Way to Go, Brian!

Last weekend my brother, Brian, rode his bike in the MS150 from Duluth to the Twin Cities. That's 150 miles on a bike people! The race is divided into two 75 mile segments conducted between two days. All the money raised from the event goes to help research multiple sclerosis. Brian was sore afterward, but how can you not be? We are very proud of him! What an accomplishment!

Pictures

Piano Lover

Kelsey has recently taken a liking to our piano. At first, she would sit on my lap and just listen as I played to her. Then, she would ever so gently press the keys. Next, she began crawling over to the piano and reaching up to the keys to just barely reach where she could press them. Now, she sits on my lap and lets loose as she plunks away at the keys. If we are really lucky, she even sings a little :)

I can reach the keys!

Let me find the right song.

There it is! Now for some playing.

Very proud of herself

Making Owatonna Proud

We arrived home tonight after spending the past two days in St. Paul at the state baseball tournament. I will begin by stating my frustration that I forgot my camera! I am usually so good about bringing it with me everywhere I go, but apparently in packing everything else but the kitchen sink for our two day getaway, it slipped my mind. Thankfully, Nate's girlfriend Diane brought her camera and let me use it to snap a few photos. I will post the pictures I took and try to post more that we get from parents at the baseball banquet next week.
The boys began by playing at Midway Stadium on Thursday afternoon against Centennial. It was a beautiful ball field. However, even more beautiful was the sea of blue that came to support the team. Owatonna had a huge crowd which was so cool to see! Unfortunately, we lost the first game, but still had a chance to stay in the tourney with a win against Hopkins later in the day. This game was played at the University of Minnesota field. I have to admit I liked this field better, but the parking was more of hassle. Give and take, right? In a great ball game, Owatonna was victorious and kept their state experience alive. Today we played Eden Prairie back at Midway Stadium. Although we did not win, I felt a tremendous amount of proud watching the team throughout the tournament. There is something so special about a community coming out strong to support their high school athletes. Growing up, my family was a huge supporter of high school sports and attended games regularly. I am so happy that I have continued this tradition in my adult life. Once again, Matt, you made Kelsey and I very proud. We love watching you work with these kids and seeing them look to you as mentor. You are a wonderful coach and we love coming to your games to cheer you on. Good thing because there is a lot more baseball to come to this summer!

Coach Skala warming up the team

The Owatonna crowd showing support at Siebert Field

Siebert Field at the University of Minnesota

Mama and Kelsey cheering on Daddy's team

Kelsey sporting her Husky's shirt

Way to go, Mattey!

Discussing game plan in the dugout at Siebert Field

Nate, Diane, and Kelsey

School is out for summer!

Matt and I will officially begin summer vacation tomorrow afternoon. Our last day with students was on Friday. Tomorrow we both have to go in and finish up with checking out of our rooms. I actually have a lot to get done because I am switching rooms next year when I move to first grade. Matt is also very busy trying to get all loose ends tied up before heading to state for baseball on Wednesday and starting his new class for his master's. It is so wonderful that Matt and I share the profession of teaching because we are able to spend so much time together in the summer. We are both so thankful for this opportunity to be with Kelsey and be full time parents all summer. Kelsey is doing so many things everyday so we feel lucky that we will get to experience them all with her. We made our list of things we want to do this summer and it made me so excited for the next few months. I will try to get on here frequently to update on our summer of fun. Happy Summer!

Baseball pictures

The Owatonna Huskies play on Thursday at Midway Stadium at 12:30 and 5:30. It will also be broadcast on www.krforadio.com if you can't make it, but want to listen.

STATE BOUND!

They did it! The Huskies are going to state! Kelsey, Dave, Vickie, Connor and I left for Red Wing right after school yesterday to cheer on Matt's team. They had to play Rochester JM again in order to advance to state. Unfortunately, it took two games to get it done. JM beat us in the first game with great ease. I have to admit that I was pretty nervous. They threw a pitcher who was 22-0. However, the second game was a different story. It went 12 innings and the boys just never gave up. It was amazing. The fans and players went crazy! Kelsey of course was wonderful and stayed smiling the entire time. In fact, a parent made a comment that she was smiling even though it was 10:00. (WAY past her bed time!) We didn't get home until 11:30 and Mattey rolled in around 1:00am. We are all pretty exhausted today, but it was well worth it. We are SO proud of Matt! He is a phenomenal coach and works hard everyday to help make his players better. WAY TO GO MATTEY! You deserve it. I will post the games for state when the schedule comes out. If anyone can join us, we would love to see you there! (Pictures will be coming--check back!)