T-ball season (in one post, if you're lucky)

(Thanksgiving weekend 2010- John was eager to get out on the ball field and teach his kids America's past time)

as t-ball season is just getting rolling in the U.S., over here, it's come and gone. (Started in December, finished in April)

It was our first year in the Dubai little league. John volunteered to coach and I think it's safe to say that at the beginning of the season, he was easily more excited than Asher about baseball season.

(first game, team pics- notest Burj Khalifa in the background and a post game cheer- Go Royals!)

I first thought we might be in for some trouble when we attended opening day at the ball park.

Every kid was introduced by the coaches and ran out on the field. Our team was last (youngest and alphabetically) and wouldn't you know it? Asher refused to go out on the field. Here we are watching dad and every other kid in uniform from above- (trying to keep the 3 kids from messing with the electronic cords and cables as they sat under all the sound equipment! Couldn't at least one of them go join Dad?)

(hanging out with the kids watching every other kid in uniform sit on the ball field- insert eye roll)

Asher has had issues from time to time with new situations and being in the spotlight.

I was beginning to wonder if he'd even play.

Thankfully, that wasn't a problem.

His siblings however? I started to second guess whether we really wanted to make t-ball a family affair every Saturday. I wanted to enjoy it, have fun, and let the kids have fun, but I struggled to manage keeping Canyon entertained, safe and in my sight, and Ivy entertained, safe and not in tears or interrupting the games with her drama.

(poor Ivy!)

All Ivy wanted to do was be a part of the action. She practiced with the team, wore the team jersey shirt (there was an extra) and of course was always in line for the post game snacks/ treats, but that wasn't enough. She wanted to bat! The coach (John) was sweet and let her be last batter of the game, but she's no dummy. She wanted the real thing.

then around the 4th game or so of the season, it all worked out.

(the little sisters rescue the team from cancellation or forfeit and Ivy makes her mark)

It was a windy cold day and for whatever reason only 3 of the 9 players on the team showed up. All three players had little 3 yr old sisters, so we put all of them in the line-up and had a great time.

After that, Ivy played every game. Just like she was part of the team (the other sisters couldn't have cared less). We should have done it from the beginning, but I worried about other parents getting upset (she's too young, she didn't pay, etc etc). Nobody seemed to have a problem and Ivy loved every minute (except when she got called out at first base- then she walked back to the dug out, head hung low, and cried. somewhat heartbreaking but also a bit ridiculous. She learned as the season progressed, and she ran faster!).

and then there's Asher. It was his t-ball season after all! He did great! He looked forward to each game, made new friends, and really developed an understanding of the game, along with some basic skills. He was fun to watch and really got excited when he could make a play and get someone out (that usually is more of a challenge than getting a hit or getting on base in t-ball).

The season ended with trophies! We missed closing ceremonies because we were at church and so did the rest of our team so we decided to hand out trophies the next day after the game. I had to do some scrambling because we didn't have enough trophies to give Ivy one. Thankfully, after searching for someone with connections (ie extras in his trunk) we lucked out finding one in the lost and found (don't judge, it was for the greater good). I justified it pretty well and everyone was happy!

We'll definitely be back next year, although I'm hoping they'll let us keep Asher down a year because his birthday misses the cut-off by less than 2 weeks. Then John can coach again and Ivy and Asher can play on the same team. I had fun this year- but not fun enough to want to stay for 2 games and 2 practices every Saturday. (and maybe next year I'll even try to get myself in a photo or two).

oh wait- here's one!