T-ball - Fall 2016

As promised, I have a t-ball post for you too!

This fall both Caleb and Hadley got a chance to be out on the field playing. While Caleb wasn't too thrilled about it this go around and was nudged into it by Mommy, who thought it would be a good social activity as well as a place to get in some P.E. for homeschooling, Hadley was full of excitement to have the opportunity to take part in the fun this go around. She did a pretty good job for just getting started too. Sadly, she had a to miss a few practices due to having her tonsils out, but she still got in a pretty fair amount of playing time nonetheless. 

Here they are before the first game:

The Knotty Pine doesn't sponsor a t-ball team in the fall, so this time we were on a different team. Go Rockies!

That boy and those red shoes! He was easy to find on the field though. :)

Hadley's uniform just about swallowed her up!

I probably seemed a bit like the paparazzi as they took the field, but this was a first for my little girl plus I had two players to capture this time instead of just one.

In the outfield ready to go

Oops!

Whack it, girl!

Tiptoeing in like a little princess

We could tell a big difference in Caleb's form from one season to the next.

There ya go!

Looking like a ball player!

Fall ball is much more laid back than it is in the Spring and the season is shorter, which we definitely appreciated. It was a good opportunity to get everyone outside and exercising a bit but didn't drag on for months. They only had eight games total, which was plenty. 

While Caleb was old enough to move up to coach pitch, we decided to keep him at the t-ball level since he was still figuring things out. And, since I requested the kids be on the same team, it really helped us out to only have to go to one set of practices and games. At this point in our lives, we don't need things to be too complicated, especially with Hadley already in ballet and everyone doing Awana.

It made it easier for the grandparents too since they could knock out two birds with one stone, watching both kids at the same game. While my mom has come to several games each season, her parents hadn't made it until this season due to health reasons, etc., so we were happy they were feeling up to coming a couple times this go around. Granny had been to one of Caleb's games his first season, and she got to catch one this time around too.

Slugger!

Headed to second!

...and to third. Run, Caleb!

Who wouldn't enjoy a nice fall day watching these cuties play?...or just playing in the dirt (which they did a ton of)? Caleb loved filling his pockets with rocks. At one game, one of the coaches brought him over to me and asked if I could get him to empty his collection since it was weighing him down.

Towards the end of the season, Caleb was sick on one of the game days, so I stayed at home with him while Dave took our girl to the game solo. Although we had really nice coaches, they weren't great about switching the kids around to make sure they got to play every position and quite often our kids were in the outfield where there was little action, which I think is part of what discouraged Caleb from wanting to play another season. Sadly, the one game that I wasn't able to be there for, they chose Hadley to be the pitcher. I was so happy for her that she got the chance to be the star but hated that I missed seeing her in action. Daddy tried to take lots of pics for me though!

Due to a couple rain days, our final game was rescheduled for the same day as Reid's birthday party which was nuts with both ballet and t-ball that morning, but we got it all in. Excitedly, they finally let Caleb be the pitcher for the first inning. Grandpa McKinstry was even in town to watch - the first time he's been visiting when any of the kids had a sports game. 

After the final game, the coaches did a little ceremony for the kids with certificates. The rest of the team also headed out for pizza at Melting Pot, but we had to get home for Reid's birthday party so it was nice that they did their little presentation following the game so we could be a part of it. Since Caleb got a trophy the past couple seasons, I think both him and Hadley were a bit disappointed not to get one this go around, but honestly they lose interest in those dust-collectors with in a day or two and the t-balls the coaches gave each of the kids will probably get much more use.

Caleb says he's hanging up his cleats and is done with baseball, which makes me so sad because I've enjoyed watching him play so much. That said, he's his own person and will have to pick what he enjoys. We had to battle him a lot this season to keep him on the field and decided in the end it isn't worth pressing; he'll have to get his P.E. in a different way. On the plus side, I still have one ball player who is anxious for the next season to start. Miss Hadley doesn't want to give it up any time soon, so I believe we'll be going to quite a few more ball games in our future. Little Reid? Who knows! He's still got time to decide...for now he had a really good time watching the other two and playing in the dirt.