First Grade, Second Grade, and Fifth Grade Begin

School started on Tuesday and once again all three kids were excited to get another year started. They all got the teacher they wanted, and they all have their best friend in their class. 

Back to School clothes shopping had been completed at Scheels and Gap earlier in the month. This year we gave each kid a $75.00 budget and they were free to use it how they wanted (as long as it was for clothing NOT guys!). It made this coupon-lugging, thrift shopping mother's heart proud to watch as the boys budgeted out how much was reasonable to spend on a pair of shorts and ask themselves if 24.99 for an Under Armor t-shirt was worth it or if they should get the more expensive shoes and the cheaper shirt. It was a lot of fun. Of course, both boys ended up with sport shorts, tshirts, and a new pair of tennis shoes. Faith ended up with two pairs of shoes, two shirts, a pair of shorts, and a belt (that was her favorite part- the belt!). 

There were no visible nerves from any of them this year, until we arrived at the playground and Faith got a little clingy. But she quickly found her best friend, Abby, and the nerves mostly were gone.  No tears! The bell rang and Mr. Forrey welcomed them all back to school and gave his yearly spiel about parents not walking into classrooms with kids. Then they said the Pledge of Allegiance and the Harbor Pledge and they were gone. Brian and I went to celebrate with breakfast at the Merc. 

We picked them up at 115 (short day) and took them to the Merc for the annual "tell us about your first day back" snack extravaganza. We all sat together at a big table and the kids took turns telling us stuff about their day.  Once again Brian and I marveled at how lucky we are on the school front: Great teachers, great principal, kids that like to learn and have good friends... the list goes on.  

The first week back to school also included 3 football/cheerleading practices from 600-730PM  so we had some tired kids on our hands.  But they are all absolutely loving their teams and look forward to practices each day. It's actually been pretty fun for us, too. Brian and I switch off going to Tanner's practice and Jake/Faith's practice. It's great having them all at the same time and all of the practice nearby. It allows us to have an early family dinner together (500 on the dot) and then head down the hill for the evening. 

Faith's cheerleading coach keeps telling me how great Faith is- what a great listener and  how fast she is at learning the cheers. I have never seen her this excited about anything. She loves it. She practices her cheers all the time, even in the shower. And as much as it pains me that it is cheerleading that has turned out to be her first "passion" it is amazing to see how in just a few weeks time she has become more confident, independent, and responsible.  

Tanner, too, has completely risen to the occasion. I was worried that the 3-4 practices a  week would be too much for him, but he is ready to go each evening and works hard the whole time he is there. He, too, is getting so independent. 

After almost deciding against football this year, Jake is having his best year yet. He is really enjoying his team and his coaches and I haven't heard a single, "I don't feel like going to practice" this year. Last Thursday at his practice the Capital High football team was there, too. At the end of practice the Capital head coach talked to our team and gave a very inspirational speech that included everything from  "doing your best" to putting school first to the importance of doing lots of things and not just focusing on football. He even included a bit on staying away from drugs and peer pressure. It was really great to hear and to see Jake listening so intently. 

Summer was a lot of fun this year- we took a bunch of small trips and one big trip to California. The kids had 15 hours/week at Miss Emerald's house (for which we are eternally grateful!) and we had tons of trips to the pool and BBQs outside, etc... But the fact remains that working from home full time with three kids home 25 out of the 40 working hours a week is HARD. Between the inherent multitasking that occurs to the "working mom guilt" that I suffer as I stick the kids in front of the TV for hours while I catch up on emails or only vaguely glance in the direction of the the Lego tower they spent 3 hours completing together.. it's a little stressful. However, this year was better than last year and the kids got along really well (until August and then they were simply DONE with each other and ready to be around other people!). 

So, we are into September and ready for Year 2 of a 3 year stint of having all three of the kids at the same place. We plan to enjoy every minute. 

Jamboree

So we came back from vacation and went right into Optimist Football. I got back on Thursday, the kids got back on Friday night and we had Jamboree at Bronco Stadium on Saturday morning. 

With all three kids playing, we were at the stadium ALL day long. Jake and Faith were there 1st thing in the morning. The tackle players all get weighed in, get their photos taken and then play a short game. Jake hadn't practiced enough to make the minimum play requirement in order to play, so he went to take photos, get weighed and cheer for his team. 

Faith hadn't been to a cheerleading practice yet and was a little overwhelmed by the whole experience. It is a college football stadium and from a kids perspective there are A LOT of people in the stands. She did very well listening to her coach and they did some simple cheers on the sidelines. As the smallest cheerleader she did get put in the front of the team photo doing the splits, so we can't wait to see how they turn out. Come to find out, a couple of weeks of practice in now that her coach says she is the best cheerleader on the team (and the youngest) she is a very good listener. Our daughter has aptitude as a cheerleader...this is just KILLING Marisa. 

Tanner's flag team got to play their game inside the Broncos practice facility. He hand't been to very many practices either, so he couldn't play a whole lot, but did get in for a few plays. I was surprised at his aggressiveness. He doesn't display a lot of outward emotion (unlike his brother) so I wasn't quite sure how he would respond when he started to get knocked around. To my surprise, he did just fine. He lined up across for the biggest kid on the other team who proceeded to knock him back about 10 yards. That happened a couple of times, then he figured out what was going on and started to fight back. He ended up holding his own and had a good time playing. 

We have gotten into a good rhythm as a family with football. With both Jake and Faith at the same practice schedule, we are back to splitting up. We are all able to eat together before we head out for the football fields. I am coaching Jake's team and helping with Tanner's team. I have been splitting the practices so far and we seem to be doing well with it all. Jake and Faith have their first travel game this weekend in McCall (which is a couple of hours away). We'll be heading up early on Saturday morning and will be there for most of the day. They play at the high school field so it should be a fun game. Marisa and Tanner will stay in Boise as he has a home game.  Football season is on!

Tahoe Donner

After celebrating birthdays and getting spoiled rotten in Folsom (Thanks, Mary and Auntie Sue!) we headed back up to Tahoe, this time staying at a house in Tahoe Donner that Kim and Bill had rented. In addition to Kim's family, Lisa and John flew their girls out for a "solo" trip so we had all of the cousins together for a few days. 

