April: Baseball & Field Trips & the Popcast, oh my!

It's been too long since I've written anything.  I feel like so much has happened but also not much to talk about.  We are in full ballpark mode and spend most of our "free" time there.  I'm still loving my job but it also gets a little busier this time of the year, people like ice cream when then weather is nice.  I also wrapped the signs for the Magnolia Festival last week.  So we've just been going, going, going.

Love my sweet cuddle bug.

These boys were ready for the late game for their first home game of the season.

AveryAnn loves her baby.

I got this text from his teacher.  He was the first one in his class to make it into the red word club, he was so proud!  We were too!

Another day at the ballpark with my babies and their babies.

That #9 is the cutest!

It was raining and she was over it.

We went on a field trip to the farm.  It was wet and yucky but these three enjoyed the educational session.

On our way home from the field trip!

Oh look another day at the ballpark with her babies.

She even brought one for her daddy to hold.

The kids spent the night with my parents so we could go to dinner.  My dad used to roll our hair on sponge rollers nearly every Saturday night for church on Sunday.  So it was only fitting that AveryAnn sleep in sponge rollers.  She was so proud! She's insisted we roll them at least once a week since then.

This was after church and a nap.  It was so cute.  It was also funny because people that knew me when I was a kid remembered and commented on it.  It made me laugh!

When I picked her up on Monday she'd insisted my dad roll it again.

At the ballpark again, this day she insisted on wearing Barrett's chicken shirt from K4 graduation last year.

He has worked so hard this year. It's been so much fun to watch.  Our coach added a few extra practices if anyone wanted to come and he has begged to go.  Even asking Patrick to take him to the field when there was no practice.  Its paid off, his team has improved so much.

He finally got his first home run.  I was so excited because Patrick, all of his grandparents and Mrs. Ross all were there to see it.  I may or may not have shed a tear or two.  He's hit a few more since then and it never gets old.

I'm on a quest to try new restaurants.  Birmingham has some great restaurants, and we want to try them all.  We tried Pizzeria GM and it was really good.  

After dinner we went to the Popcast live show.

This is by far my favorite podcast, and the fact that they live right in my city makes me so proud.  I don't know why, they don't know me but it does.  The show was so much fun.  They sent an email asking for QTNA (questions that need answers).  I asked a question but I totally botched the group/song title.  of course they used it and it was on the big screen with my name.  I was so embarrassed, all I could do was laugh. 

We had the best time.  I laughed until my cheeks hurt!  It was a great girls night out!  

Next up Easter!

Spring Break

Last week was Barrett's very firstt Spring Break.  He made a list of the things he wanted to do.

McWane Science Center

Top Golf

Flight Museum

Zoo

It was a pretty manageable list, so we were excited to tackle it.

Aunt Elizabeth invited us to go on a hike on Saturday.

We went to Ruffner mountain.  It was a little more intense than the kids were interested in doing and they were very disappointed in my snack choices.  So Barrett ended up in the carrier on my back for more of the trail than I care to admit.  

We got up to the lookout and my sister was a little nervous that there were zero railings and my kids liked getting to close to the edge.

Barrett wouldn't participate in our group picture.  We were hiking back down the mountain and Barrett wanted to go see the "Crusher".  We were headed down that trail and he saw a snake.  Elizabeth had walked right past it and never saw it, Barrett saw it and turned around.  So we were on one side and Elizabeth was on the other side of it.  I was able to get close enough to see that it wasn't venomous but we still weren't big fans.  We all got on one side of him and headed to the car.  We had a birthday party that afternoon and then went to the Moore's house to hang out.

Jessica had apparently had this Barbie living room set still in the box and the kids begged her to open it and she finally caved.  AveryAnn couldn't have been happier. It was so sweet!

Sunday we went to Mass and my parents house.  I still had to work this week so my dad kept the kids Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  We didn't have any plans Monday and Tuesday.  But Wednesday, Dad brought the kids and met me at the zoo.  Our membership expired at the end of March so we had to get one more use out of it. 

My dad had not been to the zoo in decades so we had to show him everything.  It was so crowded but we made the most of it.

It was a really fun day with the kids and my dad!

Thursday, Patrick took off work to take the kids to the Southern Museum of Flight.

The kids had a blast.  Patrick's dad went with them and they all thought it was so great.

They went to lunch at Pasquales and just had the best day.

Friday I didn't have to work so we planned for the grand finale to be the McWane Science Center and lunch with Aunt Elizabeth.  I let the kids sleep late and we headed out around 9:30.  We had to run by Patrick's work to get the stroller because AveryAnn refuses to walk anywhere and she's too heavy to carry. Then we had a little mishap getting into the parking deck at the McWane Center.  I'm still not entirely sure how I did this but I hit the wall at the entrance.  Patrick gets so mad when I ding up my car so I knew he'd be furious so I went ahead and sent him a picture so he could be mad all day and hopefully be over it by the time he got home. 

He was not over it.

We had a fun day. Barrett did the weather report.

AveryAnn was very disappointed that this inflatable dog was not a bouncy house.

He wanted me to take his picture while we were waiting for Aunt Elizabeth to walk from work.

We walked over to the Pizitz Food Hall.  I'd never been and it was pretty good.  Elizabeth and I split both the Shrimp & Grits waffle and a grilled pimento cheese sandwich.  The kids both had waffles.  It was a neat place.  I would like to go back without the kids and try some other things.  We did visit the rest room 3 times.

I thought we'd head home after lunch but the kids wanted to go back and play some more so we headed back.  AveryAnn carried this stuffed chicken all over the itty bitty magic city.  We finally headed home around 3:00.   

We had to stop by my parents house on the way home and AveryAnn had all these old Barbies lined up. They were looking pretty rough.  We hurried home from there to get ready for baseball practice.  It was a beautiful night.  Patrick and Barrett had a campout planned with Jeremy and Jackson but they had to take a rain check at the last minute.  Patrick and Barrett were still planning on camping out but Barrett decided he didn't want to so then they were just going to sleep in a "tent" in the den downstairs but that only lasted about 2 hours.  Saturday we stayed home all morning while Patrick worked and then we hit the park and Target that evening.  We've been talking about ditching our satellite for months now so we finally bit the bullet and got a roku and signed up for Hulu live.  So far we're liking it.  

That was our exciting Spring Break.  Barrett had the best time even though we didn't get to do Top Golf.  I'm thinking we may save that for his half birthday.

We're definitely itching for Summer now! Thankfully baseball is keeping us busy and it'll be here before we know it.