End of Spring Baseball, Noah's New Teeth, Prom

 Here's what's been going on the last few weeks.

Evan's spring baseball ended.  He got MVP for the varsity team!  Here's what Morry wrote about him on Facebook.

"Varsity Team MVP as a sophomore. Second youngest on the team. Hit .533 (32-60) on the season, second in innings pitched, first in ERA, first in Ks, led the team in innings caught and runners caught stealing. I haven't posted during the season as I figured I'd wait until the season is over. Unfortunately, though, I am terrible at taking video so I missed quite a few of his bigger hits, but figured I'd upload some of the ones I did get.

The season Evan put together was beyond anything I could have imagined. He plays with a chip on his shoulder and he works his butt off to get better and I couldn't be more proud."

Noah finally got his new fake teeth from the orthodontist.  He was happy about that, but of course, I don't have a picture.  Lately, he hasn't wanted to have his picture taken.

Madison invited Evan to his senior prom.  Evan, Morry, and I went to Philadelphia from a Thursday - Sunday.   On Thursday, we ate at Nifty Fifty's.  Friday, we saw the West Chester University campus and baseball team.  Friday night was the prom.  Saturday we went to Ocean City, NJ.  Sunday, we met Allison and Avery for brunch in downtown Philadelphia.  We all had a nice weekend and Evan really had a great time at prom.

Here are some pictures. 

Velloway with Deborah

It was a busy day.  Early this morning Morry and Evan took Allison and Avery to the airport.

I tutored at 1pm.

Morry and the kids watched the Borne Identity at home.

After tutoring I went to HEB to pick up a few things and then met Deborah at Alamo to pick up our movie tickets for tomorrow.

We came back to the house and then Evan, Deborah, and I went for a bike ride.  We rode to the Velloway.  I rode one time around the 3 mile loop.  Deborah and Evan rode a second time and then we all rode back to our house.  I did about 9 miles and they rode about 12 miles.

For dinner we had burgers at home.

We went to TCBY for dessert.

The boys are watching the olympics now.

Soon, they will go to bed.

Schlitterbahn

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We decided to go to Schlitterbahn today.  Both Allison and I were able to push off some work to join Rachel and the kids.

We stopped at HEB on the way out so everyone could get food to bring.  You're allowed to bring food into the park.

We got there as the park opened up.  Immediately, Allison and Noah went on the lazy river, while Rachel, Evan, Avery and I waited in line for the more popular slide.  The wait ended up being an hour even though we got there when the park opened.

The rest of the day we were able to stick together.   Everyone had a really nice time.  We stayed at the park until about 7:30pm.

After the park, we went to Rudy's for dinner.  Allison and Avery seemed to like it.

We stopped at Buc-ee's which is a giant gas station/market.  We just had to show it to Allison and Avery.  We got some dessert there.

We are home now and the boys are going to bed.

Until next time...

Welcome Allison and Avery

This morning we took it easy at home.

Morry and the kids left to pick up Allison and Avery around noon.

When they got back to the house we made waffles for lunch and then hung out at home for the afternoon.

For dinner, we went to Oasis with Grandma and Papa.

Now, the kids are all in bed.  They obviously didn't want to go to bed since they were having a fun time playing together.

Lots of Cleaning

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, Rachel and I slept in.  When we got up, Rachel went to a church where they were having a clothing swap.  This is the third year she's gone.

The boys just played upstairs while I worked.

Rachel made waffles and pancakes for the boys for lunch.  Then she started to clean.  Allison and Avery are coming tomorrow so Rachel spent the afternoon cleaning.

For dinner, we went to Austin Pizza Garden.  They added an outdoor patio and playscape.

We stopped at HEB on the way home.

The boys are now making s'mores with Rachel in the microwave.

Until next time...

Back From Grandmom's

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We got back from Grandmom's this afternoon.  We flew up Thursday night - the day she moved into a new condo.  We got in very late on Thursday night - around 1:30am.  We helped unpack and get Grandmom settled on Friday and Saturday and came back today.

While we were there, Allison and Avery came.  Avery stayed with us from Friday until Saturday just before dinner.  Allison really helped unpack and clean up, particularly the kitchen but all over really.  Avery and the boys had a good time.

