Off to the Races
We like running in the spring before the weather heats up too much. It's also a good way for the boys to keep their cardiovascular stamina strong during baseball season. This year Connor, his friend Nathan and I ran in my favorite local 5K, the Quiet Waters Earth Day Race. I like that one because the entire race is run on a scenic, paved park trail. There is only one large hill :) To top it off, pretty much everyone who enters the race wins several coupons for free ice cream cones from the shop down on the city dock (oh yeah). Everyone but Connor, that is. Connor set a blazing pace at 20:09 and came in 2nd overall out of 100+ runners. It was his first time to win an overall award and not just an age group honor and he was pretty proud of himself. Everyone gasped and clapped for him when he was awarded his fancy plaque. Nathan and I, on the other hand, are happy with our ice cream cone coupons and told Connor we'd treat him one day this summer, as long as he didn't gloat too much on the way home. :)

But no ice cream yet! The Tuckahoe Triathlon was just a few weeks away and we were excited to tackle that one again with Connor's friends Jackson, Noah and little sister Isabelle.
Connor and Nathan entered as a team and so did my friend Lori and I.
Knowing what to expect made it a lot easier this year and we had a great time completing the 2 mile run, 10 mile bike ride and 1 mile canoe paddle. Connor loves the run leg while I much prefer the bike leg. Jackson's dad George is awesome at all of it, placing 3rd overall, and we were all proud of Isabelle for finishing her first tri with her mom. Can't wait for next year!

Teaming Up!

After some major league negotiations with the local rec league (somebody explain to me again why moms don't get salaries?), Reilly was granted permission to "play up" with Owen's 10 year old age group for baseball season. He was the only player granted this request. And yes, he is awesome, but that's not the main reason we made the request. With Connor and Graeme both playing travel schedules with their teams, we knew we could only spread ourselves so thin... 10+ games a week plus practices felt like our limit! So proudly wearing #4 (obvious reasons), Reilly skipped the first kid pitch league and made his debut in minors as a Mudcat with #52 Owen (don't ask) and Assistant Coach Dad, who came as part of the package trade deal we brokered with the league. Owen was a veteran pitcher this year and put up a lot of solid innings. Here's a sequence of him at work on the mound:

Getting the sign

Coming set

Leg kick

Reaching back

Loading up

The delivery

Letting it fly

Follow through

Owen felt pretty confident on the hill, knowing he was backed up by one of the better shortstops in the league: Reilly...
...who was also ready take the mound whenever relief was needed.

Reilly had great composure as a rookie pitcher. It probably helped that he had a buddy behind the plate catching him... Owen!

Now it's time to heat up the bats boys!
Batting lead off for the Mudcats... Reilly!

Checking out the pitcher's stuff

Taking a practice swing

Last minute advice from the third base coach
(and a little love from Dad)

In the box and ready to rock

Reilly reached base often and was a great table setter for Owen, batting in the 3 hole, who routinely smashed the first pitch he saw into the outfield, leading the team in RBIs.

The team finished the season with a winning 10-4 record, making it to the league championships semi finals.


Of course, no season can ever be complete without Owen getting chewed out by his coach multiple times...
But mostly, it was smiles all around... planting fear in the hearts of the rest of the league because Owen and Reilly will be legal to play together again next year!