“You can’t win ’em all” a coach from another Strike Zone team said to Drew on his way out of the 3 and 2 baseball complex this evening.  “You’ll get the next one…you made it to the championship game and that’s what’s important…keep your chin up”  I guess that can be difficult to sink in to a little 8 year old brain sometimes.

We matched up with the Sharks again which was the team we defeated for the championship in last weekend’s tournament.  The Sharks played awesome.  Sometimes your opponent just goes out there and does everything right.  That is what happened today.  The Bulldogs played well too but couldn’t match up to “everything right.”

Drew Boo, you played like a champ today, gave it your all and so did your teammates, you got a nice medal, and your team got a cool Louisville Slugger bat trophy!  You had a lot on your plate this weekend with soccer tryouts in addition to this tournament so you should be so proud of what you accomplished.

Your coach mentioned the Bulldogs have two 1st place finishes, two 2nd place finishes, and one 3rd place finish.  I think that is quite an accomplishment for a newly formed 8 year old baseball team!  That’s a heck of a lot of great baseball you’ve played this season!  Go Bulldogs!

The weather did get a little dicey just before the championship started today.  A HUGE gust of wind came through and took down multiple tents and scared all the little kids out of their minds (and Jake!).

And a bonus to this weekends baseball, Brian got to coach 1st base because our normal coach was out of town.  Anytime he gets to coach, he’s thrilled 🙂

P.S. even as I write this, Drew’s chin is up!

 

 

 

Have you ever been to a swim meet?  Well I’m here to tell you that they are a little bit boring EXCEPT when your child rocks it, then it’s actually fun!  I’m serious, you have to show up an hour early to put your chairs up so you can see your tiny little person’s head bobbing in and out of the pool, try to avoid anyone that looks important and is going to ask you to volunteer to be a timer, pack up tons of snacks and drinks for your swimmer and siblings who you’ve dragged there against their will, dig through every crevice in your purse praying you find a sharpie and a hi-lighter for your heat sheet, bake in the sun for awhile, listen to super weird swim parents yelling (we always debate if the swimmers can even hear them??), and hopefully not screw up and miss your swimmer who swims for a total of 2 seconds.  Ok that’s an exaggeration…they swim for about 2 minutes.  And about 3 1/2 hours later you can finally pack up and go home.

Are you ready to come to Morgan’s next swim meet yet!?  It’s enticing I know!  They are every Thursday night in the summer if you’re interested in checking it out!  Here’s the deal…I NEVER miss a swim meet because quite honestly, these little swimmers are AMAZING!  Swimming is a difficult sport and I’m mesmerized at the stamina they have to compete in these meets.  Her career started out years ago when we put her in swim lessons at 68 Sports.  She was sort of flying through the levels and at many points in time the teachers asked us if we ever considered getting her into swim team.  I can definitely see her being a swim instructor in the near future.

She joined the Lenexa Lazers city team which only occurs in the summer months outdoors and to keep her swimming year-round, she was on the Tiger Sharks swim team where she competed in indoor meets that worked into our schedule and practiced 2 nights a week when she didn’t have soccer.  I’ll never forget setting out in the early morning darkness for swim meets in Topeka and some in Lawerence.  They start EARLY!  I think we were both wondering why we were putting ourselves through that madness.  After a year or two, the Tiger Sharks swim team disbanded because the head swim coach quit and finding head swim coaches is apparently super hard.  So Tiger Sharks merged with the COOL swim team.  Morgan has been swimming on COOL for the last couple of years – practicing at Prairie Trail Middle School (her school) and whenever the COOL practice schedule conflicts with soccer, we drop her in at Healthridge Fitness Center for their swim program.  However, her favorite swim seasons are the summers when she swims outdoors with the Lenexa Lazers.  Every summer morning Mon-Fri, 8-10 am, Morgan pops out of bed and gets all of her gear together and off we go to Ad Astra pool in Lenexa.  She never complains, always wants to be early, and gives it her all every single time.  LOVE this girl!!

