Cooperstown, NY

As mentioned in Joseph's birthday post we went to Cooperstown, NY to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame and watch a baseball game with teams consisting of recent baseball players from all of the MLB teams.  I wasn't super excited about the Hall of Fame, but I knew I shouldn't live in New York and not visit Cooperstown at least once.  When Joseph suggested just the two of us go I was more eager since the kids would be bored in the museum.

This is how the weekend worked...every Memorial Day weekend the "Classic" is held.  If you purchase tickets to the game then you get in free to the Hall of Fame (HOF).  In my opinion this is the ONLY way to visit the museum.  The game tickets are cheaper than a regular ticket to the HOF so it definitely saves money. 

I'll just come out now and say it, I'm not a big baseball fan.  I think it is fairly boring to watch the games and the only time I really care about baseball is when the St. Louis Cardinals are playing--especially if the Cardinals are playing in the playoffs. 

The Post Office with the city name...just for fun.

Entrance to the Hall of Fame.  A parade was beginning so there was a crowd.

Thankfully, Joseph is fast when it comes to museums and going through them.  I would have preferred to have read some of the plagues about the history of baseball, but other than the history I thought the rest of the museum was pretty boring...let the stoning begin.  I DID recognize a few famous names, but I had no idea why the men are famous.

The caption reads:  Ball from the first series of games at which admission
 was charged.  September 10, 1858

In front of old gear.

Uniform and gear for Honas Wagner...some famous player, although
I don't remember why Joseph said he was famous.

Cardinals Board.  I wanted my picture taken by Ozzie Smith doing his trademark back flip!

This is the Hall where all of the plaques are kept showing those
who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

We spent about an hour in the Hall of Fame and then we got lunch and walked around a few shops.  In one shop they had signed baseballs for sale.  This picture shows a baseball signed by "Mickey Charles Mantle" for $1995.00.  I ask you, who in their right mind would pay almost $2000 for a ball signed by Mickey Mantle.  I know his was a great player, but still. I guess not too many people would pay that kind of money since the ball was still on the shelf.  It was interesting to see the various prices of the balls.  The prices ranged from $75 to $1995.00.

Joseph was like a kid in a candy store looking through the baseball cards
finding names he knew or seeing cards that he still owns. 

Hall of Fame Classic.  The game is preceded by a Home Run Derby where the players have a competition to see how many home runs they can hit.  Sweeny...light blue jersey won the derby this year.

Here is a picture of Sweeny high fiving a team mate as well as some older player with the last name of Fingers.  He was famous for his curly mustache and he played in the 60s or 70s.  

Announcing the players for the two teams.

View of the field

Action shot.

My favorite person of the day...Ozzie Smith!

I decided that Ozzie Smith needs a paragraph all his own.  I love Ozzie Smith.  He brings back such fun memories of my childhood.  Even his voice was familiar to me when I heard him speak on Saturday.  He was the team manager for the "Wizards" team.  I have "Ozzie" pride since I grew up in St. Louis.  I remember going to a few games as a child and seeing him do his back flips.  My sister, Heather, also reminded me that Ozzie would occasionally come to our elementary schools to promote fund raisers for MS...hence his voice being familiar to me.  It just made me feel happy to see Ozzie.  I appreciated how Ozzie talked Saturday about encouraging education for children.  I could tell that education is something he feels strongly about since he would visit schools in the St. Louis area and he is still promoting education today.  One last reason for liking Ozzie is his loyalty to his team.  He played for the Cardinals from 1982 until 1996.  He did play for the San Diego Padres from 1978-1981. He spent most of his career with one team which I think is neat since a lot of good players these days go to which ever team will pay them the most money.

Joseph and I really enjoyed the game and we hope to go back again next year, if I'm feeling brave enough to take the babies.  We think Kimball and Rebecah would enjoy the game and we could just skip the HOF since that is a little boring.  I know I said I wasn't too keen on the Hall of Fame, but the rest of the day was nice.  Cooperstown is a fun little tourist town that reminded us a little of Hot Springs, Arkansas with all of the shops and restaurants.

Since this was for Joseph's birthday I better add that Joseph enjoyed his day.  He came home and looked through his old baseball cards and he wants to go back next Memorial Day weekend.  Birthday success story!

Joseph's Birthday

Joseph turned 33 over the weekend.  For his birthday he wanted to attend the Baseball Hall of Fame Classic in Cooperstown, NY so he and I spent the day doing that while the kids stayed home with a babysitter.  The kids would have been bored in the museum and it was nice for the two of use to get away.  We did make sure to get back early enough to have dinner as a family and have time for cake and presents so the kids felt included.

A red velvet cheesecake cake.  We had this same kind of cake for Mother's Day and Joseph liked it well enough to request it for his birthday.  For me that was huge because Joseph rarely requests desserts for his special days.

Present time

New shirts!  I was very relieved when Joseph said he loved the bright blue color.  I'm always trying to get Joseph bright colors but sometimes he needs convincing.

