Mariners vs Rangers

The Mariners had a close game tonight, but ended up losing 6-5 to the Rangers.

Orange Ruler

Ryan's school held an Orange Ruler fundraiser to raise money for art and science programs and special projects such a the book fair, science fair, etc.  The entire school really got into it.  The incentive was that the class that raised the most money got all these fun prizes like extra recess and a jamba juice party. 

Ryan's class ended up winning.  They were all so excited, and I was so excited to receive these photos and video from some mom friends so I felt I was able to be there too.

To celebrate the success of the fundraiser the entire school participated in a fun run.  The kids loved it!

Liberty Select Baseball

As if two baseball teams wasn't enough, we decided to add a third.  It kind of happened by accident.  Ryan was invited to join the Liberty Select team by his coaches from last year.  They are forming a new league to that will feed into Ryan's future high school, so we really wanted to support it.  We were under the impression that it would just be practices this year as they got it up and running, and then next year it would take the place of his IBC team.

As it turns out, they jumped in with both feet and have started scheduling games and tournaments for the team.  Oy!

Our Sundays now consist of IBC practice from 8-10am, church, then Liberty practice from 1-3pm.  Ryan loves every minute of it.  The instruction he gets from the Liberty coaches is awesome, which is the main reason we didn't want to pass up this opportunity.  Plus, he's playing with kids he'll go to Middle School and High School with, which totally makes sense.  

Last weekend Ryan played in an IBC game from 2-4, then we jetted over to Mercer Island to watch him play in his first Liberty game from 4:30-6:30.  The girls definitely got their fill of baseball.

The uniforms for this team hadn't arrived yet, so it was impossible to know who was who!  The boys played well which is always fun to watch.  I knew which one was Ryan even without a #3 on his back.  

IBC vs. Sammamish

Ryan had an IBC scrimmage today against Sammamish.  Grandma Karen and Grandpa Bill came up for the day to take in the game (and the one following).  They got to see Ryan pitch, which was pretty cool.  He did great! 

And the girls made a new friend and had a great time, too!

Mariners vs. Marlins

Ryan was super excited to play this game because it was at Dodd Field, the field where he has his IBC practices.  It has turf, and a working scoreboard. All things 8 year old boys think are super cool!

It was a good battle today with the Mariners and the Marlins ending in a 5-5 tie.

Snail Spotter

The girls decided to venture out to the bus stop with Ryan and I this morning - they usually stay inside as they are usually still in their pajamas.

Natalie was so proud of herself for climbing up on the post like the big kids, and then she was beside herself when she spotted this snail.  They are such fun little creatures. 

Man Made Ponds

Kendall and Natalie decided to make "ponds".  I was thrilled when they decided the fish in their ponds needed to eat glitter (NOT - I hate glitter).  I have such a hard time squashing their enthusiasm and imagination, so just went with it.  Where do they come up with these ideas anyway?

Tea for Two

These porcelain tea sets were something I collected when I was a little girl.  My mom gave them to me awhile ago, and they have been in storage ever since.  I decided to put them in a cabinet about a year ago and there they sat.  Kendall noticed them and has been asking to play with them, so I finally decided to let her do it.  Her and Natalie were so excited when we got them out of the cabinet, and had so much fun setting them up how they wanted them.  Then they sat and had "tea" together for about an hour.  I'm sure we'll have a catastrophe with at least one piece, but for now I'll just enjoy watching them have fun with them. 

IBC Scrimmage

Ryan made the Issaquah Baseball Club's (IBC) purple team this year.  IBC is a select team that Ryan tried out for in the fall.  It works in conjunction with the Issaquah Little League to give the higher skilled players a chance to play more baseball.  They started practicing together indoors in February, and have been practicing at 8am every Sunday outside since mid-March.  It's a great team with lots of great instruction and good little ball players (all 8).  Ryan is learning so much, and loves it of course.

Today they scrimmaged against the gold team. (There are two 8U teams - purple and gold). 

As I've mentioned before, I love watching him play baseball.  The girls on the other hand could care less, and were not thrilled to attend yet another baseball game.  They do fine, but can get whiny.  We don't know any families on this team yet, and there are no other little girls for them to make friend with.  Big bummer. 

In any case, Ryan played great and even hit a bases clearing double up the third base line.  Go Ryan!

Birthday Baseball - Mariners vs. Pirates

The Mariners struggled today with their bats, and ended up losing to the Pirates.

