Random post to see if I still know how.....

"What I did this summer"

Connor played 2nd base and left field, pitched, and batted lead off for his travel team this year. He only had to go to the ER once. Everyone on the team calls him "CJ" or "9" because there is another Connor on the team... who goes by "Doobie" all the time. Go figure. Whatever you call him, he was awesome! He had one of his best games on the mound when Aunt Priscilla and Uncle Pat brought the cousins to watch- very cool to have fans other than the immediate fam!
Pierce eating breakfast: Lucky Charms with milk and snot

Connor and his best friend Nathan leading Team 6 on 8th grade field day. You gotta love the 21st century: no more dodge ball, actual running races or anything to make weird kids feel bad. Instead they played video games on a giant outdoor screen, experimented with tribal music on bongos and slurped down Italian ice after getting skin cancer screenings. Weird day. Awesome kids.
Graeme and his buds on the last day of 7th grade
Laxer OJO was on a very talented team this summer and was a big contributor. Our favorite day was when he full-on decked and flattened a kid from that soccer team he got kicked off last year. That's legal in lacrosse. Cool. (Not legal in the basement though, so don't get any ideas Owen.)
Reilly's SECOND last day of SECOND grade. After Reilly finished at NAPS, a week later I signed him up to go to the local public elementary school for their last week of school to get his bearings before switching schools this year. He conquered the cafeteria and the school bus for the first time heroically.
Pierce has crazy mad skills on the ball field. Gotta see it to believe it. The boy can hit a pitched hard ball and we've gunned his fast ball at around 10 mph. The spectators call him The Phenom.


Connor won the 8th grade Most School Spirit Award so we found a shark necktie for him to wear to graduation, I mean commencement, whatever.I was VERY proud of him; when he walked across the stage they announced he was one of only 8 of 268 total students to graduate middle school with a 4.0 GPA. I told him, "Good job" and sent him back to class for the rest of the afternoon. I did not realize how proud the other parents were of their kids; I didn't know they took them out of school and out to lunch at fancy restaurants to celebrate. So an hour later, after helping with Graeme's class party, I walked thru the cafeteria and this is what I saw:
These nerds were the only 8th graders left in the whole school: the ones whose parents were not cool enough to spring them loose to go to the fancy restaurants! What geeks! Connor's friend Gabriella kinda reminded me of Molly Ringwald in the Breakfast Club. It looked like detention or something. I did what I could and took them to Rita's for the rest of the day.
Here's Owen sleeping in the new bedroom I renovated this summer. We took the ten-year old playroom and turned it into a surf hut bedroom. I should have better pictures of the metamorphosis, but I don't. The best part is the cool tiki lights. Come see.

Pierce and Ellie at cousin beach day. They LOVE each other! I loved my special time with Bekah this summer, too.
Ask anyone and they will tell you my children are the loud, aggressive ones and Jennie's are the musical, humanitarian ones. Au contrair. They have weapons. All the time.
This had to be the saddest part of summer. Owen's longtime friend Sam (far left) lost his Dad in a freak boating accident. These are his best friends from NAPS giving him a football signed by the entire Navy football team that the coach inscribed: "To Sam, Courage and Honor". Way too sad. God bless the Cantellos and may your friends always be there when you need them.
Best science teacher at SRMS: Mr G.
Good news: Connor had him last year and Graeme got him this year!
Best history teacher at SRMS: Mr. B
Sad news: Connor had him last year but he was promoted and moved to a high school at the other end of the county so Graeme doesn't have him this year.
Teen pre-high school summer party at the beach with some of the boys...
and some of the GIRLS!!! Wow. I am SO glad I have 5 BOYS to shop for; stores sell boys' swim suits with fabric included.
Ah.....sweet baby days. Ice cream desserts with Dad! The boys also saw plenty of Oriole baseball, attended every sort of sport camp out there, read quite a few good books, trolled the Ocean City boardwalk with friends on sleepovers, and enjoyed several fishing and crabbing trips with Grandpa. And then it was time for them all to go back to school.....

3rd grade Reilly

5th grade Owen

8th grade Graeme

Freshman Connor at 5:30 am heading out the door to seminary; yes, it is hard to get a decent photo when it is still dark outside! And BTW, that's 4 kids in 4 different schools- YIKES! This is going to be a crazy year!

Off to the Races
We like running in the spring before the weather heats up too much. It's also a good way for the boys to keep their cardiovascular stamina strong during baseball season. This year Connor, his friend Nathan and I ran in my favorite local 5K, the Quiet Waters Earth Day Race. I like that one because the entire race is run on a scenic, paved park trail. There is only one large hill :) To top it off, pretty much everyone who enters the race wins several coupons for free ice cream cones from the shop down on the city dock (oh yeah). Everyone but Connor, that is. Connor set a blazing pace at 20:09 and came in 2nd overall out of 100+ runners. It was his first time to win an overall award and not just an age group honor and he was pretty proud of himself. Everyone gasped and clapped for him when he was awarded his fancy plaque. Nathan and I, on the other hand, are happy with our ice cream cone coupons and told Connor we'd treat him one day this summer, as long as he didn't gloat too much on the way home. :)

But no ice cream yet! The Tuckahoe Triathlon was just a few weeks away and we were excited to tackle that one again with Connor's friends Jackson, Noah and little sister Isabelle.
Connor and Nathan entered as a team and so did my friend Lori and I.
Knowing what to expect made it a lot easier this year and we had a great time completing the 2 mile run, 10 mile bike ride and 1 mile canoe paddle. Connor loves the run leg while I much prefer the bike leg. Jackson's dad George is awesome at all of it, placing 3rd overall, and we were all proud of Isabelle for finishing her first tri with her mom. Can't wait for next year!

Teaming Up!

After some major league negotiations with the local rec league (somebody explain to me again why moms don't get salaries?), Reilly was granted permission to "play up" with Owen's 10 year old age group for baseball season. He was the only player granted this request. And yes, he is awesome, but that's not the main reason we made the request. With Connor and Graeme both playing travel schedules with their teams, we knew we could only spread ourselves so thin... 10+ games a week plus practices felt like our limit! So proudly wearing #4 (obvious reasons), Reilly skipped the first kid pitch league and made his debut in minors as a Mudcat with #52 Owen (don't ask) and Assistant Coach Dad, who came as part of the package trade deal we brokered with the league. Owen was a veteran pitcher this year and put up a lot of solid innings. Here's a sequence of him at work on the mound:

Getting the sign

Coming set

Leg kick

Reaching back

Loading up

The delivery

Letting it fly

Follow through

Owen felt pretty confident on the hill, knowing he was backed up by one of the better shortstops in the league: Reilly...
...who was also ready take the mound whenever relief was needed.

Reilly had great composure as a rookie pitcher. It probably helped that he had a buddy behind the plate catching him... Owen!

Now it's time to heat up the bats boys!
Batting lead off for the Mudcats... Reilly!

Checking out the pitcher's stuff

Taking a practice swing

Last minute advice from the third base coach
(and a little love from Dad)

In the box and ready to rock

Reilly reached base often and was a great table setter for Owen, batting in the 3 hole, who routinely smashed the first pitch he saw into the outfield, leading the team in RBIs.

The team finished the season with a winning 10-4 record, making it to the league championships semi finals.


Of course, no season can ever be complete without Owen getting chewed out by his coach multiple times...
But mostly, it was smiles all around... planting fear in the hearts of the rest of the league because Owen and Reilly will be legal to play together again next year!