Softball all around us

We have spent every night for the last 15 days (and counting) at a ball field. That is A LOT of ball! Some nights it is a practice, and other times it is a doubleheader. And then occasionally we have a 12 hour day at a tournament. Those are the longest days for Lincoln.

 

These girls work hard, from practices to games to private lessons, we are beyond proud of their dedication and determination to do their best. Regan has landed a spot as the lead catcher on her team; it's not unusual for her to play this position for 3 games in a single day at a tournament. How her body can handle this is beyond me. Frankly, why she likes catching is beyond me! Ha :)

 

 

During our first practice, a mom approached me and knew where I grew up....she coming from the same small town (what a small world!). Her daughter is a pitcher so our girls would be spending a lot of time over the season together. We chit-chatted and turns out, we graduated only 1 year apart. Then my mom showed up to a game and I introduced the two. My mom promptly went on to ask who her family was, only for us to all realize we're related. Which means Regan and Sienna are making quite the duo out there as (distant) cousin pitcher/catcher.

 

 

And while Regan is rocking it behind the plate, Sidney is doing the same from the mound. She is new to kid-pitch softball this summer, having moved up from 8U to 10U where all rules apply. She has been taking pitching lessons for over a year and doing amazingly well with applying her knowledge during games. She tries hard and throws more and more strikes each and every game. It's not unusual for her to strike out several batters in one game, and it's also not unusual for those hitters to make the rest of the team work with all of their hits. She's growing so much in her abilities and it is fun to watch I tell you. Stressful as well!

 

 

It's not often I sit down during a game. Between one pitching, and another catching, I'm generally to nervous for them to be sitting down. So I stand and make the rounds chatting with parents and chasing Lincoln. We giggled when we turned around and noticed Ryan was sitting on a bleacher watching a game, entirely by himself. Not one other soul was sitting next to him :) I may have joked that he forgot deodorant that day!

 

 

Between games at a recent tournament, Lincoln crawled up onto my lap and snuggled in. I sighed as it was nap time and I knew there was no chance he was getting to go home during nap. In a desperate effort to make him sleep, I rocked back and forth and told him if I were him, I would close my eyes and nap on my mommy. So he did!! My back was killing me, my butt fell asleep, my arms were on fire and my mom finally sat behind me so her knees could be my backrest. For an entire hour, that little boy slept in my arms and kept me warm. Every parent that looked my way would smile and give me that "I'm so jealous of you" look.  

 

 

We have been lucky enough to have many spectators join the games. Sidney is not shy about asking her friends to come watch her play, and they show up to cheer her on! Sometimes it is in between their own games....

 

And other times, it is the cutest/sweetest little friend from school who wanted to see her in action! My phone is filled with photos from ball and our favorite players.

 

Love our ball players and all of the excitement they bring to our family in this active season!

End of school yea hoopla

The end of the school year came and went. We had parties and field days, report cards and field trips. Both girls ended the year on a high academically, Sidney isn't actually "graded" yet, but Regan pulled off all A's (a couple A-'s but apparently in middle school, those are the same as an A). All things considered, especially the horrendous experience with a teacher who is no longer employed by the school, we were incredibly proud of her to persevere and finish out the year as well as she did. Never in a million years would we have expected the year to go as it did, but for her to rise above and still pull off all A's was amazing. We even got the sweetest note home from her track coach/school counselor who commented on how great of a kid she is and how she is not only a great athlete, but also a positive leader.....glad she can pull it together for everyone else :) 

Not to be outdone, Sidney also did great this school year. No major obstacles to overcome, but she did have to work hard in class to climb the academic ladder. She has to work a little harder than Regan in school, but when that girl puts her mind to it, she can move mountains. Some lessons come super easy to her, ones that I would expect her to struggle with. It's the more common sense stuff that she can't grasp so quickly. Then again, this is the girl who recently had a conversation with me that went like this: 

Me: Regan, I remember when you used to hum the day away. 

Sidney: What song is "the day away"? 

#facepalm

Oh how we love her! 

Now onto the fun photos: 

End of year party with a group of her besties

Regan joined us and I couldn't resist taking a picture of Regan with her former teacher (now Sidney's former teacher too!). We love love love Mrs Newman! No one will ever top her teaching! 

More fun on field day at the elementary school. 

End of year comparison pictures for Sidney. 

Look at that growth! My brother says her shorts are too short...
I told him that statement means he's getting old. 

