Team party

The end of the season is here, and we wanted to celebrate a great "dream season".
The coaches handed out some individual awards, as well as some kind words. The Dads had some beers, and the Moms had some fu fu drinks.
as a result, you get the pictures we see here:














a game of how many teenagers are obsessed with thier phone.

















Some people couldn't wait until the after Party. A few drinks, and they are showing there true colors.


















Big 'A' getting her award as most valuable (same award some other girls got....)














'S' just got back from her game in time to enjoy the party.

















On the newly painted, lighted, and decorated deck. Everyone had a good time.


















Team pic














Team pic with coaches.












Dads and thier Beers.

Birthday .... again

It seems like we have a birthday celebration every year!

Well, she got what she wanted ( Daddy's spoiled girl). A beach cruiser was on the list along with another dog.... we went with the bike. I brought it home last night, and she had a chance to ride it around. Now she is working on the tan so she can take the tan, and the bike down to the beach, and ride around and be cool,.... like I used to be....... who am I kidding.

Have fun, and remember sweetie, boys are awful, throw rocks at them.

Allstars first trophy

The 12 year olds had a tournament in Muiretta, ( about 45 miles away) and they played very hard and finished second to a very good team.

'S' pitched the first 3 innings, and hit a single, and one inning, she made all three outs.( one was a double play, playing 2nd base, she tagged the runner that was going to second, and she threw to first)

The girls are improving each week.

End of the JV season

30-0-1
The greatest season JV has ever seen. These tough girls went undefeated in 31 games, winning 30, and having 1 tie.
The team they tied, Patrick Henry, was the game they finished with last night, so we were a bit worried. The girls were really up for the game. They wound up winning 9 - 1.
Little 'K' pitched the whole Game, and did a great job. My 'A' played SS, and mad a couple plays during the game, and no errors.
She was 1 for 3 at bat.
Here is a team picture, and an individual of the big blonde Ratza.

Late season Desert ride

After watching softball games on Saturday, I packed up a 40oex quad, and met up with my buddies out at Superstition Mtn. Eric and Dave brought there daughters,and even 3yr old Jacob. There was a Razor (Eric), the Rhino (Dave), 4 adults on quads (Rope, Rick, Eric, Denny) and two 13yr old girls on quads. We did two night runs and a morninngb run. The first night run was fun, we roamed, and snaked through miles of sand dunes testing our skills trying to climb steep hills with soft sand, Tough. Navigation in the night was made easy with Eric C. leading, and his GPS mapping the way home. Plus our lights, and his experiance in the desert also helped.
Daves rhino had a mechanical issue. the Wheel came off the back. The lug nuts had loosened up, and the wheel came off we spent about an hour ( getting tools, resetting the lug bolts, and stealing a lug nut from each wheel. then we were on our way. The next run lasted until 1am. I slept in the bed of my truck on a futon pad with just a sheet covering me. My dog kept watch sleeping on the rug on the ground.
After the morning run, I headed out and made it back in time to watch 'S' game. she saw some pitching time.. 2 batters, and closed the game out for a win.

Golf, and such

Rec. softball finished this weekend. We have allstars left, but at least we can move on to a more advanced level of play. 'S' was mentioned in the coaches speach as the MVP of the team.

Mothers day went as expected. Kept it very simple. Had her do my laundry, and make us a steak dinner. She loves to keep us happy, so who am I to deprive her of that.

I took 'A' golfing at the Vinyard Golf club. She hadn't picked up a club in about 6 months. We hit a small bucket of balls at the range, and headed out for 18 holes. After 5 holes, she was 1 over, and strokes better then Dad. She had already gotten a birdy, 3 pars ( 1 sandy par), and a doubleboogie. She wound up with a 48 on the front, and 49 on the back. She had 2 drives over 230 yards. She is really putting it together, and building off what she learned last year. I didn't have a very good golf day myself, as this is a very tough course. I barely beat her. One day she will catch me cheating, and it will be all overwith.

Newest Helmet

I have been taking a break from the helmets. I have always been doing it for the love of the hobby, the sport, and for the cute little girls who light up when they see the results.


This one gets turned over today.

I started off by making a butterfly stencil, out of masking tape, spraying yellow, and dusting the top with orange, and copper. Then I drew in some black lines, and spots. then clearcoated the whole thing:

yard improvements

We were inspired by a bird in the front eve. A bird has been building a nest under our front eve, and is making better progress then us ( damn animal kingdom).














So, I was put to the task of making some improvements with some sweat equity, and a few dollars in stain, sand paper, sod, and pavers.

I started last week by laying out the pavers to complete the path to the shed in the back 40. Sunday, I bought the sod early ( 9:30am, is about as early as I get).
I cut the sod to shape, and put it between the pavers. My buddy Kelly showed up to supervise, and I put him to work.














Immediately following the pavers, Kelly and I started sanding down the weathered deck. My Daughter 'A' couldn't stand to see us having all the fun sanding the old stain, so she threw on her Cheza tee-shirt, and joined us. (she did a pretty good job).















