Well, if the title were the beginning of a joke, I would be afraid to hear the punchline. Ba dum bum. I'll be here all week, folks!
There are lots of truly amazing places in the great state of Texas. N's baseball team has been able to play on some really amazing fields just within the DFW area, and I know there are dozens of ball fields that he may never be able to play on that are equally fantastic. But the tournament they played this weekend? Well...let's just say it was not one of the great wonders. Not even close.
You know it's going to be an interesting weekend when you look the complex up on the map and think, "Well. This will be...something." And when someone asks you where you're playing, and you give the main cross streets and they say, "Oh. Um. Awesome?" you know it's bad. But, I think the clearest indicator for me was when I told another mom, "Yeah, if you need to use the bathroom, Quik Trip has some really clean ones...it's just on the other side of the highway." I have never been so thankful for my continuous regimen of wall sits and squats because they came in ridiculously handy multiple times this weekend.
Up next on my "to work on" list: Lung capacity as it pertains to holding my breath. Also very necessary.
One of the boys on our team, KJ, came over before warm-ups because his
mom was flying solo for the weekend and his sister had games, too. He
and N killed some zombies before we left for warm-ups, and then after
warm-ups, I added CB to my car and we took off for "the ghetto." It was
an extremely entertaining car ride...mostly because we attempted to
follow one of the other parents and he mostly drives like a bat out of
hell. It made for lots of laughter.
After a little bit of confusion as to which field we had been assigned to, we found our way to the softball field (Yellow...it seems to be our color), and got ready for the first game. This was a bigger tournament than the one last weekend, and there were a couple of teams that seemed like they would be excellent competition. The first game was a fairly easy win: 11-3. The boys played well as a team, and in the top of the first, one of our boys hit a three run homer! It was awesome! Know what wasn't awesome? The miniature pitcher's mound. It was this small circle of hilarious in the middle of the dirt. It seemed to give some of the boys some trouble: it was too small!
There was almost 2 hours between games, so some of us (6 boys and assorted parents/siblings) decided to go to Subway. As we pulled up, I noticed the outdoor access restrooms and told the boys we would go to QT after lunch...if they needed to pee, they needed to hold it. As we ate (Bless the people at Subway. I think we overwhelmed them), we observed our surroundings and noted that the pawn shop across the street had a sign boasting "Good gun deals." Wonderful. Someone came in and asked to use the restroom, and they had to make a purchase before the staff would give them a key. It was something I hope I never have to witness again. We loaded up on gum at QT and said a silent prayer for the freshly cleaned bathrooms, then headed back to our beloved softball field.
I didn't get to stay for this game, because...airport duty (more on that in a minute), but it sounded like a pretty good game. We ended up losing by 1, and that team ended up being the top ranked team going into elimination, while our split pool games left us ranked 5th. It's about where we were last weekend, and we all know what happened there, so it was fine. AND 5th put us on a real baseball field this morning!
The trip back to the colorful and eclectic baseball fields this morning was a little more somber. I had the same group in the car with me, and the two in the backseat were chatting away...but Mr. Fredrickson in the front seat must've needed a V8 or something. He was a crank! On the way, one of them asked who we were playing, and when I said, "We're playing a team from Oak Cliff" the facial expressions/response made me laugh until I had the sniffles.
I love baseball. I love all of it, win or lose. I do NOT love the annoying clapping sounds the batters make when they're leading off to distract the pitcher. Not all teams do it, but the ones who do are irritating...to me, not to the players. These guys did that AND brought the speaker thingy to play music each time we switched places. Now, if the music had been appropriate, I would've been less annoyed. But. It. Was. Not. Some of it was: They rocked some M.C. Hammer and Charlie Daniels and Beastie Boys, but then there were the inappropriate song choices laced with sexual references and innuendos. Also, there was a dad with a radar gun, and lots of Spanish. Spanish...whatever, but a radar gun? Seriously? U13, folks...13 and under.
These guys were ranked 4th, and after a few scoreless innings, we were up 4-1. We were fine. AND then the ump called out "Time has expired but we'll finish the inning." and we kind of just fell apart. Moms had been discussing lunch choices, and then all of a sudden, it was a tie game and bases were loaded and someone hit a line drive down the left field foul line...just fair, and it was all over. N was pretty bummed about a "3 games and out" loss, but he did do a spectacular dolphin dive into second. His coach said it was beautiful and absolutely perfect...except for the whole "out" thing. Love him!
It was a hard loss, but it was probably for the best. We struggled to get back on track this week after the long weekend and looooooonger baseball tournament, so an early afternoon was (hopefully) helpful. We'll see in the morning.
Airport Hooplah: I took my sweet friends to the airport a week ago at dark o'clock (aka 4:30 a.m.) so they could do a family trip to Disney. I agreed to pick two of them up at 4:00 on Saturday afternoon so they could go to Taylor Swift that night. On Saturday morning, I got a frantic text asking for ideas on how to get the rest of the family (4) home a couple of hours later because original plans had been changed. I offered to do it because I knew the baseball games would be over, so it wasn't any trouble. Well. That was a silly thought to think. When I picked (2) up, I took them home only to discover all of the doors were locked and all of the keys were inside on the counter. SO, we did a plot twist and they got to wear airport clothes to dinner and T.Swift. Exciting! I dropped them where they were having dinner (no car keys, remember?), then went BACK to their house to unload their bags and make sure the garage door was shut. Then I went back to the airport to get (4). Their bags took forever, and then went to a different claim thingy, so it took a little over an hour before they came out. I had text one of them to say I was in my car, so he was like "Um, what happened?" I realized he hadn't spoken to his wife yet, so I filled him in...then stopped and said, "Uh...you DO have keys to the house, right?" He did. Whew!
The rest of it went fairly smoothly. All the luggage fit, all the people fit, and my friend's dad suggested I rethink my friendship with his daughter after the whole ordeal. So, I did. For about 15 seconds. And then I started laughing because life wouldn't be nearly as entertaining or weird without her in it. We have so much fun making up our own shenanigans!
Meanwhile, N had gotten a ride home with the twins on our team and was hanging out over there until I was finished with airport duty. I went to pick him up, and they were gone...eating dinner (I knew I forgot something!). I waited, and then talked to the parents for a little bit. I am constantly overwhelmed by how amazing this group of boys is...but I am equally overwhelmed by the kindness and friendship of the parents as well. Weekends and practices are things I so look forward to, not just to see my child improve, but to see the team interact: the coaching staff, the boys, the parents...they are all just amazing. I seriously couldn't think of a better group of male influences for N, and I am so thankful for how they've accepted us into the group like we've been here all along. It's a rare and precious gift, a true blessing from God.
Aubs
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