We spent all day Tuesday at our favorite beach, Sand Harbor. We packed a pound of raw bacon so the kids could go fish for crawdads. They were entertained for hours building their own make shift fishing poles and hunting the crawdads. They caught a few over the course of the day and had a blast. We also revisited our jumping rock- about 100 yards off the main beach is a cluster of rocks that people swim to and then jump off. Brian and I had jumped off of them a few years ago and this year the boys wanted to try it, too. Faith and Nana stayed on the beach while the rest of us paddled/swam out to the rocks to give it a try. Brian and I thought the boys would get out there and decide against jumping... but to our surprise they both climbed up the slippery slope and jumped into the clear water below. It was GREAT! After having a late lunch at the cafe at Sand Harbor, we let the kids play until almost 630 before we sadly packed our things and headed out in search of a pizza dinner. Found a place in Incline that was able to seat all 12 of us almost immediately and had a really good dinner out before heading back to the house and putting the kids to bed.

I met Shannon for coffee on Wednesday morning and had a leisurely time catching up (it had been two years since our last visit!)  then met up with the most of the crew and went shopping downtown. The kids still had their $25 from Papa from Christmas burning a hole in their pockets but no one found anything worthy of their money. In fact, Tanner decided to spend his on an hour horseback ride with Quincy, Jessa, Abby, and Aidan. I sent him off to meet his horse, then took Brian to Reno for his flight back to Boise.  Tanner had a great time riding a 37 year old horse named Skipper. I was so proud of him for making that choice, getting to experience something new, and being independent enough to do it on his own. That night we ended up meeting Shannon and her crew at Donner Beach for dinner and s'mores. It was a beautiful night and the kids all played some hybrid game of tag/football and swam off the floating dock for several hours as the adults enjoyed more time to reconnect. Again... a great night.

On Thursday we headed down to the public beach at Donner where Jake decided to use some of his money from Papa on a paddleboard rental. I think he is hooked! Faith and Tanner kept busy building sandcastles out of old pepsi and snow cone cups. That evening we headed back into Downtown Truckee for their Thursday night street fair. We shopped and ate and wandered around. It was really crowded and a little hectic keeping track of all the kids. Each one wanted something different to eat for dinner so I sent Jake off to the Taco stand with 5 dollars and strict directions on where to meet me. He came back about 20 minutes later , with a carne asada taco in hand, and handed me the money back. Turns out the owner of the stand was so impressed by his good manners that he gave him the taco for free. Combine that with the fact that he spent the rest of his money from Papa buying a gift for Emerald (our summer sitter) and making a donation to the Humane Society and it was definitely a Proud Mom Night.  

We packed up the car with plans to head our first thing Friday morning. We were on the road by 945 (not quite "first thing" but best laid plans...) and the kids played games on the iPad and iPhone for the 8 hour drive home while I listened to music. We made just one stop- in Winnemucca for lunch. The kids played in the McDonalds playland while I caught up on work calls.  They were really well behaved and easy travel companions until the last hour when we were all getting tired and cranky. We arrived back in Boise at 745 PM.

Friends, family, and new adventures. It was a great trip for everyone.

August Birthdays

After Squaw Valley, we headed down to Folsom to see my Mom's new home and celebrate her 70th birthday with her. With Marisa, my Mom, Auntie Sue, Aunt Lisa and Poppas birthdays in August, it's a busy month for celebrations. 

We stayed at my Mom's house with her and Auntie Sue, who was up for the weekend. After our annual first day of school clothes/shoes run to Scheels in Sparks, we got to Mom's pretty quickly after Squaw Valley, it was a nice easy drive. There were, of course, welcome gifts for the kids, salads, cookies, brownies, cheesecake, candy and spaghetti sauce. We had family tickets for the Train concert that night. Faith was a little under the weather so she stayed home with Grandma Mary and Auntie Sue while we took the boys out into the middle of nowhere to see their first concert. They were exhausted form the trip and the concert had two openers, so by the time Train came on, Tanner was trying to sleep on the blanket. They were interested for the first few songs but then were both done. It was a good concert, but we ended up leaving early and got back to Mom's about midnight.

We spent the next two days between Mom's house and Lisa and Clarks new place. They have great backyard with a pool that was full of children swimming, diving and shooting basketballs. All of their kids started school the next day, Cayden's first in High School, so it was kind of their last fling of the summer also. 

On Mom's birthday we had a great lunch and dinner, surrounded by more swimming (and some pre-season football). Eric and his girlfriend Cody made the trip up from the Bay Area to join us. Eric swam with the kids and everyone had a great time. We got a tour of Mom's mobile home park and neighborhood (which seems to be great), and spent the weekend catching up, eating and swimming. It was great to see everyone and just hang out a BBQ like we used to do and Grandma and Grandpa's house back in the day. 

We left Monday morning to head back up to Tahoe for another couple of days with Kim, Bill, Cori and the cousins before heading back to Boise. 

Happy 42nd Birthday to Me!

We drove to Tahoe for the first part of our last summer vacation on Thursday, August 8th. We stayed two nights in Squaw Valley before heading to Folsom to celebrate Grandma Mary's 70th birthday. Having visited SV lots of times in the past we had never actually stayed there, so I was excited to stay near the village and celebrate my birthday there.  The night we arrived we ate outside at the pizza place in the village and had a great dinner! We followed it up with an evening soak in the hot tub while the kids swam.

My birthday started with an early morning solo walk to Starbucks while the kids continued to sleep in our condo (apparently the drive the day before wore them out!). Even walking leisurely and hanging out in the village for awhile, I still returned to a condo that contained 3 sleeping children! It was lovely. Once everyone finally got up we headed out to breakfast to a place I read about on Yelp. It was a beautiful drive to Tahoe City and we had a delicious breakfast on the patio. Next we headed to Commons Beach and I rented a paddle board for an hour. Jake and Tanner had a go on it, but mostly I just paddled around and enjoyed the scenery and the peace and quiet on the lake. 

The kids were dying to play miniature golf at the outdoor course in SV so we headed back there for the afternoon. The kids played 18 holes while Brian and I shopped in the nearby stores. "OK, Guys... play holes 8 and 9 then sit on THAT bench right there and wait for us!".  It worked out great! We had told the kids before we arrived that they could do one activity each during our trip to Squaw so the boys picked the trampoline/jumpy thing. Faith decided she'd rather use her 12.00 to buy a new "guy" so after the 5 minutes of bouncing and backflips we headed to the toy store where she picked out a bunny puppet that was her favorite thing for about 5 minutes and then was discarded in the pile of blankets and pillow pets in our condo. 

