Maggie

Rosie & Anna had a great summer with their babysitter, Maggie Copeland.  We "shared" her with our good friends, Nate & Josh McReynolds.  Nate & Josh are like Rosie & Anna's brothers (exact same age - both actually a few weeks younger/older than Rosie & Anna). They have known each other since they were babies which is really cool.  They get along great, and I love that my daughters have some "brothers" to tease & goof around with.  Michelle (Nate's mom) told me that he likes hanging with Rosie because she's cool & laid back.  They are completely comfortable with each other.  In fact, Rosie played hairdresser one day & Nate & Josh actually enjoyed getting their hair done by Rosie.  When I came home from work, I laughed so hard at Josh's hair!! He loved it - it was so poofy & BIG! 

Thanks to Maggie for putting up with them - they did so many fun activities!  Swimming, movies, crafts, putt putt, and visited every place in St. Louis (Magic House, Arch, museums, Zoo, & more).  She was a lifesaver picking them up from swim practice every day - it made my life so much easier!!  Did we mention how often they went to Starbucks???  They were spoiled!!  So happy they loved their summer vacation.  Maggie even made sure they read & did some "homework" over the summer.  Thank you Maggie!

Their last day with Maggie with a trip to Ted Drewes for some yummy ice cream.  They hit Dotties' ice cream parlor at least once a week too for a mini serving of that awesome ice cream!  I love Josh's expression - he is a complete goofball and we love him!

Cute Girls!

Anna & Jo having fun jumping on the trampoline at a family party!  They are too cute!!

Swim Team Conference Finals

What an amazing day for Brentwood Swim Club!  We came in 2nd place, but Rosie & Anna had so MANY personal bests!  I'm not sure I can accurately describe how exciting the individual medley relay race final was!  Anna was the final leg and swam freestyle, and she was neck & neck with another girl & beat her by one second!!!  It gives me chills just thinking about it now.  She got out of the pool & said to me "that was hard."  I laughed & hugged her because for her to say it was hard really meant it was HARD. 

Anna with her best friends!

Rosie & Gabriella

Rosie swam in the toughest heat for both freestyle & butterfly!  She was the fastest freestyler from Brentwood & came in 6th overall!!  She beat some tough competition.

Anna coming up for air during breast stroke!

Rosie swimming the breast stroke.

What a great season - Pete & I are in shock at their improvement in 7 weeks!  They were solid swimmers, but they are even faster & better now.  It was fun for the whole family.  We are now working on getting Jo out of her water wings, and we are so close!

Pete's Birthday Breakfast Celebration

We met my parents for breakfast on Sunday at Hendel's in Florissant to celebrate Pete's birthday.  We love breakfast food - I personally love Eggs Benedict & it was good!  Thank you Mom & Dad for a wonderful time.  Happy Birthday Pete!

Grandma & Grandpa with their "favorite" grandkids!

No picture with Pete for his birthday breakfast - Anna was not cooperating & Pete got frustrated with her.  Oh well - cute one with my parents & me!

End of the Softball Season - Rosie's Team

We had our best season yet - we won our league!!!  Our record was 7-2!!! We beat St. Paul in our final game, and it was a nail-biter.  We were tied 11-11 in the bottom of the 5th & had been playing for 1 hr 40 minutes (max is 1 hr, 45 minutes), so we got 7 runs (maximum per inning).  We had to hold them or tie, and we won 18-14.  It was so hot, but my pitcher (Maddie) battled through 6 innings.  We hit like crazy - they hit well too but not as solidly as us.  Maddie had some walks which hurt but overall, we were the better team!  Yeah Chargers!  So excited & happy for them!  Well deserved!

My shortshop, Mary Kate, is moving to Dallas & we will miss her.  She was very good & a strong hitter.  She actually jammed her finger catching a tough pop fly & still managed to play on!  We only had 7 players for our final game, but they were quite the team.  They talked to each other & really worked together.  I will miss softball until next year....

End of Softball Season - Anna's Team

Anna's softball team is still "petball" which means no umpire, 6 swings per hitter, no walks or strikeouts (you get it).  We still keep score even if there isn't technically a "winner!"  I would say that we won the majority of the games.  The last game was GREAT - they got three outs each inning - real outs!  Anne LaMartina is a great coach, so patient & complimentary.  She knows which girls she can "get on" about missing a ball & which ones to be less "stern."  I hope to be assistant coach next year with her - this season just did not work out for me.  Go St. MM Chargers!

Only part of the team - vacations take over in July.

The infamous bridge for the other team - shows good sportsmanship & is just plain fun!

4th of July Celebration

We hosted the 4th of July Celebration at our house this year so we could walk to Old Warson Country Club in 5 minutes for the fireworks.  It worked out perfectly even if we did get slightly rained on!  Food was great - Robert helped me grill the kabobs, Tera made fried okra (beyond yummy), and everyone else brought more than enough food.  We finised it off with my homemade key lime pie (to celebrate Pete's birthday early!)  Unfortunately, Pete was on call the whole week but made it for dinnertime!  He was not happy but what can you do???

My cuties!!  Did not snap too many pics because I was busy getting food ready. We had a great time with our friends though.  So glad everyone came over - it had been too long since we hosted a party!

Thank you Gombas', King's & Alexanders for a great 4th of July!

Red, White & Blue - too funny - couldn't pass up this picture!