Free Weekend

This week was full of summer fun.  We had play dates/hung with friends, went to the park, went bowling, and of course played (and watched) some baseball.  Amongst all that fun, a couple things stood out as the cream of the week's crop.

On Wednesday, we gathered some friends and went to the river.  C.C.'s friend, Taylor, is moving away tomorrow so we needed to squeeze in one last adventure.  The kids took the paddleboards out for the first time this summer and had a great time.

The other thing that stands out from the week was our BASEBALL FREE weekend.  Theses weekends have been so rare lately and when we do somehow have them, they have been gobbled up by other responsibilities.  This was the first weekend in forever that we actually had free time to do whatever we wanted.  Not to go too crazy, we still started the day yesterday with cleaning the house and Jeremy power washed the driveway, but then we started our day of fun.  We went to the pool as a family and got a little sunburned to prove it.  After showering and cleaning up, we went mini golfing.  This was Elsie's first time, but she was picking it up and did pretty well, with Jeremy's help.  Well, let me rephrase that because none of us did "pretty well".  Mini golf, as it turns out, is not really any of our game.  Anyway, Elise did as well as the rest of us.  We rounded out the day with dinner and yummy ice cream from Salt and Straw.  It was a nice change of pace from our traditional weekend activities.

Summer!

 It is the first full week of summer and we are living life to the fullest!  Merrick had a big week this week with pitching lessons, some thrift store shopping and a big haircut.  He had promised a teammate that if he got a mullet, Merrick would too.  Now both boys are sporting a haircut that really should have been left in the 80's.  It's fine.  Your only young and dumb once.

Also this week we made our first summer bowling trip.  Elsie made a big improvement over last year and was able to bowl both games entirely on her own.

Friday, we packed up and headed to the coast for a baseball tournament.  It was a rough go on a few levels.  We went 1 for 3 for the weekend and Elsie seemed to get progressively sicker as the weekend wore on.  As we were about to wrap up the last game, she sat up (she was sitting on my lap) and vomited all over both of us.  We cleaned ourselves up as best as we could and headed home.  We got home a few hours ago and discovered that while our power went out for a short time while we were gone, apparently our fridge/freezer didn't get them memo that it need to turn back on.  Today has not been our day.  The one bright spot from our tournament was that Merrick had a good pitching outing, the best he's had in a while.  He seems to be getting his groove back.

The trip wasn't a total bust though.  We spent some time at the beach and were able to explore Yaquina Head lighthouse and tide pools.  It was a fun experience that I know I won't soon forget.

Graduation(s)

 Whew!  The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind.  No blog last week, no real reason why other than I forgot.  Does that tell you anything about how busy things have been?  I have been writing the blog for 12 years and somehow, last Sunday I simply forgot to do it.

It has been graduation season around here.  The graduations started with my niece, Maude.  She graduated last Tuesday from West Linn High School.  Next, she is headed off to travel Europe.

Next up for graduation was our Elsie girl.  She graduated preschool in a sweet ceremony that involved performing some of the songs we learned throughout the year.  She was brave and did a great job performing in front of all the families.  She got a graduation cap and certificate and is now officially kindergarten bound.

Up next was 8th grade graduation for my nephew, Kai.  Jeremy doesn't think 8th grade counts as an actual graduation, but in any case he is on to high school.

Not a graduation, and last but certainly not least, Merrick and Carrigan had their last days on Thursday.  Merrick completed 7th grade and CC completed 4th grade.  Merrick finished with as little pomp and circumstance as possible.  CC celebrated with friends at a park and then at the river.

Here are the last day photos of all three kids.

Yesterday, we celebrated the end of the year and a rare weekend off baseball with a hike at Silver Falls (well all of us but CC who was off having adventures with my sister). 

Lastly, I don't have any celebratory pictures to go with it, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this week marked a huge event in my life.  On Friday I sign paperwork and officially sold the preschool.  I have closed the door on that 11 year chapter of my life and I'm excited about what the next chapter will bring.