Recent Pictures

Random pictures from this summer ...

After a bit of practice, our swim team usually had Fun Fridays.  How many boys can fit on our pretzel float?!?

We stayed at the pool after practice on the day before Lofton's birthday to swim and eat cupcakes!

The boys got a frisbee stuck on the roof of the screened porch.  Brian decided to let Rylan go get it!

Charlotte was curious but did not join Rylan!

Gray did a Tiny Tots soccer camp with Lofton at the Crockett Indoor Arena.  It was one hour a day for a week.  It definitely wasn't as good as the Tiny Tots program he did in the spring but it was nice for him to have a camp this summer since the big boys had a few.

We went bowling with Jen's kids one day.  Gray got the high score!

July 10th was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A.  If you dress like a cow, you get a free entree.  We went for both breakfast and lunch.  Rylan's soccer camp was in the morning that week so he missed out on breakfast.  Carter is now obsessed with the chick-n-minis.

All the kids got free lunch though.  I was all chickened out and couldn't do dinner there too.

One morning during Rylan's soccer camp, I went for a run with the other two (Gray got a stroller ride and Carter rode his bike).  We parked at the other end of a greenway we occasionally use and the boys enjoyed checking out the Harpeth River and the cool park that was built in the last couple of years.

We stopped by the Franklin City Hall one day to see Carter's artwork on display.  This was from the Kids Art Festival competition at the beginning of the summer.

The homemade chia pets that Carter and Rylan made at the library have been growing "hair".  This picture was from when they first started sprouting.  The "hair" is mostly over the entire tops now (though I don't think they are going to make it much longer).

We have definitely not been to the pool enough this summer.  But it's been fun when we do!

Falling through chairs and getting stuck is always fun too :)

Gray and I had a stroller accident last Friday.  While the big boys were at football camp, Gray and I went for a run.  Gray decided he wanted his water out of the back pocket of the jogging stroller.  Instead of telling me, he tried to get it himself by crawling through the space between the seat and shade.  Unfortunately I only had one hand on the stroller at the time and the change in weight distribution tipped the stroller back.  Gray got some major road rash on an elbow and wrist.  It's healing well and the gnarly scabs have already come off.  But it was a tough week for the little man as he didn't want the booboos to touch anything and had to have "zombie arms" all week.

Spring Sports

We are about to start up fall sports so I wanted to post our team photos from the SPRING season :)  I did all the photos for all the teams again this year.

Both boys played baseball through the Brentwood Ball Club again.  Rylan was on the Kansas City Royals.  We picked KC because it is one of our assistant coach's (and his son's) favorite team.  We watch very little baseball and don't have much of a preference :)

Coaches (L to R): Chris, Brian, Brett (missing - Joey)

Top Row (L to R): Eli, Jack, Jackson, Bryce, Sam, Hunter

Bottom Row (L to R): Jude, Rylan, Gavin, Luke, Matthew, Carson

Rylan's team was the runner up for the 8 year old division in the end of season tournament!  This was the first time either of the boys had made it to the championship game.  Our team was leading most of the game and lost by one in the last inning.  It was a great game and we are so proud of this team.  Even in the tournament our coaches gave all the kids the opportunity to play in the infield (unlike their opponents).  We have a great group of coaches which has made coaching baseball much more fun for Brian.

Carter was on the Minnesota Twins.  His coach has twins on the team so it was very fitting :)

Coaches (L to R): Leo, Jeff, Gavin

Top Row (L to R): Collins, Maddox, Asher, Jalen, Cam, Jack Henry

Bottom Row (L to R): Luke, Christopher, Carter, Nate, Gavin, Riggins

The spring season was so much more fun than the fall.  The fall was the first season these boys played kid pitch and the games were painfully slow.  The spring was much better with pitching quality having improved and gaining a few more experienced players on our team.  These boys were great teammates and really seemed to enjoy playing together.

Carter and Rylan played soccer through the Brentwood YMCA again.  Rylan had generally the same team he's had for several seasons now.  The boys play so well together and improve each season.  We love this group of boys and hope they can continue to stay together on the same team.

I ended up missing a lot of Rylan's soccer games because I was at Carter's baseball games.  We struggled to get a team photo.  Another mom took this one for me at half time when all the boys were at a game.

Top Row (L to R): Mac B, Fletcher, Mac H, Jameson, Angelo

Bottom Row (L to R): Liam, Rylan, Cooper, Harrison, Frank

I got this one at the last game when we had a couple of kids missing.

