Bloomin'

62.

The Little Prince planted pumpkins in a cup this summer. I think we started them too late to get any pumpkins, but the blooms are very nice. And the bees love them.

Coping with the heat

61.

So maybe baseball season was hotter, but with soccer the kids are running around a lot more, so 97 seems just as bad. The Little Prince tries to cool down with water on his head instead of drinking it.

The gnats were terrible at the practice field. The Little Prince shows his friends that a "cloud of bugs this big" follows him around in his yard.

Another purchase

60.

Tonight, the Little Prince and his dad had a bad case of baseball fever. Again. For several weeks, they have been searching for a catcher's glove that will fit them both. And since we were in the vicinity of Dick's Sporting Goods..... Tonight was the lucky night!

Lazy day

59.

Another beautiful day and we had nothing planned. We spent the majority of the day outside: lunch and dinner on the grill and eaten at the picnic table, a little gardening, watching the Little Prince try to catch gnats in his jar with a magnifying glass in the lid (thanks Aunt Becky). We took a break for drinks on the deck and a little DS baseball. Because you can't have a day without some type of baseball in it, right? "Mommy, take a picture." I took one, which he wanted to see. "No, zoom in and take a picture of my baseball game." So here it is.

Mid-summer picnic

58.

Our 3rd Annual Mid-Summer Picnic. We had a great time getting everything ready. For me, the most fun was watching the Little Prince mix up brownies and watching his dad make and flip burgers. My most important job was distracting the kids from going inside to play Wii. I was able to stretch "in 10 minutes" into about 30.

When the entertainment arrived, though, the real fun started. And lasted until 10pm. We should all sleep good tonight.

Friends

57.

We haven't been here since the School Picnic. With summer almost over, we managed to coordinate 4 schedules to spend the day here again. Some rides, a picnic lunch and the rest of the afternoon in the pool. Ahhh....

One more time

56.

One last game in Baseballtown this season. The Little Prince patiently waits for a player to walk by and sign his baseball. He did get autographs from the first baseman and the first base coach after the game. Our team didn't win, but we had a good time. The cheeseburgers and fries and dippin' dots were delish and it didn't rain until we were in the truck.

Harvesting

55.

We are being overrun by cherry tomatoes. The Little Prince loves to pick them. He comes inside with both hands full of the delicious summer veggies. Not that he eats any of them...

It's here

54.

Soccer season is back. Tonight was the first practice and it took awhile for the Little Prince and his teammates to get back into the swing of soccer after so much baseball. Coach Mike reminded them of the rules and then they were off making passes and stealing the ball whenever possible. And trying to remember not to use their hands.

**Note: Thanks to the Little Prince's dad for saving the day with his iPhone when I forgot to take the camera.

Home, Sweet Home

53.

Not huge mountain of laundry since we were only gone 3 days, but I wouldn't mind if it was twice that size! I'm just glad to be back in my own house, to sleep in my own bed and to let the Little Prince run without saying, "Shhh, people are sleeping next door, under and above us!" and "Do not sit or put that on the floor. It's dirty!" How true it is: Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!!!!!

Fun at Ben's place

52.

We spotted him outside the Franklin Institute. I think he is related to the idea of these that we saw in Harrisburg, because I spotted another one in different garb elsewhere in the city. I couldn't ask the driver (the Little Prince's dad) to go around the block while I dug my camera out for a shot. We just wanted out of that crazy traffic!

The Little Prince really enjoyed gear design and balancing on the surfboard, among other things at the Franklin Institute. Their IMAX show on the Hubble Telescope was awesome!

I tried the surfboard, too. It was a lot harder than it looked. Like the sign says, wider definately is better.

The wild

51.

Spent the day at the Philadelphia Zoo. Giraffes and tigers and bears, oh my! Lions were there but would not say cheese so they did not get their picture taken.

The weather was great: not too hot and no rain. The Little Prince had fun, but did not complain when it was time to leave.

Final lesson

50.

The Little Prince finished his last of 8 pitching lessons with Coach Z tonight. He's really come a long way and learned a lot. Helps to have a great coach. On the last day of baseball camp, they used a radar gun to see how fast the kids were pitching. The Little Prince was second fastest on his team -- 43 mph.

The last day

49.

Last day of baseball camp. Some of the players were available for autographs just before camp ended at lunch. About 2 hours after the Little Prince got this autograph, Dominic Brown was called up to the Phillies.

After camp, we had about 3 hours to kill before the game. We went to Lehigh Valley Zoo where the Little Prince got to feed the Lorikeets.

All campers got to parade around the warning track before the game. They had a great time.

Following Dom

48.

Day 2 of baseball camp. The Little Prince got Dominic Brown's autograph when Dom was playing for the Reading Phillies and hopes to get another one tomorrow on the last day of camp. Cool note: When the Little Prince was in the batting cage, Andy Tracy said, "Look at that swing!".

Baseball is back

47.

For 3 days, anyway. It was a beautiful day for baseball camp with the Ironpigs. Campers are getting instructions from #6 Keoni De Renne.

What to do?

46.

What do you do if you do not have any organized sports planned on a lovely Sunday night and you've already spent too much time playing video games? You practice fielding in the back yard with Dad.

Exhaustion

45.

After a very long, very hot day of three 3-on-3 basketball games and 2 1/2 hrs of swimming, the Little Prince fell asleep watching the Ironpigs. He was hoping to play Mario Kart on the Wii, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Nonstop fun

44.

