Remembering

So I'm sitting at the counter making lunch with the Tornado yesterday. He asks if we can watch Peep, which is what we would watch when he was still at home during lunch.

I looked for it on TV, and was surprised to see that Peep is no longer on TV. I let the Tornado know that the show isn't on anymore. He was pretty bummed, as was I.

Then he said, hey Dad, remember when we used to go out on the back porch and have a picnic lunch sometimes? Of course I remembered that I said, I always had fun doing that. He said, let's do that tomorrow or the next day, OK? Sure, I said, and we plan on doing that on Memorial Day.

It made me feel so good that he remembered doing those fun things, just a couple of the things I had listed just a couple weeks ago. Sometimes you wonder if the kids remember the things you do together. Do they have good memories of those things, like I do? It sure is comforting to know that the answer is yes, they remember.

Friday with the Family

The gang went up to the Rays game Friday night, it was our 7th or 8th game of the season. We've gotten to the game just in time most of the times we've gone this year. We park, grab something to eat, and get to our seats right when the game starts.

Friday night though, we arrived about an hour and a half before game time, and did some of the things that we usually did the last couple of years. The CEO and the Tornado went to pet the stingrays, while O, Bear and I went to watch batting practice. Bear got a ball, tossed to her from Carlos Carrasco, which was nice of him. I almost chased a ball down myself!

Afterwards, we went down by the Rays bullpen area to see if we could get any autographs. Bear saw Evan Longoria walking towards the area, and scooted under a table and through a number of people to get on the rail. She had a pen and the ball she just received, and got the ball signed by Longo! She was pretty pumped about that.

Then we watched that night's starter, David Price, warm up in the bullpen. We were standing about 10 feet from him, and he was pumping the ball in there with all he had. The girls mentioned they could barely even see the ball! That was really cool.

We then went on to watch the rays win 5-0, with Price striking out a career high 12 batters. Afterwards, we got to walk down onto the the field and dance for about 15 minutes. The kids had so much fun, and got on the big screen, after getting on regular TV when we walked into the stadium before the game.

So far this season it seemed like going to the games were a little more mundane, they didn't have quite the excitement that they had in years past. Friday night everyone seemed really into the experience, into the atmosphere, and it was a great family night at the ballpark!

A CAREER BEGINS

The Tornado played baseball, well, t-ball, for the first time this spring. As he put it, he doesn't get to play real baseball until he turns 6 in the fall.

Quite simply, this was the most enjoyable thing I've done, in terms of watching my kids. I so wish I would have put O and the Bear in t-ball, looking back on it.

One of my favorite things to do with the Tornado over the years he was at home was to play baseball with him I started pitching to him, overhand, before he was two. And he could hit it! He has some kind of hand eye coordination. Also, he loves to hit. So when the time came for him to be able to play on a team, I signed him up, and he was excited. We went to the field together on a cold day in January to sign him up, and he was soooo anxious to get started.

A couple weeks later he had his first practice. They hit a little, threw a little, ran a little, and laughed a little. His friend Chris was on the team, and he was excited to see him there. The games started two weeks after the first practice, and oh what an experience those were.

The teams each got to hit 3 times, with each kid on the team hitting. The last batter of each inning got to run all the bases, so of course that's where the Tornado wanted to hit. Sometimes he got to, other times not. In the field, the only positions of consequence are 1b and the "pitcher". The rest of the areas on the field see next to zero action. As a result, whenever a ball is hit, all of the kids rush and dive on it like a fumble in football. This stopped to some degree as the season went on, but heck, I liked watching them pile on like that!

The Tornado, when told he couldn't play first or "pitcher", often chose to play 3b. As a Rays fan, and Evan Longoria fan, he figured that was a good spot to be. Oh, I almost forgot - each day on the way to the game we would listen to Here Come the Rays, Feel the Heat, and Longoria's walkup song. I guess it pumped him up?! Anyway, he would stand over at third, and every kid that came to 3b got chatted up by the Tornado. he loved it.

When he was on the bases he would bend in half and put his head on the dirt. When they ran off the field he would throw his hat high in the air. He loved the snacks at the end, he loved cheering "Go Mighty Sand Gnats" and hugging the coach at the end of the game. He loved his gummy bears that he would get before each game and snack on in between innings. He just seemed super HAPPY on the field.

