Ducks Softball

Doug and Ellie headed down to Eugene to watch the Ducks play BYU in the super regional softball playoffs.  They had a great time and Ellie even got the catcher's autograph, who happens to be from Salem.  I was wishing I could be there, but was glad they were able to have some father daughter bonding.

Softball

Ellie played a great season of softball.  Again absolutely loving the position of catcher.  It is such a hard position and she is REALLY good at it.  She caught for all but 4 innings of the season and that is what she would prefer.  Even if the weather was hot and the sun was in her eyes she wanted to catch.  She was also able to get alot of outs and prevent a lot of steals because of her play behind the plate. Her team had a really fast pitcher and she did great. Offensively she was great also!  She is definitely a power hitter.  She had many big hits to the outfield.  Despite the fact that she doesn't have great speed she is a heads up base runner.  She stole home in close plays 6 times and was safe 4 of them.  She can drop into a really good slide.  Great job Ellie!

Baseball

Jack had a great baseball season.  He played AA again this year which was perfect!  He was one of the best on the team and he really got a chance to shine and improve his skills.  He was great in the field and up to bat.  He always knew where the play was!  Two of the pictures below show him getting two outs at first base.  He got tons of outs.  Including one game where he mad all three outs in the inning.  He continues to be very hard on himself when he strikes out, which he has got to get used to if he is going to continue playing baseball.  It was fun to watch him!

Ellie's first long course meet

So swimming in the the spring is a whole new experience, long course.  Which is Olympic sized swimming pools in meters not yards.  And they are big, much bigger than Ellie or I expected.  I think she was a little overwhelmed when she saw the pool, but she is getting it figured out.  She has made a really good swim team friend, Katie.  They are very similar and share a lot of interests.  That is really fun to see.  

Awesome 3000

When it came time to sign up for the Awesome Ellie was determined to run it again.  I thought her grueling sports schedule combined with her dislike of running might convince her not to run, but no!  Man I love that kid!  I even offered to donate money to the good cause if she did not run( I know bad mom but I was just thinking about how busy our lives have been and she also had a swim meet this weekend) but she wanted to do it.  Once we got there I was so glad we did it.  It's tradition and she really loves it.  Running isn't her sport but she is getting better since she is swimming so much.  And Jack, he could be a runner if he wanted to.  He is a speedy little guy!  We weren't sure why the Linfield mascot was there at Willamette University, but glad to get Ellie's picture with the Wildcat.

They all love Ellie

What a special school year to have my kids at school with me!  I loved it.  Ellie would come and say hi every morning and the kindergartners LOVED her.  She had her own personal fan club.  This was the scene most mornings.  After school she would come wait with me until my students were all dismissed.  I loved watching her interact with the little kids.  She is sooooo good with little kids.  I will be missing her next year.

Jack's 9th Birthday

For Jack's 9th birthday I took the morning off to spend some time with him.  We did what he wanted to do, played games, went to lunch and then birthday shopping.  I ordered something on line that ended up being out of stock so I gave him the choice to come shop and pick his own present.  He loved that idea.  He ended up getting this big Ninjago set.  We had lunch at Big Town Hero and then went to school for the afternoon.  He picked Izzy's for his birthday dinner.  A few days later we had his party at Pietro's pizza with some buddies.  They played lazer tag and games.  He said it was the best birthday ever!  Exactly what a mom wants to hear.  Love you buddy!

Easter

 We dyed Easter eggs after Ellie and I got back from skiing.  The next day we headed to my mom's house.  Wayne and Martha were in Mexico so it was just the 5 of us.  We had a yummy ham dinner and some candy.  And I took a regular doses of advil to counteract the effects of skiing.

Skiing

 So I decided I would try skiing for my daughter.  She would always like someone to go with her.  I can now say that I have skied, but that was probably my first and last time.  I have never hurt quite so bad, but I did feel proud of myself for trying.  Ellie was laughing at how bad I was.  She is getting to be quite a good little skier.  We had a blast watching the pond skimming contest.  It was a gorgeous spring day.  I can't wait to take her up to the mountain next season and watch her ski!!!

The Beach

 Our trip to the beach at the end of spring break!  And here I am adding in to the blog in June.  Needless to say life has been a little busy.  We went with my teaching partner Kara and her family.  We have become great friends this year.  Her 6 year old twins were in my kindergarten class and she also has a one year old.  The weather wasn't great, but were able to miss some rain and play on the beach.  We also took a trip to the aquarium.  It was a nice way to end spring break!