Life of a middle schooler, Regan learned a tough lesson as she shattered her screen. 

Phones don't belong in our waistbands (though she learned that from me). 

This was the best I got from Regan for a last day of school. She hung out with this group of friends all night long (where she also shattered her phone screen). Which means between all of the chaos, I didn't get a comparison photo of her, darn it! 

Here's to the school year wrap-up! We not have a 4th grader and 7th grader! 

All night morning

Lincoln has the best sayings, ones that we have to write down because they change every few months as he catches on that what he's saying is incorrect.

His newest saying is "all night morning"...which means "all day".

For example, he'll ask "are we going to softball all night morning?" We all giggle at this saying and sometimes even encourage it!

Love him to pieces.

Random May photos

It seems like time is moving at warp speed these days. Sometimes the days just seem to run together, and I wonder if I just stayed awake all night to get things done if I could function normally the next day! In between the chaos, I do sometimes get a chance to pull out my camera and take a snapshot of the cute (and not so cute) randomness that happens around here.

 

Lincoln takes after me as he basks in the warm sun.

I made dinner one night and peeked outside to check on him as he played in the backyard, only to find him like this.

 

Our sweetest kindest Sidney asked to wash my car one night. She did such a great job, except gave up when her siblings came outside to "help" her and ended up causing her more problems than help.

 

We had lunch at school with Sidney and her friends....Regan doesn't really let us do that anymore :(

 

I started working a little from home, and I adore my home office completely! Now I need to invest in a sun shade for that laptop because it's hard to see that thing in the warm sun.

 

Regan and I made a run to IKEA and then barely fit into the truck to drive it all home. This trip was a sight, we laughed so hard at how ridiculous we looked, each of us trying to push one of those carts on wheels with all of our boxes. And the cart going in any direction it wanted. Even other customers laughed at our efforts :)

 

Sidney participated in the annual end-of-the-year gymnastics meet and placed herself happily on the podium. She was pretty proud of herself and how much she accomplished this year.

 

At Christmas my mom bought the kids these fun "submarines", and they've been a constant staple in our pool this spring. Too bad those batteries take all night (and then some) to re-charge. Lincoln can dive all the way to the drain in the deep end and then come right back up to the surface. So fun!

 

All of my pictures with Regan look something like this....ahh, these pre-teen years are fun. At least she's still taking selfies with me.

 

This one isn't much better some days!

 

I often resort to taking pictures without our faces. Plus Lincoln asked to hold my hand as we crossed a street recently and I couldn't resist taking a picture of our shadow.

I love our random days, and I love that I remember to take pictures of our fun together :)

Friends from afar

We were blessed to spend some time with our dear friends who live in Germany while they were here visiting family. The kids had so much fun getting acquainted, having not seen each other in 5 long years.  And us parents picked up right where we left off, although social media and technology makes it easier for us to connect from afar. 

We spent one softball free evening (thank you coaches!) at Minihaha Falls with a bunch of Ryan’s college buddies and their families. We all wondered why we can’t pull this off more frequently, seemingly only manage to make it happen when Paul and Renata come to town.

 

 It was a perfect summer night and I loved watching this ice cream melt around Lincoln’s fingers, knowing it would leave him a sticky mess but with a fond memory of summer fun. 

 

As the parents get older, we seemed to have multiplied, and this was only a fraction of the kids! There were tiny ones too that didn’t make the picture or the hike down the falls. (I promised Lincoln if he’d smile nice I’d take him down the trails.....he was quite obedient!). 

While in town, with temps past 90, we decided a pool party was in order for Paul, Renata and the kids. They ran out to buy suits and we spent the afternoon poolside, enjoying each other’s company. 

 

 

 

 

Our girls decided they are joining Ryan on his next trip to Germany....in which case, I figured we should all join in! Look out Pollinger family, you may get to see our crew sooner than later!

Track, dance and softball...oh my!

We have coined this past week "The week from hell" or "Hell week" in our home. It was honestly a jam packed full of events sort of week. Our two year-round / spring activities (track and dance) wrapped up and our summer activity (fastpitch) is gearing up. Let’s quickly be reminded that this little boy goes with the flow better than anyone else I know. Our vehicles have boxes of cars for the dirt, along with balls and his bike. But most importantly, he is so cute and everyone loves to have him around! 

