Back From Camp

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We had a light morning and then went to Wholy Bagel for lunch.  They had not run out of bagels today.

After that we stopped at HEB to get some fruit for the weekend and next week.

We came home for just a little bit before we left to go pick up the boys.  They brought the kids into the Livestrong offices downtown for us to pick them up rather than all of us going out to the camp.  When we got there, they were setting up to have the kids sing a song for the parents.  The boys were very happy to see us.  Then they had a little pizza party.

The boys seemed to have a really good time at camp.  They talked nonstop at the pizza party and on the way back.  We talked to the counselors.  Noah's counselor said that he was really supportive of everyone, was a good friend, and that he was the most self-sufficient kid in the bunk.  Evan's counselor talked about how mature Evan was and how he was the most well-behaved kid there.  Evan said he hung out with the counselors a lot.

From there, we drove to school for the Meet the Teachers event.  Noah is in class with his buddy Jude, and his friends from first grade - Lucy and Reed.  He was very happy.  His teacher is the same teacher Evan had for third grade, Ms. Crenshaw.  We loved her and so Noah was really happy to get her.  His seat is at the same table as his friends.

Evan is in class with his friend Wade.  His teacher seemed really nice.  She actually arranged it so Wade and Evan can sit with each other.

For dinner, we went to Grandma and Papa's.  It was a nice time.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Championship

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Try telling the boys that it was "fall back" today.  I heard them playing at 6:45 this morning.  Of course it really was 7:45 in their internal clocks.  We were hoping that the long day yesterday would cause them to sleep in some.

We finally got up and got ready to go to the Race for the Cure.  We signed up for the untimed portion which meant that we could walk.  We were able to park right by the start line because they reserve a special garage for survivors.  We brought the stroller in case Noah wanted to sit.  Evan walked the entire 3.1 miles.  Noah rode in the stroller for maybe a mile of it, if that.  He did well walking and walked fast.  It was downtown and I think the boys liked all the things to look at.

When we finished most of the swag had been given away already, although, to be honest, it looked like there were significantly fewer vendors there than when Rachel and I ran it two years ago.

We came home and had lunch.  We had about an hour until we needed to get to the fields for Noah's warm ups.

Noah hit well during warm ups.  He was very excited for the game.  One of the boys on Evan's team had a younger brother on the team playing against Noah's team.  So Evan and the boy from Evan's team, Anthony, played together until they needed to go to their warm ups.

For the championship game, the game is 6 innings untimed.  There were two umpires.  In the top of first, they had Noah at third base.  They said that this team hits mostly to third base and they wanted Noah there to start out the game.  They also shifted the shortstop much closer to third.  Noah played along the line.  One of the kids turned on the ball and hit a shot on the ground down the line.  But since Noah was standing almost at the line, he just put his glove down and stopped it.  It ended up taking a bounce and hitting Noah in the body, but he was not going to let that ball go past him.  It was a great play and Noah got lots of cheers.  Noah got hits in all of his at bats.  One of the times up, they overthrew first and Noah ran to second.  He runs well and listens so well.  In the third inning, Noah's team held the other team scoreless.  That turned out to be the difference and Noah's team won.  Noah was really happy about it.  It was a lot of fun.  They had a pizza party with a pinata after the game.  Rachel stayed with Noah while I watched Evan who took the field right after Noah's game ended.

Evan was playing a team they had beaten earlier in the season.  But somehow this team came alive since then.  They were hitting the ball all over the place.  Evan seemed to be very tired.  He did get a good hit in the bottom of the second.  And his fielding was good.  But he didn't quite seem as lively.  That seemed to be true of the entire team actually.  The other team won which meant that Evan had to play a second game right after.

A parent on the team bought sno-cones for all the kids.  Rachel got a Powerade for Evan as well.  That seemed to perk up all the kids.  Evan had a great game in the second game.  He doubled in one of his at-bats.  When he was playing third, a boy crushed a ball at Evan who knocked it down and fired over to first.  The umpire called the runner safe, which seemed questionable.  The third base coach for the other team was quite impressed and high-fived Evan.   A couple batters later, a kid hit a ball down the third base line.  Evan dove to his right and grabbed it.  He got up and threw the ball to first although a bit too late.  Again, it was just a tremendous play.  He was pretty pumped by it.  Unfortunately, Evan's team didn't have another comeback in them and they lost, finishing the season in third place.  Evan seemed ok with it.  The coaches told Evan they are going to try to get him on their team in the spring.  I think that would be wonderful.

Rachel took the boys home.  I went and picked up Rudy's.  We gave the boys showers and then put them to bed.

Until next time...

Second Place

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today was Evan's championship game in tee ball. I was nervous all day, but I don't think Evan was. He knew that the game was the "championship" game but I don't think he really knew what that really meant.

Evan did not get up when I was going to work. It was good because he was still up as I was in bed. You would have thought after his big weekend this weekend he would have gone to sleep earlier.

Rachel and the boys stayed home today. They just took it easy which was a good thing since they needed rest. They were both kind of cranky in the morning. As usual Evan was torturing Noah to get him to whine and cry. Evan got on the phone with me at work to tell me that Noah was a whiner and that he told Noah that Noah was a whiner - which undoubtedly caused Noah to whine more.

When I got home, I heard the boys in their bathroom playing with the faucet. I went upstairs and got them to stop. I also noticed Rachel had been trying to nap but I imagine it was nearly impossible to nap with the boys being so loud.

I got Evan ready and took him to the baseball field for the game. Rachel and Noah got there just as the game was starting.

Unfortunately their team lost in the bottom of the 6th inning. Each half inning is played until 5 runs are scored or 3 outs are made. Heading into the top of the 6th, the Rockies (Evan's team) were leading by 2 runs. If they scored 5 runs in that inning the game would be over. But they were only able to get one run as the Mets recorded three outs, one on a groundout by Evan. In the bottom of the 6th, the Mets scored 4 runs to win the game.

Luckily, Evan was not disappointed. He got a plaque in a ceremony for the 2nd place. That was all he really wanted anyway. Some kids were crying but Evan seemed fine.

They had a pizza party after the game and Evan and Noah were happy to get pizza. When we got home the boys said they were still hungry. We had left over pizza from Saturday night so they each had another piece of pizza.

They are in bed now.

Until next time...