Travis' 2010

We haven't made a post in 8 months to our blog. Sorry about the delay. What we decided to do was to create a series of grouped blogs to finish out 2010 so that we'd be back up to date. So one will be about all things Travis, one about Marcus, and one about Lucas. Then we'll do some for our various trips and other things. So here goes the first one.

Travis turned 6 in 2010. People often ask him whether he's 7 or 8 years old because of his height. Travis' aunt Marci and Lucas colored our driveway with a Happy Birthday note for Travis when he came home from school.

We then had a family party for Travis. He got a mini remote control jeep, a lego fire helicopter set and a metal detector among other things. He really enjoyed his presents.

We did do a small friend party for Travis. We picked up two friends and took them to a remote control race track where men come to race their high powered cars on Saturdays. If you'd like to visit one, just google for one in your area. We visited one in New Mexico and now have one close by here in Utah. The boys were quite thrilled by the fast race cars. One man even let Travis drive his car until Travis drove it off the track (the car was fine).

Later on, Travis lost his first tooth on his bottom front teeth. We put it in a bag to hide under his pillow but he lost the bag. The tooth fairy still came since she knew about the lost lost tooth.

Travis did T-ball for the first time in late spring. Brian was the assistant coach for the team. The coach, Jesi Early, is a family friend of ours that we knew in Pennsylvania. Travis is the second from the left on the top row wearing the "Y" hat. He was quite good and one of the better hitters on our team.

Here's Travis with his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Anderson (no, there's no relation to us, despite the red hair and all). She was a good first teacher for Travis, firm but loving. Travis really liked her. Angela and Brian both volunteered in the classroom a few times. Angela was a weekly helper in the classroom and Brian helped the kids with science subjects and their Invention Convention class project where they "invented" musical instruments out of trash and left over items.

During the summer we took advantage of the free fishing day at Utah Lake as we did last year. Travis really enjoyed his first real experience with fishing. He even was able to cast out the lure quite well casting it out like 50 feet.

Travis was doing so well I guess that a Salt Lake Tribune newspaper photographer decided to take photos of him and Brian while they fished. We actually made the newspaper as the headline photo for the Utah Lake Festival Day. Lucas is also in the photo at the lower center of the picture wearing a hat.

Then later in the summer Travis played on a youth soccer team. Brian volunteered to be the coach for the team. Travis was with 6 and 7 year olds. He wasn't the best player on our team, partly because he had a hard time listening to his dad, but mostly because he was just younger. He enjoyed playing forward and played goalie a couple times too.

We have also recently discovered the Kids Workshop days at Home Depot. They do them every first Saturday of the month and they're free for kids. The first time they give you a work apron with your name on it and then for each project you complete you earn a pin to put on your apron. The first time we went Travis and Lucas each got to make a fire rescue boat. They provide the supplies and tools for free and we did it behind the store on a patio area. Travis really got into it and enjoyed the hammering and construction.

In October Brian got to pick up a free pass to the Trafalga Fun Center for our family. Unfortunately Angela had a conflict for the only night we could go so Brian took all three boys for a fun filled few hours. We played mini golf, the boys drove around a boat, they drove bumper cars, rode a merri-go-round, played laser tag, and Travis even got to do a climbing wall. Here he is below climbing a tree. He did this for a while and really had fun.

Below are a couple videos of Travis. Just a reminder to family who receive these blog posts by email that you have to visit our actual blog site to watch the videos.

Here's Travis trying to sing the BYU Fight Song. Gotta love it, especially his expression when he finishes.

These next two videos are of Travis playing T-ball. First he's hitting and there's a mixup in base running. Then there's Travis scoring a run (well he almost gets to home plate) and you also see Lucas running onto the field and Brian grabbing him.

Next we have Travis' last day of swimming lessons where they got to jump off of the diving board. Angela watched the video below with no idea what Travis was up to. Travis' teacher had told the kids that if any of them were brave enough to do a belly flop that he would too. SO what do you know Travis did one. We didn't get video of his teacher's flop unfortunately. Travis said it hurt a little bit.

Finally we have Travis doing a goal kick during a soccer game when he was playing goalie. The kids with white jerseys are his teammates. Good thing he got to the ball first to get a better kick in.