Kendall's last T-Ball game!

Kendall had to wear her striped socks today for her last t-ball game.  Much like the little girl, Abby, in the 1st photo with her, they were so stylish!  Kendall had worn these striped socks previously because Abby had!  It has been fun to see her play this year.  I wish she could have played in the night league, but with the boys BB schedules we would have never been able to do it!  Hoping that next year her and Reese can play on the same team!

 

The girls on the team!  Donna, Kendall & Abby!

Playing in the dirt... what is a game without that!?



I just love this face!  Along with the outfit!

Kendall and Bella!

Kendall and good buddy Gus!

Kendall's FIRST loose tooth...and FIRST LOST tooth!

Kendall's first loose tooth has been loose for quite some time.  I don't think that I am ready for her to lose it.  With Carter, he was the only losing teeth.  I am not sure that I can handle TWO kids losing teeth at the same time.  That is a lot of yuckiness! Today though, she bit into an apple and cried out that her tooth was really hurting!  Whoops!  Guess, she better not eat anymore apples with this tooth.  I told her that we better get a photo of this loose tooth.  It is a good thing we did cause not too much longer into the night, she lost it!  She hoping the Tooth Fairy will make her appearance tonight for the first time for her!  Yaey, Tooth Fairy!

 

Hiking in Taylor's Falls

Nothing like a wonderful day to go hiking in St. Croix Falls!  The kids had fun throwing some rocks in the river, walking through the woods and climbing on the rocks.  Still makes me NERVOUS!  Luckily Reese stayed in the backpack most of the time!

 

Lovely view!

So, so green!

 

 

 

I did not care for climbing down in this "bake oven."  Yikes!  Walking down these steep stairs and standing over some nasty looking water, not my idea of fun.  Much like walking over bridges - freaky!

 This doe was literally 20 feet from us!  She watched us pretty intently but never got nervous.  She just kept on eating!

 All along Highway 8 they had Adirondack chairs - some were the normal size ones but they also about 7 or 8 LARGE ones along the way too.  This one is right in Taylor's Falls by the City hall on the hill!  Look, I am in ANOTHER photo!  I WAS HERE!

 

 

Slice of Shoreview Parade

We have not been to the Slice of Shoreview in quite some time.  It just hasn't worked out.  This year we made it work.  The kids were excited to go.  Not sure any of the kids had gone except for Carter.  I parked on the side street and was thinking that the street would be packed already.  There were a lot of spots on the parade route.  We found a spot on the street in the sun so that we stayed a little warmer (it was a cool Saturday morning for July!).  The kids were so excited when they saw the National Guard walking down with the flags and the fire truck following with a really BIG flag! 

 

This is them cheering for the beginning of the parade!

 

 

Carter and I looked over at Reese and she had this cute little dragonfly on her head.  It had been sitting on the road in the sun but found her way up to her head!  Love this photo of her!

Carter's last Baseball game as a TWELVE year old!

The last five nights of baseball (this so called extended season that Blaine does) is more about learning, teaching and having a little bit of fun while still playing baseball.  The boys can sign up if they want to play this extra season - Carter did last year and this year.  They combine the teams - so there are some minors kids and some majors kids playing on the same team.  You can tell the difference in the groups, but the kids can be a little more "fun" on the field. 

Thanks for a fun season Carter!  It has been fun to watch you grow over the years.  I know that this year you did not get to play the positions on the field that you really wanted to - pitching and catching have really been your favorites and you only got to play those positions a few times.  But, you really did a GREAT job in the outfield making those catches that could not always be caught by others.  You are a speedy kid and really do a great job of fielding.  We are proud of you and are looking forward to watching you play in future years!

I cannot believe that in just over a month, Carter will be a teenager.  Yikes, where has the time gone?  How have I gotten so old!?  :) 

Carter is hoping to play some fall ball this year.  Oh, the things that we learn every year that we never knew about and would have loved to have the kids participate in!  Guess it is a learning curve for lots of parents and we will know about some of this stuff for the other kids! 

