Our First Trip to the Bowling Alley

Ok so I was reminded that this wasn't the kids first time to go bowling.  They went with Gram and their cousins so I guess this was really my first trip to the bowling alley with the kids!  You're probably thinking that it's odd that we had never been.  Well here's the thing...there are 2 bowling alleys near our house.  Both quite suspect and I wasn't ready to drive 20 miles to a nice one.  But our summer of fun is almost over and I really wanted to take the kids so we tried the one closest to home.  We recently got a Wii (yes I'm sure we're the last family to own one) and the kids have had fun with the bowling game.  So they were very excited when I said that we were going bowling outside of our house!!

We get to the place and I'm a bit nervous.  I prepared myself for the smoke smell and the minute we walked in the door Matt said, "man it stinks in here" loud enough for everyone at MaxBowl to hear us.  We walk up to the man behind the counter and he sneezes everywhere...I mean really...could you at least cover your nose a bit?  He proceeds to hand us our shoes which I was excited about (the shoes were my favorite when I was a kid) until I saw them and couldn't stop thinking of how many stinky feet had worn them.  And you guys know I hate feet (except my children's and all babies under 3 months).  Then we got our balls and I could only imagine the dirty fingers that had been inside those holes!!  I had to take a deep breath.  I couldn't help but think that my sweet friend Sandra, who is always right, would tell me that I'm not crazy for all these thoughts.  Then we started bowling!

The kids had a blast!  Marlie tried to do it by herself but the ball would roll so slow that we'd have to wait a full 2 minutes (not kidding) for it to make it down the lane.  Once it actually stopped.  So she let me help her and together we managed the only strike of the day!  Matt was definitely into it.  At one point Marlie and I got tired and he was bowling for us too.  He got 4 spares, but not a strike.  And he was not happy that we did not play more until he got a strike. 

We had fun and we will definitely try it again when Dad can come with us.  I will just have to remember to bring a large, Costco size hand-sanitizer with us.  I actually did look there for hand-sanitizer and then after about 5 seconds had to laugh at myself for thinking I'd find that in the bowling alley!! 

Let's Go Astros

We had so much fun yesterday at the Astros game.  Uncle Jay got us all tickets and Grandpa, Nene, Coach Joel and Caden all joined the party.  We started our fun day with a quick bite to eat at Christian's Tailgate which has great burgers.  Oh it was so good.  Then it was off to the game early so the boys could get close to the field and watch the players warm up.  The big treat of the night was that they got to meet the starting catcher for the Brewers, Jonathan Lucroy.  My brother coached him at University of Louisiana - Lafayette and he recently got called to the big leagues.  What a dream come true for him. 

You can see that all 3 boys were very excited...

And we got some great pics of the Dads too...

Thanks Uncle Jay for taking us to meet a "real" baseball player!!

When the game started I told Matt he had to cheer for the Astros.  He said he was going to cheer for the "other" team.  I was thinking maybe he thought the "Brewers" was just the coolest team name (I mean really isn't it?) or because that is Grandpa's team (he's from just outside of Milwaukee) but when I asked him why he said, "because I met one of them".  So we did cheer some for the Brewers. 

Cute moments of the day...

• On the ride downtown Matt and Caden were sitting in the back.  They had such a funny conversation, but I thought it was cute when Caden told Matt he was going to call him "brother".  Matt replied that he was not his brother and Caden said, "well you are my friend but I'm going to call you brother."  Matt just smiled. 
• At the beginning of the game they were throwing Astros balls to the fans.  Man ran down with Grandpa but they were too late.  Not long after Junction Jack (the Astros mascot..a rabbit??) was on the field throwing balls and Matt ran down to the front.  He did catch a ball and later gave it to Caden.  There was some convincing on that one, but we reminded Matt he had one at home so it would be nice if Caden had one too. 
• It was late when we were finally headed home and I asked the kids what their favorite part of the day was.  The boys initial responses were about snow cones and cotton candy.  Marlie said her favorite part was pretending to hit the ball when the pitcher threw it.  She would stand there in the aisle ready for the pitch and then swing. Each time she said she hit a home run!!  Funny that she was the one who came up with something actually related to the game.  But the boys later changed their minds.  Caden said it was when Matt gave him the ball and Matt said he was happy that the Brewers had zero runs. 

I was so excited to get the pic of the boys with Lucroy that I forget to get my camera out the rest of the game.  Darn.  Thank you Uncle Jay for taking us all to the game.  We had so much fun with everyone there!

Marlie Lou Retton and Matt Conner

We are also doing gymnastics this summer.  Because Marlie is 3 and Matt is still 4 they are in the same preschool class.  I think Matt is ready for bigger and better but it's nice that I can watch both of them at the same time.  They stick together like glue.  Well it's mostly Marlie that follows Matt's every move.  Both kids are doing really well.  Since Matt takes a little gymnastics class at school he's a bit ahead of the group...well and he's probably the oldest.  Marlie is catching on and this time around is having much more fun than a year ago when we attempted this.  I love their excitement when they master a skill or do something they are afraid of. 

...still trying to figure out how to take pictures through the glass!

As you can see in the next 2 pics, Marlie would not leave Matt alone!!  She was in a funny mood. Poor Matt was getting harassed like crazy and tried to keep a smile on his face.  Luckily the teachers finally split them up when they went to start their gymnastics.

They did great this day.  Matt has been a bit hesitant since his injury but is starting to come around.  They walked on the beam backwards, did back bends on the roly poly and practiced handstands which they do great because Momma practices this with them at home too!

