365 ~ 2016: Day 182

When trying to figure out what to do today, it was decided that we didn't really want to do the amusement park day trip, since the boys had to be back in town for their swimming lessons.  So I had suggested a trip north.  I have been wanting to cross off a breakfast place in Sugar Hill off my "Good Eats" bucket list and so we trekked the hour and 15 minutes to try the pancakes at Polly's Pancake Parlor.  The breakfast was good, but I would not say it's the "best I ever had".  I guess if I were every up in the Sugar Hill area again, I would venture to have some pancakes, but I don't think I'll be itching to get back anytime soon.  I admit that I have been spoiled by my local favorite, Tucker's and the bar is set very high.  On our way back south, we decided to sign the boys up for a ropes course tour at Alpine Adventures in Lincoln, NH.  They had lots of fun and I was most impressed by the littlest, who overcame his fear of the zipline and did it!  I think now that they know what to expect, they'll be itching to do it again sometime!  Evan Dad got in on the fun and managed to complete all 3 levels (the kids were not old enough for level 3)!  We finished the day with swimming lessons, dinner, and then some mini-golf and ice cream at Chuckster's!  I love STAYCATION!

365 ~ 2016: Day 181

It's our annual Staycation week, but with the weather being kind of meh, and some scheduled appointments and activities, we have had a hard time figuring out what to do.  With the weather up in the air again today, we decided to take the boys to the SEE Science Museum and then to jump around at the trampoline park.  We finished the day by picking up some delicious Indian cuisine at a place I found on Yelp with excellent reviews.  It did not disappoint!  Tomorrow the weather looks much better so we'll likely head north for an adventure at the Polar Caves or Lost River.

365 ~ 2016: Day 180

The boys will be swimming with the Blue Dolphins Swim Team this summer.  Tonight was their first practice!

365 ~ 2016: Day 179

Birds: Round 2 - There are 3 more newly hatched babies in the nest.

365 ~ 2016: Day 178

It was a breakfast on the porch kind of Sunday morning!

365 ~ 2016: Day 177

Had a lovely visit today from our NY Family!

365 ~ 2016: Day 176

Looking sharp with their new hair!

365 ~ 2016: Day 175

This kid is determined to be a top reader for his grade this summer!  I am just happy to see him even wanting to read, and even more excited that he is enjoying the book that I picked out for him to read this summer!

365 ~ 2016: Day 174

Summertime blues...

365 ~ 2016: Day 173

Checking things off the summer bucket list one activity at a time!  Today was strawberry picking!

365 ~ 2016: Day 172

We survived the first day of summer!

365 ~ 2016: Day 171

My boys are the luckiest!  Happy Father's Day!

365 ~ 2016: Day 170

The AA Champions - Capital Sporting Goods!  Shaun had a blast playing baseball with his friends and it was cool to see him try some new things and in the last few games his throwing improved. Walking away with his first trophy was icing on the cake!

365 ~ 2016: Day 169

School's out for summer!

365 ~ 2016: Day 168

It was Move Up Day for Evan!  Today he had the chance to meet his first grade teacher, see his new classroom and meet his new classmates.  However, since this Move Up happens during the morning, it meant that his day looked a little different.  Normally he goes to school in the afternoons, but all afternoon Kindergartners attended school in the morning today.  That meant that instead of me dropping him off to school, he was able to ride the bus with his brothers in the morning for the first time.

He was so excited! Normally if he doesn't wake up with his brothers in the morning, I'll let him sleep in.  Today however, he wasn't going to be able to sleep in and of course he was still asleep at 6:45.  When I walked into his room to wake him up, he started to give me a hard time until I said, "Evan you have to take the bus to school today, you need to get up".  He sat up and jumped out of bed!  "Oh yeah", he told me, "I forgot, thank you for waking me up, Mom!".  I just hope he continues to be this excited about waking up in the morning in the Fall.

He's going to have the same teacher that Shaun had, and he is beyond excited!  The last day of school is tomorrow and he's already talking about how excited he is to start first grade!

365 ~ 2016: Day 167

So proud of this kid and his amazing break out season.  Tonight was no his teams night and they lost in the championship.  But first place for the regular season and a second place trophy is not too shabby!

