Ballet and Baseball

Jade took a ballet/tap class once a week for the duration of the school year. Her year end recital was the beginning of May. 
  

When I was searching for a studio, I found that most places hold their dance recitals on a Sunday.  As a result, my sole criteria for finding a class was that the end of year recital be held a day other than the sabbath!  I found one.  Luckily, the teachers were great with the kids and very organized. 
 
Jade made lots of friends, as she always does, and seemed to enjoy dancing and dressing up.
 
All the students drew pictures on a large poster to display on the day of the recital.  It was cute to find Jade’s drawings in the crowd. 
I’m sure it goes without saying, but it was a thrill to see Jade and her cute class dance on stage during their recital!
 


Proud dad with our darling Jade after the show. 

Just as dance was ending, tee ball was starting.  Most of the neighbors on our street have boys, ages 9-11, who are all involved in little league baseball.  They were sure to inform us about the league.  We were glad, because Cody I both played baseball/softball growing up and definitely want our kids to give it a try!  I don’t think I started softball until about age 9, so tee ball was a new thing for me.  It was absolutely adorable!!
 
The kids do such cute, funny things as they are trying to figure out the game.  Like how every. single. kid runs after the ball every time it’s hit.  Unless of course they are too busy filling their mitt or hat up with sand.  Because some do that.  I love Jade’s stance in the below picture.
During the first game, several of the players had trouble figuring out how to properly run the bases.  One time after a leftie hit the ball, he ran to third instead of first.  I think Jade stopped mid-run to second and just wasn’t sure what to do.  Several kids were told to “run home” by the third base coach, so they ran straight into the dugout instead touching home plate! 
Jade is very much a rule follower.  She is cautious to do exactly what she has been told.  During her first game I went to the other team’s side, so I could get some better pictures of her.  As she ran toward me, I started yelling, “good job, Jade!”  She looked at me very concerned and very seriously said, “Mom, I think that side is for the other team.  You’re not supposed to be on that side.  I think you need to go back over there.” 
 
The tee ball teams played two games a week for a couple months.  It even worked out that Grandma and Grandpa Rowland got to see the first game before they had to catch their flight home during our Spring Break NYC trip! 
 
I loved tee ball season!  Sitting outside in the beautiful weather, chatting with friends, watching the cute kids play, Ridge playing in the grass and dirt, Tanner hanging out in the stroller… Ridge even had his little friend, Gabby, to pal around with every game.  Everything about it was really fun!   
 
Jade enjoyed it too, although she told me her favorite part was playing with her friends while they were waiting to bat.  That’s my social butterfly for you!  She may not be super athletic, but she knows how to have fun!  The kids are organized on teams by school, so I think she knew a lot of the kids before tee ball even started. 
To celebrate the end of the season, the coaches treated the whole team to ice cream and gave out trophies after the last game. 
 
Jade thought it was pretty special she received a trophy for dance and tee ball.  She has been proudly displaying them on her dresser ever since. 

While we are on the subject of baseball… we were also able to attend a New York Yankees game back in May.  I loved that the backdrop to the stadium was the skyline of city buildings.  So cool! 
I think the kids’ favorite part of the game was all the junk food! 
  
One of the greatest things about living in New Jersey is that we are only about 30 miles from New York City.  It seems there is always someone coming to the big city for work or leisure.  Bonus for us as we get to see friends and family a lot more than ever before!  In this instance, Casey (Cody’s brother) was in town for work and met up with us for the game! 
Casey is such a fun Uncle and is a blast to hang out with.  We always enjoy when Uncle Casey is around.  He has been a Yankees fan for quite awhile, so we felt pretty special we were with him at his first game at the Yankee Stadium!