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.