Hot in Holmen!

Brian and the kids were in Holmen for 5 days before I arrived and it was HOT! Luckily there is an amazing pool nearby and Cameron conquered the big water slide. He said he went down it 29 times (but who's counting). It was the first place I went when I arrived and they were having a blast. They also went to a Loggers baseball game, a jumping gym, hung out with Great Grandma and Grandpa and their aunts and uncles and cousins and enjoyed all that is summer in Wisconsin. They loved the thunderstorms, hated the mosquitos and made the most by staying up late every night.

Summer Trip!

We're back from our summer midwest trip and we did things a little differently this time. First, it started in June instead of August like our normal trip. Also, we extended it a bit and Brian started the trip without me. Some of my HS friends had planned a trip to visit me, so we timed it so I could have the house with the girls and Brian flew back with the kids to see his family. I stayed for a few days with my girlfriends and then flew back and met Brian and the kids. It worked out perfectly and we had an awesome time in Wisconsin and great celebrations for the 4th of July. We saw tons of family, ate too much food and were eaten alive by mosquitos (especially poor Addy!) More posts to come but it was a trip to remember with lots of fun memories. Hard to believe July is about half over when it feels like it just started!

Easter (in June!)

Seems silly now, but that's what you get when you skip posts for two months. Going waaay back, we had a great Easter! We followed the tradition of the egg hunt in the morning at our house followed by the big one outside at Kim and Rob's. Brian and I thought the kids might want to skip the morning one but they insisted. They also were very clear that we have made it too easy for them by leaving them in "plain sight" and they basically demanded that next year we make it much harder for them. Every year the outdoor hunt seems get multiply in the number of eggs and this year was another record. It was also an absolutely beautiful day so we loved being outside. The kids also had some competition since Milo the dog was also trying to get some eggs and I think ate a few of them whole, plastic and all. The kids went home with a giant loot of candy, stickers and money and it was another wonderful Easter.

The Blue Jays

Cameron's team had an incredible season, I think they only lost 2 games in the entire season and I was always amazed that I was watching 6, 7 and 8 year olds. Cameron improved so much throughout the season. At first he had a hard time adjusting to the pitching machine, but once he figured it out he was unstoppable! He got tons of hits including several doubles and his fielding was amazing. My favorite was when he would play third and his friend JR would play shortstop and they made such a great team and got a lot of outs together. Cameron loved playing catcher, but played all positions and did a great job. I'm so proud of these boys and how hard they played coming from behind to win the whole thing. What an amazing season!

The Champion Panthers!

Addy had a great softball season and was lucky that a lot of the girls from last season returned, but there were also a lot of new faces which made it fun. The girls improved so much throughout the season. We made double plays, caught pop-flies and even had the catcher catch a foul ball for the out. I don't think any of those things happened last season. The pitching also improved a lot, I think we had some of the best pitching of any of the teams. They still rotate and play all of the bases and Addy improved in all of them, pitching included! She was always walking around practicing her pitching form. All of their hard work must have really paid off because the girls won the whole tournament. The season ended with a double elimination tournament and the girls didn't lose any games! I am so proud of them and it was a great experience to be one of their coaches and I love that Addy will always remember this season. I think my favorite part of the whole season was returning to the fields to watch one of Cameron's game a couple days after Addy had won the tournament. She said to me, "I will never look at Field 2 the same again, from now on it will always be where we claimed victory and won the tournament."

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

We made it! Today was our last game of the Little League Season and BOTH Cam and Addy's teams won their tournaments and were the champions of their divisions! Addy clinched the championship last weekend and Cameron's team came from behind and won the final game today. I truly can't believe it and this made the season even more special. We all got to experience "the taste of victory" (as Addy calls it) because the whole family was either playing or coaching this season. I could not be more proud of these kids and how hard they worked and how much they improved. It really was fun watching them grow from the start of the season until now and to see how much fun they had. Congrats to the 2019 Champions, the Panthers and the Blue Jays!

Potato Chips and Little League

I have maintained this blog for almost 10 years, through 2 kids, new jobs, a new house, vacations, you name it. I don't think I've ever gone more than a week or two without a post. I love doing it because it is such a great way to document what is happening with the kids. I didn't think there was anything that would keep me from having time to do it. I was wrong. Apparently, major life events don't slow me down and won't stop the blog, but a season of Little League and a company that sells potato chips is all it took.

I'm joking, but not really. Between both kids, we had 57 baseball or softball games or practices in the past 85 days. That is an average of almost 5 games or practices a week, for 12 weeks. To say I underestimated the commitment of being a coach on Addy's team is more than an understatement. I loved being a part of the team and I am grateful that I got that experience, but it was a lot. And Brian was a coach for Cameron's team so it really was a lot. On top of this, work was the craziest it's ever been in my whole career and this not so little company that sells potato chips took up every minute of my life for 3 weeks straight. So... that is why you have not seen anything new here in a VERY. LONG. TIME.

But I'm back! The Little League season is almost over (Cam is in the championship game tomorrow and wait until you hear about Addy's team!) so there will many posts to catch up on life in the last 2 months. Stay tuned!