20160612 + Cross Eyed

20160612 + Up in the am, D&J still asleep and headed into work. It was for sure a Monday... Headed home a bit late. Checked in with Doc. Headed in to see L&G and catch up on their weekend. Had some dinner quick. D&I dropped J off at Scouts for the annual hike to Wendy's and then headed to a GJLS board meeting, but the meeting wasn't until 8:30 so we headed home. I got some emails done on the back porch and chatted with L, D shipped some ebay stuff and G was on the xbox. D&I headed to the GJLS board meeting, where D gave the guys an update of his eagle project. It was well received, they applauded him, mentioned how much they like the things he did and presented him with a real nice pull over. Home and L went to get J. L&I hung out on the back porch and watched the CAVs game and doing email. Took a break with G to try and catch lightning bugs. All boys to bed.

20160611 - First Pitch

20160611 - Up, packed and back to Sikorski's Home Plate for the yummy bfast buffet.  On to Athens where J&I dropped off D at the field and then went to a couple of yard sales and check out the town.  We got to D's game as it started.  D didn't play the whole first game except in as a designated hitter the last inning.  The boys won the first game and we all took a break for lunch.  The 2nd game started and D was in left field for the 1st 2 innings and then was pulled up to pitch :-o  he did great!  His first inning pitching he threw 7 pitches and the inning was over.  The second and third innings for him became a struggle as the umpire was not calling things well (confirmed by the catcher...)  D also had the best hit of his life;  The ball hit the fence in center field at the 370 mark, WOW!!!  In the end we lost the second game in much argument with the umps...  We headed home.  Stopped at a Chinese place in Lancaster on the way for a bite to eat.  We got home, got Lilly fed, laundry started and D got cleaned up and we headed to see the new 'Mummy' movie.  Home and everyone to bed from a long but fun day.  L&G went to stay with Gma&paB after G's team got knocked out of the tournament.

 

20160610 - Cabin in the Woods

20160610 - Up in the morning and DJ&I headed to Logan for D's double header. We dropped D off at the field and J&I to Walmart for food and $6 tarp. J&I got set up and had watched a couple of good games. Between games we ate our Walmart lunches. D's team won both and he got to play part of one game and part of the other. We got updates from L as the day went on and G won both of his games. After the games we headed to Smoke Rise Resort for our rustic cabin. It was WAY back at the end of a long twisty up and down road that ended with horses roaming around and a cute little campground. We asked around and found a local place to eat, Sikorski's Home plate family restaurant in Glouster OH. J&I had the steak dinner special and it was YUMMY! After dinner we stopped at the local dollar store to get some towels. We headed back to camp, got cleaned up, had a fire and stayed up talking a bit. It was a fun day!

20170609 - Baseball Moms

20170609 - Up in the am, moved cars around and took the white car in to work today so L&G would have the new car to take to G's tournament. Headed into to work for a pretty quiet day. Headed home and D&J there. We went out to dinner and watched G's games on game changer. L sent updates and hung out with our friends and moms from the Gahanna team we were on last year.

20170608 + Wonder Woman

20170608 + Up in the am and in to work.  Much better start today.  Have my head down getting things in order. D headed to Huron with his team for a game, I finished the day and headed home. Home and L was working in the yard and J&G hanging out.  We had pizza for dinner and then jumped in the car to see the new Wonder Woman movie.  IT was really good!  So good that L stayed awake for the whole thing.  Home and checked in with D, they won and he got to play a little bit. Up late watching videos online.

20170607 - Swing Away

20170607 - Up in the am and dropped car off at Ricart for service. Justin picked me up and took me to work for a pretty brutal day. At the end of the day Joni took me to get my car. I headed the Grove City the back way to get to D's baseball game. I got there and gave D my phone so he could get the boys set up on TeamSnap and take all their pictures. Hung out on the cold bleachers with L&J while G and his buddy Brady ran all over the place. D played a little bit but they got smoked. Got a hat and talked to the coach about the trip this weekend and how to use TeamSnap. Headed home with G & Brady and played songs for them until they got the name of it right. Home and headed over to Docs to make sure his furnace was working. Back home and made some food, D home and we got caught up. Brady spent the night. I stayed up and watched the Cavs lose and worked on the final steps of setting up TeamSnap.

20170606 - Not the Plan!

20170606 - Up and in to work and took a pretty good beating this am. D&J had batting practice in Pickerington. J&G rode to Wendy's for lunch. I struggled to get things done the rest of the day. Justin and I took a trip looking for some scales, no luck so swung through the DQ on the way back to the plant. Finished the day getting only a couple things done, not near what I had planned... Headed home and called L, she had DJ&G with her on the way to G's game. That was not the plan! D had a meeting with his merit badge counselor to finish up the badges. I had her drop him off at the next exit so he could wait for me. I battled down Broad St through rush hour traffic for 45 minutes to get to Newark and pick him up. J was with him and we headed home. Home and watching G on GameChanger, D&I headed to Panera to meet the counselor. I got a bite to eat and caught up on some stuff.

