SUMMERTIME MADNESS!

So we are done with District Softball Tournaments for the year.  Abigail's team did not make it to the state tournament. Abigail played outfield for 2 of her 3 games.  The last game they let her be catcher.  I think she is wanting to follow in Emily's footsteps!  Abigail is busy this week with Softball camp.  She told them she wanted to practice catching.  Hopefully she will take home some valuable tips that she can use in the fall when she moves up to the Angel's age group. 
Emily's team got Runner Up to Rockingham.  We were "lucky" that this year our district gets to take both the winner and the runner up to state!  So here we go again with the hectic practice schedule.  I am lucky that Brandon is assistant coach and therefore has to be the one to go with Emily to practice!  The head coach gave them a day off and they will go back to practicing 2 hours a day for the state tournament that starts July 11 in Carthage.  I would like to see them improve a little bit before we head to state.  Emily is usually catcher, but the last game we played at district she played 1st base.  The game before that she couldn't get it together behind the plate.  That is where she likes to be, but I don't know what happened to her that day!  Emily had softball camp last week and she said they taught her some things that she was going to apply in the games, but I'm not sure if that happened.  Hopefully we can get some improvements out of the team as a whole in the next 2 weeks.  Sorry for all the pictures that will have to load on this blog, but this is my life!

The Burnette Girls right before Opening Ceremonies

Abigail's All-Stars Team

Emily's All-Stars Team

Abigail ready for a ball in the outfield

Team Huddle!

Abigail getting ready to bat!

Emily catching in the game against Rockingham

Emily's Team with Runner Up trophy

I am a person of numbers and I think this is the coolest picture! 13-15-17

Emily's Team Sporting their Runner Up Medals

After Game Celebration

So we went on a weekend whitewater rafting/kayaking trip a couple of weeks ago.  We stayed in a little cabin out in the middle of no where in Topton NC.  It was owned by an older lady that made cookies, rice krispy treats, and homemade blueberry muffins for us during our stay!  You don't get that at a Holiday Inn!  Her husband even decorated the deck with American flags and red rope lights for the Hoilidays!  we had an entire day on the Nantahala River.  We did an 8.5 mile raft trip in the morning and the same 8.5 miles in double duckies(inflatable kayaks) in the afternoon.  We had lunch on the riverside and had an AMAZING day!  The kids loved every minute of it.  They had never been whitewater rafting so this was a first for them.  I have never laughed so hard in my entire life as I did while in the raft.  Brandon got so mad at me and the kids because either we weren't listening, or he wasn't communicating like he thought he was!  Sometimes he thinks things, but does not say them aloud and expects us to read his mind!  When I got thrown backwards and couldn't sit up and he was fussing at us, I laughed so hard it was impossible to regain composure!  When we went down in double duckies me and Emily took forever to learn how to work together, but we got the hang of it.

After 4+ hours in the car we have arrived!

The Burnette girls conquer the river!

 

Relaxing while the rain set in 

The girls' bedroom

On the porch of the Whitewater Outpost

Before I laid down on the job!

As I am laying down on the job!

Before Abigail and Brandon hit!

What a good action shot!

Fun times!

I thought we were going over!

Abigail's "Gosh this is cold water" look

Here we are goofing off when we should be paddling!

Riverside Lunch Break!

Abigail styling her wetsuit before kayak trip

Burnette's Post Kayak picture

Steak and baked potato supper on the deck!

From the firepit area.  Note Abigail up on porch!

Trying to get a fire started for S'Mores

Abigail enjoying her hot tub time

When we left Sunday morning (on Father's Day) we road towards Tennessee to find the "Tail of the Dragon"  This is an 11 mile stretch of road that has 318 curves in it.  It is a place where motorcycles and sports car flock to be able to "ride the Dragon".  So here we go, with 2 children in the car, driving this thing where people get killed all the time!  We saw so many crazy people on motorcycles passing people and coming around curves almost touching the ground with their butts!  It was like something off TV!  But now the Burnette family can say "Been there, done that, got the t-shirt!" whenever we see or hear something about the Tail of the Dragon.

The Tail of the Dragon statue

The "Tree of Shame"  When someone loses a part on the Tail of the Dragon, they nail it on here

Almost Summer!! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

We let the kids invite their friends over for a party this past weekend and they had a ball!! It was so good that Sunday morning I had to straighten the pictures on the walls!! CRAZY!  We grilled hot dogs and kept it simple just so that I could enjoy some "talk time" with some of our friends that actually had the nerve to come and stay while this adventure played out.  Brandon hooked his trailer and tractor up and we took 2 long country block hayrides.  For some reason the kids always think this is the best thing ever.  We don't have a lot to offer, but we can pull you behind a tractor while you sit atop some haybales!  Gotta make our impression somehow!  I didn't really capture a lot of pictures but we did get a few.

