Evan the Pitcher

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan had a baseball tournament today.  We didn't have to go early to the fields which was nice so we could sleep in.  His first game was at 12:30.  In the first game, Evan started at catcher and played most of the game.  He played extremely well at catcher.  He didn't have any passed balls and he almost threw a kid out stealing at second.  It was a great throw.  He also had two hits, an RBI and scored two runs.  The Bucs played really well and won the game 14-2.

I packed a lunch for Evan and we ate at the fields and got ready for the second game.

Late this week they changed the tournament from a 9 and under (9U) to a 9U and 10U tournament.  The Bucs got paired up in the second game with a 10U team.  They had two kids on their team that were taller than me.  That is no exaggeration.  One boy on the team - Ryan started the game and only gave up a run through the first three innings.  Evan started our scoring by walking on a 3-2 count after fouling several balls of and staying alive.  The pitcher was one of the boys taller than me.  Evan stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and then scored when they tried to throw him out at third and the ball went into left field.  After three innings, the Bucs were winning 4-1.  Evan pitched the fourth inning.  The first batter hit a really weak ball to shortstop that Darius did not charge and the runner was safe.  Then Evan got an out.  And then they got a couple of hits and scored some runs to tie the game at 4.  Evan didn't get upset and looked more determined than ever and ended up striking out the next two batters to get out of the inning.  In the bottom of the fourth, the Bucs scored three runs.  Evan came back out to pitch in the fifth.  If Evan could give up fewer than three runs, the Bucs were going to the championship game.  The first batter hit an easy pop up to second that our second baseman dropped.  So Evan struck out the next batter and got the following batter to pop up to him.  Then he got another pop up that the second baseman and right fielder both stopped and the ball dropped between them.  The next kid tripled and now the tying runner was on third.  Evan knew it.  He just focused on the batter.  He quickly threw two strikes and on the third pitch the batter hit an easy line drive to Darius to end the game.  All the kids mobbed Evan.  I honestly don't know if with that kind of pressure on me, I would have pitched as well as Evan did.  All the adults were cheering for Evan as well.  He had the biggest smile.

The championship game wasn't going to start until 8:30 because there was still another game to decide who we were going to face.  So we all went to Subway for dinner.  All the boys were excited to be with each other and they had a good time eating together.

We went back to the fields and the game actually didn't start until closer to 8:45pm on a school night.  Unfortunately, the game didn't go as well.  I think the kids were tired and the pitching really wasn't as good as it had been all day.  So the Bucs ended up in second place.  The boys still seemed very happy.

We finally left the fields at nearly 10:20pm and got home around 10:50pm.  Noah was already asleep. Evan soon joined him.

Noah Plays Catch

Hello everyone this is Morry.

Rachel and the boys walked to school.  I had an early meeting and couldn't go.

I met with the other coach of the Marauders today to plan out the summer season.  It was a good productive meeting.

The last few Thursdays there has been an ice cream truck near the school.  Today, we assumed it would be there so I didn't bring popsicles for the boys like I normally do.  Unfortunately, the week I choose not to do bring popsicles the ice cream truck is not there.

Rachel left around 3:45 to tutor.

At 5, the boys and I left for Evan's practice.  Evan had a good practice as he usually does. He's got a bit of a cold but didn't let that stop him.  But Evan's old coach, and current father of one of the boys on the team, asked Noah if he'd like to have a catch.  Noah and Ryan had a catch almost the entire time.  Ryan really worked with him on holding his glove right.  Noah made great progress and had fun doing it at the same time.

We came home and had Yaghi's for dinner. Rachel picked it up on the way home because we all were going to get home around 8.

The boys are in bed now.

Until next time...

Rachel the Half Marathoner

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This weekend was spent in San Antonio.  Rachel signed up to run the San Antonio Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon.  I guess it's called Rock 'n Roll because they have bands playing along the way.  I don't really associate San Antonio with a Rock 'n Roll city.

We left yesterday morning - about an hour after we planned.  Both boys independently and consecutively threw massive fits.  That, unfortunately, was a sign of things to come.  We stopped in north San Antonio at a restaurant called Momak's which has a big soccer field and soccer balls, volleyballs and footballs to play with, as well as a play scape.  It was super crowded and it took forever to order and get food.  The boys did not eat as well as we had hoped considering it was a place that tailored to kids.

