Camping!

What better way to celebrate the start of summer (and summer vacation) then to go camping?  The weather around these here parts doesn't always cooperate with the seasons according to the calendar.  And wouldn't you know it, the weekend we chose to pitch our tents was looking a little "iffy".  But we thought we'd chance it anyhow.  We headed off to Mt. Rainier (formerly known as Mountain Reindeer in our home) National Park to the Ohanapecosh campground, which we've been wanting to try out for a while now.  A chance of rain helped our cause by making the first-come-first-serve sites easier to snag. 
 The sun was out on one day--and so was the mountain!

 The campground is very wooded--which made our site nice and private.  The green just glows all around you.  Cloudy weather makes sitting around the campfire with a cup of hot chocolate that much more amazing. 

 Daddy is keeper of the fire!

 Snuggling together in the tent makes the night cozy and warm.  Actually, I was under the impression that we would be dealing with cold nights.  I was worried about keeping the kids (and myself) warm enough to sleep.  But I must say, this was probably the warmest I've ever been at night while camping.  The cloud cover trapped in any day time heat--and the bodies in our tent are getting bigger (especially mine)--making the tent warmer. 

 We were blessed to be joined by these two fun-loving girls.  The kids were overjoyed to have some cousins along!  And P and M were subjected to approximately 500 games of Capture the Flag.  They got to listen to Adventures in Odyssey for most of the drive and they got to play Hang Man for a good hour as well.  Thanks for being good sports, girls!

 Boys just love poking sticks into the fire, don't they?  He kept calling the flaming sticks his "smokers".  He used to call cigarettes "smokers", so I'm not sure about all this smoker talk : ) 

 There I am--large and in charge and happily digging into a bag of chips and some cottage cheese.  Give a Pregosauras some food and she's happy no matter where she is!

A parting shot of The Mountain as it's known around the greater Seattle area.  We went on a couple of hikes while we were camping--but I'll save those posts for tomorrow.  That is when I took the majority of the pictures and I'm having trouble choosing between them....so it will more than likely be a picture heavy post. 

No More Teachers, No More Books!

 Today was our first official day of summer vacation!  So far it's rained .60 inches today.  Tomorrow we are supposed to leave for a camping trip....we're praying that things will dry out a bit.  One bonus is that we shouldn't have as much trouble finding a camp site at a popular spot with the bad weather.  What do you do when life hands you lemons?  Throw them at someone's head as hard as you can!  Oh wait, that's not how it goes.

 Here is my sweet Caroline in her last moments as a kindergartener .  The below picture is blurry-I know, I know...but this is how my girls ride to school at 11:40 each day for afternoon kindergarten.  I ride them downhill with both in the trailer, drop off the older one and get to do the uphill with the little peanut left alone in the trailer.  See how I cheat?  Also, see that lovely, large, padded seat with shocks?  It's the only way to go, I tell ya. 

 There they are--entering the kindergarten class one last time. 

 Caroline's class is full of tall girls!

 After we dropped Caroline off, we found Ezra lunching in the sunshine with his buddies.  I love those looks of pure joy!

 We sure have loved our kindergarten teacher!  She's been stuck with us for two years in a row.  She was an answer to prayers--kind and loving and giving them just the right amount of push to make them succeed!

 The next day Ezra had to go back with all the non-kindergarteners for one last (very short two hour) day. 

 There he goes running across the field to class after I dropped him off.  I watch that red back pack bob and weave across the field just about every morning and pray that the Lord will keep His Hand over him.  Then he disappears down the stairs and his day begins.

 He has loved his teacher this year as well.  She keeps the learning going at a clipped pace in her first grade classroom and this has been a year with much progress for our boy. 

And now we enjoy one last summer with three kids and no babies....

2013 Baseball Season

 There he is--my favorite player--number 5.  We played for the Marlins again this season.  They hired a new assistant coach.  This assistant coach happens to be my favorite coach on staff.  He drove Ezra to every single practice, brought him home each time and spent lots of extra time giving him extra tips and pointers at our house after dinner on non-practice nights.  He also plays catch with him in the off season and has taken him to the batting cages before.  Now, before you get too creeped out (in case you haven't figured it out yet) I'll tell you that his name is Tadd : )  In fact--there he is!  Coaching first base during a game. 

 Ezra's end of the season award this year was for  having the most hustle as he runs to first.  He never stops to look at where the ball may be landing--just puts his head down and runs as hard as he can.  Next year when he can steal bases, I have a feeling we'll see how fast he really is.  Right now I am reading the biography of Billy Sunday to the kids and Billy Sunday's specialty was stealing bases and getting into scoring position--it's how he got his fame in the baseball world.  Ezra is really enjoying the story because he can see himself being like that, along with the fact that Billy loved the Lord and went on to care more about telling souls the way to salvation than he did about baseball and fame. 

 Coach Tadd again--having a deep philosophical baseball discussion with another coach during a game. 

 Our boy takes his baseball pretty seriously these days.  He's working on the nuances of batting and throwing technique.  This was his last year at the "machine pitch" level.  Next year we move on to "kid pitch".  I must say that I would dearly love to dig in my heels and stay here at "machine pitch" where there is so much less pressure, where we don't (technically) keep score, where it's okay to make mistakes, where parents are nice to each other (for the most part), where coaches don't have to bark at the kids too much, and where the boys are little enough to be happy to have Mommy cheering them on loudly in the stands.  I will miss this level of baseball.  But I wouldn't want him to be stuck here where he would stop learning and growing in one of his favorite sports, I suppose.  Next year I will also have a small crawler on my hands, which means I won't be able to watch as much of the game.

 Look at that smile as he swings away--I just love the delight he takes in the game. 

 The coaches have fun at this level too.

 A well earned ice cream cone.

This season was a breeze for me.  Usually I am the one who has to take Ezra to most of his practices and then hang out there with the girls for the duration.  This year, with later practice times and Dad as an assistant coach, I didn't go to a single practice.  And both girls played with friends in the sand and rock piles at most of the games, allowing me to watch by boy (and chat with other moms, of course).  Plus--we have been blessed with one of the best springs, weather-wise, I can remember.  Not a single rained out game this year!  And only a couple of games where we needed jackets and blankets in the stands.  It's been a fun season!

For Auntie Avy

Hi Auntie Avy,
I'm just now coming up for air and thought I'd answer your email on my blog : )  I have very few pictures at this point in time, since I don't have a flash camera.  But I would love to spend the next few days posting some of the pictures that I do have--just for you!  Enjoy....

 One day in April, we were supposed to go shower Aunt Emily with gifts for her Baby Boy who was supposed to be arriving in a month.  Instead, Baby Boy surprised us with an early arrival and we got to hold, snuggle, sniff and cuddle precious, perfect Oliver Marshall.  We still gave Aunt Emily the baby gifts, there just was no shower. 

 Nora has her own style.  As I am typing she is wearing snow bibs (backwards), snow boots and jacket.  It's supposed to be mid-70's today. 

 Sharing cookies on the counter with a couple of her buddies.
Spring brought extra warm (for us) weather our way.  We embraced it with fully open arms.  It's not often that we're eating Popsicles, running through sprinklers and setting up the kiddie pool in April. 

 Seesters.

 And a couple extra kiddos who we really enjoy having around. 

P.S.  Yes, I know that there were zero pictures of Ezra in this post...I'll try to make up for that tomorrow or the next day with some baseball shots.  Miss you Auntie Avy!