The Fifth

I think I've reached a new low in blogging. I'm now recapping a weekend that took place 3 weeks ago.  In my defense, it's hard to sit down at a computer when there are baseball games to watch, gardens to water, bikes to ride, dogs to yell at and kids to keep an eye on.  Summer is fleeting around these parts and we have to enjoy every day that we can.  It could snow tomorrow!  Well, hopefully not actually tomorrow. 

So I left off on the Fourth.  Here we are at the Fifth.  Glenn likes to take each kid camping one weekend all by themselves. The Fifth was Reina's turn.  She was pretty enthusiastic about the whole experience, even deigning to wear camo hours before it was time to leave. 

I'm pretty sure she has pants on in this picture. 

Someone didn't get to go on the camping trip.  Can you guess who?  I took this picture a few minutes after Glenn, Reina and Tootsie left.  Trigger didn't get to go because he can't be off leash without ending up in Idaho.  I tried to use this as a learning moment.

Me: Trigger, you know what you did and you know why you can't go camping.
Trigger: Blank stare.
Me:  No really Trigger.  Deep down, you know why you didn't get invited. 
Trigger:  Yawn. 

The saddest dog in all of the land.   

 

So Will and I were left to our own devices.  We ran a few boring errands, took a quick nap (me) and then headed up to Vedauwoo for a little hike.   Trigger did get to go with us but he was on leash the whole time.  Not nearly as fun as wild camping but you take what you can get. 

Mom and son selfie.

Will climbed up a few places that I didn't want to climb to.  At 7, he's already braver and much more limber than his old mom. 

After Vedauwoo, Will and I came back and watched a local baseball game - the Cheyenne Grizzlies.  They play in the MBCL league (google it) and it was pretty fun baseball.  We sat right behind the catcher and Will called the balls and strikes.  He also could see someone sitting near us with a radar gun and kept me updated on the pitch speed.  We have a full blown baseball fan on our hands. 

So now July 5th is updated.  I just have the 6th- 25th to complete now.  No problem! 

Baseball and a really fun weekend

Before I finish writing about the Fourth of July weekend, which is now a week and a half ago, I have to jot down all of the funny little moments from the past weekend.  First up, baseball.  As I've mentioned like a million times on this blog, this was Will's first year playing baseball and it was a great experience.  All of us have enjoyed going out to his games and watching a group of 7 and 8 years olds (sometimes) hit the ball, (sometimes) field the ball and (most of the time) have a really fun time.  Last week was the end of the season tournament.  Will's team won their first game but then lost the second.  On Saturday, they won two games to move to Monday night, where they won again and played in the championship last night.  They lost the championship, but it was such a fun season. 

Will started off the season just knowing the basics about baseball.  He's played t-ball so he understood you hit the ball and run to the base but beyond that, he was a total newbie.  For the first few weeks of the season, he struck out at bat almost every time and started to get pretty frustrated.  This league uses a pitching machine and that ball is coming in at you pretty fast.  But he kept going to practice and asking us to play catch with him in the front yard and hitting wild pitches that Glenn was throwing and this kid never EVER gave up.  I get a little teary when I think about it because I am just so proud of him.  In the second half of the season, something just clicked. Will started hitting the ball and grabbing ground balls and throwing them to the right place and having some fun out there. You could see his confidence growing each time he came up to bat.  He's speedy so most of the time when he hit the ball, he'd get on base.  When he'd get hit home, he'd gleefully leap over home plate like he was in the long jump, but we're working on that.  Baseball's more than just about the hitting and on defense, he'd scoop up the ball and heave it to the right base and quietly shout "YES!" when he got someone out.  It was a joy to watch.  I read somewhere that one of the best things you can say to your kid in sports (or other performance type activities) is "I love to watch you play." Man if that wasn't the truth.  There were games where I felt more nervous than the Broncos AFC Championship and Glenn and I yelled and cheered louder than is probably necessary (or appropriate?) for a 7-8 yr old sporting event, but we sure loved to watch Will play baseball.

A true Reds fan, I'm just glad he wasn't on the Yankees.  Or the Dodgers.  Or the Giants.  Or the....

