Beaches, Baseball and Birthdays

Alright already! I never knew how many people actually waited to read this blog until I didn't post anything for a while. I really started it to keep a record for myself of what our family has been up to so I wouldn't forget. Things get so busy around here I hardly have time to think, much less record the goings on. Sooooo for all those waiting on an update here it is!

Beaches - We are very fortunate that Babushka lives in a great place to visit, Florida! Rob and I took the boys down to see babushka over spring break and Laura took them again after school let out in June. She lives right on the beach and has a pool with a hot tub too. Of course in this lovely paradise are also lots of "wise" "young at heart" individuals who don't believe children should jump into the pool or have floats or toys or food or have anything else remotely fun in that area. Oftentimes we spent lots of time out on the beach part where there weren't quite so many rules. Even though the boys are getting much better about their behavior, they are still kids and all kids make noise and splash and jump and want to play with toys. We found that we did a pretty good job of trying to appease our "wiser" friends and also found the others got a big kick out of watching the boys and didn't mind a bit that they had buckets on their heads, noodles being slapped on the water in an attempt to hit a splash ball across the pool, and an occasional dive stick being thrown in the direction of thier nearest sibling by accident of course. Babushka always has their very favorite foods on hand and every kids dream; a porch full of so much stuff that they can rifle through and find goodies to play with, make thigns out of, dress up in, etc.. It is the porch of all porches with a year long christmas tree that doubles as the porch lighting at times. Babushka makes sure we go to the aquarium to pet the sting rays on each visit and this time we also went to park with a water spot where the kids could get wet ad enjoy the shooting spouts of water. All the boys progressed with their swimming and Victor swam the length of the pool the correct way! It as Yuri turn last year so I suspect Vanyas turn will be next year although if it is like every thing else he will probably catch his big brothers as fast as possible and ahead of course. All in all it is one of our favorite places and being able to share it with extended family makes it all the more attractive. The boys are still trying to figure out where all the relatives keep coming from. Little do they know they haven't even met them all! My grandmother was the youngest of 8 children so we have lots and lots of cousins most of whom also live on Florida.

Baseball - All the boys played baseball this year and what a whirlwind that was. I think it is the forshadowing of much more time mama is going to spend running from one field to the next to be there for the big hit or catch of the season. Yuri played machine pitch in the 9 year old league and had a great time this year with papa being one of the assistant coaches. He really progressed and earned the positions this year. His hitting is still good and he even got one out into the outfield in the air! He hasn't yet fiured out that if he actually put some effort into running to the bases that he would never get out! He is really fast and hasn't had to put forth much effort to stay safe but as the kids get older and their catching gets better then he is going to have step it up. He made some new friends and had a great time which is the point anyway, right?
Victor had a banner season in Tball this year. Things really clicked for him this year and he even got the MVP ball the very first game! His favorite thing was to go and get the ball wherever it was hit and then take over that position. He was a marvelous 1st base backup but when he felt as though the firstbasemen wasn't in the right spot he would just go and take over. We'll have to work on that but he knew exactly where to stand and where to throw and was just amazingly better than last. He hit some good balls and wanted so much to hit one into the outfield like Yuri but it just wasn't to be. He did pay very good attention and was always very proud of himself. He even kept up with his things and put them where they were supposed to go. That is a victory in itself!
Vanya had a great time playing in the dirt, throwing his hat up in the air, laying on the bench, racing his team mates to the ball. We probably should have waited to put him on a team but he is so talented we thought he would be excited about it. He lasted about 1-2 innings and then he was ready to go home. No excitement for the game this year but the same was true of Victor last year so we have hope that next year will be his year. He hit the ball fairly well and those little tiny legs looked like they were going so fast but it took him forever to get to first base and his little helmet was bouncing up and down the whole way. His head is so small that even with his ball cap on underneath, the batting helmets were way too big. He and Victor were on the same team so Victor helped Vanya get to the right position on the field. It was a little frustrating for papa to watch since he had been used to the older boys who actually knew which way to run when they hit the ball. The fidgety, butterfly chasing, hat throwing, grass pulling ways of the tball players were not quite as humourous to papa as they were to mama. I just enjoyed watching him have fun but do hope his attention span will increase for the sake of the team next year. Too much down time in tball. Anytime one of us were not right there present watching him he ended up in time out by the time we returned. Can you beleive it, time out in tball?! That should give you an idea of what his season was like. It was abslolutely precious to watch him when he was playing the game but the waiting around part was a little stressful for everyone involved.

Birthdays - Well the majority of the family have had birthdays now and we have had the first wedding of one of our kids. Vanyas birthday was covered in the previous post so next came Mayra's in May. I can't believe she is 23 now! Wow how time flies. She still has a great job and has a boyfriend who is good to her and we like him a lot. The two of them always do special things with and for the boys which is such a blessing. Because it was also Mothers day on Mayra's birthday we didn't get to spend it with her since papa took me right from church on a funfilled day of miniture golf, ice cream eating, arcade laying and dinner out. So her boyfriend has taken over the birthday specials. I did get to go to lunch with her after that and we celebrated her birthday then. She now shares an apartmnt with some girlfriends and I miss her very much and so do her brothers. It's hard to let go and not want to know all the day to day activities but she is happy and doing very well which is all we could ask for. I think there might even be some marriage plans in the future!
Speaking of wedding plans our other daughter, Crystal, got married in May! Travis was one of the groomsmen, Victor was the ring bearer and the other 2 boys pulled the runner. It was not our traditional type wedding but it was vey nice and we all enjoyed seeing her look so beautiful and happy. Really made us feel old though to have a child who is married and to also have a 5 year old still at home. We made her promise not to have children for a while becasue being grandparents would just be too weird right now.
Will continue later, ran out of time for tonight. Papa calls:)