Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Katie and her bear ready for Dodgers baseball.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love Dodger baseball. I grew up going to games, even if it was on Easter Sunday. When I was a kid in junior high, I was one of those nutty teenagers who had a big crush on Steve Sax. I knew every player on the team and knew the number they wore. I never needed a program. Now, I'd be lucky to name 10 guys who were Dodgers. There is nothing better than a beautiful day spent at the stadium. Especially when it comes to Dodger dogs, peanuts, and other crazy Dodger fans. So yesterday I took Katie to her first Dodger game. The Dodgers were playing a day game against the Colorado Rockies. She was so excited! Actually, I had bought the tickets for Ryan to go, but he decided he would rather go to day care and spend one last day with his friends before school starts. So Katie got to go. She loved having her first Dodger dog, eating popcorn and lemonade ice. She loved singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame and yelling to Manny Ramirez when he would run out to left field and back to the dugout. She was disappointed that we weren't able to catch a foul ball, although one landed in the next aisle. She was able to make it the entire game. When it was time to leave, Katie was asleep before we could even leave the parking lot. It was a great day spent with Katie, and was made better by the Dodgers winning 3-1.

Katie eating her first Dodger dog, without the bun.

The newest Dodger, Manny Ramirez. Katie likes him because his name is Manny, "just like Handy Manny on Disney Channel".

Katie loved her day at Dodger Stadium, and wants to back again and again and again!

Olympic Fever

The next Michael Phelps?

I just love when the summer Olympics begin! How many times in your life do you get excited about fencing or rowing? I do during these two weeks! The only problem with the Olympics is the late nights. To watch the popular events, you need to stay up until midnight or later. It's only for two weeks, and it has been well worth it (especially that swimming relay)!

My enthusiasm has spilled over to Ryan and Katie. Ryan's favorite athlete, of course, is Michael Phelps. He has become a huge Phelps Phan. The day I took these pictures, he insisted on wearing his wetsuit so he could look more like the Olympians wearing their swim suits. He always wants to know if Michael's swimming or if he got another gold medal. He also likes watching the beach volleyball. Katie, on the other hand, is enthralled with gymnastics. If fact, on the first night of gymnastics, she danced around the living room for close to an hour. She kept telling us that she couldn't do those "twirlie thingies" yet, but will do them when she gets bigger. I guess that means gymnastics classes. If Natalie could invent an Olympic event it would be table climbing. It's amazing how fast she can climb up and cross the dining room table. She would most definately win a gold medal for that!

I can't wait for the track and field events to begin tomorrow and to see if Phelps can pull of a clean sweep of gold medals!

Rainforest Adventure

We just completed 5 days of Vacation Bible School. This year's theme was Rainforest Adventure and what a fantastic, but exhausting week we had! We had nights where we had 60- 65 kids, who were energetic and ready for a great time. Last night we topped off the week with a BBQ and closing. Ryan even had his first speaking part! Ryan and Katie had a fun time and wished we had VBS every week. They love listening to their Rainforest Adventure CDs and singing all the songs they have learned. Even Steve took part every night running Powerpoint so the kids could learn the lyrics to the songs. Since I am part of church council, it's my job to oversee the entire week of VBS, which was tiring but extremely rewarding. With my two great friends, Kari and Ruth, they helped me every step of the way. Now my thoughts turn toward the beginning of the Sunday school year on Sept. 7.

Ryan and Katie made beautiful crafts thoughout the week and here they show off their bird masks from the first night.