Weapons of Mass Construction

**GUEST BLOGGER**

 ~ Eric Hendrickson ~ (my husband)

This summer, I pulled out the old glove and the worn out cleats, bought me a new bat, and played me some softball.  A few guys in the office approached the owner of our company to see if he would sponsor a Hutton team.  After getting permission from Stacee, I decided to give it a shot.  The last time I played was 2005.   

I have never pitched in softball until this year.  No one on the team wanted to pitch, so I stepped up to the challenge.  I pitched the first four games and I was impressed with how well I did.  I only walked a few people and was able to throw pitches from different angles with different spins.

I did move to third base after one of the other guys wanted to try his hand at pitching.  We also needed some help in the infield.  I still have an erratic arm, but it still has plenty of power behind it.

The kids did a good job of cheering for Daddy. 

I still have homerun power, but prefer to hit hard line drives and groundballs.  Too often attempts to hit homeruns end up as easy pop flys.  I want to show off my speed.

We played on some nice fields and they are only a mile from my house. 

I did not hit any homeruns in any games this year, which is a good thing because they count as an out in this rec league.  But, I did hit pretty well. 

The kids would cheer for Daddy so that all the team and fans could hear it.  It was very cute and uplifting for me.

Stacee did a good job of keeping the kids entertained throughout the games.  I don't know how she did it, but she did it.  Thank you Mommy.

We got uniforms halfway through the year.  "Weapons of Mass Construction" was our team name.  Didn't dig the visors but I had no say in that choice.  Notice the long socks.  These were the best $8 investment of the year.  Prior to these, I spent each week healing from sliding rash.  Too bad they could not protect my arms, side, hamstring, and knees which also suffered from slide burns this year.  Also suffered a hamstring strain towards the end of the year that put me out a few weeks.  I have to learn how to control my competitiveness.

Although I am 36 and most of our team was 20 somethings, I showed that I still have the ability.  I enjoy the competition and sport.  We ended up the season with 5 wins and 10 losses

Friday Fish'in

**GUEST BLOGGERS**

 ~ Sarah and Phoebe Hendrickson ~ (edited by me, Mommy)

Phoebe - We went to Nanee and Popee's house.  Then we went to a little pond at the park.  Daddy catched a Bass.  I caught one too.  It was a Perch.  I had to watch my bobber and then I reeled it in.  And there was turtles swimming around in circles.

Sarah - "I about caught a turtle.  Well, I tried to catch some fish.  My Dad caught a Bass.  Popee and I tried to catch the turtle again for a very long time.  We caught it, but when we were reeling it, it let go of the bait.  Then Popee and my Mom saw a big Snapping Turtle and they were trying to catch it.  I loved going fishing with Popee and Daddy and Mommy."

Sarah - "Popee and Nanee are really nice people.  I like doing things with Nanee and Popee a lot."
Phoebe - "I like going swimming with 'em.  I like playing with 'em."

Wild at Heart

**GUEST BLOGGER**

 ~ Eric Hendrickson ~ (my husband)

In June, Stacee took the girls back to Emporia for Lindsee's wedding shower, which provided Silas and I some bonding time. 

Prior to this day, Silas had never gone down a large slide like this by himself.  I typically am less cautious than Stacee when it comes to the kids playing.  Thus, I allowed Silas to march up the steps and go down the slide by himself while I captured the feat with pictures.  I enjoyed his brave and adventurous spirit.

He was really enjoying swinging.  I love his joyous expression below.

I want to instill that sense of adventure and confidence in my kids, especially my son.  Every man was once a boy and every little boy has big dreams, dreams of being the hero, of beating the bad guys, of doing daring feats and rescuing the damsel in distress. God designed men to live a life of adventure and risk, to be dangerous.  The book, "Wild at Heart" talks about this and how sadly, most men abandon those dreams and desires becoming passive and falling to the pressures in this world to be a “nice guy.”  I want Silas to be daring, adventurous, courageous, passionate, Christ-centered, and free.  God bless my boy.

The Hairy Spider

**GUEST BLOGGER**

 ~ Sarah Hendrickson ~ (edited by me, Mommy)

I found the Wolf Spider on the driveway by the grass when Daddy was mowing.  It looked hairy, but then we looked closer and we saw that it had babies on its back.  We put it in the bug barn.  It looked cool.  Her legs looked spooky.

We kept it for a few hours then when I let it go baby spiders came off of her back and then they all went off to their home together.  I miss them. They were so cool as a family.

The boy Wolf Spider lives for one year.  The female lives for several years.  The girls are bigger than the boy  Wolf Spiders.  The mom makes the egg sac.  Then when the babies come out of the egg sac they climb up the mom's legs and crowd onto the back until they get big enough.  They have 8 legs and they have 8 eyes.  Their color is brown, black, or gray.  They can live about anywhere around the world.

