Sunday, May 16, 2010

Another Opening Day


At the end of last season, Jake said goodbye to T-ball.  He also said goodbye to the White Sox. He's playing "Coach Pitch Baseball" this year.  And while he's not wearing the Sox uniform, he's still playing with the same group of boys.  We're now the Giants.  That's right!  With Jake playing for the Giants & Lila playing for the Dodgers, we're an all Californian household.  And with his head of curly red locks, Jake's a little easier to identify in the field this year.

So what's coach pitch?  In coach-pitch, each player is thrown four pitches.  If he doesn't get a hit, he has three opportunities to hit the ball off the tee.  There are three outs or five runs per inning.  The biggest challenge in coach-pitch as far as I can see?  Finding a grown up who can throw four consecutive good pitches to a 5/6-year-old.  That's a pretty small & low strick zone!  But our coach and our boys do great.


We were actually late to the Giant's season opener, because Jake had a soccer game that morning as well.  That explains why Jake is a little out of uniform in all the pictures.  But inspite of running around a soccer field for an hour, changing jerseys in the car and getting to the game just in time for his at bat, he played a good game.

Jake's got a good swing and can make contact with the ball.  But I'm pleased to say that when he struggles hitting the pitch and has to hit off the tee, he takes it in stride.  Last year there would have been some frustrated fits in those situations.  A little maturity goes a long way.

Jake can teach Delila a thing or two about base running.

The opposing offense never had a chance!

No more kicking around in the dirt - Jake's focused and ready in the field.

Jake's been playing with most of these boys for three years now.  They know the score and when the innings over....

They know when to take off their batting helmets and take the field.  They look more and more like "Big Boys" every game...

...the dugout talk is more about baseball and less about shenanigans.  Although there's still plenty of fooling around.

It's going to be a fun season!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Play Ball!!


Well, soccer's over and t-ball has begun.  At least for Delila.  Jake doesn't play t-ball.  He's moved on to 'coach pitch'.  But that's a story for another day.  Today it's all about Delila.  She's been chomping at the bit to follow big brother's footsteps on the diamond and now she's got her chance.  And she's pretty as a picture in Dodger blue.

Right down to her fancy beaded socks.

She practiced fiedling grounders before the game...

...but the Dodgers were up first.

Swing batter batter, SWING!

Run, Lila, RUN!

No!  Not that way!!

That's right.

Yes, good idea.  Drop the bat.

Whew!  Safe at 1st.

And safe at 2nd.

Lila takes the mound at the bottom of the 1st.

I got it! I got it!

She gets the force at home plate.

Good game!

Coming soon to a blog near you...Opening Day for Jake & his Giants.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

A Day At The Beach


I know, I know...I've been really bad about keeping up with the blog lately.  OK, not just lately.  I'm hoping to catch up on things in the up coming months.  But before I start playing catch up, here's a glimpse of what we're doing right now.

Our friends, the Sporers are visiting from Germany.  Yesterday, we all hit the road for our first trip to the Texas seaside.  We'll be spending the next 4 days in Galveston.  It's not Ocean City or Santa Cruz, but there's sand, sun and surf and that's just about all a kid needs to have a good time.  I've got the pictures to prove it.

Jake & Lukas had a great time running as far into the waves as they dared.

Lila & Sophia followed the Big Brothers' lead - in a cautious 'Girl' way.

Lila can jump really high - especially to keep the waves from tickling her toes.

So the waves aren't that impressive and the sand is kind of dark and sticky, but when it comes to shell-gathering, this beach rocks!

The days seaside treasure haul on parade.  I'm sure there will be more booty added to this collection before the sun sets tonight.