Carter had a lot of the same players on his soccer team in the spring as he did in the fall.  Only a few of those kids had we been playing with before that.  We again struggled with attendance (and communication of attendance) for all our new kids (which meant Rylan got to play some extra games).  We have recruited some school friends for this upcoming season and hope it will make soccer more fun for Carter again (though I think the soccer camp he did this summer and having a lot of friends on his indoor team really helped his enthusiasm for soccer return).

Getting eight in a team photo was the best I could do this season :)

Top Row (L to R): Jack Henry, Mark, Athen, Calum

Bottom Row (L to R): Adam, Carter, Edison, Jude

Missing: Ishaan, Jack

Flag Football Camp

Carter and Rylan have tried lots of sports.  One they've never asked to try is football - which I'm just fine with.  However, they do play with the neighborhood kids, especially on Sundays during football season.  I wanted them to know a little more about the positions and how to play safely so I signed them up for a flag football camp a couple of weeks ago.  It was with Williamson County Parks and Rec and was at the Crockett Indoor Arena.  It was 3 hours each day for a week and ONLY $65 per kid (YES!!!).  Plus a few of each of Carter and Rylan's friends from school were doing the camp.

They both seemed to ultimately enjoy the camp, though Rylan seemed to have his moments when he had his feelings hurt by rude kids and had trouble accepting when he dropped a pass, etc.  But I think they both learned some things and mostly had fun.

On the last day the kids were supposed to wear jerseys.  Both boys were excited to wear their NCSU jerseys!

Gray and I didn't stay for the camp but we tried to get there to watch a little of the end each day.  I took a few videos of the boys.

Carter played center all week and I saw him catch a few passes:

Rylan was a receiver mostly but also ran a few balls:

Beaman Park Hike

We had a free morning and it wasn't too hot so we took the boys hiking today.  We drove about 40 minutes north to Beaman Park in Ashland City (though the park is a city of Nashville park).

This was the first time we'd been to this park.  There isn't anything spectacular to see on the hike but we did a nice up and down lollipop trail that followed a creek for a bit and also a ridgeline.

First though we did the boardwalk trail (0.25 miles) next to the nature center (which was closed today). 

Not sure why everyone wanted to hug a tree ... hhhmmmm ...

Next we did 3.2 miles on the Sedge Hill Trail and Henry Hollow Loop.

This little man hiked the entire time today - we didn't carry him once.  He may be so difficult and stubborn most of the time but then he can be the best kiddo other times.

It takes a lot to wear out our boys but I think we actually did it today.  Though the hike wasn't too hard and we've done more miles, they were tired the rest of the day (we had to drag them through Rylan's baseball practice).  It was great to get out though - we haven't been finding the time to hike much lately.

NSC - Game 11

On Wednesday evening we went to see Nashville Soccer Club take on Atlanta United 2.  Atlanta brought along a few players from their MLS team but NSC prevailed and won 1-0.  And it was Rylan's favorite player (Taylor Washington) who scored.  It must have been these super fans that helped NSC win :)

Gatorade Junior Training Camp

I've signed the boys up for the kids club with the Tennessee Titans the last couple of years.  It's free and the kids get a goody bag and some special offers during the season.  In the spring I got an email about a free two hour "training camp" for kids club members that was to take place in June.  I signed all the boys up not really knowing any details.

It turned out to be super fun!  We even ran into friends in the line to get into the Titans practice dome.

Rylan, Carter, Luke, Connor, and Jacob ...

Gray with my mom ...

All the kids got t-shirts as we came in.  We were even able to get some extra shirts on our way out - they are the most comfortable shirts and what the boys sleep in most nights!

Gray was too young to participate in the training camp, but he got to meet T-Rac while watching the older boys.

There were 12 stations set up with typical football drills.  The kids were divided into groups base on their ages.  Carter and Rylan were together with all the boys they knew.  There was plenty of room in the massive practice facility.

The kids would spend 10 minutes or so at a station and then move on to the next one.  After 3 stations, they would take a Gatorade break.  I grabbed a picture of the big boys with T-Rac during on of those breaks.

The rookies joined the training camp for the last 45 minutes or so and everyone took a break to get a group photo.

The rookies ran one of the stations the boys still had.  I think Rashaan Evans is in the black Adidas shirt (the Titans first draft pick).

Here are the boys doing this drill ...

Here are the boys attempting a field goal.  Carter was the only one I saw get even close!

The boys had so much fun and the fact that it was a free event made it even better!  We hope they do it again next year!!!