On Saturday, we went downtown and went to the Art Museum steps.  These are the steps that Rocky runs up in the Rocky movies.  The boys and Avery ran to the top and had a good time.  Actually they ran up 5 times.  They also took a picture in front of the Rocky statue.  We stopped at Nifty Fifty's on the way back.

Tonight, we went to Rudy's with Grandma and Papa.  Evan ate a ton.

The boys are in bed now.

Until next time...

Bat Mitzvah Weekend

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Friday, just before lunch, my cousin Allison, her daughter Avery and Grandmom flew into Austin for Molly's Bat Mitzvah.  I picked them up at the airport.  We went to Torchy's Tacos for lunch.

Avery hung out with Noah in the afternoon while Allison, Rachel and I picked Evan up from school.

Allison, Grandmom and I went to Friday night services for Molly.  Rachel bought the boys and Avery to the dinner at Matt and Rachael's house after dinner.

Saturday morning, we went to the Bat Mitzvah.  Molly did a wonderful job.  Her voice was good, she read well, she projected and she was confident.

After the Bat Mitzvah, we decided to show Allison and Avery some of Austin.  Rachel, Evan and I took Allison and Avery to Lady Bird Lake to walk around.  We brought Lizzy.  It was cold and windy but we had a nice time walking.  Evan and Avery enjoyed each other's company.

We stopped at Pho Thai Son on the way home and got spring rolls as a snack.

The party on Saturday night was at a place called Main Event.  They have indoor miniature golf, bowling, rock climbing, laser tag and video games.  The kids had a really good time.  Both boys climbed the rock walls.  They had a good time at laser tag and mini golf.  I watched the Steelers game in the party room.

We didn't get home until nearly Midnight.  Allison, Avery and Grandmom had to be taken to the airport around 6:30 in the morning.  Evan insisted on coming with us as I drove.

I went back to sleep when I came home, but Evan stayed up.

We watched the Vikings-Seahawks game in the afternoon.  Then the boys and I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.  Evan fell asleep in the middle of it.

Grandma and Papa are on the way over.  They picked up Chinese food for us for dinner.  Evan is still sleeping.

Until next time....

Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Norman

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, Allison got up with the boys and let Lizzy out.  She had a brunch to go to at 9am.  We had thought she was coming back to the house afterwards so we didn't get up.  Unfortunately, we were wrong so we didn't get to say goodbye.  But we had a good time having her visit.

We didn't do much of anything this morning.  We just took it easy.

The boys and I watched the Steelers game until it was time to go to Evan's baseball game.  I took Evan and then Rachel met us later with Noah.

Evan played well at baseball.  He had a great defensive inning at 2nd base fielding two balls cleanly.  He got one boy out by fielding the ball and then racing him to 2nd base.  His defense is the most improved thing he's had between last season and this season.

After baseball, we drove the parking lot of BJ's.  We dropped my car off and I got in Rachel's car where we drove out to the Omni Southpark.  We picked up Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Norman and drove them to Frank and Angie's for pizza.  There we met Matt, Rachael, Maddie, Tristian and Max.  It was a nice to see everyone.  After dinner we drove Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Norman around campus a bit since they hadn't seen much of the city and the back to the hotel.

We came home and gave the boys baths.

They are in bed now but not yet sleeping.

Until next time...

Outside day

This morning I met my running group at 7am. Louis came with us and we ran 6.2 miles.

The boys slept in today. Evan didn't wake up until 9am. That's late for him.

Morry and Allison did some work this morning so Louis and I took the kids to Starbucks for a little bit.

Evan had a flag football game at noon. He wasn't very focused out there. Maybe he was tired? After the football game Evan and Noah ran around the track a few times. Evan ran 1.25 miles and Noah ran 1 mile.

For dinner we picked up Thai food and ate at home.

We just went over to Blanca's house to give her a check for watching Mottel while we were gone. The boys also played with some of their Halloween decorations for a little bit. They have a blow up house in their front yard that the boys like to play in.

Morry is reading to Evan and Noah now. Let's hope they sleep well tonight.

