On the road again! Today is full of packing up and getting ready to go to St. Pete. We hadn't started packing until today, but we are used to it - "no hill for a climber", and all that...especially when you climb a lot! LOL I had to take a moment to upload some pictures from yesterday's game. It was the last game here in Port Charlotte that Lance will pitch in. They finish up here tomorrow, head north and have an exhibition game on Friday and Saturday. Hopefully by then, we'll be settled. We are thankful for a beautiful, wonderful Spring Training. So blessed! More pictures to come!

batter up.

my best pitch. To him, it's not a playground. It's the mound :)

...or the dugout.

Look at that form!!! :)

Well, strides have been made this spring training! LJ is semi-consistently sleeping through the night, he's getting ahold of more pitches with his bat than he's missing, and...he's lost his fear of mascots, (or maybe just this one?). I saw "Stoney", the local mascot, making his way over to the playground where LJ was playing. I pulled out my camera as LJ wandered his way. I thought he'd keep a pole-length's distance, but after watching cautiously, he walked right up to him. Keep in mind: this is the kid who as absolutely FREAKED when -

• the Chic-fil-a cow made his way into our elevator at the field.
• the "Oriole Bird", (whom he says is his "best friend"), also (but at a different time) came into our elevator
• Raymond (the Rays mascot) so much as came into our section last year.

He's got his eye out, and no Mascot is safe, (even Big Al!) If they head our way, we know it. During most games, I know where the mascot is, just from LJ keeping me updated. So, I had to catch this moment. Can you believe it? In so many ways, our little boy is growing up!

What a day! I was so excited for this triathlon because it would be a good test of what my training has done to prepare me, and it would be my first "wetsuit race". Because it's so early in the season and the water is pretty cold, I think the enrollment was a lot smaller than other races I'm enrolled in. It was just a "sprint" triathlon, (about 1/2 the distance of my April goal), so my body was over-prepared. Because of this, I did well! I actually won for the females - I was SHOCKED! 8 males came in before me, but I was the first female. I'm still waiting on that trophy :)

Here are my splits:

 1:09:59 - total time       

 6:51 - 1/4 mile swim        

 37:08 - 10(they say 12, but it was just over 10)mile bike        

 22:30 -  3 mile run (this is FLYING for me, by the way!  I have no idea what happened!)

Here's my buddy with me before the race. He said, "Mom, you look like Elast-a-girl", (Incredibles)

Already COLD!

The water kind of took my breath away, but it was a great experience!

Almost back at the transition after the bike ride - my slowest event. I need the bike shoes that attach to my bike so I can use my quads as well!

This is at the end of my run - I know it looks like I'm posing, but I'm just happy to be almost done :) I felt great, though.

Done!

I had to throw this one in there - the BEST snack ever! Graham crackers, nutella and marshmallow fluff. MMMMM...

A picture's worth a thousand words, right? Sorry there have been a ton of pictures lately, but few words typed - I'm sure you'd prefer that to the opposite? I don't want to miss getting these pictures uploaded, but by the time I get them done, I'm ready to go back and play, have something I need to do or am ready for bed! Hahaha - it's a tough life I lead, huh?

Well, today we have played some baseball in the yard, eaten lunch together as a family before Lance went to the field, and then LJ and I headed to Sarasota. I have a smaller triathlon this Sunday, and I wanted to see the course while I had time today. Lance pitches tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure I finished all my prep. by lunchtime tomorrow so we wouldn't miss the game. It's less than an hour away, but LJ was saying, "It's taking so loooong" over. and. over. The boy hates a car ride, or any down time for that matter. He kept asking, "Where did my Florida home go?" "Mommy, turn around, turn around". Alas, we got the packet, saw the race site and headed back, ( only to hear much of the same on the ride home!) Oh well - what more do you expect? We made it in one piece, at a brownie as a reward (for both of us) upon arrival back to our "Florida home" and now we are about to go outside for a bit. Did I mention I need to do laundry? And clean up my closet...and the bathroom... :) Oh well...it'll be there when I get back. This boy's ready to run! Enjoy the pics!

This is his buddy from the game - right after this, she leaned in and gave him a kiss! :)

In our back yard, threre's a lot of room, so this is a pic from when we were just exploring this morning

...and Rookie was running free. Is that not the picture of happiness?

When Evan Longoria comes up to bat and they show his intro, LJ always asks why he's "angry". I have to tell him, he's just "focused" Now, LJ pretends to be him and says, "I'm focused". Don't forget to introduce him like they do at the real game, most times he won't bat unless you do :) "Now batting...# 3, Evan Longoria!"...

There are a lot of pics in the post below, but I had to share this morning. Hilarious...I wonder where he gets those feet, though? ;)

We have been up to so much these last few days. I'm sorry I have not gotten to the blog - I have had all these pictures taunting me, untouched, on my camera. I couldn't wait to just look at them on my computer screen. We've been to ball games, had bike and scooter rides with Rookie, swam like fish...you name it. We have had such a fun time! Enjoy the pics - sorry it's taken so long!

