Monday, June 29, 2015

My Little Girl is TWO!

Charlotte's birthday has come and gone, nearly two months ago. (Seriously. I'm so behind!) This year her birthday was in the middle of the week and the weekend before it, we were busy, and the weekend after everyone else was busy so we weren't planning on doing anything other than cake and presents with just us. Somehow plans changed for everyone so I was left with about 9 hours to make and decorate a cake for her party.

After having dinner with Grandma Betty to celebrate Perry's 30th birthday, we went to our house to celebrate Charlotte's birthday with Nanny and Papa and Aunt Kim. Nothing too crazy but I know Charli had fun opening her presents.
 I've never done ruffles on a cake before and since I didn't have any other ideas for her cake that would be *easy* I figured I may as well try them out. The top ones ended up looking better than the bottom ones...Trial and error at it's best.
 The boys really wanted to wear her "pretties" so Hunter stole her headband and JP put on her pearls. They were so happy with themselves...
 This year Charlotte was a lot neater about eating her cake :) Hardly made a mess at all! Such a sweetie pie!
 For her birthday, Perry and I gave her some food for the kitchen that Santa brought her and then I splurged on a Cabbage Patch doll for her named Adrianna Piper. Charlotte adores her and and takes Baby Ana everywhere with her!
Before bedtime Charlotte stole a few snuggles from Nanny with Baby Ana at herside. Happy birthday Miss Charli!

Our Baseball-Playin', Golf Club Swingin' Kid, Hunter

I feel like I've been missing out on my own life because my blogging has been so sparse the last few months. In May I sat down to blog on my computer and as soon as I pushed the power button my laptop started smoking. Due to that little ordeal, the screen was shot. I can still use that laptop, but I have to hook it up to the TV to see anything. That alone is pain. Then with Perry being gone here and there in May and June, sitting down to figure out what kind of computer to get was the last thing we wanted to do. But we finally got it done, and I finally received it in the mail after waiting and waiting...

So here I go again playing catch up. Hopefully this will the last time for a while! *fingers crossed*

 As I mentioned in a previous post, I missed out on Hunter's first baseball game, ever. I was in Vegas with some friends and I was so sad to miss it but Nanny was there!
 We clearly didn't get the memo that everyone wears grey pants. We bought Hunter black pants so should he get stains, they wouldn't show. Now his black pants make him easy to pick out in a line up and out on the field. Which one is your kid? The only one wearing black pants...
 or that one picking the dandelions in the outfield... hahaha.
This happened at his first game too because I wasn't there. Apparently only mom's think about the weather.
 Throughout the season Hunter progressively got a little better at keeping focus, but those first few games were a challenge to watch. He'd get to his base and then proceed to dust it off... We even caught him doing somersaults and handstands in the in field during one of the games...
I'll tell you what though, he sure can hit the ball! A lot of people were impressed with his hitting skills, especially since this is his first season. We signed him up for t-ball but he was placed in rookie ball. Somehow his age was messed up in the paperwork and had his as a 7 year old, which is too old for t-ball. 
My favorite part of each game was watching them line up to say their baseball creed. So adorable!
 There was game in mid-May that Nanny and Papa were able to come to and Hunter played great! It also helped that Perry volunteer to help out on the field since they were short a coach for that game. 
 Little boys in the dugout <3 p="">
 I loved watching Perry and Hunter during this game. I was hoping Perry would help out more with Hunter's team, but it was hard enough for him to get off work early enough to just get to the games. 
 They were so cute together in the outfield! Go figure that the one time Perry is out there with him, Hunter gets two balls hit in his direction!
At the beginning of the season, they played each game a little differently. The first one was played everyone gets to hit and everyone gets to bat and everyone gets to run the bases. Then as the season progressed, they modified the rules to make them more like real baseball. By the last game they were playing three outs, with 5 strikes making an out. 
JP and Charli kept each other busy for the most of the season playing together and rolling down hills. It's obvious they love each other so much!
And Papa was delighted to get a little snuggle time with this cutie pie during the game he was at.

Hunter had his last games during the first week of June. Then school was out the following week. After he came home from his last day as a kindergartner, we headed to Spokane for Aunt Bobby's graduation from OT school. During the weekend, Uncle Chris let Hunter and JP use some old golf clubs to hit some balls in their backyard. In passing I mention to Kim that I was wanting to send him to golf camp and who would have guessed, the course she works at was putting on a free one starting that next week.  I was able call and get him in, even though it was after the deadline. Pays to know people!

 Day one Hunter shows up to golf camp in his baseball gear. Typical Hunter. He had a little conversation during their warm-up with Coach Justyn. 
CJ- Hey Hunter, let me guess, you play baseball?
H- Yeah but not all time. I think after this I'm going to play football. But you have to be careful otherwise you might break your brain. 
His coach wandered off laughing at that comment. OH Hunter.
 I was really impressed with Hunter's golf skills. I knew he was pretty good, but we've never taken him out to a course to practice, because with 3 kids, that can be a challenge. I was so thankful Aunt Bobby was in town and her and I alternated days taking him to camp while the other stayed home with JP and Charlotte. 
 Hunter really takes golf seriously too. During chipping practice, he would lay down on the ground to see the view from his ball to the hole. I don't know where he picked that up from...
 Since he didn't have his own clubs, the course let him borrow some. It was ridiculously cute to watch him haul his clubs around! 
 By mid-week, he wasn't completely focused and doing what everyone else was. I think the rest of the group was warming up by jumping over golf clubs. Hunter opted for push-ups. 
 Throughout the week, the kids were given "awards" based on how they did at certain activities. Hunter got his first one on Wednesday for having the longest drive. He thought he got the award, which was just a ball marker, because he called Coach Justyn, Coach Brian, who was his baseball coach. Good thing Aunt Bobby was there to confirm the award. On Thursday, he received another during the putting contest. Though he didn't win, he was in the top 5. There was between 15-20 kids in his group too, ranging from 6 years old to 8 years old.
 
Since Perry was gone all week traveling for work, when he arrive home Thursday afternoon, we took the kids golfing at the University Golf Course so Hunter could show off his skills. 
 JP is still working on his.
 Hunter did pretty good overall. He just needs to work waiting for the others behind him to golf first. 
 The boys were delighted to see a deer on the course too!
Every time we let the boys tee off, they'd take about 5 minutes to get their tees and balls in place. They were so much fun to watch. I was impressed with how well Hunter stayed on task at the golf camp. I was really nervous that he'd be "that kid" swinging his clubs around an such, but he did amazing! So proud of my little man! This past weekend Nanny and Papa kept him while the rest of the family went to my friend's wedding and while he was with them, they took him to buy clubs and then took him out golfing. I think it's safe to say he's obsessed.