Swim, Sleep, Repeat, 2015 Edition

Will Joey ever forgive us for immortalizing his yearly sun-in-the-eyes, pained, squinting swim photo?Luckily, he has two pretty photogenic sisters who know how to smile and not grimace.

 

I love this yearly look at dry swimmers with dry, beautiful hair (well, actually, I'm not sure that Joey's hair has been combed or shampooed all summer, let alone for this picture), because the reality of the swim season is that in most of our pictures, our children look like aliens with swim caps and goggles, and have mouths and teeth stained blueberry or lime from Ring Pops or Airheads.

 

And when they're not wearing swim caps, their hair is sporting that telltale green tinge that is almost impossible to keep at bay for an entire summer. In other words, they look like this for about three months: 

 

 

 

 

Fourth of July in the Mountains

Nothing says "God Bless America" quite like a bunch of happy kiddos in red, white and blue, getting to ride illegally in Hop's convertible for a Fourth of July parade. The one day of the year that seatbelt laws don't apply!

 

We loved celebrating this holiday and spending a chaotic few days with the Stechers and Hop and Mop. And our kids could not have been more thrilled to participate in the parade, which turned out to be quite the mountain affair, full of fire trucks, veterans, creative floats, cheerleaders, vintage cars and this crazy crew! 

 

An All Star and His Paparazzi

The risk of being a mommy with a camera constantly in her hand is that you raise a daughter who constantly wants a camera in her hand... and you subsequently end up with 200 images from a single baseball game, mostly depicting:

 

1) your son's rear end in baseball pants;

2) extreme, unflattering close-ups of yourself, or

3) artistic shots of the stuffed animal that she brought along.

 

But then, sometimes, you get great images that really capture your son's skill and dedication... and it's worth having to sift through the other 189 shots from the day!

 

Thanks to my seven year-old shutterbug and diehard fan for documenting one of Joey's All Star games this summer. During the course of four weekend tournaments and one game against Lafayette Little League at St. Mary's College (pictured here), he did a lot of pitching, a LOT of catching (I'm surprised his body has recovered from so many squats!), and a lot of hitting.

 

His baseball pants will never be the same.