Change of Venue

Due to an email/account war between our ISP and Blogger/Google, this will be our last post at this address. For all future Alan Family adventures, you'll have to go to www.alankids.blogspot.com (bookmark it from the link). This blog will stay up so you can come back and read everything from the past 9 years, we just can't add anything new here. All the new stuff will be posted on the new site.

New School Year

Faith is in third grade. THIRD GRADE. She has a different teacher than Tanner or Jake had so at least we will shake it up a bit this year. She isn't in class with her best friend, Abby, but seemed excited to start school and had a great first week. She is especially excited about the 10AM Dance Time which they get as a reward on Fridays if there was perfect attendance that week.  She is doing gymnastics this fall. Recently she was moved up to the next level and so her class is 90 minutes every Tuesday. The day before school started she finally said she was ready to ride her bike. She got on it and took off. She's now pretty much an expert.  Thank goodness. Both Brian and I were starting to worry that she might be one of those adults that just NEVER LEARNED to ride. But,no, she was just waiting for her time. Just like Leo the Late Bloomer. I'm proud of her for mastering it!

Tanner is in fourth grade this year and he was assigned Mr. Borjian (the same 4th grade teacher Jake had who we all loved) but he had no friends in his class and his third grade teacher agreed with Brian and I that socially he would be much better off in the other class, so at the last minute he was placed into Mrs. Stice's class. He was very happy. He really likes his teacher and is already being more social, even hanging out at the Merc on his own with buddies after school on Friday.  One of his teacher aids suggested that we have him tested for GATE. Not sure if we will or not- but if you were to look up the words "Smart but Scattered" in the dictionary his little blond head would be there. He's so bright, but quietly so, and being the middle child we are both aware of how easy it is for him to slide under the radar.  And in a very haphazard way.  He's playing fall baseball with the 11/12 Dodgers. He's playing up for the fall for the experience. Brian is assistant coach. So far so good. I find that I miss baseball when we have time off! And since both boys practice on the same nights, which happen to be the night Faith has gymnastics, it means we only have sports commitments on Tues/Thurs.which is great!

Jake started middle school at Hillside. He made the adjustment pretty easily. He was really nervous and there were some tears in the days leading up to his first day, but he did great. He's so adaptable and so responsible. He is taking the bus which means he has to be up at 6AM and at the bus stop by 640.  Brian and Jackson walked him to the bus stop each day last week so Jackson thinks this middle school gig is awesome! He loves one of his teachers (reading and writing) but dislikes another (math).  He came home on the first day with a new friend- Maddie.  A girl, of course. He's now texting with her anytime he is awake so I guess she's his "girlfriend". He is also playing fall baseball, after deciding NOT to play middle school football as planned. I think both Brian and I were a little relieved. He went to the first two practices and maybe was a little intimidated. The weight limit is 120 but he is only 85 pounds and some of those guys are BIG, plus he didn't really like the coach.  He has taken to spending a few hours each Sunday with Papa and god help anyone that gets in the way of that one-on-one time! Those two are peas in a pod. Such a blessing.

So the kids are back in school which means Brian and I are back on an even keel after a long, difficult summer of trying to balance family and work all under one roof 24-7.  Brian moved his gym out to the garage so I could have a private office space upstairs in the bonus room. That took us a good two weekends as it involved building a floor in the garage, rearranging the garage from top to bottom, then rearranging all the furniture in the office to make two separate office spaces. But now that it is done it is AWESOME. I just found that with work getting so much busier (I took another promotion last month and am now Director of Implementation for the West Coast) it was getting harder and harder to be in the same office as Brian and not feel pulled in a million different directions. I'm not nearly as good at multi tasking as he is.  Now my mornings consist of  an early wake up with Jake some morning yoga in my "office",  then working upstairs with my beautiful view and new office space. Brian's not so sure about the new arrangement... but it's not like I go up there at 8 and he doesn't see me until 5. I"m up and down throughout the day.