After another pool visit we headed to River Ranch where we dined on hotdogs, nachos, and Rum Punch (OK... that was only me). We continued our drive through Tahoe City and ended up in Kings Beach where there was live music on the beach that evening. The kids played in the sand while Brian and I enjoyed the music and view. 

After typing all of that it seems like it must have been a really busy day... but it felt leisurely and relaxed! I seriously couldn't have had a better birthday. If the first day of this trip around the sun is any indication of things to come, then I certainly can't complain. 

Summer Staycation 2013

So we were supposed to have a cabin trip to Redfish Lake planned with Shelia and Wayne and their grandkids; Davis and Olivia, but then this forest fire happened the night we were supposed to leave and they evacuated the lodge and campground and were closed for the rest of the week, which left us scrambling. Marisa and I have been going thru really bad vacation karma for the last couple of years and it got us again....our RV trip last year got cancelled by cold....Mexico got rained out....don't get me wrong, ANYTHING is still better than working, but it has been strange. We have ended up scrambling to either change an existing trip or book a completely new one. I am always the more positive person in this experience (strangely), because like I said, as long as I am not working, almost ANYTHING is an upgrade. This time was not different, I just said, we'll let's figure something else out.

We had kind of planned to hit Roaring Springs on Friday after Redfish as we haven't been yet this summer, so we bumped that up in the rotation to Tuesday instead of Friday. We booked a cabana for the 9 of us that was just great, food delivery, a place to keep our stuff, shade etc. I think we need to embrace the "cabana principle" for other trips as well (we planed a Vegas trip next year already with Shelia and Wayne because of the "cabana principle". All 5 kids had a blast in the wave pool and the lazy river. The older kids went on some of the bigger rides. Jake and I went down the "twin terrors" together - he also went with Marisa later in the day....Marisa, Tanner and I went on the "thunder falls"....and the biggest kid went on the "cliff hanger" which is three stories high - you stand in a closed phone booth like tube three stories up and the bottom of the phone booth just drops out....it was AWESOME! I was really happy that the kids were able to "cowboy up" a little and go on some of the bigger, scarier rides. They had a blast on them, especially Tanner, who "chatted" the adrenaline back out of his body every time after (seriously, he would NOT stop talking...). We stayed until 5 at night and had a really great time. The Borland-Suttons went back home, we changed clothes and took Jake to his AAU basketball game which was right down the street (they won on a last second free throw). So good day all around!

The next day we decided to take a day trip up to McCall. Shelia and Wayne had never been and it's one of our favorite Idaho places. The drive is a good part of the appeal of the trip as it is right along the Payette River and is gorgeous. It would not have been as good of trip with the 9 of us in two separate cars, so we decided to rent a passenger van so we could all drive up together. Great decision. The kids all sat in the back and played video games, watched movies and read. The grown ups sat up in the front and actually talked and enjoyed silence and listened to music. Shelia and Wayne really liked the drive up and enjoyed the scenery. We spent a few hours at the beach, playing in the sand and swimming. Then packed up and walked around downtown. We got ice cream and checked out the big hockey rink (right on main street and really, really nice) before piling back in the van and heading back down to Boise. On the way back thru, we stopped at Kit's Riverside Restaurant in Horseshoe Bend (a small town outside of Boise), a place we have always been intending to try for the 6 years we have lived here. We finally did and it was great (OR we were starving - one of the two). 

Yesterday we took the boat out on Lucky Peak. Marisa had a morning meeting, so we went out after that with Shelia and Wayne and their grandkids. They have started letting water out of the lake already so a lot of the docks were out of the water already. We were able to find one that was still usable and set up camp for the day. We swam and skied and tubed for the rest of the afternoon. The kids played on the beach together. When we pulled up tot he dock, it was obvious that the Parks Dept. had just rebuilt the dock as there was A LOT of scrap lumber laying around....you would have thought it was Christmas morning.

Jake got up on ski's for the first time for real, he also went a lot faster than he has in the tube. It was really good to see him trying new things and stretching himself. Tanner went in the tube a couple of times and went for a little bit all alone (which was huge). We still weren't able to get Faith out of the boat. She continues to vex us with her reticence to try to new things. She is cheerleading starting next week and we have explained to her that she needs to show up and she can't quit as she is part of a team, so we are hoping she sticks it out. 

After a week of vacation days we were thrust back into the real word today as I spent ALL DAY at the Optimist Youth Football Coaches Clinic. We were trained all day, got our rosters and picked up our equipment and got ready to start another season of Football. Tanners coach called today to get practices set up and we are getting set to start this week. We have two more weeks of Summer Baseball and then it is on to Fall. We have another summer vacation to fit in still and then we're back to school. The summer has been really great, busy but great. 

Tanner is the New Lincecum

Summer Ball is moving right along. We moved from last place to third place last night in a win against the Mavericks. The best part of the night though was when Tanner got to take his place on the mound for the first time ever. He was so excited and so nervous. My little skin-and-bones 7 year old boy ( we affectionately call him our "preying mantis") struck out three batters his first inning up. And these were kids that were, on average, 2-3 years older than him. All of us were so proud of him and so excited for him. He was shy about it, as usual, but glowing the rest of the night. 

Funny Story

I am writing this because it was so "f-ing" funny (You will see soon why I chose to use that language) and I wanted to remember it when the kids are older.

First, a little background:  In our house the "f word" is "friggin" or "frickin".  The kids aren't allowed to say it and Jake, especially, will get called on it by his brother or sister when he tries to get away with it.

So...we were driving to a basketball game across town and Brian reacted to something on the road- a driver that did something wrong or something- and said (excuse the language), "Fuck!". I said, "Brian, watch your language!" (in typical mom fashion) and Tanner said in a singsong voice, "Daddy said the "F" word! Daddy said the "F" word!" and Faith says (deadpan), "No he didn't. He said "fuck"."

Needless to say I was busting up laughing as Jake said to her, "That IS the "f" word, Faith!".  We were all laughing so hard, because it was said in such sweet innocence, that Faith started to cry.

That one's gonna be told for years to come....

More Summer Fun

It's been a busy but fun couple of weeks. 