Abigail and Kendall playing dress up



Lizzie, Danny, and Abigail enjoying fine outdoor dining

Hay Ride!

And he takes the tractor another round, another round...

We are gearing up for the District All-Star Tournament that starts June 19.  Both Emily and Abigail got on their age groups team this year!  We are so proud of them.  Abigail has been playing for 5 years and this is her first all-star opportunity.  Emily has been on the all-stars team the last 3 years.  She plays catcher and always uses the teams catchers gear, but this weekend we broke down and bought her own gear.  She is excited to try it out and we can't wait to see these girls play!  It's funny how as an adult all your dreams and excitement center around your kids.  I rarely get excited about something of my own anymore, but if it can make my kids happy, I am on it!!!

On a side note, I think that my girls have picked up a PawPaw Jerry habit.  For a 2 hour long softball practice, they need more than just a 16 ounce bottle of water, so now they are carrying water jugs!  He will be so proud! 

For as long as I can ever remember he has carried a water jug full of ice water wherever he goes.  A water jug, chewing tobacco or Skoal, and a neon yellow Commercial Services shirt-that's his trademarks!  It's almost Father's Day and I can't help but to think back about some of the crazy things I have seen my dad do or be involved in.  When me and Brandon were dating we had taken our bicycles to ride somewhere and we got back home we unloaded them.  I guess dad was watching out the window right as I was grabbing the side of my head and started crying and carrying on.  He came running out on the porch saying, "What, what is going on!!!" as he came down the steps towards us.  All I could do was hold my temple area and cry and point towards Brandon and the bikes.  What dad didn't see was me trying to unload the bike and the steering wheel swung around and the handle bar rammed right into my temple.   Brandon had to speak quick and explain to him what happened.  I think Brandon may have seen poppa bear coming to defend baby bear!  At least I knew that dad had my back if I ever were to bring home an abusive boyfriend!  He had his ways of showing us that he cared.  Like the time we stopped and picked up huge rolls of quilt backing fiber that were falling out of an 18 wheeler's trailer.  I will never forget this because he actually ran back down an interstate while I sat in the truck and listened to people on the CB radio call him bad names because he was running down the interstate.  Hahhahah!  If I had known how to use the CB I would have picked up and told them that was my daddy they were talking about!  We finally caught up with driver of the truck, but he couldn't get them back in his trailer.  We got to keep all that we could fit into the back of dad's work truck to take home.  This showed me how much he cared about my mom.  At the time she was into making quilts and that stuff was really expensive to buy.  He was so excited to be able to bring this home to her-and he risked his life to get them!  Another time he risked his safety was when he was trying to make me feel better while I was in the hospital and he did a wheelie in my wheelchair and flipped it over.  Here again he was trying to make someone happy!  Not all my funny time memories of him were things he intentionally did to be funny, like the time we were out traveling around looking for yard sales.  I think we were near Hillsville, VA, but I am not sure.  We followed this yard sale sign down this road, but apparently at some point it crossed over the path of another event going on and we thought we were at the yard sale.  It was going to be a HUGE yard sale because they actually had people out parking you in this big field.  Emily was a baby and we had to strap her in the backpack and hike up a hill to this event.  When we finally got there, a lady said, "Are you here to adopt today?"  We were like, "What??"  She explained it was a cat adoption event and dad what like, "GD!!"  He doesn't care for cats and had just walked up a huge hill to go to an adoption event!  It was hilarious!  That same trip dad stepped on a rolling kids telephone toy and fell in the bushes at a yard sale.  Brandon said from the car all he could see was 2 little white Reebok shoes coming up out of the bushes.  A little girl that happened to be near my dear fallen dad reached in the bushes, grabbed his hand, and yanked him up to his feet.  His jacket had leaves and dirt all over the back.  My mom and I laughed so hard!  He was embarrassed, and probably still is to this day, but that memory is one of my all time favorites!  It sure beats the memories of him making me pee on the side of an interstate, under an overpass, and beside an 18 wheeler he drove for work.  I had to pee so bad, but could not relax with my surroundings to let it go.  It was awful! So, as you can see my thought process starts with a water jug and explodes into a stroll down memory lane.  I am so attention deficient!  HEY LOOK A SQUIRREL! Anyway, I guess this ended up being a Father's Day tribute post as well as a catch up with the Burnettes' blog.  Happy Father's Day dad!!!  I am very blessed to be brought up by such wonderful parents and I hope that my kids' think the same thing about me and Brandon in the future.