Redfish Reunion

Our last hurrah of summer 2015 was a family trip to Redfish Lake Lodge with Kim's family, Lisa's family, mom, and Sheila and Wayne.  We spent the weekend in Boise first and had everyone to dinner at our house Saturday night, including Dad. We enjoyed eating outside and then had a family photo session with a local photographer which we had bought for mom for Mother's Day. We had dad in some of the pictures and some with just mom and the kids.

Sunday morning we took off, in 4 different cars, to head up to the Sawtooth Mountains. We checked in just in time to hear some live music and enjoy our birthday with some cocktails and dinner by the lake. It was a pretty nice way to usher in 44.

Each family had their own cabin but they were all close to each other. The resort is small and homey and includes a pier with boats for rent and a restaurant, plus a grill/bar by the lake. There's plenty of space for the kids to play. We brought up two new lawn games: Washer Toss and Spike Ball,  The adults liked washer toss while the kids played lots of spike ball. The first day most of us went on a long hike to view a waterfall while Brian and Faith stayed back to go fishing. That night the adults went out for a nice dinner at the lodge while the kids ordered burgers, ate by the lake, then played Apples to Apples and ate their weight in salt water taffy back in one of the cabins.

Tuesday we rented several paddle boards and a kayak. I took a nice long kayak trip with Lisa around the cove to check out our scouted location for the planned cookout that night. The lake was beautiful. Later that day I got the chance to take a long solo paddleboard trip. The kids switched off and also spent an inordinate amount of time digging a HUGE hole in the sand. The older girls all flirted with the cute boys playing football and made Jake their wingman. He was perfect for the job- he inserted himself confidently into their game then got their instagram accounts, asked their names, and got the girls "hooked up" on social media with them. Too funny.

That night we brought hotdogs and s'more fixings to a nearby beach. Brian and the boys fished, the older girls went in search of the football boys, and Faith did gymnastics on the nearby fallen log. It was peaceful and fun. It ended up with Jake, Tanner, and Aidan swimming in the near dark and freezing their butts off!

The trip went quickly and in no time we had to pack up and head back to Boise. But not before making plans to come back next year- with or without extended family!

Erics Wedding

So we are pretty significantly behind on the blog posting, compounded by some sign-in issues between our ISP and Google that I am trying to work thru (yay technical support!)....so this is Brian, even though it says posted by Marisa until Google gets things fixed.

Marisa wrote about our trip to CA earlier. The main reason for the trip was Eric's wedding and she left that one up to me to write about, which seemed fair. We weren't really ever sure this event was going to take place. Not that things might be called off or whatever because once they said they were doing it, I figured it was a done deal, but because I was never sure that Eric would get to this place anyway.

My cousin Eric is his own man, and leads a life fully of his own choosing (which is awesome), BUT not many people would choose that life. He has been working for the Warriors (mainly) since he was 10 years old and is one of the longest serving member of the organization. He loves and is passionate about what he does, it is just a CONSUMING lifestyle. He gets to work with some of the best athletes in the world in a sport that he has loved all his life and it makes him happy (which is more than most of us can say). It is just likely that you'll find him packing bags at 12:30 in the morning or finishing laundry at 2:00 AM. The wedding (and honeymoon) were the end of a pretty special year for "Uncle Eric" as the Warriors won their first NBA title since 1975 and he was on the court and in the locker room for the celebration.

I was never sure that he would find someone willing to put up with, let alone, buy into that kind of lifestyle, but he did! Codi and he are great together and we were thrilled to be able to go to Tahoe and celebrate their big day with them. A world championship followed by a wedding!

The wedding itself was gorgeous, set in Zephyr Cove on Lake Tahoe at dusk. It was a beautiful ceremony and the bride looked stunning. The reception afterwards was a lot of fun with great food and I got to see a lot of family that I haven't seen in a long time. The kids and their cousins had a blast in the photo booth and on the dance floor. Faith got to dance with Codi and Jake got a picture with both the bride and groom. The party ended too early for all the kids but they were exhausted and crashed as soon as we got back to the house.

It was a great trip highlighted by a once in a lifetime event. What a great way to see and spend time with Family. Congrats to Eric and Codi!