We returned from our vacation to Sun Valley on Wednesday afternoon- in time for the first Summer Ball practice. The boys (all three of them) had a great practice followed by a HOT game on Monday night. It was 108 that day and we kept them cool with lots of water dumped on their heads and forcing liquids every few minutes. Ken, a friend of ours with a son on the team, ran around the infield and outfield with a big jug of water to keep the kids hydrated. It was pretty funny- we were all sure Ken would be the one to collapse from heat exhaustion, not the kids. Despite the heat it was a great evening. The team lost, but they played well. It was Tanner's first game playing with the big kids and he was nervous. He did GREAT though!! He is one heck of a catcher and held his own with the 10 and 11 year olds.

Jake had HSB Basketball camp Fri, Sat, and Sunday so Brian and I hung out with Faith and Tanner and took them fishing down at Quinn's pond. It was a bit of a bust because we couldn't find a good spot and had forgotten sunscreen so it was a short and sweet trip. 

Saturday night was the annual Camp Out on the Green and it was projected to be another 107 degree day. Still, we decided to brave it and set up our tent early in the day. We headed out to the Green around 7:00 and both Faith and Jake invited a friend to come spend the night with us in our Taj Majal Tent. The kids all brought their scooters and rode them all over the closed parking lot, they had icees from the icee shack, hotdogs and s'mores from the campfire (yes, there was still a camp fire even though heat was the LAST thing we needed!). It cooled off around 10PM and they showed Despicable Me on the screen outside the Merc. There were a bunch of Jake's friends there- and lots of girls- and it was pretty funny watching him interact with the girls. I know I say this often but we will really have our hands full with that one once puberty hits full on! Everyone had a blast and we all slept pretty well from midnight to 730AM.  We packed up early- trying to avoid the heat- and spent the rest of Sunday indoors. 

The babysitter cancelled at the last minute for last week so I took Tuesday off . I took the kids to the pool in the morning where Faith showed me that she is now (finally!) water safe in the deep end! Yay! She's become quite the little fish already and all three of the kids would gladly hang out at the pool all day everyday if we were able.  Later that afternoon I took the kids and each of their friends to see Monsters University. That was pretty fun, too, and even though the older kids didn't like it much, Faith and Tanner (and their friends) liked it a lot. Of course, the boys had to sit separate from me (I embarrass Jake to no end these days and Tanner and his friend wanted to be like the big kids).  They are really growing up TOO FAST. It's killin' me. 

The 4th of July made it a short work week. The kids decided to ride in the neighborhood parade after being invited by a neighbor to drive these cool powered cars. Faith was supposed to drive one, too, but decided last minute she was too afraid so she rode her scooter and collected candy along the route. Brian and I walked. It took up most of the morning then we spent the afternoon at the pool. The evening brought our annual 4th of July Hawks Game with Sheila and Wayne. We had great seats in the shade and the weather was perfect- not too hot at all, which was a miracle! The fireworks after the game were the highlight, of course. My only complaint was that they replaced my favorite 4th of July song (God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood) with "Party in the USA". Very disappointing. But it was a great fireworks show which ended with another gigantic fireball which I guess is the way they do it here in Boise since this is the third year in a row it has happened. 

Brian worked on Friday but I had the day off so the kids and I hung out together exploring the river a little bit, going out to lunch, going to the library, and grocery shopping. More time at the pool rounded out our day. I LOVE SUMMER. 

This week is going to be a little nutso. Between work commitments, orthodontist and Dr. appts, summer baseball, and basketball there's hardly a spare moment. Luckily our babysitter is back so she will take the kids T/W/Th from 10-3 giving Brian and I some time without the kids around so we can breathe, relax, and.... oh yeah.... work.  I head to Vegas for work training on Sunday-Thursday and then the summer will be half over. CRAZY. 

The Fun in Sun Valley Continues

The kids are taking turns sleeping in until 9. Yesterday it was Jake and today it was Tanner. It's been great because the mornings are peaceful and we get some one-on-one time with whoever is up earliest. Yesterday I played some Crazy 8s with Tanner and this morning Jake and I read for awhile and went in the hottub. The view outside the windows is beautiful and serene, plus the hottub is a pretty nice day to greet the day. 

We rode our bikes downtown for breakfast once everyone was awake. We stumbled upon a place that happend to have a putting green (like mini golf) outside. While Brian and I had our respective morning drinks and waited for the food, the kids occupied themselves with golfing. We thought it was a genius of an idea and asked our waitress about it. She told us it is actually part of a larger town-wide drinking game involving several local bars and a putting green challenge involving beer or wine. So, entertaining the kids was not its intended purpose... but still... it made our breakfast experience even better- and it was already pretty good since we were able to ride our bikes there, sit outside, and enjoy their special Blue Corn Pancakes. Yum. 

After breakfast we wandered around town a little more then headed home to pack up a picnic lunch for a noontime fishing trip to Penny Lake- a rainbow trout stocked pond about 4 miles outside of Ketchum. It was Faith's first time really fishing, but the boys were experts at casting this trip.  The only person that caught anything was Brian- and it was too little to do anything with (not that we would have kept it and cooked it anyway!). I still don't get the allure of fishing, but I played the photographer for this portion of the trip and enjoyed being outdoors and watching the kids get all excited each time they got a nibble. 


We went back to the house and enforced a mandatory one hour rest time (all 5 of us) prior to going back out in the hottub and then back into town to get me a latte and to visit the local independent bookstore. Great place! Had fun wandering around there for a while as it was raining outside. The pizza place we had eaten at the night before had given us free movie tickets to see Epic at the Sun Valley Opera House theater, so we headed back there and enjoyed Happy Hour before the 6PM movie started. Still raining... so it was good timing. 

We finished off the day with a stop at LeRoy's ice cream- a non profit ice cream place in the middle of town that serves Toni's Ice Cream (a Sun Valley speciality). Both Brian and I are in the middle of good books, the kids have created a game called "Hide the Tape" (I'm not entirely sure of the rules, but it involves hiding a piece of duct tape somewhere outside and giving clues to the other two kids as to where it is) that  keeps them happy and entertained for hours on end, and there's still some Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream in the freezer. Life is Good. 

Sun Valley Vacation - Days 1 and 2

So we are in Sun Valley for the beginning of the week. Just a little low key, stay in Idaho vacation. Marisa's boss was cool enough to let us use their families vacation rental in Sun Valley. Aside from driving through, we have never really spent any time here. 

We got up on Saturday and kind of took it easy getting on the road. We mowed the lawns, cut Jake's hair, visited with friends, dropped the dog off at the kennel and lazily packed the car for the trip. We got on the road about one, with almost everything we own. We brought warm weather clothes, cold weather clothes, pool clothes, work out clothes, books, electronics, movies, board games, baseball gear, football gear, fishing gear and our bikes. It was a really easy trip up and we got here a little after three o'clock. We went out to a great Mexican place referred to us by our Chiropractor, whom we lovingly call "Hippie Jim".