365 ~ 2016: Day 166

Evan and Shaun's school Success Night!  Tonight we celebrated Evan moving on to first grade and Shaun graduating (sort of) from his school and moving on to BGS in the fall (the 3-5 school).  We've traditionally celebrated these milestones with the boys individually, but this year it was all on the same night and so they had to share.  Good thing they both wanted to go out to eat at the same restaurant!

365 ~ 2016: Day 165

Tonight David's team advanced to the finals.  He has been playing some great baseball over the second half of the season and it's been so fun to watch.  While he's been killing it at the plate lately (like in the picture below from the game tonight, when he singled in the go ahead run) we finally got to see him make some big plays in the field.  Tonight he made three solid defensive plays at second base, including catching a pop up, stopping a grounder and throwing the runner out at first and the BIG play of the night, an unassisted double play!  That double play was the rally the team needed to get back in the game and then after he hit in the go ahead run, some big bats took care of the rest!  One more game to go!

365 ~ 2016: Day 164

Finally!  Captain America: Civil War!

365 ~ 2016: Day 163

Big hitter at the plate today on his last game of the season!  So proud of his progress.

365 ~ 2016: Day 162

Look who's EIGHT!

365 ~ 2016: Day 161

A birthday eve treat for my almost EIGHT year old. He asked his coach if he could try pitching and so tonight his coach put him in. He was on CLOUD 9. It didn't matter to him that he wasn't very good, he was so proud of himself and felt so cool up on that mound. But best of all, he said he wants to practice more so he can do it again! This is the kid who hasn't shown much interest in practicing outside of the game. Thanks Coach for giving him the best night of his almost EIGHT years! And thanks to his teammates and the other team for being patient and most of all KIND!!

365 ~ 2016: Day 160

David and his baseball coach on the last game of the regular season!  It's been an amazing season for his team and David especially.  He really came into his own this second half of the season and has come so far since his first year with this coach.  Now onto playoffs.  GREEN MACHINE!

365 ~ 2016: Day 159

Evan's last week of Family Center.  Enjoying a strawberry ice cream at his last Family Center field trip to Beech Hill Farm.  I'm so beyond thankful for Family Center and will miss bringing my kids every week!

365 ~ 2016: Day 158

Cranked another one into the outfield tonight!  It's been a breakout year for him.

365 ~ 2016: Day 157

Another 1/2 Marathon in the books.  He was glad to be back after missing the sign up last year.  He came in 8th overall and while he didn't get his best overall time, he still killed it and didn't get injured like he did in Boston.  He also came in first for his age group and got a special commemorative mug!

Official race results are 1:21:07!  We're all so proud and the we braved the rain with their cowbells to cheer him on!

365 ~ 2016: Day 156

Bucket list item fulfilled...singing the National Anthem at a baseball field!  And I got to do it with my boy at his Baseball League's Player Appreciation Day!!!  So fun, and so proud of him!

365 ~ 2016: Day 155

The next stage to embracing the grays is lightened the highlights with a silvery glaze added all over them.  Hard to tell from the picture, but it makes the grays look less splotchy and chunky and more blended.

365 ~ 2016: Day 154

Another successful Spring Fling in the books!  Evan showed off his snake he got from the Face Painting table and I'm showing off the beautiful flowers and gift card to my most favorite restaurant that my fellow PTA Board members got for me as I closed my last event as the PTA president!  I was really touched!  I could never have done it all without you!

365 ~ 2016: Day 153

Tonight David played the game of his life!  He had TWO big hits tonight and made contact on his last at bat (it was caught by the other teams second baseman).  His confidence has skyrocketed this season and it's a credit to the amazing coaching he gets each week.  And the bonus was that his team rallied in the end to come out on top!

This is the picture I snapped of his first hit.  He cranked it into the outfield!  Kudos to the other teams outfield for their hustle, because he only ended up with a single.  But even still, it was his best hit of the season.  There is some motion blur because as soon as I heard the ping, I started to move the camera to watch where the ball was going.  I was just glad I hit the shutter before I moved too much!