Girls Weekend In Colorado

A few weeks ago I got to go spend four whole days with my favorite sister in one of my favorite places... Colorado!  I flew into Denver and the next morning we headed to Woodland Park, Colorado and then on to the Hastings cabin where we met about seven other ladies to share some fun and make some memories.

I have blogged about the cabin before, but it was a dream of my Grandpa, Howard Hastings, to have a cabin in the mountains... The dream became a reality in the early 70's when he bought the land and worked very hard with his boys and their wives to build this cabin on their own.  It is now owned by my Dad and two of his brothers.  They share it with all of the "kids" and so we all still get to go out and enjoy spending time there too.  We all are thankful for this and the memories that we all have of summers spent there and all of the amazing things we've gotten to do and experience in the Colorado mountains.

Our girl's weekend starting with unloading the cars and picking out our beds to sleep in while we were at the cabin.  Next we listened to Lindsee read to us about several hiking trails and decided which hike we wanted to take as a group the next morning.  Then we went hiking around the cabin.  The cabin actually backs right up to the Pike National Forest, so we headed down to the pond first and then into the National Forest.

We saw and collected many beautiful wildflowers for a table bouquet. With eight ladies staying in the cabin, we really needed some flowers in there too...

Pictured below are some of Lindsee's best girlfriends ~ left to right ~ Christen, Melissa, Amelia, Lindsee, and Heather D.

When we got back to the cabin that evening after our hike, Melissa got a fire started outside and we roasted some hot dogs, (A few people ate vegan hot dogs and burgers - Melissa and I were not in this few.), ate delicious homemade guacamole, made s'mores, and played some "Eric Jeopardy".

The next morning after we all were up and around we headed out to go on our group planned hike... at the Crags.  It was about a 4 mile hike round trip.  This trail is also the starting point for a hike to the top of Pike's Peak, but we decided to save the 14er for the next time we all got together....  

We did a little rock climbing and exploring along the hiking trail.

This appeared to be a cave from a distance, but when we got over to it and climbed up on it, we discovered it was just a rock ledge and overhang, the perfect place for a snack and drink break, and about 53 pictures.

Getting close to the top...

It was a great day for a hike, cool and sunny, until we got just about to the top and then it started to cloud over, sprinkle on us, and thunder...which equals lightning, which means danger, which means if you are on the top of a mountain, which we were, that you should get down to a lower elevation quick.... but not before we had taken about 106 pictures of the scenery and the group and each other.

At the top, left to right, top row ~ Melissa, Christen, Amelia, Heather, bottom row ~ Stacee and Lindsee.

Hiking back down...

Some of us saw some wildlife at and around the cabin.... a large Black Bear out near the outhouse, and the little female deer pictured below, out in front of the cabin.

What girls weekend is complete without presents?  None I say! So there were presents for the soon to be wed, favorite sister of mine... a super cute hat with a veil attached, some camping supplies, and...

cute nighties, and panties of course!

Ready for a girls night out in Woodland Park... pictured below, left to right ~ Delia, Amelia, Christen, Lindsee, Melissa, Heather D, Heather S, and Stacee.

We ate dinner at a really great Mexican restaurant in Woodland Park called Fiesta Mexicana. (Click HERE for restaurant locations and directions.)  They have a large menu and a festive atmosphere.

Pictured below, left to right ~ Dani, Melissa, Heather D, Amelia, Lindsee, Delia, Stacee, Christen, and Heather S.

Waiting on our dinner and margaritas...

The next thing I knew things got a little C-R-A-Z-Y... guns and tats came out, tiny boot shaped glasses and straws were used to share our drinks, and restaurant games with our waiter, Felipe, were played.
(P.S. The food was DELICIOUS.  I had steak quesadillas and they were the BEST steak quesadillas I have EVER eaten.  I would recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting some great Mexican food while in Woodland Park.  Also, my tat was a stick-on tat.  It washed off about a week later.  It was fun while it lasted.  However, the smallish, usually hidden, and very surprising gun in my right arm is real.  Watch out Wonder Woman.)

The next and last stop that night was the Historic Ute Inn in Woodland Park.  It was Juke night, which meant the Juke Box was free, which meant Heather D, Melissa and myself got to play DJ all night, which meant that all the other girls got to enjoy a sweet mix of the all time greatest hits in the history of ever, which meant everyone danced, laughed and had a very very very fun night!

You never know what will happen and how everyone will get along when two or nine girls, of any age, get together, but I have to say, hands down, this was one amazing group of ladies.  We all got along, had a great time together, took care of each other, made new friendships and strengthened old friendships.  I am so happy that my sister has these amazing ladies as her BEST Friends.  (I may secretly wish that I lived closer to them, or them to me, so that I could share in these relationships too....)  Thank you all for coming to Lindsee's girl's weekend and I will see you all again soon in Kansas!