Broken bones and summer fun

We're catching up on summer around here, and I'm way behind on posting :(

 

A few weeks back, I had planned to take a week off from work to hang with these two cuties. We had big plans to find some fun and explore the city. Sadly, Lincoln took a couple of back to back tumbles and ended up with a broken collarbone and in a sling (more on that later).

So we switched gears and found some fun that was a little more laid back. We headed to our nearby Hyland Lake, where we watched a family of beavers literally save one of their own. It was so sweet to watch mama race to the bottom of the falls and swoop up her baby who had gone over.

Us mama's are always on duty :)

 

 

We also found paddle boats and took a nice long paddle around the lakes. My favorite part was when the kids fought over the front seats and I got to take a break in the back. It was a beautiful summer day.

I managed to convince the whole family to join me downtown at StoneArch. I love the background of this photo, seeing the history of the flour mill and the Mill City ruins. And I love seeing those girls together with smiling faces.

 



With all of the softball hoopla around here, I'm still working to give the girls chores and life lessons. Regan was super excited to learn how to cut the grass....until she realized it's not as easy as it looks. We had lots of patches of uncut grass the first time.
She's getting the hang of it, and has likely mowed the lawn more times than Ryan has by now! 

 

 

We've found some pretty amazing ice cream shops this summer, and this one by far tops them all. Oh the yummy deliciousness of cupcakes and ice cream. YUMMY!

 



 

And although this place gets an A for presentation, the flavor doesn't get more than a B.

 

And here's that awful xray…..the full story is that Lincoln jumped into the pool with intent to land on the Magic Carpet. Sidney pushed it away while he was mid-jump and he only half landed on it. Likely breaking (but not displacing) the collarbone, so it didn't show up on xray.

Two days later, although still cradling her arm, Lincoln wanted to join us all on the Color Run in St Paul. Sadly about 3 blocks into the run he tripped on his own feet and landed RIGHT on his collarbone, completely displacing it. Ouch.

I may have carried him over 2 miles to finish the 5K.

 

And in the midst of all those falls, he was still googly eyed over everything fire works!

Here is a before and after picture from the run. Notice how I was still carrying Lincoln after the end, my arms were literally shaking!  

 

I promise Lincoln is in this cute family summer selfie (see him looking through the railings!?).

 

 

And all that while on that busy stay-cation week, Regan was busy chasing after kiddos at the nearby camp where she was a volunteer Junior Counselor for 10 days. Such an amazing experience.

Sure wish summer would last another 3 months; so much fun left to be had!

Wiggly teeth and other summer fun

It's hard to believe that summer is already halfway over :( We're holding on to each beautiful sunny day and taking in the gorgeous weather.

 

Sidney (or Regan) will often be found perching in their hammock watching a sibling's softball game.

 

 

And this little guy got a wiggly tooth and ultimately let big sister-Sidney pull that bad boy out! It was hanging on by a thread and at times, sticking straight out. Ewww!

 

He loves that big sister of his (and the other one who isn't around often). Pretty sure he loved that we found some cold treats on that July evening stroll at the lake.

 

And a recent picnic spot, perched on the biggest Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn (brought to you courtesy of a Ryan/Sidney trip to Sam's Club). It's gigantic!  

Slow down summer! We are having so much fun :) 

Lincoln's turn

We are currently on the 11th straight day of softball games. For anyone wondering, we have watched 22 softball games that Regan or Sidney has played in during those eleven days (and a handful of others because we love the game and championship games are exciting!). And there are still more games on the calendar this week!

 

Lincoln has explored many different complexes in the last week, including new playgrounds with new friends.

He has eaten lots of concession food, his favorite remains $0.50 orange Mr Freeze's.

He has entered countless porta-potties.

And at every game, he gets on his bike and races around the complex, darting in/out of the crowd.

All of this exciting stuff is taking place during his transition away from nap time.

Yes, I know, I'm spoiled that he has taken a daily nap for 5.5 years. But he needed this!

And now, this boy is exhausted.

 

But this past week it was his turn to shine. He started in a new sport and is so excited to play!