Eric's Wedding Trip

Our big family summer trip this year revolved around Brian's cousin Eric's wedding. We left Boise on Saturday July 25th after Faiths final swim meet. The meet was a fast one so we were on the road by 11am. With lunch, energy drinks, Starbucks, and road snacks on hand we turned on a good Spotify playlist and hit the road. It was an easy drive to Reno where we leaned yet again that any hotel room that costs less than 100 is not worth the savings.  Wow. Downtown Reno is not a nice place! The kids wanted to swim but when we checked I there were police officers kicking people out of the street side pool so we quickly made other plans. We made our annual pilgrimage to Scheels instead where the kids picked out first day of school clothes. 

After a pretty crappy nights sleep we headed to Kim's house in Mountain View where the kids hung out at the park and Jake got to see his Instagram girlfriend Ava. Kim and I got some time alone for coffee and shopping then we had nice dinner at their house.  

The next morning, after a few phone calls putting out fires about Dad at Paramount, we drove to Livermore to re-live some old times. We went to Nations for breakfast and drove by the old house. We wandered around downtown a little but and pointed out places of interest from our old life to the kids. We got to the Perottis house around noon and hung out by their pool all day. They have three boys and all the kids all played non stop. Brian and Jake left for the Giants game (a Christmas present from last Christmas) at 5 and the rest of us continued to hang out at the pool, watch the game on TV and eat take out. It was so much fun to spend time with Lisa and Dave and they were awesome hosts. We are hoping they get their butts to Boise soon- after all it has been 9 YEARS!!!

We drove to south Lake Tahoe the next day and spent the night at a good hotel right by Harvey's. We wandered down to the beach and then around Heavenly where the kids played a round of mini golf while we went shopping. We had a nice dinner outside then later came back out for dessert. The next morning we found a beach and hung out for a few hours while the kids played in the sand and we read our books. We did a crappy job packing so we had no beach chairs and no cooler so we spent a bit of money to rent chairs and pay for drinks. Weather was perfect. 

That afternoon we headed to the cabin where the Crebar's and Mary arranged. The kids re-united with their cousins and had a blast sleeping together- all 8 of them- in the large bonus room upstairs. We had spaghetti dinner and a fun round of apples to apples. The next day we headed to Zephyr Cove beach to see Auntie Sue and check out the wedding spot. The cousins played most of the day, like always when on a beach our children mostly spent their time digging holes!!! Only negative part of day occurred when I realized that a can of spray sunscreen had leaked all over my cell phone which necessitated a trip to the AT&T store where we were told there was no way to fix it. Ugh. So I now have a new iPhone. Brian and I were in charge of dinner that night, so taco night it was. 

Callen latched onto Tanner.  Faith latched onto Kylie and Jake hung with Christian.  They all get along so well. Hoping the Crebars also make a trip to Boise soon!

 

Summer Blog 2015

Summer is flying by. I spent a week in Chicago in June and a week in Pittsburgh in July for work so that made things a little crazier than normal. 

Usually by this time in the summer Brian and I are counting the days until school starts up again, but this summer has been a lot easier on a lot of fronts. With my work being way busier than normal we knew we’d need to adjust expectation. We told them up front that they would be making their own breakfast and lunch and entertaining themselves most of the day. The trampoline is in full use most days, Tanner is spending lots of time playing baseball with neighborhood friends, and Jake is doing a basketball training program. 

Jake spends most of his days out and about in the neighborhood. He is old enough to go to the pool himself and he is often hanging out with friends from 9-9. He also started a pet sitting business with our neighbor and they have been really busy walking dogs, feeding bunnies, keeping fish alive, etc… They are making a ton of money and earning a great reputation in the neighborhood. He also has a weekly babysitting job which he loves. He spends time the night before planning things to do with the kids and apparently he is the kids’ favorite babysitter ever! One week it was making kazoos; another it was rice crispy treats and bouncy balls. Last week he let the girls “do his hair”- which was pretty funny. 

