Updating

Wow, where did July go? I literally feel like the 4th of July was a couple of days ago. Pretty accurate reflection of this summer- it's come and almost gone in a fast, hot fury. Of course our schedule doesn't change much during the summer, so it's not as dramatic as a lot of families. Work is a little more relaxed for Chris right now, but not really enough to make much difference. And mine hasn't changed at all, except maybe getting a little busier! Now that the kids are getting older I'm sure it will feel more like a true summer after a year of hard work in school, but for now it's mostly just hotter! But we've still enjoyed the longer nights, taking long walks as a family with the kids in the wagon and doing summery things like swimming.

So I really haven't done well in keeping with the current updates. A lot happened there at the end of June/beginning of July and I fell behind. Bad blogging mother :( I'm taking this time to post some pics of the 4th of July because we got such cute ones. We had a somewhat relaxed holiday, hanging out at the church party that we got kicked out of (as in, the entire church got kicked out of the pool) and then we stayed at the house the rest of the day. We got sparklers for the kids, and we had Rachel with us as well. We just let them play in the sprinklers until it got dark and busted out the sparklers. Much to everyone's dismay, the city fireworks got cancelled due to high winds, but not until we sat out in the front yard forever waiting for them. Oh well!

Another event that took place at the end of June was Addison's end of season baseball tournament. Don't have many pics to post of that one, and I haven't sorted through the shaky, crazy video snippets I took.... maybe one day. But let me tell you, that day decided for us that we will not be going with that league again next year if Addison plays baseball. The entire event was a little ridiculous. First of all, it was over 100 degrees outside because we got such a late start to the season. Bad decision number one. The kids played the first game against a team that had a coach that drove us all nuts, so we really wanted to beat them. That was one of the craziest games I've ever been to, and these kids are only 5/6! Addison was shining, getting a good solid hit every time he came up to bat that game. Three times, I believe. Well, that game went into extra innings because it was so close, and we managed to pull out with a victory at the last second. Unfortunately because of the rigorous schedule they made, the kids immediately went into game two. With no break. In 100 degree weather. Bad decision number two. We were so concerned about those little guys out there. Every time they went to the dug out, we were draping them with wet towels, giving them water and fruit, and everything else we could possibly do to keep them cool and well. A little nerve racking as a parent when you're melting yourself and watching your child running around, dragging his feet trying his best to weather the weather. Well, this little team we played had the league president as the coach. And they were conveniently placed in the bracket to be fresh and ready to play us. League president coaching a team = can we say conflict of interest?? And the game continued with some shady calls and some poor attitudes on their end. In another gut wrenching game (and now concerned about everyone's health on top of everything) we went into extra innings again. I guarantee if our kids hadn't of played a game right before with no break, we would have killed them. Sadly, in the second extra inning we lost. But honestly, we were all so relieved to get them out of the heat for a break I don't think anyone cared much. Even coach Darrick wasn't feeling well and was unable to pitch for the third game. We had an hour break to regroup and then played the team we played in the first game. They pretty much had nothing left. And we lost. And those two teams went on to play each other in the championship, with the league president's team winning the whole thing. But we were just happy to get out of the heat after that very long, draining, emotional day! I was totally the crazy sports mom, yelling and screaming and getting my heart rate up to ungodly levels. I can see why people get nuts when their kids play sports! It was fun in the beginning, but like I said, the heat was so bad and dangerous I lost my pep and just wanted to be done. But Addison did smashingly well, and he ended up batting like 7 for 9. He went out with a bang!

Whew- that was a mouthful. Sorry so long, but I wanted to relay some of that crazy day. You had to be there though, I guess. My goal is to actually get past just blogging for event updates and get more of the every day life little things.... maybe I'll get that goal one day. As soon as these days stop slipping through my fingers. Ha! Well, peace out from the Pate house. I leave you with pictures.

(capturing the heat of the moment- literally)

posing with the tournament trophy