And the Patriots season has started!

After months of indoor practices, the boys finally got outside for practice and two scrimmages last week.  We are lucky to be able to scrimmage against the other Patriots 11U team, one that has played together for going on 4 years now, last Monday and last Sunday.  Monday they whooped us pretty bad, but it was only our second time on an outdoor field together as a team this season.  We have 5 new kids on the team.  

Sunday we played much better.  In fact, we were winning for a big part of the game!  Evan played left field, 3rd base, and pitched an inning.  He did great pitching!  He looked a lot more comfortable on the mound.  Batting he struggled both games, but I know he'll figure it out.  He's batting in the 3rd and 4th spot because his coach knows he's a hitter.  

After their scrimmage on Sunday the coach hosted a team bonding experience at the bowling alley for the boys.  Most were able to come.  It was fun!  The kids bowled a game and a half, ate pizza and fries, and hung out.  

They'll have their first league game next Tuesday and their first tournament (hopefully) next weekend.  I'm looking forward to a good season and I hope they have more success this year!

Easter 2024

With the boys and I getting back the night before Easter Sunday, Easter felt very thrown together for us this year.  Normally I host brunch for Scott's family, but I wasn't up for it.  Jackie volunteered to this year.  I at least had their basket fillers bought, but I had to put them together Saturday night.  The boys decorated eggs that Scott hard-boiled Saturday evening too.  Sunday morning they were up by 8am ready to look for their baskets.  This year Sean's was on the main floor and Evan's was in the basement.  They each got an Easter basket with crocs, jibbitz, baseball cards, and candy.  They also got a snorkeling kit for Hawaii this summer.  

We went to church for 11am mass and I did not get one single picture of the boys at the altar or of the four of us.  Church was packed and we ended up having to stand in the back.  We left after communion and stopped at Kroger to pick up Easter lilies for Jackie since she hosted brunch and then we went to her house.  It was breakfast foods and we brought some donut holes and coffee cake.  The kids did their annual egg hunt outside with eggs from Nana and Pops filled with money.  And that was pretty much it!  

Happy Easter!  Maybe next year I'll be more prepared!

Spring Break 2024: AZ!!

Our first full day in Tucson we ate a big breakfast at the condo and we decided to go to Saguaro National Park West since it was going to be the coolest of our 3 days there.  We've been to the east side before, but not to the west.  We stopped at the visitor center first and watched the video, did the Junior Ranger books, and some shopping.  Then, we did a 3 mile loop trail that had really pretty views.  

We grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at Barrio Brewing, which was delicious!  Then it was back to the condo to go in the hot tub.  We watched Grown Ups on Amazon Prime and it was hilarious!  I can't believe we haven't seen that movie before.  It was a fun evening.

Wednesday we went out to breakfast at Oink Cafe, which is so amazing!  They do bacon flights with 8 different flavor bacons and they have the most amazing maple bacon donut that we all split.  It was a tasty way to start our day!  We drove to Sabino Canyon to do a 2 mile hike to work off some of that bacon.  

It was the warmest day we'd have in Tucson with the sun out so we decided to spent the afternoon at the pool.  It was so nice!  I ended up burning my legs by accident (I put sunscreen on...) so we had to get some aloe vera at CVS that evening.  My dad grilled steak and chicken and my mom cooked some sides to go with it for a nice dinner in.  We had some desserts they had bought, made popcorn, and watched Grown Ups 2.  

Our last full day in Tucson we decided to go to the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum.  We went years ago when the kids were younger, but the kids didn't remember much of it.  We got there in time to see the Raptor Free Flight demonstration, which was really cool!  Then we spent another two hours walking around, seeing the animals, looking at the gardens, and shopping in the gift shop.

We went out to eat on the way back from the museum at a place called Guadalajara's Original and it was absolutely delicious!  The chips and salsa were great, I had fajitas and the meat was so tender and flavorful, and the woman was there making handmade corn and flour tortillas which were the best tortillas I've ever had.  We went to a place called Just Churros for dessert!  Then it was back to the condo to relax, swim, and pack up to head to Phoenix in the morning.  My mom and I ran to Basha's for a few groceries and the kids had a frozen pizza later in the evening while we watched Blades of Glory.  

Friday I went for a walk in the morning after making breakfast at the condo.  We drove on to Phoenix, grabbing Chick-Fil-A on the road.  It's two hours to Phoenix and we went straight to the hotel to check-in and drop off our bags.  We headed down to Chase Field for the Diamondbacks game against the Colorado Rockies and got in line to get in when the field opened at 4:30pm.  They gave away free t-shirts since they were National League Champions the year before.  We watched batting practice (no ball), walked around, bought pizza and beers for dinner, and got a churro dog for dessert!  The DBacks won 7-4, had a couple of home runs and we enjoyed the firework display after the game.

We crashed back at the hotel and had to get up early for our flight home Saturday morning.  It was a smooth flight home!  We were excited to see Scott and Luna, but we had a great time in the Southwest!