Morgan is an absolutely beautiful swimmer.  She may not always be the fastest swimmer in the pool but she is seriously a beautiful swimmer!  Her form is wonderful and she tries so hard.  So, seeing her drastically improve all of her times last night at her first meet this summer made me the most proud mom in the world.  Morgan, I hope you always try your best, swim beautifully, and have fun!  I am totally your biggest fan.

 

Today I celebrate my birthday with my twin brother, Greg!  He’s a great brother, dad, and friend…Happy Birthday and hoping for a wonderful year ahead!  Look how cute he is…

Wishing I was on a plane to Mexico today like I was last year! 😉

This was the house we rented on the beach last year…Miss you Sueno del Mar!!!

Greg’s surprise 40th bday party last year…so much fun!

After about 7 hours at the ballpark  and 24 innings of straight baseball today, Drew’s team, the Strike Zone Bulldogs, fought hard and came out on top!  Congratulations!!  This weekend’s tourney started out rough on Friday night after a big loss from the Sharks.  I wasn’t able to be there due to a birthday/anniversary celebration, but the report back from Brian and Drew was pretty bleak.  However, those boys were apparently not discouraged because they won Saturday morning and 4 straight games today.  I’m so amazed at the amount of energy, effort, and focus these little 8 year old athletes put out on a hot day with very little rest.  Extraordinary!  Drew played his little heart out and played 2nd base the entire tourney and made some amazing plays and hit well too.  This cutie deserves a foot massage tonight (the first thing he said to me at the end of it all was his feet really hurt!!…I’m so proud of you Drewy!   And Messi the Build-a-Bear Pup is too (Drew put his medal around his neck with pride after a much needed bath…so cute!!).

Our Bulldogs won in the championship game against those Sharks that beat up on them so badly on Friday night.  Redemption can be so fun!  Nanny was a complete champ today too…she watched every play and endured a super long day and Drew Boo’s BFF, Scott & Shauna, made it out to the ball park too!  YAAAY!  And all of us are still patiently waiting for more teeth to grow in on his adorable little grin.  This baseball season is going to always be remembered as the season of the “snaggletooth.”  Keep rockin’ it Drew Boo…it must be your good luck charm!

 

Born on June 1st at the Build-a-Bear Workshop at Oak Park Mall, weighing 6.5 oz, 15 inches tall, brown eyes, cream colored fur, and tummy that smells like strawberries!  Drew has had his sights set on a soccer pup at Build-a- Bear for quite awhile…I think he may have had it on his Christmas list the last few years!  He called Aunt Jennifer and left her  the cutest message asking if she would take him this summer.  Of course, she usually gives in and off they went this week!  He chose this little puppy and named him Messi after his favorite soccer player.  He’s been treating this little guy quite well and giving him lots of snuggles.  Yesterday Drew had him propped up on the counter and was sharing his breakfast pancakes with him which led to a cute little conversation about Messi.  He said he’s just a baby so he doesn’t have any teeth and he’s REALLY hungry because he had not been fed all day the day before!  I asked how he eats without any teeth?  Without hesitation, Drew said, “well he has to eat creamy stuff like applesauce.” I mean of course, why would I not know this!?  Apparently I am not up to speed on soccer pup nutrition!  Thank you Aunt Jenn for making Drew Boo so happy and for generously adding to our family of stuffed animals! 😉

Brian and I were married 16 years ago today!  It was the most beautiful day and so much fun!  I loved every minute of it and looking back at pictures today of the celebration and the ceremony made me smile from ear to ear.

However, I will literally never forget how tired we were when we arrived at our hotel by the airport after it was all over.  I think we may have been on the first flight out the next morning to Jamaica for our honeymoon and we were not functioning well on just a couple hours of sleep.  People say you feel this exhaustion when you have newborn babies in the house, but I seriously think it was worse then!  It was our bright idea to rush right out of the country immediately following the celebration but both of us agree that we would not do that again if we had a do-over!   I will also never forget that my wedding dress filled Brian’s entire car.  A giant puff of white tulle was filling every crevice of that Honda accord!  I wish I had taken a picture of it!

 

And happy anniversary to my sister Shauna and her husband Scott who were also married on June 3rd.  They have been married for 21 years today.  And to my amazing parents who were married on June 3rd, 49 years ago.  Love all of you to pieces!