Evan's spring baseball ended. He got MVP for the varsity team! Here's what Morry wrote about him on Facebook.
"Varsity Team MVP as a sophomore. Second youngest on the team. Hit .533 (32-60) on the season, second in innings pitched, first in ERA, first in Ks, led the team in innings caught and runners caught stealing. I haven't posted during the season as I figured I'd wait until the season is over. Unfortunately, though, I am terrible at taking video so I missed quite a few of his bigger hits, but figured I'd upload some of the ones I did get.
The season Evan put together was beyond anything I could have imagined. He plays with a chip on his shoulder and he works his butt off to get better and I couldn't be more proud."
Noah finally got his new fake teeth from the orthodontist. He was happy about that, but of course, I don't have a picture. Lately, he hasn't wanted to have his picture taken.
Madison invited Evan to his senior prom. Evan, Morry, and I went to Philadelphia from a Thursday - Sunday. On Thursday, we ate at Nifty Fifty's. Friday, we saw the West Chester University campus and baseball team. Friday night was the prom. Saturday we went to Ocean City, NJ. Sunday, we met Allison and Avery for brunch in downtown Philadelphia. We all had a nice weekend and Evan really had a great time at prom.
I just noticed how long it's been since we wrote the blog. It's been a busy few weeks. Two weeks ago, Rachel was at a conference for most of the week. Last week, I was in Philadelphia and then Richmond for work. And this past weekend, Evan and I were in Dallas for a baseball tournament.
Rachel enjoyed her conference. She feels like she met some good people and made some good contacts. We'll see if anything comes out of it, but it seems promising.
My trip to Philadelphia and Richmond was good. I went to Grandmom's retirement party. It was nice and some really nice things were said about her. It was also a super productive time at the office. I think it went really well.
Evan and I left for Dallas on Friday afternoon. We were able to get out before the big rains came. Rachel and Noah went to Panera and on the way home, they saw police cars. It turns out there was a water rescue not far from Panera because of the floods caused by the heavy rains. Luckily our house was good and the lighting which was close did not affect Rachel, Noah or the house.
Evan and I went out to dinner with all the families that had made it up to the hotel. Then the boys went swimming at the hotel while the parents are sat out and talked.
Evan played on Saturday late morning/early afternoon. His team won both games. He caught the first game and threw out a runner at second. He almost threw out another runner. The throw beat the runner but the umpire said the tag was too slow. The team won the second game as well. Evan had a key hit in the game and played third base. He was also involved in a controversial rundown where the umpire said that the fielder interfered with him and they said he was safe at home.
Noah had a football game in the afternoon. Rachel didn't think it would happen based on the amount of rain the night before, but they were able to play. Noah had two QB sacks and caused a safety. It seemed like he had a good time.
Saturday night in Dallas, we went to a sports bar for dinner. There is a pool table and arcade games for the kids to play. The parents all ate together. Then the kids went to a laser tag place with the coaches while the parents stayed at the hotel. Evan came back into the hotel with his arm around his friend Elliot. They seemed to be in a really good mood.
On Sunday, Evan's first game was not until 11:30. He was named the starting pitcher for the first game. The other team showed up late, but they still played. They did shorten the game. Evan pitched two innings of no-hit shutout baseball. The offense took over most of the game and took up the rest of the time. Evan had a hit and scored a run. The final score was 7-0.
We wen to lunch and then played the second game. Evan caught in that game. He played very well at catcher. The starting pitcher also pitched well. The team won that game 6-0.
In the third game - the championship - the team faced a pitcher who was 6'5" or 6'6". He seemed about as tall as Evan's coach who is 6'6" but we didn't see them exactly together. This boy was 13. But Evan's team did not seem intimidated. Evan had an RBI ground out, knocking in the first run and a well hit line drive that was right at the shortstop. The boys threw hard, probably in the mid 70's. But the pitcher on Evan's team was even better. Evan made three very key plays at third base including two in the final inning. He looked really good there. They won the championship, 4-0. So for the day, they didn't give up any runs. They allowed two total hits in 11 innings with 17 strikeouts between the three pitchers.
We got home a little after 10pm.
Today, the boys started their 3rd-to-last week of school. It was a fairly uneventful day.