Their favorite is the trampoline.  I like this one of Marlie.  The mirror makes it look like there are 2 Marlies!  I don't think I could handle 2 Marlies.  I could handle twice the kisses, twice the random "I love you Momma" that I hear during the day, but not twice the tears or drama! 

I'm really glad they got to do this together this summer.  Not sure if we'll continue in the Fall.  Mom will definitely have to go back to work to pay for all these activities!  Man...but I LOVE watching them grow!

Getting our Ducks in a Row

We have spent the summer getting our ducks in a row.  Seems every day we have an activity or doctors appt or errand to run.  But we have been sure to also take time to do fun lazy things.  All these years I have been throwing the butt ends of bread away and now I find myself stashing it so I can take the kids to feed the ducks! 

They love it and Matt tries so hard to make sure each one gets some food.  The first day we realized that there are lots of turtles in the pond too so we feed those too.  Marlie mostly follows her brothers lead. 

Lucky ducks!  The kids I mean.  To be having such a fun summer!!!  :)

The Greatest Show on Earth

We have been wanting to take the kids to the circus and decided we would wait until this year so Marlie could appreciate it all.  I'm not sure why we paid lots of money to go to the circus when we have our own circus here at home, but the kids did have fun. 

Matt was in awe most of the time and after the first act, Marlie just danced in the aisle like she was drunk off the $15 lemonde she was drinking!!  Meantime...my hair continued to turn more gray as I watched the crazy stunts. 

I now appreciate the beauty of Ringling Brothers tagging their show as "The Greatest Show on Earth".  Matt kept saying it was "the greatest show on earth" but after seeing Wicked the other week, I'm not sure it really was.  But I have to give their marketing team an A+ especially because that slogan was created so long ago.  Another thing the kids keep saying is "don't try this at home".  Luckily no one has tried any of the stunts in the living room so maybe that worked too. 

Here are some pics from the pre-show festivities.  Thanks Dad for taking us to the circus!

Baseball Camp

As most of you know my brother works here in Houston at Baseball USA.  So we were talking the other day and he said that I could bring Matt to the hitting camp on Tues.  Matt is too young to participate in the camp but Coach/Uncle Jay was leading the camp so we thought we'd give it a shot.  When I told Matt about it he was so excited.  I can't tell you how much this child loves to play baseball.  He ran to pick out his baseball clothes and pack his bag with just the right baseball gear. 

On the drive over I explained that he would be the youngest and had to listen carefully, say yes sir to his coaches and pay attention at all times.  The camp started Monday so he was already a day behind, plus about 2 years younger than the youngest kid out there.  I told him if he did good we could come back on Wed.  Well...Matt was a baseball camp soldier.  He was so focused and tried SO hard.  He was a completely different kid than I have had in my presence 24/7 for the past 2 months.  I couldn't believe this was the same kid that has been driving me crazy at home because bless his heart, he can't still for a second.  Baseball camp Matt stood still, ran to be first in line, ran into and out of the batting cages when it was his turn as if his life depended on him getting into the batters box in a matter of seconds.  When the coaches shouted "ball pick up" he ran into the cage, tore his helmet off and started collecting as many balls as possible and put them in his helmet (something he learned from intently watching the others).  I could not have been more proud. 

I love sports and am so excited for these moments that I can share with Matt.  What I am not ready for is the disappointment that sports can bring too.  Matt did pretty well compared to the other kids considering the age difference.  But on the first day one of the coaches was pitching to him and it was a little faster than he's used to.  He missed every single ball.  The look of disappointment on his face as he walked out of the cage was heart breaking.  I was so proud that he did not 1) cry, 2) get frustrated or 3) want to quit.  He sat right back down and watched even more intently.  The next time he got in the cage he tried even harder and managed to hit about 50% of the pitches.  I was so proud of him. 

Matt was so serious the entire day that I stopped to ask him if he was having fun.  He looked so nervous.  He said yes and quietly asked, "Mom can we please come tomorrow?"...so I said of course!  That night he came home and practiced.  When Dad came home he told him about camp and said, "Dad if I ask Mom to take me to camp on Saturday can you come watch me since you don't have to work?".  So cute!  So Dad made time to come watch on Wed. 

When we said our thank you prayers that night and Matt said, "thank you God for letting me go to baseball camp even though I'm not 6" and "thank you God for helping me to listen to my coaches".  I had the best day with him that day.  It was the same feeling I had taking Marlie to ballet for the first time.  It was awesome! 

It's the morning of Day 2 and I told Matt that he had 2 strikes...one more strike and no baseball camp (of course I'm praying at this point that we don't do something bad enough to force me to call strike 3 because I know how bad he wants to go back to camp).  All of a sudden Marlie starts crying, "I want to go to baseball camp!"  Miss Marlie was so good each day and worked on her batting stance too!

Thank you to Uncle Jay for letting us come to camp.  You have no idea how much that meant to Matt.  He is already asking when he can go back.  And thank you to Coach Flowers and Coach Gerald for being so kind and patient. 

My SoccerTot

Marlie has also been busy this summer learning to play soccer!  Dad wants her to play next year and since she cries when someone else kicks the ball and then picks it up and runs away... I thought we should ease into this sport!! 

So yesterday was our last day at SoccerTots.  We had class with Ashdin and Addison and had lots of fun.  There was a huge improvement from day 1 where Marlie cried pretty much the entire time to the last day where she was a rock star.  It's not really all about soccer, but about agility and balance and following instructions.  Here are Marlie and Ashdin having a great time...

This was a great idea to get the kids interested in soccer.  Hopefully we can play next Spring!