The Birthday Girl

S.W.S. Gift Bags

Each team gives gift bags to the opposing team after their first pool play game in the World Series. The bags are supposed to contain fun, softball related items, or items that relate to your state. They aren't supposed to be expensive, just fun.

We had Big League chew bubble gum, bubbles, a softball stress ball, emoji keychain, candy, sunflower seeds, and other little fun things like that in our bags. Ron and I also contributed these dirt "memory jars". I bought the bottles on Amazon and Ron etched them with his laser. I made the tags and padded the jars in a little bubble wrap. I was really happy with how they turned out. Our girls loved them so much that we made a batch for our team, too.

The jars would have been perfect for that first game...if it hadn't rained.   :( The fields were super wet and clumpy. And then we played on turf. By the end of the weekend the girls were able to put some field dirt in their jars, but it didn't go quite the way we had envisioned. Still a neat little project, though.

The bags our girls received contained a picture frame that said "Softball 2016" and a tshirt. The tshirt was nice but it had the other team's name on it at the bottom. You don't want to wear an opponent's shirt! (At least we beat them.) The frame was fun, though.

Softball World Series

Danielle's team finished off their season by playing in a softball world series last weekend. Her team played in this tournament last year, too, but Danielle wasn't able to participate in the opening ceremonies. This year she was able to be a part of it, and it was a lot of fun.

This world series was for 8u, 10u, & 12u teams, and there were a lot of them! To kick things off, the teams form a big parade. They wear costumes and dress up and parade around the ball park after they are introduced. The teams stop along the route to form a tunnel for the teams after them to walk through. By the time the last team comes through, they've passed by all the other teams. Everyone slaps hands and wishes each other good luck as they walk the route. It was a little emotional to be part of something so big. So many girls of all different talent levels, all different shapes, all different backgrounds, from different states, all brought together because they love to play softball. No competition at that point, just laughing and making memories. It was pretty neat.

After the parade they split up for skills competitions. Each team could nominate 2 girls to participate in various contests. Danielle was nominated by her team to do the "touch them all" competition. Each contestant got one chance to start at home plate and run all the bases to see who was the fastest. There were so many girls. Just in Danielle's age group there were 136 girls. She was hoping to finish in the top 20, but she was #43 with a time of 11.962 seconds. Still finished in the top third. She said she was over thinking it and slowed down around 2nd. She's pretty sure she could go faster if she had another chance. :) She is the fastest on her team and on most (but not all) of the teams we've played this year (and most years). She wants to do some speed work over the winter so she can be the fastest out of all the teams we play next year.

 

Happy Birthday to Me

First, Danielle finished her second day of tryouts today and found out tonight that she made the school volleyball team. I so appreciate her attitude. One of her friends wanted to carpool with us. When she got in the car yesterday, Danielle asked her if she was nervous. The girl said, "No, I know I'll make the team because I'm better than a lot of other people." She had an attitude about it, and it was frustrating. When pressed, Danielle admitted that she (Danielle) is probably in the top 3 of all the girls who tried out, yet she never treated it as an automatic. That's what I love about her. She gives it her all all the time. And that's why she made it. I'm looking forward to watching her play!!

Back to me.

I had a birthday this weekend. It really was a nearly perfect day. I got to talk to my mom and my dad. I got texts and emails and messages of good wishes. I got to watch Danielle play in her last games of the softball season. She did great. I love watching her play. (Have I mentioned that before?!) And my brother came to watch, so I got to spend time with him.

After softball we cleaned up and collected Tyler and went to see a movie.

We also enjoyed dinner out

 

and cake.

It really was a nice day of hearing from and being with the people I love. I can tolerate turning another year older for that.

Easing into a Routine

August means school. I hate it. I wish our summer schedules and responsibilities could go on indefinitely. But they can't. And this year the responsibilities start even earlier than usual because of the kids' activities.

