State T-Ball Tournament

My brother flew into town, making his first trip ever to Texas.  It was awesome to have him here.  He has never seen the boys play ANY sport, and we were just as excited as he was to have him here and for him to get to be a part of this week with us!

Big hugs from the boys!

Shortly after Uncle Chris arrived, we all headed to the baseball fields for the start of the TTAB T-Ball State Tournament.  They started off with opening ceremonies:

Each team was introduced:

We stood for the National Anthem...

Well... some of us stood

...And then the games began!  Not only was it fun to have my brother around, he also captured some GREAT pictures.  I probably posted more than I needed to, but he got so many good ones that I didn't want to miss any!

This was one of Carsen's catches:

After our 1st game win, we met up with a team from Whitehouse, the Gators, and they handed us our first loss of the season in 30 games!  We dropped down into the losers bracket and realized it was going to be a long road back if we wanted to get to the championship game!!  We knew our kids could do it, and we knew they deserved it!

Our first game was against the Kerens Bobcats.  I posted this next picture so you can get an idea of how they grow farm boys in Texas!  Check out their shortstop... especially compared to our little runner on first! (He has a different jersey on because he was a pick-up player)

After beating the Bobcats, we faced Riesel 1... our kids played great and we beat them pretty bad!

The next night, we faced the Whitney Wildcats... once again, our kiddos pulled through and came up with another big win!  After our first loss, it was single elimination for us, so the pressure was on!

More great pictures by Uncle Chris!

This picture cracks us up!  My brother happened to capture Carsen making an error!  We gave Carsen a hard time about it, and especially once we realized we had a picture of it!

We beat the Whitney Wildcats and then had to face a team that we've faced before, which we knew was going to be a challenge... The Temple White Sox.

Somebody is about to get thrown out at 3rd!!

I love this next picture of Carsen looking at his coach, getting instructions:

We beat the White Sox in an incredible game!!  We had one more game now to move on to the championship game to face the Whitehouse Gators again... But first we had to beat the Edgewood Fireballs!

OUT!

Out again!!

I'm not even sure if he made this next play, I just love the pictures that show him going after the ball!!

It looks like he is going to be out... 

...but

Not so fast!

Another nice catch!

We beat the Fireballs... and had made it back to the championship game!  We knew it was going to take something special for us to beat the Gators, but we also knew that the boys had come a long way, and they were in the championship game, where we felt they belonged!

Getting ready for player introductions:

Starting at shortstop, #22, Carsen MAAAAANN!!!

One last Lookouts cheer!

Almost game time!

I had to include this of our two little players that didn't play out in the field... they were SO adorable rolling the ball back and forth in the dugout!

The game didn't go so well for us!  We struggled hitting, and they had Derek Jeter at shortstop... We lost only our 2nd game of the entire year (to the same team) and took a respectable 2nd place at State!

It was a hard pill for the kids to swallow... they are not used to losing... and to be honest, don't really know how to do it!  There were a few tears, most of them coming from MY little guy!

After shaking hands with the other team...

Listening to Coach Mark trying to explain to a bunch of 5 and 6 year-olds that they just lost to the best t-ball team he had EVER seen!  A team that would have beaten a lot of teams in Braeden's division!

Getting his trophy

Way to go Lookouts!  We couldn't be more proud!

Tears were quickly turned into smiles as we hung around the field after the game and had some fun.  The kids wanted me to take some pictures of them sliding into 2nd base...

4 of the best little t-ballers around!

Lance, Mason, Kadyn and Carsen

All smiles now... Carsen, Mason, Kadyn, his little brother Cason in front, Trae, Jamaar and Ashley.

The 5 original Lookouts: These kiddos have been together for the two years that they have been in t-ball.  They've come a long way from their first year and we SURE will miss these boys next year!

Kadyn, Carsen, Mason, Jamaar and Trae

This next picture HAS to be one of my favorites.  I told them, "Okay, now turn and give the person next to you a kiss!"  I love how Mason planted one on Carsen and Carsen was trying to get Kadyn... but Kadyn, Jamaar and Trae weren't having ANY of it!

We understand, Cason, after a week at the ballpark in 100+ degree weather, we feel the same way!

Our whole cheering section:

Now we can breathe... for a few weeks at least... until soccer and baseball start back up!

More Swimming

 Another swim day... again with the Martinez family!

I took some pictures of the boys diving in for the ball.  Here are some of the better pictures:

Gaven just chillin'

 

Kammy relaxing with Grandma

 

District Baseball

July 9th was a busy day.  The District baseball tournaments started and Grandma flew back into town.  We decided to show a little team spirit and put some window paint on the van.

Here are the boys seeing it for the first time!

It's most likely that if you are local, you saw us driving around town at some point, sporting our team spirit!

The week was a crazy one.  Braeden's tournament was local and Carsen tournament was hosted about 20 minutes south of Braeden's. After we got Grandma at the airport on Monday night, we headed to the house to get ready for the games, just to find out they had all been rained out!

