Labor day at Nana and Papa's

The kids and I spent labor day weekend at my parents in Coppell. The kids had a fabulous time, they love going to "Nana and Papa's" house. We spent Friday at the Ft. Worth zoo, the picture directly above is of Loralai waving to the "big fat monkey" as Loralai called him...or what some zoo experts refer to as the chimpanzee. We went into the bird cage where you could feed the birds with a seed stick. In the picture third from the top, Tyler is feeding a group of birds. We called him the bird whisperer since they all seemed to swarm around him. They swarmed around Loralai too, although she wasn't so crazy about it. She wanted to feed the birds, just didn't want them so close. She giggled at first, then ran straight to Nana and let her finish the feeding. On Saturday we went to the mall and afterwards Tyler played catch with Papa and Jeff...a lot. They would play for an hour, come back in. Then an hour later, they'd be back outside playing catch. On Sunday we went swimming at the aquatic center in Coppell, the kids always look forward to that. We came back home on Monday, so it was a quick trip but lots of fun. I was able to see several high school friends as well, so it was a nice little vacation at the start of the new school year.

Baseball

Tyler is into the fall season of t-ball, although I'm not sure why they call it that since they encourage the players to hit the pitches from the coach. Drew and I both decided that he needed to take a break from head coach, so he is the assistant this season. He loves being the assistant so much he probably won't go back to head coach! MUCH less responsibility. He is able to stand behind the players when they bat and help them get into the right position and stance. Tyler absolutely loves baseball. He is the first baseman on the Cubs this season. He practices three times a week with the team and plays one game a week. At first I thought this was a little extreme, but for a child who loves baseball and wants to play all the time, it's great. On the days he doesn't play with the team, he practices in the backyard. When he isn't practicing in the backyard or doing homework or eating, he is wanting to play baseball on the XBOX. He watches sportscenter before he goes to bed, he knows the players and some of their stats. He is a baseball junkie right now....last year he was a star wars junkie, so I wonder what he will be obsessed with next year. I LOVE watching him play...previous seasons he has asked me to be quiet and not yell so much. This season he wants me to yell more, and he is big on giving me the thumbs up from first base, it is so cute. Loralai cheers so loud for Tyler, it is so sweet. Loralai yells, "Go Tyler! I love you sooooo much!" Tyler kind of laughs and looks around at his friends and then gives me a look to tell Loralai to cool it with the I love yous.