The whole family came to support this adventure, after all, he's been doing the same for his girls.

And he grinned from ear to ear the whole time.

He was adorable in that outfit and had so much fun!

Ryan helped him take off all his hockey gear afterwards and Lincoln said to him

"dad, take off my armor".

Ryan laughed "buddy, they're called pads".

He replies back "well I'm going to call it armor".

This little one makes us laugh every single day! And we are so excited to watch him grow and develop while he finds his sport :)



Summer of softball

I’m just going to throw these all in one post. 

Because this is our summer. 

Friends, practices, games and lessons. 

New ball fields to explore and new adventures to find. 

We sub on other teams, we eat our way through tournaments. 

And every day, we thank our lucky stars that these girls have found a love for the game. 

And if anyone knows a window guy....someone may have thrown a softball through our window the other day. 😬

JHS softball banquet

As one season ended, the other was just getting started. Regan spent about 8 weeks playing on 2 Softbsll teams (and still dancing). It was chaotic and wild, but she absolutely adored her high school softball  experience and wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. 

High school teams always end the season with a banquet and Regan was pretty excited to have this opportunity. 

She spent the season playing on the 9th grade team, with other 7th-8th-9th graders. At the last game, each girl voted on the best defensive player, best offensive player and most improved. 

Much to all of our delight, Regan was voted best defensive player! 

She loved these two coaches her helped her grow and develop in the most amazing ways. 

A couple friends with their awards from various other teams too. 

We are so proud, and I love how she too is so proud of herself! 

We can’t have too many serious pictures; these guys had a little fun that night! 

Preschool graduation

Lincoln’s preschool does a pretty good job at the whole graduation thing. They rehearse songs, they put on ceps and gowns and even have a little reception with (healthy) snacks. 

Each night for the last month, he would sing me some of the songs they were learning and I was so excited to see him perform on his big day. Never mind that big day was smack dab at the start of a tournament, right when the girls were BOTH playing softball. 

He was simply adorable up there. No wonder why people tell me he’s going to break hearts someday. Gosh he’s such a sweetheart! 

And his plans for the future?....I hope he changes his career plans. 

Quick trip to Grandma Jan’s

(These pictures are all out of order, but it’s before 7am and I’m sitting in my car during pregame warm ups waiting for the rain to pass...so out of order they will stay!). 

Every spring, I try to get down to my mom’s house to offer any help with spring clean up, yard work, or just filling the house with kid-voices. 

While it was a quick trip, filled with attempts at yard work (who knew gas powered leaf blowers are such an arm workout just to get started!), we still found time for some adventures. 

My great aunt may have told Regan that her grandson has her favorite-llamas...which warranted a trip out to meet them :) 

These two “helped” by basking in the fresh air hanging in grandmas front yard. 

And a trip isn’t complete without a trip up Herman and playing at the nearby park. 

Pretty sure that Regans summer is now complete after being up close with those llamas! Thanks for the fun grandma....and letting me use power tools! 

Friendly competition

Last weekend Regan met up on the field with a friend on an opposing team. They previously played together on a winter dome ball team last year and were instant friends. And although Lily’s team won the game, Regan won the $5 bet by getting her out on a play at home plate. So they were both smiling after the game. Nothing wrong with a little friendly competition ;) 

spring is in the air

This sweet little boy has spent hours every week zipping around on his bike. We bring it to every softball practice and game, giving him boundaries but letting him explore as well. 

He knows our "home" softball complex and gets really excited when that is the destination for the evening. There is a pretty busy playground where he can join up with other kiddos and burn off energy, but even better, batting cages that sell freeze pops! Our little independent boy knows that freeze pops cost 50 cents, and if he brings a dollar, he will get 2 quarters back along with his freezie. We've spent at least $10 and it's only May. 

I had to chuckle this week when the cages owner found me at the end of the night to let me know how much he loves when Lincoln comes to say hello and buy a treat. And we know he spends too much time chatting with the staff when they comment on his new haircut! 

Looking forward to more great weather :) 

Spring sports seasons

I've decided that May is officially more challenging than the month of December. It's completely overscheduled with standardized testing, end of the year concerts, sports banquets and let's not forget work (where we are both supposed to put in a lot of time each week!).

