Off the court...

While the kids are each playing tennis the rest of us watch or read or they ride bikes, or play more tennis or play on the ipad. Sometimes we all go, or we trade off kids to get other things done or it's just me because Steve has church or work responsibilities.  Just  wanted to document what goes on "behind the scenes" too!  :)

Kendyl at tennis...

Kendyl is playing well and has been working on her serve. She plays hard and we've accumulated quite the collection of rackets as she's grown and as the other kids are playing now too. It's been a fun sport for everyone and we're grateful for good tennis coaches!

Brityn at tennis...

We love our Saturdays at tennis. Brityn is playing great and has a terrific backhand. The kids love being outside with Coach Mark and Coach Gwen. They are awesome tennis coaches!

Ryder's first tennis lesson...

Now that Ryder is four, he began his first session of tennis. He was pretty excited to be on the courts instead of just watching his sisters play from the other side of the fence.

We love Coach Mark and Coach Gwen and Ryder was hitting the ball great and following directions well.

Game, Set, Match!  Go tennis!!!

Birthday celebration...

Ryder's actual birthday was on Monday, so he went to school in the morning and then I made him lunch and tried to make it a special day from there.

He was very patient and waited until everyone was home for the evening before opening presents.

He wanted his favorite Pizza! Pizza! for dinner, so that's what he got.

A VERY happy birthday boy!

Finally opening presents!

He got a scooter, dinosaurs, monster trucks, motorcycles, Lightning McQueen stuff, race track stunt cars, books, an atm bank and birthday dollars.

The next day he got to take birthday donuts to his other preschool class where they sang to him and he got to wear a fancy birthday crown.  He was totally excited to celebrate his birthday for so many days!

Happy Birthday Ryder!  Hope you enjoyed your national holiday!  We love you!

Birthday party fun...

Ryder got to have his first "friend" birthday party this year. We invited all his friends from his preschool class and they had a blast. It was fun for them to just play and have a good time.

We rented a bounce house with a slide and the kids literally played and jumped the whole time.

He wanted a Cars birthday with cupcakes.

And per Hardy tradition we blew out the candles many times over.  :)

He got lots of fun toys that he has been playing with all week.

The girls were super excited to get a chance to jump and slide when they got home from school.

Sawyer loved jumping and climbing, but was a little scared to go down the slide by himself and always needed a little "help".

Fun, fun party and really the kids all get along great, so it wasn't hard to keep the whole group happy for a couple of hours.  Great birthday party Ryder!