Let's Play Two!

Sammy and Andrew had another big baseball day yesterday. Sam's game was a part of a big festival put on by our neighboring league, complete with lineup announcements over the PA. And he got to play against his friend Emma! Andrew launched some big flies in his game later that day, including a double, and drove in an important run in the final inning of a 12-12 tie game. Too bad for him, we just had the cell phone camera for that one.

Sam's form reminds us of Japanese home run champ Sadaharu Oh's famous leg kick...which the delightfully goofy Andrew appears to using in the field.

The Shirt Says It All

Kelli, Nate and Ian came for a visit over Memorial Day weekend. We took them to Emerald Downs to see the horses, and Acme Bowl for lunch and bowling. Ian is still sweet, but has quite a mischievous side. The 3 bigger boys spent hours building Lego ships which Ian easily took apart in a matter of minutes!

Zoo and Aquarium

Sam attended his final field trip of preschool today, a trip to Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma. It's a small zoo, but do-able for preschoolers. We saw everything there was to see in a few hours, and had lunch there. Sam said his favorites were the monkeys, who were acting quite acrobatic today.

When we went to pick Andrew up this afternoon, we also turned in Sam's final paperwork for Kindergarten. He's going to be in Mrs. Friedman's afternoon class, the same class Andrew was in a few years ago. He can't wait!

Wheels

Yep, Dr. Spicciati has a new car.

After much research, he picked out a 2009 Subaru Forester with all of the bells and whistles. The CR-V has been traded in, and we will be happily traveling this summer in this lovely car. See the link below for an article about it's eco-friendliness.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/autos/0805/gallery.suv_alternatives/8.html

Guns and Garden

Squirt guns, that is. It was actually hot over the weekend, hot enough to run through the sprinkler before lunch on Saturday and have a squirt gun fight.

With the weather, the flowers I've been waiting for came to life. The lilac bush is making the backyard smell amazing!

Andrew's 1st Communion

We were blessed to witness Andrew and 81 other children from St. Vincent's make their 1st Communion today. It was a beautiful mass that had a nice balance of being very kid-friendly (great music by the children's choir!), but with dignity to suit the occasion. After mass, we came home for lunch with our friends who had joined us. Mom and I had even made ice cream cake for dessert (flavors chosen by Andrew - chocolate, mint-choc. chip, vanilla, with sprinkles on top and a chocolate cookie crust). Now that I know how to do it, we might have ice-cream cake for all of our special occasions!

Garden Tour

After living with this attraction practically in my backyard for 13 years, I finally made it to the Weyerhauser Rhododendren and Bonsai Garden on Friday. I toured with a group from St. Vincent's, then we had lunch in the company cafeteria. It was a beautiful spring day, and many shrubs were in spectacular bloom.