I could take the lazy way out and simply use "Where did (insert month) go?" as the title for every blog post, but I thought I'd change it up a little. Not that summer didn't fly by, it did, but keeping up with the blog was so far down the to-do list I just never got a chance to update it regularly.
So with that said, how was Summer 2015? In short, jam-packed!
June was filled with softball. Ellie's Sparks team practiced 3 days a week, then usually played a tournament on the weekends. I got the chance to be an assistant coach on the team, and it was awesome. The level of competition each summer grows by leaps and bounds, and I'm proud to say that Ellie held her own despite being the 2nd youngest girl on the team. She played 3rd base most of the summer season, and batted in the middle of the order. Overall we kept hitting the 3rd place ceiling as we finished 3rd in 3 or 4 tournaments. It was fitting that after a full summer of working hard that we won in the semi-finals and played in the Championship Game in our final Tournament of the summer.
And while travel teams sometimes get a bad wrap, and maybe that's still to come, the enjoyment that we had was off the charts. Ellie's group of friends is large and diverse thanks to softball, and the families we have had the chance to bond with are pretty kick-a** too. Even Lukas enjoys the summer softball season, partly because he gets so much freedom to run around, jump in puddles and play with dirt with his buddy Diego while the parents focus is on the girls on the field, but also because he seems to have developed a little crush on one of the players, KK. As a pre-Ker he's really shooting for the moon with a crush on a soon-to-be 4th grader.
One thing that I'm really happy about is the fact that I was able to document via photos, or at least schedule schedule a photoshoot, Ellie and all her friends on the team. Good job me!
Softball took us through the middle of July, with a week break around the 4th of July for our annual trip up to Lake Almanor. The trip was great, save for about 2 hours when it stormed like I had never seen before. We were sitting on the deck playing cards and we could see the ominous clouds come over the mountains across the lake. This should have been a clue, but we continued to play. The wind started to gust a little, so we picked up the cards and moved them into the house. We barely had time to do that. In no time at all the wind was blowing so hard that it broke the chains on a couple of docks, water toys from 4, 6, 8 houses down were being blown away. Some large tree branches were being broken and falling off. It was crazy! Certainly one of the hardest storms I've ever been in. And two hours later it was gone, and the sun was back shining.
There was some non-Sparks related softball as well. Early in the softball season Santa Clara hosted a Pitch, Hit and Run competition. Ellie won her age group and moved on to the sectionals in Monterey. It just so happened that I was out of town and Steph was at a bridal shower on the day she was supposed to compete in Monterey, luck for us another Santa Clara girl, Jessie, had also qualified, so Ellie was able to go with them. As it turned out, Ellie won that section too. So she moved on to compete in the Northern California part at AT&T Park. So on the day of Mike's wedding, super early in the morning, we drove up to San Francisco and watched her compete against girls from all over Northern California. She did pretty well. She took 3rd place, but was VERY close to 1st. She tied for the high score in the pitching, and was 2nd in the running. But during the batting she hit a couple line drives, and they measure where the ball lands on the fly. Of girls that finished ahead of her neither of them had very far hits, so she was thisclose.
The middle of July is also free slurpee day, or better know to those around me as My Birthday. And it was a milestone one, the big 4-0. I must admit I wasn't looking forward to it. Even at 39 you could always say you were in your 30s. Now I've crossed the threshold and am no longer in my 30s, I'm in my 40s, and wow, that sounds old. And I guess Steph understood that age was setting in and my eyesight was going because she got me a bigger TV so I no longer need to strain my old eyes to see.
Later in July is another family birthday, Katelyn is no longer a teenager (which is scary to think about). She moved into her 20s and is as busy as anyone. She's working at Disneyland, recently she was moved from the Toy Story ride to Hollywood Land and is now working in the Art of Animation area. Apparently that is a desirable location, I'm guessing because it's inside with air conditioning. But she's really enjoying it. She's hopefully going to be visiting in a couple weeks, just before school starts.
Rewind a bit to June. Mike and Adrianna got married, and it was a great event. And I'm not just saying that because I was the officiant. It was an honor to be part of the festivities. The groom was handsome, the bride was beautiful and it was great to see folks that I rarely get to see, but I have to say one of the highlights of the evening was Steve's best man speech. He nailed it! If Steven Colbert is looking for new writers, I think Steve would do a great job. But where is the speech you may be asking, I'm still waiting on the lovely couple to post things to YouTube. So Mike, Adrianna, get on that.
Speaking of school, school supplies for this year have been purchased, which means school is right around the corner. But before school starts, we have one last summer hurrah. We're heading to Lake Almanor for a week with some friends, and that should be tons of fun. Hopefully I'll be able to report back on that trip before Thanksgiving rolls around.
So with that said, how was Summer 2015? In short, jam-packed!
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| Ellie and Olivia looking tough |
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| Ellie, Jordan, Olivia, Tori, Syndey & Maryam |
Softball took us through the middle of July, with a week break around the 4th of July for our annual trip up to Lake Almanor. The trip was great, save for about 2 hours when it stormed like I had never seen before. We were sitting on the deck playing cards and we could see the ominous clouds come over the mountains across the lake. This should have been a clue, but we continued to play. The wind started to gust a little, so we picked up the cards and moved them into the house. We barely had time to do that. In no time at all the wind was blowing so hard that it broke the chains on a couple of docks, water toys from 4, 6, 8 houses down were being blown away. Some large tree branches were being broken and falling off. It was crazy! Certainly one of the hardest storms I've ever been in. And two hours later it was gone, and the sun was back shining.
The middle of July is also free slurpee day, or better know to those around me as My Birthday. And it was a milestone one, the big 4-0. I must admit I wasn't looking forward to it. Even at 39 you could always say you were in your 30s. Now I've crossed the threshold and am no longer in my 30s, I'm in my 40s, and wow, that sounds old. And I guess Steph understood that age was setting in and my eyesight was going because she got me a bigger TV so I no longer need to strain my old eyes to see.
Later in July is another family birthday, Katelyn is no longer a teenager (which is scary to think about). She moved into her 20s and is as busy as anyone. She's working at Disneyland, recently she was moved from the Toy Story ride to Hollywood Land and is now working in the Art of Animation area. Apparently that is a desirable location, I'm guessing because it's inside with air conditioning. But she's really enjoying it. She's hopefully going to be visiting in a couple weeks, just before school starts.
Rewind a bit to June. Mike and Adrianna got married, and it was a great event. And I'm not just saying that because I was the officiant. It was an honor to be part of the festivities. The groom was handsome, the bride was beautiful and it was great to see folks that I rarely get to see, but I have to say one of the highlights of the evening was Steve's best man speech. He nailed it! If Steven Colbert is looking for new writers, I think Steve would do a great job. But where is the speech you may be asking, I'm still waiting on the lovely couple to post things to YouTube. So Mike, Adrianna, get on that.
Speaking of school, school supplies for this year have been purchased, which means school is right around the corner. But before school starts, we have one last summer hurrah. We're heading to Lake Almanor for a week with some friends, and that should be tons of fun. Hopefully I'll be able to report back on that trip before Thanksgiving rolls around.
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