The start of swim season (in the midst of baseball season)

Swim clinic started yesterday.  Swim clinic is three weeks of swim classes to get the kids ready for swim team.  The have preschool, beginner, and intermediate levels.  I put Jack in the preschool clinic even though they specifically said it isn't swim lessons and all kids should be able to swim. Let's be honest, Jack can't swim.  He can dog paddle for a few feet until he needs to take a breath.  But I was optimistic and enrolled him anyway.  He loved it, of course.  I love Jack's age...they just love everything. So, Jack's swim clinic was from 4:00-4:45, Ellie's was from 5:15-6:00, and then Jack had a t-ball game at 6:30. Luckily for me, everything was at the same location and we had lots of friends also participating in the clinic so we just set up camp on a picnic blanket and enjoyed the evening.

Elmo on the iPad...my saving grace

I guess the sun was too bright for Sam

Tom finished up with track practice and met us at the pool just in time to take Jack to his t-ball game and I took Sam and Ellie home for baths and bed.  Tom gets a little frustrated watching Jack play t-ball because he kind of just stands around doing nothing and ignoring all instruction. I kept getting texts describing all the happenings (or nonhappenings) and the last text said, "I'm not going to any more games."  I was like, "Heck yeah, I'll do the games and you do baths/bedtimes!"  When they got home, I asked Jack how his game went and his enthusiastic reply was, "GREAT!"

In other news, Sam's 2nd birthday is tomorrow!  Tom has track meets for the next 4 days. Basically tonight is the last night the kids will see him until Sunday since he leaves for school before they wake up and track meets last until after they are in bed. So...we are having our little family party for Sam tonight. He doesn't know when his birthday is anyway. Actually, he doesn't even know what a birthday IS so we are all good.

Weekend recap with a million zoo pics

Here are the pictures my dad sent me of his campout with Jack.  They were delayed getting there because of an accident on the highway so they had to take their hike in the dark.  Jack normally is in bed by 7:00 and he stayed up until midnight.  Needless to say, he was in heaven. My dad? Probably not so much.

Hiking in the dark

He shared this tent with his grandpa, two uncles, and three cousins

My dad woke up early Saturday to get Jack back to me in time to go to the zoo.  I really wanted to get there in time for the animal encounter, but the encounter turned out to just be an armadillo, snake, and iguana.  Ellie and Jack still loved being able to touch them. I was too busy chasing Sam around, but my friend, Amanda, came with us and acted as photographer. Good thing, because these are the only pictures I took:

My little monkeys

It may not look like it, but Sam LOVED the Easter Bunny!

The kids really loved the zoo. Sam was a huge pain in the butt, though, because he didn't want to be in his stroller when Ellie and Jack were free. So, I would let him out and he would just take off--not caring about staying near us at all.  The kid is stressful.  I am so glad I decided not to take him on the cruise with us.  Oh, I haven't even blogged about that yet. OK, so my dad is paying for the entire family to go on a 7 day Caribbean cruise right when school gets out for our family reunion.  After doing some research, I realized that the ship isn't really that friendly for the under 3 crowd.  The toddlers can't even go in the pool or the kid-zone. And with Sam's resistance to strollers and his proclivity for escaping, I just felt like the cruise would be really stressful with him along.  Not to mention that he would really limit what shore excursions we could do. Ms. Donika said she would watch him for the week, but I have never left any of my kids for more than 3 nights.  I was seriously conflicted, but after polling (and annoying) everyone I know, I decided leaving him with his beloved "Geeka" was for the best.  I am now really looking forward to the cruise! And after Sam's 40+ minute tantrum yesterday, I am REALLY not regretting my decision.  I really love Sam, but the boy is STUBBORN...I have no idea where he gets it from. Probably Tom.

And now for a million zoo pictures, courtesy of Amanda.

I don't need to go to the zoo to see monkeys

Everyone helps wrangle Sam

Apparently, armadillos are carriers of leprosy. We used a lot of hand-sanitizer after this.

