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!

Sharks Don't Dance!

After months of hype, Connor's first formal school dance was upon us. Connor had been saying all year that he did not want to go and I always said, "Fine. You don't have to go." Every time the topic came up, he assured me that he did NOT want to go. Whenever I caught wind of other kids talking about the big night, Connor made sure to drag me aside and spit through his teeth that he did NOT want to go. Kids started shopping for dresses and ties and he said, "Mom, I REALLY do NOT want to go!!" Tickets were sold in the cafeteria at lunch every day, and every day he said, "Mom, I do NOT want to go." By the end of May, I said "I GET IT! YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO! " Then.... the night before the dance he said, "Mom, I think a bunch of my friends are actually going to that dance..." I started to say, "Well, Connor, maybe you..." I did not finish the sentence before he loudly interjected. ".. BUT I STILL DO NOT WANT TO GO!" Reaching my wits' end, I said, well then maybe you want to do something else?.... He said, "Yeah. I think I do." And the alternative dance event was born: Sharks Don't Dance! (The school mascot is a shark.) A handful of his friends thought it was a great idea and also skipped the dance in favor of taking on the "Man vs. Food Challenge" at a local hot spot and had a great time trying to down the 6.5 pound milkshake made famous by some cable food show. At first, they thought it looked easy and enthusiastically ordered TWO of the bohemoth shakes: cookie dough and straight chocolate.
Team Navy (Graeme, Kyle, Connor and Nathan) got right to work, but... Baseball Buds (Evan, Brandon and Logan) took an early lead. After Evan remembered he was lactose intolerant (c'mon man!), Logan attempted to single-handedly bury the flagging Team Navy competition. Everyone decided to call a time out. Brandon thought it might help his appetite to eat a few pickles! (Seriously ??!!@#$!?) Never ones to be beaten by a challenge, Connor and Nathan decided to take Team Navy to the finish line and Kyle helped wipe out the last few cookie dough chunks.
After all that, Connor and Nathan were feeling a little... SICK! All in all, everyone, said it was a BLAST, much more fun than the dance. Besides, they DID NOT want to go! We'll see what they say when their first high school Homecoming rolls around next fall!

Mousketeer Birthday!

We wished our own little Mickey and Minnie a happy birthday at the local bouncy zone. We told them they were going to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and they couldn't wait to

"Come inside, it's fun inside!"

Cousin Briella (3) and Pierce (2) both have May birthdays and also share a fondness for the Disney Channel show, so it was a perfect celebration. They invited all their favorite Mousketeers and had a grand time.

"Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggety Dog!"

Time for cake and ice cream back at the cousins' house.

"And now it's time to say goodbye to all our company...
M-I-C
See ya real soon
K-E-Y
Why? because we like you!
M-O-U-S-E!"

Up, up and away to another wonderful year of adventures with our Little P.

P.P.S. "Plagiarized Post, Sorry" Hey Jennie, I just had to repeat this special day! Loved it!