groundspeed

Not a Belly Itcher

Kaden pitched most of last night's game.

He looked good out there. He was good out there.

It was supposed to be the last game of the season, but they rescheduled a rain-out for next week.

Is it just me, or isn't there always one more game?

Time to Get Serious

Yesterday was Kaden's last Saturday game of the season and Gran and Papa were here to cheer him on.

And make sure he keeps it up.

The night before the game they took him to Sports Authority for a tee and rebounder net, and after the game he had an extra backyard practice scheduled.

Hey Batter, Batter! Swing, Batter!

B is for...

Breaking records.


I ran in my first official 5k yesterday morning. That was my number. Blue's school put together a big team of teachers and parents.

I started jogging mid-January. Well, walk-jogging.  I used the Nike app on my phone and just tried to jog a little longer every time I went. Eventually I managed a mile, then 2, then a 5k. But I'm a slow jogger. One could argue I'm more like a bouncy walker.  My fastest 5k time remained 40 minutes even for a long, long time.

Until this Saturday.

I came in at 37:56.

Then I was off to meet Kevin and the boys at Blue's Belt testing.

See - Blue has a white belt. That's the very, very beginning of the Tae Kwon Do journey.

He passed, so this Friday night we get to go to a belt ceremony. Then he's officially a yellow belt!

Walking to the van after the ceremony, I saw my favorite Bird.

(Sandhill Cranes)

Then we were off to Bookfest, the 3rd annual, of this local event where they give kids free books, have local authors selling their books, have book characters out and about, a tent where Mother Goose reads stories, another tent where kids read to local school administrators...

Here's Kaden reading to his principal and Blue (who picked the book).

Toby sat in this spot pulling books from these baskets for like, forever.

After bookfest we were supposed to be off to Baseball, but thanks to a downpour the night before the morning's games were cancelled. At least since Bookfest was at the St Lucie Met's stadium the boys got to watch the pitcher warm up.

So they got their baseball fix while Toby continued to page through book after book after book...

At 3pm Kevin and I then drove across the state to La Belle to meet my dad, Vannoy Banks, for dinner and then to see him at his lastest go with community theater, The Bottom Line. Meanwhile the kids were left to spend the night at my mom's, our favorite free Babysitter!

Are you ready for some... baseball?!

I guess Super Bowl Weekend is also consistenly opening weekend for little league around here. When I started to think about how this was a big weekend for sports I had a bit of deja vu because I remembered this post. 

Yup, Kaden has started baseball again.  This go around he's a Rattler. Yesterday's fun was opening ceremonies which we missed because of basketball. Then a baseball scrimmage. Then team pictures.

We had to leave the house on a Saturday at 7:20am to drive to Fort Pierce for an 8am basketball game. That's 40 minutes earlier than we leave on school days! We were there an hour. Then home for a uniform change. Then off to the chaos that is PSL Spring Baseball Opening Day where we watched Kaden get a good hit and his subsequent team members make good hits so he got a run.  It was just a scrimage so only one inning. 

Then we hung out and hung out and hung out until team pictures. Then finally, at 12:45 we were back in the car to come home.

Just me and the three boys. Kevin was in Haiti. 

Whew.

Entertaining Blue and Toby while Kaden does his sports thang - not my idea of fun.

We bought a lot of snacks.

Toby went through my purse many times.

Toby stole my sunglasses many times.

As did Blue.

We entertained Pee Wee.

And the boys did a lot of wrestling.

There were two meltdowns. (Toby)

Three diaper changes. (Toby)

Two timeouts. (Blue.)

One mega parking lot wipeout. (Blue. He's five. You'd think he could walk.)

There was one very good period where a little kid with a big inflatable bat decided to beat up on Blue. He and Blue played for awhile and Toby chased around behind them

There were moments when I had to be Toby's active jungle gym (swinging, tossing, etc.) and juke box to keep him happy.

A few times we even looked up to see what Kaden was doing.

This is like my worst case scenario for Saturday options, but we survived.

And now today, while the hubs is still in Haiti, there is pretty much zero chance I will devote any more of this weekend to sports. No Superbowl for me!

Last Saturday Game

Kaden's had his last Saturday game of this season. Two games to go this week and we're done till Spring. (Woo-hoo!)

Kaden sent my dad a letter inviting him to one of his last few games, so Poppy came across the state for some little league action.

Here's Kaden doing some fielding:

(This throw made the out on first.)

And all geared up as catcher for an inning.

Meanwhile Blue was off running around. Toby was usually sitting with me or my dad.

He can generally be kept in one place with snacks.

It was even chilly enough this morning to bring hoodies.

Not chilly enough to wear them, just chilly enough to tote them around or keep them in the bottom of the stroller just in case. And how cute is this boy in jeans?!

Right. Back to Kaden.

Hitting...

Getting to first...

He ended up getting out on his way to second because the next batter hit it right to second, but that's ok. He'd gotten a hit off the coach pitch and not soft toss and that's what we like. (His first hit was off soft toss and he got out at first.)

