Take me out to the ballgame!

Saturday was a beautiful day for baseball as we arrived at Space Coast Stadium,

 

 

home of the Washington Nationals in Melbourne, FL.  We arrived about an hour before the game started and got settled into our seats – Bryce picked pretty good ones, in the upper level along the first base line.

 

 

 

 

 

We watched as the teams warmed up, and the groundskeepers prepared the field.

 

The temperature in the mid-70s was perfect, the sun wasn’t too intense and there was a nice light breeze, as the Nationals

 

hosted the Detroit Tigers.

 

Being from Michigan, we would consider the Tigers to be our “home team”, although Bryce’s current favorite player is Bryce Harper,

 

who plays for the Nationals. 

Technically, our seats were on the Nationals’ side, but I saw a LOT of Tigers T-shirts and hats around us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tigers started off really strong, including several home runs,

but the Nationals followed up with several home runs of their own, and then the Tigers seemed to fall apart in the last couple of innings.

It was a good game, though,

with lots of action, and quite a few foul balls that came our way – including one that hit the handrail right in front of Tom and then bounced over our heads!

The Osprey in the nest on the lights didn’t like when a foul ball came his way, either!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryce kept yelling at me for bird-watching during the game, but there was a group of white pelicans that flew over our heads several times – I was trying to get a picture, but I kept missing them!

So . . . the Tigers ultimately lost to the Nationals . . . but it was a fun day!

Spring Training Baseball

 

The Phoenix area is home to the Cactus League, spring-training central for 15 of the major league baseball teams.

Pretty much anywhere you are in the valley, there is a spring training field nearby.

 

 

 

 

We were told that Surprise Stadium, winter home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals, was the friendliest, so I told Bryce to pick out a game for us to go to. 

On Wednesday, the Texas Rangers were playing the Los Angeles Angels.  It was a beautiful afternoon, and a great day for baseball.

We bought tickets for the lawn, and joined the rest of the crowd enjoying the hot, sunny afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We didn’t get there early enough to see any batting practice,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but it wasn’t long until the teams came onto the the field and started warming up,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and signing a few autographs.

The game got underway, and the Angels quickly took the lead.

Not even ex-Tiger, Prince Fielder, could get a good hit.  The Rangers had a bad day, and lost to the Angels 12-1.

The game wasn’t too exciting (almost a complete blow-out), but we’d still rather be sitting there in the sun and warm weather, than back in Michigan where it was cold and snowing!

Tigers Baseball

While we’re here in Tampa, we wanted to catch a Tigers Spring Training game in nearby Lakeland – especially Bryce.  So, Tom did some craigslist searching and calling around on Sunday, and found a guy nearby who had 2 tickets in the 3rd row behind homeplate that he wasn’t going to be able to use, so he was selling the pair for $30.  We picked those up Sunday night, and arrived at the stadium early to locate another pair.  Bryce wanted to be closer to 1st base, so Tom asked around and located a pair of tickets in the 6th row next to the Tigers dugout – those weren’t quite as good a deal, but when averaged with the other pair, we did pretty good.

After getting some lunch (food prices are just as ridiculous in Lakeland as they are in Comerica Park!), we found our seats.  We knew this stadium was going to be smaller than Comerica Park, but we were really surprised to see just how close we were!  Especially Nicolas and I – we had a great view of homeplate!

The high was only supposed to be in the 60s today, so we all wore sweatshirts, but didn’t need them for long.  With not a single cloud in the sky, it was plenty warm – a great day for a baseball game!  I guess we weren’t the only ones who thought so!

The Tigers were playing the Houston Astros and got off to a great start!  There weren’t too many of the big names starting today, and Bryce was disappointed that Cabrera was not there, but it was still a good game.

The Tigers took the lead right away, and then added to it while giving up only 1 run.  The score was 6-1 at the end of the 4th inning, but after a pitcher change in the 5th, the Astros got 4 runs, including a 3-run homer . . . it was getting nerve-wracking for the Tiger fans!

The Tigers managed to get a couple more runs, though, and kept the Astros from getting any, and the game ended 8-5.  It was a good game, although a little long in my opinion . . . I was ready for it to be done around the 7th inning!

