Summer Sports Camps

I was so excited to go to my very first sports camp last week! Not only was I thrilled to go to soccer camp, I was over the top excited about my new soccer ball!! Daddy took me to Academy on Sunday to pick out MY VERY OWN soccer ball :) I am usually dressed from head to toe in hand-me-downs from my big brothers (I happen to be dressed in their used-to-be clothes that are now mine in the picture below)... during baseball season, I even used Ryan's old glove; but before soccer camp, I got a ball that I can call MINE!! Thank you, Daddy - I LOVE it!! I am definitely not complaining about the clothes sharing, I was just super excited to have sports equipment of my own :)

Dyland and I had a great time at camp on Monday! I had so much fun doing soccer drills- I felt like such a big kid! Day 2 of soccer camp... rainout :( All of the adults were happy for the rain since it hasn't rained in so long, but I was not so happy since camp was rained out for the rest of the week. The good news is that we get to make it up in July!!

Ryan went to Lamar Cardinal Pitching Camp, and his camp was not rained out since they were able to move the camp indoors when it rained. He said he had fun pitching and was proud to wear Daddy's old LU baseball cap to camp!!


A funny little story... Mommy and Daddy were going out to eat with friends on Friday night, and Mommy asked Ryan if he would take a picture of them before they left. Before Ryan could get out of his seat to take the picture, Dylan and I were sitting "picture-ready" on the hearth of the fireplace where we usually take pictures together. Mommy and Daddy laughed and joined us all on the fireplace for a family photo (using the camera timer) since it is SOOOO unusual that we all jump up willingly to get into a picture pose and smile when Mommy asks. Here is our fun and full-of-smiles family photo!!


We do not have as many "scheduled events" next week as we did last week, but we will enjoy another week of sunny summertime :) Happy summer to you -Wilson

Welcome Home, Daddy!

We welcomed Daddy home on Saturday while we were visiting Grandpa for his annual Father's Day and Birthday celebration! Grandpa (whose birthday is June 16) is the youngest of four McClenan boys, and he hosts PawPaw (whose birthday is on June 18) and his brothers every year for bar-b-q, swimming, and fun in the HOT sun! We had a lot of fun seeing the McClenan family and we were THRILLED to go pick Daddy up as he got back into Texas :) Here is a picture of us with our Grandpa!

Wilson and Peyton love the swing horses!

We spent Father's Day at home with DADDY... we were so very happy for Daddy to be home with us and we were so excited to see the pictures of all of the fish that he caught!!
We were so fired up about fishing after seeing all of the pictures that we took our rods to the pool and spent at least an hour casting and reeling in... we smiled, laughed and had so much fun!!
A little rest in the middle of the day! These two are sooooo sweet when they are sleeping!!We ended the day with one more dip in the pool and a fish fry! PERFECT day for the Bell Boys... all 5 of us!!

Happy Father's Day to all of the special guys in our life!! Daddy, Grandpa, Papa, Uncle Troy, Uncle Cliff, Uncle Billy, and soon-to-be Uncle Jerry... we love and appreciate you all so very much!! An extra special wish for our PawPaw who watches over us each and every day - thank you for the love and memories that will last a lifetime... your legacy lives in our hearts always....

6kids+2adults=fun!!... FUN??... definitely FUN!!

We have sure had a fun week!! The adventure began last weekend when Ryan, Dylan, and I traveled to Frisco with Nana to watch Kalynne and Hannah dance in recital. We had a great time watching them dance, but all of that dancing really wore me out!!
Sunday was a sports-filled day! We went with the whole crew to watch a MLS game between FC Dallas and Sporting KC. FC Dallas won the game, but it would not have been so bad to see the Kansas City team win since Nederland's own Davy Arnaud is #22 on the KC roster! It was a HOT day in Frisco, but the game was lots of fun for this bunch!
Later that day, we were pumped to watch as the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA title against the Miami Heat. Uncle Troy even had a Dirk Nowitzki jersey for Ryan to wear as we cheered on the "hometown" MAVS!!
On Monday, we packed up and headed back to Nederland! Daddy was leaving for a fishing trip on Tuesday morning, and we wanted to get home to give him hugs before he departed for Venice, Louisiana, until Saturday. We were glad to head home to see Daddy before his trip, and we were super excited that Kalynne and Hannah got to come back to Nederland with us for the week!!

We had lots of fun swimming during the day...

taking naps under the tiki hut...

swimming at night...

Having the first ever boy/girl sleepover at our house. Evan came to spend the night with the boys and Ava stayed with the girls!!

Going on Nana's golfcart for sno cones!

Going to Ryan's soccer practice at Doornbos Park. He worked... we played!! Fun for everyone :)

And going to see KungFu Panda 2 in 3D. Don't we look cute in our glasses?!


Having the girls here made our everyday activities a little more fun! I rode with Nana to take the girls to meet their Mommy on Friday, but I can't wait until we get to see them over the 4th of July weekend and then again in July for Allie and Jerry's wedding!!

The week has been wonderful, but we sure are ready for Daddy to come home! Every time the door [leading to the kitchen from the garage] opens, one of us calls for Daddy, for that is the sound of Daddy coming home every evening after work. We can't wait until he walks through that door tonight! He will begin is trip home in the morning and it will take most of the day to get here, but we will sure be happy to see him and tell him all of our adventures... and hear about his!

One more little note... We all missed Daddy, but Peyton may have missed him the most... he LOVES is DADDY dearly!! Here he is "hanging around" waiting for Daddy to get home to play catch with him!

And here he is keeping Daddy's spot warm... until tonight!!

Until next season, Texas Roughriders...

The last tournament for the 8U Roughriders was a good one... a phenomenal performance on Saturday, beating the #2 ranked team in Louisiana and then the #2 ranked team in Texas... both fantastic victories for the team!! The first game on Sunday ended in a loss, but with each loss comes a lesson. These boys are ready for a break from the practices and weekend tournaments, but any one of them would tell you that they are looking forward to playing Roughrider baseball with their teammates next spring!

We are so proud of Ryan for playing a great season. We have watched him grow stronger physically, and we have also watched as he has strengthened his knowledge of the game. Ryan plays with a calm confidence... he is not flawless, but he is not easily flustered when he is on the field. It is with great pride that we watch him play...


Ryan played the right field, second base, and pitcher positions this season; but in the last tournament, he was asked to play catcher. He did an awesome job!

Good season, Bubba!

Thanks for the fun times and memories!!