Last Half of June

Because of the once-every-two-decades snow storms we got this past December, our children were in school until June 17th. We were going to try and have a family camping trip in June but the month went by in a flash.

**Since the end of March we had been extremely busy with T-ball and baseball. Jake made it onto a competitive team that traveled for games as far as Keizur and McMinnville and it made life interesting for us this spring. I don't even have any pictures of Cooper playing T-ball (but we do have stuff on the video camera lest you think I'm a despicable mother). He had a great coach with several buddies on his team and I know Coop had a fun time. He's not a bad player either!

Jake earned the opportunity of being one of the pitchers for his team. He's never pitched before and actually did pretty well for his first time. We are very proud of him for all of the fielding and batting he did. He played 2nd base, 3rd base, catcher, pitcher, and outfield and a few homeruns! He had some awesome wins and some crushing loses. So it was a wonderful learning opportunity. Jake wishes he could have the same coaches. I think that's a great sign. At this age the kids are placed by ability, not by coach or player request. Considering all that went into this season of higher level playing, I think it was managed well and I credit the coaches with most of that.




**The Friday and Saturday of Father's Day weekend, Jared and Jake went on their long awaited fishing charter together on the Columbia River in the Hermiston area. Jake could have gone last year, but lost it due to his behavior. I'm not sure who was more upset over losing the trip, Jared or Jake. Jared said he was going this year with or without Jake, but Jake had, overall, a MUCH better year. This trip also included their buddies, the Baldwins. Ironically, I think Jared was the only one who didn't catch a fish. :)








**This is our cat, Madras, A.K.A. the water and fish snob. She prefers water in her bowl out of the fridge or drinking it directly from the tap herself. Here she's turning her nose up at *gasp* fresh, Alaskan halibut!!


**The climbing continues. Calvin is a monkey minus the tail. He is my WORST climber.




I mean, really...what GOOD is a high chair with a buckle if it doesn't keep your kid in place??


One day, I found this...


He had climbed out of his high chair, ONTO the counter and FOUND my plate of cookies I had wrapped and set aside for some neighbors. (Nice crusty glare, Kid). *sigh* We've nicknamed him Houdini. I literally cannot turn my head for 10 seconds. He's climbing everything. We have to put the chairs at the bar and small table up on the counter and table so he will stay down by default with nothing to climb. Except that there are still couches and slides and bunkbeds and the dining room table and chairs. So far, no stitches. Knock on wood!