End of baseball

Baseball season is over for Andrew and Joshua. Oh my gosh we had so much fun and are a bit sad to have it be over. Joshua really loved t-ball. He learned a lot and really enjoyed his team. I think he will be skipping minor prep and move directly to minors next year. Andrew loved minor prep so much. I think he liked pitching and eating sunflower seeds the best! He also learned a lot and will be ready for minors next year. Here are shots of them with their trophies!

Vancouver, WA again

Off to Vancouver again. We love to come here to see my Aunt and Uncle. This time was special because my sister Kari and her husband Aaron also came. On Saturday morning we took the boys to a local community pool. It was super nice and lots of fun. It had a great splash area, fast water slide, and a lazy river with a whirlpool center. Noah did not want to do the slide a first but finally I took him on it with a life jacket on my lap and he LOVED it. He went down many times with me and Baron. Andrew and Joshua loved running with the current of the whirlpool. I wish I had a video of them and all the other kids beings swished around in the whirlpool. Seth had a nice time splashing around in the shallow splash area. We then went back to the house to wait for Kari and Aaron. Our cousin's Jason and Diana also came by. We had a lovely cook out with them. Also the boys tried out the new triple Slip N Slide that Uncle Ted picked up for them. The boys love to hot tub too! On Sunday we all went to Powell's book store in Portland, Or. It is a giant 4 story book store. We had a nice time there with most everyone picking up some books. We ate at a Noodle Shop for lunch and then headed back to Vancouver. Baron took some time to do some Geocaching while we were in Vancouver, too. We had such a great visit with everyone. Kari and Aaron are expecting there first child, a little girl, in October and are moving to Iowa in July! What a adventure they are on. Glad we had a chance to visit with them before they move. As always Thanks so much Rosemarie and Ted for letting us come and visit with you! Seth exploring in the grass
A little hot tubing for the boys
Andrew and Joshua on the slip n slide

Noah and Joshua on the slip n slide

Aunt Kari and Uncle Aaron with Andrew, Joshua, Noah and Seth
Baron, Aunt Kari, Seth, Joshua, Andrew, Noah, Uncle Aaron, and Heidi
Uncle Ted, Kari, Aunt Rosemarie, and Aaron
Me and my baby sister (and much taller), Kari

Cub Scouts

Andrew and Joshua having been doing cub scouts since the fall, but this was the first meeting I attended. I went so I could see them get "painted". This means the boys have complete the level that they are at. Joshua completed the Tiger level and Andrew completed his Wolf level. I had know idea what being "painted" meant before I went to this meeting. So here is the low down in cub scouts when you finish on of your books (tiger, wolf, bear, etc) you get your face painted in a specific fashion to show you have completed this level. It was so neat to see the boys complete this books. Can't wait to work on the next one. Also at this meeting they did a fun obstacle course outside.
Joshua doing the crab walk
Joshua walking with a bean bag on his head
Andrew doing the crab walk
Joshua getting "painted"
Finished look on Joshua
Andrew's turn
Andrew with his face all painted

Fun Run

Our family did our first fun run today. We did one mile. Daddy and the two big boys ran the whole thing. Mommy pushed Seth in the stroller while Noah ran by our side. Andrew, Joshua, and Noah also did some dashes. Joshua and Noah both did a 50 yard dash and Andrew did a 75 yard dash. We all really enjoyed this event and plan to do another one soon.Here is me and the boys getting ready to start the one mile fun run
Here are a couple shots of Noah doing the dash.

Reading to Dogs

The library hosted a program called R.E.A.D to dogs (Reading Education Assistance Dogs). We went to check it out. It was so cute and fun. Andrew, Joshua and even Noah read to the dogs. The dogs are therapy dogs that have a special certificate to do this program. It was a great confidence build for the boys with there reading. I sure hope I can get the boys to do it again.

Andrew reading to Magnum
Joshua reading to Boomer
Andrew reading to Magnum and Noah waiting his turn
Noah with Magnum and his owner Pam reading a book.

Safety Fair

In a parking lot near our home there was a safety fair going on. Baron had to work so I took all the boys to check it out. They had helmet checks and we could get a new helmet for Noah. The made sure Andrew and Joshua's helmets fit properly too. Andrew, Joshua, and Noah did the bike course they had set up. They also had many emergency vehicles out for the kids to check out. It was a nice sunny day and we really had a good time.

Joshua on the bike course

Noah with his new helmet, which he wore most of the day!
Noah and Joshua in the driver's seat of the big fire truck
All the boys took a turn sitting on the big motorcycle !

Andrew playing Baseball

Andrew is playing minor prep baseball this season. He is really enjoying it. He plays every position well. He really likes being the pitcher. In minor prep they do machine pitch for most of the innings but then in the last inning the let the boys pitch. Andrew is playing on the Yankee's. His Dad wasn't thrilled with the team name, but loved that his boys were playing ball. Here is to a great season.