Mark Twain Cave

The Mark Twain Cave was rather interesting and I learned about a lot about the author, the history of this cave and caves in general. This is a true "show" cave, where you are invited to touch the walls. It was discovered in 1820, though it had been used by Native Americans long before that. Compared to other caves I've been in (Mammoth, Laurel Caverns, The Lost Sea), it is full of narrow passageways rather than large open rooms. The bats have been chased away long ago, and there is "hard" evidence the Jesse James Gang hid out here. There are reportedly over 250,000 names written on the walls, but that is discouraged now. It was 52 degrees, a little chilly without a sweatshirt which no one thought to bring. It's a limestone cave and dry, meaning the formations have been set for millions of years. It doesn't contain the expected stalactites and stalagmites. It's cool to think of the young kids (Samuel Clemens) exploring it in the 1800's with candles or lanterns. Very amazing more did not get lost as it's quite a complex maze.

Our guide was quite a storyteller and told the story of Tom and Becky getting lost in the cave, eating the birthday cake, which was to have been their wedding cake according to Becky, and finally encountering Injun Joe.

An interesting fact was about the man, Joe Douglas, whom the character of Injun Joe was based on. Apparently, when Clemens was a boy in Hannibal there was baby who had been scalped and left for dead by the Indians in the area and was found and raised by a local family. He had had a bad case of chicken pox or small pox at some point and scratched his face quite badly. Consequently, as an adult, the children of the town were quite frightened of him. As adults the man confronted Clemens and asked why he had been the cast as the bad guy in the book, as he had grown up to lead an upstanding life. Clemens replied, "Well, you scared all the kids to death." Clemens went on to tell the man, his best revenge would be to outlive him, which he did by some 23 years. This man lived to be over 100 years old.

The first picture is one of the formations which was supposed to be impressive. I'm not sure which one now, but it doesn't look that impressive. One was supposed to be of pure onyx, but you couldn't tell it from limestone. The second was taken in the "Parlor" which has natural seating on ledges for at least 20 people.

The last picture is the ubiquitous gift shop with Chris as cave explorer and Betsy as milk carton child. Let's see, the kids got a bull whip, a rock candy sucker, fudge, postcards and a magnet.

Monday Morning

I just finished making 10 sandwiches for our day trip, and am checking "the internet". I have a friend with a preemie baby who updates us through something called Care Pages at the hospital. It is really great to read about his progress, and sad when things are not going well. I check in with my grad school email and on-line class discussions. Preliminarily, I got a 297 out of 300 points on my mid-term I took over the weekend. I got soooo nervous getting ready to take my first on-line exam, so afraid something would go wrong with the computer, all for naught, it turned out to be a breeze.

We are going to explore the boyhood home of Mark Twain today. My mom really wants to go in the cave where Tom and Becky got lost. Apparently, close as we are, Mom and Dad never took us to this tourist hot spot when we were kids. All my boys have been to Hannibal as part of a 7th grade class field trip. Did I mention Boy19 is in Nebraska with his dad and grandparents? This is his second time driving himself. I thought the day would never come! It is around a 7 hour drive, so that's pretty good for him, I think. My dad will stay home today as he has a city council meeting tonight and his neuralgia is not good (post-shingles pain which has taken up residence in his right arm).

I'm feeling much better, mood-wise, today. I was really kind of low over the weekend, maybe "waiting" for my vacation to begin, some anxiety, the weather's been hot and humid, the full moon (Ginnie reminds me) is coming tonight and then all will be calm and relaxed again, right?

Catching up to do

Chillin' at Grandma's in New York.

I'm officially on vacation and not feeling like writing much. I've been busy tying up loose ends before the family arrives for a week of frenetic action and fun.

Fish

Here is the fish captured in Lake Erie at the beach. Since it was already dead, it doesn't really count as a Man vs. Wild situation. They didn't eat it, thank goodness. Poking dead fish with sticks. Does that upset the PETA gang?

What now brown cow?

Pat and the boys will be home late Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon. They are having a good time with Grandma and their cousins and Pat's friend's kids in Western New York. Today they went to "the beach" (on Lake Erie). They managed to capture a 3 foot barracuda or other large fish. They were settling down at 10 p.m. to watch "Remember the Titans." I can't wait to see some pictures of all these kids hanging out. They always take the most bizarre pictures of each other. I'm so glad they got to go. We stopped going to WNY in the summer a couple years ago when baseball season started extending into late July and everyone seemed too busy to visit with us. It was a good tradition that I was sorry to see come to an end. We switched to going at Thanksgiving or Christmas and the weather has actually cooperated very well for us, but it's not the same as summer vacation. I know my family always took the same summer trek to visit the relatives in North Dakota every year, and there was something comforting in that.

