It's Over

Well another season of Cal Ripken Baseball is over with. We didn't win the championship this year but that is ok. The boys had a good time playing together. When the regular season was over with a handful of the Angels went on to play together on the 10 Year Old All Star Team. We played in a few tournaments and had a handful of Thursday night games. The All Star season ended this last week with the Cal Ripken 10 Year Old State Tournament. We had two very long, hot days. One of the days we were at the field from 9am until about 8:45pm. We set up our easy up tents out in the trees past center field. Papa Bear and a sports trivia game made up for them. The boys may have only won one game but they enjoyed playing together. The last game they played was the one they won. Brother Bear got a really good hit which scored two runs. He was also on base when one of the players on his team hit a grand slam. Pretty exciting, especially since we'd never had a home run before!

More Baseball

Well, we had one weekend baseball tournament where it was pouring rain and probably 55 degrees. The next weekend our baseball tournament was sunny and warm.

We had a big break in between games. Parents brought their easy up tents and we bbq'd and hung out in the shade between games. The River dogs played 4 games and came in 3rd. I think Brothers favorite part of the tournament was they each got a medal. Sister Bear was quite the trooper. All day out in the sun and no nap. She fell asleep in the car on the way home with a pen in her hand.

Old Friends

The week after school got out my bff, Shannon, from high school and her family came to visit us. Shannon and family were on a 17 day road trip and stayed with us for 5 days. She has two kids Max(8) and Kate(4). The kids all got along great.

Sister Bear says that Kate is her best friend. Sister Bear pretends she is texting and talking to Kate on her cell phone. Brother Bear and Max came up with all sorts of movie ideas.

We hit up a Mariners game, Pikes Market, the zoo, Northwest Trek, Toy Story 3, and while we were at a baseball tournament they headed to Mt. Rainier.

This is the day we met in high school (Spring 1987). I was fairly new at the high school. I had probably only been there a month and it was the second half of the school year. Someone introduced us because they thought we looked alike. These outfits weren't planned.

Here we are 23 years later!

Happy Fathers Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Fathers Day Grandpa!!!!!!!!

Happy Fathers Day Granddad!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Fathers Day Papa Bear!!!!!!!!!!

Tutu

I made Sister Bear a tutu.

It was very easy to make....no sewing involved. I've actually made two of them. The other is pink,green and white. Granny made Sister one for her birthday but mine is nowhere near as

nice as Granny's.

But Sister said the one from Granny is her princess costume not a tutu.

Last day of school

Today was brother bears last day of school. We didn't have any snow make up days this year, so we actually got out of school when the schedule said we would. Where did the year go? It seems like just the other day we were buying school supplies for the fourth grade. Now he's going to be in the *gulp* fifth grade. Actually it seems like just the other day he was running around in a cape with a happy meal box on his head or so excited to see Buzz and Woody at Disneyland. Toy Story 3 would be the highlight movie instead of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Thomas the Tank Engine were the books we used to read. This year he read the whole Harry Potter series in 6 months. He's doing power point presentations on the computer, sometimes just for fun. His class had to have 75 AR (accelerated reading points) for the school year. Brother had 241.6.

Crazy Hair

Sister Bear has quite the rats nest in her hair when she wakes up in the morning.

When she was a baby she barely had any hair.

It was so thin I could barely get a little bow in it. People would ask if she was a boy or a girl. Hello people....she is in a pink stroller and wearing pink. A pepto bismol explosion.

I love her pretty curls.

I can't even use a curling iron to get curls in my hair. Mine is straight straight straight. Of course if it stays curly she'll probably hate it and want to straighten it every day.

Baseball

Brother Bears regular baseball season has come to an end. Brother spent the majority of the season playing catcher. The boys had a great time playing and all got along great! Papa Bear does a great job coaching the team. We had an end of season BBQ at one of the boys grandmas house. There was a huge field for the boys to play in. They all fit in the hot tub. Eewww a bunch of stinky boys. Each boy got a baseball signed by the whole team.

