4th of July in Homewood

After spending a long weekend at Smith Lake with the Bantas, we came home midday on July 4th to celebrate the holiday at home.  We went to a friend's house for a little party, and then walked into downtown Homewood to watch the fireworks.  We all had fun hanging with neighbors, and the kids had a blast with all of their friends.  Nothing better than home sweet Homewood, and the memories that these kids are making.

4th of July at Smith Lake

As we have the past couple of years, we spent the 4th of July holiday at Smith Lake with Brian and Shannon.  Since the 4th was on a Wednesday, we opted to go up the first half of the week.  Brian took Christian, Pres and Lucy up Friday morning so they could get lots of skiing in without everyone else distracting them.  Preston loves hanging with Christian, learning as much as he can from him and trying as hard as he can to be as good as him on the water,  The rest of us arrived on Saturday morning.

We immediately went out and did some tubing, surfing and wakeboarding....a little bit of everything. Walker got to help Uncle Brian drive the boat, and the other kids all jumped off the infamous rock.  We met up with lots of friends (Bill and Chrissi Cook, Reed and Melanie Nitto and others from Silverock Cove).  The weather was great, and everyone had a great first day together.

Sunday morning, we got up and headed to Trident Marina to try something new...Flyboarding!  There is a 60 lb weight requirement, so everyone wanted to try it (except Lucy and Walker), but the guy was running late, so we ultimately let the 4 big kids do it along with Brian and me.  They instructed us to ride it like a hoverboard, keeping our legs straight when we get pushed out of the water, and steering with our toes.  It was a lot of fun, and an awesome treat!  Though we all tried to outdo each other and get higher, Bennett and Christian probably did the best.  I think Pres and Henley were a little light.

Christian getting some major height!

Cutest group of cousins!

In between boating, we had lots of fun at the pool, around the house and swimming off the boat docks
on floats.  Since it was a holiday week, the lake was a little crazy with inexperienced boaters, so we took multiple breaks.  The kids did not seem to mind though, they just enjoy their time together.

As always, Brian, Reed and other neighbors put
on a great fireworks show on July 3rd.  Beck and Walker were a little afraid of the noise, so we watched from the porch, but it was pretty amazing display for a group of individuals.

Thank you Brian and Shannon for another memorable time at the lake!

Happy 4 1/2 Birthday!!!

Poor Walker has a birthday five days after Christmas.  It hasn't really been a big deal, but he is getting to the age where he is more aware of his surroundings.  In addition, he has been invited to many birthday parties this past year.  The combination of these two things had him asking multiple times a week when he was going to have his own birthday party.  It is amazing how busy we are during the school year, so as his half birthday was approaching, I realized I had to just plan it.

Since Walker loves all things art, I decided to go with a painting party.  This was something I did years ago for Bennett, but we put a twist on it for our little guy.  Thankful for Pinterest and a helpful big sister that helped me plan and throw the party.

The week of his party, Walker went with me to Hobby Lobby to get all of the supplies for his birthday.  He was super excited for multiple friends to come over at the same time, and to open presents.  Overall, I was pleased with how it turned out, and all of the kids had a blast!  It was much hotter than I wanted it to be, but at least it wasn't raining.

variety of colored plates, napkins and forks

our attempt at "paintbrushes"

Let the painting begin!

Our little Picasso

A trampoline and a sprinkler - so much fun!

Making a wish for more birthday parties!

Preston was at camp :(

As all of the kids were leaving, Walker snuck upstairs and tore into all of his presents without us.  He opened them all up and laid them out on a sofa.  He was super excited!  What a fun morning celebrating my favorite 4.5 year old!

All Star Baseball - Homewood White

Travis Heathcock, Jackson Robichaud, Luke Serotsky, Pres, Collier Hicks, James Blackstone

Boone Aycock, Bennett Nix, Matt Humphrey, Jonny Dabney and Collin Crump

The All-Star season overlaps with spring season, so Preston practiced with both teams for about a month.  When they first started playing, they played against the other 5 teams in their division and did fairly well, only lost two games to the same team.  The coaches moved the boys around in the batting order, and positions, but Preston usually batted near the top, and played middle infield or pitched.  He had a super sweet team, with fun parents.  All of the boys prayed before every game, and the moms prayed over the boys and coaches each game....which I just loved.

Great inning boys!

Got the game ball after pitching and playing well!

Uncle Brian, Henley and Nene came to watch!

Preston's stylist shaved his numbers

James Blackstone, Preston and Luke Serotsky

When the first tournament started, we expected the boys to do pretty well, as we were tied for first place.  The received a bye for the first set of games, but sadly lost their first game to the other #1 team which moved to the boys to the loser bracket.  We thought that they would get an opportunity to play in the championship because they were playing teams that they had easily beat all season, but they fell apart and got knocked out.

They practiced a couple more times, and entered their final tournament "The World Series."  Teams from all around entered.  On the first day, the boys went down for some drills, and to see the facilities (it was hosted by a ballpark in Calera).

Jenny Crump, one of the moms, made each boy a monogrammed towel that they can put pins on, or use to wipe sweat.  The boys loved them!

The following day the tournament began.  Their first game was at 12:30, which

they tied.  They had an 1.5 hour break, and then played their second game, which they lost.  They were tired after playing in 90 degree heat and just hanging out for so long.  Bennett managed to stay back with a friend, but Walker came along.  He did surprisingly well playing with siblings.

Getting sprayed with a mister, and loving every minute of it!

Most supportive Daddy!

Saturday morning, Steve rode back out there with Preston to start the actual tournament.  All of the teams were ranked after the pool play games the day before, and it was a double elimination tourney.  The boys played their hardest, but they sadly lost the first game by one run.  Since their next game wasn't scheduled until 5:45PM, Steve and Preston came back home for lunch and to rest in the air conditioning for a bit.  They rode back out for the next game, and were optimistic.  Sadly the afternoon games were delayed due to extra innings and lightening delays, and they didn't start until 7:30!  The played their hearts out, and Preston pitched and made a double play one inning, but they ultimately lost by one run again in double overtime (they played two extra innings).  It was a long day, and Steve and Preston were both exhausted when they walked in the door at 10:30.

Though we hated to see the boys go out the way they did, we are happy to have our summer back.