Game Ball

Baseball night once again. Tonight's game followed a big day on the road for me and the fabulous 4! We began the day running errands which included the convenience store (we had to get our beverages to sustain us), the bank, the photo shop, and the library where, thank goodness I owed no fines! After round one, we headed home for a quick lunch during which, Cole reminded me that his uniform was still very dirty from last game and needed cleaned. Yikes. It was 2 and we had a graduation party to attend at 4 if we were to get Cole to warm-up at 5:20. I put the load of game clothes to wash, and a pair of capris for me to wear into the washer and ushered the Fab 4 into the van for "Errands: the Sequel". Up to Target we ran to pick up a prescription on which believe it or not, we had to wait 30 minutes! Talk about "hurry up and wait"! Back at home, Cole put the load into the dryer and joined the girls to ride scooters until his clothes were dry. I learned today that baseball uniforms will dry in a dryer set on nuclear in less than 30 minutes, capri pants will not. Capri pants will dry in less than 30 minutes when placed in a nuclear dryer for 25 minutes and then placed under an iron wielded by a praying woman for 5 minutes!

On our way out the door, a few minutes late, we grabbed directions to the ball park and to the graduation party, grabbed Darrin from work, and hit the road--again! Molly finally had more than 10 minutes to sleep on the way to the party and remained asleep until we left for the ball game, which was super for the big people, but unfortunate for the baby, because she didn't get fed. I didn't remember that she hadn't been fed until strolling past the concession stand at the game. Molly, as a result enjoyed her very first hot dog while watching her brother play Little League. There goes my Mother of the Year nomination again this year!! She did seem to love it and ate 3/4 of it with the bun! We may well pay the price for this trick tomorrow.

The ball park for the game was very nice. A cool playground made for happy sisters, and bleachers with a good view of both field and playground made for happy parents. As Cole ran into the outfield, Darrin asked him (he played right in front of our seats) what glove he was wearing because we didn't recognize it as his. Cole had to borrow the glove from the boy playing catcher because he had forgotten his. Our boy played a really wonderful game. He stood bravely at bat as a very skilled pitcher fired away, and stopped two ground balls to cut each runner off at second base. Toward the end of the game Cole made an awesome catch! The ball flew toward the land between the infield and the outfield and Cole made a running catch and snagged it for the third out! I was so proud to watch his teammates clap him on the back as they headed toward the dug out. The boys lost the game, but the night was forever embedded in our minds as Coach Joe placed the game ball in Cole's hand and congratulated him on his big catch.

I was certain tonight would be a challenge after the crazy day. Minivan marathon, unlaundered uniform, over-booked, tardy for warm-up, premature hot dog, weary spectators, skilled opponents, borrowed glove.....GAME BALL!