Spring has sprung!

FINALLY! I think we may have turned the corner here in Iowa and left old man winter behind, although I see there is some snow in the forecast tonight! I actually got sunburned yesterday at Carter's baseball game and it felt so good! Because of the craziness we call life, we never are able to get away for long, but fortunately we have trained our kids not to expect much in forms of vacation so even an overnight trip to a hotel with a pool feels like Disney World to them (well maybe not, but the likelihood they will ever get to Disney is questionable) During spring break week we traveled 10 minutes away to the Ramada Tropics Resort for some pool action. I have to laugh as I look as these pictures as I remember trying to sleep that night with 5 of us in that small room. Carter was laying cross ways on top of me, Claire was grinding her teeth, Jeremy was snoring and Case was making some random funny noises all as I lay wide awake listening to them. I had a fleeting thought of getting up and going home for a full nights sleep in my own bed in an empty house! 

Spring also means it is time to consume lots of our favorite food! Ice Cream! I really think it should be part of the food pyramid! We have a great little ice cream shoppe in Waukee who knows us by name! 

A little DQ never hurt to cool off after playing at the ball field all day! 

Wrong sport I know, but enjoying some sun at the park by our house! 

Spring also means dance recital time! Claire had pictures last weekend and will have her recital the last weekend in May. She is also going to give t ball a try this summer, although she keeps putting her pink glove on the wrong hand backwards so we have a lot of work to do! She was invited to do the "BIG SHOTS" program at gymnastics this summer, which means another night for her at the gym. 

 And last but not least, you know spring has arrived when baseball starts! Carter is a Cobra again this year with the same team he played with last year. Between league games and tournaments the team will play close to 50 ball games this summer. This is the first year the kids pitch to each other and they can also steal bases (except for home) so you can imagine what some of these games look like. Pitching and catching is the key at this age. Carter missed quite a few of the winter indoor practices due to wrestling so he is a little rusty! He usually plays shortstop but will have to pitch some too. 

 In between game picnic! Let's see how many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we can eat out of the back of the car this summer! :)

2014 wrestling season

Geez, either I have been slacker extraordinaire on the blog or one crazy busy mom! Let's go with the second choice! It looks like the last post was about Christmas and a lot has happened since then! November through March is the "typical" wrestling season, however as many of you know we are not typical, so the season endures with practices and a few scattered

tournaments throughout the summer. Carter had a great year again! He ended the regular season with a 50-5 record with his only loses at the national level (finished 4th at Winter Nationals and 5th at Liberty Nationals) and took home a 3rd place finish in our state tournament. Not to brag (okay yes I am) but these nationals tournaments are filled with kids from all over the country, with usually 30-40 kids in a bracket, so to finish in the top 6 is pretty impressive. He earned "All American" honors this year for that reason, finishing in the top 6 in 2 national tournaments. He works so hard all year to get better, never misses a practice, watches his nutrition and watches endless videos of some of the greatest wrestlers of all time to learn what it takes to be a champion. He's a champion in my eyes no matter what the outcome is! 

 Oh that's tight! 

 Winter Nationals, Omaha, NE

 Carter and one of his wrestling partners, Noah Kelley

2014 State tournament

Carter has a great role model in his oldest cousin Ben. Jeremy and Carter were able to travel to Michigan in March to watch Ben wrestle in the Michigan state wrestling tournament. Ben is only a freshmen and won the title at 106 lbs. 3 weeks later, he wrestled in the high school national tournament which happened to be in Iowa and won that as well at 113 lbs. So basically he is the best high school wrestler in the country at that weight. Pretty darn impressive. Can't wait to see which college snatches him up!