Lexington Legends vs. Lake County Captains

Our neighbor's name is Lee. I'd called the woman Lynn for the first year I knew her. Finally came to the realization that her name was Lee when she dropped off her business card one day so I would have her email address. I'm sure she did that because I'd been calling her Lynn for so long that she had no idea how to correct me at that point. Now I call her Lee. And neither of us has spoken of it.

Anyway, I ran into Lee in front of her house while out on a walk with the kids one day a couple of months ago and she asked if we'd be interested in using her company's season tickets for a Legends game sometime this summer. Long story short...the game was this past Saturday.


We were excited to arrive at Applebee's Park and find out that the Legends were playing the Lake County Captains that night (no, I never read the tickets, so I had no clue who they were playing), hailing straight from Northeast Ohio (Cleveland Indians farm team). I told Kris that it was like our two worlds colliding for one evening. He looked at me like I was insane.


We didn't tell the kids where we were going, so they were thrilled with the surprise when they finally realized it was a baseball game as we made our way to the awesome, third row seats. It was a pretty exciting night for them...first baseball game, first cotton candy (Grace was not the biggest fan), first time seeing the Cincinnati Bengals dancers live (it was NFL night), Kris' first flash of fear that Grace may become a stripper later in life since she was enthralled with the (barely dressed) Cincinnati Bengals dancers, our epiphany that (holy crap) ballparks could be deadly for Sam as the kind (drunk) man behind us thought it would be nice to offer the kid peanuts.

It was a fun evening, but by the 7th inning, we were all pooped, so we headed home. On the way out, we snapped this shot:

Although, "snapped this shot" sounds way more carefree than it was. In actuality, we told the munchkins to stand in front of the apple/baseball and instead of standing, they decided to run around the around the apple while Kris and I took turns chasing them and I silently panicked that someone would snatch them away while they were on the other side of the apple from me...you know...because the crowd was thick around us and all (note the background of the picture...not a soul in sight). And then, all of a sudden, they stopped and put their arms around each other and smiled. And with cat-like reflexes, I got the shot! Then passed out on the sidewalk in shock that they would stand so nicely and had to be carried to the car.

Great night, though. Thanks, Lynn...ahem...I mean...Lee!

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Correction: Just remembered that this wasn't Sam's first baseball game! We took him to a Cleveland Indians game when he was around 4 months old. He had a blast :)

conditional love

Grace: "I love you, Mommy."

Me: "I love you, too, baby."

Grace: "Can I give the dog a bone, now?"

Me: "Is that the only reason you told me you loved me?"

Grace: "Yeah..."

duck, duck...

The kids' sitter has been taking them to feed the ducks at a local park periodically throughout the summer. Sam and Grace LOVE doing it so Kris and I decided to take them on a Saturday so we could find out what all the hype was about.


They were right...it was fun! There are a gazillion ducks at this park and as soon as anyone steps on the bridge with bread in their hands, they flock from all over the park. There were even some teeny tiny babies, but they were darting around too fast to catch them in a pic.


While it was fun, I'm trying to curb going too frequently...the family bread budget never took ducks into account :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

I finally got a "do whatever you want to do" out of Kris on the puppy front last week. And my friend, Erin, assured me that this means "yes" in man language. So, on my Friday off, she tagged along with me and the kids and we searched for our newest family member. We found her in the puppy room at the Humane Society and she had just had surgery that morning, so we weren't allowed to take her out and play with her. But, I knew from how sweet she was through the pen, that she could very well be the right dog for us. So, we put a hold on her so we could go back on Saturday.

On Saturday, with Kris, now, instead of Erin, we went back to visit our soon-to-be puppy dog. She was actually in the play area with another couple when we got there, so I awkwardly had to go out and tell them that we were the family who had her on hold so...well...back off! We played for a little while with her and it quickly became apparent that she was going to be awesome with the kids...they threw the ball for her and each time, she returned to them with it, dropped it in front of them and laid down and waited for them to throw it again.


The rest is history...we've had her home for two days and she is the perfect fit. At least in our eyes...Gordon is still in therapy trying to deal with the transition. He'll get there at some point. I'm hoping sooner rather than later!


Saturday night, after we brought her home, Kris asked if this counted as my birthday present and I let him know that he was totally off the hook! I'd been sniveling and whining for his agreement for eight years, so, YES!, this totally counts for my birthday present.


My birthday is still two days away, but my present came early so I've started the celebration early. Yes, I said celebration. I've accepted 30. And this little gal makes accepting it that much sweeter.


Welcome to the family, Molly!

and, the wrap up...

The five days in Michigan with ALL of Mom and Dad's kids and grandkids home was so much fun. Here are the last of the pics that I wanted to share that didn't seem to fit into any of the other posts.

Ummm...I mean, the 4th

Okay, so I screwed up my last two posts. Thankfully, my sis set me straight. All 4th of July festivities were celebrated on Saturday, the FOURTH of July, 2009! And, on to the fireworks...

After the baptism party, we got everyone changed into their long pants, long-sleeved shirts and jackets (it's Michigan...COLD at night...even in the summer!). We drove up to Port Hope for fireworks...an annual tradition in our family. Marv always mows a little bit of the field next to the old farmhouse where he grew up so that we can gather (on the eve of his birthday!) and have our own private party, and a great view of the show. This was the first year without Diane, which was difficult, at first, but turned out to be a great evening of celebration while we all shared memories of the numerous times that many of us had stayed at Marv and Diane's home. It was a great night, and, I think, just what Marv needed on his first birthday weekend without Diane.

Notice the spit up on Mom's shoulder...job hazard...goes along with the "Grandma" title.

