First baseball practice

This morning was Miles' first baseball practice.  It was pretty warm already by 9:30am, so the kids were pretty distracted and sweaty. I will try and blame their lack of attention span on the heat, but I'm sure its just the way kids are.
They fielded some grounders, ran some bases, and practiced throwing too.  There wasn't any batting practice at all today.

There was lots of waiting around for your turn too - the group was pretty large!  As mentioned previously, the draft will be on Thursday.  I'm hoping that they'll start practicing as individual teams after that.  His next practice, weather pending, is Friday night at 6pm.  We should find out what team he's on that night too!

All the kids were taking turns throwing at the fence.  Miles threw WILD...  Don't believe me? Watch below. Where's the concentration?

Being a coach for these kids would be tough.  There's a lot of repeating yourself, trying to be encouraging while instructing, restating your demand with different words, trying to give the instruction in another language, and uhm, I mentioned repeating yourself, right??   I think you get the idea. The coach in the video above was amusing.

Some of my favorite quotes from Coach Carlos were:

• Watch where you're walking. These are soft balls, but it's still going to hit you in the head.
• Get your finger out of your nose.
• Stop playing in the dirt
• Pay attention.
• Wake up
• Your glove goes on your hand.
• Lift your other leg. No, the other leg.
• Nice throw. Wait, you have to let go. Try again.

Yes... I'm kind of hoping Miles ends on Coach Carlos's team.  He's a funny guy!


- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Smith Park, Chicago, IL

Read more »

Posted in: Baseball,Chicago,Miles,Video

Parents can be Athletic too...

Putting together a couple of blogs for our family goings-on, I realized that the blog has become very Miles-centric.  I love that little man - don't get me wrong!  But why not step out a little to let you know that Nate and I do have active lives that do not involve 4-6 year old athletics! This is a blog about the family, is it not?!

To begin, Nate is studying and taking exams, like-a-boss!
He's been combing through binders of material to review the facts and formulas needed to pass the 7 exams that make up the Architectural Registration Exam for licensure. So far, so good!

Nate's softball league with his co-workers starts up again on June 7th.  He'll play every Thursday, assuming he's not injured or backed-up with a tight deadline at work.  Again, it's an architectural league this year. Local firms put together teams and they play each other for bragging rights.  If there's one thing that I've learned about architects in my long-time relationship with Nate - it's that they prefer to mingle with their own kind! (see bullet point #13 pasted below from "Dating an Architect" by Bob Borson)

• Be prepared for all your new friends to be other architects. Architects lose the ability to speak like regular people because in college, “archispeak” is drilled into their heads like waterboarding. Listen to an architect talk for an evening and I can guarantee that you will hear at least one of the following words:  ”juxtaposition” “axis mundi” “clarity” “truncated” “uniformity” and “composition”.

Can I also add "phenomenological" and "methodologies" ??

Nate's also planning to run a race this summer (Thurs., May 23)! Again, his office a put together a group of active bodies to run in the J.P.Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge! It's a 3.5 mile race.  Miles and I are super excited to cheer him on, even though Nate HATES running!!

I've also signed up for a few races.
Coming up on Saturday, May 25, I'll be running the Soldier Field 10-miler!  I've done it once before, but this  year is super exciting!  It's the 10th anniversary of the race and the shirts are FINALLY ChiBear's colors!

On Sunday, June 23, I will be running in the Chicago Women's Half Marathon. Also, on Saturday, July 27th, I will be running in the BTN BIG10K. Fun, fun!  There are so many other fun races yearning for my attention, but I really need to settle down.

Other than that, our summer will involve weekends to the beaches along Lake Michigan, camping getaways, family time, and far-away family time!  Happy start to your summer!

Read more »

Posted in: Baseball,Chicago,Kelly,Nathan,running

Baseball Draft

Miles will have practice for outdoor baseball league on Saturday, May 18th (That's why he's missing soccer)
This is the weekend the kids are 'scouted' for skills.
On Thursday (May 23rd), the coaches will then meet for the draft.

Yes, I said it. Draft!!
There's a little pressure involved in playing well for the coaches so that they can draft him for a team?!?!
He's only 4.  This is a 4-6 year old league.

