Category Archives: Sports & Exercise
One last morning Flight
Now that Owen will be out of school, we can’t go to the morning 6 and under times, so we went with the neighbors today. Katie has NO fear jumping off the ledge. It used to make me nervous but she’s an old pro now. I love these action shots.
The boots again.
This time to go to gymnastics. 🙂
He loves martial arts more now that he has the uniform.
And he’s so cute in it…
But…we’ve decided against continuing. And oh, the guilt I feel as he excitedly runs around practicing his kicks and showing Katie his moves and repeating his instructions and replying yes, ma’am to me. That said, the guilt just isn’t worth $160/month for 12 months.
Katie just asked him to do something and he said “No, I have to practice.” 🙁 And then he just bowed before he went into the bathroom and then into Katie’s room. And he’s been giving me yes ma’ams all night.
And this is what he did with his uniform:
Gah.
I know he’ll get over it soon enough…I just hope I will.
Happy after gymnastics.
Owen’s last Marlins game!
It was crazy hot and sunny for the last game today. Thankfully friends had brought a huge canopy so we all got to sit (or lay!) in the shade!
Owen did super amazing awesome today…unfortunately, I had unexpected phone storage issues (even after I deleted a ton of stuff) so I ended up missing recording a few hits and runs—and a few videos got cut short. GRRR!
And he asked to be catcher today!! He did have some balance issues (see next photo—he kept his feet together instead of using a wide stance so he kept falling over) but he worked through them and did a great job! And looked damn cute!
The coaches actually called the game a half hour early because it was so hot. They had a quick award ceremony afterward.
I had to transcribe what the coach said because it was super awesome and is very hard to hear on the video—the Closed Captions should be turned on so you can read along but here it is just in case:
Due to my phone issues, I missed the first thing he said: I like to call him The Big O!
Come on up! I’ve really seen Owen’s catching progress. Behind the plate as well as catching the ball in the field. Alright, you are certainly catching it like the guys at the next level and very impressive. You’ve had some great hits as well. Alright. I love seeing your enthusiasm out here. Good job, buddy.
Team picture by another mom (since my phone was still acting up):
Then the pizza party!!!
And showing off his award! He had to run and get this T-ball award from last year, too—he was so excited to have two! He said he will put them both on a shelf together! 🙂
I love this trail for these views.
More Marlins baseball!
Daisies on the trail!
Katie wanted to go for a walk with me today and since it was GORGEOUS out, I agreed! There were no animals today, but lots of daisies! She picked a bunch and carried them all the way home (of course her grip kept getting tighter and tighter so it was a clump of daisy bodies by the time we got home). 🙂
Marlins pictures are in!
Katie is LOVING taking her scooter to baseball. This is what she discovered she could do tonight.
Owen did great as the “pitcher” tonight! Normally I wouldn’t record this stuff (because you, in essence, have to record the entire game) but I wanted to try and get some video since Tom wasn’t able to be there. 🙂
Owen’s at-bats!
Martial Arts Graduation
It sounds like a bigger deal than it really was—he just “graduated” from his after-school introduction to martial arts class of less than three hours. 🙂
But first, his baseball game was canceled (more rain!) so we had time to go out to dinner first. On the way home we saw a rainbow and the kids were excited about following it so it was great that we had the full rainbow in the parking lot of the martial arts studio.
They had a warm up and then showed all the parents and families what they learned and then they got their diplomas and white belts!
Little sister was following along saying “I can do that, too!”
Unfortunately she refused to stay anything resembling still and was back and forth and up and down and making noise and interrupting and being rude…so in the middle of the video you will see her walk in front of the camera and then you’ll hear a cry because she got in trouble and lost her post-graduation treat (after three warnings).
We are letting him continue for a two-week trial just to see what happens. We really think he could benefit from many of the aspects (focus, self-esteem, self-confidence, and coordination) but it will depend on his attitude…and (unfortunately) the cost and time sink.
Three deer and two bunnies!
The temps had cooled off nicely so I went for my walk after we got home from Owen’s game…and saw lots of nature! 🙂
Baseball night!
Daddy was tired and took a little cat nap.
Katie enjoyed her scooter.
And posed for some pictures.
And Owen finally played catcher!
My little skipper!
She said she learned it in gymnastics!
Two turtles!
We saw not one but two turtles on our family walk this morning!
Owen had a double play!
Unfortunately, daddy wasn’t there to see it as the garage door broke as we were pulling out of the driveway…so he had to stay and wait for the landlord.
Two of his at-bats (he struck out on his last attempt) and bringing a run in:
And I missed Owen’s best play because it was when he was playing third base and I never record in the outfield… But he caught a pop fly and then tagged a runner out on third! DOUBLE PLAY! The crowd went wild! He was SO excited and so happy!!
Katie was having fun on her scooter—she had never really used it before today and was very tents on it but got progressively better. She’s great about wearing her helmet and puts it on every time!
Today’s walk went MUCH better.
Apparently we needed the promise of the library park afterward (if she was a good girl)…AND letting her pick which direction to walk on the trail. It still took about an hour but it was much more fun!
That said, she blatantly told me that she liked walking with daddy (or all of us) but not just me. No real reason, that’s just how it is. Thanks, kid. :p BUT! I did get her to admit that she’d be okay doing the walk with Owen along. Which is what I really want—that’s my plan for getting my trail walks in this summer when they’re both home all day. So we’ll see what actually happens.
But she was much more talkative today. She actually reminded me a lot of Owen babbling on and on like he does on our walks. I loved listening to it. Here’s a small sample.
Katie’s jumps and mermaid tail.
Baseball without rain for once!
As a friend commented, What is this shiny bright ball of light in the sky? It’s blinding! Seriously. It’s been raining just about every day for almost a month. So this was a perfect evening for a game!
Pay attention for a Katie surprise in the middle of this video. 🙂
You never know what you’re going to see on a hike.
Mama/Katie hike
Yeah, it didn’t go quite as well as the earlier daddy/daughter hike. Big surprise.
Oh, it started off well enough. She was excited to be walking with me. Happy as could be.
Except the whining about being tired started a mere 15 minutes in. 🙁 And she was walking so slow and being so pokey it became not fun for either of us. Because of course there was also the whining every five minutes or so about how tired her legs were or asking when we were going to be home. I asked her if she did this with daddy. No, she said. So then why are you whining with me, I asked. No response.
So this might have been the first and last walk we take alone together.
Running, shadows, and hanging like a monkey.
While waiting for Owen to finish his after school program, Katie wanted to run.
And she liked our shadows.
And hanging like a monkey.
My favorite hiking section.
It looks, feels, and smells like Michigan forests…
Daddy/daughter hike!
She had to make it through the whole 2.2 mile walk with daddy—WITHOUT being carried at all—in order to be able to do the walk with me. And she did it!!! I was so proud of her!!
Stopping to watch the waving grass fields.
Marlins team pictures
Of course, the first gorgeous day we’ve had in forever and we didn’t have a game scheduled—just team pictures! It was like herding cats trying to keep 12 boys somewhat under control while they waited their turns.
Amazingly, Owen isn’t the tallest on his team! He’s actually third tallest! (Though I’m not sure what grade/how old the other two are.)
Another walk critter!
I saw this little guy today! He completely freezes so I could get right up close to him.
My walking buddies!
My mommy and me!
I took her on my trail walk! 🙂
And then mom posted this old picture on Facebook so I did this:
Look at all the gray hair!! On both of us!! 🙂
Snake #2
How did I never see any snakes until after I saw the snake crossing sign? 🙂
And no, I don’t care that it was just a cute little green garter snake. Still creepy.