After much discussion and a year of hyping up the party (in Kindergarten) , we had Max's birthday celebration (a week early) at "Do It All" sports complex. Max wanted an Indiana Jones party and knew how he wanted everything including the invitation. He asked to have his face on the invite over Indiana Jones, wanted an Indiana Jones cake (and not just any Indiana Jones cake, but one that resembled the 4th movie about the crystal skull) and dress up like Indiana Jones with the hat and jacket. Wonder where he gets that attention to detail from? But I have to say, he sure does look cute!
Holyn and the Critter Gitters, played their 6th game tonight. We almost stayed home for this one, the sky looked pretty dark and ominous at times, but stayed clear (sometimes sunny) for the game. We found Holyn clip-on sunglasses to help keep the sun out of her eyes and she was set to play. About midway through the game she scored a goal! She jumped up in the air and screamed her head off (and so did we on the sidelines). Of course I didn't get a picture of it at the time, so here she is recreating it for mom after the game. Look at that face! To make it authentic she kicked the ball into the net too, that's my girl!
Look at these knees... baseball pants seem to be the bane of my existence lately. All this loveliness happened before he even took the field! I don't know about you, but apparently rolling in the dirt and wrestling gets you ready for the game. Anyways, Max did a great job batting tonight and hit a great line drive his first attempt at bat. He high fived the first base coach (a dad volunteering) and jumped up and down for a while. But with the five run rule in effect, he got left on second base. Lant and Holyn joined us midway through the game (Holyn had practice again tonight). 
Max played near the pitcher tonight to start and tried his best to scoop up that ball and rocket it to the firstbaseman. On his second try at bat, he hit the ball, got on base, but eventually got thrown out at third. He did his time in the outfield next and ended the night as the thirdbaseman. I ended the night in the laundry room.
Max got to show off a bit tonight with Boppa and Papa Jim in the crowd. He seemed a little cocky when we yelled "Swing hard buddy" and he replied "I AM" back to us. He did however get a hit on the first pitch, his second time up to bat. He loves to run the bases (or run anywhere for that matter) especially when he gets to score a run. 
There isn't much (said with sarcasm) supervision on or off the field. Max's coach is there more in body than spirit. So Mr. Max takes full advantage of his time goofing off (see picture #3). Most of the parents yell instructions from the sidelines. Lant tries his best not to take over, but the kids would be better off if he did! 
Finally the school year is over, and no more Kindergarten or 3rd Grade. The kids started the year in Vincennes in mid-August, so they were ready for summer break. I hunted down their teachers before we left, gotta have pictures for the scrapbooks. Holyn had two teachers at Lakeshore, Mrs. Raasch (top left) and Mrs. Manowske (bottom left). She also went to 4th grade to participate in a book club and spend time with Mrs. Krolczyk (top right). 
Lant's allergies were killing him tonight, so I took Holyn to her game (and Max stayed home to babysit). She hustled and ran, but didn't score a goal this game. The Critter Gritters were slightly outmatched tonight by the yellow team. Holyn still had a great attitude about the sport. She really loves her team and they all get along so well. Check out this kick she made after the yellow team scored. Love that determination on her face!
Holyn also lead her share of cheers from the bench, she definitely will be a cheerleader someday. She's got the yelling part down.
At the end of the game, Holyn blocked a shot from going into the goal, but was a bit sore from the hit. Good thing there were snacks and ice in the cooler! She bounced back to health after we got home. Lant on the other hand needed antibiotics to kick his cold.
Tonight Holyn had soccer practice and Max had a game (on opposite ends of the city). This seems to happen to us a lot on Monday nights, so we divided and conquered. Holyn and I went to soccer and she chose her outfit for the evening. I caught her popping a pose while waiting for her turn to pass the ball. I was laughing to myself when she did it and had to take a picture. What a model! It was another hot evening, still about 90 degrees at play time. Thankfully her coach let the girls take lots of breaks and cut out early. 
We raced over to Max's game. He was playing near the pitcher when we arrived and had grabbed a line drive and threw it to 1st base, for the out. Lant said Max had a great hit and belted it into the outfield. Too bad we missed it. His next time up to bat, he had a little trouble getting a good pitch (half because the coach can't throw a strike if his life depended upon it and also because Max was a little lazy swinging the bat). He ended up hitting off the T and getting on at first. I must have jinxed him! And yes, you guessed it, they won (well according to Max).
Today was a hot one, and of course Max had a game. But first, there were team pictures. I let Lant handle this one and when the team returned from group shots, he let me how Max smiled. Needless to say, I bet you will enjoy this year's baseball cards. I quickly asked about retakes, but Lant said to let it go. So I'm letting it go (just stating my case). Again, it was hot, humid and the wind stopped just in time for the kids to take the field. Max got two hits this game and played catcher (although an older kid stood behind him to catch his misses) and short stop. The blue team dominated and used the 5 run rule every inning. At the end of the game, one of Max's teammates yelled "We're Unstoppable." All the boys cheered, even the parents ('cause we got to go home)! Max declared he loved baseball, so that's all that matters.
Game #2 for Max and this week they played in North Fond du Lac. It was a nice field, and this time we had a fence separating us (the spectators) and the batter on deck. Max got 3 hits tonight including a one-handed grip swing (as he tells it, he had an itch and didn't have enough time to scratch and bat). He was thrown out at first base once, was left on base another and got to run home and score the third. He also never broke into the infield, playing right, left and center. Thankfully he has now mastered goofy dancing and picking his nails clean. It was a hot evening, so most kids on the bench were guzzling down the Gatorade, which leads me to our main problem with the field - no bathrooms! Lant took our star for a mid-game pee break behind the field. Max thought this was great until I let him know its illegal to do that. By the end of the game there lots of high fives, good games and boys doing the pee dance.
