Runner Up

The Lake Region Youth Baseball season is over. We can all enjoy a little more free time now. Ha,Ha,Ha....

Wayne's team, the Glover Yankees, did really well this season.  They played the final game of the playoffs against the other Glover team, the Padres, on Wednesday night.

It was a really close, action packed game because both teams are very good, but the Padres won 3-2.  At the end of the game, Wayne was on 3rd base, waiting for a chance to steal home and tie up the game, but the chance never quite came, and they had to settle for the runner up position in the Lake Region Youth Baseball playoffs.  He was a little disappointed, but I think we all feel pretty lucky to live in such a small town that had not one, but the two best teams in the league and such a beautiful place to play their games.

You can barely see his legs, but in the photo below, Wayne is on 1st base.  He got that batter (Tyler Choquette) out at 1st.

In a game earlier this season, Wayne guards 3rd base.

Wayne at bat.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines, these are the kids of things that are happening...

The pictures of Heather, Cole and friends below are from a game in Barton a while ago. The field is behind the pharmacy, hence the cones.

These are the best times of our lives.

Summer

 The chicks are growing!  We often let them out to run around the yard. Heather and I agree that her's is the prettiest.

 Spike, chained at a safe distance.

 The chicks like the playground.

 This one sat on Wayne's shoulder for a long time.

 I never realized how amusing chicks could be.

 In other events, we made painted rock garden markers.

 Heather painted pumpkins.

 And tomatoes.

 I painted sunflowers.

 Cole painted green beans - the boy will never be an artist-

 and spinach. Somehow, I didn't get photos of Wayne's beets and zucchini.

 Patches, not allowed outside, lounges in the open window.

Cole and T-ball

 This is Cole's last year for t-ball.  Next year he'll be in th minor league with Wayne. This picture (above) is going to go in my sidebar along with Wayne's toothless t-ball picture when he was the same age.

Cole has become a pretty good hitter this year.  See the ball leaving the frame to the right?

 First base.

 Some second base advice from the coach.

 Cole with some teammates.

 Next year Heather will be old enough to play t-ball. For now she has fun with her friends on the sidelines.

I'm still working on some good pictures of Wayne from his games. There's a big game tonight - Glover against the other Glover team (yes, Glover actually has two teams and they're both the top teams in the Lake Region league). It's a big rivalry and he'll be playing against some of his 3rd grade classmates, so it's always a big deal.

One Free Day

Friday was a half day of school for the boys. Cole complained of tummy troubles so he stayed home and then, as you see, made a miraculous recovery and had a great time visiting the pond with Heather while Wayne was in school . I've checked a few times, and seen no sign of our ducks, so I guess they've moved on. We've had so much stuff going on lately with school, ball games and practices, piano lessons, trips to Maine, that I think Cole really needed to take a "personal day."

The first grade "class pets" came home so we could get them some fresh pond water.

 We actually didn't keep nearly this many.

 Later, when Wayne came home, he worked on a project.

 Can you tell what it's going to be? It's not done yet.

We're looking forward to the rest of the long weekend and doing absolutely nothing except going to the cemetery and catching up on some yard work.

Waterfall Park

It's been a while since we've taken you to Waterfall Park, so let me refresh your memory.  Waterfall Park is a pretty little area near the driveway where the outlet from the pond and a spring fed brook converge to form a paradise for birds, bugs, salamanders, kids, and dogs.  In the early spring, when the snow is melting, it's like white water rapids.  In the late spring and early summer, it's a gently flowing little stream. Later in the summer, it may nearly dry up completely.  It was founded by Joanie, Wayne, and Cole a couple of years ago.  Cole dubbed it "Waterfall Park" because he was going through a waterfall fascination phase and loved the way the water cascaded over the many rocks forming tiny little waterfalls.

That sparkly sequined skirt didn't slow Heather down. Earlier in the day she was digging holes and making mud in the gravel in front of the garage. I told her not to get her clothes dirty and she said, "But Mommy, I'm a KID.  It's OK for kids to get dirty!"  Which actually, is totally my philosophy about childhood, but usually I have them dressed accordingly.  Oh well, luckily she has the lovely pink net to match her stylish outfit.

Cole reaches for a critter with that nice long handle.

Wayne finds a salamander, but it scuttled away.

We've been avoiding the pond lately, because there has been a pair of ducks around over there.  I'm hoping that they will nest and we can have ducklings to observe. In the meantime, I figure three hollering kids and Spike galloping all over the place might scare them away.  However, at one point when it was just Wayne and myself, we went quietly over to see if the ducks were still around.  We didn't see them at that time, but we did discover that the pond is absolutely infested with tadpoles.  Wayne stuck his net in and scooped up a wriggling, slimy, black mass of them.  Here are just a few in a jar.

Cole took a fraction of these to school to be the class "pets."

LET THE SUMMER SCIENCE PROJECTS BEGIN!