Change of Seasons

Last summer, Roddie asked for "More baseball in his life".  He's not one to blindly join in, or overcommit himself, so we took his request seriously. 

The end result was that he tried out, and made a team that competes every weekend.  Double headers.  Both Days.  From the end of March until...?  That sounds ok until you realize that they start practice formally in January, had impromptu games and practices all fall, and hockey ran until April 11th. 

It is a lot of logistics, and it all culminated last weekend as there were 4 baseball games scheduled and, as it turns out, 2 hockey playoff games.  We also had the usual weekend stuff like Faith formation (at two different times, of course), Norah was to meet with her new boss (!), it was Palm Sunday, so missing church didn't seem like a great idea, and really what about family time!

It turned out to be a fabulous weekend!  I couldn't be more proud of the team-mate, friend and athlete Roddie is becoming.   I am pleased at how Norah jumped up to watch his team in their final game. The best thing I heard all weekend was Norah's excitement when Roddie offered up one of his old jerseys for her to wear to the game.

I started writing all this with a play by play of the weekend, because it seems like a miracle that it all happened and was so great.  But maybe what matters is that we managed family time (both all 4, and Norah solo with each of us) around Roddie's games.  We all made it to church, and are better for it.  Roddie made some meaningful contributions in baseball, and Matt got to know a few baseball parents. 

The hockey team, who a month ago had really lost their mojo, pulled together in the past few weeks, ending with two amazing games.  The teamwork, tenacity and friendship they demonstrated was all we could want for our kids and their teams.  They lost in the final, but as you can see in the picture below, it didn't matter - they played their best, they played as a team and they had a blast doing it.   (and looked 'sharp'?  the suitcoats were all their idea!)

Roddie and I have this routine, where before every game, we do this back and forth:

Play... HARD!

Be a... LEADER!

Score some.... GOALS (or RUNS)

Win the .... GAME!

Have some.. FUN!

And that, folks, just about sums up the weekend! 

Pictures are during the final two games, the whole team at the post game pizza party arranged by yours truly, and Roddie with a new this year friend Dylan, who played goalie in the past few games.  Roddie always looks out for the goalie during games when he's not in net, so here he is looking out for Dylan.