There always seems to be something going on. Here are a few things we have been doing since school got out. The kids are loving summer!! I'm adjusting, haha!!
This is something normal couples do together right??
Cracking it open, and me seeing the bees for the first time.
The lighter colored sections are capped off honey!
If you look closely next to the finger, you can see the queen bee. She's slightly longer and lighter in color than the other bees
More and more bees every time Kenney checks them.
Giving them a good check.
Trying to figure out what to do with this girl's crazy hair.
Sweet girl!
Checking out the big turtle that was close to Papa's house.
Even though the turtle was pretty good sized, the kids were all excited to see and touch it. They wanted it to walk around so bad!
Always extra boys at our house. But it's been nice because they have been able to play outside in the beautiful weather we have had.
Bringing all of her girly things outside. I didn't quite catch a picture of her using a mirror to look at herself.
Loving the backyard!
I love watching the creative ways the change or make up games!
Meanwhile Bentley sings and dances around when she is on the trampoline. She's such a girl it kills me!!
Sitting up like a champ!
Playing at the river. There was quite a bit of water so they could almost swim!
Hanging out in the shade as much as possible.
Feeling the sand for the first time!
Catching minnows with Dad.
The water was flowing pretty well and had some deeper spots than usual. The kids were loving it!!
I think Mackenzie is going to love the beach! She seemed to be a fan this first time!
Hanging out while Mom attempts to get something done around the house.
We had a massive series of thunderstorms go through Wellington filled with rain, wind, huge hail, and tornado threats! It was a crazy set of storms. Kenney was able to come home early from work because it wasn't safe for patients to be out and all nonessential employees were sent home from the hospital. We called a neighbor, Bobbi, and asked if we could join her in the cellar at her house because we knew there were tornado watches and warnings headed our way. We packed a couple bags (Bentley grabbed her purse) and we headed to her house. She had a large cellar that was super clean and had chairs ready for us.
After getting into the cellar, a few minutes later we heard a lot of hail coming down on the metal cellar door. It sounded pretty loud. Bentley was a little scared and nervous at first, but the boys were super excited for this new adventure. Kenney was also equally excited because he loves thunderstorms. I'm pretty sure he would have rather been out looking at the clouds but thought he should set an example for the boys to stay safe in the cellar.
However, once the hail started Kenney couldn't help but peek outside. Before I knew it, he was sending the boys out to grab the pieces of hail so we could look at it. We were impressed with the half dollar and larger pieces, little did we know those ended up being some of the smaller pieces that fell! Once the storm blew over, we found huge hail stones!! We left our van parked in the garage at our house and drove Kenney's car to her house 2 blocks away. Unfortunately, there was some damage but luckily no busted glass.
After exploring for a bit outside, we went back inside Bobbi's house because another storm was going to hit Wellington. Bobbie then got the kids cookies, Sprite, and other snacks to keep them busy and fed. My snacks were not good enough of course. She then showed them some toys she had a in back room. They were loving it and asking if we could go back in the cellar!! Thankfully, the next storm was just a lot of heavy rain with thunder and lightning. After most of that let up we headed home. Somehow we didn't have any broken windows or extreme damage to our house. However, we will need a new roof.
We were blessed to have a great neighbor and stay out of the path or any tornadoes. There were some not too far away and some funneling of clouds just out of town, but nothing super close to us. The kids were never scared and loved our time in the cellar. It was so reassuring knowing that our family was together and safe. Yes there was a big chance there were tornadoes close, and we could lose our house and everything else, but we were all calm and happy. It was nice knowing as long as we were together nothing else mattered. Our house and things could all be replaced.
Checking out the cellar, Mackenzie's smile.
She was loving all the excitement.
Trying to get settled but not able to sit still.
Getting settled in the cellar
The hail starting to fall and Dad can't stand to stay in the dark! Bentley was a little unsure and nervous at first, but she was way too curious to just sit there.
Showing off the big hail stone they collected.
Of course Damon has to stick it in his big mouth!!
The were all such different shapes! Some were so jagged on the outside while others were so smooth.
Here's Kenney showing off one of the bigger ones they found, but honestly it was pretty small to what we would find when we got out of the cellar.
Starting their collection
You can see the layers from where the updrafts would pull the stones up multiple times.
Kyler doesn't have tiny hands!
Kenney and the boys were amazed at how the hail would sometimes explode when it hit the ground.
Kenney holding the hail.
Damon showing us one of the hail stones that split when he threw it.
We have both seen storms where the hail covered the ground looking like snow, but this time there wasn't very much hail it was just HUGE!!! I have never seen hail that big myself and hope to never see it again!
He was proud of his hail too!
So cool
Palm size in my hands is bigger than a baseball.