Austin Stuff

This morning Noah slept in again. I woke him up around 9am so that we weren't too late for school.

After I dropped off Noah, Louis and I went for a bike ride downtown. We rode for about an hour through downtown and around the UT campus.

For lunch, we met Morry at Hula Hut.

I dropped Louis off at home and then picked up Noah. A little bit after that Noah and I went to pick up Evan.

Allison came in town tonight and we all went to Salt Lick for dinner. We had to wait a little over an hour for a table, but the kids did well. We brought a football and snacks to keep the kids occupied.

We got home around 10pm and got the kids ready for bed.

They have been put to bed, but they are both still awake for some reason.

Back From The Shore

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We just returned from a week-long trip to Margate, NJ. The boys and I flew up on July 31, and Rachel flew up the next day. The boys had so much fun on the trip. They just love being in the water and as parents it was great watching them have so much fun.

My mom, Grandmom, rented a house along with my cousin, Louis and his family. Louis has three kids, Peyton (age 10), Simon (7), and Benny (2). Peyton was very good with Noah and Benny and Noah got along. Evan really enjoyed playing with Simon. He liked being with the older kids. Also, my cousin Craig, his wife Lauren, their kids Zoe and Sam were there as well as my cousin Traci and her son Drew. They were staying with Aunt Edie and their mom, Edie's daughter, Sheryl. All the kids really played well together. My cousin Allison, her husband Richard, and her daughter Avery were there the first day we were there and the second weekend.

The first day, we all went on the beach. Evan literally just started running for the water. I had to stop him as I was carrying some chairs and Noah. Evan showed no fear of the water and stayed out in the water even when no one else was out there playing with him. Noah was a bit scared at first and at first didn't like sand getting on him.

The second day, we got to show Rachel how much the boys liked the beach. Noah did much better playing in the water and getting used to the sand. That night we went over to Aunt Edie's for dinner with everyone. Craig made burgers and hot dogs and the kids played and played together.

The third day, we again went on the beach and Noah got even more comfortable playing. Evan never let up playing in the water and he started playing with this kind of water gun. You can see from the pictures later on how much he enjoyed it. That night we went to the Ocean City Boardwalk and ate at Mack and Manco's which is my favorite pizza place. Everyone went which was fun. The kids went on rides and we all had ice cream.

The fourth day, Wednesday, we drove up to see Zayde in Philadelphia. We immediately walked to lunch and had a really nice lunch outside. Zayde is a member of the Please Touch Museum so we drove over to that. There the kids played with all this car stuff, some space stuff. Noah played with water exhibits. They went on the carousel, they made us food at a pretend McDonald's. All the adults were wiped out by the time we were done. We went back to Zayde's so I could set up his new wireless router and picture frame. Evan and Noah proceeded to eat all of Zayde's fruit.

The fifth day, we just went right to the boardwalk to play miniature golf. Evan had been begging the whole time to go golfing. It was a neat golf course and the boys seemed to like it. We got water ice after that.

The sixth day was another beach day. We spent a long time on the beach continuing to play. When we got back Aunt Fran and Uncle Scott came to visit. For dinner we went to the The Crab Trap. We had to get there at about 4:30 and we still ended up waiting 45 minutes to an hour for a table.

The seventh day was the longest beach day yet. Aunt Fran and Uncle Scott came on the beach with us. Evan played with his cousins while Noah played with Aunt Fran and Uncle Scott. Evan played a bit with Uncle Scott as well. Both kids passed out at the house when we got back. When they woke up we went to Ocean City to see my friends Linda and Jeff and their kids. Aunt Fran and Uncle Scott came with us. The boys went on more rides and we had dinner on the boardwalk.

Finally the eighth day was a very short beach day and Rachel's friend Brett and his wife Meryl and baby Lauren came to see us. Then we left for the airport and flew home, completely exhausted. I think Rachel and I need a vacation.

It was a very nice time and it was very nice seeing the boys get to interact with their family and especially nice to see them play with Grandmom.

I was going to put a few pictures up, but I couldn't decide which of the 353 picture to put up. So, if you have the patience, here's a link to all of them:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rachelkbelkin/JerseyShore2010#

Until next time...