What a great game the Clover Crush played last night.  In the two seasons June has been playing they have never beat the Angels, & last night they played so well that it went into sudden death.  The Angels were still victorious, but it was so close, and the girls all just played so well – June got a couple of good hits, & as the second baseman took a throw from third and got an excellent out, which was exciting – that we had to consider it a win :-).  Jeff always loves how girly the inside of their dugout looks, with all the pink bags hanging up 🙂

June Bug out in the field, along with Coach Howie.

This morning Lindee, Mallory & Clara were here to pick me up early, & we got to Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens just as it was opening up this morning.  They have had a big exhibit of sculpture from Zimbabwe on display all summer, and tomorrow is the last day – we just got in under the wire.  The sculptures were so, so cool, like this one in the Orchid House.

Luckily there were the old favorites still there, too, of course, like the fountain walk.  It was a beautiful day.

Friday afternoon June & Mason were here to help me cook supper.  Here is June adding to our one-pot meal…

…and Mason, giving the soy sauce the sniff test before deciding if he wanted to taste it.

June got a great hit at her game last night – here she is heading to first base.  We are so proud of her, and all her Clover Crush teammates 🙂

Yesterday afternoon I took June & Clara to the library in town, to a special event for little girls.  I have to admit I have never read “Alice in Wonderland,” nor even seen the movie, but as it turns out, it is one of their very favorites.  The whole event was so cute – games, LOTS of crafts (which is definitely something June & Clara both loooove), and a tea party to cap off the evening.  Here is June working on a rose, which turned out so cute.  Apparently in “Alice in Wonderland” they paint roses?  Anyway, they had great fun with this.  You can also see the Backward Clocks that they made first on the table in front of her.

Clara enjoying the cupcakes that were part of the tea party.  Look how cute the napkins and plates are!  What a fun time…

We got to June’s game Monday night.  The sun was so bright that this was the only picture that turned out at all – June running to second base, while her dad, coaching first base, tries to see the batter.  We’ll see how things go at the game tomorrow evening.

Saturday afternoon we had celebrated Mase’s big day at his party, which we held here at the house.  We just roasted hotdogs, & the kids spent pretty much the whole time running around in the woods while the adults sat around & visited.  Good times.  From left this is Clara, Adam kneeling down, Charlie, Lee, Austin, Stephanie, Addie, Mallory, & Landon.  And if you look just behind Addie, you can see Steph’s baby Nathan in his stroller.

The birthday boy blowing out his candles.  A special day for our special guy…

Mason is my cooking lover, and since he just turned five on Thursday, we decided to cook something special while he was here yesterday to celebrate.  We went with Crepes Suzette.  Here he is working on the crepes.  He did a great job 🙂

Then yesterday evening was the carnival at Larne Elementary School, where June is in the second grade.  The kids had great fun playing games and seeing their buddies, and we made it a special point to see June’s teacher, Ms. Cheatham.  June is having such a good year already, so I was excited to meet her.  Just a good, good day…

This week at Mason’s preschool at Clover Presbyterian Church, they are celebrating Grandparents Day by inviting the grandparents to bring their lunch & come eat with the kids.  Yesterday I stopped & got us some KFC, & Jeff met us there for the big day.  I got to meet his teacher, Miss Sandy, & the director is a friend from church,  so we had a good time visiting with them, too.

That afternoon, when I took Mal & Clara to dance, one of the studios was flooded due to a leak.  SO, Mallory & Clara had to take their classes together.  I was hoping to get a picture of that, but they weren’t standing on the same side of the studio.  You can pick out Mallory, who is to be an angel in their upcoming Nutcracker performance – she’s the one in black facing the camera.  Another good day…