If you haven't taken the time to read this blog post, do it. It puts May in perspective for our tribe of middle school (in a high school sport), elementary school and preschool. And it helped me to know that I'm not alone.

 

Regan has wrapped up her first season as part of the Jefferson High School fastpitch team. She was placed on the 9th grade team with some amazing coaches. She took part in pre-season "Captain's Practices" with the varsity/JV squads back in March, then trained during spring break with the coaches from all levels before finally falling into stride with her 9th grade team.

Boy did she develop over these few months. As a player and a teammate. She learned from some of the best coaches out there, young women who did what I like to call "coaching during practice" and letting the girls play during games. They ended the season 5-1 (or 7-1 if you count the double header where the other team forgot to show up and had to forfeit). Those coaches knew a thing or two about this sport and about coaching these early teenagers. And Regan learned a thing or two: calling pitches with complicated signs, throwing down to make outs and becoming explosive with her bat. We had so much fun watching her, that I shed a tear at the last game. Neither her nor I wanted to see it come to an end.  

 

Meanwhile, this little dude asked to try soccer. We were both a little dumbfounded at his request, seeing as though neither of us have ever played this sport. I obliged and the Easter bunny brought all sorts of soccer gear for him :)

Including a bright orange ball!

I could tell after the first practice just why he wanted to play soccer. They never stop moving! It's right up his alley. This boy would be bored on a ball field at age 5, but at soccer, he just runs and runs and runs. We giggle because those kiddos are so sweet, never wanting to "steal" the ball away from an opposing teammate, probably thinking the parents would all be upset that they weren't sharing. He's getting the hang of it now, and is finally starting to get aggressive and is having the time of his life! He is seriously all smiles during that one hour each week, and boy do I love to watch him!

 

 

Sidney branched out on a limb this spring and asked to play volleyball. Yet another new sport for her. This girl doesn't nothing partway.

Go big or go home.

And she was incredibly frustrated that her team had some of the most timid volleyball players I had ever seen. Some didn't pay attention, some didn't seem to care about scoring points. And then there's Sidney, who is fiercely competitive.

That girl wants to win!

 

So you can imagine her frustration when the team ended regular season play in 14th place. They headed into the league tournament playing the 3rd ranked team. I was so pessimistic about their ability to win that I had deleted the rest of the tournament from our calendars :)

And then they went and won! She played hard in night two of the tournament, while Ryan was out of state on a work trip, and I had kids in different parts of the city, one on a field practicing, the other on a court playing her heart out. Sadly they lost on night two, but not after a good fight, winning 1 of the matches.

Sid was sad to end the season, tears and all.

 

In the thick of all the spring activities, Regan was gearing up for the spring dance recitals. She danced almost 6 hours every week since September: pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical and two ballet classes. As luck would have it, she was slated to perform in 3 recitals the same weekend as a 5+ game softball tournament.

Let's just say: thank GOD for rain!

It might make a future weekend more challenging, seeing as both girls were slated for that tournament and will now likely be on opposite ends of the city sometime in the future. We'll figure that out when the time comes. Back to the recital...

Oh she was so cute out there! Just a beauty on stage. Every dance I would say "this is my favorite"! Even now, after watching three shows plus dress rehearsal, I still cannot pick a favorite. Lyrical, ballet (which one!?), jazz, tap, and oh watching her up on those pointe shoes! I simply cannot pick a favorite. Hoping to upload a video soon, but in the midst of this lovely month, my computer has died.

 



 

But the sheer joy on her face during this dance makes the chaos of spring all worth it. She shined on stage and for the first year ever, looked confident and was having FUN in every dance. It was amazing! Lincoln loved watching the show, and asked me if he would go on stage when he got big? Without answering his question, I first asked if he wanted to dance on stage?

His reply, a hesitant "sure....but I'm not very good at dancing"! 😄

We finished up several sports at the end of this week. Our weeks have slowed to one activity/day which may sound horribly busy to some, but gives us breathing room we haven't seen in months.