Happy 4th From The North

Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays, and this year it was made even better by the fact that Lily, Trevor, and I were in the holiday parade here in town representing the Sault Area Little League. We were happy to be involved as nothing is more American than baseball, other than maybe hot dogs and apple pie. We had a pretty good group of kids turn out from all levels of baseball and softball. Another few years and Brian will be riding along with us, too. I'll try to find a way to get some pics of him up on the site. In the picture here, I'm in the middle of a wave, but looks like I'm casting some wierd voodoo spell on Lisa or something.

Denied The Cup-Again!!!

It was bad enough that the Detroit Red Wings flopped in the Stanley Cup Finals, losing the last two games to a less talented and less worthy Pittsburgh Penguins. The only silver lining in this dark cloud was that Sault native, former Soo Greyhound, and current Penguin Tyler Kennedy would bring hockey's 'Holy Grail' up north here for all local fans to enjoy. So he did. Unfortunately for Lily, Trevor, myself, and hundreds of other fans who waited in line for hours, we were denied the Cup once again. The staff at the Essar Centre must have brainstormed to come up with the least logical and least efficient way to get fans through to meet Tyler and see the Cup. Instead of hurrying people along, the staff let the lucky few who made it to the front chat with Tyler like they were old friends who had all day to catch up. No offense to Tyler, but we were there just to see the Cup so the kids could get their picture taken with it. No big deal for me, as I've seen it a few times already, and have been to Toronto to see the 'real' Cup. So I guess this just adds fuel to my fire, another reason to despise the Penguins-denying my kids a chance to see the Stanley Cup.
I did get a pic of the kids with the Cup in the background, and I guess that's as close as they'll get for now.

Weekly Roundup June 29-July 2

Lots of rain this week, so we missed out on baseball practice on Monday and soccer practice on Tuesday. Not that I didn't need the rest, but summer isn't that long and we hate to miss out on anything, not even practice. I had some good drills set up, too, so we'll have to save those for next time.
We played baseball in the rain on Wednesday, too. Only had five players show up so we borrowed a couple from the other team. Trevor went 2 for 3 at the plate and hit the ball real solid his first time up. Maybe I can get them out this weekend and work on some things. He made a nice play in the field, too. He's getting a lot better at catching the ball and at least getting in front of it. Lily is being a big help as an assistant coach, as my regular is on vacation. She's calling out the batting order and actually providing the game pics of Trevor.
Thursday night Trevor's soccer team the Hawks suffered their first loss of the season as they fell to the Wolverines 4-2. Trevor had an assist on the first goal, but didn't get a lot of playing time in the second half when the teams defense fell apart. They were short-handed again, only having one sub and missing a couple of their better players. They'll have to toughen up and get them next week. Trevor's doing better, but keeps getting distracted by the seagulls flying around.
Also, we'll be marching in the 4th of July parade with Little League Baseball.

Male Bonding At The Car Show

This year it was just the boys who headed down south to the annual car show in St. Ignace. Lily decided to go to the Pow Wow with Lisa, so us guys did some male bonding and checked out some nice old cars. Trevor's favorites were the orange '69 Dodge Charger (just like the General Lee) and the Delorian (like the time machine in Back To The Future). He also liked an old tricked out school bus. My favorites of course were the Trans Am Firebirds. Maybe I can enter my Firebird in the show someday when I get the door fixed and drop a new engine in her. Oh, I can dream.

Weekly Roundup June 22-26

Another busy week for us, and the heat was brutal, too. The kids really worked hard and worked up a sweat.

Two baseball games for us this week, both Monday and Wednesday. Trevor went 2 for 3 on Monday, with two infield hits. We tried using a lighter bat and he's getting around on the ball better. He made a couple of nice plays in the infield, too. Wednesday he went 1 for 2 at the plate with another infield hit. Still doing solid in the field and made some nice plays. Lily helped me out again with the lineup and is doing a great job.

Tuesday Trevor's soccer team had a scrimmage and they won 2-0. Only one sub for the team and it was really hot, so the kids didn't get that much of a break. Trevor was downing water like crazy after the game and was drenched in sweat. Thursday the Hawks had a real game and beat the Falcons 5-0. No goals for Trevor but he came very close and is playing a lot better. Starting to mix it up and get to the net.

Lily is continuing her physical therapy and had a session on Friday. They say her hand is coming along nicely and she'll be good as new. She's as tough as they come, so this doesn't surprise me at all.

The middle picture has Lily and Trevor with his school friends Alec and Sydney. Next week Papa and Nana are making the trip from Cadillac to see the kids.

Weekly Roundup June 15-19

Busy week for us, as the rain held off and we got all of our events in.

We had baseball practice on Monday, and things seemed to go well there. Lily helped out when she could and Trevor seems to be doing some things better. Coach Lenny worked with him on his hitting a bit, too. On Wednesday night Trevor had two infield hits. He's still not hitting the ball real solid, but getting better with practice. He also made a nice play in the field. Trevor was also picked for the Sault Little League Player of the Week for this week for the Minor 1 division.

Tuesday Lily went down to Petoskey and got the cast off of her hand. You can see by the pic she needs to wear a brace on it. She is so tough, she never cried during any of this. What an awesome little girl.

No soccer games this week, as the kids worked with the pros. Members of the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer were in town to put a camp on for the kids. They also put them through drills and give them some tips on soccer. Pictured is one of the Fire giving instruction to Trevor's team the Hawks (Trevor is #10). He is really doing better at soccer and likes it because he says it's easy. Back to games next week.

Weekly Roundup June 8-12

With Lily now on the DL, it looks like things will be focusing on Trevor for a bit. Lily did help out at the baseball game on Wednesday as my bench coach. She's keeps busy with the batting order and taking pictures while we're in the field.

Speaking of the baseball game, Trevor had two good hits, but had a little trouble making contact his third trip to the plate. He's doing better now than when before I was gone, so he's improving. He played some shortstop, second base, and first base during the game. Made some good catches and is doing a good job of getting in front of the ball. He just has to get more focused on the game and what's going on. Not just him, but remember these kids are 7-8 years old, and Trevor is 6, so sometimes it's tough for them. He had fun, though which is all that really counts in my book. Next week we'll start having 'outs' for the batters, but not sure whether we'll actually keep score or not.

Thursday night Trevor played in his first soccer game. His team the Hawks beat the Panthers 3-2. No goals for him, but he was playing forward each time his team scored. His first practice was on Tuesday, so he's a little behind the other kids and just getting used to the sport. Trevor is having fun with this too. We'll try to get out this weekend and work on some things to get him caught up.

Next week we have baseball practice on Monday, game on Wednesday. Soccer practice on Tuesday and another game on Thursday.