More Baseball Tales

If it seems like all I talk about on this blog anymore is baseball, it’s because it’s true. By the end of the month the season will be over but for now it’s what rules our world, or at least our schedule. Friday night after dinner we went by a local sport goods store to buy a bat for Riley. Did you know it’s not uncommon to pay $300 for a little league bat?! I knew there were people that were *way* more into their kids baseball careers than we were who might pay that kind of money for a bat, but I really thought that was the exception not the rule. I mean really. These bats are locked to the merchandise rack like fur coats! It’s ridiculous! Fortunately for us, Riley picked up and quickly grew attached to a $50 bat. Honestly I never thought I’d pay $50 for a bat but considering the alternative I thought we did OK. Especially since at least 2 kids on his team have the $300 version that he can borrow during most games. Not that he will ever choose those bats over his prized new bat. The icing on the cake was the ‘Hit Stick’ we also bought for batting practice at home. The ‘Hit Stick’ is a long, flexible pole with a rubber, ball-like end on it that both boys can use to practice their swing. We stayed an extra 30 minutes after the store closed practicing Riley’s swing in the parking lot. He loved it and was so excited. Seriously, he has been baseball-obsessed since those two purchases Friday night. We spent no less than 4 hours this weekend playing catch, pitching balls to him or holding the ‘Hit Stick’ out for him to practice with. Saturday morning I woke to an odd thumping sound. After I got up and investigated I found Riley in his room hitting plastic balls (like those from a ball pit) against his bedroom wall. Needless to say the bats’ new home is our garage and a new rule had to be made that it was no longer allowed inside despite Riley’s plea to the contrary and his promise to never ever do that again. Owen took a few swings over the weekend, but wasn’t nearly as impressed with the new equipment as his big brother. The first game with his new bat will be Tuesday night. He can’t wait!

Lance finished plowing half of his garden. This is the half where the corn will grow and he and Owen sewed the corn seed Sunday afternoon while I mowed the yard and Riley (yes, you guessed right) was hitting the baseball on his own. We are slowly but surely getting our outdoor projects done although the list seems to grow faster than we can check things off. What we did accomplish this weekend was done between a birthday party, a baseball game, baseball practice and of course church and a shopping trip to Sam’s.

Saturday night our niece Abby hosted a slumber party at her house with nine, 8 year old girls. Needless to say, my brother-in-law, nephew and youngest niece evacuated to our house Saturday night to escape all the estrogen. Plenty of female reinforcements were at their house to help with all the girls. Our house ended up being much like a smaller slumber party. Riley and Tyler shared the top bunk, Owen in his bed, Scotty and Kaylee in our guest room and another friend who wanted to join in the fun, Garrett, crashed on our couch. We enjoyed the company and of course the boys had lots of fun with their cousins.

One sad note from our weekend, instead of 10 we now have 9 chickens. As we were coming outside Saturday night to get in the truck and go find something to eat, Scotty noticed all the feathers in the yard. It turns out the there was a small area where the fence was about 4 inches off the ground and the chickens were escaping from their pen. Apparently this one had gotten out and Escher had found him. We knew there would be casualties going into this whole thing, but I really didn’t think Escher would be the assailant.

Lance and I will be driving to Norfolk next week on a business trip (Lance is tagging along with me on an NS trip) while my Mom and Dad sit with the boys. The boys are excited and Lance and I are looking forward to it too. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of tales to share following that week.