Monday, May 26, 2008

Dance!
Softball!
Birthdays!
(and some other stuff thrown in for good measure!)


Happy Memorial Day to all of you! This weekend and half of Monday has already slipped past me and I'm just getting online to post some news and pictures from the last couple of days. (I anticipate that the Summer is going to be a lot like this, but I'm going to try and post pretty regularly still!)

We had a really GREAT weekend filled with fun activities (photos to follow!), but how about a few BAD highlights from the weekend (just to get them out of the way first!)?

1. I lost my phone. (I am notoriously bad at losing things--keys, cell phones, even cash sometimes--and Gary got sorta ticked off at me for it.)

2. We spent way too much money on gas...and food, and gas, and more gas. With it costing me $3.80 this weekend, it's very expensive as we run around having all this fun! Yuck!

3. I got a $2300 claim on my car, after McKenna took it with her to school the other day and it was side-swiped. Messed up my front panel, drivers door, and took off my side mirror. Thank goodness for insurance, but still what a hassle!

4. I had a major toothache most of the weekend. I have seriously got to make a dental appointment, but who looks forward to that?

5. Gary and I have nit-picked at each other for days now, which always makes me upset. (Thank goodness we have an anniversary overnighter planned this weekend!)

So...I'm glad I got the bad out of the way first, because the GOOD far outweighed the bad this weekend...and I have some great highlights to share with all of you!!

On Friday, we all went to watch Sydney's rehearsal for her dance recital this weekend. Gary got some great pictures, but this was my very favorite!

(Sydney had been telling me, "I'm really nervous about my recital. There's all those people watching me!" She is just a little dramatic, because seriously, Does this child LOOK nervous here? LOL She did great!)

Then it was off to Delaney's softball tournament out of town. It would be a two-day event, so Sydney and I decided to stay the night at the hotel, enjoy a few games on Friday night, and then come back to Birmingham for Sydney's dance recital the next afternoon. (McKenna was off visiting with her new baby brother!)

When we got to the hotel and dressed for the first games of the night, we had to first stop and take our FIRST BED JUMPING pictures of the 2008 summer season!!! (For those of you who are new to my blog, we have a crazy tradition in our family of bed jumping at hotels. We have a ton of fun photos of us doing this over the years! Try it the next time you're at a hotel...you'll like it! LOL)


The team also enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool...

And then Delaney played hard of Friday night and the rest of Saturday (I love these two pictures because she is smiling big in both of them!)...


We watched the team win both of their pool play games on Friday night, but then Sydney and I had to come home Saturday around lunchtime to rest a little bit before we headed off to her dance recital (although we got phone updates all afternoon and evening on how the team was doing!).

Then we headed off to Sydney's recital. This is a BIG deal, held at the civic center downtown. It was jam-packed (we sat WAY up in the top level) and the girls have dressing rooms and everything. I got the biggest kick out of how some of the girls were all dolled up. Some of them had really BIG hair and makeup, and their Moms were just obsessed with them looking just right. Sydney is definitely girly, but she is not "froo froo" if you know what I mean. (Comes from me...who is very casual and who really just wants my girl to have fun!)

I got a few pics of Sydney in the dressing room in her very purple, sparkly costume...

And with her friend Ella...

And up on stage (I know that these are very BAD pictures, but just had to share them anyway. That's Sydney on the front row, on the far right)...

And stepping up to the microphone all by herself to announce, "My name's Sydney and I'm 4 years old!!!"...

And dancing in the finale...

and then posing for a silly picture with McKenna, who was so sweet to bring her a fresh flower bouquet...

We were SO proud of Sydney. She had a fun, fun time and really was at-ease up on stage. (And I have to say, that as an older Mom these things are much more laid-back. Delaney and McKenna both danced when they were younger and I used to get all worked-up about recitals and getting everything done just right and everything. Not anymore! Things just don't bother me anymore. It definitely has something to do with being an older Mom and raising your third child. I really like the feeling!)