I love Jack's face in all of these pictures

And I love Ellie's face...trying not to show how much she is loving it.

Ewwww...sssssnake!

Softball and Harry Potter

Ellie's game last night went really well!  Sure, they lost 22-0 and Ellie struck out the only time she was at bat, but I was so impressed with how focused she was on the game.  It was fun watching her.  Especially since I didn't have to deal with the boys...best $20 I ever spent.  I am considering hiring a babysitter again for next Thursday's game.  I don't know if I will be able to get the same one because I think two hours chasing Jack and Sam around the playground/ball fields wore her out.

Ellie and Jack are both missing their games this weekend.  I am like the parents that Tom hates on his team...letting my kids miss so we can go have fun. But my dad is taking Jack on the father/son campout through my church.  He took Jack that year and Jack has not stopped talking about it since.  Then, on Saturday, we got passes to the zoo.  Not just any passes, these passes come with an animal encounter, free lunch, an pictures with the Easter Bunny.  I gave Ellie the choice between her game and the zoo. Of course my animal-lover picked the zoo.  I just wish Tom didn't have a meet and could join us!

This morning, Ellie came downstairs dressed like Harry Potter. After I stopped laughing, I asked her why she was dressed like that. She informed me that it is Dress Like a Movie Star today at school (their school is the All-Stars). She chose to dress like Harry Potter because "he is in movies so he is a star." I decided not to discuss the distinction between celebrities and characters because I love Harry Potter as much as she does.

Feeling old and cheap

Ellie has her first softball game tonight.  I am actually really excited to watch it because Ellie has been taking this whole softball thing very seriously. I know.  Nobody is more surprised than me.  Anyway, Tom has a meet and I know I will not get to watch with Sam and Jack in tow, so I am hiring a babysitter to come to the softball fields with us and play with the boys on the nearby playground.  This is a milestone moment, y'all, because I have never had anyone babysit my kids who is not related to them. Also, babysitting is dang expensive these days.  The going rate is $10/hour.  So tonight's little game is going to set me back a cool $20. Back when I used to babysit, in this exact same neighborhood, I only got paid $3/hour.  Talk about inflation.

Jack's Adventures in T-Ball

Jack finally had his first t-ball game yesterday.  He was so excited for it!  He really loves wearing his uniform. Jack started as the catcher. He walked out there and then turned around and told me he needed to use the bathroom.  Of course he did.  Because Jack is notorious for waiting until the very last minute to use the restroom, I made sure he went before we left for the field, but I think the excitement of it all activated his bladder.  Tom took him and Jack missed the team huddle and the first couple minutes of the game.  He didn't quite make it to the port-a-potty in time so he returned with a damp spot in front of his pants. The game was already in process so poor Jack had no instruction where to stand.  He just stood a ways behind the plate and kept looking to us for instruction. No matter how many times Tom told him to go to the plate after each hit, he just couldn't seem to grasp the concept. He was already out of sorts about the bathroom incident so this just further frustrated him and he was pulling all sorts of angry faces and his eyes were welling with tears.  Not a good start.

 When it was his turn at bat, he positioned himself directly BEHIND the tee. Like he was going to hit the ball into the dugout. I swear, it was like the boy had never been to a single practice. The coach had to physically reposition him.

Next they placed him in the outfield behind first base and no balls went his way.  I say luckily because he spent the whole time taking his hat on and off.  His next turn at bat went much smoother, but then he was placed at 3rd base.  The coaches kept telling him to "be ready" so he would hunch down with his glove on the ground and hold that position. But he wanted to make it very clear that it was hurting his back so he held his back with his other hand, all the while grunting and groaning like and old man.

Anyone watching would think he had a miserable experience, but when asked about the game, he enthusiastically said, "It was great!" I asked him what was his favorite part and he said, "All of it!"  So...there you go. If he's happy, I'm happy.