Faith has been really loving swim team. Practice is daily from 830-930 and she has had 4 meets so far with one left to go. Halfway through the last meet she was so sad because she didn’t want it to end. As soon as we got in the car to come home she said, “I can’t wait until Monday for swim practice!.  It’s been so amazing for her confidence and stamina and strength. She plays with her friend Abby a lot during the week and uses her two hours of video game time daily to play Minecraft. She is still in gymnastics once a week and just mastered a skill she’s been working on for months.  

Once All Stars ended Tanner started daily hitting practice with Brian- which they both love. Tanner also hangs out with our neighbor, Tyler, and rides bikes, builds forts and plays at the creek.  The Xbox has gotten some use, too. The kids are often up until 10PM, playing outside or watching movies with friends. This makes it a little hard for Brian and I to get any time alone- with the kids home all day with us as we are working and then frequently awake until after we go to bed. 

Fourth of July was really fun this year. We delayed in planning anything and realized a few days before that the Hawks weren’t in town- which is our usual place to watch fireworks on the 4^th. So we opted to brave the annual event at Ann Morrison Park downtown. Slide the City was in town so we bought tix for that, loaded up the car around 5PM and hung out at the park throughout the evening and through the fireworks show. Jake brought his friend Dillon and we all had a great time! The waterslide at Slide the City was pretty tame- but I went behind the kids on my tube and kept running into them to keep them sliding and twisting. After the slide Tanner and Faith used the inner tubes in all manner of play- building forts, creating ball toss games, stacking and hiding in them, etc… They had a blast. There was live music and food trucks and chalk art festival.

We had a big heat wave at the end of June/early July and we used one of the 105 days to raft the river. We left in the evening and packed a picnic dinner. We have our own boat so it was easy and free. Faith was scared again and she literally cried all the way there but once we got on the boat she was fine and had fun. It is very tame but at one point Jake was swimming behind the boat and I got distracted and Brian couldn’t keep us out of the trees on the edge and I found myself face to face with a very large tree limb. I ducked in time to avoid another concussion but got pushed off the boat and it was a little scary. It was a great way to spend a hot evening, though, and we stopped on the way home for milkshakes to round out the night. 

Sheila and Wayne finally arrived on July 7^th and we’ve been enjoying hanging out together like usual. On Friday night we have an evening of Bocce and cocktails planned with another couple friend of ours, Rich and Kim.  

One week of work left then we leave on our much-anticipated summer vacation. We are spending a week in CA- 3 nights in the Bay Area and then 5 nights in South Lake Tahoe for Eric’s wedding. CAN’T WAIT!!

All Stars

We just finished Tanner's 09/10 All Star season. Jake played All Stars at this age as well. Just like with Jake's team I helped coach and just like with Jake's team we got a pretty quick beat down. 

The Outlaw team in a prior post, the Roadrunners, was a 9U team that was pretty good against other 9U teams. Most of the best players in this age group are 9 years old. For All Stars they combine with the 10 year olds to form the 09/10 team. The 10U players weren't as good as the 9U ones across the board AND now we're playing the 10U's from every other team as well. 

We played in a couple of outlaw tournaments with the AS team; Diary Days in Meridian and the East Boise Classic. We lost our first game in Dairy Days to the Mustard Seeds (a really good outlaw team, with a lot of NBLL 10 year old All Stars from the prior year, who weren't playing All Stars this year on it). We figured we would lose that one. Then we won our next game against the North West Ada Royals pretty easily. We then went on to lose every other game we played. 

We were out by Saturday morning in Dairy Days. Didn't win a game (didn't even get close) in the East Boise classic (and were also done by Saturday) and went 0-3 in the District All Star tournament to end our season. 

The tournament stuff is kind of to be expected. The competition is Cal Ripken teams, who are just generally more talented than Little League teams and play together, in tournament format, all year long. These two tournaments are in the heart of summer. It was 110 degrees for a couple of these games and the Little League kids just aren't used to playing double headers in this heat everyday of the tournament. The Ripken kids are. So by the second game of the weekend our kids are toast and start playing like it, making physical and mental mistakes that we just couldn't overcome. But, like I said, that's kind of expected. Some of the teams in these tournaments are Little League teams in disguise (like we were) and a couple of them were really good, so that didn't bode well for our future either. 

