Summer tournament.

 There was one more softball tournament planned for Matthew's ball team to play in and that happened this past Saturday.  It poured down rain on Friday night at our employee picnic and so Saturday morning I told Mike that I'm expecting Noah's Art to go floating past at any minute!  It was so wet and soggy outside that we were sure the baseball event would get canceled.

When we got a call saying that the first game is on a two hour delay, we went grabbing for our phones to look on our Weather App to see the hourly forecast.  Back in the day, events like these would have just got canceled because we didn't have resources giving us the hourly forecast.  But, the day was fore casted to be sunny and warm in the afternoon, so the games were on!

The Tigers or "S.E.K. Construction" didn't lose one game all day long!!!  These boys played so well and fought hard to win!!!  Matthew loves to play with these Tigers and had a total blast in the mud, rain puddles in the outfield and soggy infields!!!

 Little Man loved the warm sunshine too and got a little more sun kissed after the day was over!

 Ashlyn grabbed my camera and was walking around snapping pictures.  :)

It was seriously so muddy and wet!!! 

Good thing we brought our rain boots!!!

Mike and I had planned on having a date night on Saturday night and we really, really hoped to still go even if the tournament was on!  Well, the day got much longer than expected but I already had a sitter lined up for the little ones and so we took advantage of the in between game times and went home to get cleaned up, drop the kids off at Steve's and head into Red Lobster!!!  We didn't have to wait long and so we ate and were able still be back in time for Matthew's next game!!!  Now, to be rushed a date isn't exactly how we like to roll but for tonight, it worked!!!  We left the little ones at Steve's because they already had baths and bringing them to this muddy park would not have been a good idea!  We sat and cheered the Tigers on and they won!!!  First place!!!!

It was so warm outside yet at 10 PM and the boys were so tired and dirty!!!  But getting a first place trophy is always worth all the dirt, sweat and grim!!!

They were so happy!!!

And tired.

And sore.

Matthew got home and jumped right into the shower and crawled into bed!!!  After games of playing hard and winning, it sure calls for a good nights rest!!!

 Even though it was late till we all got to bed, we did get up and go to church.  Being recharged with scripture, a good message and worship, we came home for lunch and naps!  Mike went with Hadassah this time for her hour drive.  Then we went to my parents again for the evening and sat around the campfire and even got a saddle on Hazel for the second Sunday in a row!!!  Ashlyn was so thrilled!!!

Yesterday, we were right at our house work and worked together so that we could enjoy some pool time in the afternoon!!!  I started the laundry.  Hadassah mowed the lawn that is again green and growing very fast!  Matthew weed ed around the garden beds for me!  Ashlyn and Austin hunted the few eggs that we get each day and helped clean up the house before we packed up our towels and headed for Nickle Mines!!!  We couldn't wait to go swim again and get some fresh tans!!!  After so many rains, it felt so good to soak in the sunshine!!!

The pool was packed but I expected that!!!  Everyone else is wanting to go swim before school starts!!!

 Even though I'm holding my breathe and wishing summer will never pass us by, I can just feel that the season's are going to change in a few weeks.  We are still enjoying the summer foods and garden goodies and I love that part about summer.  We are still going outside in tee shirts and bare feet and the summer nights are still warm.  It won't be too long before the air will get cooler and sweaters will be grabbed before heading outside.

But, for right now, we are in peach season and summer is still on strong at our house!!!  I canned one basket of Red Haven peaches this morning and hope to do that with Baby Gold when they are ripe!

 I'm still picking string beans!!!

Egg Plant … this is a vegetable that doesn't usually do the best for me in my garden but for good reason, my plant this year and doing great!!!  I grew up eating zucchini but Mike grew up eating egg plant.  Both are yummy in my mind but I do like the numerous recipes that you can make with zucchini.  I'm almost finished with my "Whole 30" but I'm really getting tired of just eggs and sweet potatoes for breakfast and CANNOT wait to add dairy and grains back into my menu!!!  This Whole 30 idea was really good for me but if I'm honest, it was harder than I expected.  I always try to go for the "healthy choice" when it comes to foods but to have no milk, no cheese, no yogurt parfaits, no grains … was a big challenge to me!!!  It got me searching on Pinterest for easy recipes!  I found this Eggplant Pizza recipe online and even though cheese is a no, no for Whole 30, I did add a little last night!  All I did here was bake eggplant slices, top them with marinara sauce, cheese and bacon!  They were good!!!
 

The Whole 30 plan was again a huge reminder of what I all do put in my mouth!!!  Is it healthy?  Is it "real food"?  Even though I am really ready to have a full menu, I am very grateful for the reminder to eat HEALTHY!!!

Summer is still not over for us and we are going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts!!!!

Enjoy the sunshine!!!