Tuesday night, my mom and I were headed to Carsen's game, while Jason took Braeden to his.  We were at the check-in tent at Carsen's game when we heard the rain coming... we didn't even have a chance to take cover before the large marble size rain drops started pelting us. I eventually ran for the van and pulled it up for everyone to get in.  It literally looked like we had jumped in a pool!  We were told to wait out the rain and they would hope to resume play shortly... the fields were unplayable, and they eventually cancelled the games.  We were texting with Jason and realized that we might be able to make it back to town for Braeden's game, so we high-tailed it out of there.

We caught the very end of Braeden's game where they were down 8-2 going into the bottom of the last inning.  They rallied (including a key hit from Braeden with 2 outs) to come back and win 9-8!  What a game!

Wednesday found us watching the forecast AGAIN! Rain was all we saw for the evening.  Braeden's game got cancelled and Carsen's game got moved locally to a field that they were hoping could take more rain and still be playable.  They told us to pack our pillows, blankets, food and everything we might need because we could likely be playing well into the night. 

Here we are at the fields, waiting out the first rain storm, waiting for the clear skies to come!

Proof that Grandma was here!

After waiting for an hour and heading out to the fields, we had to turn around and come back... the games were cancelled because the fields were like a skating rink!  So after 3 days, we've played 1 game and we were a bit frustrated!  There was starting to be talk about flipping coins for wins and dropping to single elimination, etc... We didn't want that!

Thursday brought some nicer weather and we were finally underway.  Carsen's team won their first game and then we high tailed it again to Braeden's game.  They had their first loss and had to play again that night.  But first, we hurried back down to Carsen's second game, which they won. During Carsen's game, Jason was texting us again, letting us know that Braeden's team had blown a 8-1 lead and were now down 10-8.  We were driving as fast as legally possible (okay, maybe a LITTLE faster), trying to get back for the end of Braeden's game.  We made it back, no joke, as Braeden's team had tied the game at 11-11 in the bottom of the 6th inning to send it into extra innings.  The other team scored 4 in the top of the 7th, and our boys came up to bat needing 4 to tie and 5 to win.  We pulled within 1, 15-14, with 2 outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd.  We had one of our "big hitters" up.  We knew he just needed a base hit and our speedy runner from second could score, securing the win.  He hit a line drive down the third baseline, which was sure to head into left field allowing BOTH runners to score, but we were struck with some bad luck when our runner on 3rd base couldn't get out of the way of the ball.  If the ball hits the runner in fair territory, the runner is out... 3 outs, game over, we lose!  It was heartbreaking for our boys!  There were many tears after the game, but in the end, they had nothing to be ashamed of!  They played awesome and we were INCREDIBLY proud of them! Unfortunately between all the running around, I did not get any pictures of Braeden's team.

Friday brought uncharted territory.  For the first time this season, we only had 1 team to worry about.  Carsen's team was still in the winner's bracket with no losses.  We had to win our first game Friday night, which would put us in the championship game, with the other team still needing to beat us twice.  We played another team from our league, the Bandits, which gave us a run for our money, but we held on to win the first game.  We had a short break while the Bandits played the Hot Rods to see who would meet us in the championship.

The Bandits won... and it was soon Championship Game Time! This was the only picture I took until the game was over: The kids getting fired up for the start...

The boys played perfectly and we WON!

Carsen, heading out to shake hands:

We're #1, Mom!

Mason, Lance and Carsen

I included this one for posterity... Carsen being a ballerina!  Not sure what he was doing, but my camera sure makes it look that way!

Clapping for the Bandits who also had a GREAT game!

Receiving his medal and plaque from Coach Mark

Lookouts on the left, Bandits on the right:

The Lookouts - District Champs!

 I was so mad at Braeden for ruining this picture.  In the end, it just proves that your brothers are your biggest critics!

We were so happy that Grandma could come be a part of this with us!

Now we can change the paint on that car: STATE BOUND!!!

Congratulations Carsen and the Lookouts!

In Our Spare Time

Summer for us is pretty much consumed by baseball, as I've posted in the past.  Towards the end of the baseball season, things get really busy, sometimes with multiple games a night.  When that happens we have to be creative and come up with ideas to keep the kids busy... indoors... so that they still might have some energy for their games.  Luckily I have crafty and creative friends, and I got this idea from one of them:

The kids had a great time with their marshmallows, but I have to say that Gaven was the MOST creative.

 

Here's Braeden with his good friend, Ty, who came over to play one day. They are the same age, but Ty is quite a bit bigger than Braeden!

 

Beating the Heat

Some of our good friends invited us to swim with them a few weeks ago.  We decided to take them up in order to beat the TX summer heat!!

We joke and say that Cason is Gaven's long lost brother!  They are two little peas in a pod!

Kammy enjoying the kiddie pool

 

Gaven and Cason again

 

Kadyn and Carsen

 

The whole clan: Gaven, Kamyn, Carsen, Kadyn, Cason and Braeden. I posted this on facebook with the quote: "One of these things is not like the other ones, one of these things just doesn't belong!!"

 

We had a GREAT time and are so thankful for such wonderful friends!!