Of course his father loves this about the league!  He 'knows' his son is a big deal and will be a major contributor to his team. Sometimes, I just don't understand how the male mind works?!?!  Can't we just get together to play baseball and have a little fun?  I've been assured that this process is fun...

A little extra thought about the draft concept and watching a few more soccer games has shown me that a draft is actually a good idea.  They just want to divide up the skill sets of kids evenly so that the games are fun for everyone.  The soccer league divides the kids up lottery-style by age.  Some teams end up running all over other teams.  Even though the league doesn't keep score, many of the kids understand what's going on. I really can't wait to see Miles play baseball as a part of a team!

Again, only time will tell this season.  The games begin June 1 and goes through mid-August.

I'll do my best to remember to take pictures this weekend to let you know what's going on :)

Read more »

Posted in: Baseball,Chicago,Miles

Soccer has begun!

I'm sure that many of you remember the Soccer fun from last summer!
For a 3 year old, Miles was actually pretty good. He was a lot more aggressive that we thought he would be.   It was his first experience of a team sport with peers and he really liked it.

So - fast forward to 2013.  Miles is now 4 and considers himself a master of all sports! When we asked him if he wanted to play soccer again this spring, he screamed 'YES' and noted how 'pumped up' he was for the season to begin! He still remembers last season fondly and often assures us that he is going to be even more aggressive this year. Personally, I'm not that worried about his ability to play aggressive.  I'm hoping he spends a little extra time practicing ball control and aim.

Only time will tell, right?
This year, Miles is on the Orange Iguanas!

Game 1 was April 27th.

He was ready to go! Running all over the field, unafraid of people in his way, and a decent ability to run down the field.

Because Nate makes a big deal over goals scored by Miles, we keep count.  Miles would tell you that he scored 2 goals in his first game, but those of us watching would count them a little differently.

Miles ran into a pack of kids huddled around the ball in the middle of the field and came out the other side right away. He dribbled the ball down the edge of the field toward his goal, and began to turn in towards the goal to score.  His dribble got a little ahead of him and his teammate nudged the ball into the goal for the score.  Miles had a strong assist - technically no goal.  I was impressed.

Miles made several other shots at the goal throughout the game.  Miles thought that one of them went in.  He had a kick straight on that actually left the ground a little and looked to be an easy score.  Unfortunately, right after making the shot, Miles tripped and missed the end of the play.  A kid crossed in front of the goal and blocked the shot.  Miles stood up and ran to the center of the field celebrating as if he had scored.  He was so proud and I didn't have the heart to tell him the truth.

Miles still got McDonald's for scoring a goal(s).

Game 2 was missed due to travel.

Game 3 was May 11th.
Miles played very well again, however I forgot to take any pictures.
He was fast and tough.  He scored one goal - FOR REAL this time!
He was rather proud of himself. Nathan was beaming and treated Miles to a vanilla shake with a cherry on top from McDonald's immediately following the game.

I'm beginning to think a trip to McD's is going to happen more often now that Miles understands the fundamentals a little better.

Game 4 (this coming weekend) will be missed due to a baseball conflict - stay tuned for details on that!

The soccer season continues through June 15th.

Read more »

Posted in: Chicago,Miles,soccer

Indoor Baseball Finale

I know this is all really old information, but I decided to make it a permanent memory - in the form of this blog post!

I started the story here and am back to finish up the story now that the class has officially ended.
Here's the quick recap and final summary:

We had a hard time enduring a long winter trapped indoors.  Cabin fever hit Miles the hardest, leading to our enrolling him in an indoor baseball clinic with Lil Slugger's Chicago!
The clinic lasted 7 weeks during our low-travel months and took place inside the Windy City Fieldhouse.
Here's a photo/video dump:

Miles LOVED the coaches, the drills, and the skills!

The best part - the medal!!!

I definitely think that we'll try this out again next year!

We even noticed that the fieldhouse holds birthday parties.
Guess who turns 5 this year?!?!

Read more »

Posted in: Baseball,Chicago,Miles,Video