She picked every dandelion she saw on our walk. Both of her little hands were stuffed full!
Category Archives: Sports & Exercise
Jellyfish!
Tom texted me this picture from where they were fishing. That’s a lot of jellyfish!
Two trikes and a bike.
So after testing the Radio Flyer Ride and Stand Stroll ‘N Trike Ride On at Costco yesterday, Tom put ours together and we took it for a spin!
Owen was doing “tricks”—lifting one foot up as he rode along!
When we got back, Owen said he wanted to try his own trike again, so we got it out. Of course, he’s WAY too big for it, but it made for a cute picture. 🙂
So that’s when daddy told him that had a new bike waiting—we just had to put it together. Tom had already taken the packaging apart, and Owen dug right into the pieces! He said he wanted to put it together right away…so in it came.
Katie undressed herself.
Proof that Owen will make a gun out of ANYTHING.
Daddy’s little helper.
Owen putting the last piece (the seat) on.
Our first riding trial will likely be tomorrow… Wish us luck.
I just HAD to do this for today for Tom!
I just HAD to do this for today for Tom…even though her outfit is too big! GO GREEN!
Then we took him on a walk, too!
It was finally nice and sunny today so we went for a walk when we got home!
“I stomped on your head!”
Jingling all the way home:
TOUCHDOWN MSU!
MSU Kids
I didn’t even plan ahead to dress them for game day. Kind of. I went to get Katie dressed and her MSU outfit was on the top of the stack in the dresser. And it was at that point that I realized it was a game day and put Owen in his jersey as well.
This pic didn’t turn out too bad.
And these next two just make me laugh out loud. Owen gets the craziest faces when I tell him to smile.
Ahhh, that’s better.
Well, not that.
Sister can do it.
And then THE shot. Perfect.
And then outside after the farmer’s market.
Side! Siiide!
Katie can definitely tell you when she wants to go outside. She stands at the gate, points, and says “SIDE! SIDE!” 🙂
So since it was nice today we went for a walk before going to pick Owen up from school.
Playing ball with Owen
Gramma wanted to see just how good Owen really was at hitting the ball. She was impressed!
Owen could even hit the balls like this!
Baseball Day 8: The End of the Season
After raining all night, the field was pretty much underwater so the game was held indoors at the rec center gymnasium.
They wanted the kids to sign eight baseballs as gifts… Owen did one and was done. 🙂
We had a special guest in attendance today —Reggie Sanders of the World Series Champions Arizona Diamondbacks (2001). (Of course not being a sports person, I had absolutely zero idea who he was, but everyone seemed excited and I know it was a big deal.) He started the Reggie Sanders Foundation in 1992; his younger brother was diagnosed with autism.
He would help some of the really little kids bat and handed Owen his bat.
Getting his gold medal, autograph, and signed baseball:
Then enjoying pizza and cake!
There was also press there from the local paper. I know they took a picture of Katie and they asked for her name (and our information) so who knows if her picture will be included or not.
I was amazed at how fast the eight weeks went by. At the start, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to do it and eight weeks seemed like FOREVER…but before we knew it it was over. The best part, of course, is how much Owen enjoyed it!!
Owen wanted to go for a walk…
So off we went. He put on his new fast shoes so he could run…but then didn’t do too much running because he said his legs hurt. I asked where and he pointed to his shins. I’m wondering if he’s having growing pains…? I think I was a bit older, but I remember my legs hurting and my parents telling me my bones were growing… So I told him his bones are probably growing. Of course he asked why and I told him that’s how he gets taller. Ohhhhh! I told him not everyone can feel their bones grow so he’s special…just like mama. 🙂
Then he wanted to push Katie. Needless to say we had to wait until we were back on our less-travelled street because he cannot manage anything resembling a straight line. Of course he’s hamming it up doing circles in the video, but it’s not too far off. Then he even had to stop to put oil on the wheels (using his sunglasses that he found in the stroller pocket). Unfortunately I didn’t get that in the video.
Wagon Ride 2
Wagon Ride
Baseball Day 7
FYI: Day 6 (last week) was cancelled due to rain.