The first Little League All Star game was a disaster. We were playing the South West Ada All Stars. This was their "B" team. The more powerful leagues generally field two All Star teams; an older one (mostly 10's) and a younger one (mostly 9's), to make a really good team and a team that is getting experience for the next year. As we were a combination team, we should have been able to handle this team pretty easily. But the All Star tournament is a different beast. Everyone lines up, they play the Star Spangled Banner over the PA system, they play the Little League pledge, each kid gets introduced over the PA system, they shake hands with the opposing player and exchange commemorative pins....it's a big deal. So it made all of the kids a little nervous and threw them all a little off their game. Tanner was supposed to start that first game on the bench, but the starting catcher was so nervous he threw up in the dugout heading out to warm ups, so Tanner was the starting catcher. The other kids were such a mess that we made seven errors in the first inning and were down 8-0 when we came back into the dugout. 

They tried to fight back, Tanner's friend Evan hit a grand slam out to straight away center field to pull us even, but we couldn't hold it. Next we played a Nampa team, more errors, more of the same. Infield defense was one of the strongest parts of this team, but we just lost it at some point. For the last game we played the South West Ada 'A' team that we played in the tournament and they just beat up on us 18-1. 

Tanner really enjoyed the experience. He struggled to hit a little, but played really good at catcher and did such a good job defensively that he ended up being our starting first baseman, even though he had barely played any first base previously. He also was one our most consistent pitchers, throwing a ton of strikes, some of which got hit, allowing our defense to make some plays and some of them didn't. He did really really well overall and came out of the experience loving baseball more than ever. 

I have already signed him up to play Fall Baseball as he doesn't want to play football anymore, so he is looking forward to getting back out there and putting his new experience to use. 

Second Generation Swim Team

Faith’s best friend, Abby, joined the HSES swim team this year and we somehow convinced her to join, also. I remember loving swim team as a kid and I thought it would be awesome for Faith to experience so I pushed but didn’t insist. Between Abby and I we ended up getting her to join. From practice on Day 1 she was hooked!! She joined with the caveat that she would NOT do any of the meets; just the practices. And I agreed that was fine, secretly hoping the coaches would get her pumped up to try a meet at some point. 

I was shocked when she came home Thursday from practice and told me she had decided to do the swim meet this Saturday. She signed up for two events: 25 yard breaststroke and the Medley Relay (breaststroke).  My childhood memories of meets came flooding back and so I told her all about my countless Saturdays spent at the pool with towel spread out, surrounded by my friends, with a bag of snack foods to keep me “nourished” between events. I told her about the ribbons that lined my shelves in my bedroom, and about what “heats” mean in swimming, etc… We went out Friday evening to get snacks and packed her bag so it was ready to go for Saturday 745AM.

She woke up nervous and I worried there might be tears… but once we found her friend at the meet she was good to. I signed up to be a timer so I kissed her, wished her luck,  and headed to my lane. It was such a fun day! She swam the relay with no problem and then came in 2^nd in her 25 yd. breaststroke.  I was so proud of her for participating as she is not a real competitive spirit.

The boys slept in but when they woke up at 8:40 they remembered that Faith’s first event was at 9 and so they rode their bikes to the pool on their own and were there in time to watch her swim. Jake put his arm around her and walked her to her lane. They cheered her on alongside Brian and I.  I was so proud of them that, on their own, they decided to support their sister in her new endevour. In between events Brian took them across the street to hit some balls.

Toward the end of the meet the coaches realized they were short a swimmer for the final relay so they asked Faith to do it. She was nervous because it was freestyle and she hasn’t quite mastered the breathing thing yet… but she stepped up and did it and they did awesome! After the meet she said it was so fun and that she couldn’t wait until the next one. I guess my summer Saturdays just got a little more complicated!!

