Baseball 2013

It was a pretty good summer for baseball, all things considered. 

T was invited to sit in the Sun Trust seats twice!

At Minor League Braves game

Carter played coach-pitch baseball, and T was the coach! Sadly, MANY games were rained out, so we don't have many pictures.

Gwinnett Braves

We recently went to see a minor league game in Gwinnett. It's less than 45 minutes from our house and is a great little stadium. Our seats were terrific (and shady), but Carter wanted to spend all of his time at the inflatable fun in the outfield. Next time, we'll just get outfield lawn seats!

Batting Practice

Bullpen

Carter did pay some attention to the field - when he ran the bases

Sweaty kid!

Sadly, I didn't get any photos of any of the other Fowlkes that were with us that day. Maybe they'll blog their own and I can link to more pictures soon...

Update! See more pics (and read a funny story about a pregnant lady running down hill) on the other Fowlkes blog. 

Go Cubs!

Congrats to the T-Ball Cubs on a great season!


- Posted by T using BlogPress from my iPhone

T-Ball Season

It's that time of year!

Last year, Carter was on the Phillies. This year, we were assigned to the Giants for about a half an hour -- until I discovered that the Giants practiced at 5:30 on a weeknight. We had to switch to a team with a later practice time, and the switch turned out to be a good thing, because now Carter is on the Cubs!

(I'm guessing that we weren't the only family that requested a switch to a team with a later practice time, as our team seems larger than most. I wonder if all those other parents were as blindsided as we were that they even have weekday practices. It certainly wasn't in the promotional material! Ah, the YMCA...)

Carter was reluctant to pose for a picture in his uniform until I told him that his friends Eleanor and Thomas really like the Cubs, and would definitely want to see a picture of him in his Cubs gear!

Thomas is helping the coach out on the field and at practices

At the first game, Carter got the best spot as the last batter. It's the best spot because, in t-ball rules, the last hitter always gets a grand slam!

Faux Father's Day

I'm going to be out of town on Father's Day, and I didn't want Thomas to miss out on having a dad-centric day. So, yesterday, we had a Fowlkes Family Faux Father's Day celebration.

Breakfast in bed

Homemade cards presented to Dad on a homemade tray

Headed off to see a Braves game with Cart Cart

"Happy Faux Father's Day, Dad!"

More Turner Field Tour

The Turner Field tour was actually pretty cool, so I thought I would post a few more pix, just because I can! Original post here.

Carter's awesome outfit.

Inside the Braves locker room.

On the field. ("Do NOT touch the grass!")

Fun playing on another giant number (Jackie Robinson).

Spring Training Trip

As has been alluded to, I took a trip to Orlando with Cart Cart and the other Fowlkes' to see the Braves spring training for an extra long weekend. It was filled with lots of baseball watching, lots of eating (steak, hibachi, ribs, etc.), and admittedly not that many pictures. But here are a few: Champion's Stadium is the Braves stadium at Disney where they play. It is a great sports complex with multiple baseball fields where all levels major and minor league practice, lacrosse, field house for cheerleading (mostly, as best I can tell), and others. And of course, it's all branded Disney!

Sammy had a great time hanging out with the guys for a couple of days, watching ball and wearing sunglasses. He did have a hard time getting that monkey off his back, though.

Sammy did like the lacrosse net on the back field.

We all also went to Sea World and had a great time, saw the Shamu show, and rode the carousel.

For more pictures, see them other Fowlkes' blog post!

More T-Ball Pics

Here are a few more pictures from t-ball. I had to miss most of this game because of work (yes, on a Saturday), so I was glad to get these pics from friends (and parents of a teammate).

(and hello from Seattle, btw...)

First T-Ball Game!

Carter had his very first t-ball game this morning. He wasn't feeling well, but he toughed it out for the game.

As you might expect, a 3-4 year old t-ball game is hilarious/adorable (also very hot). And my kid is a pretty smart player. I mean, if you are on first, and the person on second isn't running (i.e. not paying attention), you clearly should run directly to third. Shortest distance between two points and all...

