softball banquet #2

ella also had a softball banquet!

unfortunately, i wasn't able to attend, but ryan and aftie were there to support our little belle.

this is the only photo i received from ry.

every girl on the seadogs team received an award for playing.

ella was happy and had a great time dancing with her friends after the awards ceremony.

yay, ella!

softball banquet #1

so many "firsts" this summer...

afton and ella both playing softball for the

first time.

which leads us to our

first softball banquet.

afton's team won the silver division championship

and needed to pick up their "hardware".

(that's what coach Koz calls it!)

the girls on the team all sat together for dinner and awards.

here's the entire team.

such great girls.

they were so kind to afton and welcomed her to their team.

many of the girls have been playing together since t-ball.

many of the girls play modified/jv softball and lots of other sports.

coach koz was really great and encouraging.

he was a fun coach.

these three beauties each received an award for

most improved player!

when coach koz announced the award winners, he made special mention of this being afton's

first time

playing softball-

and how brave she was to have started softball at her age

(since most girls start when their 5)

and how brave she was to be put on a team where she knew no one!

(we already knew how brave and amazing and wonderful she is!)

all of those tennis and golf lessons apparently paid off-

because our aftie could really hit the ball!

her coaches couldn't believe how well she could hit!

way to go aftie!!!!

first day of school 2013!

this year marks a milestone for ella-

grade 4!

top of the school!

grade 4 entitles a student to intramural sports, library helper, band/orchestra, attendance collections, and a myriad of other perks.

our aftie girl has been thriving for the past two years in middle school. 

grade 7 marks her halfway point as a middle school student.

that means high school is right around the corner.

don't even get me started.

i'm verklempt.

talk amongst yourselves...

here's our sweet girls helping each other put on their first-day bracelets.

here's our sassy belle waiting for the bus.

and our very grown-up looking aftie girl.

p.s. they did not plan matching outfits for the first day.

it just happened!

here's the bus-

luckily, ella is still ok with me following the bus to school and walking her to her new classroom.

she has ms. berger this year!

ms berger loves science!

we're excited for extra science time this year!

and a fun coincidence...

one of ryan's co-workers is a dear friend to ms. berger

afton wasn't too thrilled about me walking her to class and taking pictures with her teachers.

but they both had a great first day back and it's looking to be a great year!