Midweek, Mid-day Game

One of Tanners Christmas presents was Yankees v. Mariners tickets in Seattle for him and I. Originally, the plan was for it to be part of a larger family trip, but with all the back and forth with Pete, the vacation days ended up having to be used differently than planned, so Tanner and I went alone. We had bought tickets to the mid-day game, flying up the night before and back after the game. 

We left after school on the last day of school and flew to Seattle. We got Smashburger in the airport for dinner which was just awesome. Tanner was very excited and as always liked the plane ride because he got soda. We got to the hotel in Federal Way just in time to watch the Mariners manager get thrown out of the game on TV before we hit the sack. 

We were up early the next morning (being back a timezone) and left the hotel to go have breakfast at Dennys. Tanner got his usual chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream and bacon. After breakfast we headed up to Seattle and found a place to park (free parking is a HIKE), and got to the park prior to it being open to the public. We found the gate that opened the earliest, which was out in the bullpen and hung out by the Yankees bullpen to kill some time. We stood there and watched Andrew Warren throw a pretty long bullpen session, which Tanner was really impressed with (A. because you are SO close, and B. because the kid threw SO fast). After they finished, we were just standing there talking and Larry Rothschild, the Yankees pitching coach walked up and gave Tanner a ball. Souvenir gotten, a game used, official MLB ball. 

We went to the bullpen store and looked around and as we were coming out, ran into Tanner's friend Evan and their family. We knew that they were going to this game also, but figured finding them wouldn't be as easy as running into them on the concourse. By then the rest of the stadium was opened and so we all went to the BIG Mariners store. Tanner got a new (and 50th or so) Yankees hat. I got a vintage Seattle Rainiers shirt and we picked up a program and scorecard. The big highlight of the trip was I was going to teach Tanner to keep score. 

We went to the "speed pitch" booth and Tanner was able to hit 46 on the gun and throw two out of three for strikes. 

We went to our seats and I showed Tanner how to set up the scorecard; getting the line-ups straight, the weather, first pitch time etc. He sat there with his pencil at the ready while they opened up the roof just in time for first pitch. We ended up sitting right in front of a bunch of other folks who had come in from Boise also. We got some nachos prior to the game getting started and then settled in for a really fun game. Mark Texiera hit a two run home run and there was some good pitching. Tanner kept up his scorecard the whole time. We ran out between innings to get hot dogs and then again to get candy (it's hard to tell with me whether the big draw is the game or the food) but didn't miss logging a pitch. I taught him how to close the book on the pitchers, what the positions were numbered, how to handle substitutions etc. and he seemed to have a really good time. He finalized his scorecard on the plane ride on the way home, figuring the game statistics for each player for both teams. 

We got home pretty late after the game and Tanner proceeded to crash out for the next couple of days.  It was such a short turn around, and so packed full that it took him some time to recover. It was a lot of fun for both of us and time away from the family together is always special. 

Naming the Hooligans

Our school had their annual auction a few months ago and we bid on an item donated by a local farming couple, the Whitings, who are both retired MIT Professors and now own and run a farm about a half mile from our house. They donated the naming rights for their three newborn calves. Perfect.  We have three kids... they have three calves that need names. And even better? No one outbid me when I started the bid at 40.00!

It took us awhile, what with all the chaos of dad's many moves, but we finally arranged the visit to the Whiting farm and visited them last Sunday. The Whitings are just great and they greeted the kids and took them on a gator ride around the farm (after doing donuts in the driveway) and not only did they get to name the calves (Tanner's is called Captain, Jake's is called Clutch, and Faith's is named Oreo) but they also go to hold baby chicks, feed the chickens, and fed the horses apples while nuzzling their necks. It was pretty awesome.

We drive by the Three Hooligans (as they are lovingly referred to by the Whitings) almost daily so the kids can wave and say hello and can stop by there to visit anytime they want. It was a pretty awesome way to spend a Sunday morning!

Baseball, Spring into Summer

So as usual this time of year, we have been consumed by baseball. Both boys played North Boise Little League again, Tanner in AAA and Jake in Majors. I managed Tanners team again and continue to serve on the NBLL Board of Directors.