It was quite a difference weather-wise this morning. A few weeks ago it was 85° and humid by 9am…this week we’ve had a cold snap so there was frost and it was maybe 42° by the time we hit the field.
In the outfield playing third base. Well, playing catch AT third base. 🙂
I didn’t edit anything out of the videos so you can see all that goes on. The boy in the red coat with Owen? Just running along for the heck of it (one inning they had to remove him from the field no less than eight times). And I have no idea why he pulled him down.
Running free while brother is in the outfield.
While Owen was in the outfield, he actually took it upon himself to retrieve most of the balls and threw them back to the pitcher. He was much more involved today! Of course, there’s only one week left!
A walk with Papa
Papa said he wanted to take Katie for a walk. I asked “In the stroller or just walking free?” He said walking free. Ooooh-kay. I warned him he’d likely have to retrieve her from yards and driveways. He said it was fine and off they went.
Fifteen minutes later they were back, with dad saying “She doesn’t listen! And she did t want to follow me!” Heh. Welcome to my world. 🙂
Owen practicing hitting
As soon as we got home from the dentist, Owen wanted to practice some more!
Football with Papa
Baseball Day 5
Grannie was sick so Papa was the only one who went with us. He even went into the outfield to play catch with Owen!
Still happy in the stroller (it didn’t last too long).
Next up!
Both at-bats:
Our guys back from a walk
They only found one golf ball!
Baseball Day 4
I didn’t take many pictures today because it was really hot and humid (the warmest day we had yet, if you can believe it). I did, however, take videos of Owen at bat and running some of the bases.
Katie amused herself by gathering used drinking cups. 🙂
We went straight home after eating (skipping the playground) because it was so stifling—and because Katie was TIRED (remember, her nap has been moved back to 11).
Morning walk with Katie
When we got back from taking Owen to school, we went for a walk. Katie loved the pop can she picked up out of our yard (I had set it on the porch railing and it blew off into the grass—it was mine, not some random trash) and would not put it down.
Baseball, Day 3
Warming up (playing) before the game starts.
A drink break after a hard session of catch in the outfield.
Waiting for his turn to bat.
Ready to bat!
READY!
THE PITCH!
SMACK! He really cracked it! (And, once again, because I was taking pictures, he really hit it well. When I was taking a video on his next at-bat, he barely tapped it. From now on I’ll just video it.)
And he dropped the bat and ran in the right direction!
At first base!
Coming into second…
…with QUITE the spring in his step!
Heading for home!
Today’s lunch was pizza! Both kids LOVED it!
Second day of baseball
Here you can see how many people are on the field at one time! (If you click on this panoramic pic, it will pop up a bigger version.)
His first at-bat. Of course, since I was taking pictures, he actually hit the ball on his own! (The next time when I was taking a video (below), he ended up having to use the T—and someone obviously didn’t notice that I was recording and kept talking to me!)
This time, I let Katie out of the stroller when Owen was in the outfield. She stayed pretty close…
Except she kept wandering into the dugout (it wasn’t even Owen’s dugout—it was just the one we were closest to)!
Mid-game post-potty water break:
Here, you can see the announcer with Owen and his volunteer running in the background.
Heading for home!
A different church was helping out today so they didn’t have the full lunch truck, but they did have hot dogs and chips! Then it was off to the playground for a quick visit!
Katie’s first walk down the street!
Since it was a gorgeous fall morning (65° and no humidity!) I decided to take Katie for her first walk down the street…
It took a bit just to get her out of the driveway—she walked around the car about three times. 🙂
I love that you can see her pigtail in her shadow!
Stopping to take a break in a neighbor’s driveway:
She kept bringing me pinecones!
Playing in the dirt!
Game day!
Well, this morning was the first Special Needs Baseball game day! We drove around a bit until we found it (I’d never been to that complex before), picked up Owen’s shirt, and then it was a waiting game before all the registration stuff ended and volunteers got everything ready. And speaking of volunteers, there were a TON of them—a church group and a biker group along with friends and family—enough for a few on each base, ones to run with each batter, ones to have fun in the outfield, and many to just stand and cheer! (They told me later that there usually aren’t that many until later in the season.)