Well, I did eat ice cream for dinner tonight, but unfortunately, I am hungry again. I think I will have the rest of the strawberries before they go bad. Tomorrow is lunch with Jen, my old co-worker. We will have some of the best chicken salad in town. The new worker, Angie is going, too. It's nice that young people (20's) would want to hang out with me.

Game Winner

Congratulations, Grandfather76. You are the first to respond, making you the winner of the Grand Prize! Want to know what you've won? Read on: As the winner, you will get an all-expense paid (by you) visit from your family. While visiting, you will provide excellent accommodations and delicious repasts for the visitors. Wait--there's more! You can also pick up the tab for various and sundry trips, dinners out and grocery runs. And if that's not enough--you can also host as many game nights as people want to participate in. Be sure to have desserts and drinks on hand.Wow--I bet you're so glad you entered this contest. Thank you for your participation!!! See you in a week!

Doin's

I went to a Doin's tonight. Is that strictly a Midwestern-ism or do they say that in other parts? Do they call 'em 'parts' in other parts?

Anyways, I'll call the Doin's a sober hog roast. Do they do hog roasts in other parts? Probably in other hog raisin' areas. It was just like the hog roasts of my youth, minus the alcohol. That actually makes a big difference. I remember the setting and I tasted the food tonight! It was at a farmhouse out in the country, surrounded by cornfields on three sides and a horse pasture on the other. It was picturesque, tranquil, serene. There were no problems going to the bathroom (that used to be quite an issue when drinking mass quantities). No one got loud, belligerent, or promiscuous. Well, there was one guy who spoke who was a little eccentric and a little loud, but funny. I don't know what the heck he was talking about; Corpus Christie, fence posts, Mormons, morons, Mexicans, Kansas City, the sheriff, but he wasn't drinking. One guy looked a little disgruntled with him (possibly a sheriff's deputy) but the rest of the crowd got quite a kick out of it, especially us out-of-towners. Everyone has a story and I love to hear it.

The hog was roasted when we got there which I was a little disappointed about. I wanted to see it turning on the spit. It was cut up and in 3 of those large electric warmers you might see at a concession stand. It looked like average pork, but baby, it tasted out of this world. Tender, succulent with a unique smoked flavor. There were all kinds of salads and desserts. The company was good and it was just very relaxing. Did I mention the weather is perfect?

The young lady Julie whose mom hosted the event rode over with us (about 45 minutes) and her 1 1/2 year old daughter. At the first town we stopped for gas, and she asked if anyone had any Pepto Bismal. Two minutes later she threw up in a quart size ziplock baggie she found in her diaper bag. We pulled off the road and she threw it in someone's garbage can. She insisted we continue on and she seemed okay, but spent the evening in the house, throwing up. She needed to come back to town with us afterwards because she's supposed to be leaving for vacation tomorrow. So we stopped to let my friend Terri out where she parked her car on the way home, coincidentally at a well known small town tavern. Julie then proceeded to puke in their parking lot. We figured they would be used to that. I know this doesn't sound like a sober outing, but really, it was the flu and I'm now afraid I will come down with it in the next couple days. I'll keep you posted, because you really want to know.

Now I have a spic and span bathroom and kitchen.

Bored?

Could I be bored already? I slept till 8:41, the dang cats slept on the bed, severely cramping my style. I shut some of the windows for fear that even though the doors were locked, someone could easily climb in a window (the way Boy19 did on many occasions when he forgot his key). Now, I really don't have to study until this afternoon. I had planned to take a long walk, making sure my bladder is empty first. I see towels that need folding and the kitchen is not in order yet, nor the bathroom cleaned from ceiling to floor as I had planned. So many possibilities. And here I sit with my blog and a cup of coffee to keep me company. I should be perfectly content. I would say I am almost content.

The above picture is what happens while I am at work. I see several infractions of house rules besides: having friends over without permission. Eating or drinking in the living room is forbidden, as is touching my Diet Pepsi, possible inappropriate internet usage.

