Summer Loves

This summer is going by entirely too fast.  We are trying our best to soak up every single day, but they are just flying by.  In the last week, things have slowed down (a bit!) and we've been able to do some things on our Summer Fun List.

We've had lots of sleepovers with Madison...

cleaned out the playroom.  Yep, these are all extra toys!  Happy to say I gave a good amount away and we are saving the rest for a garage sale.

Summer means camps and my girls attended Dance Camp with Brooklynn, Finley and Kate. 

Movies!
While they were dancing the morning away, I took these two to enjoy a favorite summer pass time--we saw The Secret Life of Pets. I knew Jackson would behave, but I wasn't so sure about my rowdy youngest.  She did great, though!  We just kept that popcorn flowing and then she snuggled up in my lap for the last half hour.  A win for everyone!  And we all liked the movie, too:)

Since my girls spent the afternoon with the Shubzdas on Monday, I returned the favor on Wednesday.  These girls had a blast during our afternoon swim.

By Thursday, it was time to see their performance.  Lila got paired with Lily.  So precious!

A few hours later, we were back for the show!  The theme was Under the Sea, featuring songs from The Little Mermaid.

There are my girls on the stage!  They did jazz, 

ballet, 

tap, 

and everyone's favorite--hip hop.  Get it girl!

We were very proud of these girls.  They knew their routines and performed them really well.

An hour later, we were chilling in the pool again with Brooke and Ben Baldwin.

These boys go hard, so I catch them before their basketball mania began!

Everyone had fun, I even convinced my water monkey to float on the turtle for two seconds.

Summer also means going to your first sleep-away camp.  Jackson and Cooper have been looking forward to this for months!  We dropped them off on Friday morning and said goodbye for four nights.  They come home tomorrow and I can't wait!!!  I hope they have had a fantastic time and God has spoken to their hearts.

And finally, slowing down a bit, also means that I got to see this girl play a whole game!  She and the Bees won their third straight game.  Before J left, he said, "you know, mom, Lila is the best defender in the league."  At first I thought he was just being partial, but after watching her this weekend, I realized he might be onto something.  She's amazing, and I get so much happiness out of watching her do something she absolutely loves.

USSSA World Series

This was our first world series with baseball and it was quite the event.  Everything kicked off last Thursday with the Skills Competition.  Each team could compete in baserunning, throw around the horn and home run derby. Jackson played short stop for Throw Around the Horn...

and was one of eight that did Baserunning.  

These boys did good, too!  They got second place in Around the Horn and second place in the Homerun Derby.

Elliott came home with us and showed off his mad diving skills.

Jackson showed him his newest trick--the backflip--that he had been working on.

A few hours later, Elliott, Jackson and I were at the Ranger game.  First order of business--pin trading.  Each team orders custom pins and then the kids can trade them at all of the events.  It makes for a fantastic souvenir after the tournament is over.

Let's go Rangers!

We met up with the rest of the team on the other side of the field.  Where it was HOT!!!

These kids handled it better than the adults, I think.  Most of us almost melted as we waited for an hour in 99 degree heat to get into the ballpark.

An hour and a half later, our boys were parading around the field.  Yay Fury!

There were over 3800 kids in the parade of teams that night.  That's a mighty long parade!

Next up, game time.  It was a dreadfully boring game, with the Rangers never getting on the board, but these boys still had fun.  They danced so hard trying to get on the jumbo tron.

And as always, I enjoyed spending time with my baseball-loving boy.

The next night we were ready for some games.  Jackson started off at short stop and pitched an inning, too.  

His team played really well and won 13-1!

They played their second game immediately after and started off shaky, giving up 5 runs in the first inning.  They shut them out the rest of the game, but came up a run short and lost 5-4.  Bummer.  They lost the next day to a really good team.

My sweet friend Emily brought her son to watch game 4.  Jackson got brought in during mid-first inning and pitched almost three innings.  His little buddy Riley was impressed, and so was his mama, but then again, I'm always proud of him!

They came up one run short that game, though, and then lost the next one by one run as well.  It was so hard to be so close every game and come up short.  Their last game ended at 10:30 pm on Sunday night, and if they would have won, they would have played at 8 am on Monday.  After that, they would have had to play four more games to get to the championship.  Good grief!  We all love baseball, but that would have just been insane.  Jackson has really enjoyed playing this season, but I think even he is ready for a little break.  Fall ball starts in September, so it'll be here soon enough:)

GO FURY!

Happy Birthday, America!

July 4th.  We woke up to a gorgeous day.  Who's ready for a pool party?

These kids!

They even indulged me with a mini photo-op.  Aren't these colors so festive on them?

I love how you can see all of their personalities, too.  Lila is so sweet and compliant, Cameron is a little spitfire just waiting to do something mischievous, and Jackson is the protective big brother (at least to Cami!).

Madison came over and then we all headed to the Barton's for some swimming. We couldn't show up empty handed, so we brought these tasty cookies to share.  Aunt Lyndsie's treats are always a big hit.

Lila was thrilled that her BFF Lauren was there and the girls all jumped in the pool at once.

I was happy to see my friend Amy--she's Super Mom and makes four kids look like it's such a breeze.

The pool was full of kids, so I was relieved when Cami agreed to wear her lifejacket.  

Her big sister was right by her side the whole time, though.  Love my Lila!

After Cami's swim, Lila joined the heated basketball game.  The big girls and Mik were trying so hard to let her score a basket...

but it never quite went in!  Bummer!

We hung out all evening, visiting with friends, eating crab legs, and holding babies.
This girl was in heaven with Baby Liam.

By the evening, a few moms and I decided it was hot tub time.
Very soon all the little girls joined us.  Now that's one full hot tub!

The sun set, and we were all ready for some fireworks.

There were sparklers...

and these fun fireworks... 

and even roman candles for the big kids to do.  Good thing J is a trustworthy kid!

Such a fun-filled night for all of us.  We love celebrating our nation's birthday with our friends.