We kicked off our spring break Thursday night with Tobin's first T-ball game of the season, a make-up of the rained out Saturday opener. Matt is helping out this year, so when game time arrived, both he and Tobin took the field. This was a little tough for Evan who kept saying, "I wanna see Dad!" and would take off to the dugout. I had Lauren sitting in the stroller and would have to run as quickly as I could to retrieve him. I plied him with snacks and offers to climb the bleachers and "Oh look, Tobin's about to throw the ball!" Eventually, he found another girl about his age and they played sweetly mostly running around and hanging on the limb of a small nearby tree. This allowed me to watch most of the game.
Tobin's Padres played the Yankees, who batted first. The very first batter of the game hit a solid ground ball right at Tobin, who was covering the right side of the pitcher's mound. And then the batter ran as hard as he could . . . to third base. This gave Tobin plenty of time to field the ball and throw it to first for the out. The wayward Yankee made it all the way back to first and then had to be consoled by his dad because he was out. (Yes, there is crying in T-ball.) Although a little traumatic for that kid, it was hilarious and a fitting start to a fun, funny game. Plus, Tobin got the put out!
Tobin's league is a modified coach's pitch. By rule, each player gets three swings at a coach-pitched ball and then they get the ball set up on the tee if they haven't put the ball in play on the first three pitches. Tobin hit fourth (clean up!) in the batting order. Tobin hit the third pitch during his first-at for a single his first time up and eventually came around to score a run. Scoring a run is clearly Tobin's favorite thing to do in this world. He squealed as he crossed the plate. Matt was positioned as catcher for the coach's pitches, so he got to give him a high five as he crossed the plate. Just perfect. Tobin grounded out (hitting off the tee) in his second at bat. So he was 1-2 with a run scored and at least two put-outs to first. There's no official score keeping but of course Tobin kept count of runs and reported that the Padres won 11-9. It was a great start to the season and our spring break.
The next morning, we packed up the van and hit the road to make the 540-mile trip to Louisville. Matt usually does most of the driving, while I distribute snacks, toys, books and the occasional reassurance to Lauren from the captain's chair beside her. The boys sit next to each other in the very back. They spend their time being silly, singing, snacking and watching a movie after lunch. They are veteran car travelers at this point.
Our trip to Louisville takes us around 10 hours. Our usual routine is to leave sometime between 6 and 7am, stop mid-morning for a potty/diaper change break, eat lunch west of Charleston, WV at Chick-fil-A and then drive the last 200 miles into Louisville, sometimes stopping for another potty/mental health break if we need to. Lauren seemed to have a rougher time with the last stretch of the trip than she did at Thanksgiving or Christmas, so we made a final stop about 50 miles out. But all told, she did great and we logged yet another smooth, safe road trip. We are so thankful for traveling mercies and our tremendous little travelers.
We're looking forward to a great week at Grandma's house!
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