Happy happy weekends

I had a wonderful weekend filled with lots of fun. First of all, I want to give a happy birthday shout out to my Aunt Julie. She's celebrating the big "40" today. Happy Birthday Aunt Julie from me and my mom and dad. I'm so glad we got to spend some time with you on your birthday weekend.

On saturday we went to "The Field of Dreams" in Basehor, KS to watch my cousin Makayla (a.k.a. MO) play in a softball tournament. It was a lot of fun and it was great to see her play. Great games Makayla. You can really hit the ball! Makayla is #17 on the Pink Thunder.

Here's MO getting ready to bat. She's very focused.

Up at bat.

Made it to second base safely.

Coastin' into third base. She made it look so easy.

Headed to the dugout after a successful trip around the bases. Way to go MO!

I reserved my tickets early and was able to get front row seats.

My Uncle Scott, pictured below, is Pink Thunder's coach.

Uncle Scott giving the motivational team speech in between games. They had several fun things set up at the ballpark. The first one we attempted was the "tornado slide."

Halfway down the hill with my cousin Courtney.

We made it safely to the bottom.

Obstacle course.

I let Courtney tackle this one on her own.

Then after the tournament we headed to Edwardsville, KS to attend my cousin Courtney's bridging ceremony for girl scouts. She has achieved a new level within the girl scouts. She advanced from Junior Girl Scout to Cadet Girl Scout. Congrats Courtney. This is Courtney and I hanging out before the ceremony wearing her "Junior" green vest.

Courtney and I after the ceremony wearing her new "Cadet" vest.

Me being a ham. Mom always has the camera in my face.

Me hanging out with my Uncle Stan during the ceremony.

And like every great event, it always end with cake!

Ended the weekend with a playdate with my friend Preston. My mom and Preston's mom got a great chance to get caught up on their chit chat while we played in the pool.

I love summer.

Pooltime fun.

What a better way to end the weekend...eating popsicles in the pool.

Nothing says summer fun like...

playing in the water. Thanks Aunt Julie for my wonderful Easter present. It's a lot of fun, as the pictures would show.

Hello summer! Goodbye Winter!

Road Trip Part II

After our trip to the Omaha Zoo we loaded back up in the car and headed over to Illinois to see some Urish family. We made the trip to Mt. Pulaski, IL and stayed with cousin Chris and his girlfriend Leslie. They welcomed us at dinnertime with a wonderful barbecue and the next day my cousin Chris had a race, so we headed to the racetrack with uncle Steve and company. Below are some of the hundreds of pictures my mom took while we were at the track. We had a great time and I really enjoyed all of the racing I got to see. Sorry for the delay in getting these up. It's been warm outside and the sprinklers and popsicles have been calling my name, so I hadn't had time to get these up. Enjoy.

This is the rig that we got to ride in going to the race. We were definitely riding in style. Uncle Steve let me check out the front seat of the rig. It's a lot bigger than a racecar, but I still think I could drive it with no problem. I took lots of notes.

Dad and Leslie inside the trailer.

Lots of tires to be found in this trailer. I love tires. Whenever I go with my mom to Wal-Mart I always put in my request to go see the tires. So, we spend some time walking up and down the tire aisles.

The racecar.

Dad and I checked out some of the competition, and there was nothing to be worried about. They were all a joke.

Uncle Steve giving me my checklist of duties for the day.

So, I got right to work on the list and started getting things cleaned up.

Chris getting into his car, his very fast car.Leslie took me to go check the lineup board. She's got that natural "mom hip sling technique" down pat.

It's always better to watch the races when you're higher up. Having a tall dad helps.

My first racetrack badge of honor. Courtesy of Uncle Steve, we had pit passes and were able to sit really close to the track where you could actually feel the mud/rubber/dirt in the face. I received my first mud clod right in the jaw.

Also on my to-do-list was to check the tires and get them measuring at the correct pressure. So, Dad helped me check this off the list.

How many Urish boys does it take to figure out this racing thing?

Chris and Dad discussing this racing thing.

Urish boys still trying to figure this racing thing.

I loved taking the 4-wheeler for a test drive.

More Chris Urish fans.

Can you guess who the mystery driver is?

I loved getting some seat time in the racecar.

Thanks to Uncle Steve, Chris, Leslie and everyone else who offered such great hospitality during our stay in Illinois. We really enjoyed our visit!