We started out in Philadelphia to celebrate Grandmom's birthday and Avery's Bat Mitzvah. Then, we drove to Greensboro, NC to drop the kids off at camp. They will be there until July 15 when Fran and Scott pick them up. Then, Fran will fly them back to Austin.
I left on Monday to go to Philadelphia for business on a 5:30am flight. I came home on Thursday night. Rachel had a tough week with the boys all alone. Luckily other parents from TRPD were able to help get Evan to/from practices. Noah did give Rachel a hard time getting to school some mornings.
I was home for 13 hours before I left again. I picked Evan up from school around 12:30 to go to Houston for a baseball tournament. We picked up Reid on the way down.
When we got to Houston, we went to a laser tag place. The entire team was meeting there. While the kids played laser tag, all the parents went next door to a restaurant. They had a nice outdoor deck and we ate outside. It was nice spending time with the parents.
During the two games on Saturday, Evan threw out three baserunners. He came into pitch in the second inning of the first game. He picked off a runner easily. Later that day, he was playing first base and the pitcher picked off a runner. The runner took off for second and Evan threw a strike to get the runner out there. Then Evan came in to catch and he threw out the first (and only) runner who tried to steal on him.
Noah had a football game on Saturday. Rachel and Noah stayed for that. The team lost, but Rachel said Noah played well. They drove down to Houston after that.
After Rachel got to Houston, all the parents got together to decide what to do for dinner. We decided to go to Buffalo Wild Wings. We watched basketball and all the kids played together. The service was difficult. But it was nice being with the families. From there we drove to the Kemah Boardwalk. We drove 3 of Evan's teammates. They had a great time in the car. Evan and two of his friends went on the tower that drops you. Then Evan and Noah went on the ferris wheel.
This morning, Evan's team did not do well. Evan also did not have a particularly good game. But when Evan was catching the other team did not try to steal on him. He had two amazing throws to second after warming up the pitcher and the other team definitely noticed.
After the game was over, we met Rachel's friend from middle school and her boyfriend at a pizza place. It was a nice time.
We followed each other all the way back to Austin. For dinner we had pasta.
While it said this morning's temperature was just two degrees colder than when we walked yesterday, it sure felt much colder. The wind was very severe. But we walked. Well, Rachel and I walked. Evan rode his bike and Noah rode his scooter.
We drove to get the kids. It actually got colder throughout the day. Actually, Noah was staying for Mad Science so we were getting Evan. Evan rode his bike home and we took Noah's scooter back. Evan was able to take a shortcut back while we had to drive on the streets. Amazingly, we arrived home at pretty much the same time.
Evan told us about his field trip today. Last night he had told me he was going to the French Legation Museum. I thought to myself, wow, they really picked a boring place for field trips. I thought back to my own experiences with field trips where we constantly went to colonial stuff in Philadelphia. Back then I found it really boring. I figured Evan would have the same experience here. But he couldn't stop talking about it. He told us everything he learned. He absolutely loved it. It was great.
The boys had pasta for dinner and we had leftovers from last night.
Hello everyone, this is Morry. Rachel is talking to her parents so I have the job of recapping our trip to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Our flight from Austin to Philadelphia was fairly uneventful, thankfully. Noah was pretty antsy at the beginning but he ended up sleeping for the last 2/3 of the flight.
At my mom's house, Evan and Noah stayed in the same room as their cousin, Quin, who is also 3. We put Evan and Noah down first and we could hear Evan and Noah playing and laughing. My sister, Rachel, got Quin ready for bed and had him lay down in their bed to start. Then she read Quin the riot act about talking when she moved him to the bedroom with Evan and Noah. As soon as Quin was in bed, we heard Evan say "How old are you? How old are you?" and then we heard Quin say "shhhh!" It was funny. The boys didn't sleep for a long time.
The second day we went to Ruby's for lunch where they had trains going around the ceiling. Evan loved that and he and Quin had their played with their menus that turned into planes. They'd pretend to crash them into each other. Ruby's is a GREAT place for kids. That night my mom hosted a nice party for all of the guests for my dad's party (the reason we went to Philly). There was also an eventful time with a photographer who had zero clue about how to work with small children. He was sort of an embarrassment.
