Batter Up

It's that time of year again. Time for batting and fielding practice. Time for blankets in the shade with the little ones. Picnic dinners and peanuts and cracker jack. This year, though, Dad gets to be part-time coach. What a treat at the old ball game!

Water Balloon Fight

We love visiting with Nana and Grandpa, because Nana is always full of fun ideas for special things to do. (I get tons of fun ideas, but let's be honest: only rarely do they see the light of day) This one was definitely a big hit with the crowd! For some reason, though, they seemed to be more hesitant to catch the water balloon than a baseball. (yes, Braden is cringing) Even before they got splashed with one! Still, it's a good day that includes water balloons. My mind is fast-forwarding about four years and imagining the havoc they will be wreaking when they can make some without help.

Desert Gardens

I know, I know. Where have I been? Well, who knows, really. I have tons of excuses- though not many good ones. So I'll just skip it. One thing I've been doing, though, it playing hostess to some wonderful visitors- my parents! While we were in Phoenix we spent the morning at the Desert Botanical Garden. Sound like an oxymoron? Well, maybe not. We saw some amazing cactus, tons of wildflowers in bloom, very cool sculptures and birds galore. It's definitely a must-see if you're ever in the area, and also a great kick-off to our time together.

Walking on the Bottom

This is by far the most exciting thing that we've done all week. (I know, it's sad.) For the kids, though, it certainly was a novelty. We've been at home a lot- so it's been nice to have something interesting happening in our own backyard. Literally. I'm trying to make some headway on a couple of projects and generally getting ready for house guests next week. Meanwhile, the kids have been checking the progress of the garden hose at refilling this. Yup. It's been a good diversion.