Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Today was a milestone day: E's first at bat in an official T-Ball game! He's officially a member of the National Youth Sports League's Bears Team.

It was, in a word, positivelylaughoutloudhystericallyfun.

Just as E is a newcomer to the T-Ball set, so was I. While the kids looked official in their uniforms, it turns out that they keep things pretty fun and easy for these 4-5 year olds, kinda like baseball lite. There are no outs, no points, no winners, no losers, just attempts to: bat, run the bases, catch grounders, watch a ball fly by you, miss a ball flying by you as you stare aimlessly into the sky or adjust your cap or tug at your sleeve. The teams are parent coached, and, so far there aren't any crazy competitive parents thinking their precocious preschooler is ready for the majors. Each team got to go to bat twice and the dads on the field were really encouraging of the kids to keep their eye on the ball, hit, run to the correct base and throw to first if they had a chance to catch one.

E got to "hit a home run" solely because he was the last batter for his team during the first round. And, not that I am keeping score or anything, but it was actually a grand slam since the bases were loaded.

You can imagine how proud I was. He was most proud of dirtying up his uniform.

Required Reading

The Book Thief is an amazing book and so important. Not quite sure why it's being marketed as young adult, as the themes are definitely adult with wartime, Nazi Germany. However, the YA label should not deter adults from reading it. It's a book that will grab you and carry you on the journey with it's main character and insightful narrator. It's harrowing and beautiful and devastating. It must be read.

Chi-WHO?-Ly?

Chihuly. That's Who! 

After a busy morning of swimming, a fun play date at a train park with Beth, Dawn, Sharon and Yumiko, a race across town to the WRONG T-ball information session and then across town AGAIN to the right one, this momma took some much needed personal time to attend the Chihuly glass art exhibit at the Botanical Gardens with Claudia and Judy. 

The exhibit is, in a word, spectacular.

We had the prime reservation time of 4-8 p.m., allowing us to see his glass sculptures during prime sunlight and at night, when the garden lights the pieces and you can really see a new and different kind of exquisiteness. We were fortunate to get there within 30 minutes of the butterfly exhibit closing. The butterflies, of which the Gardens have at least 16 varieties, only live for about 2 weeks. They were all a flutter and rather friendly, landing on the shoulders, heads and arms of many. 

We thought we would only stay for a couple of hours, and as it turns out, we had to be asked to leave at 8:15, after the Gardens closed. We wrapped up the night, college style with some warm pie at Village Inn. It was a darn-near perfect day. 

For more about artist Dale Chihuly, visit www.chihuly.com

Meow!

A funny thing was said on the way to somewhere

Kids are funny...

En route to school:

"If I lived in Africa, I would have to take the bus to school."

En route to the 'fridge:

"E, please don't slam the refrigerator door."

"But that's what real chefs do."