He doesn't get enough credit

The littlest man of the house doesn't get enough credit. Keep in mind, he's only 2. But he is the true definition of the "take along" child. Since day 1, he has come along to dance practices, swim lessons, gymnastic meets and softball games. Some lasting only minutes, others are full days and even weekends. There are long car rides to practices and wait times that can feel like forever. We ask him to be quiet, to sit patiently when all he wants to do is run and be loud. 

This past week we headed to Ryan's Family Day for work which entailed breakfast at The Depot and the Twins game. We headed downtown before 10 and it was well past his nap-time before we arrived home again. For a 2 year old, who was quite limited in his brunch choices (because of his dreaded allergies) and even more limited for food at the Twins game, he was a complete trooper. He ran around when the opportunity presented itself, and sat on my lap or danced near his seat during the game. Sure he was slightly whiney...who wouldn't be!? 

And the very next day it was our annual State Fair outing. Because we only go one day, we take it all in (and then some). This little guy (and his two incredible sisters) pushed through 12 hours at the fair and never once did any of them have a melt down. Not Even Once. We rode rides, ate food (Lincoln ate far less), shopped and saw live births. There was a ton of walking, a little bit of sitting and a lot of fun. Let's all remember...he's only 2 and survived 12 hours at the State Fair with 140,000 other people. Can I say it again: he doesn't get enough credit! 

That same weekend, as luck would have it, both girls had 2 softball games each, spread out far enough that it meant Lincoln and I could make it to all 4 games. Lucky kid :) ha! We got to the fields before 11am and it was 6pm when we wrapped up the final game (which was a 40 minute drive from the start of the day). He is often covered in dirt, sweaty and sticky from the sun but full of giggles and smiles from all the attention he receives. He plays with sticks or cars or balls, chases geese and thinks he's won the lottery when there is a playground nearby! 

 I have to remind myself that sometimes, this little guy just needs some time at home. To play and be silly and tossed in the pool! And when he has the 'rarely occurring complete fit' for what seems like nothing at all, I count my blessings that he generally is a go-with-the-flow-take-along kind of kid. And I'm forever thankful! 

 

Thank you buddy for being such an awesome kid! Love you! 

Braces!?

Earlier this month, Regan welcomed a mouth full of wires when she had her upper braces placed (the rest will come this winter). She was out of her mind excited and giddy. She woke up in anticipation of her morning, talking a mile a minute about the color she was going to choose and slightly worried that it might hurt a little (it didn't....like not at all). As parents, we will do anything for our kids, including a hefty price tag of braces. And let's just say she will have a million dollar smile by the end. Her stint is likely to be about 2 years long and this girl best take care of that mouth! I'm not sure how long her giddiness will last, but we're still going strong around here. 

Just sleep!

With summer upon us, it's easy to fall out of routines. And we've done a fine job of slowly getting away from a (fairly strict) 8pm bedtime. There were late night ball games, fun excursions, parties, weddings and practices that all kept us out of the house past 8pm, so forget being in bed by then! But lately, it's gotten a little out of hand. We're striving to get back on track, and last night managed an 8:15 bedtime. Well, we back tracked tonight! It was one of those nights where although we had everyone upstairs and ready to say goodnight by 8:30pm, we somehow hit 9:15 and there were still kids climbing out of bed. Ugh. So as I tried hard to stay calm, all I could think of was this fun (totally inappropriate) book. Mom...quit reading right about now. :)

Every parent friend I have, has heard about this book. And many have it in their collections, or have read it themselves. I love it. It cracks me up. It's every parent, wishing their kids would just sleep at the end of the day. Tonight our girls lived out this page: 

 

Because after spending 15 minutes screwing around in the bathroom, then roaming around their bedrooms, they both climbed into bed. Where they laid there for another 10 minutes while Lincoln decided he needed to poo and we all chatted about our days. Then, when everyone was finally settled in, one by one, the girls decided to come join me in the bathroom as I finally got ready for bed.
Really!? Now girls, please...go the *^@# to sleep!

Oh it's a good thing they are so cute!