The house is great, really close to town and fully set up. There is a hot tub, which we have already been in several times. We are within walking distance to the lodge and it's an easy bike ride into downtown. We took advantage of everything today it felt like. 

The kids slept late, so no breakfast out. It was a lazy, mountain cool morning of reading, breakfast in, hot tubs, red bull (for me) and coffee for my better half. After we all got our gumption up, we got the bikes together and headed downtown for mid morning coffee (and yes for those who have followed our vacation exploits before - browsing thru various shops with coffee in hand). We rode down to the river and the ski area, which were both pretty deserted and then headed back home. This is our first trip with Tanner exclusively riding his own bike, and while we weren't really all that far away he was pretty tuckered by the time we got home. 

We made "mandatory rest time" a thing again and Marisa got to read her magazines and relax while I went for a great run. There are a ton of bike paths here. I ran out to the Sawtooth National Forest then up some mountain bike tracks into the hills. I came back out onto the golf course and wound around a REALLY expensive neighborhood back down into the resort and home. It was overcast and the perfect temperature for a run. It ended up being my second favorite run ever (the 1st was in Kauai, coming down out of the mountains towards Anahola Bay where a whale was breaching in the distance -so cool). I came back from my run to find them in the hot tub again. 

Once I cooled down, and they dried off, we were off to the ice skating rink at the lodge. Tanner was all fired up to try skating (why I have NO idea) and had mentioned it several times over the course of the first couple of days. It is a really nice outdoor rink and, like Squaw, is so stupidly expensive, I was a little concerned we were paying $80.00 for what would be 4 minutes of ice skating.....and for Faith it was. So got literally about 25 feet and was done. Luckily, they gave us a refund for her fees so she became official family photographer. I love to skate and have been doing it my whole life. Marisa likes it, but in the "elephants from Fantasia" sort of style. The boys really gave it a good go for quite a while...we got our moneys worth. 

We came back home and got changed and walked, yep, walked to dinner. We ate at the pizza place in the lodge and had some really expensive pizza. Luckily, it was REALLY good. We ate out on the patio and had a couple of beers (thus the desire to walk) while the kids played around on the lodge grounds, looking at the ducks (they could have been COOKING the ducks for all we cared at that point) and just leaving us alone to enjoy a beautiful evening. 

We came back to the house and read for a bit, then went in the hot tub again. Tomorrow we're thinking fishing, maybe hiking, maybe swimming. We'll see. We're supposed to get some rain tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. We're having a great trip so far and are really enjoying ourselves. 

Old....I'm just so very, VERY old....

So some backstory....

A few weeks ago, I was out back mowing the lawn and listening to my iPod, when "Big City Nights" by the Scorpions came on. I had a vivid memory of being....I don't know how old, and mowing the lawn while listening to that same exact song on my.....must've been walkman at the time (I just googled it, release date 1984....so yeah, walkman.). I then realized that I have been mowing the lawn and listening to that song for almost 30 YEARS!

That right there was almost enough to make me lay down on the lawn and cry. Then, when relating that story to Marisa later, Jake piped in (as he ALWAYS does), that he wanted to start mowing the lawn. I immediately told him he wasn't old enough, to which my better half asked how old I was when I started mowing the lawn....so there you go.

If anyone needs me I'll be on the front porch in the rocker with a glass of lemonade....

End of School Year Wrap Up

It's official. I now have a first grader, a second grader, and a fifth grader. And I'm old. Summer vacation has begun.

The year started to wind down 10 days ago when we had the year end carnival at school. It was lots of fun and the kids all hung out with their buddies all night while Brian and I volunteered at one of the stations and chatted with our friends. We barely saw Tanner all night.  He walked around the carnival with his "gang of three" and clearly wanted to be entirely independent. Jake hung out at the karaoke booth (this year it was Train instead of Nickelback) and the dunk tank (where he dunked both his fourth grade teacher and his PE teacher). Faith and her friend spent most of the time eating lollipops and cotton candy.  They all hung out at Nana's afterwards while Brian and I helped with clean up.

Our trip to CA for Kerri's memorial followed quickly after that. It probably deserves a post all its own but suffice it to say that it was emotionally draining- but luckily the kids got to spend lots of time with cousins and I got to spend lots of time with my sisters and that made it OK. The highlight of the trip, at least for me, was going back to our old house in Saratoga where I grew up. I absolutely LOVED seeing it again and reliving old memories. Jake especially enjoyed crawling under the staircase into the "secret room" and reading the stuff Kim and I had written all over the walls in there when we were 10. Another reminder of how fast time flies.

Today was Kindergarten graduation. My last and final Kindergarten graduation. Sigh. Faith was very excited for the event and had been practicing her songs for weeks. The boys were undecided on whether they would attend or not (it would mean missing out on some of their last day festivities in their own classrooms). In the end, Jake came to watch and take pics while Tanner opted to stay in his room to play games. It was a lot of fun and I only shed a few brief tears. After graduation Faith's best friend Abby came over to play and I headed over to Tanner's classroom to help with his pizza party. Now we have 5  extra kids over here playing for the afternoon. Gotta kick off summer vacation in style. Tonight we are headed to the Merc for dinner, drinks, and more playtime.

Summer vacation is always a mixed blessing. On one hand I love that there is no homework and less structure. On the other hand there is the delicate balancing act of working from home and having three kids around all day....every day.  Not that there will be a ton of down time. The kids are going to Emerald's three days a week for 5 hours a day, Jake has basketball and baseball, and Tanner is playing Summer Ball, too. Brian is coaching their baseball team.  Faith has gymnastics.  I plan on lots of summer reading and shanging out in the yard with our new neighbors (Sheila and Wayne).  We also have lots of trips planned (Sun Valley, Redfish Lake, The Lagoon in SLC, and Lake Tahoe) and random days on the boat. Still, I am counting the hours (or will it only be minutes?) until I hear, "I don't know what to do, Mom. I'm bored!".

It is hard to believe another year has sped by this quickly. Class assignments for next year will be posted next week and the kids all have hopes for their favorite teacher and getting in the class with their buddies. I'll keep my fingers crossed. The fact that we have made it this far with all of them loving school is such a blessing.

