Hutto All-Stars

 Most of June was taken up with Rhys's stint with the Hutto All-Stars team. Rhys wasn't planning to play all-stars this year (it's just too darn hot!), but the coach decided to put Rhys's name on the roster and let him play whichever games he wanted to play and skip the others.  Well, you can imagine how that went.  Rhys got into the experience and didn't miss a single game! 

He did end up having a good time, despite the heat.  He mostly played outfield, and there was a big learning curve to go down to three outfielders when they've always played with four.  They did well though, and even won first place at one of the tournaments.  I don't think he regrets playing, but I think we won't be convinced to do it again next year! 

Celebrating Father's Day at the ball fields.

LSU: Rhys's introduction to a life of crime

On our way home from Mobile, we decided to make a pit stop in Baton Rouge to see the LSU campus.  The campus itself was lovely (although hard to get around because of a big concert that was going on), so we made our way over to check out the baseball stadium.  There was no parking anywhere, so Rhys and I jumped out of the car to peer through the fence at the stadium.

While we made our lap around the stadium, we noticed that there were many lost home run balls, just lying around.  We finished our stadium tour and went back to the car and told Bill all about it.  Bill wanted a closer look at the stadium, so I took his place in the car while he and Rhys went back out. 

They noticed that the bars to the fence were pretty wide...in fact, plenty wide for one skinny boy to squeeze through. 

I think I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.
(Disclaimer: I was not a party to this crime.)

 

 

 

Mobile Baybears

Before heading back home, we made a stop in Mobile, Alabama for some minor league baseball.  Mobile is the home of the AAA Baybears and also the Hank Aaron Museum, which is housed in his childhood home that has been moved to just outside the stadium.

Hank Aaron's childhood home.

The bullpen.

Enthusiastic new Baybears fans.

Not so enthused.

Destin vacation

Well, as always, the summer has gotten away from me, so I'm very late posting our vacation pictures.  Of course, anyone on my Facebook has already seen them, but I have to have them on the blog for our family record.  If it's not here, it didn't happen! 

In May, we made the drive to Destin for some quality beach time.  We did little other than the beach, but it was so nice and relaxing! 

 

Camp

Avery is a week into chamber music camp.  She is absolutely loving it, but tonight when she was getting her lunch packed, setting out her clothes, practicing her violin, and getting ready for bed, she said, "Wow.  Going to school would really suck."  Yeah, I agree.  Not only is it no fun to get everyone out the door early in the morning, but the boys and I really miss her!

Avery is making lots of new friends, and she said today that some of the kids heard that she was -- gasp -- a homeschooler.  Among other things, she was asked, "How did you learn to read?" and "Are all homeschoolers vegetarian?" and, my personal favorite, "So if you're homeschooled, where do you go to school?"  She said she was too confused to answer that last one; she thought it must be a trick question.

And they say homeschoolers are sheltered! 

Select Ball

So...talking about Rhys's baseball season can get confusing.  This season, he played regular league ball on a team called the Voodoo.  But he also played some tournaments on a select team called the Voodoo.  And earlier in the season, Voodoo select was known as the Titans.  Why so many teams?  For the past year, Bill and his friend Rick have been working on putting together their own select team.  League politics get frustrating, and at a certain point, the kids that have been playing baseball for many years -- especially those that eat/drink/breathe baseball -- grow out of league ball.  So, this is how Voodoo Baseball came to be. 

Since we have been around the block a time or two in the ten seasons that Rhys has played baseball, we know just how important it is to get the right mix of kids and parents.  So, this spring, we were able to use the select tournaments to try out different kids and figure out the best combination for the select team.  Bill had bought some jerseys last fall that look like Rangers uniforms (with a big "T") when they played a holiday tournament, so for most of the spring, the boys played as the Titans.  By the last two tournaments of the year, they'd gotten the Voodoo jerseys ready to go, and Voodoo Baseball was official!  We're very excited about the fall, when we'll only be playing Voodoo select.  Rhys played a lot of baseball this spring, while we figured it all out.  Not that he was complaining!  Now league ball and select are over for the summer.  All that's left is All-Stars!

Rhys playing outfield at the Valentine's tournament in Taylor.

Rhys with a bunch of the core kids that come out for every tournament.  He loves these guys!

2nd place at the Valentine's tourney!

Sliding into home at the Voodoo's first official tournament.  2nd place!

Running the bases in Georgetown.

The boys presented their moms with roses on Mother's Day at a tournament in Kyle.

Congratulating the first place winners.

Final tournament of the year.  2nd place again!

Voodoo League Ball

We played this spring again in Hutto.  We have had a really good experience there and met some really great people.  Rhys played on the Voodoo this season, which was his last season of coach-pitch.  He mostly played short stop, but also helped out some in the outfield or wherever else they needed him. 

 

End of season pool party:

Thunder t-ball

Griffin finished up his third season of baseball earlier this month.  Despite some disorganization on the team, he still had a fun time.  He settled into the 2nd base position early on in the season and got pretty good at covering the base and being the cut-off man when balls went into the outfield.  He made several outs over the course of the season -- especially once he got the hang of tagging a runner out with the ball, rather than his empty glove! 

He also has turned into a pretty good little batter.  He can hit well into the outfield when he has a good at bat, but of course, his favorite part is sliding.  He slides pretty much at any base, regardless of where the ball is.  But he does so with style!

 

 

We Visit the Rangers

This will be the second in a series of baseball posts before I can get to vacation pictures. This month has been a lot of fun, but it has felt like a whirlwind, with wrapping up baseball and chamber music, plus recitals, a Rangers game in Dallas, and a vacation to Florida. Never fear, there are many pictures to come.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Dallas with our good friends and baseball buddies, the Lucases. We try to go to at least one Rangers game at the ball park in Arlington every year, and we decided this year we needed to see the Rangers play the Oakland As.  Because of our busy baseball schedule and my class teaching schedule, the only game that would work was a weekday night game.  It seemed like a good idea when we bought tickets, but leaving for Dallas mid-afternoon for a 7pm game and driving home that night made for a long day and a very tired family.

After a relatively easy drive to Arlington (with more bathroom stops than I can count, between the five kids in our caravan), we stopped for a bite to eat, then headed to the ball park.  We had great seats in the second row, right behind the right field wall.

The view from our seats in right field.

The kids settled in quickly and were anxious for the game to get started.

The game started uneventfully.  As the action heated up, the boys got more and more excited.

A couple of innings in, Pennington (from the As) homered into right field -- right to where were sitting!  The bigger boys jumped up, gloves raised, desperate to get the ball.  It sailed right to Zach (the sweet little guy sitting next to Griffin in the picture above) and the guy next to Zach caught it right over Zach's head.  Convinced that he'd be given the ball, Zach raised his hand excitedly.  But...alas...the guy threw the ball back onto the field, rejecting the ball hit by the opposing team.  Zach was crushed and cried big, crocodile tears.

Thankfully, all was not lost.  Since we sat right next to the Rangers' bullpen, Zach managed to get a ball from one of the Rangers pitchers a few innings later, simply by being cute. 

Shortly after the home run excitement, we started to feel some sprinkles.  Then more rain drops.  And soon it was pouring.  The grounds crew rushed onto the field to roll out the rain tarp, and thousands of fans rushed from their seats into the covered areas.

After about an hour rain delay, the players got back on the field.

Toward the end of the game, Rangers closer Neftali Feliz, one of our favorite players, came out on the field to start warming up his arm in right field between innings. 

 

 

Thanks to the rain delay, we got an even later start to drive back home.  But, thanks to much caffeine, we made it!