T-Ball Begins

Bracken is so excited to finally be on a team of some sort.  He has waited through 2 years of Nathan doing baseball and basketball longing for his turn to have a coach, teammates and most of all the beloved snacks/treats given to each team member at the end of the games.

During his first practice he was a little bit shy and confused.  He kept coming up to me and asking "Mom, what am I supposed to be doing?"  He wasn't really sure which man on the field was his coach and all the commotion from the other energetic 4 year old kids was distracting him.  But now we are 2 weeks in to practices and our little Brack Attack is getting the hang of things.

He knows almost all of his teammates names and has the bases and positions mostly figured out.  There are a few girls on his team and he prefers not to practice catching with them, why I'm not sure.  At his last practice he pouted a little bit and refused to through the ball to the cute little girl partnered up with him.  I gave him a talking to and he grudgingly gave in.  After a few tosses back and forth he warmed up to her so we hope he doesn't pull that stunt again.

Nathan is adjusting to being on the sidelines this time around.  He wasn't pumped about baseball this year so we talked him into sitting this one out.  Basketball is becoming his first love so we will continue to nurture his exposure to that sport.  Besides, I was happy to avoid the hustle and bustle of having 2 boys in 2 different leagues, practicing and playing games at the same time.

So while our little Bracky is practicing away, Nathan, Marco and I enjoy a little leisure time muncing on snacks and hanging out in our lovely Arizona spring weather.

Petting Zoo

A few weekends ago we visited a petting zoo that set up shop in our local Tractor Supply Store parking lot.  This petting zoo had some very unique animals a giant tortoise, wallaroo, zebra, camel, emu, llama, alpaca, 3 varieties of zebus (cows found in Africa and India), pot belly pig, deer like animals related to antelopes found in India that can grow to be 6 feet tall (no joke), miniature donkey, four horned sheep, and tons of goats. Oh and an animal that is like a mix between a jack rabbit and a deer (see picture above) found in South America but I can't remember what it is called.

We had purchased a few little cups of food for the boys to feed to the animals, but most of the non-intimidating animals weren't interested in eating any.  Our boys weren't keen on the idea of feeding the zebra, camel or emu which were the most eager customers.  In fact both the emu and the camel, due to their long necks, were able to out smart us a few times and steal some extra nibbles when our backs were turned.

All in all it was a fun out-of-the-ordinary excursion for our Saturday afternoon.

Bracken

Oh my little Bracken, how I love you!

Bracken is still the cutest, sweetest menace you'll ever meet.  

One minute he is playing wonderfully having a grand time and the next he's punching his little brother because Marco was silly enough to think he might have a chance at stealing one of the cars in Bracken's mound of horded toys.

End of the Season

Nathan has another basketball season under his belt.

And the best part is they received a trophy this year.  I think the trophy is the highlight of the whole season for Nathan.

Nathan had a good season.  He started out being a bit of a ball hog, but as the season went on he became a little better at trying to see the action around him and he had some good passes.  Nathan is a good shooter and he made multiple baskets each game.

I really don't watch Nathan's every move on the court because I'm busy keeping Marco and Bracken in line.  Here's a little clip of Marco being cute.

Forts!

Sometimes you just have to build a fort.

Forts are awesome!

This particular afternoon was one of those days when we had an itch and the only cure for that itch was a massive fort.  Once you build a fort, everything you do takes place in said fort.

These little guys watched their afternoon show, ate lunch, played and never had to leave the comfort of their latest sanctuary.

Being little rocks.

Go Cart Races

Being a Kleinman means racing is in your blood.

Grandpa Kleinman loves passing on his love for racing and cars to his grandsons.   During the racing season Grandpa loves it when his boys go with him.  On this particular evening Nathan and Bracken were lucky enough to have a special date with Grandpa and attend some go cart races at our local raceway.  They came back happy, excited and smelling of exhaust and oil. 

After the races they boys were able to mix and mingle with some of the races and get up close and personal with the some cars.

Grandpa has a several go carts that have seen a lot of action back in the day, but now sit broken and unused.  Nathan is convinced that we need to fix one up for him so he can get in on the go cart racing circuit next year because some of the racers were 7 year old boys.  I'm not sure if I'm ready for that step yet, maybe when he is 10 I'll be ready to let him test out his racing stripes.  For now we'll continue to feed their budding love for cars, motors and going really fast with every race they attend.

Mini Recital by Nathan

Nathan learned a little tune called "Russian Folk Song" and we decided to record it.

He is sure that Tio Kendal knows this song "and will sing along" because Tio Kendal knows all things Russian.

Enjoy!