Look Out, Reggie Jackson

Well, Amanda told you about how the girls got to take a ballet class last summer. Well, the boys got to take a sports class, too, last summer. Unfortunately, we don’t have any pictures of them in action, because the day Amanda was going to go photograph them, the class was cancelled. Amanda was a little sad that she didn’t get to see them at their first class, but when you have more than one child, you just have to miss some events, unfortunately.

This class was in the style of parent/child, so I (Dave) went with the boys and got to coach them along. They were among the youngest ones there and did pretty well, considering. The class was an “Intro to Sports” class which introduced toddlers to throwing, hitting, catching, kicking, etc… Now, to those of you who have been around our family, you know that Drew is the sports lover and Jack is the one doesn’t have the love of sports…yet. Although, as this video shows, when they were one and a half, they sure did fight to the death over a ball. [Click here if you can’t see the video below.]

Oh how we wish their fights were that tame now! Anyway, the boys were a little like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at sports class. One absolutely loved playing with all of the balls, so when he got to learn all about new things to do with balls during his class, he just loved it. The other couldn’t care less if he was throwing a ball, sitting on a ball, or calculating the circumference of a ball. A typical day at sports class last year went something like this:

Drew: “Come on! Throw me the ball, Daddy!”

Jack: “I’m bored, is it time to go yet?”

Dave: “Great kick Drew! Jack, get back here!”

Drew: “I kicked it really good, huh Daddy?”

Jack: “Can I throw the baseball at Drew’s head?”

Dave: “Way to swing that bat Drew! Where’s Jack???”

Overall, we had a good time, but it’s pretty evident as to who likes sports in the family. While Jack will often fall asleep with sunglasses on,  Drew will often be found snuggling with his little mini basketball. Since he was very young, he has always had the disposition to play sports. Before he was two, he was dribbling a ball and hitting kick balls with a bat when we pitched them to him. When taken to the toy store and given his choice last summer, he picked a ball. His choice of tattoo at a picnic was also a ball.  Balls are just his thing!   Needless to say, we see lots of sporting events with Drew in our future!

Over the winter Amanda saw that there was a baseball league that Drew could possibly play in. Even though the league was a developmental league for kids ages 4-6, Amanda emailed the league commissioner and asked for an exception. Thankfully, he agreed to let Drew play, but I (Dave) had my reservations. Being very competitive myself, I didn’t want to see my son be the worst one on the team, because he was so young and little. However, I was happy when he was placed on the New York Yankees, and he ended up with Reggie Jackson’s #44. (We gave Jack the choice to play, too, but he chose a summer class with the girls. More about that later.)

So, the first practice came and went, and after practice was over, I was about to have Drew quit. Shy by nature, he didn’t really know what to do, and he was very scared. He was the shortest kid out there, and the others seemed to know what they were doing (somewhat). On the drive home I decided that instead of quitting, our backyard was going to be our spring training center. We were going to do stretching, pushups, sit-ups, squats, sprints, batting practice, fielding practice, and drills. Well, maybe not all of that, but I was determined for him to get better. But, I wanted him to want to get better, so Amanda and I made baseball a lot of fun in the backyard with him. If he didn’t want to play, no big deal. By the time I was a sophomore in high school, I was totally burned out with baseball. My coaches made it be like a dreadful job. Plus, I wanted to do other things, like play basketball with my friends and get better at tennis.  So, I quit baseball. If our kids want to play sports, that’s great, but if they don’t, that’s fine with me as well.

The way Drew’s league is set up, the team has one practice during the week and games are on Saturday morning. During the game, the coach will throw about 5 pitches to the kid, and if they don’t hit it by then, they’ll get out a tee, where the kid will hit it. So, everyone hits the ball, everyone gets on base, and there are no outs. The last batter gets to hit a grand slam no matter what. So, each 1 hour game lasts about 2-3 innings and ends up with a score being around 40-40.

 

When the other team is up to bat, all of the players are positioned around the infield. Whenever someone hits the ball, it’s usually a mad scramble to get the ball. The first game was pretty hilarious when a kid hit the ball and about 8 kids ran to the ball like bees to honey. Drew had some trouble hitting the ball the first two games, so all of his hits came off the tee. To his defense, the 2nd game was played in about 45 degree weather (the wind chill made it around freezing) and Drew was still learning how to use an aluminum bat. These bats are around 14 oz., and he was use to 5 oz. wiffle ball bats. (Plus, his mom is convinced he hadn’t completely regained his strength yet from being so ill.)

As the season progressed Drew got better and better. He learned how to swing the aluminum bat really well, and he rarely had to hit the ball off of the tee. He has quite a strong arm for a three year old, and his coaches told us that he was the most improved player on the team. At the end of the last game, Drew received a nice little trophy, and he was blessed to have 2 great coaches who really cared about the kids. So, was I glad that Drew played baseball? Looking back I think he really enjoyed it, and he still loves to play in the backyard (and practicing sliding in the kitchen), so I think it was a success. Next year, he may want to do something totally different, so we’ll see where Drew’s athletic abilities and desires take us then.

Take care,

Dave

Happy Birthday, America!

Did you get to see great things this 4th of July?

We had a great time! We started with a cookout at my Dad’s, complete with popsicles and dressing up.

Then we watched fireworks with some friends from church. This was the triplets’ first time to see fireworks.

Lauren kept pointing out every single one that was purple (my favorite color). Drew said things like “This is the best thing I ever saw!” and “It’s magical.” Alyssa, the veteran, even exclaimed “This is better than I thought it would be.” Later, she grabbed Drew and hugged him and said, “This is the best night ever!” Meanwhile, Jack calmly sat in his chair, watching his siblings jump around all excited. When I asked him if he liked the fireworks, he calmly nodded yes and took it all in.

The next day, we continued our tradition of going to a local parade with some more great friends from church. There were lots of loud noises….

lots of candy…

and lots of love  - for our family, friends and fantastic nation.

We also stood and applauded for all the veterans in the parade – as appreciation for them making it possible for us to enjoy all this.

(We also had lots of laughs together; Dave especially enjoyed heckling his former students that were in the parade.)

How did we end our holiday weekend? Back at our church, actually, where more friends from church showed up unexpectedly. We stretched out and watched the local show there, since the night before was such a big hit.

Unfortunately, that’s where the fairytale ends, as we got the kids to bed 2 hours late again. We are paying now for all the lost sleep, but it was worth it. After all, how often do you get to see sights like these?

Hope you had a great 4th of July. We sure did and the kids are already asking when they get to go to the parade again and see fireworks.

God bless the greatest country on earth!

God bless,

Amanda