It's Baseball Season!

Last Saturday we had Jack's first baseball game.  This year he's playing farm ball, which is little more like baseball as you probably know it--except that the coaches pitch.  He loves baseball, and he is pretty good at it too, so it's fun to watch him.  He achieves a feeling of success when he catches a ball, or hits a pitch, or gets an opponent out, and you can see it on his face.  When he finished his game last week he walked up and saw his audience and had the cutest grin, because he knew that he played well and that his family had watched him.

Will and Caroline were pretty cute watching the game together.

Ready!

I WILL get to third before the ball does!

Hustling Home.

One of my favorite sights: watching Trace
feel well enough to help out.

I took a few pictures, but mostly I watched the game.  There's more to watch this year as they attempt to field the ball and make a play.  You need to know which base to throw to, and what to do if a fly ball is caught.  The mental part of the game is a lot more complex this year, and I think Jack learns something new each practice and each game.  Where is the shortstop position?  How to always cover your base.  Which is the only base you can run through?  What is a foul ball?

Jack works so hard at school, and he does well, but I don't think he often has a feeling of success.  In baseball he has that feeling, and he knows that he can do it: so it's a joy to watch.  Go Red Sox!

Number Five

Number Five is Jack's t-ball number.  His team is the Nevada City T-Ball Giants, and today was their first game.  It was also the Spring Carnival at his school and the Car Show downtown, so it was a busy day for our family.  The highlight, though, was definitely this game.  Jack was so excited to play, and the other spectators and I agreed that it was the best entertainment in town.  The clueless kids were so stinkin' cute!  It was their first game, so there was a steep learning curve.  They were tackling each other (literally) to get the ball, so eager to play.  Well, the pictures tell the story better than I can . . .

 Warming up before the game--Jack hits it hard into the fence.

 The first inning Jack got to play first base.  It's a tough position when you have never done it before, and never even seen it played.  First is pretty much the only position that matters in t-ball, since every player hits on both teams, and they each take one base at a time.  There are no outs, but the ball goes to first every time.  He made several good plays--and missed the ball coming at him several times too.  My favorite was when the first base coach for the other team held out his hand for the ball and Jack gave him a high-five instead.  Giggle.

 Trace went out as the second base coach for the second two innings.

 Jack running for home.

Jack had a whole bench taken up with his cheering squad--and we were loud.

 Looking up to see who's cheering for him.

 Waiting to run to third with dad.

 Go Giants! 

 Chewing on bubble gum after the game with his fans.

I love this picture, of Trace, Jack and Caroline sitting and watching the next team warm up.  They were much older, and Jack wanted to stay and watch, but after watching them warm up for twenty minutes, we decided to head home.  It had been a long day.  Good job Jack!  I'm proud of you.

Our week . . .or so

Well this is an assortment of pictures which I've been meaning to put on the blog, but I've been too busy to do more than take the pictures. So here's an mixture of photos for your perusing pleasure -- especially for Grandma Jo who enjoys seeing her grandkids even without description. I'm posting this on my phone, so I can't see the pictures right now. Here's what I think they're about.
Jack has started t-ball practice, and he loves it! It is such a delight for this mama to see how eager and confident he is. He runs to help the coach, and to pick up a bucket of balls after throwing them all. For hitting practice they hit off a tee into a chainlink fence, and last Wednesday Jack hit the ball so hard that it went through the fence. His favorite part of practice is throwing -- I think he could do it all day. He can throw further than I can!
There are also pictures of both kids making cookies, a photo of Jack's muddy back at the park one day, and reading together on the couch.

The video is of my crazy kiddos jumping barefoot into the snow.

Oh and the funny faces are eating kumquats. Although both kids like citrus, kumquats were not a hit, as you can see.

In other news, Trace has acute pneumonia and he's been at home on the couch all week, so it's been rather chaotic around here. Actually I think the chaos might be entirely in my own brain, from lack of sleep. My sweet girl has also had a cough at night, so she comes to our bed in the middle of the night -- and as my husband aptly described, I become the middle of a cough sandwich. On a positive note, they are both definitely improving daily. I might even start speaking complete sentences again soon!

Until then, goodnight.

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We're back!

At least that's what it feels like: like the Fike family has been MIA, brought down by a nasty virus, not to be seen for two weeks or more. And now we're back, feeling better, and we even got out of town yesterday, which was good for my mental sanity. I actually never got sick, but with both kids down with days upon days of high fever, and with Trace and Becky both sick, I certainly had my hands full.

This week, however, we're on the mend. Jack has started preschool: two days a week, from 9-12, which seems like it will fit our schedule perfectly. He missed the first week from being sick, so he hopped out of bed Tuesday morning, excited for the big day. And now that he's been twice, I can report with confidence that he loves it! This picture was taken while we headed out the door on Tuesday morning, ready to go.

Next we have a series of pictures of our day yesterday. We took the Oakland ferry to the ball game. Becky went with us, and here she, Jackson, and Caroline are ready to go!

Caroline had her Giants jersey on for the game (it no longer fits Jack, but he got a new one by the end of the day, so he was willing to share). She was definitely the cutest Giants fan there! Watching the ferry terminal recede. This is exciting Mom!

San Francisco is in view!

Crazily enough, there were people on the top of the bay bridge. Maybe that happens a lot, but I've never seen it before, so I snapped a picture.

We made it the long walk from the Ferry Building to A T & T Park: it might not be long for you, but to a four year old it was a long way. Caroline was in the Ergo backpack, not because she couldn't walk that far, but her legs are short and the game had already started, so we wanted to make good time. I think Jackson and Caroline are now convinced that ball games are about the food!

Our seats were just five rows back of the field, on the third base side, just behind the Padres bullpen. It was perfectly close to the action for two young kiddos. They could really see what was going on.

Trace and Jackson watching the game in front of us.

Two family shots after the game (note Jack's new hat and jersey, which he loved): one on the bay side and one facing the ballpark.

Caroline kept talking the whole time about how she wanted a ball. We saw lots of balls caught around us, and she was sure she could catch one too.

But she settled for a hat as we walked out. We ended our city experience by walking back to the Ferry Building (this time Caroline fell asleep in the backpack, and had a nice half hour nap on my back), missing one ferry by a few minutes, and then stopping for oysters and clams at Hog Island Oyster while we waited for the next ferry.

Jack was playing games with Aunt Becky and the camera, hiding behind the wine bottle. She patiently got this shot of him inspecting his water glass when he stopped paying attention to her.

We took the ferry boat back to Oakland, leaving San Francisco in our wake. The boat ride was definitely a highlight for all of us, and it was fun to watch the container ships being unloaded in the Port of Oakland as we went by.

Oh, and how was the game? Well, the Giants lost to the Padres 4-2, but other than that it couldn't have been a more perfect day.

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