Birthday Party & Softball Tournament

TG I have no place to go and nothing to do. Other than the usual pick up the clutter around here. I am pooped and hungover from too much of a good thing. No alcohol was involved but it might have helped. :-)

SATURDAY

Altho Austin's 3rd birthday was last Wednesday, his parental units had his party on Saturday. I gave him a DVD of "Wee Sing Sillyville". I first bought this on video tape when 22-yr. old Shannon was 3. The tape is about shot. Olivia was complaining back in early March that she couldn't find the tape and had forgotten the words to some song. So, I ordered a surprise DVD version for her. All the grandchildren have loved this show. Most of the songs are ones that just about any grown-up would know. So, I figured Austin would be no different than the others in liking it If you have little ones to buy gifts for, I highly recommend this show. I got both copies from http://www.Amazon.com and they are around $13/14 with shipping.

Austin is heavily into Thomas the Tank Engine. He even takes various train characters with him when they go out to eat. The first present he opened was Percy. He was so thrilled, he abandoned opening anything else and left the room to go get his other engines. LOL He was persuaded to return and finish the opening job. Which included several other Thomas themed gifts.

His 2 big presents were a scooter that his maternal grandpop had the smarts to put together beforehand. Last year, he had to put a plastic Harley together. It took 3 grown men and way too much time to do. Austin had lost interest long before. Pop Pop learned his lesson.

Master Austin's insane parental unit gave him a drum set! That's what he's been longing for and asking for. Amy says it will go in the basement. Phil got him a chair so he could play. Showed him how to hold the sticks and use the foot pedal. The rest of the afternoon, we all had to shout to carry on a conversation. I was surprised at how coordinated the little guy was. He even had a sort of rhythm going on. He could use the drum sticks and the foot pedal at the same time. I don't think I could do that. LOL

It was a lovely afternoon. Olivia wasn't there as she had gone with the rugby team to Wilmington DE for a seven's game. They left at 6am and she didn't get back till 8pm.

We had the usual summer sort of food. Hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, chips, etc. Amy made a gorgeous (and delicious)salad. I don't like salads where stuff isn't cut up enough. Especially don't like honking big leaves of greens or huge chunks of tomatoes. This one was just right and had a yummy dressing. I can't remember what it was. Some sort of oil/vinegar with herbs. And that was it for Saturday.

All the drumming kicked my migraine up a bit and I was glad to be home with Bella. She doesn't even bark. So, it was quiet around here. Plus I could watch the bull riders in peace.

SUNDAY

Sunday was a softball tournament down in Solanco. This is all Olivia's new team does. Tournaments. This one started aroun 9am but we didn't have to be there till 12:00pm. The other day I played around with my digital camera and figured out how to increase the shutter speed. The result is this neat shot of the ball just as O takes a swing. I would press the shutter just as the pitcher let go. I'm impressed with myself.

Her team, Razorbacks, won their first 2 games and ended up playing at 6pm for the tournament winner. Solanco won. I won't say by how much. It wasn't a shut out but it wasn't pretty. This was just a practice tournament so the girls & parents who've never had the experience would know how things work. Three are only a couple of girls on the team that Olivia has played with before. They are gathered from different areas around here.

It was a gorgeous day altho rain had been forecast. The sun was warm but there was a nice breeze to keep us cool. I did remember to slather on a bit of sun screen. Got burnt at the last rugby game. We had 2 hours to kill between the 2nd and final games. So, we ran home, Olivia took a quick shower, and raced over to the rugby picnic so she could see those folks and turn in her (2nd) uniform. Her first one having been cut off in the trauma room a few weeks back. That's taped up on her bedroom wall.

Olivia and Phyllis visited at the rugby picnic for a few minutes. They each got a plate of food and we took off back down to Solanco. The rugby thing was near home. Solanco isn't. I drove about 65 miles that day.

For the last game, we took Bella, the new Cocker Spaniel puppy, with us. They say you should socialize your dogs. She certainly got that. She was splendid. She is the sweetest, gentlest dog I can ever recall having. Very loving and cuddly. Just what I need. I didn't take any pics of her at the game. So, here is one of Shannon holding her the day I got her. Mother's Day, BTW. Did you know that black animals are very hard to photograph well?