Dear Cash

EIGHT is GREAT indeed! 

You had a scrimmage the night before your birthday....so I took this picture to commemorate the last game you would play as a 7 year old! And lucky for you, you hit an in the park home run! I would like to say that I am surprised, but I'm not.  Watching you play baseball, or any sport for that matter is one of my favorite things to do. And here is why-you give it your all--every single time you are on the field. You are focused, but not just that, you are focused beyond your years. It comes naturally to you. But you work hard. You like to practice and to get better. You are one tough, competitive, athletic kid! You are this fierce, competitive, focused kid on the field, yet you come off and you are just a little kid, who still needs help tying his shoe sometimes or cant wait to go to the concession stand or just wants to give him mom a big ole hug! You know who you are and you dont apologize for it. You have your own style, your own swagger and you own it. 

We celebrated in quarantine so our options for your birthday were limited. But here is what you wanted--a baseball birthday cake and a rip stick. Easy. 

Of course we had birthday cake for breakfast and you let Trippy sit with you to blow out your candles. He found out he is not a fan of candles and we all got a good laugh out of his reaction!

We also surprised you with a new Marucci bat. This is the moment you noticed we had replaced your old bat with your new one. It was a great moment and you were so, so grateful and excited! You had no idea it was coming!

We rented a slip and slide for your birthday weekend. We have only let you be with baseball friends since we have been with them during this time. You did not complain though, you have a great group of boys you are playing with (another post on baseball during quarantine later).

Knox, Bradley, Cash, Ryder

Your brothers had lots of time to play out there after your friends left!

Cash Jacob Kruger. You are growing up so fast. Eight sounds really old for you. I thought for so many years that you were going to be our baby and so often I still have that mentality. You are so cuddly and loving yet fierce and confident. You are an AMAZING big brother and a leader on the field (whatever type of field that may be). I am so excited to see how much you grow and learn this year. I love you too much.

Emma Long

With Covid cases ramping up in Austin, we have been really trying to maintain our "bubble." It almost seems counter-intuitive that we are doing some things (baseball) and then very particular about others. I sometimes feel like a hypocrite. And really, at this point, no one knows what they are doing...if it is wrong or right...or what is going to happen. It is a really fine balance of keeping our family safe and healthy while also making sure our kids emotional health is also in tact. 

But in an effort to do fun things, safely, we have been going to Emma Long Park. We have been getting there early and leaving early....when it gets crowded, we bolt. It is a nice change of pace...water, sun and sand! 

Spring Break 2020/AKA The Week Before It All Changed

Marisa and I once again planned a Mom/Kids Spring Break trip this year. Little did we know it would be the last time things felt normal. The talk of Covid-19 had started really ramping up around the time we were scheduled to leave. But no real measures had been put into place except the idea of washing your hands more and using hand sanitizer after touching surfaces. It was not clear how bad it was when we were leaving, so we decided to go for it. We took Lysol and sanitizing spray to do a little extra cleaning when we got to the house. We decided we would social distance ourselves from everyone and would do all our meals and cooking at the house. Other than that, we were watching the news closely and things were ramping up while we were there.

Anyway, we got there on Monday and the house was not ready so we took the golf cart for a spin and headed to check out the beach. It was Marisa's first time in Port A!

It was my first time there not during the summer, and it was quite enjoyable! It was cool and breezy! We spent lots of time out on the beach, and an equal amount of time hanging out in the house together. The water was a little chilly. The boys spent a ton of time up in the sand, finding new and fun ways to entertain themselves. 

Feeding the birds turned out to be a favorite past time of theirs.

One of my favorite pictures of ALL time.

 We had a great time there. I really love that we started this tradition! I hope we continue for a long time! The Friday after we got home, we got word that Spring Break would be extended....then the stay at home orders came.....and here we are in late August (I am super late in posting) and we are still in stay at home orders and it is the Spring Break that never ended.....