I was about to start rolling, and brushing the stain on when Kelly asked if I had a sprayer. Well, the only sprayer I have is for Automotive paint, but what the hell, lets give it a try. I thinned out the stain, and pulled out the compressor. I started spraying the the details, and the finer spots, then 'A' and Kelly broke out the rollers, and followed up with the base work. It took about 4-5 hours, but It worked really well the the sprayer. I would like to thank Kelly, and 'A' for their hard effort.
















I think as it drys, and the sun hits it, it will darken up.
This morning I saw a small yellow bird near the front of our house flying with a small can of stain, and a receipt for a miniature jacuzzi..... always trying to out do me.

Oma, Beach, and Birthday

Oma was in town for her annual visit, and she was here for 'S' birthday.
'S' got a TV for her room. it was a flatpanel that was on sale. Her Mom is very generous. I might not have been so generou$. But she loved it.






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We packed up the kids, the dog, and even took my Mom, and went to the beach. Sasha, our Dog, loves to go cool down in the water, and do some heavy duty sniffing. She is not much for fetch, but she does enjoy laughing at the other dogs that are dumb enough to repeatedly chase a sand covered ball into the salty water for no reward.

My Mom always enjoys the beach, and we all got a bit too much sun. The kids didn't want to leave until we mentioned eating.

Las Vegas on the Varsity

I thought this was a cool sequence of 'A' running down a ball hit up the middle to get the out.

We had a second chance in the last 6 months to go to Las Vegas again. This time it was for a tournament for the High School team.
'A' usually plays on the JV team, but has been playing very well lately, and was invited to play up on Varsity.

I had my sister in town with her family. We took our Niece to Vegas. We stayed in the Excalibur for 3 nights. The girls got to see some of the fancy hotels, go swimming, and even ride some go carts.

4 girls were invited to play up on the Varsity team. Unfortunately 2 of those JV girls were injured in the games the day before they were to leave.
That Left 'A' and her buddy Hali. They represented the JV squad well.

'A did some pitching, and in 6 innings only gave up 2 runs, and the rest were put out, and 1 walk. She also played Short stop, and made a few outs with a good glove, and only 1 error.
Up to bat she got 1 base hit, and struck out the other times.

'A' 'S' and the niece. had little time together, but made the best of it.

JV tournament win

The JV team is unbeaten at 20 - 0. winning their 3rd tournament of 3.
This was the closet so far. They won the semi final by 1 run, and the final by 1 run.

Hawk

Title says it all.
I looked out back of the house the other morning. I thought it was a blackbird, at first. This Hawk was eating..... another bird.
Thats one way of dealing with the competition.

Good weekend of power and accuracy

The Power came from the Ratza Girls when both girls hit the only home-runs of their games. Both of them at their first at-bats.

'S' had a 0-0 count (first pitch) when she put the hammer down, and lined a shot past the right fielder. She was seen grinning from ear-to-ear when rounding 3rd base, either because of overwhelming pride, or knowing that she would be monitarily rewarded by her Agent(Dad).















Her new helmet paint scheme: "RedBull"



















'A' went to her first at-bat with the knowledge that her sister had already hit a homerun 10 miles away, moments earlier. ( we will cover that later in our segment: " technology, are cell phones good or bad?")
with a 2-2 count, 'A' launched the ball hard over the center fielders head with a swing that this reporter can only discribe as a golf swing.
gaining her 1 RBI in the process.


On to the Accuracy:
'S' took the mound in the second inning, and pitched a game that was not blazingly fast, but accurate enough to keep the score in her favor. She finished the game on the mound, and her team was able to pull off the win against the team with the best record in the league. Congratulations!!!

'A' took the mound in her game from start to finish, and pitched a very good game. She had only 1 walk, 7 strike outs. She made a few defensive plays as well, and made 1 error.

Great Job girls!!!

Pitching before the storm

We have a storm heading in to San Diego. The rain is coming. 'A' has tryouts for High School this weekend. So we are trying to get her ready. We are also trying to get 'S' ready for her season as well. We are lucky that we live in a Cul-De-Sac. We can pitch undesturbed, for hours. 'S' pitched for 40mins. and did real well. We are just trying to get her muscle memory ingrained. 'A' on the other hand is getting down pitches thaat have lateral/ horizontal movement. Movement at this stage is more important then Speed.
'A' has gotten so fast and has enough movement, that I don't trust myself to catch it, hence, the catchers gear. I say a little prayer, and then hold my glove up for a target.






















Sasha Supervised the whole clinic, and added input when needed.














Sasha had a ruff day, and was allowed some time on the couch which she is not normally allowed to do. It was movie night, and the family sat together and watched Ghosttown, and Journey to the center of the earth.







We had a great weekend with our friends from Chula Vista, and Phoenix.
We all bowled on Saturday night. Kim had the high score in the first game, beating all bowlers with a 164. The second game she started to wear down, and John Got the highest score.

The next morning, we ( Freddie, John, Robert, and I ) went golfing at Chula Vista. Scores were 85, 83, 91, and 93 respectively.
What a fun time it was on the course, and at the lanes. A great weekend!