Take me out to the ballgame!

So far this summer, we've taken the boys to two Asheville Tourists games. To my delight and surprise, they have completely LOVED both trips - one to see the Hickory Crawdads with Jeremy's Rotary Club (July 13th) and one to see the Rome Braves in celebration of "Greenville Pop's" 66th birthday (birthday July 28th; ballgame July 29th).

They don't pay super close attention to what's happening on the field, but the fact that the Coke flows pretty freely on these occasions is all the convincing they need.

Add to that visits with Ted E. Tourist and Mr. Moon (which I view as GREAT practice for Disney World), and it's pretty much the most fun a person can have at an event where he's expected to stay in - or at least around - his seat.

Here are a few of my favorite moments from our two trips:

1) On our first visit, Jones made this crazy, crazy face. I said, "What is THAT face?" He immediately retorted, "It's my Halloween costume." Good choice, Buddy. It's TERRIFYING!

2) Freddie has become quite the excited photographer - in fact, if you look at the picture with Mr. Moon at the top of this post, you'll see him holding one of my very old point-and-shoots that I unearthed and lent to him.

Anyway, he wanted to take a picture of Jeremy and me before we went into the Braves game. I put him up on some stacked railroad ties (never too early to learn that it's ALL about the angles - especially when photographing your mama) to get his shot. Jones climbed up there beside him, and as Freddie took the picture, Jones dangled a monster truck over his head, saying, "Look at the truck! Look at the truck!"

They MAY have seen someone else use this tactic in the past.

The result was a reasonably cute picture of me and Jeremy and a mind-blowingly adorable shot of the boys trying to capture their Daddy and Mama.

Freddie also took THIS picture, which I LOVE, though
it's totally off-center, and Jeremy looks a little bit
like a hunchback (which he's not, by the way).

3) When we went with Mom and Daddy, we were all standing up for the National Anthem. Both boys had one hand over their hearts and the other was holding their ballcaps by their side. And then Freddie looked at Daddy, who had his cap over his heart. Instantly, Freddie lifted his ball cap to cover his heart just like the cap that covered Pop's heart.

Freddie is BIG into being "just like ..." Daddy, Jones, Pop, anybody bigger than him.

4) Two words: Frozen Lemonade - or, as Jones calls it, "yemonyade." I went out to take Freddie to the bathroom and came back with frozen lemonades for Daddy and Jeremy and a sundae in a plastic helmet for the boys to share. Both were WAY more into the Frozen Lemonade. Daddy split his down the middle with Jones, and Jeremy eventually just gave up and handed his entire cup over to Freddie.

I, on the other, hand, polished off the helmet sundae.

Diet starts (again) Monday, right?

I honestly don't think I'd enjoy these games NEARLY as much
if McCormick Field were a Pepsi property.

Jeremy explaining the designated hitter -
to our four year old. 

Share a Coke!

Looking at Mr. Moon; LOVE how he's
dangling that camera.

Mr. Moon saw Freddie's UK hat and
swapped it with Jones's North Carolina
hat, which the boys thought was
HILARIOUS.

In case you haven't noticed, Freddie
and Jeremy are making the
EXACT SAME FACE.

Jones rehearses; Freddie interrupts.

There's a chance that there's never been a video to more perfectly sum up the differences between my boys than this one. Jones is practicing the choreography to his favorite song from "Space School" VBS at Clyde First Baptist; Freddie is digging around everything in the house, trying to find another mess to make.

And there you have them.

I love this so much I can't hardly stand it.

They tell me I'll miss the Romper Room that I feel like my house has been for the last four and a half years. I'm not so sure about that, but I will definitely miss moments like this one.

Smoke and Mirrors

If I use a black and white filter, you can't tell how gray my hair is getting.

Sneaky, sneaky.

"Musk-e-teers(ses)!"

Mornings like this one - and a few days ago, when Freddie showed up in my doorway wearing nothing but his Underoos and some Buzz Lightyear wings - are things I never, ever want to forget about being a Boy Mom.

Vacation Bible School, Take Two

The boys are back in Bible School this week - this time attending Lifeway's "Maker Fun Factory" at Canton First Baptist.

Because I was at a LeeAnn Womack concert with Leslie last nite, Jeremy was in charge of getting them checked in for the first nite. From there, Haylee took over. Thankfully, the boys were placed in her group, which meant I got text updates throughout the evening, making my nite away that much more enjoyable.

Haylee texted me this picture. I LOVE IT.

Tonite, I took them. The festivities began with dinner and concluded with a big group session, which Jeremy and I arrived from our dinner date early enough to attend.

I imagine VBS at Canton First will be a mainstay of their summers until they're too old to attend. That's pretty cool, I think. Not only are they attending Bible School at the church where their daddy grew up, but it's also the church where they were both dedicated, marking the beginning of their spiritual journeys.

Here are some pictures from their "journey" through Nite Two of VBS.

UPDATED (July 27th): Here are a few pictures from the end of Bible School week.