9u Baseball and 12u Softball

Both Cadence and Colin have grown so much over the past season - in terms of ability and confidence.  Colin blew us away with his pitching and Cadence's batting improved so much.  

Big Walnut hosted a single day tournament (Inaugural Big Walnut invitational)early on in the season.  

The girls hung out in between games.

They won 3rd place!

They had another single day tournament (Mannino's season opener) in Dublin the next day (on Cadence's birthday) - silver bracket 1st place!  Cadence also had a great catch in center field - I was so happy for her to get that catch on her birthday.  We also brought Costco chocolate chip cookies to share with her team.  We had beautiful weather all weekend.  It was perfect for some softball.

The girls played 7 games that weekend and finished 5-2!

Another weekend, another tournament!  I believe this one was in Findlay. The boys got to join us for this one.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Cadence had double-headers.  She looked so cute after the games one evening, so I had to snap a pic!  Cassady (our nanny) did a great job braiding Cadence's hair.

#21 a.k.a. C-Monster

It was another hot one - I met the family in Johnstown after work on a Friday to meet them for Colin's final tournament.  My camera on my phone didn't want to cooperate.

Warming up with Mason during an inning when they both sat out.

Victory!

The boys had 2 great games - one on Saturday and another on Sunday morning.  

Cadence and I got back from her tournament in St. Mary's and we went straight to the boys' game.  Not long after the game started, the heavens opened up.

They lost that game after the rain cleared - they played a heck of a game, though!

That same weekend, while Cadence and I were out of town, they had the end of the season party at our house.  I think they all had a great time!  Timing was tricky in planning it (with tryouts coming up) - Cadence and I were bummed to miss it.

During one of Cadence's house double-headers, she got to play first base!

The coach promised the team Dairy Queen if they won a tournament - they got pretty close 2 times, so I think he caved!

Waiting for the rain to clear so the girls could play their tournament in Dublin. There were only 9 girls - meaning no one had any breaks!

It was a LATE night and the girls ended up in 2nd place.  They really played their hearts out during those final 2 games...in the rain.  I think we pulled into the driveway at midnight 😮

We had a lot of fun the season and we got to know a lot of really nice families.  Both teams are going to look a little different next season, but I'm looking forward to more great things to come.

Here are some pictures from the last tournament the girls had in Pickerington.  The girls won 16-2 in their first game, 4-1 in their second game, and 11-10 in their third game on Saturday.  We returned to the fields on Sunday, and the girls won their first game 5-3.  Unfortunately, the girls lost their next game 0-7.  It was exciting to watch them play.  Their overall record was 33-14-1.  Impressive, huh?

Cadence is 12 Years Old!

I'm in disbelief writing this as I'm trying to figure out how our first born is 12 years old!  Cadence also had 2 well-deserved birthday celebrations this year.  We planned to celebrate her birthday with friends during the weekend of her birthday, but softball kind of got in the way and some of her friends couldn't be there because of vacations and what not.

Cadence had a one-day tournament in Dublin (Mannino's season opener) on her birthday, so we were up pretty early for that. I think we had a quick breakfast - which she was fine with, since she was so excited to receive her first phone as her birthday gift!  She had been asking for a phone for a while.  She had had her Apple Watch for over a year, so she was able to text and make phone calls.  You'd be amazed at how quickly she could scribe a text on her watch.  We knew it would be easier for her to communicate with a phone, so we did some research, she signed a contract with us, and she got her phone.  She's done a great job with it and mainly uses it to talk to her close group of friends and her softball team. She enjoys watching YouTube videos on hair, makeup, and nails.  

Cadence's team ended up 1st place in the silver bracket and she also caught a fly ball in center-field - on her BIRTHDAY.  How awesome!  I was so proud of her for catching that ball I almost cried!

I think Cadence picked KFC for her birthday dinner - like mother, like daughter!

About a month later, Cadence was able to celebrate her birthday with a few of her closest friends, Jaedyn, Claire, and Marin.  There were still a couple of girls that couldn't make it, but they had so much fun.  After the rain stopped, the girls swam for a while.  