Ok, scratch the paragraph above. The cat is clearly breaking house rule #32 No climbing on scrapbook or other items on bookshelves. #41 Put scrapbooks back on shelves the proper way.

Saturdays are Great

My second evening alone. Boy19 joined me for long enough after work (half hour) to muster up the courage to ask to borrow $20. Well, sometimes you have to take what you can get.

I had a busy day, a good one. I met my women friends for a short meeting followed by lunch at a local diner that another gal works at. She joined us after cooking our diner food (pork T, hamburger, Western omelet, etc.). It was very good, down home cooking, accompanied by second hand smoke. I wish our wonderful Governor would sign the damn bill and get this state into the 21st century (smoke-free).

Next I attended a baby shower with an entirely different group of women from my work. They are naming the baby Emmett. I think that is very cute and unique. I do know another Emmett, beside Emmit Smith. I had five miniature desserts and a diet coke. Well, if you must know, I had two homemade mints on the way out- cream cheese, delicious! This baby already has 70 outfits for the first year of life. I wish I had known that and picked out a book or lullaby Cd or something more useful.

Somehow I squeezed in finishing chapter 7 and 8 of research methods (a real snoozefest) and just have to take a self test tonight to meet my self goal for the day. Tomorrow I want to focus on re-reading, re-taking self tests, printing self tests, and re-writing my notes for the mid-term exam next weekend. In on-line courses, apparently you have a window of two days (or whatever) to take the test, but once you begin it cuts you off after an hour. It also says you can only have one page of notes in front of you, no book or other materials. Hmm. That's enforceable. Why bother to say that?

I also did laundry and started to clean the kitchen rather thoroughly, toaster crumbs included. Helped my mom curl her hair for a wedding rehearsal dinner. She looked real cute.

Being Alone and HP

Ever have the experience of looking forward to time alone, sometimes it sounds downright euphoric? *something bizarre is going on with my cat-he is looking out the window making a guttural whining, cry, stomach heaving and his tail is huge-somebody help me out here!*

You can eat peanut butter or cereal or zucchini bread or ice cream for dinner, watch Lifetime for Women, etc.


Anyway, the boys are gone for a few days and I've got a lot of studying to do, a baby shower, a hog roast plus various assorted activities planned, but when I came home from work and getting my hair done tonight, the house was so empty, I felt empty. I took a long walk and it's just perfect outside. I had the feeling I will shake the lonelies, and get used to being alone for awhile. I have Boy19 to keep me company and watch out for me. On my walk I saw four different people in capes and long robes. I didn't know what was going on until I saw one of the kids waving a stick/wand around and saying "expelliarmus" or something like that. Oh yeah, tonight is the release of the final Harry Potter book. Boy14 wasn't going to go on the trip because he felt he had to get his book tonight. He's afraid someone is going to yell out the "secret" before he has a chance to read it.

Speaking of secrets, what is all the fuss about the book The Secret. I heard the secret is, you attract positive things by thinking positive thoughts, and negative things by thinking negative thoughts. That's supposed to be a secret? Haven't there been 1,000,000 other books written with the same secret? The only secret is how someone could fool so many people into making her or him rich. I should have known if Paris Hilton is reading it, I don't need to bother.

Ok, I'm watching the White vs. Red Sox. The screen says Tadahito Iguchi and the guy doesn't look Japanese whatsoever. Wow, he looks so Americanized. I suddenly remember I have DVR so I back it up. Paul Konerko is batting, not Iguchi! Geez. Why aren't I watching Lifetime?

I got all the windows open, it's actually a little too cold to have the ceiling fans on. This is perfect sleeping weather.

Game On

This is a game kids today play. I've updated it to my generation. You are to circle or answer which you prefer:

Matt Damon or Ben Affleck
Las Vegas or Bangor, Maine
Lobster or Steak
Jennifer Garner or Angelina Jolie
Vanilla Bean or Dulce de Leche
Airplane or Train ride
Read a book or watch a movie
Motorcycle ride or limo
Grey's Anatomy or ER
Water ski or water park

Hot Wednesday

The humidity must be up in the 80% range, it is warm.

Boy13 has a little of me in him. After his last official Little League game Monday night he was anxious to write down all his memories from Pee Wee on up. We all helped with memories of our own. I am secretly saving all his T-shirts to make a quilt someday.