It's been a good season. His skills have greatly improved. His understanding and awareness of what to do in the in field (beyond getting the out on first) isn't there yet. 

That will be next season!

becoming a ballplayer

Spring season, Kaden's first season of baseball, if you asked him whether or not we wanted to play baseball or any other sport. He'd choose any other sport.

Then he did a Mets camp at Digital Domain Stadium this summer and I think he was in awe of the whole belonging on the field experience there and baseball gained some coolness in his eyes. There also seemed to be a camaraderie factor because some of the boys from his team did the camp too. He was gaining interest.

And now he's played his first game where he was positioned in the in field.  And he MADE PLAYS.

And he played his first game where he got hits at BOTH at-bats.

And he never got out, making runs both of those innings as well.

And it felt good.  

And now we have a boy who talks about how much he likes baseball.

Just his second season. Who knows where this will really go, but so far Kaden's having way more fun this season already.  That's what it's about,right?

That's not my boy at bat. That's not my boy as catcher. That's my boy on third base getting a high five from his third-base coach Daddy.

Wanting in on the action...

Blue does NOT want in on the hitting or fielding action.

He wants in on the dugout mischief.

I love this pic taken at Kaden's game last night.  Generally, Blue was running around playing with other siblings, but ever so often he'd peek in on the dugout boys.

And I love the light of an early evening game. No color touch ups on this pic whatsoever. 

Back to the Ballpark

Almost.

First game is Monday night. Practices started up this week and tonight Kevin was flying late so I had all three boys with me for Kaden's practice. Oh, and it's just Kaden playing fall ball. We weren't about to waste more money to watch Mr. ADHD Blue dance around the outfield doing everything but pay attention to the location of the ball.

And look at Kaden. That ball is in his glove. He's really improved since last season. He fielded every ball and had perfect throws. Hitting is his weakness, but they didn't get to that this practice, so tonight he just looked good.

At least when I was watching. There is a playground there and that's where Toby, Blue, and I started out.

A playground that has been updated since our last visit, so it was like a whole new place.

But Toby stuck to the same old swings.

Here he is checking out his weirdo brother. Seriously. When I saw this look on Toby's face I turned and saw this:

But he poses for the camera too:

Then we went to watch Kaden.

Well, Toby and I sat and watched Kaden. 

Blue found a girl to impress.

I'm not so sure she was impressed, but she did seem to enjoy hanging with Blue.  I particularly loved when I overheard the following.

He: Arg! I'm a mean pirate!

She: Arg! I'm a mean pirate!

He: No, you're the nice pirate.

She: Arg! I'm mean!

He didn't have anything to say to that.

I really like a girl who can quiet Blue.

It was a nice evening at the park.

The homework part of the afternoon before the park? Ugly. Very, very ugly.

Getting them to my mom's so they could eat while I had a meeting at church and then all things bedtime after I picked them back up. Kinda terrible actually.

So thankful for that hour and a half in between.

DuBois Park

They say Dubois Park in Jupiter is the best place to take kids, but I'd also been forewarned it's insanely crowded on the weekends. This morning we decided to go early and brave it. We left the house at 8:20am, picked up my mom, and headed on down the Turnpike.

We got to the park/beach at 9am and all the picnic tables were already taken.  And the majority of people there didn't just have beach umbrellas - they had full-sized tents.  And in some cases, their own tables and chairs. People had clearly set up with the intention of staying all day.

As for us. I believe in packing light.  My mom? Not so much. So here was our little, but big for me, spot on the beach:

Dubois is an inlet beach. Winding waterways of mostly shallow water.  A perfect playground:

No waves for boogie boarding - it was just used for floating, as a kick board, or to pull each other around.

Checkin' out another kid's hermit crab collection.

And doing a little swimming too. Yes, it was mostly shallow romping grounds, but a few areas were deep enough that Kevin and I couldn't stand.

Fun morning! And one very tired Toby on the way home.

Love the pouty lip.

The verdict - Dubois is definitely worth the occasional trip south, but if you have to go on a weekend go early or late.  When we left at 11:30am, people were lined up waiting for our parking spot. And if possible, bring water shoes. A few sharp shell steps had me sorely missing the Tevas which sat most inconveniently in my closet at home.

The fun doesn't stop for Kevin, Kaden and Blue. Tonight they're off to a St. Lucie Mets game.

Beach and baseball - how's that for a boy's perfect summer day?

Baseball Camp

Today wraps up a three-day baseball camp for Kaden at Digital Domain stadium with the St. Lucie Mets. There ended up being three other boys from his coach pitch team, so he liked knowing some kids there. He's in the youngest group, but they divide up by age and then rotate from activity to activity (batting practice, sliding practice, pitching, wiffle ball, etc.) on the half hour. But the first half hour everyone was on the field together for warm ups.

Parents can sit in the stands and watch as long as they want, but since I have two other little rug rats with their own agendas we've pretty much just dropped Kaden and left.

VBS, Environmental Science Camp, Tampa July 4th trip, and now baseball camp. Next week when Blue has camp at his school and Kaden has off, Kaden's not going to know what to do with himself.