2015: The summer of boys and baseball

This is the year my boys were introduced to baseball! All three of them. LOL.

Lester took Cary and Dean to their first ever O's game this month!

The Orioles won, which made the boys very happy! But Lester says they were mostly excited about the Gatorade, the popcorn and the cotton candy. Of course.

Funniest moment of the game: A very confused Cary asked Lester, "But when do they hit it off the tee?"

They learned all about tee-ball during their first baseball clinic, which went from April to the end of this month.

Lester was their coach, and there's a funny story behind that. You can read it here.
http://www.baltimoreschild.com/articles/index.cfm?fuse1=detail&ArticleID=2785

The good news is, despite auspicious beginnings, the Purple Dragons had a very successful clinic, finishing up their 2015 season with sno-balls, hot dogs and high-fives!

Cary is more interested in his frozen treat. Of course.

The boys loved playing on a team with their friends Antony and Marcus. And they made lots of new friends too!

Go Purple Dragons!!

Hooray for baseball! And hooray especially for Dads who just jump right in to help out when needed.

The summer of crazy busy weekends

This weekend started the summer of crazy busy weekends for the Davis crew.

Saturday mornings, the kids have swim lessons (Cary and Dean are in the same swim class as Abby and Maya; Clair and I do a "Mommy and Me" class together at the same time).

After swim lessons, which end around 11:30, we eat lunch and get the kids down for a nap. If Lester has shopped for groceries on Friday night, then I can start the cooking for the week on Saturday while the kids nap. If not, Lester shops while they nap and I try to get other things done in the house (although this Saturday, I napped a bit too -- shhhhh!)

After nap, the kids get a snack and then we go to Pee Wee baseball, which takes place at a field near Morgan State University, which is not far from our house. Yesterday was the first day of baseball, because last week's game got rained out. We weren't sure what to expect from this clinic -- there are a LOT of  3-to-5-year-olds in this league -- but it seemed pretty organized, and the boys seemed to really enjoy running the bases. (All the standing/sitting and waiting, though? Not so much.)

But look how CUTE they look running from base to base! 

I can't wait to show these to them when they're teenagers. Oh, the hilarity!

After baseball, we do dinner, bathtime and bedtime. And there's literally no time for almost anything else all day.

Sundays, we go to church, and I cook dinners for the week, and we Lester cleans up while the kids run through the house destroying what we he just cleaned. And aside from that, there's ALSO not much time for anything else. (Although yesterday, I did sneak in a couple hours at book club with my girls, which was awesome, as usual, and I'm so glad I did it. Thanks - as always - to Lester for being so supportive of my need to get out and be with friends and women I admire.)

In between all that, we're trying to finally get Lester's house in DC on the market (he drove down yesterday when I got back from book club to do a few things to it) and there's a thousand cookouts and festivals and birthday parties to attend. Not to mention our July beach trip. How we'll do it all and remain sane, I don't know. 

It's going to be a busy summer, but I'd rather that than a dull one! I'm particularly glad that my kids are doing swimming lessons (you guys know I can't swim, right? So I'm determined my kids won't be like me). And with scenes like the ones in the videos -- of C and D awkwardly and adorably running around the baseball diamond -- happening every Saturday evening, I think all the busy-ness will be totally worth it.

Jam-packed weekend (and a resolution)

Lester's boss sponsors a baseball tournament every year between the city's public and private high schools. It's a lot of work for Lester and he has been gone a lot on the last few weekends because of it.

This weekend, the weather was really nice, so I decided not to let the chore of carting three kids around by myself cause us to stay stuck in the house.

So off we went on a series of adventures!

First, Cary and Dean and I went to the Spring park clean-up at Herring Run Park, which is near our house and one of the reasons I bought a home where I did.

Look how pretty the stream is. Actually, Herring Run Park is pretty fantastic.

At first, the boys were pretty excited about helping to keep our park clean, so that everyone can enjoy it.

But then, they discovered the joys of rocks.

Climbing rocks.

And throwing rocks into the stream.

And so Mommy ended up doing all the cleaning. Oh well.

The most exciting part of the day for them was when they got to actually walk into a Dumpster to put our bags of trash in it.  They were giddy about this.

"Mommy, we're IN the Dumpster!! The trash man is going to take us away!"

After that, we came home, had lunch, got Clair ready and headed out to cheer on Daddy at the baseball game. (Not that he was playing, but he was working really hard getting yelled at by coaches.)

The boys were enthralled by "real baseball players!!"

And excited to see Lester, who came over from working the event to sit with us for just a little while.

Watching the game (for 2 seconds at a time.)

Sidenote: I had to go move the car at one point and stumbled across a wedding on campus. It was pretty cool! This woman's dress was killer. The lace on the back? Wowza.

When it was time to go, I had to bribe C & D with ice cream, because they were having such a good time.

I took them to a place called Dominion Ice Cream, which was used in an episode of Veep (and apparently on the Food Network, too.) Their ice cream is really creamy and delicious. Can't you tell?

Ummm. I don't think there's anything left in those cups, you mannerless children who clearly have no parents to teach you how to act in public.

Later on that night, I went out to a work dinner with my friend and boss, Tom, and I almost couldn't pay attention to the events on stage because I kept staring at this woman's shoes. And her toned legs.

And I started thinking about how my 40th birthday is rolling up in like 2 seconds, and I have been eating like a weed-smoking teenager lately. Cookies, cake, brownies, pie, ice cream, chips ...This slap-yo-mama-good shrimp po' boy TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW!

Seriously, people, come to Baltimore. Go to Touloulou. Get a shrimp po' boy. Thank me later.

And so, I am going to do better. Starting right now.

(I know. I know. You've heard this before. So have I.)

Sunday, I spent the entire day swapping kids' clothes from fall/winter to spring/summer and packing their old things up to store away. It took so long, I was still putting winter coats (mine and Lester's included) into storage bags while watching the season premiere of Mad Men last night at 10 p.m.!

And now that I have done all that darn work, lugging bins up and down the basement stairs, folding and re-folding clothes (thanks, Clair) and trying to decide what can be worn again next year, what's going to my sister, what's going back to the store, what's going to friends and what's going to Goodwill, this weather better stay warm! Or Mother Nature and I are gonna fight.

Thanks to all those po' boys I have a few extra pounds on me. So I'm pretty sure I can take her.

"Spring" training

In honor of the Orioles home opener today at Camden Yards, I thought I'd post these two pictures of my boys, outside in our backpatch (too small to call it a yard), playing T-ball.

Yes, my child is attempting to hit the baseball with a golf club.

Dean can whack that ball like nobody's business. He is also a really good kicker.

Look at those pictures of young boys practicing that most American of pastimes! Can't you just smell the Spring air, the faint aroma of roasted peanuts, the fragrance of Cherry Blossoms wafting through a sunny stadium?

No?

Could it be because it is April 5 and frikkin' FREEZING?!?! Hmmmm?

It is so cold, my children are forced to play baseball (golf-ball?) in hats, gloves and hoods.

Spring? Where are you? Why hast thou forsaken us?

Whatever we did, we're really sorry. Our lives are so cold and gray without you. Please just come out now. We'll change. We promise.