Mother's Day and Father's Day with Blue Door Kids

Parents only get the opportunity to be truly spoiled once a year, Mother's Day and Father's Day. Around here, Mother's Day is always a great day, where Steve and the kids let me sleep in, they make me a big yummy breakfast and they try to all behave well.  However, this year I got an extra special treat....lunch with Walker at his school.

It was beautiful day, a perfect day for a picnic with my little guy.  I brought my own lunch, and then Leah and Kirsten, Walker's teachers, provided the dessert.  They also did a great job making it special for us.

Each child had to answer a set of questions about their mommy, and then they read the answers aloud while we guessed which child wrote those answers.  Walker had a few dead giveaways, and I must admit, he knows his mother well.

Walker's portrayal of me, blue eyes and black hair as he always says.

His portrayal of Steve with black hair and brown eyes

But I wasn't the only one who got some special one on one time with Walker.  Steve and the other fathers also had a special Father's Day celebration in the spring.  This time, all of the kids painted ties for their fathers.  In addition, Walker answered questions about his father.  Let's just say that this little boy is VERY perceptive!

We love him BIG!

Walker loves his Daddy!

Baseball, Baseball and MORE Baseball

Opening Day - Raptors and Blue Jays

For the last 5 years, Preston has been playing baseball.  However this year, Preston AND Walker are playing ball.  Walker is playing his first season of tee-ball on the Raptors (the same team Preston played for years ago).  While Walker is learning the ropes for his first time, Preston has moved into kid pitch and is excited about some of the changes, like stealing bases during pass balls.  Slowly, but surely, the boys are moving towards the real rules of baseball.

The season opener was the first weekend of March.  Walker plays once a week, with a practice for about 20 minutes, and then a quick, informal game for the remaining 40 minutes.  It is a hilarious sight, because every child's father is in the field with them, instructing them what to do.  Sometimes there is even a sibling or two, and everyone stays in the infield because rarely does a ball make it past the dirt.  All of the kids chase the same ball, and then don't know what to do once they get it.

When they are up to bat, the kids are just learning to hit the ball and run the bases...in the correct order.  The first game that Walker played, he hit the ball, but instead of running to first base, he ran right out over the pitcher's mound, over second base and out to the fence.  Sadly I think he thought he hit a homerun.  We can only guess that because his coach made all of the kids run to the fence and back to burn energy during the practice, rather than running the bases, Walker thought that was where he was supposed to go.  It was pretty cute though, and we chalked it up as a learning experience.

Since Walker had never played baseball before, we assumed he would play right-handed, but for our initial picture, he held the bat left-handed.  We asked around and found a left-handed glove before his first game, and after practicing both ways, he did seem to gravitate towards being a right-handed player (thank goodness).

very serious

Walker ended up liking baseball, but I do think he LOVED the gear!  From the cleats to the eye black-out, he never was upset about getting dressed each week.  Of course the snack after each game was the icing on the cake.  Here are some of our favorite pictures from his short season.

Daddy giving Walker some wise advice

Not sure where Walker is headed, but see the other 4 kids going for the ball?

He missed the ball, but that tongue....

Giving the 1st base coach "five"

The Raptors

Walker and his buddy, Stan Evans

Walker's fan club

Preston, on the other hand, had a weekly practice and two games each week.  His little team was
pretty good, but they ended up finishing in 3rd place out of the six teams in their age group.  However, the all stars season began in April, so for a month Preston played on Blue Jays, in addition to practicing with his all stars team (Homewood White).  The all star season is still going on until mid June, but it was fun watching Preston learn to pitch the ball and continue to play middle field during the spring.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the first few months of his baseball season.

Service Guild Gala - 2018

Once again Steve and I celebrated The Bell Center and all of the wonderful things it does for the families of greater Birmingham with children less than three years of age in need of intervention.  I volunteer through the Service Guild which services The Bell Center, and the Gala is the sole fundraiser for the year.  The money this event raises goes towards the operating budget of The Bell Center.  As always, it was a beautiful night of people coming together for a common cause.  The final numbers are not in yet, but it looks like we have raised about $250K!  Wow!!

One of the best parts of the night is looking at all of the stunning gowns of the women.  Steve and I love dressing up too!  Of course Birmingham's crazy "spring" weather made for an extremely chilly night, so pictures outside were very limited due to the frigid temperatures.  Thankfully it was nice and warm on the dance floor as piles of people boogied to a popular 80's band!

Black and Veatch also sponsored a table, and we had a great time with some Southern Company folks!  What a fun night at The Club for the 30th Guild Gala!

Easter Sunday!

Easter Sunday the kids were pleased with their baskets from the Easter Bunny.  As always, the candy and fruit snacks were the big hit!  But Bennett and Walker also go some art stuff, a new puzzle and baseball things for Preston.  After showers, we were ready for church and then lunch at Mimi's with everyone else.

It was a pretty day with the sun shining......a perfect Easter Sunday!

Always a favorite in front of the flower cross!

Easter egg hunt at Mimi's

Spring Break 2018

Each year we plan a couple of big family vacations, usually a ski trip and a beach trip.  However, this year we splurged on a Disney trip with the Bantas over Thanksgiving, a ski trip and a beach trip with the Mizeranys.  However, as Spring Break approached and we realized that many of our friends were going to be at the beach (or elsewhere), we started looking into last minute rentals.  We found a great little house that had just entered the rental market AND it allowed dogs!

