Austin's Golf Clinic

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa John, Austin was able to participate in a free golf clinic this summer. I say thanks to Grandma and Grandpa because the clinic was right at the same time as Avery's soccer camp and Addie's swimming lessons so there was no way I could have gotten him there. The clinic was three days, so each night we would take Austin over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to spend the night and they would take him and his cousin Tanner up to the golf course. I snuck up there on the last day in between soccer camp and swimming lessons to get a picture of Austin. They were still listening to their instructor at this time. I couldn't stick around long enough to see him take some swings because I had to hurry on to Addie's swimming.

Here is Brandon, the assistant golf pro, talking to the kids about golf. Austin really learned a lot and when I would pick him up after Addie's swimming he would always go outside with practice balls and show me what he could do. He has a pretty good swing! One day I asked him how golf was going and he told me that he did good cause he hit the ball over the fence. Well, it must have been a good swing because the fence is high, however it also must have gone sideways so I'm not sure how good it really was! But I was glad that he had fun and was excited about learning. This is a sport he and his dad can always play together!

Competitive Soccer Camp

Last week Avery participated in the Competitive Soccer Camp. It was a great opportunity for her to gain new skills from some of the great coaches in town.

Two of the days it was raining, but luckily our school built an indoor practice field this past year so they were still able to have their camp.

Avery had soccer camp Monday thru Thursday from 9:00am-11:00am, soccer practice Tuesday and Thursday from 7pm-8pm and then participated in another soccer 3v3 all day Saturday playing 6 games. I stayed home from this tournament and sent Randy so I didn't get any pictures from that. Needless to say, soccer has been a big part of our summer!

Here is Avery with some of her friends, Liza and Peyton, who were with her at soccer camp and at the tournament on Saturday. She has made lots of great friends this summer and has really improved her soccer skills too!

Kick it 3v3 Soccer Tour

Avery played in a 3v3 tournament this past weekend. This was her first tournament in Tulsa, and we weren't sure what to expect. We did know it was going to be SUPER hot and humid and that we would be there all day. In preparation for that, my mom kept Addie and Ashton and Randy's parents kept Austin. When we got there we were a little taken back by how many people were there! The field was in the middle of a neighborhood and the parking lot was full with the streets full of cars on both sides! It was madness, I would have hated to live in that neighborhood! We took two Bartlesville teams in Avery's age group. Randy coached Avery's team which consisted of Keeleigh, Margaret, Kalyn, Avery and Kiera.

We were guaranteed 4 games. They were played in 12 min. halves on small goals. Randy made sure and explained the rules to me because he was afraid I would start yelling at the referees. He knows me way too well! The first game we won 7-4, the second game we lost 3-5, third game we won 4-2, and the last game we tied 2-2. Avery played amazing! It's a very fast pace game and she didn't hold anything back.

They made it into the championship round which guarantees you two more games. The first game they lost 2-4 on some pretty bad calls, and the second one they won 8-1. So in the end, they got 5th place. Our other Bartlesville team got 2nd place. It was fun because we cheered them on while they played and they cheered us on while we played. I really enjoyed being able to just sit and watch Avery, not worrying about where the other kids were. Did I mention how hot it was... I was especially glad that I didn't have kids climbing on me and making it even hotter!

Avery had a BLAST! She enjoyed getting to know some of the girls from the other Bartlesville teams that she usually just plays against. Between games they hung out with each other, making some great friendships. Even though she was so worn out afterwards, she said she wanted to do it again! Good thing, because this week she has soccer camp and another tournament next weekend! Stay tuned!

Coach Pitch

Austin's Coach Pitch season has finally come to an end! It started off rough... this was the first season that Austin had to try-out for. This was not to get on a team but mainly to split the talent up so the teams were fair. Try-outs were in the middle of a basketball tournament here in town that Randy was helping out with so I had to take Austin to the try-outs. Austin was so far out of his comfort zone and I was doing everything I could to get him to go out there and hit a few balls for the men. I think he saw all the men and boys and didn't want to go out there with his mom. I got him out of the car twice only for him to go running back to the van. After an hour of this and him ending up under the back seat of the van, I finally had to call Randy for reinforcements. Randy got there, Austin got right up from under the seat and went out there with him to hit some balls! That's when I knew this was Randy and Austin's sport!

