Last Game and Out of Town Guests

I found this picture on my latest picture download - here is the picture of the cake my kids made me for my birthday - they kept saying there are so many candles on your cake!!
Elizabeth had her last t ball game a couple of weeks ago. She had the best coach, it was obvious he loved coaching and he was so patient. She had such a great time and learned a lot.

I told her I wanted her picture - I love her pose :)

Elizabeth did such a great job and really participated. We were very proud of her.

We had Tom's roommate from college ( he was also one of his groomsmen), Matt, come for a weekend visit along with his wife, Jessica, and his daughter, Anna. Anna wasn't feeling great for their visit so I didn't get too many pictures of her. She was adorable!

On Saturday we took them to the science museum.

Anna was busy taking care of the babies.

There's Matt, tricking the height machine.

It was a very hot day so we spent a little time out in the water spray area.

There's Matt and his wife, Jessica.

That's the best front shot I got of Anna - she's so cute!

Elizabeth hanging out on the tortoise - usually it's Ben I catch here.

We love this camera thing they have in the doctor area.

They changed some of the activities throughout the museum so the kids enjoyed trying them. This was a tornado simulation.

We got to stand inside a giant prism - it was so cool!!

The kids took turns on this spinning stand - they learned how to spin faster and slower by moving their mass around.

We spun this around fast to make the water curve up.

Practicing our hula hoop skills (of which I have none!)

We had a great time with Matt and his family - we are hoping we can do it again soon!

On Monday we had our old neighborhood playgroup at our house. I got out my camera to take pictures of the kids playing in a marching band. They were so funny! Each kid had an instrument and were marching around the house.

I forgot to post that I finished painting that wall - but there it is on the left. I finally finished!!

It was a great play date!

Fun Week

(That's Ben - number 1!)

Ben's t-ball season hasn't been the greatest for him. I think he was a little young to start - but he said he was so excited to play so we signed him up. He really didn't like to even practice in our backyard though, so I think it really isn't his game as a 3 year old.
That being said he played in his first few games (I say play loosely - he would sometimes just sit on the ground and play in the dirt, but most of the time he would run after the ball if it was near him). The next 3 games were all in the evening and he would somehow happen to fall asleep before the game and wake up so unhappy and not ready to play. So he didn't play for the next 3 games - he would just cry! The last game came and I was very unsure of how he would do. He wasn't sleepy, and he knew that he got a trophy at the end of the game - so he had a great time !
There he is - right in the center of the picture.

He hit the ball and was off running!

The only bummer this game was it was storming and lightning! They never called the game but i was stressing out that we would all get hit so I ended up taking Ben to the car after his last hit (paranoid mom!!) Thank goodness his season ended happily!

Elizabeth had such a good time all season long. Her and Drew's team had an end of the year party at a pizza place.

Her coach gave her a trophy (we had the BEST coach!)

She was very proud (and a little nervous about getting up in front of everyone).

All 4 of the kiddos had a fun time this t-ball season (and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! I was thinking I was a little crazy to sign up for outdoor sports during the hottest months of the year - but we made it!

For the last couple of years we have had an end of the summer party to celebrate the beginning of the new school year. This year both of the kids are going to school (Ben to zoo school and Elizabeth to kindergarten) so they were both excited this year.

We invited our school age friends to come swim with us at my mom's neighborhood pool. You can rent out the space along with a clubhouse, which was perfect for us so no one would have to do any cleaning, but everyone could have fun swimming in the heat.

They had a great shallow area for the kids to swim in.

The kids all had lunch after swimming.

They swam some more and came back for cake!

I can't believe it's almost time for school!!! :( We're trying to gear up over here...

Tom and I headed up for bed the other night and this is what we saw at the top of the steps. Notice the diaper on the side (he wears one to bed at night)

He's so silly!

Excuse the dirty room, but I also spent time last week painting my kitchen green (not the best picture to see the green, but you can get an idea).

I also painted all the walls in the family room brown, except this wall I am painting these shapes to make it look like wallpaper. I'll take a picture when I am totally done to show you why I'm doing it on that wall, but so far I like it! It has taken a ton of time though because every time I draw on the shape (I made a stencil out of poster board) I have to level it and make sure it is even on all sides. I really don't like to measure or anything, so this is really hard for me :) I'm getting close to being done though - hopefully this week!

Busy Busy!

We are going out of town in about 6 hours (getting up at 4 am!!) so this is going to be a post with few words and lots of pictures - I need to get to bed!Ben at his t-ball game. He's being coached on what to do. (the coach is our friend Suzanne's husband!)

Oops - hit the tee.

Now he got the ball!

There he is - number 1.

We also completed swimming lessons.

Scoping out the place I guess.

Elizabeth became a little fish during her lessons!

She's about to dive off the diving board - her favorite part.

We joined some friends at the splash pad. The kids loved it and spent most of the time running around.
Except Jackson - he mostly sat. :)

Ben, Jane and Elizabeth.

Sweet Jill.

More tag.

Then we came home to say goodbye to Jake who is going to be at the vet for the next 10 days :(

Elizabeth was walking around with my camera and got this picture of Ben - she did a great job!

We'll have no internet while we are gone but I'll have a lot to post when we get home!