Then again, whenever Carter hits the ball, he always runs directly to the pitcher's mound. I haven't figure out the logic behind that one yet, but I'm sure it's there.

Ready for baseball!

They play 2 innings or 45 minutes, whichever comes first. We played 1 inning. Every kid gets a turn each inning; there are no strikes and no outs. Carter's team is the Phillies. At least he's national league...

Thanks to Cart Cart for coming to cheer him on!

Weekend

We had a fun weekend! On Friday night, we went to the Braves/Red Sox game.

Thanks to Matthew for getting us such great seats!

Carter and Mama got matching airbrushing (at Carter's insistence, though Elizabeth didn't really mind the paint -- or the glitter).

On Saturday night, we had a grown-up date night!

On Sunday night, Park, Ashley and Anna came over for some playin' and some grillin'. Park got all the good pictures, so you may want to check their blog in days to come for some better pics of Carter and Anna playing.

AAA Baseball

Dad, Park, and I hit the new Gwinnett Braves (AAA) ballpark this past weekend. Luckily it checks out for kid friendly (see the bouncy things in the outfield lawn) and we will be headed back with the kids soon!

Turner Field

Carter and I headed to Turner Field to watch the Braves last weekend with Uncle Park, Anna, and friends for his first baseball game of the season. Being a night game, I figured a couple of innings at best and then we'd head home. Well, he was raring to go and loved running all over the stadium so we ended up staying for 7+ innings! Granted, only about 1.5 innings of actual baseball was watched, but he had lots of fun and did the Tomahawk Chop with the best of them.

The "Tooner Field" play area and slide were the biggest hit, much time was spent climbing and sliding

The big Coke chairs are always fun to take a rest in!

Carter's First Turner Field Excursion

Carter had his first trip to Turner Field last night. We only stayed for three innings (had to get home vaguely close to bed time), but Carter had a lot of fun! While he was interested in the baseball (and the jumbo-tron), I think his favorite part was the hot dogs.

Baseball

While I feel there will be a post about Carter's first Turner Field trip, which was very successful all things considered, I must first post about my own triumph. Not ONLY was it Tim Hudson bobble-head night (I need to replace the Mark Texiera bobble-head in my office that is under constant ridicule since he was traded), I nabbed my first foul ball at a major league ball park (spring training not withstanding)! It was the first time I have ever even been close to a foul ball, and we were in the upper deck! Thanks to Dan Uggla of the Florida Marlins for sending it my way (one pitch before he hit a shot deep, deep, deep in the outfield stands-you could call it homerun, but really it was quite a bit farther than most), and thanks to dad for the great luck! All my ball retrieval success seems to be with dad (and without Park, strangely), so much thanks for that!

More knick-knacks for display!!! I love 'em!

Spring Training!

In light of the Braves recent losing streak, I though it best to think on happier times in baseball...like Spring Training, when even the Cubs have a chance to go all the way. Dad and Park have managed to wrangle great seats to Braves Spring Training in Orlando for the last many (5?) years and spend one glorious weekend going to Braves games at Disney's Wide World of Sports, Astros games at their spring park down the road, eating steak and Japanese hibachi and generally having much fun without me. This year, thanks to certain logistical fates stepping in (us moving to Atlanta, which is much closer to Orlando than either NYC or Chicago), I finally got to partake of the grand trip. Unfortunately, Park's new offspring kept him from going, but Nanner is better than even spring training. I feel, however, that the tradition was continued with no particular losses..and maybe even a few gains.

Foul/Home Run/Batting Practice Balls caught/recovered: 11

Previous record by Park: 4 (maybe 5)

"Hi, Park." (or Elizabeth or Donna or Ashley)

A jealous work colleague texted me "I hope a foul balls hits you in the ear." This is the return pix-text. (No baseballs or heads were injuring during the staging of this photo)

And we went to a brand new park, Space Coast Stadium, home of the Washington Nationals. While there is a "giant rocket" outside the gate as advertised, the statue of Casey at the Bat next to it was MUCH, MUCH taller.