So we last minute, packed up the car, loaded the bikes and drove south.  The house was perfect for our family.  It was a 3 bedroom/2 bath house in a small private neighborhood.  It was on a circle, so the kids loved bike riding around, in fact, we were determined to get Walker up on two wheels and he succeeded!  We shared a beach access with the Siegel's, and the Smiths were just two miles down the road.  We saw friends daily, yet had the perfect amount of family time.

Walker loves playing with fish!

During our time at the beach, we enjoyed lazy mornings, bike riding, playing football and wiffle ball on the beach, hunting for crabs, fishing, swimming in the ponds and pools, playing with friends, eating lots of fresh seafood and overall just fun times on the beach!  Sadly the ocean was a little too rough and cold for us this year, but that didn't stop us from having another memorable time!

Until next time....30A

Lots of sass from B and Kate

Even Sara surprised us with a visit one day!

Touch Football (before the parents challenged the kids to a wiffle ball game)

Kid's table at Stinky's

Parent's table for Fletcher's 40th Birthday!

Party of Five in Park City

3 excited kiddos!

For the past several years, Steve and I have been taking the big kids skiing. The first year we hit Big Sky Montana.  Though we put them in group lessons, they ended up being by themselves most days, and therefore learned a lot.  The last two years, we skied at Park City.  Preston is still our risk taker, and always pushing himself, while Bennett is more cautious and timid.  However, they both have continued to thrive, and are getting better each year.

Since Walker is now four years old, and potty trained, we knew it was time to bring him along.  Staying on the mountain was very important for us, and being near to ski school since he would be taking lessons daily.  After lots of research, we decided to stay on the other side of the huge Park City Mountain....at The Canyons.  We found a ski-in/ski-out that worked perfectly for our family.  We booked it, and began restocking our gear since everyone outgrew their gear from last year.

All smiles as he watches his namesake movie "Boss Baby"

Our trip to Utah was Walker's first airplane ride too, so he was doubly excited!  Bennett and Pres were just as happy for him, and both insisted on sitting next to him on the way there, while Steve and I sat behind them.  It worked well for everyone!  Once we arrived, we waited for our uber, and got ourselves checked into our condo, hit the grocery store and picked up our skis.

The kids were anxious to hit the hot tub and pool, so we did that too.  Of course, it didn't take long for Walker to set up his "office" in our condo.  The boy brought some of his essentials and took over the kitchen table.

Walker's Office (AKA our kitchen table)

The morning of our first day on the slopes, Pres and Bennett were up early and dressed and outside before we could even get Walker and ourselves ready.  We finally got all three kids to ski school, and were able to enjoy several runs before the coldness set in.  By mid morning, our fingers and toes were numb, so we headed in early to get hand and toe warmers and defrost our extremities.

We finally warmed up enough to head back out and ski the rest of the afternoon, but we learned our lesson for the rest of the week....it is COLD!  By 3pm, we were ready to get the kids and hear about their days.  Everyone was cold and ready to hit the hot tub, so we called it.

Day 2 went a little bit better.  We were all ready about the same time, and at ski school on time with warmers in our boots and gloves.  Walker asked to skip ski school, but reluctantly went without tears when it was time.  Steve and I skied a lot more terrain this day and got more vertical feet than the previous day.  However, we were a little chilly and ready for our delicious lunch at Lookout Cabin.  Nothing better than an adult beverage (or two) to warm you up.

We hit the slopes hard in the afternoon before collecting the kids.  Bennett and Walker were ready to go back, but Preston was dying to get another couple runs in, so we went out together.

Pres and I came back and were ready to join everyone else in the hot tub.  Kids always have a ball jumping back and forth between the heated pool and hot tub, and we always meet someone fun to chat with about our days.  Kids had another great day on the slopes, but Walker still hadn't left the magic carpet.  His instructor told us that she would be taking him up on the gondola the following morning, and was confident that he could maneuver a lift so we felt optimistic about day 3.

Warm and happy after lunch!

What a difference a day makes!  Day 3 was great for everyone!  The four of us skied together all day, and had a great day, with the exception of one error on my part.  While on a chair lift, I took off one of my gloves to adjust Preston's gator and forgot my pole was on my wrist, which fell off when I took off my glove.  Sadly I dropped my pole....into a bunch of trees, on a double black run.  I reported it to ski patrol, but they couldn't find it, so I was determined to go after it myself.  Preston skied down with me, and we found it!  We had been a little cold, but after going down the run and working hard to dodge the trees, we worked up a sweat.  As the day started to wrap up, we ran into Walker and were thrilled to see him going down a green run.  He loved showing off, and was determined to ski with all of us.  We rode up a lift with him, as he spouted off the rules of riding a chair lift (lean back, ski tips up, safety bar down, etc.)....it was great!

All of our babies can ski!!!

That night, we went out to dinner to celebrate!  After a long day of skiing, some pool/hot tub time and shower, we knew Walker wouldn't last long. We walked to a nearby place, quickly ordered, and shortly after dinner, he fell asleep in my arms.  He completely missed the ice cream that he so desperately wanted.

We tried to milk our final day on the slopes....skiing as much as we could, and grabbing Walker promptly at 3pm.  His instructor told us that he did great and was moved up to a high level 3.  He quickly gained his confidence, and did fantastic.  He did great keeping his skis fairly parallel and kept a pretty good speed going down.

Now that everyone is finally skiing, I already can't wait for our next ski trip.  So until next time...