Monday, July 21, 2014

Catching Up...baseball and more baseball.

Baseball has been keeping me pretty busy.  Between going to games, keeping the uniform clean and making sure there is at least a little food in the house, I haven't had much time to post pictures.  So, I'm behind.  And for some reason I had a lot of trouble picking out just one photo a day so far this month...so there will be lots of pictures in this post!  Hopefully that is what you are here to see, pictures!  Here we go.

The daisies in my front garden have been big and beautiful this summer!  It's been cool and rainy, maybe that's the secret.  This picture is from July 1st.


A closer picture from the 1st of July.


Billy had a late baseball game on July 2nd.  The lighting can be tricky, but sometimes I get a shot a really like.  Like this one!  He had just crushed a line-drive directly to the short stop.  The agony of defeat heading to the dug out.  Can you feel it?


Another shot from July 2nd, because I liked the light.


July 3rd, an early home game....bat on the ball.  I try to get the timing right, I like it when it works!  And he got a hit.


On July 4th we had a day off from baseball, but went to the park for the fireworks.  I think I enjoyed the sunset almost as much as the fireworks that came later!


Fireworks.  I took a lot of pictures, a lot of pictures that didn't turn out.  Some were just plain weird.  Some were weird in a cool way.  I liked this sort of normal one.  It's fun to play with settings and just see what comes out...especially when it's something that doesn't really matter.  I might post some of the weird fireworks one of these days.  Unless it's October when I post again, then I won't!


July 5th we went to the cabin.  We split and stacked wood, and then took a nice boat ride on the very high river.  That is Tin Can Island up ahead.


The next set of pictures is from July 6th.  We had a very restful day.  This is the river view from the cabin.


Asian lilies at my mom's place.


A day lily in my mom's yard.


My pretty boy spotted something over the ridge...or he was just ignoring me.  Probably that.


Pretty clouds on a beautiful summer day.  This was one of those perfect days that we dream about during the long, cold winter.


Monday July 7th a double header was on the schedule.  After a nice day, it got cloudy and started to rain right at game time.  Pretty late in the season for make up games!


The schedule got shifted around, but they played on July 8th.  Such pretty light.  I had two pictures like this that were almost identical taken a few pitches apart.  It's a dance, he uses the same steps when the pitcher throws.  At least it seems like it to me!


July 8th, a night game.


July 9th, another night game but at a different field.  I do watch the game, I just take time to notice the pretty sky at the same time!


Another shot from the same evening...the sky isn't as pretty in this one!


July 10th, running to first after a nice hit.


July 10th, avoiding the high and inside pitch, they must have wanted to prevent another hit.  Plays like this make me cringe.  He got out of the way, so all is well.  Just whew.


The almost full moon rose behind the stadium.  That was a good distraction from when Billy almost got clobbered!


I love seeing the details in the moon.  I wonder if the flag still flies there!?


Friday July 11th was the start of a small tournament.  Billy played 2nd base, he hasn't for years.  The coach wanted to let the kids have some fun before the State Tournament.  He did ok!  And I forgot to put a border on my picture...that's weird...oops.


Saturday July 12th.  The rain threatened.  The game started in the mud....and then it poured.  And poured.  Unfortunately it was a game that the grandparents had come to watch.  Over an hour of driving for 2 innings of ball.  But we had a nice lunch together!


The rain-out freed up our evening so Eric and I could go to the rodeo.  So that was a bonus!  The sun came out, but didn't dry up the arena floor.  What a muddy mess.  The show went on though.  The Hamel Rodeo is always a good time.


They changed the tournament format and played a couple of games on Sunday July 13th.  Eric saw the first game, then had to leave for a business trip.  Billy pitched a couple of innings in the 2nd game.  Faced 6 batters in two innings, 3 up, 3 down.  Not bad for not having pitched in quite a few years!  They took 2nd in the tournament.


Monday was a wonderful day off from ball.  Uniform washing day.  Catching up on work and housework kind of day.  But I did take a few minutes to enjoy the bee balm in my back yard.


July 15th was an off day from baseball too. An unseasonably cold day.  But a day to enjoy the purple cone flowers in my back yard.


Wednesday, July 16th was their first day playing in the State Tournament.  They had a 10 run win over Edina.


 Thursday, July 17th meant another round of the State Tournament.  I had ridden to the game with Billy, so I had time to stop and admire the flowers at the field while the team was warming up.  Aren't they pretty?


Here's a different angle of the same flower patch.


The boys won by 10 runs again.  On to the Championship game.


This cute little cock-a-poo belongs to one of the players families.  Isn't Walter the cutest pup!?


July 17th also had Eric coming home from his business trip early, he was home in time to join us in going to the Foreigner concert.  It was a great concert, but I'm pretty sure that I'm too old for the bright strobe lights and the loud music.  I woke up with a nasty migraine the next day.  Yep, the day of the State Championship.  I forced myself to get up and go.  I lasted about 4 innings and had to re-treat to the car to try to sleep.  Potentially Billy's last game and I could only watch half of it.  But the good news is that he hit well.


And ran well.


And on Friday, July 18th the boys won the State Championship.


The boys got medals.  The team got a plaque and a trip to Dickinson, ND for the Regional tournament.  So we are planning and packing for 7.5 hour drive and long weekend in North Dakota.


Billy with his coaches...Billy, Billy and Alex.  He's had another fun season.  I'm guessing that this weekend will be the last hurrah.  Unless they win Regions.  Then it will be a trip to Ephrata, WA.  It could happen....but we aren't planning on it.


No matter how it turns out, it's been a fun ride.  But I don't think I'll miss the laundry.
Thanks for stopping by!