Loving his bike. He's working those little legs on bike and scooter rides most mornings.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here's my little ray with his special hat :)

This was a few days ago. He was practicing his pitching (see below) while watching Lance warm up. This is him, embarrassed, because people are watching :)

ready to go in.

I put "pitching with you" on here because he was yelling to Lance, "I'm pitching with you!" while Lance was warming up. You can't see it, but Lance is warming up just over the fence.

After the game, he got to go on the field with Lance. The first thing he did was ruuuun and sliiide into first base :) The fans leftover from the game gave him an ovation :)

I look up to you.

After his big "slide", the lady asked him, "Will you sign my ball?" ;)

Sure, I'll sign. :)

Spring Training HOME Baseball

I know I promised a "coach-pitch" video follow up to LJ's tee-ball video last season. I'm late, but I have delivered! Hilarious. He is loving baseball this spring. He tends to get into each sport during it's season, but if March is any indication, he's loving baseball most of all. We got him a new bat because the other one he was using was losing it's grip. I pitch to him for like 1 hour + in the morning, and he begs for at least another hour in the afternoon. The kid is intense. I have absolutely NO IDEA where he got that? :) Sorry it's late, but I hope you enjoy!

I swear we're not bad parents...the kid's just crazy all on his own :)

I did SUCH a quick job of this, I didn't notice the "insert subtitles here" on the captions...it takes so long to upload, so sorry - I'll fix it later! You get the gist! Don't forget to turn down the music volume so you can hear the giggles :)

P.S. We'll let you know how late he sleeps in the morning ;)

see Lance in the background....I love you this much :)

The weather has warmed up! I hope you enjoy these swim pics as much as I enjoyed taking them. There are more to come, but I just had to put some up quickly!!

Can you tell that we had fun at the ballpark today? Dressed in his entire uniform..."eyebars" included! He looked like a gamer, ready to play should there be one too few players available on the field. :)

I wasn't driving for two minutes! I looked back, and he was done.

I'm trying to get him to sit in the stands for a bit and "be still"...hahaha, the joke is on me! Impossible for a three-year-old. At least he's making his buddies giggle :)

A picture of the "eyebars" up close. They totally complete the outfit ;0)

After waiting patiently, he got some playground time. He's eating some "Lightening McQueen Gummies" for snack.

Oh, I almost forgot! The whole reason we're here, in Florida, in uniform at a baseball stadium. With all the eyebars and gummy snacks, one can lose her focus! What a handsome man at work!

We have been to two spring training games this week. Spring baseball is in full force! Above, LJ was in his uniform, ("just like my daddy", he says). It's going to be tough to show up at the field without it - I'm wondering what percentage of games he'll wear it to this year. It makes him feel so big! He walks around with a serious face and his hands on his hips. This boy means business.

In the pictures below, we got to go have lunch with Lance at the field. It was the day after he played, so he got the day off. (It's wonderful to be the family of a pitcher during the spring!) LJ got to play on the training fields and eat at a picnic table. He LOVED it. I'm sure we'll be back soon!

This is after they were done...headed to the locker room. As you can see, LJ already knows the way :)

A meeting on the mound. Important stuff.

Look Dad. Some "boys" were on the other field, (they were coaches), but LJ wanted to play.

Cranking one :) A "hard ball" and "big boy bat" even!

Scooter Rides

Well, the weather has turned cooler, so we opted for a great scooter ride/Rookie walk this morning. We rode all the way from our house to the "alligator sign" (a pond with a sign that says "Don't feed the Alligators". I need to upload a picture of the sign. The alligator has a bandana around his neck, and I may be wrong, but I think he has a fork in his hand, too. LJ says, " he looks hungry" every time we pass it. He really does. :) We haven't seen the real gator yet, but it's a good destination for a scooter ride. It is over a mile from our house, though, so it makes for tired little legs.

I love to watch him while he scooters. I give him some freedom, letting him go far ahead of me as long as there's no street in sight. He stops when the sidewalk ends. I can see him going into his own world as he enjoys his freedom. It's like he's scootering into another dimension, and he just loses himself in the journey. I laugh at how far away and little he is in the picture above - he's getting so big. If you look at the bottom of the pictures, I've been labeling them so I can keep track of what we've been doing, or what I've been thinking while taking them. They're hard to see, but I know they are there.

Along the way, though, sometimes you need to rest. He's still in his own world there - counting something. His imaginary friend, "Yaha" who has taken a larger role in his life lately, is talking with him. I think he's arguing with him here - they seem to argue a lot! :) I told LJ that if Yaha is going to live with us, he's going to have to be nicer. Anyone's welcome into our family, but we treat each other with kindness, real or imaginary. :) So far, I know that Yaha has black hair, is five years old, but knows how to drive a truck. He is a good playmate, but is often enticing LJ to do something he shouldn't. LJ's quick to blame him when things get out of hand. :)

This is him before we turn around and head home. He says, "I need to take a breaf". He rested for a while before we headed home. On our way home, a little bird sang us a song. He stopped on top of a sign, looked at us, and just started singing. We stopped and listened till he flew away - LJ's still talking about it.

So, that's our day so far. It's been a good one! I hope you enjoyed the walk with us - we'll catch you up on more later. Have a great day!