Here are some of what the announcers said on the radio/internet Monday night about my boy:

• one of your favorite players from last year, he does a really good job


• he makes things happen


• when he came off the bench, good things happened

Blogging and Streaming

I am blogging while listening to Boy13's All Star game on "the internet." We are down 6-0. Boy13 came in to pitch the fourth inning. With one strike out and then a couple of team errors allowed two runners to score.

Oh, he is pitching the fifth as well (I left the room to talk to Boy14). One hit, one strike out at the moment, with two outs. Coach is out on the mound counseling him. Another error, kid throwing to the wrong base. Of course, I'm biased for the pitcher. Another error. Darn it. The pitch is some kind of floater (Cal's knuckle change up) the batter swings and misses. Now a fast ball: STRIKE OUT!

Boy13 was described as one of the local announcer's favorites from last year's tournament. Bottom of the fifth, error and our guy on base. Boy13 up to bat, tried to bunt. 1-1. High cheese. 2-1. He got a piece and my boy is out (they don't say how) on a good defensive play. We've got two on base now. One run in on a ground error with runners at first and third. Stranded on strike out.

Top of the 6th, E8 error in center field for a double. Oh no, Boy13 just gave up a two run homer now. Off speed pitch, a swing and a miss. 3-1 is the count. Stand up double. One out, come on, baby. Let's get out of this thing. Out two at first. A hit to left, scores a run. 10-1 Lead off is up again, I could hear the catcher call it out. Line drive to right, foul ball. Base hit. Another score 11-1. Line drive to center, caught, thank goodness.

I feel like eating the entire pan of brownies I just took out of the oven with a half gallon of milk. I "think" I'm glad I'm not there in person. Hopefully, he'll get his emotions out on the way home. That will be tough on him. He's used to pitching successfully in our town league. Poor kid. If he kept his head up like the kid on the other team Saturday he has nothing to be ashamed of.

When we beat this team in the championship last year, I think it came down to more errors by them.

Our last ups- out number one at first. Ground ball up the middle, out at first, good play in the dirt by the first baseman. We've only got two hits in the game,one from the batter who is up. One pitch away. Called out on strikes.

We're done for the season. I missed seeing Boy13's last Little League game, although the guys on the radio/internet are good enough I feel I didn't miss it altogether, and I don't have to drive home with all the deer on the road lately.

Not My Cat

But a close facsimile. This is Gimli. Last summer our neighbors left town for at least two months and locked their cat out of the house. Two months later, Mr. V. is riding his bike up and down the streets calling for Gimli and asking if we'd seen him? Yeah, two months ago! I'm not much of an animal rights activist, but that's beyond my comprehension. Gimli did eventually turn up after they posted some pictures. Someone had taken him in.

Well, guess who went to ITALY for the summer and left Gimli out again? Can you believe this? The thing I love about Gimli is he has the same tail defect as our own Miss Pearl, only about 15 pounds lighter.

Gimli came up on the porch with me tonight and sat down comfortably in our glider, until I started snapping pictures and he ran away. BTW- there was a nasty cat fight, or whatever they do that's really loud, the other night. Gimli is a little matted but doesn't look beat up.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Jubilance

In double elimination tournaments (for those who are as ignorant as I) a team can work back up through the loser's bracket to win the tournament (I think I said that right). Anyway, team Orange had a shot to stay alive last night against our pool play nemesis, Carthage. The boys are all actually very friendly, so it is not a mean spirited competition.

We allowed one run in the top of the 1st, but answered with one run in our at bat. Our #1 pitcher struggled, hitting one batter, but three of our batters were hit by their #1 pitcher. I guess that's what happens when a 12 year old tries to throw a curve ball. Our pitcher (who doesn't have wheels) also tried to steal home and was caught in a pickle when the catcher faked a throw to second. Ouch.

We went into the bottom of the 5th with a somewhat comfortable 4-2 lead, and my boy hit a triple to right center to knock in two runs, with two outs. Boy13 went 3 for 3 which was a big boost to his confidence. The charm continued with a three run homer, followed by a solo homer. Their second pitcher held his head up throughout which I give him a lot of credit for (the first pitcher was pulled early with a sore arm). Their last chance yielded no runs and our pitcher finished the game with no pitches left (he finished the last batter with over 92 pitches).

Now we will face the team we lost to Friday night on Monday night. My loyalties will be tested because that is the night of Boy14's first full length performance with his newly named band, "The Roman Candles" at a swimming pool party. They think they have about one hour of music which is not bad.

