Lakeland, MPA, Sports

It's been a little while since I've written, so this will just be quick catch-up blog (in no particular order). 

Baseball's Spring Training started. We went to the Tiger's Sunday game on opening weekend. First, we stopped in and saw my dad. We had a good visit. Jack asked him about his military service and he told us about being stationed in Puerto Rico and being an executive driver. My dad has always been really personable and extroverted, which is why he said he got the job. My mom was much more introverted and I would say all 4 of their children are introverts, which is kind of interesting. I don't know what the odds are, but it seems like at least one of us should have taken after my dad. It used to drive us a little crazy as kids. We couldn't go anywhere without seeing people my dad knew. And, if he didn't know someone, he would before we left wherever it was. Anyway, we had a nice visit and then went to the Tigers game. It was fun to be back at Spring Training. We enjoyed the game with the new rules (most notably the pitch clock). Luke was featured on the score board a couple of times between innings. The only drawback was it is unseasonably hot right now. We have experienced several days with record high temperatures. For example, yesterday was 90 degrees. It is barely March!

Always fun to be on the scoreboard. Luke got a lot of air time. :)

After the game we went to Marta's for dinner. We didn't stay too long because it had been a long day, but it was nice catching up. And, they have 16 baby chickens! We all enjoyed holding them (except Jack for some reason).

I think Boomer was a little jealous, so Thomas held him too. Fun fact, I have know Boomer for well over 20 years and I don't think she's ever let me hold her.

I volunteered to be a chaperone for the band MPA. I was not on Jack's bus so he was spared from having to sit with me. But, I talked with the other moms. It was fun seeing the competition and his band was really good. I enjoyed all of their songs and thought they sounded amazing. I also got to see them do the sight-reading portion. That was entertaining and they did a great job there as well. They got handed music they had never seen before and were given 2 minutes to go over a march and 3 minutes for an overture. When the clock stopped, the band director couldn't say another word. He just raised his arms and they played. I thought it was very entertaining. It was a bit of a long day, but I am glad I went and would do it again.

Like everything else at their school, the band is huge. This is just the 9th grade band.

Anna met with her ice-skating coach for the first time on Wednesday. The coach did an evaluation and will choreograph a routine for Anna. Her music will be "Once Upon a December" from Anastasia. She will start learning the routine this week (we hope!). Kara is still busy with theater rehearsals and Jack finished another session of basketball at the YMCA. A new session starts tomorrow. Luke had a baseball tournament this weekend. They played 5 games again, which is so many for little kids. Both days had a report time of 7am and the fields were about 40 minutes away. It is a lot, but Luke still loves it and goes without complaint. He played really well and went 5/8 at bats today with some amazing plays in the field. His team won 4/5 games and finished the tournament in 3rd place.

He didn't pitch very much, but we got a picture of when he did.

That is roughly all the news. Jack and Anna are still accumulating driving hours. Anna has also been volunteering as a tutor. She tutors a 4th grader in science and enjoys it. We are always busy, but no complaints here!

And, some final pictures to conclude this quick summary:

Luke played hooky one day and went to a spring training game at Disney's Wide World of Sports. I didn't go, but expected that the stadium would be amazing. It wasn't.

And, one Friday night, the girls, Luke, Thomas and I went to Universal. We had a ton of fun at the Mardi Gras Parade. Luke and Anna caught the most beads.