So, here's to a summer full of popcicles and cold beer,  long days at the pool and long nights in the yard, books and movies and friends and shave ice and bike rides. And, here's to giving Brian and I the patience and ability to enjoy it even when we hear the likely refrain of, "I don't know what to do today...." for the hundredth time!

Baseball Wrap-Up (kind of)

So we played our last Spring game last night. Tanners team lost, only their second loss of the season. Probably a game we should have won. Our first loss was to the division directors team. She is a great coach and had a bunch of good kids (we will get to face them next year in AA as both of us and most of the boys are moving up). But last nights game was a frustrating way to end a great season. We just didn't hit and made some fielding errors that we normally don't. Oh well. We went to Sonic for the end of the season party and like it does for most kids, ice cream eased the pain. 

I had a great time coaching this group of boys and all of them want to play for me again in AA next year, so that is a plus ( alot of them are REALLY good for this age - Tanner included). 

Jake had a very Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of season. His team stunk on ice this year. He had too many boys who hadn't played enough baseball, where things that should be ingrained by this age weren't (IE. when you pick up the ball in the outfield you don't stand there with it while the runner is rounding third etc.). There were some much better teams and they just got pounded on. They could play some good baseball but not consistently enough or for long enough stretches to keep themselves in games. HE on the other hand played played lights out. He pitched (and was the best pitcher on the team - I think he started every game he was eligible), played catcher, 1st, 2nd and short (no outfield this year) and hit well (not strongly, but consistently). He also played EVERY PITCH of EVERY GAME. That was the big key for him this year. He could have moved up, but would have seen a lot of the bench. Staying down gave him the chance to play all the time, shine a little bit and get his confidence. He just loves baseball so much, all the other coaches and parents say to me all the time, 'Is that your kid? I just love watching him play.', which is great to hear. 

We are ramping up for Summer Baseball and AAU Summer Basketball for Jake. Jake and Tanner will play on my Summer Ball team (The WARRIORS - yep, we get to pick whatever we want for Summer), but we have a couple of weeks downtime while I get the league up and running. So I'll unpack my baseball gear for a few weeks, get the garage organized and jump back into it for another six week season. 

That doesn't mean the BASEBALL is over however. The league is in the middle of All Star craziness (Jake ISN'T playing this year), hosting a District Tournament, getting Summer Ball up and running and trying to re-fill board positions and chase down volunteers for next season already. I am one of the few returning Board members for next year and am trying to change the league into more of a year round commitment for people so we can continue to grow. THAT is taking a lot of my free time these days. I'm sure it's the same in all all-volunteer organizations, but 20% of the people involved do 90% of the work. We have some creative solutions that we are working on, but we are still struggling to get parents to realize that you don't get to just drop off your kid and NOT get involved. For boys anyway, the Little League experience is such a touchstone as they grow older, it's important to make it as good as we can, for as many kids as we can. 

So for those following at home, it goes; baseball, baseball and basketball, football, basketball, Christmas.....break for Dad. 

Mother's Day

So I should probably just say up front as a warning to anyone that reads this (including my future self and my middle-aged children) that this is gonna be sappy. But I can't help it. At the risk of bringing huge doom down upon the House of Alan, I have to say that I have been feeling just so damn happy lately. So content. Job is great. Kids are great. Marriage is great. Life is in balance.  Now, don't get me wrong... life isn't perfect... but I'm thinking that it's about as perfect as life should be. You know? I mean, any better and I guess I'd feel guilty or wouldn't appreciate the little things.  But seriously. I just feel so blessed.

I realized today,Mother's Day, as special as it was, just really isn't THAT much different than my average Sunday these days. I mean, yeah... I got presents from Brian and the kids and maybe everyone tried extra hard to get along and be nice. But like most Sundays we hung out together, and played at the pool.  I read my book, and we watched some Giants on TVwhile Brian did the laundry.  The Warriors won Game 4 so that was nice of them. And the season finale of Survivor  Season 26 is on tonight so that's a bonus. And the mimosas I made my mom and I for brunch aren't the norm in my household.   But overall the day was much like a lot of Sundays. And how cool is that????

I started my day around 8AM when the kids ran into the room and bombarded me with hugs. Tanner ran in saying, "MOM, I HAVE A PRESENT FOR YOU IN MY MOUTH!". Ummmmm. OK. What in the heck does that mean, Tan?? He said, "You are the BEST MOMMY in the world! See? It was in my mouth!". Love that kid. Faith read me her Kindergarten portfolio that she had made. Jake gave me a book with the words to "It's a Wonderful World" and a CD with that song on it. He also made me a beautiful pendant at school that really looks like it came from a high end jewelry store. Tanner had a poem that he wrote for me (the focus of which was what a good cook I am... WHAT? What mom are these kids really living with? All of their preschool and preK and Kindergarten notes mention what a great cook I am. I guess they really like frozen pizza, grilled cheese, and PB and J! LOL!  In my list of things I do well as a mom, cooking isn't one of them!!)


Later in the morning Mom came over for mimosas and mixed berries and the kids bounced on the trampoline and played basketball in the yard while Brian went for a run.

We went to the pool and played there for a few hours then came home to watch the Warriors take game 4.  I went down to Starbucks and got an iced mocha and got to sing along loudly to all my favorite songs on the way with the windows rolled down. We topped it off with dinner out. A pie is in the oven and Survivor goes on as soon as the kids go to bed and Brian hides in the bedroom to avoid having to hear or see any part of what I lovingly refer to as "my date with Jeff Probst".

Now I am going to go knock on a lot of wood because now that I've put down on paper just how great life is, something bad is bound to happen. But I guess if it all goes to hell tomorrow I will have this as a reminder to how wonderful things can be and will be again. Right???

Father/Daughter Dance 2013

Faith was old enough this year for us to go to the annual Father/Daughter dance at the Merc together. We talked about going a few weeks ago and she was so excited ever since. Any excuse to wear a fancy dress and shoes is going to make a big impression on Faith and this event fit the bill. Marisa took her out to pick out a new dress and fancy shoes. She chose one with a huge bow in the back and a layer of tulle underneath the skirt so that it stuck out all around. Her brothers went upstairs to help her get ready: Jake zipped her up, Tanner held the bracelet and necklace. It was very sweet. 

I got ready and we left about 6:30. It was a tropical theme so when we arrived we both got leis. We got pictures taken and then had some dinner. Steak and salad for me, chicken nuggets, tater tots and ranch for her. She had sherbet punch to drink and then the DJ started up. 

