The Kassel Family Project Life 365

It was a night of lessons for John and the Withrow Shockers.  First, John realized that he can pitch at this level.  It was his first time on the mound and he did well!  Two runs were scored, but he also got a strikeout.

The Shockers won their first game, 10-6.  Which leads us to the second lesson of the night.  NEVER GIVE UP…

The Shockers started game two with three, awful innings.  The boys looked like the forgot how to play and were down 11-0.  They ended up finding the bats in the fourth inning with one of the boys hitting a home run.  That seemed to wake up and inspire them all.  After three, quick outs in the field, the rest of the team found their bats.  They scored 11 runs in the final half inning (John actually got to bat twice!) to come back to win 15-11!  Seeing and hearing the excitement from the boys when they scored that run that put them in the lead was amazing.  The parents and families were pretty excited too.  These boys had a LOUD cheering section.  Way to go, Shockers!  We are proud of you!

It’s my 45th birthday today!  When I got to work this morning, there were bagels to celebrate my birthday and a great friend and former co-worker brought me one of Hy-Vee’s deluxe cupcakes and a funny card.

I spent the day working and left about thirty minutes early.  I had a celebratory glass of wine and then Andy and I left for the first Big Tree Cycling Green & Black Ride of the year.  It was a small ride tonight with only four members, but it was still lots of fun!  With less riders, we got to go a little faster, so it was a good, workout ride for me.

We spent the rest of the evening enjoying pizza and drinks at Shakespeare’s with Lauren (one of my BBFs – best bike friends) and Jeremiah.

Not a bad way to spend my birthday!  Thanks to everyone for thinking of me today with the calls, texts, and Facebook shout-outs!

While John was at baseball practice, Andy and I took my new bike for a spin.  After some seat height adjustments, she was a much more pleasant ride.  I will most likely still need a bike fit, but she will work for now.

And, yes, this will make me sound like a girl, but I love how glittery and sparkly she is!

We went to the Memorial Day parade in downtown Columbia this morning.

We always enjoy watching the bagpipers march.  I think it is the highlight for me.

My other favorite is the Dawn Patrol planes.

It was a good parade this year and I was glad that we went even though it was extremely hot.  We spent the rest of the day just doing a lot of nothing.  It was a nice, relaxing day.

Today’s main activity was yard work.  We only have about four to five bags of rubber mulch to go.  We are so close to being able to put down the new edging and rebuild the retaining wall.  Our goal is to have everything ready to plant next spring.

It was a busy day of fun!  After Andy took a short ride this morning, we went to the Salute to Veterans Airshow.

It was not as well attended this year, but it was still fun.  There was a lot of wait time in between the demonstrations because commercial air traffic has increased at Columbia Regional Airport.  We ran into a family that lives in our subdivision and ended up hanging out with them.  John was thrilled to see Ayden, one of his best friends.  The kids kept each other entertained during the wait times.

After the airshow, we stopped at CycleX to pick up my rebuilt road bike!  In April, my road bike fell over while leaning against the truck and hit a curb.  It must have hit just right because it cracked the carbon frame.

After disgust with Cannondale and their crappy crash replacement policy, CycleX hooked me up with a Specialized Dolce Comp frame. She is finally done and she is so sparkly!

I know that I should have gone for a ride given that it is New Bike Day, but…  We spent the rest of the day at the pool.  It has been a warm May, because we walked right into the pool and it was not cold.  It really feels like summer!