So much fun today that I have two pictures. First, a visit from the Little Prince's cousins. What could be more fun than eating grilled cheese sandwiches in swim trunks, blowing up noisy balloons, playing kazoos and getting sprayed with the hose? Maybe Wii Sports in the air conditioning. It was hot outside!!

After the family left, we had a visit from school friends. This is the third year they've come over and we had another great time, even though we had to pack up early and move the party inside because of a thunderstorm. But we need the rain, so no one complained.

Locust shell

43.
In the palm of my hand
I hold
A locust shell
Brown, hollow, and empty
As an abandoned cave.
Hard yet crumbly,
It is curled up just like the real locust.
The shell where its eyes had been
Is translucent
And shiny like brown glass.
A reminder that life is passing.

Note: I have since been informed that this is a cicada rather than a locust. What can I say? I was in the moment, having seen this and found the above poem that I wrote as a high school freshman.

Halfway there

42.

The Little Prince and I went school shopping today, seeing as our summer is more than half over. It made me a bit sad, although I will not mind a break from finding something for him to do all day, every day. Also made me wonder - why does a 3rd grader need post-it notes, red pens, yellow highlighter and black erasable pens? What happened to the good old #2 pencils? Oh wait, he needs those, too.

Bounce pass

41.

Same guys, different sport. The Little Prince had three of his teammates over for some 2-on-2 to get ready for Saturday's 3-on-3 competition. They will be playing in the 3rd-5th grade bracket. Should be interesting.

Pearly whites

40.

And a new almost-grownup toothbrush.

Chop, chop

39.

The Little Prince is ready for his close-up. Haircut, that is.

Can't get enough

38.

Even at a friend's birthday swim party, there was baseball. The kids had a game going in the pool, in the yard next to the pool and here the Little Prince throws a pitch with a water-logged ball as part of some baseball-related game. After a week of scattered rain (for which we are VERY thankful), the Little Prince is excited about the playoff game tomorrow, which was scheduled to be played last Monday. He knows the man in the press box who "does the balls and strikes" and is hopeful that he can join him there.

Spur of the moment

37.

At the last minute, we got tickets for a Senator's game in Harrisburg. I know they have many more of these decorative cows throughout the city, but we were focused on getting to the game rather than sightseeing. Maybe another day.

Tri-Ominos

36.

The Little Prince introduced Tri-Ominos to Pappy today while I was at work. I'm thinking they played by the Little Prince's rules. Which are subject to change from play to play.

Working again

35.

Another day at work with mom. The Little Prince stationed himself with his feet under the table and played his DS. Most of the time. He also got to use the "Media Mail" stamper on some envelopes and add up the deposit slip. He definately gets his love of numbers from his dad. What does he get from me? He made a couple trips to the break room for drinks and to the closet for snacks.

Keeping busy

34.

I had to take the Little Prince to work with me today. He created this masterpiece to keep himself busy. Click on photo to enlarge.

Ending on a high note

33.

The Little Prince placed 3rd in the Golden Arm Skills Contest, which was held after the last Sunday game. It was fun to watch. There were three categories to the Skills Contest: Golden Arm, Roadrunner and Homerun Derby. Each of the 8 teams had 3 participants in each category. The Golden Arm: participants had 3 chances to throw a ball from 2nd base through a square hole in a sheet of plywood over homeplate. 1 point for hitting the wood at the top or bottom of the hole, 3 points for hitting the wood on either side of the hole, 5 points for getting the ball through the hole on a bounce, 10 points for getting it through the hole in the air. Roadrunner: fastest time around the bases. Two girls from our team placed 2nd and 3rd. Homerun Derby: points for hitting the ball the farthest. One of the boys on our team placed 2nd.

The madness ends

32.

One out was needed to win the game. They put in the Little Prince. And he did it! He won the game for us. So exciting! That left one game to win. We couldn't quite pull it off, but everyone did their best and had fun. Medals for all!!

Scouting

31.

After our game today, the Little Prince hung out for a couple innings to scout the competition: tomorrow we play the loser of that game.

Homework

30.

Today we did boring stuff like grocery shopping, worksheets left over from last school year and catching up on the Little Prince's Summer Vacation Journal. I think pizza and a movie will be a good way to end a day of work at home.

PC gets a win!

29.

The Little Prince waits on 2nd base during a pitching change. PC beat SC 14-2 in 5 innings. The Little Prince had 3 hits and 1 walk. He pitched 1 inning and was catcher for 2 innings. It was 102 degrees at 4:30 when the game started, but they survived.

Braving the heat

28.
Since we've had these tickets to see the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs for over a month, I was very glad to be wrong about the heat. Our seats were in the shade, so that helped. However, it was still hot! 92 degrees at 10:30 pm.

Too hot Tuesday

27.

What more can I say? It was too hot to take any other pictures. Tomorrow's not looking much better.

Multi-tasking

26.

Blowing bubbles while driving in circles on the basketball court. Don't know if I could do that.

Happy 4th of July

25.

Making patriotic planes to fly on the 4th of July.

Buzzin Cousins

24.

Another visit "back home" today. The Little Prince had a great time playing with his cousins. This summer, they all are sporting buzz cuts. Never thot I'd see the Little Prince with such a do, but there he is....He rocks it!

A long day

23.

The Little Prince is exhausted after a long day of completing Level 3 in swim class, eating too much (mac & cheese and 3 1/2 of the 4 Cheddar Bay Biscuits) at Red Lobster and clothes shopping. He better sleep while he can because tomorrow is going to be an even longer day...

Who let the dogs out

22.

Pappy and Mom-Mom were out of town today, so we got to let Jax and Ruby out.