A pretty happy bunch of runners-up! 

Besides lots and lots of baseball, we also fit in a local race to benefit the hospital's foundation and all of the good work they do.  First up, was a kids' 1K.  I signed both kids up and they were pretty excited to run in their first race.  We didn't get a chance to practice very much but there are both enthusiastic runners and gave it their all. 


Will, in the blue, racing to the finish line.  He was bummed that he finished fourth, medals were given to the top 3.  He did get a ribbon and a goody bag for his fine effort. 

Reina had a great pacesetter and a little help.  I love this picture so much. She earned a ribbon too and carried it around all weekend. 

After the kids' race, Trigger and I ran the 10k.  After the race in Yellowstone last month, I had pretty low expectations - hoped to finish before noon and not injure myself.  The weather was crisp, we had a big rainstorm go through the night before.  The course was in a part of town that I don't often run in so there were lots of new things to look at (a baby donkey!) and I had a great cheering section.  So long, boring story short, I won silver medal in my age group!  Granted, there were only three of us but I took second.  All of the glory goes to Trigger who paced me pretty well, until he stopped to go potty for third time about 20 yards from the finish line.  I had my fastest time (PR in running lingo) and nothing hurt too badly afterwards. 

Me, some of the other runners in my certain age group and Trigger's behind. I did let him wear the medal. 

 

And where was Tootsie, my faithful readers will ask? Well Tootsie split a nail early last week and I thought we cleaned up it alright until Thursday, when I noticed that she'd licked all of the fur off of her toes on that foot. So off to the vet we went. She had to be sedated so that they could cut the nail all the way back (OUCH) and she spent the day at the vet's office. Reina and I picked her up after work and I snapped this picture. Tootsie was a little, well, altered. This is a family blog after all. But if she could talk, I think it would've been along the lines of David After The Dentist (google it). Reina was truly concerned and spent most of the weekend worrying about Tootsie and her giant bandage.  Just say no to drugs, Tootsie! 

 



The Fourth

The holiday weekend was so epic that I have to break it up into three different posts.  Lots of pictures and anecdotes and one very disappointed dog.  Without further ado, here you go! 

 

On Friday, we started the holiday with a bang and a morning visit from Baby Cousin!  She hung out with us for a while and it was lovely having a baby in the house again.  Look how big she's getting!  When she first arrived, I told the kids to run upstairs and bring back some toys that she could play with.  Reina brought the fisher price barn and assorted animals.  Will brought a 1000-something piece Lego Star Wars tank thing that took Glenn an inordinate amount of time to put together.  So lovely of him to share.... but Will! 

Baby Cousin says "Get in my belly giant Lego thing!" 

This chair has been a staple in many Bronco Baby Blog pictures and now it has a new occupant.  Right before nap time, she became disenchanted with the many toys and cousins willing to entertain her and I was trying to bake the World's Weirdest Looking Blueberry Pie (stay tuned) and needed just a few more minutes to wrap it up.  So one baby chair, measuring spoons, straps from the baby chair and a slight worried look gave me just enough time to finish up the pie. 

Lady, I don't know what your problem is but you've got about a minute and a half before this situation becomes very serious. 

After nap time (just Baby Cousin's and not mine, sadly), it was lunch time!  Since her last visit, Baby Cousin enjoys a wide array of big kid food and some of us found that fascinating.  Some of us also took their job very, VERY seriously. 

Reina would still be feeding Baby Cousin right now if I hadn't finally pried that spoon out of her hand.) 

 

The pie!  It tasted alright but it definitely wasn't going to win any beauty contests.  After seeing a picture on FB, my uncle christened it the "Motor Oil Pie."  No matter how hard a I try, I cannot master the pie crust.

 Fourth of July evening, we headed over to Matt and Vicky's for mostly-legal fireworks, a delicious barbecue and a front row view of the city's fireworks show. 

Reina insisted on dancing a self-choreographed sparkler performance.  That dress was floor length last summer.  Growing girl! 

Smoke, fireworks and hours of entertainment. 

Coming up, July 5th!