Last Ballet Recital

Maddie just finished her last ever year of ballet.  She has taken since she was 4 years old but decided she was finished with it and tired of dancing.  I'm happy that she is done because it is one less place to have to "run" to, but kind of sad too because it is just another sign that she is growing up.  She's identifying the activities that she likes the best and narrowing down to just those things.  So, her very last recital was on June 16th.  We lucked out this year - her group was the 8th in line so there were not very many to sit through before we got to her.  Her Mimi and Papa and Nana and Grandpa came to watch her and of course Daddy and her brothers did too.  They all left after she danced but I had to stay through to the end. 

She did perfectly.  In fact, she knew the steps without looking at the instructor and she even had other girls looking at her to know what was next.  As always, we are so proud of her and the way she always gives her all. 

Amazing Wonders Aviation VBS 2012

Last year Micah went and stayed a week during the summer with Nana and Grandpa and went to VBS with them.  This year, they both got to go.  It was quite weird to have them both gone for a whole week and to only have sweet little Mason to take care of, but I did enjoy the quiet.  I definitely missed them though!  Mark and I went to OKC to pick them up and attend the family night to watch them show off what they had learned.  They both had a great time!  On a side note, it was hard to video because the place we were sitting was unfortunately right behind the music leader and we got to see lots of his hand motions too. 

Besides attending VBS, they had lots of fun with Nana and Grandpa.  They made brownies, went to a Splash Pad, played Mini Golf, and did a few craft activities.  All this on top of VBS every day.  The kids had a great time and I know that Nana was totally worn out!

First Carousel Ride

On Micah's birthday, the Neff's were in town so Heather and I decided to meet at the mall and let our boys play at the playground (Maddie was at camp).  This was the first time that Mason had ever really played at the playground and me oh my, he loved it.  I'm not quite sure about this little guy - he thinks that he is one of the big kids.  Even though he doesn't walk, he was all over the place with no regard to the size of the kid that he was playing next to.  He also got to enjoy another first while we were there - his first carousel ride.  He was a little apprehensive before the ride started, but once it started spinning around, he loved it.  He grabbed ahold of the pole like a pro and enjoyed the ride!

Getting ready to climb through the tunnel.  Looking up at Cade, who is getting ready to jump off the fire truck!



After his carousel ride.  He isn't smiling here but he did seem to like the ride

Happy 5th Birthday Micah

Micah got to start celebrating his birthday very early this year - way back in mid-May.  He and Maddie had a joint party so he got a head start.  Here are some pictures from their party:

Listening to the lifeguard give the safety speech

The birthday party was wild, crazy, chaotic, and (I hope) lots of fun for Micah.  He had many friends from church and his preschool so he certainly had lots of people to enjoy the pool with!

Next Micah got to enjoy his family party.  We had originally planned on having his party on the weekend before his birthday but Maddie had a softball tournament that weekend.  We nearly decided to go ahead and squeeze the party in between games, but I'm so glad we didn't because bad weather left the game times very unpredictable.  We ended up having his party on Monday the 4th, the day before his birthday.  We had pizza, presents, and cake!  Here are the pictures from the family party:


Close-up of the cake

What does this say?

This is the toy he has been longing for, a landfill.  Yes, a landfill.  Micah has an obsession with garbage trucks.

Playing with the landfill.

I think that Micah had a great 5th birthday party.  He got tons of great toys that should help keep him busy all summer long!

The day after his family party was his actual birthday.  In our family, we have a tradition that whoever has a birthday chooses what is for dinner.  However, Micah and Uncle G share a birthday and Mimi and Papa were cooking hamburgers for Uncle G's birthday.  So we told Micah he could choose the restaurant or that he could choose to go to Mimi and Papa's to eat burgers and swim.  Predictably, he wanted to swim so we headed to their house for dinner and swimming.  Before all this though, he got a special birthday trip to the mall because the Neff's were in town and we went to hang out with them for a while.  We enjoyed lunch at Chick-fil-A, time at the play ground, and a carousel ride.  Here is a picture of the birthday cutie on the carousel.

Another year has come and gone and our Micah is now 5 years old.  He will start Pre-K in the fall.  You are growing up, little Micah!  Your sweet smile makes me smile!

A Hard Loss

Maddie's softball team, the Bixby Dynamite, finished 3rd in their league.  They got a team trophy for that and then they began a playoff tournament.  The first two games were just pool play and really didn't matter in this tournament as the schedule was pre-determined.  The Dynamite girls played awesome in the first two games and managed to win pretty easily.  Maddie got several good hits in these games and played very well in the field as well.  Here are some pictures of the first part of the tournament.

The team and their trophy

At the plate

Swinging

Big hit

Off she goes to first, then second, then third!  Woo-hoo, a triple!





Although the first two games of the tournament went well for us, things went downhill from there.  The third game we played we lost, due to a number of issues.  We didn't play as well as we should have, and we caught some unlucky breaks.  The tournament was double elimination though, so we still had one more game to play.  Unfortunately, the next game was the worst yet.  We played a team that had not won a single game the entire season.  Until they played us.  However, our girls were completely exhausted.  Our only pitcher (and a team leader) got extremely sick and had to leave the field mid batter to vomit.  She was replaced by a sweet little girl who had never pitched in a game but was willing to step up and give it a try.  We couldn't hit.  It was hot.  The poor Bixby Dynamite just didn't have another win in them.  It was a tough loss for sure, but these girls amaze me every time they get out on the field.  They are the sweetest, cutest team you will ever see and they are pretty good little softball players too. 

The really depressing part of the story is that the team that we beat first thing Saturday morning went on to win the whole tournament.  Oh well, still proud of our girls and their hard work this season!

GO DYNAMITE!