Zoopa

There isn't much I miss about living in California. In fact, I can probably name what I miss on 3 fingers.

Finger #1- Family

Finger #2- Watching the Angels on TV for free
and

Finger #3- Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes

During basketball season Papa goes down to Oregon a handful of times. The hotel the team stays at is right down the street from Sweet Tomatoes. He gets to eat there twice during the weekends he is in Oregon. Sometimes, Brother Bear gets to go on the trip with Papa. Which means Brother gets to eat at Sweet Tomatoes too. Brother then likes to call and tell me that he just ate at Sweet Tomatoes.

Brother didn't have school on Friday, so, Brother, Sister and I went up to a mall near Seattle that has a Mariners team store. You can buy your tickets at the store without the ridiculous service charges. Down the street from the mall is a restaurant called Zoopas. Zoopas is otherwise known as Fresh Choice and Fresh Choice is definitely not as good as Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes. But, Zoopas is as close as I am going to get to Souplantation. So for lunch that is where the three of us headed. Since I haven't had Souplantation since the summer of 2008 I was pretty excited. We filled our bellies and headed home.

Baseball Days

The Angels have had some great weather for playing baseball lately. The season started out slow but has picked up. We could finish the regular season in second place. Brother Bear has spent most of the season playing catcher. He's pitched a few innings also.

Game of Duck Duck Goose

Fire department burning down a house during the game.

Nice face stuffed with a snack



Hanging out at 3rd

Bunting



Brother Bear as catcher. Always makes me a little nervous with batters at the plate who look like #10

Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day.......A lit late!

For Mothers Day we went out to breakfast and then headed up to Seattle to watch the Angels play. It was a gorgeous day out! We got to Seattle early, but not early enough to get the free parking by Krispy Kreme. Neither of the teams took batting practice out on the field, so we just watched some of the pitchers work out. Brother got 3 Angel pitcher autographs. Unfortunately the Angels lost. It never fails, whenever we go to a game here in Seattle they lose but then win the ones we aren't at. After the game we stopped in at Krispy Kreme for a post game donut. The kids enjoyed watching the donuts coming out on the conveyor belts. Sister tried to keep her eyes open on the way home but she finally gave in and crashed. When we got home we spent some time playing outside. We had a nice family day together.

Mixer

One time when Papa and I were first married I was making chocolate chip cookies. I was stirring the batter and I remember him walking by and telling me that his mom uses a mixer. I was like "well, I don't, I stir it by hand." That's how my mom made cookies when I was growing up. She only used a mixer for cake mixes. We got a blender from someone as a shower gift. It's a very simple, no bells and whistles, no frills mixer. I can probably count on both hands how many times I've used it and we've been married almost 15 years. I made these Oatmeal Fudge Bars ( http://www.mamamanifesto.com/2010/05/sinful-copycat-starbucks-oatmeal-fudge.html )and it required using a mixer. So, I pulled out my mixer and got to work. These bars are supposed to be like Starbucks Oatmeal Fudge bars. I've never had one so I don't know if they taste like the Starbucks ones or not. They turned out pretty good. I sent most of them to work with Papa because they are too rich to have at home. Oh, I bet I could have frozen them to save for later.

Blue Milk or Brown Milk

We get out milk delivered every Monday from the milkman. There is a little box outside of our front door. Usually we get four blue milks and two brown milks. It's pretty darn tasty and lasts a lot longer than store bought milk does. Brother Bear, who is not a milk drinker, loves their chocolate milk aka brown milk. At dinnertime Sister Bear requests two milks in her cup....blue milk and brown milk. Sometimes I catch Papa drinking right out of the brown milk container.

Rainiers Game

We spent Sunday at the Rainier's Game with Brothers baseball team. All of the teams in his league come in uniform and go out onto the field before the game for the National Anthem. It was a drizzly windy day for baseball. Luckily we were under the overhang so we didn't get wet from the heavy drizzle. The boys had a grand ole time. They each got a voucher for a drink, hot dog and chips and then they all managed to eat more junk during the game.