 

Not only did Nicolas and I have a great view of homeplate, but we also had a pretty good view of the dugout, and every once in awhile somebody would separate from the team and we could get a good picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is for Grandma . . . we were bummed that he wasn’t pitching!

Tom and Bryce enjoyed the view from their seats, too, and even managed to get Danny Worth’s autograph on their hats as the team left the field at the end of the game.

It was a pretty good day!

 

August already???

 

We got a late start to our summer, and now it’s already time to start thinking about back-to-school, fall baseball, and planning our final camping trips of the year.  I can’t believe it’s almost here!

The boys are pretty much all set for school . . .

 

I just have to finalize Bryce’s foreign language, and help Nicolas find an elective.  We’re considering a course at Washtenaw Community College, but need to decide pretty quickly, and if he does take it, that locks us into staying local through December . . . even if (when!) the house sells . . . so that’s an additional factor to consider.  They both start their English classes before Labor Day, and Nicolas wants to get started early on Physics (since he didn’t finish Chemistry until July 1st this past year!), but other than that, we’ll probably wait until after the holiday weekend.

We’re still trying to decide where to go for the holiday weekend . . . should we go back to Silver Lake, or somewhere new . . . and trying to fit in another trip somewhere else, too.  The kids still want to go to Cedar Point again, but we’re not sure . . . now that I signed Bryce up for fall baseball (which starts the week after next), I need to see his schedule before I make any camping plans.

Tom called Newmar this week to schedule a service appointment, and the earliest we could get in the 2nd week of October.  Our convection microwave gave us the dreaded, mysterious F-5 error while we were baking cookies on our 1st trip this year.  We were able to clear it by turning off the circuit breaker for a few minutes, but got it again on this last trip and it wouldn’t reset.  I can’t even set the clock on the microwave anymore!  We also have a leak in our shower grey tank (when it gets full), which has already been replaced once before, so we need to have that looked at, too.  I guess we’ll see how the extended warranty works out.

We’ll probably plan on spending the whole week in Indiana, and hopefully get to spend a day or two in Shipshewana after our service work is complete.  Then . . . maybe I’ll even get to go on a quilt shop bus tour with my sisters!!

Of course, if Patrick finds a buyer for our house, all our plans could change . . . and I wouldn’t mind one bit!!  July has been pretty much a dud, but hopefully things will pick up now in August.

Waiting for a new family to move in!!

Baseball season is underway!

Bryce’s team is the LSU Tigers . . . purple & gold, not green & white!

Bryce is playing baseball again this spring, and his team has gotten off to a slow start, with 2 losses so far.  We didn’t have high hopes for tonight’s game, as we drove toward the field with black clouds looming overhead!

The boys were just getting warmed up when the rain started, and soon it was pouring and they ran for shelter under the overhang of the bathhouse!  We hung out there for a few minutes while a couple of the coaches tracked the weather on their phones (what did we do before smart phones!?!). 

The rain only lasted a short time, and they were able to get the game started.  The first inning didn’t give us a good feeling as our first 3 batters resulted in 3 outs, and the opposition got a couple of runs on the board!  The 2nd inning was much better with our team getting 8 runs with no outs (mercy rule ended that half of the inning), and holding the other team at the 2 they already had.

Bryce is fast . . . and a good stealer!

Bryce sliding into home . . . and he was safe!!

With the rain out of the way, the sun finally came out and it turned into a pretty good night for baseball!

It was still a little chilly, but at least we were dry!

The next couple of innings continued to add runs to the scoreboard for our team, and they were doing a great job of holding off the the other team!  Bryce had a couple more at-bats, and made it home each time!

The game was limited to 2 hours, so they only finished 5 of the 7 innings, and ended with a score of 21 – 4!  Yea!!  They got their first win of the season!  Now, we’ll see if they can keep this momentum going!!

On the home front, we’ve been negotiating on & off with one buyer for the last month, and now we’re waiting for him to put his latest offer in writing.  Hopefully, he’ll get to a number we can live with, and we can get moving with our plans!  In the meantime, we’ve been talking to a new realtor and making tentative plans for getting the house back on the market if this doesn’t work out . . . I really hope we don’t need to go there!