Derek's Big Hit

After many rain outs and an extended off period for Spring Break, Derek is finally starting to get the hang of this baseball thing. He moved up this year to an older league and has struggled. He was demoralized and said that he wasn't going to play again next year. But a few games ago he coaxed a walk in his team's last at bat which allowed the top of the batting order to have a shot at a comeback. Last game he hit a ball hard, but was caught by the right fielder. Then last night he lined a ball up the middle for a clean hit. He had a big grin on his face as he ran to first base. We were so excited and it was really great to see how his team and coaches were so happy for him. To top off the evening he got the game ball and an ice-cream sandwich for the after game snack.

Spring Break 2009: Seagrove Beach (Day 1 of 8)

Packed and ready to hit the road



Derek checks out his new skim board birthday present from Aunt Laine

Adam likes the bunk room

Saturday April 4, 2009

This year we went back to Seagrove Beach, FL for Spring Break. We've been going to the same development in Seagrove for 3 of the past 4 years (we went to Pensacola a couple years ago). We love the area. You can ride bikes up and down 30-A to neighboring towns like Seaside, the houses have a nice balance of elegance with a beachy feel - not too stuffy and no high rises\busy strips, the neighborhood has a heated pool, and the beach has a saltwater lake that connects to the Gulf where the kids love to play and skim board.

Here are the houses we've stayed at in Seagrove:

• 2009: Beach Java
• 2008: Amazing Place
• 2006: Five SeaSons

Here's a good website and interactive map of the area.

We followed the usual plan where I play my ALTA match in the morning before heading out of town. I hate to miss 2 weeks in a row. The baseball league takes off for Spring Break, thankfully, so the boys didn't have games. Helen did her best to get everything ready, but we were still a couple hours later than our 12 pm goal time for leaving town. The traffic south of Atlanta on I-85 was backed up, of course. How many more years before they finish that construction...and why is nobody ever working on it?

We arrived about 9 pm. Everyone else was already there: my brother, Jason, and his wife, Laine, along with my sisters, Kelley and Katie, and my Mom. Kelley flew to Pensacola from Anchorage and Katie picker her up on her drive over from Baton Rouge.

We unloaded the van, which is not too bad with everything packed nicely into plastic storage bins. When the boys went to check out their bunk room they found new skim boards that Aunt Laine and Uncle Jason got them for their birthday. They were so excited and came running downstairs holding the new boards. We didn't even have to tell them to give hugs and kisses.

Adam Is 7

Fighting with weapons as a warm up

Pizza and burp contest

Cake and presents (Bakugan's and Lego's)

A lot of spontaneous wrestling

Adam, Ryan, Max, Evan, and Wyatt striking a pose before the movie

Adam turned 7 on April 11, which was the Saturday we drove home from the beach. Driving most of the day wasn't the best way to spend a birthday, but he did get to pick where we ate lunch (KFC) and dinner (Panda Express). We also picked up a cake and he got to open presents from us (an MP3 player, Carnival Games for his Nintendo DS, Playmobil Knights, and Tech Deck mini-skateboards).

Derek's birthday is March 30 and Adam's is April 11. They're close together and right around Spring Break (teacher timing) and Easter, which makes this time a whirlwind for us each year.

Derek and Adam are lucky to have multiple birthday parties each year. They usually get a friend party, a party at the beach with my family, a party at Easter with Helen's family, and a low-key party with the immediate family.

Adam's friend party was this past Friday evening. This year Adam picked a pizza party and movie (like big brother Derek), but thank goodness there was no sleepover. Those kids were wild. Adam invited his friends Ryan, Evan, Wyatt, and Max to see "Monsters vs Aliens" In 3-D.

Derek as Elvis

We're back from the beach, which means there's a lot of catching up to do. Hopefully, I'll be able to blog about our beach trip soon, but for now I wanted to blog about Derek's project that he did on Elvis Presley before Spring Break.

Each child in Derek's 4th grade glass had to pick a person to do their project on. They had to read a biography, put together some facts, make a poster with some pictures and some facts, and then give a presentation in front of the class acting as the person they picked.

