Baseball Season

Baseball season was a lot of fun this year. We had the kids play for the Mascoutah Khoury League which is a great league for them to play in. The coaches were really good and it's in a small town near our house, so it has the small town feel with the people you meet. 

 Fredbird came out for picture day! He's very funny and had the kids laughing the whole time.

 Audrey wasn't normally dressed in curls for her games. It just so happened that she had her dance dress rehearsal the same day as a game. I think she really enjoyed looking like a princess while playing softball.

Ethan's game improved dramatically this year. He was one of the best players on the team. Right now he is all baseball all the time. He's practically memorized all the stats on his baseball cards and he has quite a few. He definitely knows all the players, who they play for and what position the play. 

Jacob's games were on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Ethan and Audrey would often get bored at the games and find a way to occupy themselves. They found dirt to be the best remedy for boredom and often required baths when we got home.

 They were so proud of their accumulation of dirt. This picture doesn't show it as well as it could, but they are covered from top to bottom. They spent quite a bit of time throwing the dirt up in the air so it could land on top of them.

Below was a typical scene from Audrey. I think her goal was to see how dirty she could get. It was trying on Doug's and my patience to watch, but she was having so much fun it didn't seem right to stop her from this simple enjoyment. And let's face it, it's way better than putting a phone in her face so she could play some games. 

CARDINAL'S KIDS CAMP

Jacob and Ethan went to a Cardinal's Kids Camp and guess who was there...Fredbird! How many kids get to get a picture with him twice in one year.

     

 Jacob worked so hard at baseball this year and it showed. Like Ethan, he improved dramatically from last year. We were very proud of him and loved seeing his determination to do well.

CARDINAL'S NIGHT AT BUSCH STADIUM

The Khoury League has a night at Busch Stadium each year. The kids got to walk around the perimeter of the field with their teams. However, since no one from Ethan's team showed up he walked with Jacob's team. Afterwards we had tickets to see them play the White Sox.

 

                         

Indoor Soccer

I realized on their last day of indoor soccer, which was March 10th, that I had not taken any pictures for the whole season. Audrey played in the first 8 week session and Jacob and Ethan played in both the first and second 8 week session. The boys improved over the 16 weeks and we can't wait to see them play again in the fall. 

Game 6 of the World Series

Little did we know when this picture was taken that we were about ready to go to, quite possibly, one of the best baseball games in history.

Our night started off with Doug coming through with a babysitter for us. Then, we rode the train into town and had something to eat at Joe Buck's restaurant.

 The shear fact that it was a World Series game was enough to make it exciting to be there, but as we headed into the final innings things really started to heat up.

There weren't too many empty seats at the Bush Stadium that night. But, believe it or not, there was a couple sitting two rows in front of us that left after the bottom of the seventh inning. The 8th to 11th innings were the most exciting innings anyone could ever be a part of.

 These rally towels should have been called stress towels for this game. I know I was wrapping it around my hand because the game was so intense.

For the final game of the World Series we stayed at home with the kids. It was a fun time as a family!

Soccer Season

The kids started their practices the beginning of August and have already had two weekends of games. The are all very excited to play this year and are doing really well. It's so much fun to watch them, but the schedule is a bit exhausting. Their soccer practices are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Then three games on Saturdays and an occasional Sunday game. Ethan was the last one to get his jersey and we told him he should get  number 4 too. Although, he said he wanted 11, but he ended up with number 10 instead. But, he's happy with 10 since it's close to 11.

June Soccer Camps

June was a crazy month for soccer camps. Bell Clair Soccer League is an outstanding league ran by Dave Fernandez and he held three soccer camps in the evenings broken up by age groups. So, Audrey was in the first camp, Ethan was in the second camp and Jacob was in the third camp. It was a huge commitment on our part to spend every evening, three week in a row at their soccer camps, but we felt it was worth it and the kids had a great time!

 

Let's Go Out to the Ballpark

The kids played on the Scott Air Force Base league this year. The coaches were great and they had a lot of fun playing. We saw a huge improvement with Jacob and Ethan. It was their second year playing. Jacob has also caught the baseball itch. He asked if he could go to a baseball camp now that the season is over. This year was Audrey's first year and she did quite well. She also really enjoyed using her pink hat and bat. 

Last Soccer Games of the Season

It was a great season!

The kids loved playing and we can't wait until next year since Audrey will be playing too!

Ethan's Soccer Game

Ethan's had a slow start with soccer. He seemed to be content to not try and get the ball. However, we've seen a huge improvement during the season and it's so fun cheering him on. He's even made a goal at a few of his games.

Indoor Soccer

I admit it...we're nuts! Doug signed us up for and indoor soccer league that plays on Friday nights. I didn't think much of it, but I've been surprised at how much fun it's been since I haven't played for 20 years. During our second game I had one assist and one goal. Doug had to miss that game, but he was proud of me and it was great to hear his excitement when I told him.  

We had to take a picture of this since we are both 39 years old right now!

Ethan and Jacob's First Soccer Game

This was Ethan's very first soccer game and it was very exciting to see him play. Doug is helping to coach his team this year, which wasn't something he was planning on doing, but its worked out pretty well.

The soccer league here is lightyears ahead of the league Jacob played on in Washington. He's also on a really great team with some strong players which is pushing him to do better. I'm really excited to see where he will be at the end of the season.

Ethan and Jacob's last baseball games

It was a good year of baseball, but it was nice to see it come to an end since we were ready to have our Sunday evenings back. However, their last games were extra special because Doug's parents were there.