The girls enjoyed dinner and then we sang Happy Birthday to Cadence.  They spent the evening singing to songs and making goofy videos.  Cadence said they fell asleep and then woke back up around 4:30am - I don't know if I buy it.  I'm wondering if they stayed up all night!  Cadence was happy that Colin was spending the weekend with his buddy camping, so he was out of her hair.  The girls had a really good time together.  After they all left, Cadence was already wanting to plan another sleepover.

Cadence is still such a fun kid.  She's goofy and sweet.  She's sensitive, yet tough on her brother.  She's still super picky when it comes to food and binge watches shows on Netflix.  Shopping with her is not an easy task, but she knows what she likes.  She's got a memory like a steel trap and is super creative.  I'm always impressed with how she can just whip up a bracelet or a pillow or some other kind of trinket.  Recently, she taught herself how to French braid her OWN hair by watching YouTube videos.  I was amazed, because I know it's not something I've been able to master.  We're super lucky she's ours and I have loved watching her grow up.  Here's to TWELVE!

Sports & School

Toward the end of the schoolyear, our personal calendar looks like this 😱:

It's lacrosse games on the weekends, lacrosse, baseball, and softball practice during the week, piano lessons, recitals, oh my!  It's funny - when weather cancels our plans, or we don't have anything extracurricular scheduled, we don't really know what to do with ourselves!

I don't have a picture of the boys' banner, but here's our photographer, Lisa Siders, with the boys after they had their pictures taken.

Lisa posted a picture of the girls' banner on her facebook page - don't they look like fierce models?

I've become facebook friends with the mom of one of Colin's buddies - she posted this picture of Colin and his friends on field day. 😀

This year, parents were invited to "clap out" the 6th graders since they'll be leaving the intermediate school.  Cadence told me not to embarrass her - this picture is the best I could do - this was AFTER Danny gave her a hug. 😂

 I told her I could drive her home since I was there, but she said she wanted to ride the bus - she wanted to say "have a nice summer" to her bus driver. 💗

Colin's 9 Years Old!

After the AJR concert, we dropped off Mason (he had just broken his arm and they weren't sure how he'd do spending the night), but Colin's buddy, Adrian, stayed the night.  The next morning, it was hot outside, so the boys took the first dip in the chilly pool!

Colin celebrated his birthday at Fieldhouse this year with 8 of his buddies.  He invited friends from school, basketball, baseball, and lacrosse.  The kids were non-stop for 2 hours.  I think they had a blast.

Darren & Mason both had broken bones!  

Cadence had some fun and helped keep the boys in casts entertained.

I was proud of Cadence - she made it all the way to the top!

Whoopie pies and macarons were Colin's dessert of choice this year.  I found a local baker to make the whoopie pies and the Costco macarons were delicious!  Colin got the idea from the show, Kids Baking Championship.

He was spent!

We celebrated Colin's birthday with his friends a couple of weeks before his actual birthday because of sports.  The night before his actual birthday, I had a little helper prepare the decorations. 💓

The birthday boy!  Colin got to actually spend his birthday at school this year.  He even wore his birthday ribbon to school. 😊  He's so special to us and is becoming such a big boy.  He still loves food - his new favorite is Grandma's spinach roll.  He loves to listen to music when he takes a shower.  He'd play Minecraft and Lego Marvel Super Heroes on his PlayStation all day if we'd let him, but he also likes to shoot hoops and ride around on the electric scooter by himself.  He has his best buddies at school, but also has good relationships with a few boys from lacrosse, basketball, and baseball.  He still has some maturing to do, but he's come a long way from his temper-tantrum days.  I love that he will still give me random hugs.  He loves getting his back rubbed before bed.  I'm pretty sure Scarlet is his favorite living creature.  He always wants his sister to play with him (sometimes she goes along with it).  He's super smart and creative and is always trying to make us laugh.  We're so lucky he's ours!

Danny snapped a picture while waiting for the bus!

That night, the boys had baseball practice so Cadence and I surprised Colin and the rest of his team with cupcakes.  They were yummy and we added bald eagle rings to half of them for the team!

Singing Happy Birthday

It was a great day!