Surprise!!!!

It's Grams and Papa!!

On Church Street?  Are you kidding me??

They thought we were just going out for ice cream...

Which worked out nicely because there is nothing better than a scoop shop dinner after a 15 hour travel day to surprise your grand kids!

This was, hands down, the best dinner ever!  Poor grams and papa waited in a Detroit airport ALL day waiting to get here to Vermont.  The delay was excruciating, but the sweet arrival was worth the wait.  

This was only the beginning.  There were baseball playoffs and recitals to watch, dinners to enjoy and board games to play, and tons of hugs to give and receive!

Mark and Jan were such sports... 

coming from the heat of the desert to what felt like a winter's day; they smiled the whole time.  Poor Noah and his cub mates swung their bats in the drizzly rain and chilly temps. Despite the rain out in the 3rd inning I was glad that the Witt seniors got the chance to cheer for their cub and cub friends!   

Way to go Noah!

Noah's team did amazingly this year.  His coaches were the nicest group of guys and the boys were so supportive of each other through every play!  I am so proud of Noah for putting himself out there and having a great time!  Can't wait for next year.

Now this weekend was the big DANCE RECITAL and I was so glad to have Jan with us!!  I am just not the best recital mom.  Organization is who I am, but when it comes to these things I get terribly flustered.  All the dates and times, rehreasal's and costumes send me into a spin!  Jan has some pretty amazing history with these events seeing that she was a dancer herself and her daughter Melayn, my sista, is a very talented dancer as well! Phew!

Pre-show hair and robe wearing. 

Oh Gabrielle, my little dancer.  This was your fourth recital!  I am so very proud of you for getting on that stage and smiling so big.  You are a beautiful dancer and we all love to watch your performance!

Well, some of us muscle through it...

Mr. Witt confided in me that he found his place in the audience, during all those sister dance recital years, quite painful.  I look at Noah and see just that.

Grams and Papa made it fun though!!

 Upon arriving backstage to pick up my wee dancer and deliver her to her awaiting fans she looked slightly sullen... Mom, all the girls have flowers...

Little did she know!

Jr. Witt brought quite the bouquet for his sister.  What a darling he is...

That is me.  Mom dancer.  Relieved that all went smoothly for darling daughter on her big day!  And dad, terribly proud, doting dad!

On a side note, I must share... I was feeling a tiny bit overwhelmed in the moments before the curtain opened.  Mr. Witt had brought the flowers in to the theater in their water container.  I threw a fit and made him take the water away so they would not drip on dear Gabi post dance.  He did as I asked and got caught in the rain.  The lights went down and the show began.  I whispered an apology for being ridiculous.  

And his reply:

I would do anything for you.

It struck me like a bolt of lightening.  

I cried.

We did it Goosey.  

 

You danced and I watched and it was a  

great year!

PHEW!!

So thank you grams and papa for being the special people that you are.  For coming to our village town that is so very far from your desert one.  The four of us could not love you anymore.  You were loads of fun and great sports.  And thank you for all the little in between things...

Like watching the art show

And playing creationary

And getting a photo cube!

 And making us breakfast!!

I am already counting down the days until your July visit!!

Opening day...

1,  Numero Uno, The Proverbial Number One

Shelburne Vermont sure puts on a lovely opening day to the baseball season.  The players gather in the center of town to participate in march down main street.  Moms, dads, sisters, and brothers are there to cheer on their players!  Grams and Papas and friends came too.  It was great.

Apparently Shelburne loves its baseball and trained a winning team last season who lead this year's parade. Go Team!

Noah Chats it up with a fellow player.  He is on the younger side in this age group and all of the boys are super friendly and  so helpful. 

The parade ended at the field for the opening ceremony and the first pitch!  Have you ever seen such green grass and big blue sky?  I swear, Vermont is something special.  The air here is crisp and clean. The grass is as soft as feathers.  The clouds are painted in the sky.  Despite the chilly April wind the morning was energetic with new life; the spring buds are working so hard to burst open and display their colorful brilliance.  This particular field is about a one minute walk from our front door. 

First a little batting practice with coach before the big game!

 

Snacks and face painting for siblings to get ready to watch!

Sitting on the bleachers waiting for Noah to come up to bat was nerve wracking.  Poor guy has never been up to bat in his nine short years.  Though he admitted to some nerves on our way to the field he kept his cool in a big way.  His arms were a bit loosey goosey and there was no big home run hit, but the experience was that of being alive and I am so proud of him.

 It is so fun to sit on those bleachers under a glorious sky.  I enjoy all the aspects of watching the game, smelling the snack bar, seeing the dogs hooked to the railings, watching Gabi run around with her friends, and sitting with Mr. Witt routing for #1!  It is all around fun!

I am so pleased with the coaches and his teammates.  The focus of the season is learning the love of the game.  No score keeping, no competition, just good old fashioned play.  This is a season for the Witt family!  I have not once graced a sports field with my presence. Competition makes me nauseous.  My palms sweat and I get dizzy just entering a sports arena.  Typically I prefer to ride my bike cruiser and lay around in the grass... But we are in Vermont now, where there are no big sports teams and they don't keep score.  Bliss.