So, back to softball...LOL...I had been getting updates all day from the tournament and knew that the team had lost one game in elimination round (it was a double elimination tournament, so they'd have to lose twice to be out of it). They fought out of the losers bracket, then ended up facing the one team that had beat them again in the championship round. The only hitch? They had to beat that team twice to win it all. And...that's what they did! They won 3-0 and then 2-1 to win the tournament. And, can you believe this? It was midnight when they finally finished playing. They played five games on Saturday! Gary said the players for both teams were so tired, but they kept giving it their all. In fact, Delaney had three or four really great stops at second base that saved runs (I can't imagine being that tired and still playing that hard!).

Here they are, tired and dirty...but winners again...

After church on Sunday (McKenna and I were the only ones who made it up to go... Everyone else was EX-hausted and I told them all to sleep in. I think it took both Sydney and Delaney the rest of Sunday to recover from their busy Saturdays!), we headed down to my nephew Matthew's 9th birthday party. Matthew is such a sweet, sweet boy, so we were so excited to celebrate with him!

It was a Luau Party, and SO much fun!! My sister-in-law Danielle always does an amazing job on these birthday parties...they always have a theme that runs through the food, activities, goody bags, games. SO fun!

There was a tiki hut where Matthew and my other nephew, Garrett, made daquiris and Shirley Temples. How cute is that??




Then there was "pass the coconut"...

And "musical beach towels"...


And opening presents...

And blowing out the candles...


And random water play in the backyard...


And then "crash on the couch with the Ipod in your ear because you're pooped"...

After we got home, I washed clothes (all that activity makes for a lot of dirty clothes!!), cleaned house a little bit, we all took showers, and then laid down on the couch to watch "Raiders of the Lost Ark." I was the only one to make it through the entire movie!

It's now Monday afternoon at 1 o'clock, and we are off to go swimming. Have a GREAT day!!!!

27 comments:

Travis Erwin said...

Great stuff. looks like y'all are as busy as my family.

Anonymous said...

This is SO fun! I love the dance pictures and the softball pictures and the party pictures. I love it.

Kari (GrannySkywalker) said...

Wow - you guys never slow down! Congrats to Delaney and her team on the big win. Sydney looked sooooo cute in her sparkly purple dress. And yes, McKenna was very sweet to bring her a bouquet after the recital (what a perfect gesture!).

As to the hotel bed jumping...I'm always reminded of my boys partaking in a little bed jumping at the old Holiday Inn in Selma, Alabama. I guess their bed frames were "original" to the hotel (as in, they were OLD!)because my boys managed to CRUSH one of them into about a million splinters. Wooden bed frames! Who's ever heard of such?? I was mortified! But the hotel was really funny about it. When I went to the front desk to "confess", they said not to worry about it because they were slowly replacing all the bed frames anyway. Whew! I had visions of my credit card being popped with a gazillion dollar charge to replace that stupid frame. lol The lesson we learned from this? No...not to go jumping on hotel beds. That's too much fun NOT to do. Just don't do it at a decrepit old hotel like the kind you find in Selma. lol

Kari

Anonymous said...

Cheryl can you adopt me? I know I'm old but I'm quiet and neat...wink-wink! Sorry about all the rotten things that happened the last couple of days but thankfully the GOOD outweighed the bad. The gas prices is really making me look at ShiweenThanks for sharing.

Lynilu said...

Uh, do you guys ever slow down and take it easy? Geez, I'm exhausted! And I was only reading it! I can't, can't, can't imagine keeping up with 3 kids! Even with the fun that you all are having more than makes up for the weariness, doesn't it?

Auburn Kat said...

Wow! You had one busy weekend! Your stories really make me want to have kids=)

Renee said...

I know I say this all the time, but I get tired just looking at all your pictures. I'm amazed at how busy y'all are!

Anonymous said...

Talk about a jam packed weekend. My favorite is Sydney at the microphone though. Soooo cute!

Adrienne said...

Awww great pics!! Sydney is TOO CUTE! LOL

Cheryl Wray said...

Travis--Yep, always busy!! :-)

Gin--Thanks!!

Kari--Okay, the bed jumping story from Selma is HILARIOUS!!! Maybe I need to host a "favorite bed jumping" story and "favorite bed jumping" photos contest. LOL

Yvonne--Sure, come on down here and I'll adopt you for the summer! :-)

Lynilu--I seriously am used to all the non-stop action. With three kids it just comes with the territory. It's all GOOD!!

