Last ROX baseball game!?

Today could be Carter's last game as a ROX.  It has been such a fun season.  They have had a good season - some wins, some losses, and a time.  I am not quite sure of their record but I would guess that they maybe were somewhere above the .500 mark. 

Carter has grown this season.  I think that sometimes he got a little frustrated with pitching this year.  Somehow he started to pitch side-armed for a few games.  One of the coaches, while we were at the ROX game in St. Cloud said to Carter "see how that guy is pitching... DON'T pitch like him."  He too was side-arm pitching.  Carter also LOVES to steal bases.  He had quite a few after they were allowed to steal them (little league rules allow them to AFTER June 1st). 

While I know that Carter loves to pitch, I really believe he is a GREAT catcher.  I think that this is one of his favorite spots to play.  I think that he really loves to try and get kids out when they are attempting to steal.  He had a few plays this season where he did succeed at getting kids out on a steal and he was so excited!

Tonight we played the Express.  They were a hard team for us to play this year.  The first game against them was rained out, the 2nd game we lost like 14-4 (a kid on the other team hit an out-of-the-park homerun), and I believe that they lost the 3rd regular season game to them by 1 point.  Carter was not looking forward to playing them (sometimes he can be "Mr. Negativity!").  The first inning did not start out too well with the Express getting 5 runs (they most you can get in an inning in little league). 

Then, our team started to "click" and they started to play really well - both offensively and defensively.  The truly exciting moment for the team was when Fardeen hit an OUT-OF-THE-PARK homerun with 2 kids on base.  If only there had been 5 minutes less left in the game then Carter's team would have won on that hit... but they were able to start a new inning!

I have never seen such a long little league game.  They played 3 more innings for a total of 8 innings - can't imagine how the TWINS felt when they played that 15 inning game a few weeks ago!  Neither of the teams could get 1 run to win the game!  Unfortunately in the 8th inning the other team scored and ended up winning by 1 run...again!  But, it was scuh a fun and exciting game.

Carter's coach and the 2 assistant coaches were so good with the boys this year.  I don't think Carter has really ever had a "bad" coach, but these guys really taught the kids how to play.  And, the group of boys that were on the team were really a GREAT group of kids!  They all played well together and got along really great!

Even though the season has ended for the ROX, Carter is going to be playing in the extended season that Blaine is offering this year.  We will see how that goes!  Thanks for the fun season of watching games CARTER!  And, thanks to Jim, Eric and Chris for helping Carter grow as a baseball player!  I know he had a lot of fun... ROX ON!

Dolly & me... and DIRT!

The girls got these adorable dresses from Auntie Dawn, Uncle Todd (sure he was the one that picked them out!), Grace and Annie!  Kendall wanted to be "twins" with Reese today so she chose the matching dresses for them and for their dolls.  Here is Kendall with her doll!

So cute!

Then later in the night Carter had a baseball game up at BBC.  So off we went, cute dresses, dolls and all!  It was warm  and the kids don't really get all that "into" Carter's game and tonight was no exception.  So other kids had brought some trucks, so the kids found the spot in the field behind the baseball diamond where there was some dirt.  And boy, did they play!  And play!  And play!  And get DIRTY!  But, we were able to watch quite a bit of the game!

More ducks... this time WOOD DUCKS!

12 baby wood ducks in the pond.  Probably about 7 years ago, Dave built a wood duck house on the far side of the pond.  I believe that every year since then we have had some babies.  I was beginning to think that maybe there weren't going to be any this year, though we had seen the mom and the dad wood duck in the pond.  Sure enough one day, 12 of them skitting around in the pond.  They are so fast and fun to watch, though they do not want us close to the pond.  They see us and they move right on back to the far side of the pond!

Darn Bugs!

I have noticed that when Reese gets a bug bite she tends to get a little puffy and red.  Not just a little bite, but a welt of some sort that is about the size of a nickle.  Well, she must have gotten bit at the Blazin' Blaine Fest last night cause when she woke up her eye was puffy.  And, when she went down for a nap and woke up from the nap, we were a little worried to say the least!  We both figured that it was ok and just a bite, but the poor thing could hardly see out of her eye...and all we could do was giggle a little!  Not that it was funny to see here with her poor swollen eye, but she was trying to see and it was not working out too well!  Guess we just need to keep some Benadryl on hand for her!

Cousins Fun!

Teagan was hanging out with us today, since her mom was being lazy and vacationing in California for a few day!  We were out in the yard and Teagan noticed some baby ducks!  There are 8 babies.  We had not seen the baby ducks yet.  They are soooo cute!  Last year one mallard had 12 babies and they hung around for quite a while!  We have not seen them too much this year, but there is a good chance that this is the same duck (or maybe one of the babies) as they return to where they were born!

 You can't see them too well in the photo, but they are in the upper right hand corner.  Reese loves seeing the ducks in the pond and she kept gettting a little too close to the edge for my comfort.  But, her and Dawson kept looking at them while they were eating their freezie-pops!

 Cousins - Carter (11) and Teagan (11), Too cute!  Carter and Kendall (4)

 

And, the muscrat decided to join the party too!

We also took the kids to the Blazin' Blaine Fest.  We have lived here for 8 years (CArter and I), and Dave has lived here for 13 1/2 years and this was only the 2nd time we had gone.  Kids got to pet some animals, ride the little ponies, eat some ice cream ($4 a scoop though I had a taste and it was not just Kemps), play a game ($3 for a game, seriously!) and go on a ride (more expensive then the MN State Fair)... and we got to have a cold beer and listen to a little local country singer, who has also been played on the radio, Rockie Lynn! 

Tamarack Nature Center, Here we come!

The kids love this place.  It just opened up last year.  The first time there last year they weren't quite sure what to think of it.  We were thinking there would be lots more water.  But after putting their feet in the stream and the sand they loved it!  So, off we went for the first time this year on a warm, sunny day!  One of the best things about it is that it is also FREE!  I typically will donate a little $ to the Nature Center, but if I happen to not have any cash on me that day, it is still a day of fun!  They come home ready for a shower - we learned to bring watershoes but that also means bringing home some sand!

Rain, Rain!

The kids were supposed to have t-ball tonight (along with Carter having a baseball game, which still was played and was a great night for it!) but it became a mess... call from the neighbor "our coached called & said the game was canceled."  I called our coach who was on the way to the game and she said it was raining where she was but she had not heard it was canceled.  Then, she sent a text a few minutes later saying that the field was fine, come on over!  So, I told the kids to get in the car, let's go see what is going on.  As soon as we started to get everyone buckled, it started to downpour!  Coach then proceeded to text back saying that the game was canceled due to the rain.  Geez, make up your mind RAIN!  But the kids made the best of it!

There are something about these photos of Reese that I just LOVE!  These yellow rainboots have been through all 4 kids!  I have some of the cutest photos of each and everyone of them in them!  Something about the pink dress with the yellow boots that is just even more special!  :)