T-Ball 2012

Elijah & Josephine both played t-ball this summer. It was a little hectic trying to get to two t-ball games and a soccer game most weeks, but we made it to all but one week of their games. The one week we missed was during Josephine & Kaylen's dance recital. Other weeks we were splitting up and trying to juggle kids' game times, but either Jock or I was able to get them to each of their other five games!

Same as when Kaylen played t-ball, it's cute to watch the kids playing in the sand more than paying attention to the game when it's time to field the balls being hit by the other team. Then when they hear a bat hit the ball, they look up and all run after it in a clump, to be the one to pick it up and throw it towards the first base player.

When it's their team's time to hit, they swing just as hard as they can, but miss the ball altogether. The coaches show them how to hold the bat the right way, stand facing the right direction, and look at the ball. With Josephine, it was also a question of whether she should hit right- or left-handed - she still seems ambidextrous to us, so we just let her bat which-ever direction she wanted each time she hit. Most often she would want to hit right-handed, but may have been slightly more coordinated hitting left-handed. After hitting, then they have to be reminded to drop the bat and run to first base. Once the next players hit the ball, they then have to be reminded to move on to 2nd, then third, and when they finally reach home, to actually touch home plate before taking off the over-sized helmet and running back to the dugout. Very cute, indeed!

They both enjoyed the game, and by the end of the season, we got them (however bribed) to stop playing in the sand, and watch for balls coming at them to catch. :)

Then, just the other day in the backyard, Elijah got out the bat and ball, and I pitched it for him. He and Josephine both hit a few balls, which was fun to see, since previously, they'd only hit off the tee.

Here are a few photos from the season...

Dance 2011/2012

Both of the girls took dance classes this year. Kaylen's was tap-ballet-jazz, and Josephine's preschool class was just tap-ballet.

Kaylen didn't really enjoy most of the year of classes, mostly because of another girl in class that picked on her a lot. I think she enjoyed learning the movements and routines, and she REALLY enjoyed recital. She had so much fun, that after recital she was begging to continue next year, even though throughout the year she'd been begging us to quit and we made her stick it out. She was one of the newer girls in her class, so I think that made her nervous, not knowing some things at the beginning so she'd have to work with one of the teen assistants during class sometimes to get things down. She improved so much throughout the year, and got really good!

Josephine seemed to enjoy every class, and had a lot of fun at recital. It's always so cute to see the wide range of abilities, attention spans, memories, etc. in a preschool class. Josephine did really well in both of her dances at recital, but seemed a little rough at rehearsal the night before. I guess that's why they do rehearsals - ha! My videos are from rehearsal, as we weren't allowed to take phtoos/videos at recital - but you'll get the idea.

A few photos from picture day, a month before recital:


Photos/videos from rehearsal:
Josephine's ballet dance:
The song was "Nobody Here But Us Chickies", thus the chicken hats. :)


Kaylen's tap dance (starts in back row, far left)


Kaylen's ballet dance (starts back row, far left):
"Needle" solo (near-splits standing with one foot up and head down by other foot)


Kaylen's jazz dance - her favorite (center back row).
She had a leap solo here and did an awesome job!


Josephine's tap dance: