Our life and stuff

... ETC

 

There were other things besides CRUSH games in Cooperstown.

In town there was (what else)  The Baseball Hall of Fame :

 

 

 

 

Lake Otsego  "Glimmerglass"  was within walking distance.

The family rented a boat and went fishing...  the kids loved this! 

 

 

 

  

On Friday, after we collected our boy and checked out of our sweet home  -  we headed up NORTH.

More specifically...   CANADA

 

 

Niagara Falls is pretty amazing. 

(It's kind of like the Grand Canyon, you have to see it for real at least once in your life.) 

 

We rode the famous  Maid of the Mist  boat tour

We ate dinner at The Keg Steakhouse

 

We drove back into the United States Saturday morning...  and flew home out of Buffalo. 

We start school tomorrow  -  back to reality

 

   

Taking the field

 

 

 

I really tried to sit back and enjoy the games.

I took pictures - but not a million.

 

 

My sister Kim and her family drove up on Sunday to watch Luke's games. 

{{That meant the world to us}}

They stayed with us for two nights in our cute Cooperstown house, it was awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

 We played this team from Pennsylvania...  The Titans

 

 

 

 

At one point our kids got bored and wanted to go climb the hill... 

 

 

After the game - Luke got some love from his cheering section:

 

 

 

It was so weird to leave him everyday.

We would give Luke hugs and kisses after the game.  Check in - ask if he's showered and eating ok.  Then he would continue on rolling his bag to the Village (bunkhouses below) and we'd go to the car.  Home to BBQ, rest and wait for their next game... 

 

 

 

Here is their week game schedule & a map of the place:

 

 

 

Night games were just as fun! 

 

 

Following the initial 6 games - Team CRUSH finished #26 out of 102

Their record was 4-2 : allowing an average of 3.17 runs

 

 

Games from now on are single elimination.

We beat Team #7 on Wednesday and advanced to the

FINAL SWEET 16

 

 

 

We eventually lost Thursday morning - the Championship was that night.

It was an  AMAZING EXPERIENCE  that's for sure!!

 

 

Cooperstown 2011

 

 

It's like another world here; slow-paced and seasonal.

It could fall off the map entirely if it weren't for baseball - no joke. 

  

 

 

You don't stay at hotels when you visit Cooperstown.  You rent an old house or an apartment.

Our house was over 100 years old and called 'All Aboard'.  Back in the day it was the last stop for the railroad, evidence by the tracks that are literally in the back yard covered now in moss and twigs.

We had the entire 2nd floor... 

  

All the comforts of HOME

 

Our house was lovely...

2 big bedrooms, an office, full kitchen, a grill in the backyard, full use of the house including the laundry facilities in the basement + all the charm in the world. 

 

 

Luke was staying the entire week at Dreams Park with his Team & Coaches so it was just the 3 of us.  It was quiet and quaint.  It rained, we did crafts and took walks in town.

You almost forget that you have games to go watch - especially after you've enjoyed happy hour on the porch swing.

 

 

 

 

On the schedule for Saturday was the OPENING CEREMONIES.

I volunteered to go on the field with other moms and made friends go with me..  thank you Patti & Susie.

And yes, we got to keep that blinding pink Cooperstown Mom shirt.  

   

 

 

Dreams Park Sky Divers

 

 

Team ORANGE CRUSH was introduced...

 

 

 

The festivities finished up with Skills Competitions.

Below is a picture of them doing 'Around the Horn'... they did great and didn't drop the ball once!

 

 

 

The boys will wear BLUE as Visitors and RED as the Home team.

Luke is #6 this week and games will start tomorrow... so exciting! 

  

 

NY to PA to NY

 

So we are on our way to COOPERSTOWN, NY for baseball....

 

 

We spent two wonderful nights at my sisters house.  The kids swam, we sat around the table talking and drinking Kim's favorite wine.  

On Friday morning it was time to leave and head WAY UP-STATE to check in to Cooperstown Dreams Park.

 

But first, we drove 500 miles out of the way for a day trip on 78 WEST 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful drive over bridges, past a million farms and thru the rain.  

I had the camera on my lap the whole way. 

 

Can you believe he wouldn't stop and take a pic of the family in front this sign?

 

 

 

 

We were heading to Lamade Stadium to watch The WEST - our local team from Huntington Beach, CA play on ESPN in the Little League World Series. 

We weren't the only ones...

 

*Prepare for photo overload

 

 

 

There was a 45 min game delay due to rain but then the game was on. 

South Williamsport is like the Disneyland of Baseball, truly an amazing & magical experience. 

 

 

 

 

We found our seats - the place was packed!

 

 

{ The West Families }

 

 

 

 

As expected, the West killed it. 

They are an extrordinary group to watch. 

 

 

 

 

Time to leave this sleepy little town and head onto the next.

300 miles and counting... 

 

 

 

 

 

FINALLY

At about 10pm - we arrived

 

 

It was a looooong day!

 

 

Manhattan

 

A Summer's Night on a Rooftop Bar in Manhattan

[ you can just barely make out that NY skyline ]   

 

I agree, the quality is awful - the pics are from text messages what can I say.

We are in NY for baseball so we had to get in one crazy night on the town.

 

 

oh dear...

* Thanks Martellos * 

 

 

SeaWorld

 

 

Six Sisters + our families headed on down to San Diego for a day at SeaWorld. 

The kids had a BLAST - the weather was perfect - it was a GREAT day!

 

 
*That is a killer-whale tough kiss... ewww

 

 

 
 
 

 

There were a few brave souls in our group that hit the WATER RIDE.

I think I took a picture of about 36 other families as they ripped around the corner expecting it to be our group.  We waited forever... then finally their boat came around -

 

and we saw them get SOAKED

 

 
 

 

 

(You know when you are at Disneyland and it's super hot outside - you go on 'It's a Small World' for a 20 minute break in the AC.  Well, the Penguin attraction is the place to go if you are at Sea World.  This makes sense of course, it was freezing in there!!)

 

Beside the relief from the heat - the Penguins are pretty cute to watch waddling around but I couldn't help think about HAPPY FEET.

 

We stayed until the Park closed. 

It was a looong day and a longer drive home - but totally worth it!

 
 * SeaWorld ~ Spring Break April 2011 *

  

Weekend in Vegas

 

This is NOT what you're thinking.

We were out there to play baseball - and that's it. 

 

The tournament started on Friday.  Did you know that Fri Oct 29th is a holiday in Vegas?  I didn't either.  There is no school so it's okay to have games scheduled on Friday...

 
 

 

There was like 140 teams in the tournament from ALL over!! 

Our second game on Friday was against a team that drove in from CANADA.

 

 
 
*Luke was #6 this weekend...

 

 

With so many games scheduled this weekend they were spread out to fields and parks across downtown Vegas. We stayed at a hotel close to the fields we were playing at.  It was about 30 minutes from the strip. 

 

Here is a peek out our window before dinner:

 

 

Our hotel had a bowling alley, movie theater and tons of restaurants which included TGIFriday's which is where we enjoyed dinner. 

The next day we slept in, packed the car and returned to the fields for late Saturday games...

 

 
 
 

 

 

I didn't take many pictures that night.  You see, the park was crawling with people and my daughter has this ability to disappear within 2.1 seconds so I was a little panicked to say the least...

 

 

 

Immediately following the game we got in the car and were home within 4 hours -

 
... so long Vegas!

 

*At the tournaments they always sell T-shirts. 

Here is the back of Luke's shirt with ALL the teams listed - crazy! 

 

     

iPad fun

 

We pulled the kids out of school early today and hit the road to Vegas.

{Luke was playing in a baseball tournament for Team Anderson}

 

On our drive out the kids played air hockey:

 
 

Gotta love that iPad...

 

Last hurrah

August is winding down FAST...

School is just around the corner.

We need a quick family va-cay to hold us over until 2011.

Something peaceful

and quiet...

 

 

+ADD  10 more families AND all their kids!!

(It's not quiet anymore  - it's perfect.)

 

 

We were here...

 

 

We spent 3 days camping on the river...

It was SO HOT  + lots of sand, kids and water (not ideal photo conditions).

 

There was a slip-n-slide, pinata and a trampoline.  At night there were DJ Disco lights and projector movies on the side of the RV. Total normal stuff right.

We did have the added bonus of watching the nightly meteor shower while laying on the sand in the dark desert sky.  Very cool.

Of course there were also boats, jet-ski's and tubing.

 

 

I did torture brave myself on a few occasions and brought out the camera.  

Here are a few highlights:  

 

 

 

 

The  PINATA 

 

 

 

 

I was so embarrased about how many times Sydney begged to go out tubing - daily. 

Thank you Shane for your patience. 

 

Definately the highlight of her trip... 

 

 
 

 

 

On our last night they went out on the river to SURF:

 

 

Luke decided to give wakeboarding a try.

The guys suited him...

 

 

After two attempts he was finally getting the hang of it.

(it's VERY dark)

 

But it got dark SO fast  -  we called it a night.

We drove home the next morning.

 

 

 
  
  

[The perfect way to end our Summer of 2010 ]

      

24 hr Roadtrip

Luke's baseball game finished at about noon on Saturday in Norwalk.

(he got a ride home to stay with my Mom)

We jammed onto the freeway. 

 

There was slim chance we'd make the  3pm ceremony in Vegas  but we gave it our best shot.

I did my makeup in the car. 

Then we had 5 min to drop our bags at our hotel and change from our All-Star clothes.

As many trips as we've made to Vegas I've never been to the Stratosphere.

I never realized...

how FAR down the strip it is

or

how HIGH that tower really is

We got there just in time to enjoy the lounge reception.

This was our view...  [gulp]

 

 

The party then moved over to Mandalay Bay for dinner.

We ate here... 

They serve Brazilian BBQ and carve meat from big skewers on to your plate.

It was dark and crowded. 

I had amazing coconut rice with grilled pineapple.

As the evening progressed it turned into a nigtclub.

With dancing girls from the ceiling and everything - that's Vegas for you.

We moved to this famous Russian bar...  The Red Square

The bar is made of  ICE

They have a sub-zero room where they dress you in a fur hat and coat to sip Vodka.

Everything is over the top in Vegas.

We finished the night at the NY NY Piano Bar  -  it was 3:45 in the morning.

We got to our room at 4am and left for the drive home 2 hours later.

Seriously, we were back at Luke's baseball game 5 hours later.

It was all a bit fuzzy to say the least.

But it was worth it...

* Congratulations Greg & Jen *