Pirates Weekend Update

The Pirates played in the Taylor "Dust the Rust" tournament this weekend. We played some great, nail-biting games and ended up taking third. Not too shabby for some kids that just got off Spring Break. We played a total of 4 games over 2 days. JT hit his first official homerun (to right field). His hit sparked the team to a 13-12 comeback after they had been runless for the first 3-innings.

I didn't get very many photos as both days were extremely windy but I got a few of JT catching. He played catcher for all 4 games with a few breaks to 1st base. He tagged two guys out at home.

We had to get him his own gear because the league didn't have anything that fit and call me crazy but I thought it was best that he be protected when having bats swung by his head and balls thrown at him. Now that he owns his own gear he wants to get his helmet airbrushed (we saw a kid on a kid-pitch team that had a dragon painted on his helmet). We found  Mathias Airbrushing online (see his image below) now I just need to find out how crazy-expensive it is to get your helmet customized!

Spring Break Part 2

We spent a full day at the Space Center and I have to admit that it is a pretty cool place. I would love to go back again when it wasn't so crowded. We spent most of our day waiting in line to ride a tram to take us to see where the astronauts train (also very cool). It was obvious that NASA really wants people to know and see all that they do and help encourage support of the space program. By the time we returned to the main portion fo the Space Center it was wall-to-wall people, which was frustrating because there was so much we didn't get to see. I'd love to go back again.

Random things to note:

• They don't shower in space.
• Museums/Space Center type places are really fun when your children can read. I know both boys had fun but I think JT enjoyed it just a little more because his reading has advanced so much in the past few weeks, which meant he was reading a lot of the displays by himself.
• When we got back to the hotel, the only thing Zach could tell the nice grandpa in the elevator with us about his visit to NASA was that they really mark up their Star Wars toys and that you can get them for less money at Target (any hints on who had a meltdown at the gift shop?).

Spring Break (part 1)

I am not sure what I was thinking or if I was thinking at all but I decided that we should take a mini-trip for Spring Break to the Space Center in Houston. I didn't think that anyone else in the world would have the same idea as me. Oh silly me!

I've been pondering the best way to detail this 2 day adventure and I am not sure where to start. For me the fun all began when we checked in to our hotel room and below our window we could see water and the parking lot. It was in said parking lot and Rick and I stared, mouths open for a good 5 minutes while we watched place fetch with his dog while his wife held tightly to the leash that their small child was attached to.

Our trip included  two visits to the Kemah Boardwalk, which is a Landry's owned and consists of a dozen or more rides, carnival games, little shops, and about a dozen Landry's restaurants. To the boys it was what they imagine Disney World is like to us it was a bit hellish and caused us to wonder if we should ever attempt a trip to Disney. The highlight of Kemah was that both boys rode their first roller-coasters and both had completely different reactions.

JT rode the Bullet, which I believe scared me more than it scared him. I couldn't get a photo but I did buy one from the ride that I will try to get scanned in so you can see the terror on his face.

Here, in chronological order,  is  Zachy's first roller coaster experience. The gist of this ride is that it goes up a little and then drops down a little, then up higher, drops again, and finally up to the top with a big final drop.

Afterwards he told that the girl next to him was giving him a headache because she was screaming like a girl too much.

Revenge of Nana Juju and Grandpa Pete

It may come as a surprise to most that there were a few, brief moments of my childhood where I was rotten and may have done a few bad things.However small my misdeeds were, I recall Nana Juju and Grandpa Pete often remarking that they wished on me a child worse than I was. I obviously didn't fear this threat because how bad could a child of a perfect angel be?

I wasw showering this morning, which truth be told is perhaps the one place where I am left alone. I would put a lock on the bathroom door but that would only encourage Rick to stay in there longer than I believe he needs to. Anywho, during said shower this morning, Zachy came in and proudly announced that Mama Horsey had gotten her hair cut. I pulled open the curtain to view a horse tail that was now a few inches shorter than it was earlier today. I sent Zachy away and told him we would discuss hair cutting once I was out of the shower. My few remaining moments of silence we spent thinking about the time I ripped the eyes off a fabric doll that Judes had or the time I cut Malibu Barbies hair. My time remembering the only two bad deeds of my childhood were interupted with the enterance of JT to announce that all of Mama Horsey's babies (she has three now) got their hair done.  This was of course the end of my shower but fortunately the babies are "too young for haircuts" and only had their hair styled into mohawks.

I have a photo of MH's new doo that I will get up shortly as well as several other long-awaited posts. These past few weeks have been outrageously busy at work and home. I put a self-inflicted ban on using my computer this weekend (I am currently posting from Rick's computer) but I think that ban will end later this evening.

And just so you all know, this blog entry is #301 in my blogging career. Sounds like cause for celebration. I hear Martha has a new Crafting Bible out that should probably be given as a reward for all my hard work on keeping the world updated on the goings on in the Lucas House!

Shoebox Parade

A few weeks ago JT had a shoebox parade. The theme was Texas and each child had to create a mini-float with their image of Texas. JT and I batted around a few ideas and even called some Texas natives to get additional ideas but JT was set on Texas baseball. His box was split evenly between the Rangers and the Astros.

This shot is JT's meltdown when Mrs. R was trying to organize the kids for a class photo and she told JT he was too short to be in the back. His attitude changed when his shoebox was selected to be in the display case in the front hall.

If it is March then we must play baseball...

There is not enough blog-space for me to provide the full story of the drama that has surrounded baseball this year. The drama started about two weeks prior to our first game and it has at times been all consuming for me and Rick. I've learned a few lessons through all of this nonsense:

• Don't send an email when you are emotional - wait at least 24 hours
• Don't ever join a board of sports rec league
• When sports are involved grown men can act like they are still in middle school, which means they act like complete arses and forget that their goal is to create a fun, learning environment for kids.

So all of that said, let's talk about two of the cutest baseball players around. Zach is playing 4U t-ball for the Yankees. He is caught in this odd spot of being two young to play with the 6U kids  but he is almost too advanced to play with the 4U kids (and by advanced I do not mean that is some stellar ball player - just that he has been playing for a while with JT and some of these kids have never seen a bat and glove). JT is playing for the Pirates (the team that has caused all the drama). JT is in 8U coach pitch and I hope that I don't jinx things but I love our Pirates team. I think we have one of the best group of kids and parents that a team could ask for. I am really looking forward to our season.

Well enough for the chit-chat, let's get to some photos.