Swing Away, John

It was a fun, chilly night of baseball last night watching the USA Prime win in the bottom of the 7th inning. It was even more fun watching John step up to the plate with the bases loaded and then walk-off the win with a deep sacrifice fly.

On the drive home, I was thinking how fun this summer has been. John’s team has not won much, but that does not really matter to him. Just a few, short months ago, it appeared that John was done with baseball. For a few reasons, the love of the game was gone, and just getting him to go to practice was a fight. However, it is amazing what a little time off and a new team can do for a kid. Over the course of this summer, I have seen the kid that I used to see on the field every week slowly return. He is back to chasing down everything in the outfield, and his hitting is back. Last night, he did not have the best night at the plate (hey, that’s baseball), but he did what needed to be done when it really mattered.

Welcome back to the field, Kid. I have really missed watching you. Can you do me one favor though? Could you possibly consider hitting the ball before you get to a full count?!? Wait. Scratch that. You’ve always *loved* a full count and last night was no exception. Swing away, John.

Laser Tag

John played Laser Tag with Ari’s family today at Level Up. It was boys versus girls with the boys being victorious. While John was not the highest scorer, he was the most accurate, and he was highly amused at how many times he was able to shoot Ari’s mom. I told him, “John, it is never good to repeatedly shoot your girlfriend’s mother.” He smirked and said, “All’s fair in Laser Tag.” Boys!

Happy Birthday!

Happy, Happy Birthday to the one that made our family whole! I still cannot believe that you are not a Little anymore even though I still see the Little in you. Welcome to 16, John! We love you to the moon and back!

Happy 18th Birthday!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Laura! There are so many wonderful things about you that I cannot possibly list them all here (including that you willingly went to your brother’s baseball tournament despite it being your birthday weekend), but you are a pretty cool human. I cannot wait to see where you go from here. Welcome to 18, Red! We love you to the moon and back!