Time for haircuts again!  The boys decided they wanted "real" haircuts this time.  Mason doing some leisurely reading while waiting for his turn.

I took before pictures with the intention of taking after pictures as well.  But I forgot to take the afters so these are just cute pictures of boys in need of a haircut.

Last week was Eyota Days, the town celebration.  Wednesday evening was the track races and pedal tractor pull.  Mason was SO EXCITED because last year they shot a cap gun at the start of each race and they gave out a piece of candy at the end of each race to all the runners.  Well, this year they just blew a whistle to start the runners and they marked their hands to make sure they each only got one piece of candy.  Poor kid was a bit disappointed but he ran hard anyway.  

The 6 and under boys lining up!

And they're off!!

And they're still going!!  

No one stopped them at the finish line of the 50m dash so Mason and a couple other boys just kept running--Forrest Gump style.  They made half way around the track before some big kids asked me if they should go stop them.  Here's all of the big kids running after them.  Mason is mid-stride on the left.  His buddy Nyle is stopped on the far right.  It was too cute.

Isaac and Mason still had energy left to run the 200m though!  I didn't see it but Jenna said that Mason had a pretty good start and we even kind of in the lead but Isaac yelled "Mason!  Wait!"  So he did.  He stopped in the middle of the race to wait for his cousin :-)

They were ready to quit but Paityn helped cheer them on to the finish line.

Kade's group lining up!

And they're off!

Kade and his buddy Tyeson are pretty competitive when it comes to running.

Tyeson beat Kade by a hair in every race so he took 1st and Kade took 2nd each time.  Kade said to me, "I can't figure it out.  Tyeson always speeds up at the end?!"  I think that means Kade should stick to baseball!!

They even made it into the paper!!

And I should state:  yes, Kade did wear that same shirt last year on track day.  He did that on purpose.

Time for the pedal pull!!  

Mason had big plans to bring home another trophy.  Unfortunately he didn't do as well as he did in June and he didn't place.  However, I must say, he most definitely had the loudest cheering section!!  There's video at the bottom of this post and the chant the kids had going during Mason's pull was fantastic!!

The boys and their buddies waiting for their turn to pull.

Luckily Kade and Tyeson's competitiveness on the track stays on the track.

I'd love to know what they're discussing here.

Kade's pull earned him 3rd place!!

And Mason's pull with the cutest cheering section ever.

Summer fun.  That's the only way to describe the boys' summer!  I swear this summer has been the busiest it's ever been--but maybe I say that every summer.  Thankfully the weather has cooperated, there's been some steamy days for water fun, some pleasant days for baseball and not too many rainy days (which means my house is a disaster because who wants to clean when it's nice outside??).

A sure sign of a good day is a rough bedtime and boy have we had some doozies lately!  The boys hold it together until we announce it's time to brush their teeth and get ready for bed and that's when the waterworks come.  The busier and the more fun day, the bigger the bedtime tantrum is.  I suppose that's a good thing?  I'm not so sure....but I am enjoying these childhood days of summer.

Slip n Slide fun at the farm!

4th of July fun at the ranch!

Fireworks fun with friends!

Camping fun with friends!

Aunt Kristi makes delicious dips :-)

The littles at daycare love when Kade is there.

Fair fun!

Fishing with grandpa!

Baseball, Baseball, Baseball

It seems like baseball has taken over our lives this summer.  With Kade playing 2 nights a week, Erik coaching and Mason sneaking into the action as well I feel like it's all we do!  It doesn't help that the minute we get home from the ball field the boys are grabbing their bats and asking dad to pitch to them.

I have to admit, I've never liked baseball.  I've always thought it was SO BORING.  But that all changed when Kade got into it.  I could watch 8U baseball all day when it's your own kid and your friend's kids playing, your husband and friends coaching, and the fan section is everyone you know.  I can honestly say it's exciting (most of the time).  Heck, I'd rather watch these guys than the Twins any day of the week!!

A couple weeks ago the boys got into a "competitive tournament", their first one ever.  Kade loved every second of it.  When I asked him that night at bed time what his best part of the day was he said, "That I got to play baseball ALL DAY."  Kade Heaven.  It got to be a little too long of a day for Mason until he realized he could hang out in the dugout with the big kids--Mason Heaven.

Our little sluggers took 2nd place and got cool medals!

Mason doing what he's known for at every game, putting on the catchers gear and pretending he's on the team!

Erik and his cousin, Damon.  

Technically they were coaching opposing teams but they spent most of the game side-by-side.

The summer keeps rolling by and I'm still playing catch up from the first few weeks in June!  

Kade is playing baseball again this summer with an 8U team.  He's got a game or practice every Tuesday and Thursday evening.  Erik is one of the coaches and since Mason never wants to be left out, it's a whole family affair whether there's a game or not!  Kade absolutely loves baseball, and Mason is starting to show more interest in it as well.  He loves to put on the uniform (cleats too), steal the catchers gear when the coaches aren't paying attention and go through the high 5 line up at the end of the game.

These boys keep us busy and summer flies by in the blink of an eye, but we wouldn't have it any other way!  Life is good with these handsome boys!!

A few weeks ago was Gopher Count, a town celebration in a neighboring community.

It's on a Thursday so I had to work but Erik took the boys.  Unfortunately it was down pouring during the parade but they managed to have fun anyway.

Erik entered Mason into the tractor pull...

Lo and behold, he took first place!!!

Kade entered it too but he didn't do as well this time.  I think he might be getting a bit too tall for it, Erik said his knees hit the steering wheel at every rotation and he wasn't able to pull very far.

These are some of the other pictures Erik sent me through out the day.

We celebrated Charlie and Violet's birthdays on one of our camping excursions.

I just love this picture of Mase.

Kade with his little buddy, Eve!

My friend Melissa takes amazing pictures.  

She took some team photos again this summer.  

Kade at his friend Nolan's birthday party.

I love these pictures, they just scream childhood summer.