Reds vs. Cubs

Todd and I were invited to join friends, Sanju and Julie for an evening in Cincy. We joined 22 other Skiles Test Baseball Families in a party suite at the Reds game Saturday night. We all met up at a hotel near the Levee, grabbed some pre-game drinks at the Beer Sellar. We boarded the water taxi from there to the game across the river. We enjoyed food, drinks and a few laughs as half the group was wearing red and half the group was in blue, except for one individual who will go nameless who was wearing a Cardinals jersey!! Blue won but everyone had a great time. We then walked across the bridge to enjoy live music river-side into the wee hours. It was much fun and there is talk of a rooftop game in Chicago next year!

5th Grade Football

TJ leading the Huddle!

The first official football game is still two weeks away, but CKS along with two other CYO teams did a little scimmaging Saturday morning to work out the kinks in their offensive and defensive plays! TJ is #11 this year and is currently practicing as a tight-end, special plays quarterback and free safety. He had an diving catch for a gain in yards (failed to get that one on film)! Overall, the team did really well and I am sure the Tigers will be ready for their first game on September 12th.

50th Birthday Celebration

I joined friends Friday evening to celebrate Lucy Goodpaster's 50th birthday. It was surprise gathering of Lucy's friends with Limo transporation courtesy of Kirstine to downtown Indy for a wonderful dinner at Harry & Izzys.

Then we enjoyed after dinner drinks as we did a little people watching that the annual MotoGP race brings to town. Motorcycles were everywhere!!!! It was a very fun evening!

Betsy, Jane, Me, Diana, Lucy, Cindy, Cindy and Kirstine

Cookout

The weather was perfect Sunday evening for a cookout. Several families pitched in and Todd grilled up some burgers and dogs served along side GT South's famous pulled pork! Yum!

Joe, TJ & Austin take a break from the basketball court!

Todd & Sanju compete in cornhole!

Jillian & Amaya play us some tunes!

Ty (undefeated) and Chris win the match!

Happy Birthday Great Grandma!

This evening we joined my Dad, my Aunt Carol and Uncle George who traveled from Virginia as well as my Cousin, Jaime from San Francisco to celebrate my Grandma Bruce's birthday at Bonefish in Greenwood. It was wonderful to see them and all enjoyed a great meal!

CKS Football Team's Service Project

The 5th & 6th grade football players spent the morning sorting can goods at the St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry. The task was to sort cans from large bins into specific shopping carts such as
"green beans" "chicken noodle soup" etc. Some of the cans were a bit more challenging for the lads such as "Yams" which were found in the "Fruit" cart and "Manwich" which was found in the cart marked "Meat". However, they had a good time and served their community well.

First Day of School 2010

TJ started 5th grade on Thursday. He has a new teacher to the school, Mr. Feeser.

Bandits

TJ accepted an offer to play baseball for the Indiana Bandits next year! Yahoo. He will join former Cobra teammate, Garrett. We are very excited about what next season will bring and new friendships. We will continue to support TJ's former Cobra and Prospect teammates and their new teams as well!

Catch Up

Our computer was slightly ill and has spent a few days at IT-Med Check. Fortunately, it was not a virus and just needed a checkup and some upgrades. Whew. During it's absence, we have been busy so here is a little catch up.

We spent August 7&8 in Chicago, IL watching TJ and other USSSA Tri-State All Star baseball players compete in the 95+ degree heat! TJ and Propect teammates, Jacob, Braydon, & Aidan had a great time and met some other players from Wisconsin and Illinois. Their Team (The Yankees), finished the tourney in 2nd place!

This week has been a whirlwind of activities. Amidst baseball try-outs for next year's team, we hosted the annual Boys Only Back To School Party Wednesday evening. Due to the forecast of rain and heat advisory warnings, we moved the party from our backyard to the school gym. All 26 incoming 5th grade boys were in attendance! I think everyone had a GREAT TIME!

April and her kids, Emma and Evan are in town this week visiting family and friends. We were fortunate that they were available Thursday evening for dinner. We all met at Dad's house in Martinsville for spaghetti and home made meatballs! We also celebrated my Godson Evan's 2nd birthday!

More birthday celebrations occurred yesterday. We traveled to Columbus, Indiana after work to celebrate Tyler and Ethan's birthdays with pizza and cake.

And it is only the first week in August...................

New To Me Car

Remember that I sold my Ford Explorer in the neighborhood garage sale about a month ago. Since then I have been driving Todd's big red Avalanche. I look good in red but it was too big for me and Todd wanted it back (he has been driving his old red work truck). So.....I spent much time test driving different vehicles and trying to decide if my carefree side (desiring a sports car) would overrule my common sense side (crossover or suv). Common sense won out and I am the owner of a new to me GMC Acadia. It is used with only 15,000 miles and in excellent condition with all the bells and whistles that I would not have if I had purchased a brand new one!

Happy Happy Birthday

Celebrated Todd's 42nd birthday this evening with a delicious meal at Benihanas.

Unretired

Several years ago, Todd tossed his softball "stuff" in exchange for a seat in the bleachers to watch is son's sports. However, this weekend, Todd ventured out of retirement to play in the Electrical Workers Annual Softball Tourney in Columbus, Ohio. As he departed, I wished him luck not in the games but to remain injury free! He was successful. They lost every game but he reported that he had a fantastic time and the only injury was a massive hangover Saturday morning.