Faith was VERY unsure about the whole dancing concept. She was looking around with VERY BIG eyes and seemed a little taken aback by the crowded dance floor and loud music. She spent the first few dances barely moving and just looking at everyone on the dance floor. I took some video and it's a little heart breaking to see how nervous and tentative she was. 

Well what to do? We couldn't hit the bar, so we did the next best thing, drugs for kids....sugar. We hit the dessert table HARD. Faith had more sherbet punch, a couple of mini cupcakes, cookies and a handful of skittles. After that we went outside, where she ran into a bunch of her friends from school. They then proceeded to run around, swing on the stair railings and just generally let the sugar work them into a frenzy. 

I kept asking Faith if she was tired and ready to go home (it was way after bedtime at this point), but she kept saying no that she wanted to stay. She and her friends then decided that they wanted to dance more. This time, she was all good to go. She and her friends all danced together in the corner song after song- YMCA, Moves Like Jagger, Hands Up... all the pre-teen favorites. By this time it had devolved into a dance floor full of girls while the Dad's stood around drinking beer and talking about baseball. 

Once it got dark, we headed home. Faith was very excited to tell her Mom and brothers all about the dance. It took her quite awhile to settle down and get to sleep. I think she had a great time and is already looking forward to next year. 

Alan Family Update April 2013

I can't believe it's the end of April already. The kids only have four weeks of school left and spring has officially arrived. Baseball is in full swing and even though it makes week nights kind of hectic we are all really loving it. Even Faith. She spends most of the games on the playground finding friends to play with, creating "cities" in the tanbark, practicing on the bars, etc... Tanner meets his friend, Gus, during Jake's games and the two of them play catch for hours on end. Brian coaches Tanner's team and is helping with Jake's team doing whatever needs to be done. Usually it is first base coaching and field prep. So our lives these days are governed by baseball- which in my book isn't such a bad thing.

Also on the sports front….the Warriors are in the playoffs for the first time since Faith was born. I vividly remember watching the playoffs with Auntie Sue and Mary here and holding my little baby girl in my arms. That was six years ago so having the Warriors in the playoffs again is pretty fun. Game 5 is tonight and the boys will be able to watch at least some of it before bed this time since it starts at 6. They all love seeing Uncle Eric on the sidelines and watching Curry- who Jake got to meet when he turned 8 (we still have a picture of the two of them together) hit his 3 pointers.

Faith is still loving Kindergarten and is an avid reader. She is reading chapter books now- crazy- and will read for long stretches on her own. I got her a "reading pillow" for her bed so she can sit up while she reads each night before going to sleep. Her latest favorite is the Princess Posey series. She is ready for first grade.... but I'm afraid I am really not ready to move past this Kindergarten milestone. She is still doing gymnastics right now but I finally had to bite the bullet and let her sign up for Optimist Cheerleading for the fall. This is the third year she has asked me to do it and I finally had to let go of my bias against cheerleaders and let her give it a shot- even though in my heart I really think it is silly. She will be cheering for Jake's team- the Blue Thunder. She loves art and doing crafts and bouncing on the trampoline. She likes to spell and write notes and recently I found this sign posted on her bedroom door: “No boys alowd! (ecept Dad)”.

Yesterday Faith's best friend, Abby, gave her a BFF necklace. So cute. Faith didn't even know what it meant so I had to explain it to her. But she loves the necklace. She and Abby are inseparable. In fact, she had Abby spend the night a few weekends ago. That was her first sleepover and she loved it! She is growing up so much- she is getting so tall and so independent. She is still her mama's girl, though, and loves snuggles and kisses and tickles. This Saturday she is going to the Merc's annual Father Daughter Dance with Brian. I took her out to get a special new dress and shoes for the event. She is really excited. They will have pictures first, then dinner with fancy drinks, then the dancing begins with a live band. I wish I could be a fly on the wall. I know they will be so cute together.

Talk about independent.... Tanner has really grown up a lot this last year. He has his core group of buddies and they are like the Three Amigos. They are always together. Lately he is into playing kickball and comes home with the absolute dirtiest knees you have ever seen. I guess he slides a lot. But, seriously, I can't keep up with the dirt. He often comes home from school just filthy from head to toe. I let him ride his bike to the Merc and the library this weekend. It was the first time I let him do it without an adult. I made sure Jake knew the rules: wait up for his little brother, stop at all intersections, and walk your bike across the streets. In a weak moment of "helicopter parenting" I have to admit I got in my car and watched from a few blocks back to make sure they were being safe. But after seeing that they were following my directions really well I regained my senses and went home. They never saw me and never knew that I was checking up on them.

He, too, is an amazing reader and reads every night at bedtime. Lately he likes the books by Andrew Clements (Frindle, The Report Card, etc...). Brian is reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe out loud right now and he is really into that story, too. Last week he won the character trait award for the first grade: Perseverance. Two students from each grade are picked to win and they are given an award and some cookies during a little after school celebration. 

He loves math and art and baseball and bouncing on the trampoline.  He is loving playing on the Yankees machine pitch team this year. His group of buddies are all on the team for the third year in a row and Brian says he will keep coaching them until it no longer works for Tanner. Jake stopped being able to be coached effectively by Brian around age 7 but so far Tanner seems to really like it still. Their team is so good- all the boys can hit and most can field. They are turning plays at first and second on a regular basis. It's so much fun to watch because he just so obviously loves it. He decided to play flag football in the fall and he is excited to give that a try. He spent two years watching Jake play Optimist Flag and has been anxiously awaiting the day when he would be old enough to join. That's going to make September and October REALLY BUSY with both boys playing football and Faith cheerleading. Wow. I'd better start gearing up now!

Jake only has four weeks left in fourth grade. Fifth grade just seems SO OLD and it is killing me.  He has had a great year at school and has loved his teacher, Mr. Borjian.   He still loves math and while he is a great reader, it is hard finding books that he likes. He's still not into fantasy but has at least branched out of just sports books into realistic fiction and is willing to listen to some fantasy when we read out loud. His anxiety is mostly behind him at this point (keeping fingers and toes crossed).   Mostly school for him is social, though. He has his group of friends and it's a round robin of who is his best friend any given week. They all play kickball together and, from what I can gather, talk about which girls they like. He is still quite the ladies man- he gets notes passed to him from girls all the time telling him how cute, funny, and nice he is. It is so funny to me to see these girls with crushes on him and I am loving the fact that he will still share it all with me. Oh, my… I know we will have our hands full with that one in just a few years time. (Oh, wait... our hands are full with that one NOW... just not with regards to dating and girls yet!). 

