Baseball at the Park

Amidst all of the rain, snow, sleet, hail, wind, and whatever weather we have been blessed with, we finally had a sunny day last Sunday! It started out as any other weekend morning lately, that being waking up slowly, knowing there isn't much we can do in such horrid weather. I was pleasantly surprised when I looked outside and didn't see the liquid sunshine we've been used to seeing. "Get dressed everyone" I yelled, "We're going to DO something today!" I was greeted with sleepy acknowledgements and sluggy movements toward bedrooms. I figured if they didn't want to do anything on this fantastic day, I'd do something all by myself (sunbathing in a sweatshirt and sweatpants instantly came to mind). Finally, everyone was ready to go and a picnic lunch was packed. Kelly and her family were meeting us down at the park and we were off! Luckily, now that baseball season has begun and so many practices have been cancelled, mitts, bats, and balls have a permanent space in the back of my trusty Mountaineer.

Surprisingly, the park was not packed. I figured that on such an unusually un-rainy day, everyone would take advantage of Castle Park (Kneeland to the lay person). I was soon proven correct....It got crazy there! I, personally, would not walk directly through any one's obvious baseball practice...balls being hit everywhere! Apparently, not everyone feels the same way...HELLO??!!! All we needed was a line-drive hit and someone to end up like Natasha Richardson...geez, I'm not sure if it's just Shelton or if other cities have such smart people in them as well. Wow, I guess that was a little harsh but seriously, we had so many people look at us and just keep walking right between the pitcher and the batter! Oh well, I suppose to some, it may have been confusing as to what we were doing and the dangers possibly involved.

So anyway, after all of that ranting and raving, I have put up a few pictures out of the thousand I took that day :-)

Alyssa can almost hit the ball out of the park!!!

Kind of a cool picture of Mike and McKenzie....notice the ball! And yes, she hit it!!

Can we say next star pitcher??!!

Notice the tiny cleats and mitt she just HAD to have...how could you say no to something so cute? She caught the ball 6 times in a row!! Must have been the shoes~~she did tell me that they make her jump higher and kick (yes kick) the ball further like in soccer!

Look at that arm...

Alyssa worked so hard on catching fly balls. She improved so much in just the short time that we were there....Daddy helped her practice catching grounders too

And yes, it's all in the pose...

This is one of my favorite pics of McKenzie. Perfect form! She has really become an awesome baseball player. I am so proud of her!

You can't really tell from the pictures, but many spots on the ground were pure mud. As most parents know: Kids+Mud+Riding home in the car=BIG FAT MESS... Holy moly, my truck will never be the same!! They were covered from head to toe in slimy mud and loved every second of my discomfort :-) Needless to say, it was showers all around when we got home. What a great day we had!