Fish Tales

We have some very lucky kids around here! Nana and Pops took Jackson and Francis on a charter fishing adventure with "Captain Bruce". Of course, in the days leading up to the trip, I tried my best to temper expectations a little. "You know fishing requires a great deal of patience. I know you are excited, but more often than not, fisherman come home empty handed. You need to just enjoy being out on the boat with Nana and Pops and forget about the fish." The harder I tried to administer a dose of reality, the more excited they got. "Mom, Pops told us Captain Bruce had some kids out there the other night and they caught some huge striped bass!"Anyway, I will let you see the results for yourselves:

Final tally: Francis: 2 Blue and 2 Striped Bass including the biggest fish of the day a 48" Striped Bass and Jackson: 4 Blue fish and one  42" Striped Bass.

Labor Day Parade - CT Baseball Champs

Here is Jackson with his State Champ team at the Labor Day Parade.

Labor Day Parade - Enjoying the Sights

Francis and Nicholas enjoyed the sights and caught candy at this year's Labor Day parade.

Labor Day Parade - Beautiful Babies

The Labor Day parade is a great town tradition. 

Maggie and Claire were among the cutest babies in town.

First Grade, Here He Comes!

Here is Nicholas looking very big on his first day of first grade! 

Dinos in Manhattan

Beach Hair

The Bleacher Report

Forget about the MLB, this summer's cheering has all been for The Wolfpack, Jackson's "Little A" travel team! They began their season with only one practice under their belts, hastily held on a patch of grass next to the fields, as both fields were being used to finish regular season games that had been postponed due to weather. The following night, they played together for the first time in Game 1 of the Jimmy Fund Tournament, held in neighboring Bethel. They were definitely the underdogs going in, as one of only two "Little A" teams competing against 10 big A teams. (FYI- in Newtown all the players in the division were ranked according to ability. The top 12 went to the big A team, the next 12 to the little A, next 12 to the B and everyone else to the C team.)

They won their first game convincingly and then went on to win the next three, going in to the   Championship game undefeated. This was amazing considering Newtown's big A team was knocked out of the same bracket in three games. They put up a good fight against their opponent Norwalk, not once but twice (they were undefeated so with double elimination that had two chances) but in the end they couldn't make it happen and finished as runners up.

In the regular season they went 5 and 3 with 4 cancellations and were undefeated in the State Tournament, finishing as 11 year old Little A State Champs! Jackson was the lead off batter this season with a batting average of .458 and on base percentage of .536.

In addition to racking up trophies this season, this team has also gotten it share of newspaper mentions.(see below) Most importantly though, this team has fun! We have been so fortunate to be part of such a great group of kids and parents. (which is good, since we are traveling to Rhode Island with them;-))The kids have a great time both on and off the field. In fact, I joke sometimes they are having so much fun during warmups their opponents don't take them seriously.

Here are some pictures:

2nd Place in the Jimmy Fund

State Champs!

A nice article in the Newtown Bee that chronicles their road to the Championship

http://newtownbee.com/news/0001/11/30/newtown-wolfpack-headed-new-england-regional/280114

A nice photo of Jackson stealing 2nd in the News Times:

http://m.newstimes.com/sports/article/Ripken-state-championship-postponed-by-rain-6398357.php

and another nice story about the win with some photos
 http://www.newstimes.com/sports/article/Newtown-rallies-to-beat-New-Milford-for-11-60-Cal-6400764.php#photo-8347992

And of course they have the cutest fans!

Now on to the New England Regionals. Let's Go Wolfpack!

One Year Old!

It's hard to believe it has already been a year since the "Best Worst Day" of our lives! Claire has grown so much and I have been terrible about documenting all of her milestones on the blog, but here are some highlights and a slideshow.

Claire has 3 teeth, two on the bottom and one on top wit another one getting ready to come through on the top.

She can say "mama", "dada", "uh-oh" and "dog"

She LOVES to dance! Uptown Funk is her current favorite, but she will dance to anything. The kids entertain her by taking other pop songs and inserting her name into them and singing them to her.

Her loves her siblings and can spot them a mile away. The minute Nicky steps off the school bus she starts squealing and kicking her feet. When we ask her "Where is ....?", she will look right at whoever we named.

She loves to be outside and is happy to spend hours there crawling around in the grass. She also is an accomplished clapper. These two qualities make her an excellent companion at the boys sporting events.

Here is her first year in photos. We love you Claire Bear! (here is a link if the slideshow won't play) https://plus.google.com/109507191625834405681/posts/2Y8b6aqVwyk?pid=6173952995377055986&oid=109507191625834405681

Caped Crusaders

Nicholas and Maggie have become playmates. Their interactions usually involve costumes, lots of shrieking and some kind of mess making. They have a great time though! 

Claire Bear turns Seven Months!

Look at this little girl! It is hard to believe  how big she is getting. She is sitting up, trying desperately to crawl, and working on her first tooth. 

New life for our long neglected blog....

I just discovered the blogger app and I am hoping it will enable me to post more often. Most of my pictures are on my phone anyway, so it will save me having to transfer them to the computer. It doesn't exactly lend itself to lots of writing, but the pictures can speak for themselves. 

Test post from app

Here is Maggie enjoying a snowy afternoon.