It was still so much fun to watch my favorite ball player on my birthday.  As an extra special treat, I got to see him pitch in his first game.  He did awesome!  I love watching him play baseball.

After the game the kids and I hit the library and made an extra stop to get cupcakes.

Our Little Carnivore

Happy Birthday to Me!

David volunteered to cook for 60 people on this day, thinking it was my mom's birthday not mine.  Nice!  It will be a story I'll tell for years.

It was all for a good cause - to help raise money for a new Select Baseball League that will feed into Ryan's future high school.  We're all for it, and were happy to help out.

Our friends came over to help us prep all the food - ribs, chicken, 5 gallons of chili and 2 potato dishes.  Whew!  It was a lot of work, but in the end they raised nearly $5,000.

No one was happier that her dad made ribs than our little carnivore, Natalie.  She absolutely loves meat and was in her glory chomping it off the bone. Yum, yum.

The Smile Creator

Natalie refused to change before we headed to the doctor with Kendall.  I had no time to argue, so just went with it.

She looks adorable, but not something I typically let her wear out of the house (mainly because that tutu is hand wash only!).

She definitely was the entertainment of the day.  She was in high "ham it up" mode (just being herself, really).  I had such fun watching people's reactions to her.  All the little old ladies we met on our hospital adventure certainly got a kick out of her cuteness!

Our First Fracture

Kendall fell on the playground while we were at Ryan's baseball game this week.  She started crying and found us right away, so we knew something wasn't right.  She usually pops right back up after a fall.  We iced it when we got home, but when she woke up the next morning in pain I knew I needed to check in with the doctor.  I was innitially hoping to talk to a nurse to see what proper protocol was, but the receptionist didn't even let me get that far.  She said with wrist injuries they would like to see her that day.  So away we went.

It was quite the adventure!  The girls did great, but their mama did not.

Kendall told the doctor exactly what happened, and when the doctor started pressing on Kendall's wrist to find the pain point (Kendall did not flinch) I almost passed out.  Ha!  My kid can take it, but I can't.  I had to get up, put my head between my legs, etc.  None of which helped, so I ended up with a juice box (which Natalie was ALL over) and lying on the gurney.  Kendall thought this was all hysterical, while I was mortified and completely embarassed!  And David will never let me hear the end of it.

I'm still not sure what made me almost pass out, but know it had something to do with Kendall's toughness.  I knew the doctor pressing on her wrist had to hurt, but my sweet girl didn't want to tell her it did!  I get teary just thinking about it.  She's such a sweet, tough cookie.

Anyway,  the wonderful doctor gave us a splint and sent us off to X-ray.  Kendall handled it all like a champ.  The x-ray confirmed it was a compressed fracture, which is a more stable fracture so a splint for 3-4 weeks is what was prescribed.

Kendall complained very little, and was ready to get back to normal activitiy in no time, including creating this cool fort with her friend Temri.

Bye, Buddy

The girls miss their pal so much when he's at school.  They smother him with hugs before he heads out the door each morning.

Sail Jellies

The beach was littered with these beautiful creatures.  David called them sail jellies, but are also called velella. 

This is what the beach looked like on Sunday. INSANE!  The beach was piled two inches thick with them.  It was quite the spectacular, stinky site.  I was thankful they showed up on the day we were heading home. 

A Movie and Clean Teeth

All packed in for movie night...and teeth brushing.

Downtown Long Beach

There are so many random tourist stops in long beach - world's largest frying pan, world's largest clam and a passion factor chair that the kids thought was hilarious!

My Love

He's such a dork.

Storm Chasers

It was so cool to sit and watch this storm rolling in.  

Here Comes The Sun

After cool temps the previous day, we were so happy to wake up to sunshine.  The kids were eager to get to the beach and fly kites and build sand castles.  Little did we know we were also going to get a show of the storms moving in.  So cool!  All day long the squalls were rolling in.  Super fun to watch.

Clamming With Friends

How fun that are friends were able to join us at the beach AND there was a clamming tide!  Eli and Temri had never been clamming before, so our kids were excited to show them the ropes.

It turned out to be a very cool and windy morning, so most of us didn't last too long (meaning Natalie got soaking wet, then of course was freezing cold) but David, Keith, Ana and Temri were troopers and stayed out until they got their limit!

Then, David whipped up an amazing batch of clam chowder.  Delicious!