So Handsome

Yesterday Dawson had his friend, Nathan over to play.  Unfortunately, we are not very good at getting together with friends for playdates, so this was the 1st one in quite some time, and the 1st time Nathan played at our house.  The boys just finished up with baseball so this was a perfect time for them to play since they won't be seeing either other every Monday & Wednesday like they had been since May!  They had a blast playing together and were already planning the next one when Nathan's dad came to pick him up.

So today, in the car, on the way to Carter's last baseball game of the season (and his last game in his TWEENS, next baseball game he will be a TEENAGE - how scary is that!?) the kids were talking.  I am not quite sure what lead up to the conversation, but all of the sudden Kendall says,

"Well Nathan wasn't my favorite friend of Dawson's but he sure is HANDSOME!"

Dawson and I just giggled and she was so serious about it.  She reiterated that fact that he was HANDSOME.

Seriously, we are in trouble with this girl!  I told Dave this story and he did not laugh... though, I know he thought it was funny.  Guessing he thinks the same thing - oh, no, its starting already!  And, with Dawson and Kendall only being a year apart in school, I have a feeling there might be a few more boys that are "handsome" to her along the way.

Boston T-Ball Game!

Uncle Drew and Auntie Jamie have been to a few games of the kids in the past, so this year when Boston signed up for t-ball I knew we needed to go!  Unfortunately, all of the SLP t-ball games are on Mondays and Wednesdays, the same days as the boys baseball games!  So, we did not make it to one of his games until the week of his last 2 games in July!  It was fun to watch him and according to Uncle Drew, he LOVED playing!  Uncle Drew asked where Carter was - unfortunately, he did not want to attend...he was a little worn out from baseball.  :(  Next year! 

One of the reasons that I do not miss SanBurnol Park - this playground.  The kids ALWAYS want to play at the playground.  Reese and Cooper were having a blast though... I was trying to get them to go down the slide at the same time.  Did not quite work out, but they were cute none-the-less!

Dawson's Last Baseball Game

Tonight is Dawson's last 5/6 year old baseball game.  It was a nice night for it!  What would a game be without him getting dirty sliding into EVERY base! 

Not a great photo but this is him sliding into home plate.  Gotta love all the dust flying from his slide!

Dawson's good friend, Nathan, reaching out to give him a high five after the game.  These boys had such a fun season!

One of the coaches handing out medals!

Movie and Beach Day

For the 2nd day in a row, temps are going to be in the low 90's with HIGH humidity.  So, today, I decided we were going to skip going to t-ball and hit the FREE movie at WB Township theater with Teagan and then stop at a beach on WB lake to cool off for a few minutes.  At first, Kendall was not sure she wanted to skip t-ball (she would miss coach Jerry!) but when she found out Teagan would be there, she was all in!

The free movie was Ice Age Continental Drift, which the kids had never seen - Teagan had but she didn't care, she was more excited to just go hang out with us!  The kids like the movie - they wanted a snack at the theater but I convinced them that we could stop at Holiday and get an ICEE afterward (along with sharing the few boxes of candy that I had in my purse for them to share during the movie).  They were all okay with that.  I mean seriously, just under $4 for a small ICEE at the theater when I can go across the parking lot at get one at Holiday for $0.99!? 

After the movie, we headed to find a beach.  Auntie Jen told me where to head to because when I asked Teagan if she knew where the beach was all she knew is that it was "by an old peoples house!" aka a senior living type complex, I guess!

When we got to the beach, I thought it seemed like the parking lot was pretty empty for such a hot day.  We grabbed our suits and headed to the bathrooms - that is when Teagan noticed these signs:

Oh no!  Where to now!?  I just figured I would drive around the lake and we would eventually hit another beach.  I had never been on the east side of the lake - the Dellwood and Mahtomedi side - it is such a pretty area.  Eventually we ran into the beach on the south side of the lake.  The kiddos swam for a while - the beach is so, so shallow - Carter & Teagan could walk out to the roped off area and quite a bit past it, and it still wasn't deep.  So sad.  You could tell how high the water used to be as the old lifeguard chair was a good 30 feet from where the lifeguard actually was sitting.  Of course I forgot my camera (another example of when an I-phone would be nice) but the kids had a blast and we did not get home until about 2:45!