Rainy Fourth of July

July 3rd was a miserable day around Central Ohio. We were stir crazy by the end of the day! The rain was supposed to move out by the morning of the fourth, but we woke up to showers. JC was set to march in the parade with the baseball/fitness school where he attended fitness camp (www.rhsportfit.com). He was determined to still do it despite the rain, so we suited up and braved the weather. It didn't rain as hard as we thought and it turned out okay! He had a blast and enjoyed the independence. He is growing up so quickly this summer. He is also volunteering at the library and for VBS...look out middle school....this boy is ready for responsibility!

The rain did clear out in time for fireworks that night and we had a perfect spot near the boys' school for viewing. JC is becoming quite the shutterbug and enjoyed playing with the fireworks setting on our camera. I have some of his pics and a few from the parade.

Stuff summer is made of!

My baby turned 8!

JM had his 8th birthday yesterday and celebrated with 4 of his best buds, I so prefer the smaller parties! DH painted a baseball field in the side yard and set up the tetherball with a marked playing area for that too. They played wiffleball, basketball, did the water slide, had a squirt gun battle, and played in our tiny pool! They were busy the entire 2.5 hours! It was a hot and muggy day, so the water fun was perfect. The boys were pretty well behaved and there were no squabbles (outside of the typical "that was a foul ball..no it was fair")

There was a possibility of storms, so I was so glad it held off. I can not believe he is 8 and heading into the 3rd grade. He is just growing up so quickly. We took him to his favorite restaurant Bob Evans for dinner, we had a coupon for a free kid's meal and a gift card...perfect!

Enjoy the pics!

Testing new trick

After a brief tutoring lesson from my friend the queen of blogging, I am going to try and apply what I have learned.

This is my My favorite site, even set up as my homepage. I'm a little nuts!

Venting!

JC, my oldest, has worked very hard to get better at baseball this season. He has caught almost every inning, of every game. When he wasn't catching, he was pitching. He caught in the 95 degree heat, 5-6 innings, no complaining. He wasn't the best hitter, but his catching was phenomenal and that is such a tough position to play.

So, it came time to choose all-stars. The coach let the kids each vote for three players. (you know where this is going!) He did not make the all-star team. One of the kids that was chosen does not deserve the honor. Frankly, he is not that good and he screws around all the time. If he is not playing, he is at the concession stand or playing around with his brothers or the younger kids on the team. Which is probably why they voted for him...it became a popularity contest. He got votes because he is the fun one, and JC will quietly watch the game and cheer on his teammates. I am so sick about this, he has had a rough few month with this type of thing (ran for student council and lost, ran for mayor of their Biz Town and lost) and he holds his head up and does not ever complain. So, I will bitch and moan for him! My heart is just aching for him!

He is my all-star that's for sure! I am so proud of him!

http://mars2buckeyes.blogspot.com/

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Kings Island

Our Cedar Point pass lets us in free to Kings Island again this season, and we were determined to take advantage of this perk! CP didn't open until later in May, so we headed to KI and got our pass pictures taken. We decided to take my nieces and they had a lot of fun. The weather was perfect, 70ish and a little sunshine. It was fun to try out some new rides for a change. Hubby and I grew up on CP and the kids have been going there since birth. We definitely think we will be hitting it a few more times this summer. Our favorite rides were the Stunt Coaster and we also loved the Scooby Doo Haunted Castle ride!

First Communion

JM made his first communion in April, and looked so darn grown up in his suit. He was less than comfortable in it and couldn't wait to get out of it! We had beautiful weather, not the snow that arrived when JC made his first communion. Overall it was a beautiful day. He did fake drink the wine though! He was dreading it all along, so I told him he didn't have to drink it if he wasn't comfortable. He took the cup and tipped it up, just short of his lips! I do not have too many great pics of him, he wanted to make funny faces for all of them. But there are a few keepers!