I think Joseph enjoyed his birthday, although he wanted to go from 32 years old to 36...I'm not sure why, but I told him that just wasn't an option.  Most people want to remain 29 permanently, not Joseph!

First Big Twin Purchase

We got our biggest purchase out of the way as we prepare for our babies in the fall.  We had a Rav4 and that just wasn't going to work with 2 babies coming since it only seats 5.  We bought a 2011 Toyota Sienna with low miles and 7 seats.  We test drove an 8 passenger and it just felt very crowded with the 8th seat so we opted for more open space than the extra seat.  It is nice to have this big purchase out of the way.  The negotiating wasn't very fun since we had to negotiate a trade-in vehicle...our first experience doing that.  We got what we wanted though when the saleswoman realized we would walk away from her low-ball offer.

The kids love our new van, especially the automatic doors.  It is fun for them to just push a button to open their doors.   Hopefully we will own this van for many years to come.

Twin Follow Up

I didn't say much in the post yesterday announcing our new arrivals so the surprise and shock could register. I know I was surprised when I found out we were expecting twins.

I'm sure some of you are wondering when I'm due.  My official due date is October 29th.  Twins are considered full term at 38 weeks so that puts me mid-October for delivery.  BUT, I know very few people these days that make it passed 36 weeks so I will consider myself lucky if the babies aren't born in September...definitely not August.  That would be scary.

I'll admit it, I'm scared to have twins.  One of my sisters always wanted twins, but I never did and now I'm getting blessed with them.  I'm nervous that they will come early and they will have to be in the hospital for a long time.  If they are in the hospital, I'm not sure how I will juggle school for Kimball and Rebecah while making daily trips to the hospital where I will stay most of the day.  With Joseph's work schedule it is hard for him to take off more than a week at a time so he won't be able to be home long.  IF my mom can come she will only be able to stay for 3 days and then Joseph's parents just started a 2 year mission to Hong Kong so they won't even be in the country.  I'm hoping I can call in some favors to have help with my kids from my friends.  But if anyone wants to come visit, I don't think I'll turn you away!

Once the babies are home, I'm also nervous how I will manage 2 car seats when shopping.  I guess I will just have to do my shopping when Joseph is home.  I'll just have to change my mind set.  At least Kimball and Rebecah are both old enough to be fairly self-sufficient and don't get up at night anymore or wear diapers.

Seeing the excitement of the kids the last few days has really helped me feel more excited about having twins. We are all hoping to have a boy and a girl to keep things even.  Even if we have two boys or two girls, I don't see myself dressing them alike or giving them "matching" names with the first letter of their name being the same.  It is cute to watch Rebecah "hug" and "kiss" the twins and talk to them.  She also talks about them "popping out" like it will happen in the very near future!  Kimball shows his excitement in other ways, but he has wanted to hug them occasionally.

We will go in for the "big" ultrasound in 3 weeks and hopefully we will know what the genders of our babies will be.

I know some of you are wondering...No twins don't run in my family.  This was a surprise to everyone.

We have scored a free crib from someone we go to church with so that is one expense we won't have.  We will slowly start acquiring the extra things we will need as we know the genders and as it gets closer.

I have been feeling okay.  My poor kids have just learned that "mom's tummy hurts all of the time".  For about 8 weeks I would lay down all afternoon and evening getting up for short spurts as I could.  I just manage my nausea best if I stay horizontal and I have done all in my power to avoid throwing up and the few times I did throw up, I fought hard not to.  My good times are becoming longer, although I still find myself needing to lay down usually 4 hours a day to avoid feeling too nauseous.  I don't have much energy, but I probably won't have much energy for the next few years!  :  )

Hopefully this answers most questions.

Mother's Day Surprise

We had a surprise for the kids on Mother's Day:

Arriving October 2014 (hopefully not before.)

Please no comments on Facebook.  We like our life to be private.  Thanks for respecting our wishes.

Spring Program

Rebecah's preschool class had a Spring Program last week.  The class of 14 kids performed songs that they had learned in school this year.  It was fun hearing some of the songs since I learned some of them from my mom when I was young.

A lot of these pictures are similar with different hand/arm movements.  I just posted a lot of them for my own record.

This is about half of Rebecah's preschool class.  I love how happy everyone is.  There are only 4 girls in the class and they have become a close knit group and they all get along.

Teasing Mr. Alligator...

The "grand finale" was the song "Pete the Cat I like My White Shoes".  It was very cute watching the kids in their glasses and guitars.  The little girl in the coral colored dress really got her groove on and it was funny.

What a happy, pretty preschooler.

Rebecah with her preschool teachers, Mrs. Ordway and Mrs. Spink.

Rebecah will really miss preschool when it ends next week.  We will have to invite friends over for play dates and go on more adventures until Kimball gets out of school at the end of June.

New Walkway

Joseph decided he didn't like our old walkway.  Weeds grew too easily between the bricks and the bricks weren't even so he decided to lay a new walkway.  Joseph loves having projects to work on, especially outdoor projects.  This project took him a few weeks since he did it around his work schedule.  I think it turned out really well.