Mini-Vacation

This week we took a Mini-Vacation!  We met Ron's parents in southern Ohio for a couple of days!  

We met at Hocking Hills and had a picnic before we set out on some trails!

Ron's family had hiked many of these trials when he was a boy, and Ron and I hiked many in college (we were actually engaged at Hocking Hills).  Our kids however, had never been.

We first went to see Ash Cave.  They loved it.  So beautiful!

We hiked to the top of the waterfall too!

Then we went to Rock House!

I think the kids enjoyed this one even more.  It is pretty impressive!

We couldn't do any big trails with the little ones, but what we did was fun and I think they all enjoyed it.  It had rained prior to us being there, so it was a little wet, but the rain stayed away until we were finished!

We enjoyed meals together!

Then in the evening, the boys decided to hurry and get in 9 holes of golf.  The younger 2 were pretty upset with no where to go.  So we found a park and fed the ducks, geese and even swans!  Wish we had had more bread, but it was fun to watch these to feeding and watching.

This poor little guy was nursing a hurt leg, so we quickly called Eli off...

...and headed to the playground!

The next morning we went to the Great Seal State Park for some Disc Golf (or in our case-- Frisbee Golf)

This course was nothing like the Bryan Course we are use to, but it was amazing.  Wooded, and beautiful!  

We only played 9 holes as it took all morning, but it was really neat.  Probably not recommended for 4 and 6 year old (maybe not even 8), but I think all in all they had fun with their Grandparents being there!

Really a neat course and we didn't loose any Frisbees...permanently!

Finally Tuesday afternoon we got in the pool! (aren't these 2 cute?)

None of our 4 can swim.  They just haven't been around water enough.  But Daddy and Grandpa spent some time teaching them and they really enjoyed themselves.  We just need to get them in the water more.

Wednesday morning we had to say good-bye.  Never fun!

We had to head for home and help out the All-Star team.  Both boys made the team and had missed the first 2 games of the first tournament, but we made it for game #3 (A WIN) and game #4   (a heart breaker).  We are done with that tournament, but the kids did well.  Especially our boys.  With the week they had they came back and played so well.

So our vacation is over and we are recovering and preparing for another All-Star Tournament that begins tonight with a Double Header!  This weekend will be the final tournament!

So we had a fun Mini-Vacation, just needed a little more time.  We had hoped to see the Outdoor Drama Tecumseh, but the weather didn't cooperate with that, hopefully another time!

Called Up...Again

I didn't get any great pictures to prove it, but Eli got "Called Up to Pee Weed" (as he calls it), but this time it was for the Championship Game!

Yep, Eli got to play in the Championship Game for Pee Wee this year.  He did pretty good too.  Got a single and scored, advanced a runner, struck out and another single that left him stranded on 3rd.  He also played right center and some left and didn't let anything past him.

There were even enough trophies that he got one.  How do you like that, he played only 1 inning of a rain out game for this team, and then the last 2 tournament games and he got a 2nd place trophy!

He was pretty excited.  Klayton, Andrew and Elijah all go to our Farmer Church, so Eli was playing with his friends!

He should be ready for next year, he's already got the experience of a tournament behind him!

3-peat

 For the 3rd year in a row the Adkins boys made it to the Championship Game!  They were excited, but they had to beat a team who had beaten them just 3 days earlier!

They pulled together as a team and had some great plays and some not-so-great plays...

and in the end...

They pulled it off and got first place, again!

Another 1st place trophy for Nathaniel (who is the youngest in the league this year and who also made All-Stars!)

 And for Ronnie (who is also on the All-Star team again this year)

But the biggest cheer went up for the Bat Boy (formerly known as "Batter Boy")

And so the Blue Team came out on top!

For the 3rd year in a row the Adkins boys brought home the Championship Trophies!

Busy Times

Around here June was a busy month!

We started the older 2 boys in piano lessons.

These pictures are not the greatest, but let me just tell you the boys are both loving it and really learning a lot in a short time.  They're doing great!  I'm so excited by how excited they are!

They haven't even complained about walking down to the church to practice everyday!  

One thing that has been complained about a little is some "school work" as it is (not so affectionately) referred to.  

All 4 kids are doing summer workbooks this year where they do 2 pages a day (M-F).  It's not an overload, but just some things to keep their minds fresh!  Most days the boys complain a little, but get it done fairly quickly and Maddie absolutely loves to learn!  She is soaking it in.  In fact she is working through 3 workbooks right now.  She's doing Math, learning to read and reviewing a lot of letters and numbers!  She can't get enough and she's only 4!  Too bad she has another year of helping Momma before she can go to Kindergarten!  (Actually I am so glad, I'm not ready for her to go off to school yet)! 

Last week we had our VBS!  We join together Farmer, Ney and a community church, Sonrise, to have a joint Bible School.  This year we had over 70 in attendance, which way surpassed the last couple of years!  It was great.  My class was the 5 and 6 year old not yet into Kindergarten (fun age).  It meant I didn't have any of my own, but I think it worked out great!  This class did keep me busy though.  There were 10 of them and I got just a couple of pictures the first day of their recreation time!

