11U Baseball Tournaments

Colin's 11U team did well this summer.  Their overall record was 17-13 and they took home some hardware at some of the tournaments they attended.  They were a fun bunch to watch!

First up was the On Our Sleeves Breaking Stigmas Tournament.  They were the silver bracket champs!

Next, was the Bucyrus Spring Slam Tournament.  Colin even hit a homerun in the final game!  They were the champs in the silver bracket again!

Lastly, they were runners up in the Big Walnut Eagle Classic.  They had a good mojo going and then bad weather hit!  They had to play the final game in June and fell to the Eastside Warriors.  They put up a really good fight, though!

Spring is in the Air!

Spring 2024 brought us a pretty cool solar eclipse, baseball, softball, and an extended family member!

Early April meant I took my annual trip down the street to Marble Cliff and Cambridge Ave. to check out the pretty trees.  Once again, they didn't disappoint.

The kids didn't have school and I worked from home on April 8th because where we live, we were in the path of almost complete totality for the solar eclipse!  Everyone scoffed at the thought of the kids not having school, but honestly, it was a super cool experience that I was thankful to be able to witness with my family.  It's not something that happens every day, ya know?  We had a watch party complete with a fitting music playlist compiled by Danny.  We all had our glasses and every few minutes or so, we'd take another peek at the sun.

Pictures don't really do it justice to show how dark it got, right smack-dab in the middle of the day (it was right around 3:12pm when it got dark).

It really was neat!  You weren't supposed to, but you could actually look up at the sun because it was that covered by the moon.

Later that weekend, I took a walk with Cadence and we spotted one of the bald eagles flying over our heads (peep the moon, too).

In the middle of the month, the travel baseball teams were invited to attend a home Ohio State baseball game.  The Riley's took Colin for us and they had a great time!

They even got some autographs and selfies!

Little League started in the fall as well.  Danny coached Colin's team and Raising Leaders was their sponsor.  

Cadence played on the 8th grade softball team, but at this point in time, I only had videos on my phone, and no pictures to share.  Here's Lydia and Cadence who showed up for their concession stand volunteer slot accidentally "twinning!"

Colin umpired for Joel's youngest son's coach pitch team a few times and made some good money!  He did a great job being as fair as possible.

We met cousin Dan at Brew Dog for lunch toward the end of April.  He moved to downtown Columbus in April and it's been fun getting to see him on a more regular basis!

West Coast Spring Break 2024 - All the Rest

After of a weekend of fun at Disneyland, we headed to Chatsworth where we'd be staying so that Danny would be closer to the office for work that week.  We left Disney on Sunday evening, grabbed In-N-Out for dinner, and ate at our Airbnb.  I think both kids fell asleep on the drive there -- it was a long night!

The next morning, we slept in, grabbed breakfast, and then the kids and I visited a local park to take a walk and kill some time while Danny taught his finance lecture for Denison.  Since we were on the west coast, his class was much earlier than it usually is, so it allowed us to grab dinner at one of Danny's favorite quick serve restaurants, The Stand.

I searched the internet for some things to do that weren't too far away (and were inexpensive).  I found  the Gardens of the World, which was neat, but totally underwhelming.  We still had fun grabbing lunch and checking out the place.

 

They were so tall!

We found some California Orange Poppies that matched Cadence's hoodie

I liked the backdrop -- the kids liked their colored tongues from their Jolly Ranchers!

Funny plant name

We got a kick out of the bird-of-paradise!

We spent a decent amount of time at the koi pond

Next, I thought we could check out the Bronson Caves

Colin was in awe of the ugly Tesla Cybertruck.  This guy must've gotten a kick out of it too!

Whomp, whomp.  Welp, that didn't turn out like I thought it would.

We hiked pretty far, but it was hot, and I wasn't sure how far the trail was that would take us to see the Hollywood sign, so we turned around and went back to the car.  As we were driving back to our Airbnb, I kept catching glimpses of the sign.  The kids were getting annoyed with me (and one another), but I was on a mission to get a better view!

We parked on the side of a random road and walked to get a good look!

That evening, we met Danny at the office and he gave us a tour.  I was amused by this sign.  You definitely don't see those in Ohio!

Here are a couple of the missals at RTC Aerospace.

The next day we headed back to Malibu!  We made a pitstop late last summer, so we wanted to go back.  It was so pretty.  We swung by the same park and walked around and took a bathroom break.

The kids made a friend.

Danny sent a restaurant recommendation: Dukes Malibu.  We were able to grab a table outside.  It was just perfect.  The weather, the atmosphere, the food, the kids.  Our waitress even pointed out dolphins that were swimming by!

Check out this dessert, the Hula pie!  

Even Cadence couldn't resist! 😲  It had chocolate cookie crust, macadamia nut ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream.

We found a place to park the car on the street and found a beach access spot so we could take a stroll and dip our toes in the ocean.  It was a chilly walk, but the kids loved it.

Crazy houses nearby

Next up, we re-visited Santa Barbara!  It was Danny and my personal favorite from our last west-coast trip.

Since I'm not okay venturing out on my own, we parked in the same spot, and ate at the same joint.  The kids were not complaining.  We love Jeannine's Bakery.  We knew we'd get good food and most likely dine al fresco!

Lunch was followed by a stroll around the Waterfront.

That night, we headed to San Diego as a family!  It was gorgeous there as well.  We were able to go out and do some exploring the next day.  It was supposed to rain the following day, so we crammed in as much as we could to beat any potential bad weather.

Renting bikes was a fun way to explore Coronado.  We weren't dressed properly to kayak as well, so we just stuck to the bike ride.  I think that combined with the walking we did was enough exercise for us to handle.

We found a lunch spot with a view.

We were near the Navy base where Vince was stationed.  We even found the spot where they lived back in the '70s!

Wouldn't you know it, there's a Duke's in La Jolla as well!

We had to make sure Danny could experience the Hula Pie for himself.

It rained most of the morning, but once the weather broke, Danny wanted to check out the Cabrillo National Monument and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.  While we were there, we checked out the Old Point Loma Lighthouse.  It was a neat lil' afternoon of history.