Hiking Tubbs Hill, Lake Couer D’Alene

A rare sight...

....yesterday on Hayden, Idaho.

Karsten is shiny with Aquaphor on his face after getting sunburnt riding his bike and playing all around the ballfields.

Gunnar played 3 games in a mini-tournament. He had several hits, played well at catcher, and successfully pitched the final 3 innings. Generals won 2 out of the 3 games.

Hayden Lake, Idaho

A rare sight...

Karsten is shiny with Aquaphor on his face after getting sunburnt riding his bike and playing all around the ballfields in Hayden.

Gunnar played 3 games in a mini-tournament today. He had several hits, played well at catcher, and successfully pitched the final 3 innings. Generals won 2 out of the 3 games.

Signe the chalk artist at work...

Last day of elementary

Gunnar finished 5th grade with his second year in a row with Miss Kelsey Clemans, who got married over spring break and became Mrs. Kramer. Gunnar has thrived under her, and he just missed getting on the all "A" honor roll for the year after getting a B+ in math last quarter.
Zane had a blast with Mrs. Chantelle Wilson and a class full of mostly boys. He surprised us with his diligence as a student, and he has become an excellent reader. He got straight A's all year, barely squeaking it with his penmanship grade.

Karsten’s kindergarten grad

This morning Karsten officially wrapped up kindergarten. His teacher, Jan Sawyer, is retiring after this year and it has been a tremendous privilege to have her teach all 4 of our kids. I will miss hanging out with Karsten every afternoon next year, although he told me I could squeeze him as much as I want this summer since he will be in school all day and I will miss him.
But Karsten is definitely ready for 1st grade. He is also excited to play more with what he calls his "pack of buddies" that includes Mordecai Rauch and Wyatt Shaw, as well as cousin Jerome, who is a grade ahead of him.

First time at a Krispy Kreme...

...and Signe still looks creepy when she sleeps with her eyes open. Ever since she was a baby.

Gorgeous day in Missoula

It really is beautiful here; we would love to come back some day and explore it more! For the drive home I have another car full of sleepers (I'm watching Nick to make sure he doesn't pull a Clark Griswold), since Gunnar and Nick had to be at the fields 45 minutes earlier than our 7:00 PST start time. We left Signe and the little boys sleeping in the hotel.
We beat the Sandpoint Sasquatch in an exciting 10-9 win, then later handily 10-runned the Beaverhead Bombersquad in the 4th to win the silver bracket 11-1. The last pic is of the head coach's son, Ollie Spencer, hitting in Gunnar for the winning RBI that stopped the game at 10 runs.

Gorgeous day in Missoula

It really is beautiful here; we would love to come back some day and explore it more! For the drive home I have another car full of sleepers (I'm watching Nick to make sure he doesn't pull a Clark Griswold), since Gunnar and Nick had to be at the fields 45 minutes earlier than our 7:00 PST start time. We left Signe and the little boys sleeping in the hotel.
We beat the Sandpoint Sasquatch in an exciting 10-9 win, then later handily 10-runned the Beaverhead Bombersquad in the 4th to win the silver bracket 11-1. The last pic is of the head coach's son, Ollie Spencer, hitting in Gunnar for the winning RBI that stopped the game at 10 runs.

Party time

Our hotel is a perfect place to hang out, with interior balconies and numerous hot tubs and a pool. Everyone enjoys pizza, and the adults some grownup beverages. Might be tough to get them focused if we have an 8:00 am game tomorrow (7:00 our time). The final seeding hasn't come out yet.

Missoula Grand Slam tourney

Gunnar did not start the 10:00 game, but said he was feeling pretty good by the time he entered in the 4th. He hit an RBI double in the second game, although we lost 7-9 (and 2-6 in the first). Both beatable teams; we missed Cam's bat for sure. But by this evening Guns had a small headache again, so he sat out the end - but since we won 22-6 he could be spared.

Gunnar is not a flashy player, but he is one of most solidly consistent kids on defense, and going in to this game he had the highest batting average on the team at .419. That will drop a bit since he was only 1-5 today, with 3 walks (certainly not his best day, but not bad considering he was wiped out last night). It is fun to watch him at bat. He rarely strikes out and almost always walks or puts the ball in play: in 48 at bats for the Generals travel team, he only has 5 Ks.

And I should really know better: even on a windy cloudy day with a sweatshirt and coat on (and gloves at one point because my hands were shivering from cold while writing in the scorebook), our faces got very sunburned. We are a family of bright red cheery faces, for sure.

Hittin’ the road

Poor Guns... he came home from school yesterday at noon with a fever and a few tears, because we were supposed to head out right after school for a baseball tournament in Missoula. With Nick the assistant coach, Mom keeping the book, Gunnar one of the most consistent players on the team, and us looking forward to our first trip to Montana, it was a sad situation. The Generals are already missing another one of their best players this weekend, Cam, so he can attend his dad's funeral (his dad died at the age of 42 after a long battle with cancer).
Gunnar felt lousy last night, but we had heard that the fever-thing might be short lived, so we canceled our hotel for the evening and packed up anyway. This morning he was much better with only a little headache, so we loaded up everyone about 5 am and are in the middle of about a 4-hour drive. We probably won't make it at the beginning of the 10:00 game, but we shouldn't be too late.

Gunnar opens his first bday gift this morning... from gpa and gma

Brothers buzz cuts

Summer buzz cuts

North Idaho hiking

Backyard tulips

Silver Bracket Championship game

After going 1-1 in pool play, the Latah Generals had the best seed in the lower (silver) bracket. They played 3 games in a row today, winning the first two 15-9 and 14-4. By the championship game they were starting to melt, and the pitcher from Great Falls threw a no-hitter in our 0-14 loss. Today Gunnar caught and played third, and hit two singles and a triple batting in the 4th spot.
Considering that some teams are from big expensive year-round clubs in Seattle or Spokane, the boys did a great job representing our little northern Idaho county.

Cinco de Mayo baseball tournament

Gunnar's travel team, the Generals, is playing in a huge tournament this weekend; there are 18 teams in his 10U division. They won the first game tonight 8-5. It was a great night for baseball at an impressive complex in Spokane.