AAA - Tanner was on the Yankees again this season. This was the first year that he needed to be drafted as he hit the magic 9 year old season. I wanted him to play with as many of his friends from the prior year as possible, so I used most of my first round picks on 9 year olds in a division that spans from 9-11. End result was that he played with his buddies, but the 11 year olds that were left when I started drafting them weren't the greatest players, so we struggled. We started the season at 0-5 before we were able to win our first game. We ended the season at 2-8, but won our first tournament game which was a lot of fun, but then lost the next one and our season was over. The team definitely got better towards the end, but the coaches and I had to work our butts off to get them there. We have a VERY young team and our 9 year olds were good, but they couldn't carry us against older and bigger teams. We just finished the AAA season yesterday and Tanner and I went and handled the field prep and watched the game. 

Majors -  Jake was hoping to get drafted up into Intermediate's this year, but ended up staying in Majors due to the number of 14 year olds that we had this year (it's a long story, just trust me). He got drafted by if not THE best, one of the best managers in the league and had a VERY good season. His team ended up winning the championship, meaning he has been on back to back Majors Divisions Champions. He played a lot this year, pitching, catching and playing second base. He got better, but decided NOT to play more baseball this Summer and use his Summer Athletic Budget for basketball camp. 

Outlaw -  Tanner didn't get enough baseball during Spring and is playing on an Under 9 "Outlaw" (meaning non-league affiliated team) team this Summer. One of the other AAA Managers and I put a team together for this Summer call the Road Runners. We played a two day tournament over Memorial Day weekend finishing third overall. We played against a lot of league "All Star" teams (they just can't be called that yet) and did really well. We won our first game on Friday night 15-0, they won our second game on Saturday morning 10-0. Then we played a Nampa team who had a really good pitcher, and by that time our kids were struggling with their third game and second in the heat and we ended up losing. If we had played them again, I'm convinced we would have won. That loss put us in the 3rd/4th place game. We beat the Twin Falls Cowboys to take third place in our first outing. Tanner and his friends (there are several on that team as well) had a great time and really loved the experience, although he was a little disappointed because he thought we were going to get to stay in a hotel for the tournament. When I asked him on the way home, what his favorite part of the experience was, he said, " that everyone else on my team could play". It is a TOTALLY different experience that regular season where there are 3-4 good players on each team and the balance of kids struggle to this were the whole roster is full of kids who are good and can play (and love) baseball.  Tanner caught (his favorite position this season) and played Center Field, he hit a couple of RBI doubles in the tournament also. We are hoping to put the Outlaw uniforms back on after All Stars to finish out the Summer and roll into Fall Baseball. 


All Stars -  The Outlaw team is a run up to All Stars. The same AAA Manager and I are running the All Star program at the 9/10 age group for the league this year. We have tryouts next month and then play two run up tournaments in June prior to starting the Little League District tournament in July. It's tournament baseball which is tough, schedule-wise; two to three games per day in the Summer heat in hot baseball uniforms, so it will be interesting to see how they handle it. It's a bit of a bear from an organization standpoint, so getting it up and running is a lot of work but it should be a lot of fun and again a situation where all of the kids will be really good players. We have quite a bit of talent at this age group and will actually have to make cuts to get down to the 12 person roster. That hasn't been the case the last few years. I'm looking forward to a fun Summer of baseball and will get better about posting updates and we continue to play this summer. 

The Kids Visit Papa

I flew to CA last week to move dad from the skilled nursing facility in Pacific Grove to his new home in Sunnyvale at Belmont Village.  I took the kids and they stayed with Bill, Abby, and Aidan while Kim and I got dad settled in.  We drove down to Pacific Grove, packed up his things that were there, and headed to his new home.  He didn’t really understand where we were going or why. He alternated between thinking we were in the army and thinking we were on a family vacation. It was hard but overall he seemed OK with the move so that was good.  Brian had to coach baseball so he wasn’t able to come with us. I was bummed, as it has been a really long haul- emotionally and physically- going through this with my dad, but I understood. Imagine my surprise  when it was10:00PM in CA and I received a phone call from Brian telling me he was right down the street.  He had coached his game from 9-12 then gotten in the truck and driven straight to San Jose- 11+ hours- so he could be there with me on Sunday when I brought the kids to see their Papa.  That man is good with the “grand gesture”!! I was pretty happy to replace my partner in bed (Faith) with her daddy.  I was touched and the kids were absolutely astounded that Brian drove 12 hours there and 12 hours back so he could spend about 10 hours with us in CA!

