Camp

Last week Danelle and the kids went to Girl Scout camp at Camp MountainDale.   Danelle worked the camp as a troop leader, so Kellen got to go since there is a special 'unit' for boys who are sons of the troop leaders.  They all had a really good time.  It was a day camp for the most part, though Kristin did get to spend the night on Thursday night.  One of the camp traditions is that they don't use their real names during the week; everyone chooses a nickname to use.  Danelle was Freckles, Kristin was Torpedo (also her softball nickname), and Kellen was Roadrunner.  It was fun for me to hear them describe their days and use the nicknames of the other camp participants.  Kristin made a good friend over the course of the week - her name is Gummy Bear. 

They played fun games, learned silly songs, made armpit fudge, and did a lot of hiking.  Kellen made a marshmallow shooter out of pvc pipe.  He also told me all about how his favorite part was playing in the 'river'.  The photo here is Kellen and his river.  ;-)  The photos were provided my Kellen's unit leader.  Danelle wasn't able to be Kristin's unit leader, and unfortunately Kristin's leader didn't take pictures during the week.  She still has some great memories though!

Is it Really Almost the End of June?! Really?!

Wow, where does the time go?  For April, May, and the first half of June, we had something going on almost every evening and weekend.  I coached Kellen's Tball team.  Actually, Danelle coached too.  She was one of our two 'bench bosses' that kept the boys in line while they were on the bench waiting for their turn at bat.  Then there was softball, which Danelle and I both coached.  And of course soccer for Kristin, which goes year round.  Softball and Tball wrapped up by mid June, so now we're just down to Kristin's soccer schedule.

Kellen had a great Tball season.  We started pitching to the boys mid season.  Kellen wasn't sure about it at first, so we made a deal that he could hit from the T until he turned 6.  After that, we pitched to him and he did a great job.  He swings left handed and it looks like he will have a smooth natural swing like Kristin does.  Kellen's favorite position was probably catcher (just like big sister).  He and his friends seemed to have a great time this season and it was very rewarding to coach.  The team surprised me with an autographed baseball signed by all the boys on the team.  I keep it on my desk at work. :-) 

Kristin is a pretty phenomenal softball player.  It was a lot of fun for Danelle and I to coach her and watch her play.  She was a great leader for her team in addition to being a great player.  She only struck out once all season, and that was because her silly coach (me) told her to 'swing at the next pitch no matter what.' And of course the pitcher went from throwing perfect strikes to throwing one in the dirt about 2' in front of home plate. Kristin was great in the field too.  On the last play of the game this season, Kristin was playing shortstop.  The batter made a pop fly and Kristin hustled to get under it, called for it, and then caught it.  Then she caught a base runner not tagging up and doubled off the base runner by hustling over to touch second base for the unassisted double play.  It was a fantastic way to end the season.

The kids finished strong academically as well.  We enjoyed going to Kellen's kindergarten graduation at the daycare kindergarten program.  Kellen went to public kindergarten in the afternoon and went to daycare kindergarten in the morning this school year.  He will certainly miss his daycare teachers and friends, but we are excited to now officially be done with daycare.  Kristin will be going in to 5th grade in the fall.  Can you believe it?  It will be her last year of elementary school, since the middle schools here start in 6th grade.  I think she is both excited and nervous about entering her last year of elementary school.