The kids were in love with the setting for the fireworks...another green space for them to run and play. Sam barely cried this year (as opposed to the disaster that was last year's show) and actually seemed to enjoy them a little. Caleb had his first few sips of pop, which led to much entertainment for the adults as the caffeine kicked in! I have no idea whether Owen enjoyed the actual fireworks because that kid never stops moving! Grace snuggled up with Aunt Julie and enjoyed the whole show.

Sam and Garrett. Bless Garrett...Sam follows him around like a puppy. At the fireworks, Sam kept asking him, "Will you look after me?" As if he was neglected by his parents or something! I would actually pay Garrett to come down and go to church with us every week, though! At the baptism mass, Sam wanted to go sit by him, and the kid sat like an angel for the whole service!

Graham

After Caleb's first experience with pop...Nate had to finally contain him for a few minutes! :)

After the display was over and we were all around the campfire sharing stories, Kris overheard Grace and Caleb, who had gone outside the circle to sit in a couple of lawn chairs that were still set up facing where the fireworks had lit up the sky just a few minutes earlier. He came and got me and we eavesdropped...it was so cute to listen to the cousins chat! Grace said, "Let's talk about our swimming lessons." And they proceeded to tell each other about blowing bubbles in the water and kicking their feet and so on. Precious.


Thanks, Marv, for a great evening!

Max's baptism

Somehow we managed to also squeeze my newest nephew's baptism into our crazy few days up north. Between the parade and fireworks, on the 3rd, we all got dressed up, went to church, witnessed the baptism and returned to my parents for a yummy dinner in celebration of the event with members of Gavin's family.


During the party, the kids managed to get the golf balls from the yard game stuck in the tree. My cousins, Jarred and Garrett, attempted to retrieve them, but wound up just getting heckled in the process without actually getting their hands on the game piece. Kris is upset that I stopped filming the recovery of them right before he, himself, walked over, jumped up and got them down.



After that ordeal, and several occurrences of the little ones bonking themselves in the head with them, the game was put away. Next up, fireworks!

everyone loves a parade

I have to say that I'm a little impressed with myself that I'm getting the actual 4th of July festivities posts in under two weeks beyond the actual holiday.

On the 3rd of July, the WHOLE family caravaned to Port Austin for the annual parade there. (When we were kids, we always did the Port Hope parade, but it's a little hard to hit now since it is always held on Sunday and everyone lives so far away that we are all on the road before it even starts.) Port Austin is great, too, though. Lots of people, candy, beads and excitement. The four oldest cousins worked hard on perfecting their candy-getting skills. Half-way through the parade, to get the candy-throwers attention, Sam even started yelling, "HEY! OVER HERE!!"



They all came home with a pretty hefty bag of candy. A few pics of everyone enjoying the parade (and no real pics of anything we saw in the parade!):

60 years

Two of the fun celebrations we took part in while in Michigan centered around the number 60.

On Thursday night, we (the adults...got sitters for the little ones) headed out to a surprise 60th anniversary dinner for my grandparents.

the guests of honor

Technically, they don't hit 60 years until August 20, but we figured why not kick off the celebration early. My grandma is all about extending holidays, so she didn't mind one bit. It was so nice to be able to celebrate while both of their kids and most of their grandkids were home and able to be present at the dinner. They were completely surprised when they walked into the restaurant and saw all the friends and family sitting at the table waiting for them.

Some of the attendees...If you're wondering about the matching shirts, it's because we had family photos taken just before heading out to dinner and we had color-coded the families. Click here to see some of the shots. Kris and I boycotted matching beyond the shoot :)
As a fun gift for Grandma and Grandpa, we put together a Lotto ticket tree. Dad cut the end of a small branch off one of his trees and made a little stand for it. I tied all the tickets on and we agreed that it looked cute. As I was carrying it into the restaurant, though, I had one guy in the parking lot say, "Hey! Nice tomato plant!" and another guy inside say, "Look! It's Charlie Brown's Christmas tree!" Whatever...at least they had some winning tickets off of it :) I'm not bitter, but I'm also not posting a close-up of the tree :)

The other 60 celebration that we attended was a surprise 60th birthday party for our good family friend, Dan, who just so happens to have also become my younger sister's father-in-law in recent years. The party was at Dan and Sue's farm where Sue continues to raise a plethora of furry babies even after her own babies have grown up. It's so much fun to visit and see the mini horses, donkey, goats, cats and dogs...makes me dream of having a barn of my own!

The kids were thrilled to find two baby goats upon first inspection of the barn. After watching Sue and Dan's oldest grandson easily pick up the babies, Sam decided he should give it a try and showed up next to me saying, "Look at me, Mom! Look what I caught!"


The younger kids needed a little more help, so they were handed the goats so they could have a turn.


Grace also made great friends with Lydia, the dog. See? This kid needs a dog!

All of the kids spent most of time at the party running in the orchard, mainly because they are all city kids, and they were all amazed at the amount of green space to play in at both my parents' house and at the farm. A little while before we were going to leave, though, Sam stumbled upon a mountain of dirt that Dan had put out for his grandsons to get good and dirty in.


Needless to say, Sam spent the rest of the time at the farm right there. Once the rest of the kids spotted him there, they flocked to it, too. Not that it wasn't a hit already, but once Papa started tossing money into it for them to "find" they were so excited, they didn't know what to do with themselves!

Prying them away that evening proved to be a chore. They were all stripped down to their undies on the side of the road before entering the car and they all were marched straight to the shower when we arrived back at Mom and Dad's. And they all went out like lights as soon as they went to bed. Hmmmm, I may need to start my search for a farm around here where I could take them to explore on a regular basis...may solve my bedtime issues with Grace...

More to come on the trip, soon...yes, there are still many events to post on!