Day 120 (4/30/11) - First Tee Ball Game

This morning Ryan had his first tee ball game of the season.  They played the Yankees and the game ended in a tie, as will all of his tee ball games!  A game consists of 3 innings.  Each player gets a chance to bat each inning.  There is no 3 strike rule; the player swings until he hits the ball.  If the ball doesn't travel very far from the tee, it's considered a foul ball and the player can re-hit it.  The players are only allowed to run one base at a time.  The last batter hits a "home run," meaning he rounds all the bases and the players already on a base run home.

During each of his three times at bat, Ryan's first swing was a practice swing.  But each time, by the second swing, he would connect solidly with the ball for a decent hit.  Then he'd pause momentarily before running to first base, almost as though he was surprised that he actually hit the ball!

His favorite part of the game is when he gets to run from third base to home plate.  He's clearly excited and proud to score a run for his team!  For effect, his coach, who stands behind home plate to help the batters, yells "safe" when the kids cross the base!

The brief video clip below shows Ryan scoring his first run!

In terms of fielding, the players rotate to different positions for each inning.  Also, in this league, the players are generally encouraged to focus on one main play and that's to throw the ball to first base after each hit.  Ryan takes fielding very seriously.  In fact, he's one of the few players on his team who maintains the "ready position" during the entire inning.  Ryan chased nearly every ball, regardless of where it was hit and what position he was assigned to play!  He was so intent on making the play that at times he would jockey with his own teammates for the ball! 

To emphasize the importance of good sportsmanship, after the game, the players shake hands with the opposing team. 

Daddy and Gavin brave the early hour (had to be there by 8:30 am) and cold temperatures (mid-50s) to cheer for their favorite A's player!

Day 119 (4/29/11) - Farm Fieldtrip

This morning Ryan's preschool class visited a local farm where they learned about seeds and planted a potted vegetable garden.  Ryan's flower pot contains a tomato plant as well as pumpkin, lima bean, string bean, and sweet corn seeds.  The children were instructed to water their vegetable plants daily and to transplant them within the next couple of weeks.  I'm secretly hoping the pumpkin plant does not survive because apparently they are pretty hardy and can grow as long as 30 feet!  My luck, all the other plants will die and the pumpkin plant will flourish!  Although Farmer Ryan is excited about growing vegetables, I doubt he'll eat any of his home-grown produce!

After planting vegetable pots, Ryan and his friends Nick and Josh chased each other through a hay maze, went for a pony ride, and toured the cages of farm animals.  Their favorites were the peacock and the baby goats that were born just a few days earlier.

Day 118 (4/28/11) - Mr. Mom

I try to rarely let the boys see me suffer.  But today flu-like symptoms struck suddenly and with such severity that I just writhed on the floor in agony.  Thankfully, Mike had a short training day at work and was able to come home mid-afternoon.  He took one look at me and sent me to bed.  I didn't put up any resistance, which shows how sick I must have been since I almost never lay down or nap during the day.  My only request was that he take a picture of the day for me to post once I had recovered.  He took them to Five Guys for dinner, then to a local playground.  When they got home later that night, I was feeling a little better and joined them for snow cones.  Gavin insisted on eating his without help, and, while I appreciate his growing independence, the table and chair are still stained red from the strawberry snow cone juice! 

Day 117 (4/27/11) - Gavin's Two Cents

As we were waiting in line to pick Ryan up from preschool, we jokingly asked Gavin how he felt about us having a third child.  He responded by blowing a raspberry at us (i.e., the noise made by sticking his tongue out and blowing), I suppose to show his apparent opposition.  Naturally, our amused reaction encouraged him to continue doing it until slobber dripped off his chin!

(I emphasized "jokingly" so no one would misinterpret this to mean we're considering having another baby anytime soon!  We've got our hands full right now!) 

Day 116 (4/26/11) - Cooling Off

Ryan, Gavin, and Kamdyn find a cool, shady spot under the deck to enjoy their super hero popsicles.  I can hardly imagine the fun these boys are going to have once school is out and they have all day to play!  These boys play hard; the warm weather doesn't seem to slow them down.  I guess that means I'll have to keep the freezer stocked with popsicles and the pantry stocked with water bottles and juice boxes! 

Day 115 (4/25/11) - Daddy's Helpers

Since the weather finally cooperated on a day that Mike had off from work, he decided to tackle a few of his outdoor projects.  He sanded and primed the trim around the front door and spray painted my peeling flower pots.  The boys offered to help with the flower pot project.  They used the paint brush and sponge roller that came with the sidewalk paint set that Gavin got for Easter to paint the front planters.  Hopefully they'll have the same interest in helping when it's time to plant flowers in those pots!

They are so stinkin' cute we had to dress them in matching "No Autographs" shirts to ward off the throngs of fans.

Day 114 (4/24/11) - Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day, both in terms of its spiritual significance and the weather.  The boys and I started the day by attending the 9 am service at church.  They were both really well behaved and seemed to enjoy all the praise songs that we sung during the service.  The people in the pews surrounding us were quite entertained watching the boys clap and sway to the music.  They looked so handsome; I wanted to get a picture of them before they changed their clothes.  But I couldn't get both of them to look at the camera at the same time!  It was warm, sunny, and they were distracted by thoughts of candy, egg hunts, and playtime!   

We went to my aunt and uncle's house in Crownsville for an Easter egg hunt and luncheon.  Nana and Pop Pop, Uncle Scott and Aunt Kelsea, Great Granny, and my cousin's family met us there.  The kids had a great time playing together and searching for nearly 100 eggs!  The day brought back fond memories of Easter Sundays at my Mommom and Granddad's house,which was the one time each year when the entire family would get together to celebrate.   

   

Day 113 (4/23/11) - An Early Easter

Since Mike had a last-minute schedule change and had to work Easter Sunday, we decided to hold our secular celebration a day early.  Thankfully, the Easter Bunny had finished his preparations a little earlier than usual and agreed to visit our house on Friday night while Ryan and Gavin were sleeping.  The Easter Bunny must have stayed up extra late because he filled the boys' baskets, stuffed and hid 58 plastic eggs, and hid 13 hard-boiled eggs.  It must have been raining when he arrived because he left little bunny prints all over the house.  The next morning the boys were able to follow the trail of bunny prints to find their hidden baskets.  He also hung empty felt bunny baskets on the front door knob to let the boys know he had been there.

The next morning, the boys raced downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny had left them and to search for all the hidden eggs.  Ryan was excited to discover Transformers and Magic Treehouse books in his basket.  Gavin was surprised to find Elmo books, an "air go" (*airplane*) toy, and a sidewalk paint set.

Since the boys proved themselves to be expert egg finders, the Easter Bunny appointed them bunnies-in-training and left them bunny masks to commemorate their new roles.  Later, Gavin measures his foot against the bunny prints and realizes he has a lot of work to do before he can follow in the Easter Bunny's footsteps.

After their afternoon naps, we finally let the boys open the Easter presents their grandparents had sent.  The packages had arrived several days prior and the boys begged us incessantly to let them to open the boxes.  As we've found on previous occasions, the boys (especially Gavin) find the boxes as much fun as the gifts inside!  Between the Easter Bunny and the grandparents, we collected enough candy to rot the teeth of everyone living in a small nation!  (And, just in time for the start of bathing suit weather....)

After a long, fun-filled day, we all headed to bed early so we'd be well rested for another day of celebration!