Tyler started band camp today. He has it Monday-Friday from 9am-4pm for 2 weeks. Right up until school starts. Bleh. I guess it will be easier to get back into the school day routine this way. He said one person suffered from heat exhaustion today, and the pavement was so hot that his shoes stuck to it. The water park sounds like so much more fun. He didn't complain a bit, though. I'm proud of him. This will be difficult and it will be a lot of work. It will also be rewarding.

Danielle had volleyball tryouts today for the school team. Tryouts were 3 hours today and 2 hours tomorrow. She's also gone to about a dozen open gyms. She should find out after tryouts tomorrow if she made the team. If she makes it, practices start sometime before the first day of school. This picture is from volleyball camp, which she somehow squeezed into her week last week.

Skating By

One of the items on Danielle's summer "to do" list was to go ice skating, so we did that today. When I say "we", I mean the kids. In the past I have skated with them, but Grandma came with us today and I felt like I should keep her company. And that's why Grandma didn't skate...because she had to keep me company. It really was a vicious circle but somehow we coped with having to sit and visit instead of crawling around the ice.

It's been awhile since we've gone and I wasn't as prepared as I usually am. We had enough socks and jackets, but I forgot to bring gloves and, most importantly, helmets. We debated for quite awhile about using the "used" helmets. Even the ones in the "clean" bins had hair stuck in them. Danielle was convinced they were all lice infested. We headed out to the ice without helmets. Once the kids went out onto the ice, they agreed that lice was better than broken heads and allowed me to find helmets for them. I tried to pick the helmets that looked the least likely to be infested. Time will tell.

The kids had fun. They clung to the wall for a few rounds at first until they got the hang of it. By the time we were ready to go, they were old pros - assuming old pros have wet knees from taking a tumble or two.

 

 

After skating we went to lunch and then to the pet store. The pet store wasn't where we were supposed to be going, but somehow it was where we ended up. Who can resist puppy snuggles and kitten meows? Although the puppies were more bitey than snuggly!

 

 

The summer is skating by. This was the last day for the kids to do anything together except for maybe the Monday before school starts. Thankfully we had a very nice afternoon together. We even had a nice family dinner this evening. That's always a bonus.

Goodnight, Monday.

A New Talent

Sandy Fun

Danielle really wanted to play beach volleyball this summer but she didn't because she knew it would conflict with her softball commitments. Her friend needed a sub for her beach volleyball partner tonight, and since Danielle was free, she got to play! She's never played before, and it is much different than playing inside on a regular court. It took her a few minutes to get the hang of it, but she did great. They won 2 games and lost 2 games. I'm thankful she had the chance to try it out. The girls had a lot of fun together.

Here are a few very short video clips. Danielle is on the far side serving the ball in this first one.

Danielle is on the closest side & to the left in this one.

 

Danielle is serving the ball in these next 2 videos. They didn't win the point in the last video, but I love how much she hustles. This is why she's so fun to watch. She always gives it her all.

 

 

Marching Along

Summer keeps marching along. Today I took Tyler to be fitted for his band uniform. I can't believe he's going to be in high school in less than a month. I'm not sure it's sunk in for him either. The first half time performance is in just a little over a month - on August 26. He has a lot of work to do between now and then! I'm looking forward to watching him meet the challenge.

This Weekend's Tournament

Danielle's team played 2 games yesterday and surprised us all by pulling off a win in the 2nd game, so they went on to play this morning. Her team is struggling, but Danielle had a very good weekend. She led her team in batting average and on base percentage. She ends up with the highest batting average or very close to it in almost every tournament we're in. When you look at our team, you wouldn't expect her to be at the top because she's so small, but she's quick. She had 14 at bats over the course of this weekend and got on base 10 times. We played some really good teams with fast pitchers, and she did a great job keeping up. She played centerfield most of the weekend and had some great plays. She really is a good fielder. And she is so fast. I love to watch her run.

We were playing the #4th ranked team in the state. She had 2 great hits.



Safe by a mile.

Leaping catch for the out.

