Weekend Warriors

We had an action-packed weekend of family fun. It began when I picked Jillian up from school and she revealed another change to her smile--she pulled tooth number six!

On Saturday, Jillian had her last basketball game of the season. I'll just be honest and say that the season was painful at times, and we often commented that the girls are just too young to be playing the game. But, sitting there watching this last game made me change my tune. It's all been worth it. The girls played a really fast paced game and all the hard work has paid off--they totally knew what they were doing, and everyone improved so much. Jillian improved by leaps and bounds this season. Her basketball strengths include shooting (she made the first basket of this last game, after she took two dribbles to drive toward the basket) and being aggressive when there's a loose ball. She was involved in many jump ball situations and I saw her hit the floor more than once to hang onto that ball.  She is also really good at defense when she's defending the player with the ball. She is still excited about basketball and looks to play again next year. Our first purchase this Spring is going to be a basketball goal...all four of us are excited about that!

A couple pics from the last game. You can see Jillian with her arms raised asking for the ball, just in front of the lady in the blue shirt who is standing on the sidelines.

After getting her trophy from her coach.

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Shouting "Toads!" (they were the Toads) one last time in a huddle after the game. Super cute.

Coach Curt, Coach John, Coach Mike...and all the little Toads.

The coaches treated the girls to some Flapdoodles ice cream after the game, so we all enjoyed that treat. Adrienne was focused in on the task.

Jillian and her teammate Kariya. Here is a little fun fact for you...these two were in the baby room together at Kindercare seven years ago! We haven't seen each other since. I recognized Kariya's name and her mother. I wish I had a picture of them as infants together. Such a cute little reunion.

Saturday night we headed to Quarry Hill Nature Center for a very fun members event.  QH began displaying Stan (the second most complete T-Rex in the world) for the next few weeks yesterday and decided to host an open house for QH members.  Stan was quite an awesome sight!

As is true to QH form, they had lots of fun hands-on experiences for the kids. Adrienne examined some animal skeletons under the magnifier...and decided to magnify it some more.

Matt and Stan goofing off.

Jillian filled out the guest book on our behalf.

Stan's impressive tail...........

And his foot.....

We had cake to celebrate, which delighted my little sugar addicts.

Each kid got to dig for (and keep) a real fossil. The naturalists have collected lots of local fossils over time, and they put them in some sort of dirt/plaster for the kids to dig out. Awesome idea.

Success! Showing off their gastropod fossils.

Before we left for the evening, we had to pause and compare our wingspans with some local birds. Because why not?

After church and lunch today, we finally checked out Roca, the new climbing facility that is pretty close to our house. The girls have been soooooo excited to do this. Matt and the girls harnessed up for some fun. I decided to be the official photographer and extra safety patrol on this first trip, but I look forward to trying it out next time. The facility is gorgeous, laid back, and full of auto-belay climbs of various difficulty. The walls are 40 feet high and pretty impressive.

Jillian got clipped in for her first attempt.

Adrienne getting some instruction from Matt.

Both girls on the climb!

Adrienne started to get more brave with each additional attempt.

Check out Jillian's genetic massive calves. She can thank her dad for those. And all the toe walking.

Matt did a short free climb

Sisters racing.

Jillian was determined to make it all the way to the top just once...

And she did!

Matt watching Adrienne..

One last climb for Jillian.

One last moment to record from this weekend that I keep giggling about--Matt took Jillian out with him on Saturday morning to look for some new running shoes and to get his bike serviced. As they were in the car she noticed his name badge for the clinic sitting on the console, and she asked him what the 'MD' behind his name stands for. Being the smart man that he is, Matt asked Jillian what she thought it meant. She quickly told him that it stands for "Mom and Dad". Ha!