Where has the 1st half of summer gone?

Where have we been? I know, this has been quite a long blog break. Not intentional. This summer has just been a bit crazier than the ones in the past. So here is a quick update of what we have been up to...

We enjoyed our week long beach vacation. It is the first time we have rented a house and the first time we have stayed in a neighborhood removed from the typical beachy attractions & restaurants. It was so much fun and very relaxing.

Remember in my last post when I said I couldn't wait to watch Caleb play ball next year. Well, I didn't have to wait. A few days later, mid-beach week actually, we found out he was picked for the 9/10 All Star team. What a great honor for him. His coach had told the team the selection process at the last regular season game and had given the timeline for selections and phone calls and Caleb was so hoping he would make it. I had gone for a morning run the day phone calls were to be made and when I came back he was waiting outside for me to tell me the news. Doug brought him back so he could be at the first practice and he stayed with my parents for the rest of the week while we all continued our vacation. Thanks Mom & Dad!! It was not the same without him but I knew he was right where he wanted to be.

You can't see the ball in this picture but he did catch it and held on it in spite of an obstacle or two, lol.

His team did well, exceeding a lot of people's expectations. They won the first round of pool play and then finished 3rd overall in the division. Caleb did well and became quite a reliable outfielder. I think we all went into it thinking how great it was he made it but ended up so excited with how much he really contributed to the team. And most important, he loved every minute of it (well except for the day it ended).

Evan and Brynn have also been playing some ball. They are in a machine-pitch league. They are "night and day" on the field. Evan, broken wrist at all, chases after the ball and sets up double plays while Brynn fusses that it is too hot, repeatedly asks when the game will be over, and chats it up with the base runners.

She did get to play catcher one game, a position she begged to play, and gave the coach behind her a great workout since leaning in all that equipment to get the ball was just too much for her. :o)

They can both hit the ball well and Evan races to each base as fast as he can each and every time.

There have been other activities as well. Evan, Brynn, and Price all attended VBS at one church earlier in the summer. Evan and Brynn are at our church's this week while Price and Caleb are at golf camp. A few weeks ago Evan, Price and Brynn went to soccer camp... during a very hot week (Evan was not very happy even in the shade afterwards).

Price attended football camp during the evenings after soccer camp. Oh to have their energy! I love that he even smiles/looks happy when he catches a football... guess they don't teach toughness at football camp!

Caleb has been practicing with the local swim team since the end of May but missed the first three meets due to his All Star baseball commitments. The team practices everyday but Sunday and Caleb has rarely complained about the 1 1/2 hours of swim in the morning and the 3 hours of baseball practice in the evening; that is a sure sign he is enjoying both.  He was moved up to the highest group for his age after the first two week and it is truly amazing how much he has learned in such a short time.

He finally got to swim in a meet last Wednesday. He was so nervous beforehand since this is all new to all of us. He was signed up for four races: 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, and the freestyle relay. He did amazingly well (we are not sure where his swimming skills came from; while he works very hard at it and soaks ~ no pun intended ~ in every word his coaches say, I think this is also one thing he is just naturally talented at). The team focus is not on winning (though since this is our journal I do want to mention, for the record, that he did win all his races) but on improving times so he has set his goal for this week; he was about .25 seconds away from making the "gold" category in the freestyle so he wants to make that this week. We tease him that if he wears his "swim helmet" (Grandpa thought if we renamed his swim cap that Caleb might see it as a "tougher" piece of equipment) he might cut a few seconds off. I was timing a lane for 3 of his 4 swims, and was too busy cheering during that very first one, so I don't have many pictures from the meet... maybe this week.

Our few spare moments have been spent up at the pool in our neighborhood though we haven't been up there as much as other summers. Last summer Brynn would only swim underwater and Evan would only swim above water but this summer their swimming has gotten so much better. Evan has always been my least-interested-in-swimming child but I think now that he has seen Caleb swim in a meet, he realizes it can be competitive (as opposed to just "useless" play), and he spends a lot more time in the water! Nyah continues to love to swim so I'm five for five in having a bit of freedom (no clingy kids) in the pool! Woo hoo!

We also have season passes to a local amusement park and have been twice and will hopefully go again next week and we finally held Brynn's birthday party (better late than never!).

We also made it to a local minor league baseball game over the 4th of July weekend.

I went back to work for a day today but start back full force (well, 3 days a week) in two weeks and the kids start back in 3 1/2 weeks! Wow. More to come. Hopefully sooner rather than later!