The gift that keeps on giving.

A few Father's Days ago my kids gave me a present: tickets to a local minor league baseball game. A present that is also a family event is, for me, the best kind of present. Especially, since this was at least 3 Father's Days ago, back when I was working full time and family time was harder to come by than it is today. Before the game, all dads and their children were invited to play catch on the field. This was a great moment that I still think about.

During the game there was a drawing for all the dads in attendance. One of the players had signed a bat which I won!

So if you are scoring at home, the kids gift of tickets turned out to be 3 gifts in one:

1) Family time in a busy season of my life.
2) A cherished memory of playing catch with my kids.
3) A tangible reminder of a wonderful evening.

Well this week the gift kept on giving.

The bat had been hanging in my garage since I won it. I didn't really have any practical use for it since it was much too big for the kids to use. Recently, Spider Droid asked if he could hit with it. This is an adult bat and he is a little guy for a nine year old. He had trouble swinging with it at first and when he did connec,t the ball did not go very far.

When we went to home school baseball this wee,k Spider Droid insisted on taking that bat and I threw him a few more while we waited for the rest of the boys and girls to arrive. When the game started, I had to coerce him to use one of the smaller bats rather than the piece of lumber I had brought. As a result, he was hitting fly balls out of the infield all evening, which he had never done before.

Being ever the budding scientist he credits this to practicing with a larger bat. He now wants to practice with that bat to prepare for next week’s game.

So for the past two nights we have gone to the local park taking turns pitching and hitting. Spider Droid might just think these trips are fun and a good chance to improve his game. Someday he may view them as I do: exquisite times of a father with his son.

Happy Fathers Day!

Swimming suits us.

Today didn't hit 80. But we still went to our public pool. We got a pool pass and in my mind that means we go for free. The thing I like about our pool is that it's like one of those choose your own adventure books my brother used to love when he was a kid. There are so many different things to do. On a cool day like this, there's a sand area where kids can play. There is also an indoor pool and the diving well next to it. Two weeks ago I told you that the bigs started going off the diving board. Today they went off it with gusto, at times Bunny and Spider droid were the only ones going off it.

Last week puppy started doing a little bit of swimming on her own. just a little doggy paddle for a few inches. When she was done she went back to wearing a life jacket (I have called them swimmers jackets since bunny was very young. Don't know how I came up with it, I just did) for most of the time she was in the water.

Today, Puppy spent most of her time in the indoor pool with me sans Swimmers Jacket. After holding me tightly like her life depended on it for a large chunk of time, I tried to get her to swim a few inches to me and then back to the side of the pool. After a while she was really into it. I had Spider Droid take this footage.





After he had put the camera away she was doubling that distance. Amy came in to the indoor pool at that moment and was thrilled that she continued with what she had learned from the week before.

Then later in the day as Spider Droid played in the sand with a friend he had made last year and Amy read a book, I watched on as Bunny helped Puppy swim in the deep end for the most of the rest of our time at the pool. This was amazing as a) Bunny was eager to be helpful with Puppy and b) just two weeks ago I couldn't get Puppy to go into the deep end even with a swimmers jacket on and clinging to my neck.

All in all. It was quite a grand adventure at our local pool.

Next Time: The Lost Art of Reading