Survive and ADVANCE!

Payton is at the furthest end of the line,
throwing a grounder for his partner. 

Our morning started with Payton's first ever T-ball game.  It was a beautiful morning to head out to IOP for the big game - Owen especially loved looking at the water and the boats! 

The Coach giving a little instruction to our buddy Graham (red pants)

Payton's team consist of 10 players - ages 3 and 4.  The coaches did a great job this morning of getting the team ready with stretching and drills.  We started with grounders, moved on to passing the ball and then worked on hitting and fielding. 

Payton's turn to catch a grounder...with a little instruction from Dad.

Payton's friend from school, Aeydn

 Payton was excited to hit the field.  Chad is blocking him in the picture. 

Lila (and Liston) between 1st and 2nd; Graham (and Alex) on 2nd;
Payton (and Chad) at shortstop; Aeydn (#14) on 3rd

Today happened to be Lila's 4th birthday - the birthday girl did a great job in her 1st game!

Great hit Lila!

Holman and Geni just happened to be out at the playground for a birthday party.  Holman is already 5 - unlike football, he is on an older team.  We'll miss playing on a team with Holman but Payton was thrilled to see him on the sidelines!

Payton's 1st at bat....

RUN! 

Each player advanced one base at a time and eventually Payton made it all the way home to "score"!

 After practicing, we had our first "game" against the white team.

Payton, #10, ready to stop the ball

Payton makes it around to 2nd base after his turn to bat in the game

 As for Owen......

Owen did good for about 35 minutes....it is so tough to stay focused on your big brother's game when there is an awesome playground just across the field!  Owen was great today as we drug him from one activity to the next.  We really enjoyed Payton's T-ball game and we'll looking forward to the rest of the season.  

Following the T-ball game, we loaded up and headed on to Lila's 4th birthday party.  We have known Lila since the kids were about 6 weeks old - it is a treat to see them grow up together!  The birthday girl did a great job changing from her uniform to her adorable birthday outfit!  Lila's birthday party was at the bowling alley - it was lots of fun for the kids!  They have a small area with 4 small lanes and small bowling balls for the kids.  We'll have to keep this in mind for a fun activity!  Even Owen got to roll a few balls down the lane and knock over the pins!

Time for pizza cake!

Payton and "Ella-girl"

It is SO hard to believe that these two will be turning 4 in the next few weeks...where does the time go??

 Just to prove that the basketball rivalry does exist....

Emily supporting the Pack and Chad supporting the Heels

Most of our SC friends have moved on to baseball season, or perhaps they are gearing up for football already! March Madness isn't the same around here so its nice to occasionally be reminded of our friendly rivals.  

 Happy Birthday to Lila!

 Now thats a lot of kids!

Drew really enjoyed his cupcake...he probably thought is was his birthday after my camera spotted his adorable, icing covered face!

 Payton's favorite thing to do at the bowling alley.....

...an arcade basketball game....his Godfather will be proud to know he beat the record (and next time he's in town, we'll have a little challenge...he will never accept being beat by a kid!).

 He was also a big fan of the air hockey!

We ended the morning with a game of air hockey between Payton and Ella.  

We had to rush out of the party to make it home in time for the big game - the Heels vs. the Pack.  As predicted, we won.  A highly controversial game for State fans due to some rather bad officiating.  Even this Tar Heel can agree to the bad calls but, a win is a win, and like I explained yesterday...lose and go home, survive and advance.  The NCSU team is probably back in Raleigh by now - the Heels are resting up for the championship game tomorrow.  

As for the Duke vs. FSU game - my prediction was (thankfully) wrong.  I can't say I'm excited to face the Seminoles tomorrow (they did beat us by 33...yes, 33, earlier this year), but I have to be happy with a Duke loss.....it feels so good to see them miss those last second shots.  

Tomorrow will be another busy day - Sunday School, Church, 1 o'clock ACC Championship game...followed by the selection shows.  

If we win tomorrow, we have to be a number 1 seed...if FSU ends up cutting down the nets, I'll expect us to be a number 2 seed.  I hope the Wolf Pack sneak in as a lower seed as well.  In fact, I will even promise to pull for the Pack as long as they stay in the tournament (unless of course they would somehow end up playing against us....and that would be a disaster!).  This time of the year is SO exciting.  Our win today sparked a little more post season discussion...like I said, this is our life, we live for this stuff!

On a side note, Payton's birthday falls right in the middle of March Madness...for the past few years, I've thought that we did a pretty bad job planning his birth.  His birthday party always seems to fall right in the middle of a big basketball game and we are always stressed about how to manage that predicament.  As Payton gets older, it seems like his birthday couldn't have been planned any better.  He is one of the biggest sports fans for his young age - especially UNC basketball fans - I have ever known.  It seems appropriate this birthday falls right in the middle of all this madness.....I just hope the Heels don't ruin his birthday this year!

We survived today...all the way around....a great T-ball game, a fun birthday party, a big Heels win, a productive afternoon (I even made time to polish my silver) and a nice dinner with two well behaved boys....both Payton and Owen ate huge helping of pasta, chicken and bread!  We've got growing boys around here....survive and advance, we'll see you tomorrow!