Taylor, Matthew & Brayden: Summer

Wow, I have not blogged since June! Where did the summer go? Here's a quick recap:

1. Mimi and Baba arrived on June 2nd for a summer stay in Seattle. They just returned to Phoenix on August 25th. We had a great visit with them. The kids are missing them already, especially "Baba Comedy Hour" but I would argue that Annie is missing them most.

Annie is never far from the kitchen when someone has food out.

Baby comedy hour

2. I resigned from my job at Bridge Funding Group on June 16th; my last day was June 30th. It was time to go. I wanted to spend the summer with my parents and kiddos. I plan to work again, but where and in what capacity is to be determined.

3. Matty played and Tommy coached a ridiculous number of baseball games in June and July. I believe I counted 70 games total this baseball season (most of which were in June and July). We were all happy to have the boys back at the dinner table after baseball season ended. The 10U All-Star Little League team made quite a run in the All-Star tourney. The team fell into the loser bracket after a loss in the 2nd game of the tourney, but then they won their way back to winning 3rd place overall (out of 14 teams). After All-Stars was over, we shifted our focus to the last two Select Baseball tournaments of the season. And guess what? Liberty won both! It was a truly great season.

Thunderbird 10U All-Star Team

The All-Star team entered a tourney before the real All-Star Tournament began as a "warm-up." This team, who had never played together before, won second place! They could not enter the tourney using their All-Star uniforms or jerseys, so they were the "Coal Creek Miners" for the weekend. The uniforms turned out pretty cute! Matty still wears his Miners' hat daily.

A picture with the dads on Father's Day

Matty, his Dad, and his Granddads. How cool!

Another tournament win! This one was huge because Liberty had to win three consecutive games on Sunday, and they pulled it off (while also beating a team that has been rude to our team before). Sweet victory!

NW Club Championship Tournament, Vancouver, WA

Team dinner at Vince's

Summer Knights Tourney, Federal Way, WA. Another win!

And that's a wrap on a great season!

4. School ended on June 17th. The boys went to basketball and coding camps the first week of summer. The Liberty Select Basketball Camp is Matty's favorite camp every year. I was so happy the varsity basketball team was able to have it this year. Brayden was lukewarm on the coding camp. He went Monday through Thursday, but by Friday, he was complaining that he did not feel well and in our Covid world, I had to keep him home. Of course, I feel pretty confident that he felt just fine and used it as an excuse to bail on camp. Taylor went to the beach house with Grandma and Pop Pop that week and loved the one-on-one attention.

5. An early summer heat wave hit in late June. Both boys were signed up for Sambica that week, and I sent them on the first day when temps were over 110 (what was I thinking?). I got a call around 3:30 to pick Matty up. He puked in the car on the way home and proceeded to puke about 8 more times that evening. We took him to Children's Hospital at 9:00 that night for treatment from heat exhaustion. He will not be returning to Sambica next summer.

6. Brayden, on the other hand, had a blast at Sambica. Thank you, Lord! It was so nice to see him thriving at a camp (away from me and away from video games). I can hardly wait to send him back next summer. Brayden also ran track for the summer session which went from early June through mid-July. He tolerated the practices but really only enjoyed track for the ribbons!

B-man preparing to run the 50 meter dash.

7. The following week, Taylor attended a two-day beach volleyball camp with Taylor Crumpacker. They both had fun and learned the basics of volleyball. It is my hope that this camp will give Taylor the confidence to try volleyball in 7th grade.

8. Because of the heat wave in late June, the All-Star tournament was postponed by one week, which meant that our 4th of July plans at the beach were torpedoed. We had to miss our annual 4th of July party with Grandma and Pop Pop. It was a bummer but we made the best of it. Matty had a baseball game at 2:00 on the 4th, so we were able to have friends over later that day for a BBQ. The Hobdays, Beppus, Parks, Crumpackers, and Browns joined us for some good ole fashioned fun. We ate a ridiculous amount of food since everyone brought grilled meats and sides, the kids jumped on the trampoline, and we walked up to the golf course to watch the fireworks. Tommy and I even ended up at our neighbors' Noi and Hernan's house for some late night fun.

9. Scott and Mandy arrived for a visit on July 8th. In the 13 years I've lived in Seattle (really in the 20 years since I moved away from Indiana), they have never visited me. We usually see each other on family vacations or when I am back in Indy. It was so so so awesome to have them here for five days. They were total troopers and attended four baseball games. We enjoyed many evenings on our new patio. My boys LOVED hearing Uncle Scott's stories about he and Ryan when they were boys. Scott, Mandy, and I spent one afternoon at Chateau Ste. Michelle winery and the whole crew (minus Taylor and Tommy) went to Bainbridge Island one day. It was a truly great visit and a highlight of the summer for me.

10. The week of July 12th, Taylor went to Sambica and had a blast as usual. She has mentioned several times that she would like to be a camp counselor one day, and I would love for her to do that.

11.The rest of July was spent at baseball games until we left for Hawaii on July 26th. By that day, I was DONE hearing about baseball and looking forward to the break. We spent 11 days in Hawaii; six of those days overlapped with Tommy's parents, Brian, Kristen, Emery and Josie. The day after they departed, Matty got an ear infection (again) and was sidelined from water activities. That night, we were in a car accident driving home from Wailea. It was very scary but by the grace of God, the five of us are safe. It was completely dark (about 8:30 PM) and a crate of tools feel out of the bed of a passing truck. The crate fell in front of us just as we were passing the truck, so our rental car (also a truck) blasted the crate. We learned the next day that there was a circular saw in the crate, so we just feel so very lucky that we were not hurt. Our trip was okay, not great. It was awesome to get away, but both Tommy and I were disappointed in our kids for not appreciating the amazing views, the pool, etc. They were all very happy on their iPads. It was especially challenging when Matty got the ear infection because Taylor wanted to boogie board, Brayden wanted to snorkel, and Matty could not get in the water. I've decided that we are not a Hawaii family and Tommy and I will save these luxury trips for just the two of us.

Morning view from our room

Shaved ice for all

Somehow, the men found a way to stop at the bar while taking the kids to get shaved ice.

Adult dinner!

Tommy living his best dad life.

After Matty got an ear infection, we spent more time in the fitness center. Matty enjoyed learning how to use different pieces of equipment.

Our crew at "Baby Beach" watching the sea turtles

Lunch at Hula Grill after snorkeling

Playing Euchre by the pool. Thanks ear infection!

12. We returned home on August 6th. August was filled with small daily activities: picking blueberries, swimming at Lake Sammamish or Lake Boren, going to a local beach, going on a ropes course, having friends over to play on the trampoline, having families over for dinner, etc.

My babies are up there somewhere! I did the course with them but was happier on solid ground.

13. The last big activity of the summer was our camping trip to Battle Ground Lake with the Cousins, Burdicks, Keyes, and Crumpackers. It was an absolute blast and we look forward to making this an annual tradition. The kids had so much fun running around the camp, and the adults were perfectly happy hanging at the campsite with coffee, beer, wine, etc. Annie and her pal Sophie lived their best lives fetching sticks in the lake. The kids rented paddle boards and kayaks, played whiffle ball, made smores, and most importantly, stayed off of electronics for the weekend. It was great.