After getting Dad settled on Saturday evening, I took the kids to see him Sunday morning. He was really happy to see them and I experienced a very touching moment with him and all three of them.  He had pulled them all in close to him (after asking Tanner and Jake what their sister’s name was) and had them on his bed and proceeded to tell them how very proud he is of them and how much he loves them all. I got it most of it on video and I know how special this moment will always remain to me and once they are older and rewatch the moment on video I know they will appreciate it on a deeper level.

Jake was awesome with Papa. He was the only one not really afraid of dad. Tanner and Faith were a little nervous around him (understandably so) but Jake was really able to be natural with him, talk to him, make conversation,  and joke with him. He lovingly hugged him and held his hand throughout the visit.  When Dad said something that was “off” Jake was able to roll with it. When the nurse tried to get dad to shower and change clothes and he refused Jake was able to get him to change his mind. It was pretty special to see. 

Quincy and Jessa had gotten Papa some Captain America PJs when they were there last month and since Tanner’s favorite tshirt is his Captain America shirt, he decided he would wear it when we visited Dad. Dad happened to be wearing his shirt, too, and I got some great pictures of the two them together in their matching shirts…but I somehow deleted them and despite great efforts to recover them, it appears they are gone for good. I will try to recreate the pic when we return in June!

Despite the sad circumstances the cousins all had fun together over the weekend. Jake made friends with some of Abby’s friends and, in fact, now has his first “girlfriend”.  He has been “instagramming” and “face timing” with her, as well as texting with her since we got back. Apparently he asked her to be his girlfriend and she agreed but also said, “To be honest, I’m not really sure what that means…”.  He’s pretty excited for our June trip out to San Jose because now he gets to spend time with Papa AND with his girlfriend!

On the way airplane on the way home Jake wrote Brian and I a letter describing why he thinks he should get to go visit Papa more often. We had talked about how expensive it is to get there and had told the kids that I will be visiting frequently but they will probably not get to see Papa anywhere near as often. Jake’s essay is below:

Why You Should Let Me Visit Papa Often

First of all, he loves having kids there and I personally think he is better with kids there.  So far four people have commented on how good I am with Papa.  If I do such a good job with Papa, and he likes kids there, why can’t I help him get better?  I think he is not as depressed when I am there. I understand how how much the flights cost but do other flights cost more than the antidepressant pill?

Second, Papa and I get along really well- almost like best friends. We talk about sports and joke around. I have made him smile and laugh.  Many people say “laughter is the best medicine”. 

Also, I feel that I am really good at convincing Papa to do something (like taking a shower) and also making him feel useful, which is very important.  Is it just a coincidence that he is much stronger and eating way better since I came? This is one of my strong suits.

If you think this is because I want to see Ava, you would be wrong. I want to help Papa and I think I can do that with what I have seen.  Seeing Ava is just a bonus J  I know that family comes first and you know that, too.  If I’m helping family, then what’s the big deal? Why can’t I go see him more often?

Things I Would Help Papa With

·         Papa likes a little competition so we could play Wii together or play a quick game of trivia

·         I can just take him down to the courtyard to talk. We have endless topics to talk about

·         We can walk down to the courtyard to get exercise

No offense to Tanner, Faith, Abby, or Aidan, but they get kind of nervous around Papa and don’t talk, while I am up fron t and talk to him and ask questions he can answer for me to make him feel useful, like “Papa, I really like 60’s music, can you recommend anything?” or “I am just wondering what it was like being a pilot”.  Just little things like that I think would help.

I have a big heart and want to help Papa and I kind of have to be there to help him. Let me put my heart into this and help. It’s not just grown-up business.  Think about what would be best for Papa.