Our last game today was pretty tough. Danielle was attempting to steal home but the catcher from the other team stood right on the baseline, blocking the plate. The girl was twice Danielle's size. Danielle was mid slide when the catcher got the ball and swung around to tag Danielle...which she didn't really need to do because she was already blocking the plate! She hit Danielle in the chin pretty hard and knocked her down. Danielle may be little, but she is tough. She doesn't cry when she gets hit by the ball, and she doesn't stay down when she falls. Which is why it was super scary to see her sprawled out on home plate. She couldn't get up, and both teams' coaches and umps were immediately over her to be sure she was ok. I will admit that Ron and I left our seats and stood at the fence, too. (We didn't go on the field.) After a couple minutes she caught her breath and was able to get up. There were tears, but she didn't sit down and cry about it. The next batter got the 3rd out, and she was right back out in the field, wiping her eyes while she raced to make a play. She bruised her chin pretty good and has a scratch over her eye, but she is fine. It could have been much worse, and we are so thankful it wasn't. She amazes me. They play in the championship game for their weekly league tomorrow night.

More Lazy Summer Days

Lazy summer days are the best. Or so I've heard. After volleyball open gym Wednesday morning, we picked Grandpa C up at work and took him to lunch as an early birthday celebration. It was nice to spend time with just him.

That evening Danielle's team played in the semi-final game for their weekly league. Tyler joined me, which was really nice. They won, so they play the championship game on Monday.

Clara had a checkup Thursday afternoon. She's healthy and happy. Danielle had softball practice and a hitting lesson that evening. Our commute to the softball field is always during rush hour and it is a pain in the butt. It was raining last night, so of course that made it even worse. People are not very courteous drivers any more. I lost count of the number of times I was cut off because people didn't want to wait their turn in the long line of traffic.

Today Danielle had 2 softball games for this weekend's tournament. She wasn't feeling very well but wanted to play, so we did the motrin/Tylenol every 2 hours trick and that helped. Some parents medicate their children to send them off to daycare or school, but we do it for softball. (We just stay home from school!!) Tonight she played a team that had her assistant coach from last year and several girls that she knew on it. She really wanted to be there for that game. We lost, but Danielle had a great game. She got on base every at bat, stole some bases, scored twice, and had 2 great plays in the field. Between the games we wasted time in the air conditioning at Burger King and Petland. The puppy kisses helped her feel better. :) After her games tonight, we met Grandma & Grandpa C & Tyler for dinner since today is Grandpa's actual birthday.



Danielle with her friends from the opposing team...and another friend who stayed after her game to cheer them all on.



Ron was in Canada this week. He was supposed to be home yesterday morning, but his flight was cancelled. Then the rescheduled flight was cancelled. And then the next rescheduled flight was cancelled. Seriously. He finally got home after 8pm tonight.

Tomorrow we have a couple more softball games and then I think we'll have Sunday off. Next week's schedule looks about the same. I think Tyler is going to an amusement park with Uncle Ron to experience some big roller coasters. We're trying to let him have as much time at home as he wants to do what he wants because he's been gone so much and band camp is coming up soon. That goes all day every day for the 2 weeks before school starts, so "so long" summer once August 1 hits!

We've seen a lot of beautiful sunsets this week as we've been out and about. I've asked Danielle to take pictures of them as we drive home, but I always manage to find an extra selfie or two, too.

We do enjoy our summer days, but they are anything but lazy.

Water Park Fun

Today we slept in and then went to the water park later in the day. It was 90 today, so it was a perfect water park day. Since we went later in the day, it wasn't overly crowded. This is only the 2nd time Tyler has had time to go this summer. We stayed until the park closed, then came home and ate pizza while watching a movie. It was a pretty nice summer day.

I remember when Tyler was still in diapers, before Danielle came along, and we would go to the water park. I'd grab a tube, sit him on the edge so his feet dipped into the water, and then float around the lazy river. The park has changed hands, been renamed, and totally redesigned, but it still holds happy summer memories for us.