This is the last week for Little League games. I am happy that I will no longer be traveling to hither and yon every single weekday and some weekends too, but I will miss watching the games.

Justin’s pitching machine team has had a fantastic year. They completed a perfect season last night, winning every game including the last very fun game against family members. That’s him with a trophy and a game ball autographed by his coach.

Justin has a tendency to daydream a bit when he is playing in the field. So during the last game, I noticed he was standing sideways looking at something other than the game. I suspect he was watching parked cars. I waited for the coach to say something, but when he didn’t, I yelled, "Justin." Then the coach noticed, so he yelled at Justin a couple of times, but Justin wasn’t moving. Probably because Justin wasn’t Justin. I apparently can’t recognize my own kid. Justin was doing just what he was supposed to be doing, which explains why Steve sitting next to me couldn’t figure out what I (and then the coach) was yelling about. Neither could Justin. In all fairness, my child was hidden from my vision by the pitching machine. And the two do look similar — after all they are the same size wearing gray pants and a blue shirt with a hat.

Having said that I can’ t tell which kid is mine, you are now forced to  accept my word when I say that the photo on the left is my husband and son. Steve’s playing shortstop and Justin is considering stealing third base. They are trying to intimidate each other, or rather, trying not to crack up laughing. I’m happy to report that Justin safely made it by his dad to third and went on to score for the team. 

We were really blessed this year to have some awesome coaches working with our kids. During Justin’s teams’s last real game, the coach’s son made an excellent hit that went deep into center field. And the centerfield player on the other team reached out and caught it. The look on that kid’s face was priceless. He was so proud of himself! And our coach was so excited that he ran out into centerfield and gave the kid a high-five and said a few words. As he ran back to the pitching mound, he also said some nice words to his son. It’s nice to see support for both teams. You lose that in the games for the older kids.

Tonight, after their regular game, Autumn and Amanda’s team will have a cookout and play a kickball game against the parents. I won’t be able to be there because my classes start today, and I’ll be in class. Their last game is on Thursday. They walk around practicing their pitching technique. They’ve had a good season. In one game both Autumn and Amanda caught a pop-up, getting an out for their team. It was right after they’d practiced pop-ups with their dad. The looks on their faces are priceless!

This is the age (majors) where it seems people quit cheering for the other side. Luckily, none of the teams my kids are on seems to do that. But at one game, the parents on the other team were so bad! The coach even threw a fit at the umpire about strikes vs. balls, so he threw her out of the game. She didn’t even leave nicely, but had to threaten him on the way out. She’s a member of the board, apparently. The sad thing is that she’s a school teacher.

Maxine’s last game is tomorrow and I will make it to that one.  She is having a lot of fun too, but she is bummed that her uniform is pink. She likes to play catcher. She’s played every position, and she likes that she has been able to try different positions. During her last game she even tried her hand at pitching. She didn’t pitch long, but she had fun.

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My in-laws have claimed my children this week. Steve and I (mostly Steve) are still shuttling them to games, but for the most part my children are spending the day camping, swimming and bike riding. I go home and sleep in my bed. Next week we’re all on vacation (except for one day of classes for me on Thursday), so I will be sleeping in a tent. So doesn’t that make this week –technically– my vacation? I think so.

Have to get to class. Thanks for playing.