World Series and a Celebration!

Bennett and the 10U Team Illini played in the World Series baseball tournament in Chesterfield this week.  It runs Sunday-Friday and most of the games are played earlier in the day so the teams that travel here from around the country can enjoy all of the fun things the Lou has to offer(Cardinals game, City Museum, Zoo, etc).  Ben played six games this week and today's was the only one I attended.  Cate and I stayed back each day and took Carter and Brady to swim, soccer, and whatever activity they had planned, so Scott went with Ben.  This is a really cool tournament because so many teams are from out of state and it's fun for the boys to get to play new competition rather than the same old teams they usually face in our local games.  Another fun bonus is that some pro baseball players kids play and because this tournament falls during the All-Star break, the "big guys" are often in attendance at these games...such as, Albe.rt Pu.jols (his son plays), Ryan Ho.ward (his nephew plays) and the Cards coach Mike Math.eny (son plays).  It's not everyday, that you play against a team that has Al.bert Pu.jols sitting in their dugout!!!  Ben's team was very successful this week and won their Championship Game!  Yaaahhoooooo!  Ben played awesome and hit two doubles to the fence while I was in the stands (Coincidence? I think not!)

I planned to take a lot of action shots, but after this first try, I put my camera away.  Doesn't get much better than capturing the ball just off the bat heading towards the fence! Money shot!! 

Raise it high 23!

I love that in a completely packed room of ball players, Cate and Kerrigan broke it down on their "dance floor"!!!!!



Yeah Baby...We're #1

Does this group of misfits look like the Bad News Bears or what?!

Keaton, Bennett, Nic, & Connor

After the tournament, Connor and his family invited everyone back to their house for a bbq and pool party.  Good times were had by all!!!

They played pool basketball for 3.5 hours.  Ben looked like a raisin when he got out!

Yes that is Brady flying through the air...Cameron tossed him around like a rag doll!

Cate taking a break to eat her favorite thing in the whole world....KETCHUP BREAD.  Ewwwwwww!

Ahhhh, this is the life!

She preferred the hot tub though :)

Just a few more tournaments before baseball season is over and we move on to soccer!!! 

3v3 Action Shots

Last weekend Brady played in a 3v3 soccer tournament in St Louis and it was H-O-T.  In fact, it was supposed to be Saturday and Sunday but with temperatures reaching 110* on Saturday, they moved all games to Sunday...when it was only 106*.  Lucky us. Brady's team, Green Machine, did awesome as usual :) and Brady scored 8 goals in 6 games.  He's Beast!


It's easy to take action pictures of Brady...he NEVER stands still.  Ever. 

Brady juked this kid so hard that when he cut the ball to the opposite direction the other player couldn't stop and fell flat on his face. Carter called it a 'Textbook Juke' (whatever that means)

Boys are so lucky.  'Hot? I'll just rip my shirt off"

Luke, Braden, Nathan, Brady, Tyler, and Coach Mike. 

Science Center

FYI, it's hot in the Lou...like 108 degrees hot.  The pool water is seriously warmer than my shower water. Indoor activities are a must.  Did you know the Science Center IMAX movies are just five bucks if it's over 98 degrees?  Score! We watched "To The Arctic"~it was about a family of polar bears and global warming.  The kids loved it.  Scott and I were worried the entire time that the sweet bears the kids were enthralled with were eventually going to get eaten by a male polar bear or starve to death.  SPOILER ALERT: neither happens :) *sigh of relief*

These puzzles kept them busy for a long time. They were pretending they were challenges on Survivor

Mesmerized by the half/body mirror thing. 

Doesn't take much to entertain these dorks

Speed radars for the cars on the highway below.  Ben said "No matter what this radar says, we know they're going at least 10 mph faster than dad"  HAHAHAHAHAHA!

She loved watching the cars zoom by below

T-E-A-M-W-O-R-K....building an arch

Success!

It's time to leave when Carter starts napping on displays

fourth

4th of July is here and you know what that means....school supplies will soon be on sale!!! 

We started our day at BauBau's for some bbq and hours in the pool.

And what's 4th of July without this money shot?!  I would thank Josh and Lauren for being such good sports about the glasses.....but it was their idea.  They cool like that :)  

After a 3 hour nap (for me), we headed up to the best fireworks celebration around.

Ready for some fireworks!!  Wish Carter was here but I guess we're too lame for him :)

oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

GOD BLESSAMERICA!!

Fish!

Disregard the swim cap...I'm hoping this phase is short lived. Cate has turned in to quite the swimmer. 4 years old**11 feet deep water? no.big.deal.  And check out that "twister" jump off the board, she's got all kinds of tricks she loves to practice!!   She's going to swim the kick board race in the Lollipop meet next week and I'm fully expecting her to be practicing with the team in Lane 1 next summer!  

photo dump

Carter and Cate after his baseball game Sunday.  He's really good to her <3

Joe Cool

Weeeeeeeeeeee

Evening at the pool celebrating Father's Day with my parents, sister & family



Quiet morning on the front porch with her favorite person

Shucking corn for lunch

I love chocolate ice cream, Scott loves vanilla, and we both love carmel.  This ice cream is perfect for us...half and half with carmel in the middle!

Cate has moved on from Ben and Brady's friends to Carter's friends.  I wish this picture was better...her newest victim..Stevie!  (Looks like Abbie has some competition!)  I think she has great taste :)

Her "dive"

Brady spent 24 hours with my sister, Kenny, and Jon over the weekend.  They went fishing, swimming, 4-wheeling, and horseback riding.  He was in heaven!!

Brady caught a total of 62 fish.  (that is 61 more fish than Cody's last attempt.  Just sayin')



Bennett stayed last Sat/Sun with his friend Connor and then Monday with his friend Ryan. He loves being sibling-free and with his buddies!

HAPPY SUMMER!

Spags

The day after Father's Day (aka 'the day after the crowds'), we celebrated the awesome men on Scott's side of the fam at The Old Spaghetti Factory downtown Stl.  DELISH!~our fave.  Of course it's not just about the food, it's about spending time with family and letting them know how much they're appreciated and loved. (duh)  Someone must have called ahead and let Spags know that a crazy cast of characters (ahem, Uncle Mikey and Josh) would be in attendance and they gave us the entire second floor to ourselves ;)  Food was great, service was outstanding, and the company was better than ever.  The balloon man even found us which led to about thirty minutes of extra entertainment! I'm one lucky girl...not only was I born into a fabulous family, I married in to one too!!!

Crazies and their balloon creations! Carter~chose a bear, Ben, Brady, Josh, & Lauren with their wild hats, and Cate chose a bunny and flower hat. 

Carter was absolutely amazed by the balloon mans skills and asked him which college he attended to learn how to do it.  Naturally Carter was dead serious and the balloon guy was kind of stumped at the question.  Another Carter-ism to add to the endless list :)

Yum-O!

Doesn't get any better than this....

Fresh-from-the-garden cucumber/tomato salad, Bisquick cheddar biscuit (on sale at Schnucks for $.25/pkg!), the best crockpot roast ever, and fresh picked Relleke's corn (we have corn for lunch and dinner everyday.  No joke.)