Go Yankees!!

This year Luke was on the Yankees, playing rookie ball for the first time. Rookie is also known as "Coach Pitch", and we were blessed with a fun-loving and patient coach in Coach Phil. Phil is Tyler Muller's daddy, and lives just around the corner from us.

We have known the Muller's since our La Primera days, when Tyler and Luke were in Miss Alba's class together, so we really enjoyed this time with them. Even more, we were fortunate to have Cole Jacobs, Cooper Reitinger, Grant Mabry, and Cohl Lopez on our team... which meant that the games were as fun for the parents as they were for the boys. We enjoyed several after-hours get togethers, at our house, at the Lopez place, and at Pizza Hut, and had a blast every time. Scott really enjoyed his stint as assistant coach, and Nate loved hiking the park trails with Emmy and getting ring pops from the snack bar.

Luke's skills have really developed and he seems to really enjoy baseball. He fields well and is known as a first-pitch hitter, for his awesome ability to make contact every single time! In the picture below, he waits for the first ball:

Yeah for the Yankees!!! We cannot wait for next season!

Our Beach House

We were so blessed to get an opportunity to stay at Crystal Cove Beach Cottages in Newport Beach recently. We stayed in Cottage #33, the Romantic Cottage, which had breathtaking views and a ridiculously awesome yard area. For four days we hunkered down, never leaving the property. We entertained different visitors every single day, including Bumpa, Jamie, Kylie, Sherry, Matthew, Jamie, Gramma Laurie and Grampa Burt, JP & Jennifer, and the entire BBQ crew. We enjoyed multiple meals at the Beachcomber,and awoke every morning to fresh sea air. It was paradise very close to home! Below, the boys hike the trails to the cove:

These were the stairs from our cottage to the beach:

This is the deck in the yard of our cottage, where we spent the mornings cuddling and the afternoons partying with friends. We were lucky to have amazing, gorgeous weather!

Nate finds drums everywhere. These logs were his bongos by the beach!

Here Scott and Luke snuggle on the seats in front of the picture windows, taking in the view and enjoying each other's company.

From our deck and from the inside of our cottage we could see whale, dolphins and sea lions. Down by the water, we explored the tidepools, ran from the waves, played football, and made sand fortresses with our army men.

Luke poses by the windows with his beloved DS.

Bumpa and Nate play in the waves:

Done with the drums, he now finds a stage!

And the boys enjoyed the rise in our cottage living room also, which they also used as a stage, performing for us often over the course of our stay.

This was a vacation we hope to repeat in the years to come!