I Play Ball!

Ball 2013. Tee-ball, baseball, sunflower seeds, sitting in the sun, picking worms, pitching machine, getting a hit, learning to throw, clapping, understanding a play and spending time with family and friends. What a fun season! Most nights we were split up as a family. Barrett would take one kid and I would take the other. They typically had games on the same nights, just 30 minutes apart, which would leave us running to separate fields and barely making the end of the other games. But we always had extra family come for support and had a blast enjoying the first part of our summer.

Emmitt enjoyed playing with his buddies. It didn't matter if they were on the same team or not, they had fun no matter what.

Emmitt and Andrew

Emmitt knows I have this thing for catchers. So when he gets a chance to strap on all the gear he makes sure I know it! He actually does pretty good getting the ball back on the tee. Most of the time with his glove hand, but at least he gets it on there for the next batter.

Two peas in a pod. Grae and Emmitt. When they weren't playing together, they were hanging out or picking dandelions at their brother's games. Parker and Noah were on the same team so it made for lots of Shikowsky/Olson fun.

Parker had his first season in Pitching Machine. The first few games were really a struggle for his team. Almost all of them were first year players. So the machine definitely took some time getting used to. 30-mph pitches flying at you isn't something you do everyday. He caught on pretty quick and really liked batting practice.

Parker really liked playing first base. He seemed to enjoy the positions that had the most action, but also were the most challenging. 

Last Game of the Season Team Photo
This group of kids is the die-hard group. They came to all the games consistently and finished out the season.

We had lots of fans in our little stadiums. Grandma Audrey and Papa Dave, The Riley family, and Papa Milo all attended some of the boys' games.

Emmitt has played a few years of tee-ball already, so this year he was able to work on improving his skills. He loved batting and running and of course picking up worms under every base.

My little worm guy. In tee-ball you can only advance one base at a time, which is just enough time to tip over the base, grab a few worms and finish rounding the bases. By the time he touched home plate, we would have a handle for me.