Little Ballers

The girls' softball league all got to attend a Cardinals game for "BAA Night". Kiersten's team didn't attend, so we got tickets with Evie's team. 

They got to do a little parade on the field. That was very exciting for the kids. 

Kiersten found a buddy at the game, so we let her go sit by her. They had a good time being silly. 

Evie's coach got Cracker Jacks for all the girls. That was Evie's favorite part. 

It was a nice night for a game, though fairly warm. 

We have a good time up in the 400s. 

We left early so the kids could get to bed, but it was a fun game. 

Let's Do Summer

The last day of school really snuck up on us this year. I'm sure it had some to do with the craziness of Kiersten breaking her arm, and getting the cast, etc.

She was in no mood for a silly picture, but Kara was surprisingly willing for a change. 

Kara even asked me to do her hair, which is very unusual for her. 

We moms ended up waiting for quite a while for the bus to arrive. The first time it came by, the high schoolers got off. I'll admit, I was tempted to spray them with silly string. 

The driver hustled back to get the elementary kids, and they were there before we knew it. It was a warm day, so I was surprised to see Evie wearing her sweater. She said she was worried about leaving it on the bus like she did with her rain coat on the final day last year. 

We had a great time spraying them with silly string. 

The best part is making the kids clean it all up. 

Happy kiddos!

We'll miss the 5th graders next year when they are super mature middle schoolers who don't need their moms at the bus stop. Sniff. 

We headed over to the park for the end of school celebration. We were first in line for the ice cream truck. The bad news, was he didn't have change for $20, so I had to wait til enough people bought ice cream for me to get my change. But it was a nice chance to chat with some of the other moms in line that I hadn't seen for a while. 

The kids ran amok and had a great time. 

Kiersten sat poutily under a tree since I warned her not to let her cast get wet. Her friends were not willing to let her sit there alone and surrounded her with love and laughs within minutes. She cheered right up. I love when kids do sweet things for each other without parents prompting them. 

Of course all the yummy food keeps them all coming back to the pavilion. I only saw Kara when she was back for treats. The 5th graders had a gathering happening on the upper soccer field.

Sleepover

The girls were all asking to have friends sleep over toward the end of the school year. I finally decided to let Kara and Evie each invite a few friends on the same evening that Kiersten was going to sleep over at her friends house. We all went to the pool to play, and brought our super cool new rainbow unicorn for the kids to play with. It was very popular, as you can fit several kids on there at once. 

After the pool, the girls had a water balloon fight, and then Ben got a fire going. We made smores, and the little girls decided to tell scary stories. The stories were mostly funny, but they were all very nice about pretending to be scared of each other's stories. 

The big girls were not into the scary stories, but definitely into roasting marshmallows. They also hung out in the hot tub for a while. 

Ben taught the kids how to play kick the can. They liked it a lot more than I expected and played for hours. It's a miracle no one got hurt in the dark on that slippery hill. 

The littles gave up on kick the can as it got darker, so we sang some campfire songs together. 

In the morning, they were all right back in the hot tub. It was a really nice morning, so I sat out there and fetched them water bottles and towels. 

After breakfast, they played kick the can again. It is nice to see that they can be entertained without any electronics involved. 

It was a fun morning, and a successful sleep over. There were a few bugs that got into the basement when the door was left open repeatedly, so that caused a bit of a stir for about 20 minutes. Luckily, Kara is a bug whisperer/appreciator and saved them all before they could be frantically smashed by the other girls. 

Kiersten fell off her bike the Monday before school got out. She was riding home from playing with the neighbors right on time, like such a good girl. Right as she was turning into the driveway across from our house, her front tire clipped a mailbox, and she launched right into the street. I was helping Evie with sidewalk chalk, so I got to witness the whole thing in slow motion. She screamed and was hysterically crying, but calmed down as soon as I helped her up, so I thought she was not too badly hurt. There was actually a delay between her hitting the ground and screaming, so I thought maybe it was just the blood that was upsetting her. I was more concerned about her head, because I saw her helmet hit the cement. I took her into the house to get cleaned up while Kara got her bike, and Evie cleaned up the chalk. As I was cleaning the scrapes, I noticed her arm was sort of bending in the wrong place, so I grabbed Evie and Kiersten and headed straight to the ER. I left Kara home since she was about to be picked up by her carpool for Tae Kwon Do. She didn't cry again, but did complain that it was hurting. 

The girls were very good at the ER, and they got pillow cases to decorate with markers. After the X-ray confirmed she had broken both bones in her arm, she got pretty sad. All she could think about was missing out on fencing, softball, and swim. They were able to set her arm with just laughing gas, and Ben showed up to take Evie home right before they started the gas. I was glad to send Evie on her way. The nurse warned me that even though the laughing gas would make it easier on her, and she likely wouldn't remember, she would probably cry and scream when they set the bone. I thought about leaving the room, but ended up staying because she wanted to be able to see me. I was surprised when they said it was done. She did not make a peep or really even flinch. It seemed to bother her more when they cleaned all of her scrapes. The NP told her he should have taken a video of her to show all the teen boys who cry and thrash when they break their bones. She was pleased to hear that. The only thing she remembered afterward was the pediatrician saying his name was Dr. Donut. 

She was looking pale, and feeling tired, so they gave her a popsicle and a sprite before sending us home.