I had only brought my telephoto lens so I had to make Owen stand about 10 feet away to get a shot. Yes, he’s wearing it over his regular shirt—that was his choice. And I could kick myself for not taking more to have one with better lighting. Oh well. And yes, he had to go potty at that moment—that’s where we headed next. 🙂
Katie wasn’t really enjoying being strapped into the stroller, but since I wanted to take pics, I didn’t really have any other options. (In the future I likely won’t be taking as many pics so I can let her wander.) But she wasn’t really that bad (it could have been much worse) and she enjoyed everyone stopping to talk to her or wave at her. And I tried to keep her placated with milk, snacks, and toys.
He found a ball right away!
Lining up to be divided into teams. He was on the Crushers and they were in the outfield first. They even had a parent sing the national anthem!
Owen’s buddy in the outfield.
There was a lot of this in the outfield.
Bowling?
I think he was going for the fumble recovery. 🙂
Waiting for his turn at bat.
Picking a bat!
On second base!
Third base!
Running for home!
Back in the outfield.
I’m not sure why, but there was spinning.
Back up to bat!
He started running the wrong way, so the volunteers helped direct him! This is one of my favorite pics—even though it’s definitely not the best pic—because it shows how awesome and supportive the volunteers are!
Running to second base!
Coming in to a high-five!
Game over! High-fiving everyone!
You can’t really get a good feeling for how crazy it was. There were so many people around, the game being announced play-by-play on loudspeakers, lots of not-playing going on, no scoring, kids running to whatever bases they want, two or more kids running at the same time, some older kids actually hitting the ball and adults in the outfield taking care of those balls, some kids refusing to bat/run, etc. But it was fun and Owen had a good time…so yes, there will be more weeks of this.
Then they announced that lunch would be served at the pavilion, and Owen was hungry…so we went. Thankfully there was just a prayer before eating—which is just fine with me. They had hot dogs and popcorn—and if you can believe it, Owen ate an entire hot dog, bun and all! For the first time ever! WOOHOO! Then he wanted to play on the playground which was very close…so we went. And I finally got to let Katie out of the stroller and she had A BALL!
As we were leaving, Owen said “That was awesome”…and I’m guessing he meant the baseball, though I guess he could have also been referring to the playground as well. But it was a good day that gave me 428 photos to edit down to 58. 🙂 Next time I won’t take nearly as many!
Feeding the ducks!
Since the temps really dropped today (with it being overcast and off-and-on rainy) I thought it would be a good time to go feed the ducks!
Me: Owen, do you want to go feed the ducks?
Owen: No.
Me: Why not?
Owen: Papa isn’t here.
Me: That’s okay. We can still go feed the ducks.
Owen: No! I told you we only go with Papa!
Me: Well Papa isn’t going to be here for a long time, so if you want to go now, we can go. Then when Papa comes down, you can go with him.
Owen: OKAY!
So off we went, with Katie in the stroller (I didn’t have the patience to have her walk and try to contain her by the ponds).
Then there was a female duck that Owen called a baby duckie because it was so much smaller than these other birds. I hope you can hear him in the video—it was windy and he was pointed away from me.
And see…Katie really was with us!
Then Owen told me we had to go to the other water to look for ducks, so we trekked across the course. No ducks. But he wanted to roll down the hill! I convinced him to wait and roll down the big hill that WASN’T covered in duck poop. 🙂
A good time was had by all.
Saturday
I was reading Owen a story with “Saturday” in it. He stopped me.
“Saturday. That’s football!”
Way to make daddy proud, buddy!
MSU Game Day
Well, technically, a televised scrimmage. But it was MSU and it was TV so we all wore our green and white!
Daddy’s here!
It was chilly again—note the two coats!
Chasing the birds!
Today was the first day I saw tons of coral washed up along the shore…
My boys! (Notice that Owen’s feet are inside Tom’s jacket warming up!)
Trying to get a cool desktop or Facebook cover photo!
Family beach walk
It was chilly when we all went out for a walk after dinner, so Katie dressed in her jean jacket before she outgrows it!
The chilly weather certainly didn’t stop Owen from playing in the tidal pools!
