lucky for him, we had just had a major storm come through that left puddles everywhere. Somehow I managed to keep him out of the wet, but he got to watch as a tractor tried to clean up the field next door. It mesmerized him enough to keep him somewhat happy for 30 minutes. (he may be the unofficial team mascot too, loving up all of those girls). 

Saturday morning, bright and early (6:15am early!) was my volunteer shift. While I worked to help set up the complex, hanging banners, moving tables, setting up tents, Ryan got the kids to the field and we were ready to start our morning games at 9:30, sadly both girls played at the same time :( Good thing they played on fields directly next to each other!, what kind of luck was that in a complex with 11 fields!? Ryan had to run the pitching machine for Sidney's game so Lincoln and I planted ourselves at the top of the bleachers at Regan's field where we could watch 2 games happen at the same time. 

Both kiddos won those games and that was the end for Regan until Sunday. Sidney's team played 2 more games before their day was done. There was a lot of down time between games, so the kids had fun trying to find shade and stay cool. When it's 90 and humid and you're outside for 10+ hours, you'll do anything to find relief! Thankfully we had purchased the new cooling towels and they were a huge lifesaver. Add in the ridiculous amount of money we paid for at least 10 snow-cones and we found ourselves fully hydrated. 

Sidney earned Player of the Game on Saturday when she had several hits and then stuck with a play at 3rd base tagging the girl who stepped off the base. Such an incredible play for 8U! She was pretty proud of herself and we can't tell you how proud we were of her. Those little girls played their hearts out and found themselves in the championship game for their 2nd time in 2 tournaments. This is a fun team to watch I tell you! 

Unfortunately, they were up against the number 1 team in the entire league. And they were good. Our girls put up a good battle, but we were losing girls one at a time to the heat and the long day. We lost by only a few runs and took home 2nd place out of 12 teams. Some of the girls were a little disheartened to not get first place, but their sadness didn't last long. These kiddos played so well and all of us parents were beyond proud! 

Regan's team was up on Sunday, heading into bracket play. We were disappointed to learn that we would be playing another Bloomington team, because we play them enough in league play, that we had hoped to face another team. Early Sunday morning, as Regan brushed her teeth, I stopped her for a quick heart-to-heart. She was nervous to face this particular team, because they have a good pitcher. A really tall, fast, accurate pitcher...and Regan was intimidated before she even got to the field. She got a quick lesson, right there in our bathroom, about facing this pitcher. What I realized, is that her issue was in her head, not in her skill. Later, when it was her turn to bat, I hollered a quick "You can do this Regan!", and SHE DID!!! It was one of her longest at bats in her career, fouling off ball after ball, but eventually she hit the ball in fair territory. Although it was caught, I could tell she was proud of herself. And more importantly, she relaxed, knowing that she could do it! To my surprise, they pulled off a win to advance in the tournament. 

The next team they faced proved to be their last game. Although they played hard, the girls struggled at the plate. Regan, however, watched her first pitch, swung incredibly late, and again, heard me holler "You can do this Regan!". I could literally see the wheels turning in her head, as she took a deep breath, stepped back in the batters box and prepared for the next pitch. She hit that ball hard, really hard and earned herself the only hit of the game for her team! After the loss, the team huddled up and coach handed Regan the 'game ball' explaining to the team that they can't win if they don't hit the ball. Regan carried that ball around all afternoon....she (and we!) are very proud! 

It was a great weekend of ball, though hot and humid and long days. We are so proud of our little ball players and the skill they are developing and the fun they are having! Way to go girls! 

School's out!

We wrapped up grades 1 and 4 last week and officially have a 2nd grader and 5th grader. Oh boy, 5th grade is really choking me up. It'll be Regan's final year of elementary school and I can hardly believe it. I honestly remember walking into that (big/scary) elementary school for the first time, praying that they would keep her safe and she would be happy. To think we are about to enter her final year?, it's almost too much. 

first day of school: grade 1 and grade 4

Each year, the school does a 5th grade clap out, and each year, I make it down just in time to observe (ah hem, silently cry in the background, knowing far too soon it will be our turn to participate). Every year there are tears. Every year there is joy. And this year was no different. On the final day of school, Lincoln and I raced down in the rain to watch the clap-out and tears immediately started running down my cheeks. Why?! I don't even really know any of the kids. But I just can't help thinking that those kids are moving on to the (big/scary) middle school and are never going to walk the halls of the safe elementary school again. Insert many tears. It just seems to go so fast. And I constantly remember the quote: The days are long, but the years are short. They sure are!

final day of school as a 1st and 4th grader. 

Sun-kissed cheeks

and peeing on trees....wait what!? I'll explain in a minute. 

Welcome to summer! With warmer temps, comes a lot of outdoor time. And by a lot, I mean A LOT! Winter is long, spring and fall aren't much different, so when summer finally rolls around, it's tough to find this family anywhere but outside. 

We wake up early and go to bed late, spending every second of every day breathing in the sunshine on our face. It helps to have some pretty awesome built in entertainment out back. And with Regan and Sidney now proficient swimmers, we have seriously been able to relax and share in the joy of teaching Lincoln pool safety. 

As for the peeing on trees, who decided to potty train a 2 year old in a super busy outdoor loving family!? Well, since he's already trained, I've had to get creative at softball games, practices and even in the back yard. It's a beautiful thing to have a boy who can stand up beside a tree, between cars or behind a fake wall and do his deed. No port-a-potties for this toddler! 

Here's to long-lazy super fun summer days!