20170605 + Persevered

20170605 + Up to a rainy morning and hard to get out of bed from a fun but exhausting weekend. In to work and getting caught up. Had a missed shipment and a couple of escalations right out of the gate... Full very fast day. Headed out a couple of min early to beat the traffic. Home and ate quick than D&I headed to the Spring Awards Banquet. There was a lot of neat awards given out; Boys Track 4x100 24th fastest in the Nation, Girls Track 4x100 2nd fastest in the Nation, Baseball District Champs, Softball made it to final 4 in the State. After the awards the individual sports broke off to their own presentations. D&I headed across the street and up 3 floors to the ceremony. JVB was introduced, JVA was introduced, D was introduced first and then his teammates. Then the Varsity team and letters were given out to boys that sat the bench the entire year... making D the ONLY JUNIOR to NOT get a Varsity Letter... I had help hand out some awards and we bailed out as soon as the blah blah was over. In the car and I asked him how it was possible they got Varsity Letters for sitting the bench; he couldn't talk about it... I could barely think about it too... D&I headed to a coffee shop and discussed baseball, things around the house and getting a job.   When D went to his room for the night I joined him and told him how proud I am that through all this political BS the has kept his chin up and persevered through this season.

20170604 - Champs and Catching Up

20170604 - Up int he am and G&I headed down for some bfast in the hotel lobby. Then we got all packed up and headed to the field. We got there (on time again) as the team was walking away from batting practice again... We had our first game of the day and it was a bit more challenging than the previous 2 games, but they won. That meant a second game was required. G&I made our sandwiches and had lunch, then on to game 2. Game 2 was even harder and the calls were questionable but consistent, G struck out looking twice :-o, a lot of kids did... But the boys powered through and won the second game. I took the long hike between games to move the car closer. Game 3 for the championship started and it was a super tough game. The score went back and forth and we it was pretty stressful. The boys pulled off the victory and were crowned champions of the tournament!

We got packed up and swung through McD's before heading home and a long 3.5 hour drive. It went pretty fast and everyone was there when we got home. I got things unpacked and then we settled in and everyone told of their weekend. G told all about the tournament and the fun things we did. D told how they lost their first game today so were knocked out and that he and DGF7 had gone to watch her sister play a couple evenings, J told about his 120 mile bike trip in great detail and he had a blast, what a great experience. We got the boys to bed and L&I caught up on all the details of her weekend. A long weekend with everyone in different places, not our favorite times.

20170603 - Huge Snow Cone

20170603 - G&I up in the am and down for bfast at the hotel. L reported that D had a good game and they won! So they get to play for the championship tomorrow! G&I made our way to the field (actually on time), but we got there as the team walked away from the batting cage... On to play baseball and G had another good game and his team won. We were unsure if we were going to play a 2nd game so we hung out to see if a team scored, if they did we didn't have to play. G&I made our sandwiches and hung out waiting. I headed off to a shady spot to get some reading done and no long after the boys came and found me, the other team had scored so we didn't have to play. G&I headed to Sunny's Chicken for an awesome chicken dinner with the Kaufmans. We then split off and stopped at Meijer to get tomorrow lunch and gas. Back to the hotel for a bit and then we went putt-putting with the Kaufman family. G & Brady are so much a like they argue like brothers :-( After putt-putt G&I headed to the hotel where the team was and hung out for a bit. After G played a couple games of cornhole we headed to our hotel and called L on the way, she told us of her day, she went to Kelly's graduation party and helped out. Back to our hotel to get hot chocolate and head to bed.

20160602 - Lots of Baseball

20160602 - Up in the am and J was already gone, headed out for his 100 mile bike ride :-o G&I then headed out, started with a stop at the gas station, grocery store and then McD's. On the road and headed West. D had a game at noon and L picked up DGF7 and they went to watch him. They won, D played 2nd half of game, got a hit and L said they looked good. G&I made it to our hotel and then headed to the field at Grand Park in IN. The complex was HUGE. We finally found his team and got ready to play. G played the whole game at left and 2nd. He struck out and hit a nice single to left. G's team won by run rule after 3 12-0. After the game G&I split off and headed to Bub's Burgers and Ice Cream, home of the Big Ugly 1lb. burger, for an awesome meal! Back to the hotel for a min. and then to Meijer to get a cooler and some deli stuff for us to make our lunches tomorrow. On to the hotel where the rest of the team was so G could do some swimming and I hung out with the dads.  Back to the hotel, got some hot chocolate and headed to bed in good time.

20170601 + Back Catching

20170601 + Up in the am and in to work. Incredibly stressful morning. The rest of the was a bit better, but this won't be remembered as one of my favorite days... After work I headed to Grove City, a 7 mile 42 min trip..., to watch D play. He caught some and got walked. My buddy Kevin swung by to say hi. D's team lost and D headed to dinner with some of the guys. L&G were at hitting practice in Pickerington. I headed home, couldn't find J so had a beer with Doc. J showed up, claimed he was in the hammock in the far back yard... everyone home, cleaned up and to bed. L&I headed out to the bank to get cash for J's bike trip.