Take Me Out To The Ballgame....

Last night we went to the Charlotte Knights final Saturday home game and fireworks. I think everyone else in the Greater Charlotte area had the same idea we did. The line at the ticket window reached out to the parking lot! Tod spotted a little tent selling lawn tickets for $5....and NO LINE!! Brady was free, so we only spent $15 to go to the game. Not bad.

We found a little spot on lawn and settled in. Tod and I had a beer and the boys were able to run around. After we finished our drinks, the boys had fun playing with the plastic bottles. I was taking some funny pictures of the boys with our beer bottles when we heard, "HEADS UP!" Tod yelled, "KAT! KAT! KAT!" I looked up and here comes a foul ball! As I ducked for cover, Tod reached over and caught the foul ball with one hand and Brady on his lap! The rest of the "lawners" cheered as Jacob held up the ball for all to see. Tod said that he has gone to thousands of baseball games and never caught a foul ball. This made our night.

First Day of Kindergarten

To top off my emotional week....Jacob started Kindergarten yesterday! I am amazed that he is already going to "big boy" school! We all woke up early and ate a good breakfast. Then we were quickly off to school. We have to leave the house by 7:10am in order to be there on time. Jacob was super excited and a bit nervous too. I walked him to his classroom and met his teacher. He seemed very comfortable and found his seat. I stayed for about 5 minutes. "You doing OK?" I asked him. "Sure!" I waited until I got to the car until the tears started rolling down my face. Brady is in the back saying, "Cry? Cry? Cry?"

I picked him up and he told me all about his day. He said, "We got to play on the playground today! Only they don't call it playing on the playground. They call it recess!!" He did learn something!

Today was a little different. Once we got to school Jacob seemed a little more nervous. I told him that it was time for me to leave and he got really sad and teary. I asked if he was OK and he said, "Yes, I guess I have something in my eye." Oh gosh! I had to swallow hard and hold back the tears. (Until I got to the car!)

Our Sad Trip

On Thursday August 15, my Papa passed away. He had been sick for a year and he is finally at peace. We flew to Louisiana on Saturday for the services. My Mimi seems relieved, but sad. We all stayed strong until the funeral service on Sunday afternoon. Papa was never one to tell you that he loved you and compliments were not given out. His friend gave the eulogy that Papa wrote himself. Papa was able to finally say those things that he couldn't say in life. He told us that he loved us and that he was proud of us. He even said that he was blessed to be a Great Grandfather to Jacob and Brady and that he loved to watch them. We all cried when we heard his words.

Later that evening with family and friends at the house, it started to rain. Jacob and Brady splashed in the puddles and ran through the rain. They laughed and made mud pies on the driveway. All I could think about is how much Papa would have loved to watch these boys play in the rain. Maybe he was watching. I hope it made him smile. I'll miss you, Papa.

Kentucky

Oh, the sun shines bright
On my Old Kentucky Home...

We had such a great trip to Kentucky! The boys couldn't get enough of the "great outdoors". I have LOTS of pictures to show you...

Here is Brady playing at the Cincinnati Children's Museum. I couldn't get a picture of Jacob because he was too quick and busy to stay still for a second. Brady loved the water table and was able to play with his Gumps there. He did have a complete meltdown at the end and I ended up riding the escalator for about 40 minutes to calm him down. He loves escalators!



This little cutie is our nephew, Aidan. We were lucky enough to celebrate his 2nd birthday while we were there. Patrick, Jane and Aidan all came from New Jersey to spend the week too. It was nice to have everyone there. Aidan loved his cake. Jacob loved the hats!! Aidan also had LOTS of help opening his presents.






A couple of years ago Gumps built the grand kids a sandbox. I believe this was a daily activity for Jacob and Brady. Usually right before bedtime so we could put them in the shower afterward. They all played in the Gator. Jacob would drive Brady all over the place. Brady and Aidan would get in but, luckily, neither one of them could had the desire to actually drive!







Here is a picture of the O'Donnell's cabin and a view of the lake. The weather while we were there was perfect. The days were 80 degrees while the nights were cool 60's. Each morning we would see so many Blue Heron's fly around the lake and perch themselves on logs coming out of the river. In the evenings we would take a golf cart ride through the tobacco fields to see deer. One evening we say 17 deer!




On the last day we were there Gran and Gumps threw a big party with all of the family friends that they used to go camping with. Now all of the kids have kids themselves. It was fun to see everyone and to meet all of the new additions to every ones families. As you can see it looked like Tent City. Jacob had so many kids to play with and was completely exhausted by the end of the night. Brady loved to play on the cornhole sets. He and his Uncle Sean played while Aidan ran up and down the tops of the cornhole set.







Lastly, the sunset. Always beautiful. Kentucky is an incredibly fun place. Thank you to Gran and Gumps for showing us such a fun and magical time.