The next day was my dad's 75th birthday party. It was a very nice event and it was really nice to see all these people show up for my dad. My dad has made a very nice life for himself and that's great. The restaurant's food was good, but they were very slow to serve food. The party started at 6:30 but food did not start to be served until after 8pm. Luckily the room was fairly big and Evan and Quin ran around playing with each other. Also Aunt Fran and Uncle Scott were a BIG help playing with the boys. Uncle Ron got to meet the boys for the first time.
On the fourth day, we met downtown for brunch and then took a double decker bus tour of Philadelphia. Evan had seen a double decker bus tour in Garfield 2 and had really wanted to do it. Both boys loved it but eventually fell asleep on the ride. I found some of the things on the tour very interesting and I hadn't heard it before. That night Evan and Noah were playing with each other when they were supposed to be sleeping. I heard all this banging. I went up there and Evan told me he needed a diaper change. While I was changing his diaper, I asked him what the banging was. He said "nothing". I said it wasn't nothing, so he said he was clapping. I said he wasn't clapping because it was banging on the floor. His next excuse was that it was Lizzy. I can't believe he blamed the dog that was 1500 miles away. What a character!
The following day we took the boys to McDonald's as a sort of present for behaving so well. That night we put the boys down for bed and Rachel and I went to see Angels & Demons. The movie was very good.
Our last day in Philadelphia we went to see my mom's friend and my old boss and friend, Najib Nadi from the Villanova Computer Science department. It was really great geting to see him and I think the boys enjoyed being on a college campus. That night we went to see my friends Linda and Jeff, and their 3 little ones, Madison who is 5, and the twins, Luke and Ethan who are 15 months old. Evan and Noah loved playing with new toys and it was nice for me to be able to see my friends.
Thursday we rented a minivan, picked up my dad at the train station, and drove to Pittsburgh. The boys did very well on the trip. We only stopped once. We ate dinner at friends of mine, the Gordons. They have a little girl Rebecca who is now 8 and Dora who is 3. Again, I think the boys liked playing with new toys.
Friday saw us going to breakfast with my dad and my Aunt Eleanor. My Aunt Eleanor, who is 87, just looks wonderful. Noah played with her at breakfast. Then we went to the Carnegie Science Center. We saw a bunch of things that were great for kids including a massive miniature train set. Evan thought it was great. The Science Center is next to Heinz Field and Evan kept asking if that's where the Steelers and Roethlisberger played. Then we went to Rachel's cousin, Trent's house, for dinner. He has two boys that are 11 and a little girl who is 7. The boys, Taylor and Carter, play lacrosse. They had a little lacrosse stick that they showed Evan how to use. Evan thought he was one of the big kids. He loved playing with them. We couldn't get him away.
The next day, Saturday, we went to Aunt Eleanor's for lunch. My uncles Arnold and Dave and Uncle Dave's wife Estelle came over. Also my dad's cousin (my cousin too) Rita came over as well as Aunt Eleanor's daughter, Ann, and her husband Alan. Ann had dropped off toys for the boys to play with, plus Aunt Eleanor had bought some toys for Evan and Noah. Both boys were excellent. Later in the day we drove out to my friend from college, Katy's house. She and her husband, Rex, have two little boys - Aidan who is a month younger than Jamieson who will be 2 in August. They have a great house in a Pittsburgh suburb with a great basement and a nice pool. They cooked us dinner and then we went to Dairy Queen for dessert.
Our last day on the trip we met up with the Gordons again as well as my old bosses and friends Tom and Marianne Anderson. The restaurant was a great restaurant for the kids but it was a bit slow with service. Then we took Evan and Noah on the incline in Pittsburgh. Noah was so excited and kept yelling and pointing things as we went up and down. I think Evan thought it was really neat as well.
Today was my first day at my new job at TicketCity. I'm the new Development Director there. The first day went very well.
Rachel took the boys to the zoo and both boys fed the animals.
Not only is October tough because of all of the breast cancer awareness promotions, but it is also the anniversary of the beginning of my journey back in 2009.
Angelina says, "There is more than one way to deal with any health issue. The most important thing is to learn about the options and choose what is right for you personally." I appreciate Angelina Jolie and all of the others that have chosen to be open about their health and share personal details.
Shortly after I finished chemo, my feet started feeling like someone took a hammer to them. At first, I thought I had an injury or arthritis. I went to a podiatrist and a rheumatologist, but they couldn’t find anything noticeably wrong. My x-rays looked fine.
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