Baseball!

The other day Cooper climbed into bed with me first thing in the morning and helped himself to the remote watch cartoons.  I was furiously grading an assignment for my online class before any of the kids woke up and didn't really pay much attention to him, which is why I was totally surprised to look over at him and see this:

I am also really surprised that today is a Monday that is actually a Monday.  I mean, Ben does not have class today, and the 4th is tomorrow, so I figured this would be more of a weekend day.  But then I saw a message from the pool's FB feed that there are actual swim and dive lessons this morning, so I knew I had to set an alarm.

I have already graded for my real online class and prepped an adjunct one that starts on Monday.  I am going to go exercise after I finish this blog entry, and my goal is to have all 3 bathrooms bleached and all the upstairs bedrooms cleaned and dusted and vacuumed before 9:20.  Then all I have to do is clean the living room/kitchen and mop the floors after lessons and before I can spend the rest of the day poolside.  Wish me luck!

Jack had a not fun Little League experience last summer, so this summer, he wanted to go back to rec ball.  He got on the world's best team, which is totally luck of the draw.  His team has like 6 coaches, and every practice they have 2 fields, so they can do machine-pitch batting practice and fielding drills, and the kids get TONS of one-on-one time with coaches.  Jack is doing GREAT!  He even volunteered to play catcher again, which was a big fear of his since he got hit with a pitch.

 Safe!  (He loves to slide even when he doesn't have to).

 We ran to Peoria real quick on Friday, and the kids loved these large yard games.

 Except Dorothy, who was just kind of bored.

 Jack was clearly NOT bored.

 Oh, Dorothy.

 Ben took the kids to see Despicable Me 3, and I got dressed up to go out with some high school friends to see I Mom So Hard Live.  IT WAS HYSTERICAL!  What a great show.  My face hurt from laughing, even.

 The next morning my dad and I took the kids out to breakfast and to the park.  (They were horribly behaved at breakfast.  HORRIBLE.  Like, I don't even know if I can go back there and I really like that place horrible.).

 Instead of our usual Pekin park, we went to the Illinois River park and splash pad downtown.  I took baby Harry there a million years ago, but the rest of the kids have never been there.

Jack liked it.

 Cooper, showing us his best side.

 Dorothy started by just putting her feet in the water, but then she was all, why can't I be like a boy and took off her dress. (We didn't plan to go to the splash pad, but there it was.  So.)

 And then!  Cooper bitched THE WHOLE WAY HOME TO WISCONSIN that his car seat was wet.

 But her navigated us to an excellent Portillo's lunch.

 Where Ben and Dorothy got their own table.

 Our friend Betsy sent the world's best book for the kids (and also books for me!!  yay friends!!)

 We came home after a quick 24 hours in Pekin because Ben and Harry's team had their second baseball playoff game, the one that would determine whether they were playing for the championship or for third place.

AND THEY WON!

 Harry spent basically all day yesterday getting pumped for the championship game and checking the radar because it was supposed to rain.

Jack and I went out for coffee and toys (Ben's parents sent him a gift card because he broke his face)

 There was, indeed, a rain delay mid-game (bottom of the third with 2 outs and the game tied 2-2, to be exact).  Ben's team didn't mind because he brought my Beats Pill so he could play music for them, and they literally jumped to House of Pain's Jump Around for the whole delay.  He also brought them Gatorade and Big League Chew (which is hilarious in a candy cigarette sort of way, especially because when they were warming up after the delay they all had huge cheek bulges and were chomping away), so they were plenty sugared up.

 They got a quick last out after the rain and scored 2 runs in the top of the 4th, one that walked in and a stolen one, which was awesome because the catcher HAD THE BALL-- v. exciting.

Despite some good hits, we didn't score any runs at the top of the fifth, but the other team got one in the bottom, bringing the score to 4-3-- SO CLOSE!  I am a way better hockey spectator because those games are really fast-paced.  Even a tight baseball game is SOOOOOO SLOOOOOOW, and I am anxious for the kids (and Ben) the whole time.

Harry made a killer catch on third base in the bottom of the fifth to end that inning before any more runs came in.  Harry also called off 2 of his teammates to get that ball, and Ben was totally worried he wouldn't catch it-- I wish I had a picture of Ben chewing his knuckles or of the catch.

Our team was 3 up/3 down at the top of the 6th (they only play 6 innings) and the other team's parents were getting real rowdy and screamy and cheery.  I was REALLY WORRIED that the home team was going to score the two runs they needed in the bottom of the 6th, and I think the kids were, too.  I know the coaches were for sure.

The first pitch of the inning was in the air to second base, and the second baseman snagged it.  The second batter hit a ball in the air to short, and the short stop caught it.  The third batter popped it up to third, and HARRY CAUGHT IT to end the game!  And then he kept the ball, walking around with it in his back pocket like he's Anthony Rizzo or something.

 They had a trophy ceremony

 And took a picture in front of their scoreboard

 They were SO HAPPY!

 We got pizzas for the team right after the game, and the kids ate them and a cooler full of popsicles (that I was so worried would melt, especially with the rain delay) and played a game of pickle that was so rowdy Harry ripped his sliding pants to shreds.

 And then it was all over-- a pile of muddy jerseys for Ben to turn in and some paper plates to recycle.

 Beatrix missed out on all the action but somehow I don't think she minded.