Boys Trip {June 2010} Chicago & St. Louis

Tim Miles and Caden flew out to Chicago on June 14th.
They went to visit Grandma & Grandpa Doll (aka President and Sister Doll.)

They got to do some sightseeing. Legoland.
They played wiffle ball against a few missionaries in the church parking lot.
I'm sure Miles was trying hard to strike out grandma.
Soldier Field where Da Bears play.
Huge McDonald's.
Chicago Temple.
They went to Medieval Times for dinner and a show.
They also went and saw The Karate Kid and Toy Story 3 and has some deep dish pizza.
They went to Wrigley Field to a Cubs vs. A's game.
The boys got new hats (and tired to keep the bills nice and straight,)
Then they said good-bye to Grandma and Grandpa after 5 days and rode
Amtrak Saturday morning from Chicago to St. Louis.
They went to a game at Busch Stadium Saturday night. Cardinals vs. A's.
Rain delay before the game started.
View from their hotel:
It was really hot and humid in St. Louis so they swam most of the time they were there.They did visit the arch.
Inside the little tram that takes you to the top of the arch.
Caden at the top of the arch.
They had a good time.
But after being away from home for 9 days I think they were ready to come home.
I think the plan for the next "boys trip/baseball stadium experience" is to go to Minnesota. (as long as J.Paul and Tara are still living there!)

Collins Lake {July 2010}

This summer we went camping with the Rossi's and Crawford's at Collins Lake. We decided to go about 5 days before we left. (I think we are better at last minute plans than long term, because something usually comes up these days.) Traffic was bad getting up there but it was such a fun place to stay. We spent 2 nights which is the perfect amount of time for camping.

Cooking s'mores.

We camped right on the water. The water was nice and warm too. There was also a rope someone had put in a tree. The kids loved swinging in it. Especially Alexandra. She wasn't sure about the boat rides so she spent a lot of time on shore and in the rope swing.
ALL the kids liked throwing rocks into the lake. I think a few of them got in trouble at various times though.
We all took turns on the boat and and on the tube.
Miles being brave and going all by himself:
Tim & Chris!
Caden
Avery & Tim on the boat.
There were some funny moments and a scary moment.

Funny:
Tim told Miles to take his shorts into the lake and wash them off since they were pretty dirty. Miles went in the water and started to wash them off. Then Chris jokingly told Miles to stomp the shorts into the ground because that is what got them really clean. So Miles actually did it -- about 4 feet under water. Then Miles couldn't find the shorts. We thought they were gone. (and I had just bought them 2 weeks ago.) So I get in the water with Miles and start using our feet to try and find the shorts. Luckily Miles found them about 10 minutes later.

Scary:
Tim bought a large blow up tube for the kids to play in around the edge of the water. Caden gets into the tube and starts floating around. He has his life jacket in the tube with him but he didn't put it on. All of a sudden Caden and the tube are quite a far distance from the shore, clear out by the buoy's. I start yelling at Tim that Caden needs help. Caden starts to panic and jumps out the tube without his life jacket on but holds onto the tube and is trying to swim back to shore. I yell at Tim again to go help Caden -- because I am not a strong swimmer. Another guy sees that Caden is starting to struggle. Caden finally lets go of the tube and is trying to swim on his own but he has his sandals on and he is getting tired fast. I jump into the water but the other guys jumps in and gets to Caden first and brings him back to shore. The tube is still a good 200 yards away from shore. It was a little scary for a few seconds and Caden was shook up for a while. But everyone was safe and we even got the tube back.

Avery turns 2!

Avery turned 2 on Sunday, August 29th. Since it was a Sunday, it was pretty low key. We went to church and took naps. Ate dinner and had cake and brownies. We "Skyped" both sets of grandparents. She got some new clothes and PJ's and a Princess Belle doll -- that Alexandra pretty much decided was hers after Avery opened it. (Which we thought would most likely happen.)

One of her birthday outfits:

Not sure of her birthday cake, but Alexandra is.

Talking to Grandma Redding on the phone with her Belle doll. (before we got onto Skype.)

We call her "Little Caden" at home because she looks like him AND she is crazy like him. She has no fear (at home). She is climbing up and jumping off things all the time. Her only fear is other people, except her immediate family. If she doesn't like you she will give you this look:or not look at you at all. Don't mess with Avery.

First Day of School 2010

This year school started early, Wednesday August 25.
It was a short summer, but the boys get a lot of days off during the school year.

Miles started 5th grade. (His LAST year in elementary school. He has Mrs. Rogers.
(Look how long his hair is!)

Caden started 2nd grade. He has Mrs. Rybolt. He has a lot of friends in his class.

Both boys right before school started that morning.

