The Friday of Summer

I've heard June described as the Friday of summer, with July as the Saturday and August as Sunday. It feels like a very accurate comparison, and just as fast as a Friday goes by, so too did June. We closed out the month with some very fun activities. At the top of the list was traveling to Durham for a AUSL (Athletes Unlimited Softball League) game between the home team Carolina Blaze and the Utah Talons. We went with our friends the Ashburns, and Emmy and Eva had a blast seeing the professional softball players up close. Earlier in the day, the team hosted a free "Play Ball!" event, which included softball drills and other activities in the outfield of the Durham Bulls ballpark. After the event, there were several hours before the game that evening, so we hopped over to Raleigh to go to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science. We visited this same museum last year during our train adventure, and Emmy couldn't help but recreate the photo of her in front of the shark teeth. After several hours at the museum, we traveled back to Durham for the game. Karlyn Pickens was the starting pitcher, and Emmy loved seeing her, along with her other favorites like Ana Gold and Alesia Ocasio. Although the Blaze lost in extra innings 4-3, it was an exciting game and something we definitely hope to do again. 

Speaking of softball, just when we thought Emmy's 8U career had come to an end, she put on a uniform one more time and played in a tournament for the Carolina Cardinals. Boomer has connections to the coaches of the team, and they needed an extra player to fill out their roster, so we traveled to Concord to cheer our girl on. She did a great job holding down right field and batting in the 10 spot. I was most proud of the way that she interacted with the other girls. She was an encouraging teammate and jumped right in to do whatever was asked of her. I will always love sitting on the sidelines and watching her play. 

Here are a few other pictures to close out June!