Cheryl Wray said...

Kat--Kids are great!!! They are a challenge sometimes, but life is never dull. You'll never regret having kids!!

Renee--LOL

Jeff--You should have seen her strutting up to the microphone and then yelling her name. It was the cutest!!!

Adrienne--Sydney at the recital was PRICELESS!!

Leah said...

You cram more fun into a weekend than I thought possible. LOL! Hope you get some rest!

Dawn Bibbs said...

Wow, you guys are some busy folks. And we're not even a full week into the summer vacation yet :-). LOVE the hotel bed jumping photos. I guess you and I were on the same wavelength,lol.

Sydney looks so cute in her recital outfit. I can almost imagine her up there...dramatics and all :-).

CONGRATS to Delaney!! (and the rest of her team)

Enjoy your week, my friend.

Unknown said...

WOWZERS! What a full weekend you had! I love reading all the fun things you guys do! And you are right! The good definitely outweighed the bad!

Congratulations to both of the girls for all of their accomplishments!

Bed jumping does sound FUN! LOL

hippo chick said...

Wow!! What a weekend. All of it sounds like fun. I loved the recital pics, but my favorite is the rehearsal one. She is such a cutie. Congrats to the softball team. Sorry about your car, but glad McKenna is ok.

I hope the rest of the week is as good as the weekend. Maybe just a "teeny" less hectic?

Hugs.
Pam

Cheryl Wray said...

Leah--LOL I think you're right!

Dawn--I just LOVED your bed jumping pics, so I had to share mine with you. :-)

Kathy--It was a fun, fun weekend!! you must try bed jumping sometime. LOL

Pam--Syd was SO cute at the rehearsal. And, yes, this week will be a tad bit more laid-back. Today is our anniversary, so Gary and I are going out for lunch but other than that we are mostly hanging out at the house, going swimming, etc. It's good!!

j said...

I need a nap after just reading about your busy life!

The list of Uh-Ohs at the beginning.... Sorry! My hubby get exasperated with me too.

Love your dancing queen and your softball diva pics.

Be blessed.

Jen

LZ Blogger said...

Cheryl ~ I loved the pictures. Looks like some great times were had by all here. My favorite was the Tiki Hut... she did a great job on that THEME. I am sure it added to Matthew's celebration! ~ jb///

Anonymous said...

I just loved all the photos. Looks like a funtime all weekend. But i'm with everyone else. I'm tired just reading it. Ha ha!

Marg

camport said...

your pictures make me want a girl!! I'll never have dance recitals!

Love all the pics. That party looks awesome and Matthew looks just like McKenna! I love the cousin resemblance.

:)

Mississippi Songbird said...

Awwww. wonderful photos.. You guys were way busy! Glad you had a great time.. sorry about your car claim.. They are a hassle..
Have a great week..
PS.. I am passing on an award to you.. When you get a minute, drop by and get it.. bunches of hugs...Stephanie

Monogram Queen said...

Looks like a great week-end and the good definitely out-weighs the bad!
Congrats to Delaney on her big win and Scout on her recital. She's a doll and so charismatic.
I'm like you Cheryl, I just don't sweat the small stuff and if it's not "perfect" - big deal. No one notices 1/4 of what we think they do!

Susie Q said...

What a great time...you always live life to the fullest and I love that.
Congrats to Delaney for the win and to Sydney on her recital! What a special bug sis McKenna truly is. Your girls are amazing but you knew that already didn't you?

You know how we have adopted the bed jumping thing...leaving in 2 weeks for a little trip so Grace will be jumping her little heart out!

Love,
Sue

Nnairda's said...

Wow! Happy Anniversary!!!

Kimberly said...

Wow you have been one busy lady. Looks like you had alot of fun.

Kimberly said...

Wow you have been one busy lady. Looks like you had alot of fun.

Gretchen said...

So what you're saying is that you're all bored with nothin' to do, right?

My goodness, yours is a busy family. All good memories though. Except the nitpicking and the car claim. Sorry about those. Reality does hit at times. Blessings on the beginning of your summer. xxxoogretchen