Our theme this year was "Jesus is My Super Hero".  We talked about Jesus' Miracles and how He is our Ultimate Super Hero!  It was a great week!

Along with Bible School we had Tournament for Baseball last week!

We actually lost our first game, but came back and won our second to move us into the Championship Game for the 3rd straight year for the Adkins!

During the tournaments the whole team goes out for the coin toss!

 

Our bat boys continued to work hard through tournaments!

The picture below shows Ronnie on deck, Nathaniel in the hole and that cute bat boy waiting to grab a bat!

Daddy coaching third and Nathaniel on base (he went on to score).

We lost this one, but we're not out yet!  Stay tuned for Championship results.

Then of course, June Saturday's means T-ball!  Eli enjoyed these games, but honestly didn't think his teammates paid enough attention.  There were a couple of time when he wanted to turn a double play and no one was paying attention :)

So June as been BUSY to say the least, but we are having fun!  I am so far behind in posting, I hope to get caught up on all that is going on soon!

I hope your summer is going well too!

High Achievers

This spring we heard about a program we were excited to look into.  The Cleveland Indians High Achievers Program was an opportunity to get FREE tickets to the Indians games for the kids!

We registered all 3 boys in the program and submitted their A's and B's online as well as a reading report (which was a simple title, author and summary of 3 books for each boy).  After all that was submitted we got 2 tickets per boy.  1 for the grades and 1 for the reading report.

Yep - 6 free tickets!  So yesterday we headed to the Cleveland!

We arrived early enough to watch the Indians batting practice.

 Amazingly enough, we got 2 practice balls!  FUN!

We also had some time to look around the stadium!

Our seats were great too.  Up in the upper deck, right behind home plate.

 The only thing we weren't really prepared for was the wind!  It was downright COLD with the wind coming in.  

Our Indians won the game so that made it great too!

We really did have a great time and enjoyed ourselves.

The sign below was one the boys had made.  They were a little disappointed when the jumbo-tran went out about half-way through the game, Eli especially was hoping to see himself holding the sign.  He continued to hold it up throughout the game and cheer, but was slightly disappointed not to make the big TV!  The Jumbo-tran was also the highlight for Maddie, so when it went out she was "bored" without the big TV - she settled for people watching instead!

One more thing...the High Achievers program allows us to submit 2 grades and 2 reading reports!  So we have 6 more tickets to a game this season!

Yeah, we get to go cheer on our Indians for another game later this summer!

Double Digits and Double Celebration!

Today was a busy, fun filled day!

Ronnie's 10th!  We began the morning with 2 church services!

After a quick lunch we were off to an unknown location to celebrate Ronnie's 10th and a little Father's Day too!

Putt-Putt

and Go Karts - the first time for all 4!  Ronnie and Nathaniel were old enough to ride in their own.  Maddie went with me and Eli and Daddy teamed up!  It was a lot of fun.  I think the boys were a little nervous at first, but they did great and had a great time.  They are already talking about when we can do it again!

From there it was back home for Ronnie's Birthday meal -Biscuits and Gravy!  Then he opened some presents!

He was excited about this cross necklace.

Glasses from Maddie

and a whole bag of "gifts" from Eli!

It was a very LONG and Fun Day!  We all enjoyed ourselves!

Unfortunately, it probably wasn't too relaxing for the Dad!  I have to say, Ron is a wonderful Father to Ronnie, Nathaniel, Eli and Maddie.  I love watching him interact with all 4 of them in different ways.  Playing ball with the boys, snuggling with his little girl!  Even sacrificing his Sunday nap to make sure his 10 year old has a great birth-day!

Happy Father's Day and Happy Birthday Ronnie!

Party for the 10th

Ronnie Lee is double digits today!  WOW, is that really possible?  We have a 10 year old!  10 years ago this morning at 10:40 am  Ronnie Lee changed our world and expanded our Love in a way we never dreamed possible!  Now today here he is, unbelievable!

This was his 10th and we offered that he could have a little party (more than the usual just family and grandparents).  He wanted to do it at the Park so that they could play kickball together.  He assembled his list (which included only a few friends because he didn't want it to get "rowdy") and we sent out invitations!

Ronnie also wanted a golf cake!

So, I made the 10th hole complete with a fariway, water, and sand traps!

His friends, brothers and sister enjoyed some cake and ice cream first!

Then I managed to get a picture before they headed to the field!

Ronnie specifically wanted Daddy to pick the teams (so they would be even) and he wanted him to be all-time pitcher!  Poor Daddy was worn out!

The game finally ended after playing the final 6 outs in the rain.  We gathered under the pavilion for a game of Down, Down, Down!

All in all Ronnie was pleased and said it was a great party!  

I love this little man and just can't believe he is 10 years old!

Happy Birthday Ronnie!