We were finally able to celebrate Daddy Dude's birthday the following Saturday. The girls really wanted a balloon animal - here's what they got! Lucky for us, we took a picture, because Marika was devastated a couple of days later, when the ear of her bear came undone and he started to look peculiar. :)
Softball is starting to wind down. Marika usually plays pitcher, but she got to play first base a couple of times. Here she is, making a nice catch at the base. The only position she hasn't played yet has been catcher - I think we'll have to request it, just to get some pictures!
Mika only has a couple of games left. Her team just clinched first place and it's been a great season - the girls have learned how to work really well as a team and the improvement in each girl has been quite noticeable. Her coach is applying for the position of the All Stars coach at their level - if he gets it, he's already said he would like Mika to be on the team. We're thrilled about this, because she'll get to play softball for two months of the summer! We don't mind that she'll continue to have practices twice a week and a tournament every weekend - she enjoys playing and she's quite good at it. Practice makes perfect! Here she is, working on her sliding technique - what better reason to rip the knees on your pants? ;)
Summer is coming! Instead of heading to the park with her good buddy Brock, Marika was invited to try out their Slip & Slide. I think this is the first time she's ever been on one and well... she hasn't quite mastered the sliding part yet. She just couldn't relax enough to slide on her belly and into the little pool at the end. Maybe the next time!
Later that evening, because the girls didn't have softball practice and our awesome next-door neighbor offered us free tickets, we went to a 66ers game. This was especially nice because we never managed to make it to a game all last season. And just look at our seats - we were just behind third base and right next to the dugout. We were a bit on edge all the time (in case a ball came flying by) but what a great view! The bullpen was also directly to our left and we were fortunate enough to see the pitchers warming up.
Our next-door neighbor was able to get us free tickets because it was a special day at the ballpark for their high school. I have to say, their mascots are adorable! A famous alum was on hand to throw the first pitch - Shareece Wright (second from the right).
Since our next-door neighbor (back middle in the picture) was a mentor to Shareece, we were able to get a picture with him. So, one day the girls can show this picture to their friends and say they were photographed with an NFL player! Yup,
Shareece was drafted last week in the third round to the San Diego Chargers. Some of you may be familiar with his name, as he played with the USC Trojans during his college career. Kirk has been talking about Shareece and
Allen Bradford (another famous alum from their school - drafted in the sixth round for the NFL last week to the Buccaneers) for several years, ever since they were in high school. It's been really neat to see their careers develop! We wish them both well and look forward to seeing them on national television soon... :)
Mika was happiest when the cotton candy was finally delivered. Boy, is that girl messy! Marika was inspired to try and eat it without her fingers... she made some pretty interesting faces...
The highlight for Marika's night was getting a baseball. No, she didn't catch it (though the girls brought their gloves), but the left fielder (
Justin Bass, #11) was kind enough to give it to her as he caught the third out of an inning and ran into the dugout. She asked, he tossed it into her glove, and a big happy smile was born. She even slept with it next to her on the night table... and she wanted to bring it into school this morning, too!
We were finally able to celebrate Daddy Dude's birthday the following Saturday. The girls really wanted a balloon animal - here's what they got! Lucky for us, we took a picture, because Marika was devastated a couple of days later, when the ear of her bear came undone and he started to look peculiar. :)
Softball is starting to wind down. Marika usually plays pitcher, but she got to play first base a couple of times. Here she is, making a nice catch at the base. The only position she hasn't played yet has been catcher - I think we'll have to request it, just to get some pictures!
Mika only has a couple of games left. Her team just clinched first place and it's been a great season - the girls have learned how to work really well as a team and the improvement in each girl has been quite noticeable. Her coach is applying for the position of the All Stars coach at their level - if he gets it, he's already said he would like Mika to be on the team. We're thrilled about this, because she'll get to play softball for two months of the summer! We don't mind that she'll continue to have practices twice a week and a tournament every weekend - she enjoys playing and she's quite good at it. Practice makes perfect! Here she is, working on her sliding technique - what better reason to rip the knees on your pants? ;)
Summer is coming! Instead of heading to the park with her good buddy Brock, Marika was invited to try out their Slip & Slide. I think this is the first time she's ever been on one and well... she hasn't quite mastered the sliding part yet. She just couldn't relax enough to slide on her belly and into the little pool at the end. Maybe the next time!
Later that evening, because the girls didn't have softball practice and our awesome next-door neighbor offered us free tickets, we went to a 66ers game. This was especially nice because we never managed to make it to a game all last season. And just look at our seats - we were just behind third base and right next to the dugout. We were a bit on edge all the time (in case a ball came flying by) but what a great view! The bullpen was also directly to our left and we were fortunate enough to see the pitchers warming up.
Our next-door neighbor was able to get us free tickets because it was a special day at the ballpark for their high school. I have to say, their mascots are adorable! A famous alum was on hand to throw the first pitch - Shareece Wright (second from the right).
Since our next-door neighbor (back middle in the picture) was a mentor to Shareece, we were able to get a picture with him. So, one day the girls can show this picture to their friends and say they were photographed with an NFL player! Yup, Shareece was drafted last week in the third round to the San Diego Chargers. Some of you may be familiar with his name, as he played with the USC Trojans during his college career. Kirk has been talking about Shareece and Allen Bradford (another famous alum from their school - drafted in the sixth round for the NFL last week to the Buccaneers) for several years, ever since they were in high school. It's been really neat to see their careers develop! We wish them both well and look forward to seeing them on national television soon... :)
Mika was happiest when the cotton candy was finally delivered. Boy, is that girl messy! Marika was inspired to try and eat it without her fingers... she made some pretty interesting faces...
The highlight for Marika's night was getting a baseball. No, she didn't catch it (though the girls brought their gloves), but the left fielder (Justin Bass, #11) was kind enough to give it to her as he caught the third out of an inning and ran into the dugout. She asked, he tossed it into her glove, and a big happy smile was born. She even slept with it next to her on the night table... and she wanted to bring it into school this morning, too! 
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