Derek did a good job and was happy with how the project turned out, but it wasn't looking so good when I came home from work the night before it was due. I saw that he had a lot of information, but it wasn't very well organized. He was in crisis mode trying to pull it together. I offered minimal help on the grounds that just because it was a crisis for him didn't mean it was a crisis for me. He should have prepared earlier like I'm always telling him. Helen, being much nicer than I am, helped him scramble and pull it together.

Derek is 10!

Almost 1 - First steps

Almost 3

5

7

8

Adam helps decorate the cake

Today is Derek's 10th birthday. Double digits - it's hard to believe.

Happy birthday, son. You've grown into a wonderful, fun loving, young man. We're proud of you and we love you very much.

Derek had a sleepover birthday party on Friday night with his friends Henry, Abraham, Gavin, and Christian. They had pizza and cake and then we took them all to see "Escape To Witch Mountain". I only had to tell them once at bed time to quiet down. I told them that their parents would not be happy if I had to call for a pickup at such a late hour.

Baseball

Adam remembered his cup so he got to play catcher

Adam's play date with Erin

Derek and Solomon

Baseball practice started about a month ago and opening day was this past weekend. Opening day was supposed to be the previous weekend, but that weekend was a total washout (although we still had to show up for team pictures). That weekend was also opening weekend for my ALTA tennis team and that was postponed as well, which means make-ups squeezed into an already busy schedule.

This weekend was beautiful. Both of the boy's games were at 9:00 Saturday. I missed them because of tennis. Adam moved up to the 7-8 league and Derek moved up to the 9-10 league. Adam's not even 7 yet so he's a little over matched right now. In the 7-8 league they alternate coach pitch and kid pitch each inning. When Derek played in the league last season it seemed like it always came down to the last coach pitch inning since the teams usually score their 5 run limit each coach pitch inning. In the 9-10 league it's kid pitch the whole time and stealing bases is allowed. If you don't have a decent catcher the other team steals every base. Derek caught last year in 7-8 when there was no stealing, but with stealing now it's a lot harder.

After baseball everyone came to my tennis match. We were playing the subdivision where Derek's teacher, Ms H, lives and he wanted to come and see if she would be there. Unfortunately, she was there early but had to leave by the time Derek arrived. Our team won the division last year and is in first this season after 2 weeks. I've been on a roll for a while...the beer and food always taste that much better after winning. It's really better for the entire family if I win. It can take some time for me to get over a loss.

It was nice to get all the activities out of the way early. We came home and piddled around some and then Adam's friend, Erin, called for a play date. She was in Adam's class last year and they just love playing with each other. They have a little crush on each other - it's very cute. Adam balks at playing with the girls in the neighborhood, but when Erin calls he drops everything.

Derek called his friend Solomon to come over and skateboard and play the Wii.

We did a little yard work and some other things, but overall it was a nicely paced weekend. It was relaxing not to be running all around like we usually are.

Snow The Day The Music Died

It snowed a couple weekends ago. The snow was pretty with big flakes and the kids tried to play in it, but it was very wet and messy. I had gone into work for something and when I called to tell Helen that I was headed home she said it was snowing hard. I asked if the kids were outside playing in it. She said that Adam was, but that Derek was despondent because he just found out that he had left his MP3 player in his pants and it had been through the washer and no longer worked.

Derek had used a gift card from Christmas to buy the player and he had really been into it. He was constantly at the computer downloading music from my collection onto it and we thought it was really cute how he was so passionate about it.

Derek was sad, but Helen said he was really worried that I would be mad. I didn't give him too hard a time. I just reiterated my mantra (which he doesn't really buy into) about how everything has a place and how things should always be put back in their place...live and learn.

Adam was working fevershily on a snow fort when I got home, but it wasn't really going anywhere and he was soaked through so I made him go in and change so we could walk over to a birthday party for his friend, Ryan. Helen and I were coming down with something. School was canceled the next day and Helen slept most of the day. This winter has been the absolute worst for us in terms of sickness.