Also, to consider: Boy13 will likely pitch Monday (bad for my nerves, good to be there to film it).

The gig is also something we will want on film.

First Loss

Team Orange faced the big guys last night and came up short 5-2. Although we had a great first inning getting by the first four batters and us scoring two runs. That was about it, though their last 3 runs came on errors. Our pitching efforts were solid. Another midnight bedtime after reviewing the film.

This is Boy13 coaching first base. The team is allowed two coaches, but one must stay on the bench. BTW- I need to check the camera settings before shooting. That would help my photography...

A Title at Last

I was thinking over some ideas for our family visit July 29-August 6. Suggestions so far have been: Abraham Lincoln Museum, Knights Action Park, Hannibal, MO, Fun City, Field of Dreams, game night, Aurelio's, Vitale's. One idea was a good old fashioned Programme. I would volunteer to direct the kids in their different talents. I know my mom and dad would love that. Betsy and I could do a reunion tour of The Vick Trio Minus One (we sing old Girl Scout camp songs). Pat would probably miss this event.

Well, Boy13's All Star team won the first game of District play. Tomorrow night will be a tough game against a rival from last year, we'll hope for the best. Little Red got to pitch 19 pitches last night (we used four pitchers in the game). Got home after 11:00 from the road game. I had that crusty feeling all day. Took a nap after work. While I was still in control of my dreams, I decided to fly (since everyone else flies in their dreams). I did not like it. I was not in good control and kept swooping down and it was really scary.

Boy14 has rescheduled his pool party gig for the third time Monday night. They have several songs now, including "Stacey's Mom" which I think is a bad choice.

I was going to post a scrapbooking photo, but I didn't think my pages looked that good. I did do something different at my friend's suggestion. I couldn't decide whether to use the newspaper clipping of a game or Pat's version. She suggested "hidden journaling." At first I didn't like the idea because I thought you had to slide the page out to open it, but we cut a slit in the plastic and enabled it open with an external flap. Sounds complicated, and it was.

I better get with it here, the air conditioned haven (public place) I have found is going to close in 23 minutes. Our hot house and no one ever turning off the computer have caused the desk top to freeze (funny word to use) up over and over again. At least that is what "John" at Dell tells me.

I have forgotten the German chocolate soft serve, because today I had homemade ice cream- chocolate malt AND vanilla. You see, a friend invited me over to scrapbook at her new home. This had several advantages: 1) she has air conditioning that works 2) she is queen of all scrapbooking tools, gadgets, implements and ideas 3) she has a swimming pool 4) she has a great husband to watch her kids while we are busy indulging to our hearts content and he makes ice cream. It was a super day, although I only got three pages done.

However, when I got back home, and had eaten real food, which usually helps my mood, I was a crab extraordinaire. Everyone was laughing at me, luckily. Did I mention I hate on-line learning? I'm not learning anything, it seems. It's bull----. All the clicking around back and forth when my house is 107 degrees and the computer is freezing is ridiculous. I can't function like that. All the libraries in town are closed on Sunday night, most of the coffeehouses, too. I'm lucky to find this one until 8:00 p.m. And then it's back to the incinerator.

PLUS, I still can't put a title on my posts!

Presently I am enjoying the cool air of the YMCA after slaving over a hot stove to prepare potato salad (scorching and burning two eggs in the process), Oreo pie, green salad, and marinate some meat for grilling.

Today I met some old friends and new friends for lunch and it was great. They have moved to New Hampshire and so we don't get to see them very often. Above is pictured Terri, June and me.

I also went grocery shopping and am getting ready to attend the musical version of "Little Women" tonight which I am quite curious to see how it is. I saw the motion picture several years ago (10+) with Winona Ryder as Jo, and I am a big fan of Louisa May Alcott. Somehow I think she helped me cope with adolescence. I will write a full review if my readers wish, but they must request.

I am going to pick up some sushi and hot and sour soup before the play, as we are having dinner at home and at my mom's house. Can you guess who is having the sushi meal?

I almost forgot what we did yesterday. It was Boy13's belated birthday party at a nearby "Entertainment Center." He brought two friends and I brought my sis and nephew. I enjoyed the water park, until it became unbearably hot. The indoor complex included go-karts, laser tag, arcade, dining, etc. The boys love the arcade and all the dumb shooting games and noise and it just gives me a headache. They even got excited about winning tickets which they could turn $25 worth of tokens into a pack of sour straws!!