I know someday I'll look back and be sad that these days are over....Will I? Maybe not these exact moments. I might not miss the bedtime struggle as much as the rest of their childhood. At 10, 7 and 2, seems as though we have at least another 10 years of the bedtime struggle. So time will tell.

If you'd like to listen to the entire book, click HERE. Always gives me a good laugh.

Road trip-New Ulm

We made a quick trip down to New Ulm recently for my cousins wedding (side note: we have 3 weddings these two months so it's been a lot of celebrating lately!). As we drove into town, I suggested we travel a different route to our destination and as luck would have it, our timing was perfect to catch a glimpse of the Glockenspiel dancers (the kids still can't say that word....true city kids!). 

The girls love themselves a Buddy's orange pop and Lincoln quickly ditched his lemonade and took over Sidney's bottle. The kid loves anything orange and when you go to New Ulm, it's Buddy's for these 3! 

We had a great time catching up with my side of the family and it was fun to be together in celebration. With our full schedules this summer, it was a down/back trip which meant movies in the dark on the ride home. A fun road day trip indeed! 

Pool fun

With the stretches of hot weather we have been having, our crew has been enjoying a lot of time in the backyard. 

Sidney reenacted a picture from several years ago as she sported a life jacket, water wings, goggles and a floatie before jumping in! Pretty sure there was no way she was going under. 

Regan is perfecting her rowing skills, but has been known to fill up the boat with water to stay cool as well. 

But this little guy, he takes the cake this year! Not only has he started jumping off the board into our arms, he now jumps off independently and can swim from end to end all on his own (with a swim vest). He truly has amazed every person who visits. 

Watching a 2 year old jump independently off the diving board is incredible. Watching someone else's reaction is priceless...."um, he just jumped off the board!". 

yep, he sure did! 

Click HERE to watch the video I took on my cell phone (sorry for poor quality). 

Go Blue Boltz!

Warning: this post is heavy on pictures!

Regan had the opportunity to participate in nationals for 10U fastpitch softball this weekend. It was a long weekend of games, activities and fun and the end of her first summer of 10U fastpitch. Bittersweet to end the season and not get to spend so much time with such an incredible group of kiddos who love our Lincoln as much as we do.

We started out in pool play on Thursday along with a parade and some volunteer time for myself; our team came up with some awesome costumes! It was as if cheerleader meets softball.

There was blue hair, blue lips and Regan even had blue nail polish (with a white lightening bolt!).

Everyone got a little silly and I caught a perfect picture of Coach Brad photo-bombing our team picture as he sported his blue mohawk! 

We are lucky enough to have 5 teams from Bloomington play at Nationals. That's quite impressive to have such a large association. We pulled all of the girls together before the parade for a giant photo op. 

While we are happy to take a (very short) break from ball, I'm sad to walk away from her last game of the season. She had so much fun and it was truly amazing to watch how much she has learned and grown over the past several months. By far, our Regan wins the gold medal for loudest cheer-er (?is that a word?). She was always the first to start out cheering her team on, and was often in the on-deck circle, still cheering on her teammates!

At the beginning of the year, her coach said one goal she had was for someone to catch a pop fly while playing outfield (we had a very young team, almost all of them playing 10U for the first time this summer). It just so happened that in her team's very last game of the tournament, Regan succeeded in that goal and it was the icing on the cake for her and the team! There may have been a few happy tears shed by this mama!

Regan loves to run the bases (almost as much as Sidney does!). With a kid-pitch sport, there are a lot of walks, some strikes, and,...well, the hazard of the sport: hit by pitch. Regan was not afraid to take one for the team if it meant she got on base. Early in the year, that girl got hit a lot. But not in this tournament. She got on base on her own account each time and was so much in love with base running. She's by no means a sprinter, so good thing she had some hitters behind her and was able to have some fun base-running!

I can't write this post without giving some credit to these two cuties. They were good sports, having to tag along to game after game of their older sisters and find ways to keep busy. Day 2 they happened to show up in the same exact shirt, which of course, talks about softball and their love of the game as well!

We have one heck of a talented photographer (father) on the team and he took these awesome pictures for us this year. I am forever grateful for his talents!

Way to go Blue Boltz on a great season!
Now we have less than 2 weeks before fall ball starts!