After the teams were formed, Randy was asked to coach the team Austin was placed on. We went back and forth on this decision, but ended up saying yes. We knew Austin would feel much more comfortable with Randy up there pitching to him. Austin had a great season- rarely did he not get on base. The team, however, taught Randy a good lesson on patience! Not exactly the team Randy would have recruited had he been the coach from the beginning... but they did win their very last game! At least it ended on a good note and Austin never complained about not winning. In fact, he never complained about baseball overlapping with soccer or soccer camp! I was very proud of him for that!

Austin looked so handsome in his baseball uniform!! It reminded me of watching Randy in high school and college in his baseball uniform! I never got sick of watching him play and I'm sure it will be the same with Austin. Baseball is a relaxing sport to me. Luckily we are all baseball fans in our family. The girls loved going to watch Austin play too. They also loved going to the concession stand!

As I mentioned, Randy was the coach and pitched to our team. He did a great job of reading where the kids where swinging and aiming right at their bats! Especially those kids that would just swing at the air! I think Randy and Austin grew a lot closer through this season. They would go out and practice together and of course spent a lot of time together in the car and in the dug-out. The other day Austin was debating on spending the night at a friends house. I told him if he stayed home he would only have girls to play with cause there weren't any boys in our house. Then he said, "if I go, then I won't have dad to play with." Awww, melted mine and Randy's heart! I'm so glad that Austin has such a great dad that spends time with him, lifts him up, and is a person Austin wants to hang out with! Thanks for being such a great dad, Randy!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great, relaxing Memorial Day weekend, but sadly I forgot my camera everytime we went anywhere! I did take a couple of pictures of Ashton with goggles on with my camera phone that weekend, so that's the picture we will be looking at as I talk about our weekend! Plus she's so stinkin' cute in those goggles! Our friends, Russ and Emilie went up to the lake for the weekend and offered their pool for us to use while they were gone. We took FULL advantage of this opportunity! We swam the WHOLE weekend! We have some new friends from Utah that just moved down here, the Hansen's, who we invited to swim... and our friend Tyler joined us with his youngest two for one of our swimming sessions. The kids all had a blast and even though we were there for hours every day, we still had to take them away kicking and screaming! My brother and sister-in-law, Jordan and Jen, also came into town for the holiday weekend and we took them swimming too.

On Monday we had a cook-out over the John's and then went over to the Ahlert's house for another cook-out and yup, more SWIMMING with Tami and Clint, Tyler and Amanda, Lori and Jeff. Wow! What a great weekend! Some people use this holiday for home improvement... but we used this weekend for rest and relaxation!

Bruin Soccer Camp

Austin attended the Bruin soccer camp this year. I was a little nervous as it was Tuesday-Friday from 8:30am-11:00am and I thought I would have to make him go after the first couple of days. Boy did he surprise me! He would be the first one up in the morning, eat his breakfast, brush his teeth and get all ready without me having to ask. Not only was he doing soccer camp but he is still in the middle of his baseball season, so I was super impressed.

I kept asking Austin how camp was going and he would always have one word for me-"good". I didn't get much more out of him than that! The Junior Varsity and Varsity players were the coaches of the camp. The last day they scrimmaged. Here is Austin going up against one of his coaches.

He did tell me that they learned the "Ole'" song and sang it at the end of each day... I think. I know he had a good time and it was good for him to get out there and play with guys he hadn't played with before. He did know alot of the kids at camp, not that he would inform me as to who they were... boys are so different than girls!

One of Austin's friends that I do know and knew would be at camp was Mack. Austin gets nervous to start something new so I told him Mack would be there and that was enough to get him out to the field. Luckily for me they were in the same class. I'm sure that was one of the reasons he never complained about going!

Trampoline + Water = Summer Fun!

May has been a pretty hot month! I hope that doesn't mean it's only going to get worse for our July and August months! But there is one way we like to stay cool in the summer... the good ole' sprinkler under the trampoline!

Avery is showing us her water hose dance! This was one of my favorite things to do in the summer time when I was growing up and it just never seems to get old! In fact I have to set a timer or else they would stay out there for hours with the water running!

This picture cracks me up... Avery looks like she's ready to climb on Austin's back! Looks like she stole someone's bounce!

And I had to take a picture of my little spectator. She really wanted to get up on the tramp, so much so that I had to put her swimsuit on. But anytime I got her close to the trampoline she refused. She likes to jump by herself still and there were a few too many crazy monkeys jumping today!