On the way home, we found a cool ice cream joint called Herbie's featuring 24 flavors of soft serve. Wow, we thought, how do they do that? We pulled in and Nephew8 said, "I hope I don't get herpes from Herbie's because I don't want to get herpes from eating ice cream." The 8th grade boys found that amusing coming out of a soon to be third grader. So, how do they do it? I tried German Chocolate and what they did is add a flavoring syrup to vanilla, mix it then dump it into a mini-soft serve macine that squeezes it back into a cone. Mine was excellent, in fact I'll be thinking about it often...

Last night I got down to business on my on-line course. I despise it! It's such a waste of time logging in and going back and worth from lesson to discussion board, yadda yadda. I got 88% on the self test of the first lesson, which I read from the book. The second lesson I decided I didn't need to read the material and could just look up the answers since it is not timed. I scored 72% I believe. Decided my reading retention is actually pretty good and my seek and find skills are sub-par.

Blogger uploads are running v e r y s l o w and I can't get the cursor onto a title so will post like this.

Games Over

The All-Stars won all three games in pool play. Tonight they beat the other team 18-0. It was not fun to watch. Apparently there is no 7 run rule in tournament play. However, they did stop after the top of the fourth inning. Ominous foreshadowing: the other team won the coin toss and picked "visitors."

Boy14 ended the season with a 11-3 win and had the best record. He had a nice hit which I stopped filming just as he stroked it.

So, all is well in baseball land and we don't have a game to attend until Wednesday.

Blah-ger Day

Sometimes holidays are just boring. I'm waiting all day for "something" to happen. What I don't know. Sister to arrive? A band concert? Fireworks?

The fourth was bloody hot. It was only around 90 degrees, but oppressive humidity! That made for lounging around a little uncomfortable. The kids were occupied so Pat and I did a little shopping. I made a cake (pictured above).

Every year I forget how much I hate and why I despise July 4th. Fireworks, home fireworks. Boy14 was lighting illegal fireworks in the parking lot and it totally upsets me. I have a real fear of fireworks accidents: blindness, facial deformity, hand loss.

I did a couple of real dummy things with the kids recently. The first was telling Boy13 he would get diabetes if he keeps eating so much sugar. I guess it didn't make him too paranoid because later he was pouring more Grips into his mouth and spilled some, stating, "Oh, I dropped my diabetes."

Next I was so mad at the computer this morning. I was trying to print my online course lesson and discovered the printer was unplugged and the cord was nowhere to be found. I was so aggravated I said, "I want to kill myself." Now, being a mental health professional, I know better, but that's how frustrating I find computers. I think I get that from my dad. I seriously lose it.

Tonight is Boy13's last game of Pool Play. I will have to do the filming, as Boy14 is having his last regular season game tonight. I'll let ya know how it all turns out.

On another note, I got some scrapbooking papers today because I am going to crop on Sunday. Some really luscious colors. Another scrapbooker once asked me what tool/element I liked best and said everyone has a weakness for one particular item. Hers was punches. Mine is paper. Madretz, what is yours??

Living for Baseball

In case you didn't know...

Last night I missed the first 11-12 year old All Star game in which our team crushed the other team 11-1 (darn school). My Boy13 closed in the last inning and struck out the side. That sounds so cool. I read it in the newspaper. I also missed Boy14's next to last game in Pony League. He also won and his team was unofficial champs of their 6 team league. They don't keep official records. That age group is more about the traveling team.

Tonight the All Stars played their arch rival Carthage. There are only four teams in pool play and two advance, last year us and Carthage. We want the top seed, though, so it's a coup to beat them. It was a tight, tight game tied at 3 after 4 innings and tied at 4 after five innings. Luckily their pitcher ran out pitches and the next best kid didn't bring it. Well, we got five runs in the top of the sixth, partially due to some errors, but including a homerun down the third base line. It was actually the third ball over the fence (one for them). We got big bats (not my boy) from the big guys. My guy came in in relief to make the last two outs of the game.

Boy14 took excellent video footage of all the important stuff. I don't know how he did it. I would have filmed all the wrong stuff and missed the good plays. At the end of the season I suppose I will make a compilation video with music for everyone. I forgot the digital camera, so no photos of the excitement.