Miles wanted to go school clothes shopping.
He would only look/get clothes that were from JCPenney.
What a picky & silly kid he is.

Brownies & The Sandlot

Remember that part in the movie The Sandlot? The part when the clubhouse explodes (because they are trying to suck up the baseball with vacuum cleaners) and one of the boys is still in the club house and comes down and he is completely dirty and dusty?

Well that is what Caden looked liked today. Tim & Caden were attempting to make brownies today after church. Tim was opening up a package of brownies (without scissors) and the package burst open all over Caden. He had powdered brownie mix all over him. It was pretty funny.

What kind of chicken do you like?

We were driving home from church and asked the kids what they wanted for lunch?
I suggested Orange Chicken.

Caden yelled "I want Orange chicken!"

Zani yelled "I want Purple chicken!"

Pretty funny.

Look who came to dinner tonight

We had a fun visitor for dinner tonight.

Aunt Suzi came!!

She was out in CA for a friends trip to Monterey and happened to be close by our house so she stopped over for dinner. We also played Hot & Cold and then she wanted to see Miles' basketball skills so she and the boys played 2 games of HORSE. (Suzi won both times.) She only stayed for a couple of hours but it was fun to see her and wish she could of stayed longer. (Expect for Avery - she kept giving Suzi dirty looks during dinner. She is pretty shy around "strangers" still. But Zani was super friendly with Suzi.)

Caden kept making these crazy shots to stay alive. It was pretty funny.

Alexandra was hoping to play some b-ball and be a princess at the same time.
We love you Suzi!!

Caden's 7 year old Patriot Team

Caden was on a traveling baseball team this summer. They played in weekend tournaments in Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Rohnert Park, San Leandro and Manteca. He team was all 7 year-old players -- they played against teams that were mostly 8 year-olds. They won at least one game in each tournament. The most important was that they were able to get the experience so when they play together next year they will be so much better and beat the younger teams. The last tournament was in Manteca at a place called Big League Dreams. They had 6 replica fields, Caden's team got to play on Wrigley field and on Tiger field. Their team ended up taking 2nd place in the "B" bracket. (Did I mention that is was HOT the weekend that he played? Like 100* everyday?!)

Day 1: Caden at bat @ Wrigley field. His team won 8-2!

Day 2: Some of his teammates.
Playing on the Tiger field.
Day 3: Taking 2nd place in the "B" bracket.
So baseball is over, for now.

Miles has been doing basketball for the last month.
Caden starts football this next week.
So much for a break!

Side Note: Caden was "recruited" for the football team and has already been asked where he is going to High School -- because his coach wants him on the baseball team!

Miles' All-Star team

(I have done this post twice and blogger is not saving it, so I am trying it one more time...)

I should start by saying this year was extra busy with baseball. We signed up the boys for 2 different leagues. Caden at JOBL and Miles at Concord American; because all of his friends play in that league. So we were at 2 different fields this year plus extra volunteer times. Tim even home-plate umpired 2 times. With that being said..

Miles was chosen to be on the 10-year-old All-Star team this year. He was very excited. He finally got to be on a team with all his friends. (including Conner, Lucas, James and Cody!)

This was at the first All-Star game. This is my favorite picture. Lucas and Miles pounding arms. They are so cool...
The Concord American 10 year old All-Star team all lined up!
At the plate:
Miles played in the outfield for all the games. He caught a fly ball in left field during the 4th game!

His team lost the first game but ended up winning the next 3 games in a row. The 4th game was the most exciting. They were home team and they kept battling. Every time they were down they kept scoring and tying the game. After 6 innings the game was tied 10-10 and too dark to play anymore innings. So we had to continue the game out in Oakley on Wednesday afternoon. They would play until there was a winner. Martinez scored in the top of the 7th so we had to score 1 to tie and 2 to win. We had the bases loaded and Josh hit a blooper over the second baseman's head for the win. It was very exciting. Then the boys had to wait for an hour to play the next game. Unfortunately they got blown out. It was time to pack up their gear and say good-bye to their baseball season. The coaches said that they did better than anyone expected them too and went farther in the tournament than a 10-year-old team has gone in YEARS. (They finished 8th!) It was fun to watch.

Some of his cheerleaders!! The girls went to all the games. They did pretty good considering how long we were there some nights. (and eating french fries helped.)

Summer Vacations

I'm working on posting pictures of our trips last month. In the meantime.
Why would you want to come home from a vacation when you have a swimming pool all to yourself and have an awesome view of the St. Louis Arch?? Pretty Sweet.

Now batting ... #8

Miles & Caden!! Both boys made their baseball All-star teams.
They both chose #8 as their uniform number.