As wide as a credit card
And just about as thick
Weather is pretty incredible
Several hail stones were stuck in the ground like this.
The boys wanted me to take a picture of the hole it left behind.
Kyler said this one looked like it had an owl inside.
This tornado was about 40 miles away from us.
Here are some pictures from other people around town. We fared better than them.
Kyler is playing 'real' baseball this year with a live pitcher, stealing bases, etc. He did amazingly well his first games, especially hitting. Since then he's caught some pop flies and was able to pitch. Here are a few videos of him at his first game of the season hitting the ball and running bases and his first time to ever pitch. He walked a few hitters but mostly was able to throw strikes. Runs were scored on him, but it was mostly due to errors and not him walking batters in. Overall, he did a great job!
This was his first time to ever hit off a live pitcher, that wasn't his dad.
His second time at bat he got a better hit.
We were impressed that he could slide so well since he had never done it before.
This is one of several strike outs Kyler had while pitching. One inning, he struck the first two batters out and then stopped the ground ball and threw the runner out at first. He got all three outs himself!!
Another strike out
He learned quickly to watch the runners and did a great job, especially considering it was his first time to pitch.
She wasn't really in a picture taking mood, so I'm surprised we got some good ones at all
For some reason I can't get these pictures to rotate, but Bentley wouldn't be left out!!
She's a natural with selfies!
We were invited over to a friend's house, and they had some HUGE dogs (2 this size). Our kids really well considering some of them are kinda afraid of dogs. It helped that these dogs have no idea how big they are.
One of her brothers is almost always playing with her if she is laying down.
Radley's head takes such a beating!!
If you look close you can see our Beekeeper on his way back from checking his bees where he successfully located the queen bee.
Playing in the sand on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Making a birthday cake for their Uncle Logan
I think she will go down as the most photographed child in our family because her siblings are constantly taking pictures of her in addition to me.
A paper I found in Radley's school stuff. I love it! It says, "I'm thankful for Jesus Christ and God and love and world." I'm glad some of our efforts are sinking in!
She started eating solids and it was rough for the first few feedings. She is doing much better now.
Mackenzie's newest trick is spitting. One night she woke up around 2am and was crying. Before I got up to help her get back to sleep she started spitting while she was half asleep!! It was pretty funny.
This might be one of my favorite videos ever. I love how easily she laughs and how much her brothers love getting her to laugh. It's the best when she lays her head down she's laughing so much!
Another baseball season has come and gone for Damon and Radley. It was the first time they have ever been on the same team, and it was fun to watch. They were both really good teammates to each other and the rest of the team, cheering everyone on and encouraging them. We really don't like having to use the machine to pitch to the kids, but we don't have a choice if they want to play. There is no coach pitch league here. Damon did a great job hitting this year. He's ready for the next level! Radley struggled quite a bit, but he was too far advanced for T-ball again. It's really hard going from T-ball to a machine pitching the ball. Radley never complained and had a great attitude no matter what. He was just so excited to have Dad coach him and to play with Damon. He was the youngest on the team, but his trowing and catching was just as good or better than most of the older boys. I think next year he will do great!
Kenney had a rough time coaching this year with all the extra stuff he had to do for pictures, fundraisers, etc., but he loves working with the kids. They all respond really well to him with very few problems, if any. I know our boys love being on the field with him even if he has to deal with the adults too!! Our last game, which I had planned to take pictures at, got cancelled, so I wasn't able to get many pictures of the boys playing. I was hoping they would reschedule that game so I could get some, but I only ended up getting 2! Oh well, they'll play again next year!
One of my cute little ball players!
Radley and Maverick
Damon't first time to bat this season, and he got a hit!!
Damon got a hit nearly every time up to bat. He didn't always have a pretty swing, but he made sure to hit that ball!! He loved running the bases. It's going to be really fun to watch him steal bases next year.
Radley tired so hard every game to get a hit of the machine. He struggled to swing soon enough because it is really hard to see the ball come out. The kids had the option to take the third ball from the machine or the T-ball tee, and most of the time Radley would try the machine. Almost all the kids would hit it off the tee so they could get on base. We were proud of Radley for at least trying to get a 'real' hit. He almost always struck out, but at least he tired which kids 3 years older than him wouldn't do!
Radley stuck with it through about 7 or 8 foul balls and finally got his first hit!!
This was the highlight of the season for Radley! He was finally hitting the ball and was first at bat. He didn't have to wait for anyone else to run and just took off when he saw the opportunity. He made it all the way around to get himself a home run! Damon really wanted to do the same thing (and definitely would have been able to do it) but the coaches stopped the rest of the kids on 2nd or 3rd base after Radley made it all the way around.