He is really enjoying playing AAA baseball again this year. I am so glad we encouraged him to stay in AAA instead of moving up to Majors. He gets to play all of every game in key positions: pitcher, short stop, second base, catcher instead of playing right field for a few innings every game like last year. He is definitely a leader on the team and it is great to watch him rally his teammates, cheer his team on, etc... A lot of the games are held up here at Hidden Springs which makes it easy and fun since Tanner and Faith can have the run of the school playground and keep themselves entertained during the games so I can actually watch. He won't play All Stars this summer, but will play Summer Ball, coached by Brian in late June and July.  

Summer is coming up fast. The kids will spend 15 hours a week with Emerald and her family. We are so lucky.  Emerald is the mom I always wished I would be but rarely come close to approximating: She does cool  arts and crafts like paper mache and lets the kids get the house messy and muddy and takes them to the creek and plays game after game with them all. She is the mother of 4 boys and my three love hanging out there with them. She makes things for lunch like Kale Smoothies (and they actually like them!). We all love Emerald and those 15 hours a week help Brian and I keep our sanity while trying to work from home full time and have all three kids off school. In addition to Emerald’s we have lots of little trips planned. In June we will go to Sun Valley for five nights and stay at my boss’ house. In July we are heading to Redfish Lake Lodge for two nights with Sheila, Wayne, and two of their grandkids. In August we head to CA for a Giants game, Train concert, my b’day, and Mary’s 70^th bday celebration.  In between we hope to take our boat out for Happy Hour and Sunday trips to the lake.  I already know how fast the  summer days are going to go by and am already trying to figure out ways to make them last and last and last.

Easter 2013

The best part of Easter this year was the neighborhood party. Brian and I volunteered to hide eggs first thing in the morning so we left the kids at home and went down to the Merc for a quick breakfast before heading to the field to hide (literally) thousands of eggs. While we were there we were visited by the neighborhood red fox. He has an injured leg and limped around the area, coming as close as 10 feet of us and ultimately stealing a couple of the eggs we were hiding, going back up on the hill, breaking them open and eating the candy inside. Clever little guy. We went home and  brought the kids down so they could see him and also so they could  help  with the rest of the set up. They had a very important job of “Bunny Wranglers”. There were 4 bunnies set up in a hay bale arrangement and they kept trying to escape. We knew Faith would be all over that job!

In addition to the Easter Egg Hunt there was face
painting, a bounce house, craft stations, a sack race, and a tug of war. We all had a really good time hanging with friends and playing together as a family.

Easter morning brought the traditional Easter egg hunt with too much candy and the written clues in eggs leading to a fun present (Alan Family Tradition). The clues this year led them to a water mister system for the trampoline. Since they always want to pour water on the tramp in the summer, we thought a mister might be fun for them and allow them to bounce even in 90+ degree weather.  Nana gave them a trip to the movie theater to see The Croods (we were supposed to go Easter Day but Nana was sick so we postponed it for another weekend).  A trip to the “REAL” movie theater downtown is always a treat!!

It was a gorgeous weekend- 70 degrees and sunny. And, once again, I was amazed by how wonderful the first beautiful, warm weekend of spring is after a long winter. The Hefeweizen came out, lawn chairs were dusted off, and the yard work began.  The kids played outside from morning til night (when we had to drag them in to get them ready for bed). This is just a sample of things to come in the months ahead. I love it.

Leading off and playing 2nd base.....

Another baseball season is underway. Jake is playing AAA again this year, while Tanner has moved up from TBall to Pitching Machine. Faith decided mid way thru last season that she really didn't like baseball and didn't want to play again. I think she's too much of a free-spirit for the stuctured game that baseball is. 

I am also on the board of directors this year as the information officer. It has been an eye opening experience how much work goes into playing a kids game. As the information officer, I am responsible for the league website, all the schedules and scores, all the league communication and database and this year I handled our registration as we tried to re-build the process to make it easier on the parents. Needless to say this is a lot or time and work. But I am a big believer in the power of youth sports to shape character and baseball in particular that it feels good to help out by giving back. I have met a bunch of great people and made some great friends in the process of getting the season started. I am the division director for Summer Baseball as well, which is a skeleton program so it's basically just  me and I can do what I want. This year I am going to let Tanner play up and he and Jake will be on the team I coach, so that should be a lot of fun also. But in the immediate future, I am the Pitching Machine Division coach for Tanner's Yankees team. 

His team is the Yankees (at Tanner's insistance) for the third year in a row. It's a few of the same boys from last year, with a couple of additions from the Y Basketball team I coached this last season, plus a couple of new kids. We have just had practices so far and games don't start until next week. Tanner is playing catcher and loves it so far. He did take a pitch off the arm the other night and it hurt. He is number 8 and his new favorite player is Yogi Berra (also a Yankees catcher who wore #8). Proud dad aside, he's also the best player on the team by a long shot. I thought it would take him a bit to adjust to the machine, but the first time up he was driving balls back up the middle and into the outfield on the fly. He's going to have a great season, but I can already tell that this is going to be his only season in Pitching Machine. Next year he'll move up to AA kid pitch. 

Jake is in AAA again this year. At 10, you have to try out for Majors, which he did, but you have the option of requesting to stay down in AAA. I know a couple of the Majors coaches and he would have gotten drafted up if we wanted to, but that likely would have meant less playing time, against bigger pitchers and a lot of bench time, just given his age and size. By staying down in AAA, he'll play more, he'll pitch more and he'll be one of the better players in the league. The only downside to this plan is he got drafted by a team that's not very good. Our first game was the other night and we lost 8-0. But Jake got to catch, play shortstop and close the game out on the mound. He played the entire game and did really well. His team may not have such a good season, but he will I think. 

We had our opening day yesterday. As a board member I was at the field ALL DAY helping with the festivities, but I really enjoyed it. We are talking about making a bunch of changes next year and I will be one of the few returning board members, so I am trying to get some new ideas up and running. I love baseball, and I love little league. 

If you would like to see our league website and what I do, click here . You can also see the schedules and follow Jake's team in the scores and standings. Tanner is the Rookie (Pitching Machine) Yankees and Jake is the AAA Rockies. We'll get some photos posted soon. Until then, PLAY BALL!