April in Brief

Now that April has come to a close, it's time to do a quick summary.

We made several trips to Ephrata looking for our illusive new home. One such trip resulted in a monkey sighting amid the blooms.

Mitch had his spring concert at school. He was very well-behaved up front and sang like a champ.

At the end of the kindergartners' part, one little boy in the bottom row yelled, "Mitch!" as a sort of finale. Mitchell turned red and grinned from ear to ear.

We've watched a lot of baseball - both little league and high school. Bryan has had nice support from our parents and grands as they have made it to several games.

Dave is even getting to help with the new toy - a radar gun!

At the end of April, this coach's team sits at 20-2. 

Shan has been a trooper at all the games. Here she enjoys the chair Lorry brought for her.

And the Watsons always give her lots of love and attention.

Grama spins and wrestles and plays - wearing them both out!

And sometimes she finds puppies who need a nap. 

In the mean time, Mitch is reveling in his role as batboy. He usually gets the bats, and always gets fists. The boys have been wonderful with him.

He is now working on the fine art of baseball chatter - and is getting loud! His repertoire includes: "Rip a shot! Whaddaya say?!? Thata babe!" I'm trying to get him to expand the selection...

We are painting, and packing, and working and coaching, and looking ahead to home in Ephrata while trying to savor our final time here. It's an interesting and emotional season in our lives.

Baseball Goes to the Beach

Bryan took his team to Lincoln City for 3 nights this weekend. They rented a beach house with their jerky sales money and faced some tough competition. 

After Thursday's tough loss, they had Friday off to enjoy the nice weather and their ridiculous proximity to the ocean. The boys played for hours in the waves and enjoyed some boogie boarding, too.

They had a short practice at the turf field at Taft High, where they won two games on Saturday.

Friday night was beach fire and beach wiffle ball.

A special outing with a fun crew!

Park with Grama

Challenging week for this mama, but support came in many forms. One was a quick overnight visit from Grama. Shannon got some play time at the park while Mitch and I enjoyed/endured our third night in a row of little league.

So strong (and colorful!)!

She loved the rock climbing wall at Castle Park.

I love her fierce determination! Thanks for the help - this spring will not get the best of us. We made it to the weekend and might be able to catch our collective breath. Whew!

Little League Opener

Little League has begun again!

Mitch is doing coach-pitch this year and Daniel is his coach again, meaning that Carter is once again his teammate. He was thrilled to get jersey #7!

I'm helping coach again, too. One must laugh, or else tears are too close to the surface!

Pre-game warm-ups required a Griffey-style hat.

Down and ready in the field!

Heading for third with the tongue of concentration in play.

Needs some work on his form, but he's happy to be playing!

Afterward, the farmyard on the other side of the fence was too great a draw (smell?) to ignore. So, it's game on for the spring! 1 game down and 11 to go...