Our little fishy

Oh my goodness, summer is FLYING by and I have so many events to catch up on!
When each of the kids are ready to swim on their own,  I like to do swimming lessons in May so they are ready for summer swimming.  With Will and Quincy we live near a place where they do a great job teaching kids how to swim.  Luckily, Q was eager and excited to swim on her own so it was easy.  A few lessons and she was good to go!  I really enjoyed our afternoons together going to lessons and picking a different place to have lunch dates each time.  She LOVED going to lessons and loved picking out her swimsuit each time.  She is so cute I could eat her up.  I can't believe all 4 of my kids are officially on their own without floaties or life jackets.  So awesome but sad at the same time.

Check out these fantastic underwater photos:

My favorite!  Cute feet and all

Here are some snapshots and video I took with my phone:

Go Padres!

BS coached the San Diego Padres this year!  It was mostly 9 and 10 year old boys, but Will "played up" as an 8 year old so they could play together!  So awesome!  Some people think baseball is boring to watch, but we LOVE going to their games and watching them play!   I also love watching BS coach the boys - he does a fantastic job.  After each game he would give the game ball to one of the boys who had earned it that day.  The boys loved this.  

In the end, they went into the tournament in 3rd place.  The tournament game was on a summer Friday night and we had only 8 boys.  The team played a great game despite being short some players...but lost.  Oh well, they tried their best! 

Sambo is good at and loves to pitch.  When he is on, he is ON!  He also played short stop, 1st base, and catch.  He hit well when he was practicing, but when it came to hitting the ball during a game he struggled.  But he managed to get out of his funk at the last few games.  In fact, at the play-off game he smacked his first HOME RUN!

Sambo in action:

 

 

Wilbur has improved so much this year!  He is good at catching pop fly's and batting.  He mostly played short stop, 1st base, and left field.  Something he can improve on is running faster.  But he was always ready to go and had a pocket full of Sunflower seeds.  At first he had an awkward slide, but soon he was sliding in to home base every time.  Of course he still always brought some of his money to buy something from the Snack Shack after the game!

Will in action:

Let's Play Ball!

Just look at these cute boys:

Almost the same size!

I took these pictures before their first baseball practice back in April.  They are so giddy and excited to play baseball again!  And even better, they are playing together on the same team!

BS volunteered to coach again and so Will was able to "play up" as an 8 year old.  Most of the team was 10 year olds.  It has been so fun to watch my three guys playing ball and practicing hard.  I love when they go outside to play catch and have batting practice just for fun.  

For the last 10 weeks, our lives have been chalk full with Spring sports.  Baseball, Lacrosse, Soccer, Tumbling, and Swimming lessons.  But lots of baseball!  

BS coached Sambo and Wilbur on the city league team.  This year they were the San Diego Padres.  They played two games/week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

But on top of that, both boys got invited to play on a Super league team.  Sambo was asked by Coach Buck Mendenhall {from last summer All Star team} to play for the Braves.  Sambo was stoked and couldn't say no to this opportunity.  So those games have been on Monday nights under the lights in Orem.  This league continues through the end of June.

Will was asked by Coach Chris Burton {his football coach} who started up the super league team for Lone Peak Knights.  He was a fantastic football coach to the boys and we Will jumped at the opportunity!  These games have been double-headers on Saturdays and continues through June.

So, that means baseball games on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and 2 on Saturdays!  Not to mention practices squeezed in there somewhere.  Yikes! 

Good thing we all love baseball!

I plan on posting about each team separately...as well as what the girls have been up to.

Mother's Day

I was treated like Royalty on Mother's Day.  BS gave me strict instructions to stay in bed so I did until 10:30 a.m. which was divine!!!  He and the kids made me a delicious breakfast of homemade buttermilk "puffy pancakes" topped with buttermilk "candy" syrup, yogurt, and strawberries and bananas, and grilled ham on the side.  When I sat down to eat the kids spoiled me with homemade cards and gifts.  A rose made out of tissue paper, a gold medal that says "Best Mom" made out of craft foam {which I wore to church and for the rest of the day}, a ceramic plate with a flower, a wind chime, and letters/cards.  The best!  I am very, very lucky to be a Mom to these kids.  Biggest blessing ever.

They said so many sweet things and I cherish them so much!  After church we went to Grandpa Judy's for dinner and as always, it was great to see everyone.  I love my Mothers as much as my kids love me!

BS gave me a new helmet so I can join him on his new ride {post coming on that} and a fan for our room so we can stay nice and cool on the hot summer nights.  He so gets me.

Spring Break Part 2: MOAB

On Thursday we drove down to Moab and met up with our friends, the Crowthers.  They own 2 beautiful condos at Moab Springs Ranch and we were lucky to be their guests!  Early Friday morning BS and Nate went mountain biking.  BS didn't take his bike down this time so he was riding Jayden's {a 14 yr old} and wore regular clothes and sneakers!  It was odd to see him biking without all of his gear.  He had a great ride checking out the new trail called "The Magnificent Seven."

Only 1 pair of gloves so they shared

While they rode, Dee and I did a little jeeping which is always fun!  We also hiked to Gemini Bridges.  We left the kids back at the condo to sleep-in and hang out.  They love being with the other kids.  On the way back we saw our other friends, the Banks.  They joined us and then we met up with the Sunderlages.  So there were 4 families, and all of the kids are buddies.  We all went to breakfast at the Moab diner.

Then we went on a hike to Corona Arch which looks a lot like Rainbow Bridge.  It is a perfect hike in terms of length, difficulty, and coolness factor when hiking with kiddos.  While we were there Nate and his friend climbed to the top and swung off of it and rappelled down.  Yikes!

Quin was the youngest but she hikes like a Mountain Goat!

PLANKING under Corona Arch

Q, Sage, Kyndra, Tatum, Seth, Brayden, W, Jayden, S, M, Morann, Kembree

Saturday, Crowthers took us on a secret hike to see a secret arch.  It's secret because it's not on the maps.  On the way back we stopped to look at Indian ruins.  So cool.

Morann, M, Kyndra, Sage, Jayden, Tatum

Sage and Q found fuzzy caterpillars

The kid's favorite activity was jeeping with Nate and Dee!  The four 12 year old girls could not get enough of it!  They rode Fins and Things and some other famous trail.  I have to admit that I love it too!

The rest of the time was spent swimming at the pool, exploring real dinosaur tracks, canoeing in the pond, catching tadpoles, swinging on hammocks, playing night games, eating good food, and shopping.  Will has been obsessed with finding gold so we took him to the local gem shop and got him a pan and a pick.  He also found out that indeed he had found a real dinosaur bone!

 

S, Morann, M, Jayden

M, Tatum, Q, Kyndra, Morann

 The weather was forecasted to be cold, rainy, and windy - which it was up here - but down in Moab it wasn't bad at all.  Somehow the rain missed us.  Fantastic trip!