It looked gorgeous but it was a tad chilly. The sun finally came out so I actually got out of the car…but am still under a blanket. 🥶 C’mon summer.
Tom didn’t plan on helping out but once he got there of course he did! Unfortunately no pics of Owen because they were too far away. But! He appears to be one of the better kids on the team!!
So today we were cleaning out Owen’s baseball bag which hasn’t been touched since we moved. Lots of great memories… /sniff/ Here’s hoping a new city and new team ends up just as awesome as our last…
Father and son before Owen’s last at-bat (where he got a slamming base hit—watch in the video below)!! We joked that we should have taken him to a big league game earlier because it obviously affected his game play!
Sidenote: just look at his face! OMG, I didn’t even see it when I took it because their faces were in shadow. I finally saw it when I edited the photo! He is such a hoot!
During the game, the kids signed frames for all four coaches:
The coach got each player a holder for their game ball:
Swarming the food table like ants!
Tom getting his thank you:
And we got the team and player photos:
Of course we had to pick a position early in the season…had it been later, we would definitely have picked first base.
Lisa and Lori are huge baseball fans and Tom has wanted to take Owen to a professional baseball game since we’ve been here, so it seemed fitting that they all go together while Katie and I stayed home. I wouldn’t have minded going, but I know Katie would have gotten bored (she’s used to being able to run around and play with her friends during Owen’s SHORT games, so I couldn’t imagine her sitting for a three-hour game) so I kept her home and took her to the Friday Night Swim instead.
Owen even had the right cap to wear as one of his previous baseball teams was the Nationals! (He thought her had a shirt, too, except we determined that was the season they only got plain red shirts with logo caps.)
They got home about 11:30 (there was an hour metro ride home after the game) and Owen was STILL excited when he walked in the door. I’m so glad they got to go and he got to see everything!
Owen totally rocked first base today and earned another game ball!!
And WOW did he earn it. He was amazing to watch—he totally looked like a pro out there with one foot on the base, arm stretched out, catching a throw from third base like it was nothing and easily getting the out. Or leaving the base to catch a throw and easily making it back to base for the out. I think he got all three outs one inning! We are so proud of him!!
I really wish I could get video of him playing first base, but every time I’ve tried, nothing happens or it’s a bad play (of course, right?). And I don’t really want to record the whole inning. But we have one game left so I might try…
And this was little sister during the game—such a monkey.
When calls are impossible to tell the ruling defaults to the runner so Owen was safe, but I’d been recording so I could go back in slo-mo and check it out:
Even with video replay it was super close, but it looked like Owen had his foot on the base and the other guy was inches away from tagging him.
Gramma Jean and Grandpa David came down to watch the kids while we did house hunting stuff… And they arrived in time to go to baseball with us!
Katie and I stayed home while the boys went for team pictures.
A friend sent this. We are really going to miss these people.
The game ball is a VERY big deal to the kids this year…and Owen was VERY upset that he didn’t get it at the last game where he had some good fielding plays (it actually was between him and someone else, but the coaches went with the younger player because he had shown more overall improvement). So, we had our fingers crossed that he would do well this game…and he did. He did AMAZINGLY well. All the moms in the stands even said he should get the game ball! So when the game was over, Tom motioned to me to come video…so below, you can see Owen being presented the game ball! And here he is, proud as ever. 🙂
The game ball, for awesome fielding, including two great outs playing first base!
He was also two for three (I guess in baseball that would be .667!) batting tonight!
And me and bug during the game:
This is how Katie keeps busy during baseball games.
It was chilly and rainy again so Katie and I stayed home while Tom and Owen went to the ceremony. I felt guilty because I should have been taking pictures… But you’ve seen one opening ceremony you’ve seen them all…right?!
And another parent sent this pic so I’m happy.
Watching games is a lot more fun now that the kids really kind of know what they’re doing. They’re pretty consistent with hitting the ball (Owen hit all three at-bats) and there are even close plays on bases!
He’s been going to baseball camp every day from 9a – 2p and loving it! They play games while learning and practicing baseball skills. (He learned to bunt this week!) Today was the last day and they had a little wrap-up session where they handed out [dollar store] bases and trading cards to everyone.
It was crazy hot and sunny for the last game today. Thankfully friends had brought a huge canopy so we all got to sit (or lay!) in the shade!
Owen did super amazing awesome today…unfortunately, I had unexpected phone storage issues (even after I deleted a ton of stuff) so I ended up missing recording a few hits and runs—and a few videos got cut short. GRRR!
And he asked to be catcher today!! He did have some balance issues (see next photo—he kept his feet together instead of using a wide stance so he kept falling over) but he worked through them and did a great job! And looked damn cute!
The coaches actually called the game a half hour early because it was so hot. They had a quick award ceremony afterward.
I had to transcribe what the coach said because it was super awesome and is very hard to hear on the video—the Closed Captions should be turned on so you can read along but here it is just in case:
Due to my phone issues, I missed the first thing he said: I like to call him The Big O!
Come on up! I’ve really seen Owen’s catching progress. Behind the plate as well as catching the ball in the field. Alright, you are certainly catching it like the guys at the next level and very impressive. You’ve had some great hits as well. Alright. I love seeing your enthusiasm out here. Good job, buddy.
Team picture by another mom (since my phone was still acting up):
Then the pizza party!!!
And showing off his award! He had to run and get this T-ball award from last year, too—he was so excited to have two! He said he will put them both on a shelf together! 🙂
Katie is LOVING taking her scooter to baseball. This is what she discovered she could do tonight.
Owen did great as the “pitcher” tonight! Normally I wouldn’t record this stuff (because you, in essence, have to record the entire game) but I wanted to try and get some video since Tom wasn’t able to be there. 🙂
Daddy was tired and took a little cat nap.
Katie enjoyed her scooter.
And posed for some pictures.
And Owen finally played catcher!
Unfortunately, daddy wasn’t there to see it as the garage door broke as we were pulling out of the driveway…so he had to stay and wait for the landlord.
Two of his at-bats (he struck out on his last attempt) and bringing a run in:
And I missed Owen’s best play because it was when he was playing third base and I never record in the outfield… But he caught a pop fly and then tagged a runner out on third! DOUBLE PLAY! The crowd went wild! He was SO excited and so happy!!
Katie was having fun on her scooter—she had never really used it before today and was very tents on it but got progressively better. She’s great about wearing her helmet and puts it on every time!
As a friend commented, What is this shiny bright ball of light in the sky? It’s blinding! Seriously. It’s been raining just about every day for almost a month. So this was a perfect evening for a game!
Pay attention for a Katie surprise in the middle of this video. 🙂
Of course, the first gorgeous day we’ve had in forever and we didn’t have a game scheduled—just team pictures! It was like herding cats trying to keep 12 boys somewhat under control while they waited their turns.
Amazingly, Owen isn’t the tallest on his team! He’s actually third tallest! (Though I’m not sure what grade/how old the other two are.)
They won, too! 🙂
It started off overcast and cool… We kept our fingers crossed but eventually it was raining. Not fun. But the kids were all doing great!
Katie had fun playing catch with daddy beforehand.
Montage of Owen’s at-bats and runs:
They did end up calling the game a little over an hour in because it was really coming down. So it was home for warm showers/baths and comfy clothes!
Technically not what I’d consider a new outfit…but the tee is new for this season. 🙂
Watching Owen at bat!
Papa and Gannie took the kids to baseball tonight and Owen had his first attempt as catcher (he’s wanted to but he needed a cup…so we finally bought one!). He said he loved it!! (Thanks to Grannie Lin for the pics!)