We had two double headers early in the week, two track meets mid-week, 3 softball practices sprinkled throughout and then came the weekend....4 dance recitals and a 5 game softball tournament.  Before I get to the weekend, let's back up and re-cap the wild week. 

Regan's team played in a very wet double header, where they battled hard and ended up with a win and a tie. We were cold and tired and very very wet! 

The very next day after school, she headed with her track team over to a nearby "away" meet while Sidney played in her own double header. Regan was not too happy with me, as it was hot and she was sweaty and rather would have packed up after her first event. Instead, I made her run the next event (mile) and she ended up finishing her best time to date- 6:52! Wowzas were were proud :) That same night, Sidney had an opportunity to shine on the pitching mound where she had her best games to date, striking out 8 or 9 batters (we lost count!). Whoo whoo! 

Regan then wrapped up the week with her final track meet, joined by her whole family as spectators (up to this point, I was the only one who had come to watch). It was a fun experience for all of us and she did great again. Lincoln spent most of the meet running around with her teammates who treated him like their own. That boy is pretty popular around the older kiddos. 

And then we entered the weekend of hell week, which I should coin something more dramatic. Because oh my goodness was it a crazy one! Friday night, each girl had their own hour or two of dress rehearsal, where we realized we hadn't purchased matching tshirts for the Sisters Dance costume. A run to Target, and then another Target solved that problem. The night ended with yours truly staying up late packing food and bags and extra clothing for the following day: softball tournament day one and recital day, which were conveniently stretched across the metro. Ryan and I had run through the day multiple times, so we could plan out who needed to be in which car, where all the correct bags needed to be and ensuring we had food for the full day. 

We had to be at the fields by 7am sharp, which meant leaving by 6:20am. With a first win in the books, we flew out of the dugout to get to dance. Regan changed into her first dance costume while I sped through the cities to the first dance recital (both girls danced, but Regan was out on stage first; Sidney had time to change when we arrived).  She made it with a few dances to spare, and we got to our seats just before her first dance started. Tears slid down my face watching our girls out there. They shined on stage and danced their little hearts out! It was so much fun to see how far they had come these past 9 months. 

At the end of the show, Lincoln was in dire need of a nap, and the girls went backstage to reset themselves for the next show. Unfortunately, Regan had to miss her 2nd game during that first show and we then had to skip the 2nd recital to make it to her 3rd game. Once again, she changed in the car as we headed back down to the fields. Thankfully my mom was able to wait around for Sidney and then meet up with us for the game. Regan's dance bun changed again to a ponytail. They won the game which meant they were 3-0 on day 1 and heading to the Gold bracket Sunday. 

This wasn't the end of our crazy day, it was only mid way through! As we were taking our time walking back to the car, we realized if we hurried, Regan might just make it to part of the 3rd dance recital. A fire was lit underneath her and she wanted us to h-u-r-r-y! Which is exactly what we did. This wasn't part of the run-down that Ryan and I had reviewed the day prior, and I landed with all 3 kids in my car speeding my way back to the recital. In the dash to toss everything into the car and leave the parking lot, all of the costumes were in my trunk and Regan was half naked in the front seat looking for her costumes. Since we were stopped at a red light, I did what any crazy mom would do: tossed my car into park and dug through my trunk, quickly grabbing her costume and dance bag. She got herself dressed, re-did her bun (again) and we started texting a parent at the recital to see if we were going to make it in time. It was a just in the  nick of time sort of ending and she was so glad to have made it! Stressed does not begin to describe how I (we) felt that day. 

And then this group text with her coaches/team manager really made me laugh! Yes, I did in fact feel a little crazy :)

We finished the night off with a quick dinner and her final recital, where she was able to relax backstage and hang out with her dance buddies knowing her next destination was her bed! My mom sat through that recital with me and both of us were also ready for bedtime :)

The next morning we all headed back down to the ball fields prepared for more games and hoping for a little warm sun. Regan's team played hard, dug deep for strength and pulled off 2 more wins for the Gold Bracket Championship! Proud mama tears rolled down me face. And then the coach was brought to tears as she awarded Regan one of the game balls, telling everyone how proud she was of her dedication not only to ball and the fields, but also Dance. I’m pretty sure coach T understood the lengths we went to make that weekend happen for Regan; I appreciated her words more than ever. We were exhausted and happy and excited for all of Regan’s team's hard work. 

Her biggest littlest fan....

Congrats to this team earning First Place Gold Bracket on their first tournament of the season and a berth to Nationals!