4th of July Oh-Nine

We had a super fantastic time this 4th. With a full schedule of visitors, there was never a lack of space, tasty food or things to do! Fri (3rd) we had Jason & Amy Porter down from Edwards for the day, along with their 2 boys, Isaac and Andrew. Moments later, Mike, Becky & Andy arrived to stay the weekend. After a light lunch of sandwiches, we hung out and then went out back to take some batting practice. Despite the 100 deg temperature, a nice Godsent cloud hovered over the field for a full 2 hrs keeping us relatively cool for the slugfest. We retired back to the house so Scott could fire up the grill for some pollo asada (spiced grilled mexican chicken); mmm mmm, lemme tell you! After dinner, coffee "appeared" like it always does around here, and then we stepped out back and played a beanbag game called cornhole, thanks to Ang's construction/craft/sewing skillz. Wind correction is everything w/ cornhole! Given the advanced conditions, this game went on for-EV-er! The Porters packed up the worn out boys and headed back home. Was great to hang out with them! And Gib was so incredibly happy to have other boys his age around. That night we snuck in a quick Halo competition on the Xbox 360.

That was just the 3rd! The 4th afforded us a lazy morning, breakfast, coffee (standard!), hanging out & playtime and then a light sandwich lunch. After lunch the Johnsons arrived with their 4 kiddos and the parent-to-kid ratio was way skewed! :) In a short period of time we packed in a pool party out back, highly requested DVR'd episode of Wipe-Out, fresh smoked salsa, and Ang's excellent turkey tacos. Sadie and Andy gained confidence on their tiptoes in the water. And Wipe-Out was a source of some serious laughter and shouting. After dinner, coffee, and then we packed up and drove to the local Minor League baseball game, the High Desert Mavericks.

How do those Mavericks do it? No kidding, just like last year, they tried to lose the game, were down a couple runs in the bottom of the 9th and then somehow tied it up with a base hit and a big triple. Then the next thing you know, the opposing pitcher hits a batter to load the bases with 2 outs and then throws a wild pitch to allow the winning run to steal home! Mayhem ensued after the storybook ending which closely mirrored last year's 9th inning walk-off victory. Then the big fireworks show began. Wow, from our grassy hillside directly beneath the fireworks, we were dazzled, no engulfed by the impressive bursts overhead. Not bad for $3 grass seats!

Kids inside, kids outside, good food all around. That's Andrew in brown and Andy in green. And Mike busy w/ utensil at work. Amy can't choose a salad dressing.

Laney takes photos of Jason & Scott's neverending cornhole duel.

Amy and Andrew on the swings, the cornhole game, Chip entertains the little ones and Sadie, Isaac and Andy figure it's just another day at the park.

Pool time is how you beat the 100 deg temp! Little troy did awesome with his floaty vest, and Katie was quite dangerous with a squirtgun. Andy is good to go (with ball and Mom within reach!).

Sadie slowly became comfortable on her feet with patient Chip.

Troy and Mike enjoy the game from the grassy hillside seats.

Scott and kids watchin' the game from the blanket.

Mavericks celebrating the walk-off win!

Post-game 4th of July fireworks extravaganza!

Child Development

So much child development to catalog here... Thanks to the tutelage of Chip, Mike, Beck and the rest of the gang (and our DVD player), our kids can now shoot giant nerf rocket launchers with pinpoint accuracy; Sadie is demanding to spoon-feed herself; Baseball skills are being honed; and big little-cousin Andy is teaching them to live with intensity!

Quote of the day: [Gib walks out the backdoor with helmet, baseball, batting gloves, and hands Uncle Mike a mitt and says] "Here, it's called 'baseball.'"

Cubs 5, Phillies 4

Man, that was a dramatic game but we won and we're now in FIRST PLACE in the NL CENTRAL division!!! Go Cubbies!!! YEAH!!!

Petco Park

Here's us enjoying the sun and 70 degree ocean breeze in the early evening of July 8th at Petco Park just 2 blocks from the coast thayre at the south end of the Gaslamp district in San Diego. Brand new park, and very open and airy. The kids were so happy to be there and thanked us many times. We did get a little light harassment for being in full Cub regalia and posing under the honorable Cub flag but everyone down there was super friendly.

Padres-4, Braves-5

What a great outing for the kids and us at the home of the Padres in downtown San Diego. The best part besides having your kids' first MLB game be at one of the most beautiful parks in the nation, and getting to witness two former Cubs 90 feet apart on the same team--Michael Barrett (C) and Future Hall of Famer Greg Maddox (P)...yes, that's his full name now. FHOF as we call him (pronounced FEE-hoff). Here's a couple shots from the right field upper deck seats with my Tamron 300mm zoom. Maddox pitching to Barrett (warmup), Maddox getting grounding out on his way to first (being chased by everyone's favorite ump, CP Buckner), a Brave busting a bat, Chipper Jones making contact, Maddox at bat (fouling off) with Barrett leaving first, and Maddox & Barrett on the mound...thaire were several visits, as FHOF wasn't locating his pitches very well that night. Their 9th inning rally came up 1 run short. Oh well. It was a beautiful evening.

Poor, Poor Cub Fans!

This is dedicated to all those Cub Fans out there who emotionally lay it all on the line every season in hopes of a victorious year of Chicago Cubs baseball.

So, do they have to keep losing in extra innings after a strong comeback? I wish I could define why this is what it means to be a Cubbie. It's like the pure fact that they're Cubs, means they're forced by some cosmic reason to lose their baseball superpowers during the 8th & 9th innings and swing at lousy pitches, and do poor base-running, etc. Whatever "IT" is, it's what perpetuates this anomaly of "being a Cub." (in my humble opinion)