Weekend games

Both "A" and "S" played this weekend, and Both had double headers ( two games back-to-back against the same team) and they both went 1 and 1. "S" had some errors that did not start her day off well, but she Did get a great hit over the second basemans head for the only hit of the game, and the only RBI ( she drove in a run) they won the second game, but "S" did not have any highlights.
"A" had got on base almost everytime she went to bat, and got a tripple. She pitched the Second game, and That is the game they won. I only got pictures of "A"....

Back yard shed

I gathered up some boards to help build our backyard shed. Kim's Dad came to the rescue for the remainder ( which turned out to be ther bulk of it) We made two Home Depot runs, and we still aren't done. We started by setting some cement piers in the ground ( we will call it ground for this article, but it is mostly just a bed of rocks) we cut 2x6's pressure treated boards to the size of our deck frame, and then nailed in cross beams. We had to do some re-squaring of the frame, but we finally got the deck boards on.











Then we started on the walls.

First day of school 9/4/2007

The girls curled their hair, bought some new clothes, and shoes. They got their schedules, and headed off to get their learnin on.

Labor Day weekend

We went to the beach over the weekend, 3 times. Once at night, and twice during the day. The beach was very crowded, but it was a bit cooler then the inland areas. On Sunday, we took The dog to Ocean beach which is a "Dog friendly beach" She had a good time swimmng, running, and sniffing. The kids found a baby leopard shark, that was dead. It was about a foot long. We also went truck shopping, and The kids did some last minute school shopping.
We met up with Freddie, and Virgie who were in town for the weekend. We went out for BBQ ribs, and went to the beach, and the women got some Temporary Henna Tattoo's.

Sleepover

"A" had a end of summer sleep over. They set up some tents in the back yard, and roughed it. They had an extension cord leading to the tent, and watched a scary movie til the wee hours.
I will add a picture tonight.

Rock crawling in the mountains Jeep Jam

We left early Sunday morning, and "S" and I went with Big Eric, and his faithful Jeep TJ ( nicknamed the little Jeep that could).
We met up with some friends of his. They really had some decked out jeeps ( lift kits, big tires, winch's, you name it)
Here is a picture as we gassed up for a ride through a mountain trail called "Bronco Peak".



















It is about an hour east of San Diego, at about 3,600ft elev. We made our way tpo the begining of the trail where another Jeeper asked to join us. He made a comment that Eric's jeep was not tall enough, or robust enough to make it through the trail, and its unforgiving terrain. As it turns out we made it up rocky hills that him and others got stuck on, and had to be winched off.













I found out that sometimes you get by with clearance, and some time it is better to be a great driver. We aslo had a narrower wheel base that helped, and a lower center of gravity.
My daughter "S" had a great time, and was quite patiant. she took pictures, and jumped out and help spot the trail. And she got very dirty.
Here is a picture of some trails:
























Here is a picture of Sidewinder,















and the climb that the little jeep got through:















and the big jeep got stuck:

Renegades arrive in Sacramento

"A" 's team, The San Diego Renegades. earned a berth to the Nationals at the highest level in Softball. The ASA (A) Nationals in Sacramento. It was a 500 mile road trip that the girls and I drove On Sunday morning 7/29/07. After stopping by Merced to see my extended family ( see previous post) we made it to Sacramento. The first day was registration for the girls ( "S" likes hanging out with the big girls):
















That night we stuffed gift bags for the first team we would face. We made gift buckets for them that would give them a taste of San Diego ( our home town) ( the first team we faced, as luck would have it, came from San DIego as well):



















There was a parade of teams for opening ceremonies, and a riual of pin trading:






















The girls got a team picture looked something like this:


















and the other version looked like this:




























The girls won there two pool games, "A" got to play in one of them. She hit the ball to left field for an out, and she struck out her second time up. She played right field, and did not see anything hit to her.












Amber got a chance to play in one of the pool games. Here is her hit




















Amber stole 2nd:




















She scored from 2nd!:



















We had time to visit the state capital in the Afternoon:
















As well as Old Sacramento. There was a lot of old vintage buildings, and railroads, and boats moored along the river. it was very nice:








On the way home, we visit Muir woods:

Driving to Sacramento

We left Sunday Morning at 5:30am. the plan was to get through LA before 8:00am.
We stopped in Merced to see my Aunt Estelle, and her son Eric, and his wife Shannon.
"T" was up From Azusa. "D" was out with friends.

Here is a picture of Estelle and I:

All Stars ends!

Well the end of one season has been met. "S" was in All Stars through most of June and July. They were an inexperienced team who had a lot of growing to do. "S" did very well for being a 1st year 10 she even hung with most of the 2nd year 10's. She played a lot of 2nd base, and even short stop, and outfield.
She needs a rest, it was a very tough season with several games every weekend, and practices twice a week. She will take a break for a while, and maybe play some travelball starting in September.
"A" is drawing to the end of her travelball team the Renegades. We travel to Sacramento for the Nationals, and that will bring her season to a close. Her team has a very good chance at winning it all. We are very excited with the opportunity to play at the nationals. I plan on taking a lot of pictures. We will keep you updated.

14u tournament

'A' had a tournament this weekend, and her 12u team played in the 14u division.
They won 2 of 3 on Saturday, and went 1w and 1L on Sunday.
The win was exciting, considering the other team jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning the Renegades went 3 up, and 3 down in the first 3 innings and found themselves down 5-0. The girls finally got the timimng down of the pitcher ( who was slower then they were used to (46mph) they scored 3 runs, then 2 more. to tie the game up the last inning the opposing team did not score any runs, and The Renegades put 2 girls on base, and Asley hit a walk off hume run over the centerfield fence to win the game 8-5. It was very exciting to see them come back for a five run defecit to score a runs, and the win against a good 14u team ( Mystic)
Here are some pictures of the girls:

'K'














'M'















'A'

finished The streetbike

After lots of hours sanding and preping the tank and bodywork for the gs500, I finally laid down the clearcoat on top of the basecoat.put the bodywork on, took a few pictures, and took it for a ride.
It did not run well, so I took the carbs apart yet again, and found some debris in the bowls that glogges the fuel jets.
They have been cleaned, and the bike runs better now.
I think it looks pretty good.