Then we drove the rest of the way down where I dropped Rachel off at the Alamodome to get her runners stuff.

From there we went to the hotel and checked in.  Both boys were cranky and caused issues while we were trying to get them to rest.

We stayed at this hotel last year.  At 5pm, they have snacks out including hot dogs and popcorn.  Last year we have a video of Evan eating carrots in the hot dog bun.  Well, Evan again ate that.  Noah just played with his hot dog.

We had hoped they would eat well there so we didn't have to pay for dinner for them.  We went to a restaurant called Zocca's which I made reservations for.  It is an Italian restaurant.  The boys shared a kid's bowl of spaghetti which was a tiny, tiny portion.  They ate that up, which was good.  We basically accomplished our mission of reducing the amount we spent on them.  The food was good for us, but again, small portions.  And the service was very slow.

When we went back to the hotel, the boys spent most of the night before falling asleep arguing with each other or us about stupid things

This morning, Rachel left around 7pm to go the start line.  She signed up for a service from RunKeeper Pro that allowed me to track her movements.  That way I knew when to leave to meet her at the finish line.  The hotel included breakfast with the room, so the boys and I got breakfast and then came up to the room for awhile before leaving to meet Rachel. We saw Rachel finish - with an even better time than last year.  She did great.

We stopped at the hotel for Rachel to shower and to pack, then met Uncle Jay, Aunt Diane, Susie, Ryan, Tegan, Anika, Jonah, Chrissy, Valencia and Aisha at a place called Chacho's for lunch.  It was good seeing everyone.  They have a play area where all the kids played together.  They seemed to have a good time.  The food was not very good, but we got to spend time with everyone and the kids had fun and really, that's why we were meeting so it was a nice time.

We came home through terrible traffic.  The boys played upstairs until dinner time.  Then we had pasta for dinner.  The lunch seemed to make Rachel sick so she only had soup.

After dinner, the boys and I watched the first half of the Steelers game which I recorded.  At half time we put them to bed.  They went to sleep fairly quickly.

The Steelers won, by the way.

Until next time...

Susie, Ryan, and Anika

This morning we were able to sleep in a little.

Around noon Susie, Ryan, and Anika came over. We were giving them some baby stuff (crib, changing table, ...) and they came to pick it up.

They took us out to lunch at Home Slice Pizza. We all had a nice time. We had to wait about 30 minutes for a table, but the kids were able to play outside while we waited. Evan made friends with some other boys and they played ping pong together.

Evan ate really well at lunch. He had a ton of pizza. Noah had one slice.

When we got back to the house the kids ran around in the yard while Ryan loaded up the truck.

Below, is a video of the kids playing around and then Evan riding his scooter and Noah on the tricycle.

I tutored a student at the house from 4-5pm.

For dinner we weren't that hungry. The kids had pasta. Morry had pasta and I just had some soup.

We put the boys to bed a while ago, but they are still not asleep.

Anika's Party

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, we had a birthday party for Anika down in San Antonio. It was outside at a park. We got some stuff together and drove down. We let the boys watch a movie in the van as we drove. It didn't take us long to get down to the park - about 70 minutes.

The party was at a park with a bunch of playsets. The boys enjoyed climbing on them. They both went on the swings for a bit as well. They had a pinata and Evan really crushed it. Noah enjoyed hitting the pinata as well.

We got to see Susie, Ryan and Aunt Diane. It was nice seeing them.

Noah was cranky on the way home, but he eventually fell asleep.

When we got home the Steelers game was on. The boys played during the game but ended up sitting on the couch with me during the 4th quarter.

For dinner, we had left over pizza.

The boys are in bed now but awake.

Until next time...

Gruene, Texas

This morning we took it easy and then left the house around 10:30 and headed to Gruene, Texas. Gruene is about halfway between Austin and San Antonio. So we met Aunt Diane, Uncle Jay, Susie, and Ryan there for lunch. We all had a nice time. The kids were good and enjoyed running around after lunch. There was a nice grassy field next to the restaurant. Then, we went to the General Store and got some tin boxes for the boys and some fudge.

When we got back home we tried to put Noah down for a nap, but he didn’t sleep.

For dinner we all ate at El Chile.

We just put the boys to bed. Michael and Jen went out tonight.

Here are some pictures from today and yesterday