After a tough first couple months in school, it was so relaxing to me to see him enjoying himself so much out there.

As the season wound down he said he was ready to play another sport, like basketball or golf, and after 5 months of playing, sure, that makes sense. I know it will get more intense as he gets older if he continues to play, particularly if he's any good. I'll do my best to just enjoy watching him enjoy playing the game I loved to play so much. And to help remind him it's just a game, I'll always have gummy bears there for him too.

LEARNING FROM OTHERS

The High Hoops season has ended, and it was a totally different experience for all of us this year. Last year, I was one of the coaches, Bear wasn't on the team, and the team was in way over its head in most games. We had to play most of our games against teams that were older, more experienced, and more talented.

This year, I didn't coach, Bear got to play, and for the most part the games were reasonably competitive. We got to play against teams that were more on our level, so that was nice for the girls.

Not being the coach allowed me to observe the team, the player interactions, how the coaches handle things, and got to watch O and Bear just play. That has been an interesting perspective, because I've been so engrossed in the past that I wasn't able to really just enjoy the girls and the way they play.

The coach basically rotated several girls in and out of the guard spots, with both of my girls being part of that 5 player rotation. Bear got the least amount of time probably, with O getting among the most. I think that was good for the Bear. She got to observe from the bench, and see how others played and reacted.

When the season started, Bear was very nervous about playing, and how she would do. By the end of the season, she was the probably the most aggressive of all the guards, both on offense and defense. O's game came along well too, as she was refining things in her game that a lot of kids don't do.

I think the best thing about this season though, was that we all got to learn something. As the picture above shows, sometimes you learn from people and places you might not expect. I learned what it's like to be a parent on the sidelines, watching and thinking how I would do things different. I learned that there is a totally different vibe on the sidelines then on the bench, and that it's probably best to ignore that when you are on the bench. O learned that you aren't always going to love the people you have to work with, but that you can still be successful with those people. I also think O gained a measure of respect for Bear, seeing how hard she plays despite being so much smaller then almost all of the competition. I think Bear learned a little about patience. She's used to being the star, and she wasn't on this team. She learned about gaining confidence, and that believing in yourself can carry you a long way. And lastly, I think she learned about hard work. She wasn't satisfied sitting the bench, so she started practicing harder at home. I think by the end of the season she knew that she could compete with anyone on our team, and most other teams. Success leads to wanting to work harder to achieve more success, and Bear has been working harder than ever.

So another year is in the books, and I think it was a good one for both girls. I enjoyed watching them play, without the stress of having to coach them. I'm looking forward to that opportunity again should it arise in a couple years. Until then, I'll just keep watching, learning, and enjoy watching them learn, both about basketball and life.

Not Just the Tornado Anymore

I've been waiting for a while to write this post, I've thought about it many times. I made a list of things that the Tornado and I did over the 4 and a half years we spent at home together. I'm sure there are many other things we did that I can't remember, but this is a pretty good list. It makes me sad thinking about all the things we did together, many of which I now do by myself throughout the day.

I often feel like I didn't do enough, take you enough places in our time at home together. I am sorry for that. My time at home with you gave me so many smiles, so many laughs, so many good feelings of being loved that I can't really explain it. I am also glad to see you having fun with your friends at school, learning so many new things. You are a smart, funny, and loving boy, so much more than just a Tornado anymore. I am blessed to have you as my son!

First, some of the places we went over the years.

The beach, Sanibel, Captiva, Bowditch Point, and Times Square. We ALWAYS have fun at the beach! Playing ball, punching waves, building castles, playing water football. Remember the river we built one day that went from half way up the beach all the way to the gulf??!! This was always our favorite place to go together.

Lakes Park - we climbed on the playgrounds, and played in the water fountains.

The pool - gosh, we spent many days at the pool. You always loved throwing the toy tornadoes underwater, and shooting baskets on the poolside rim.

The Imaginarium - always a good time. You like just exploring, playing with the toys, seeing the exhibits.

The grocery store - this might sound weird, but we always had fun here. When you were little, all the older ladies would come up and look at how cute you were. As you got older, you would ask questions, like what this was for, or how I was going to make dinner that night. I liked this because it never seemed like there were a lot of distractions, it was just you and me.

Costco - of course you liked going here, particularly at lunch time, because they always have lots of food to sample :)

Home Depot - another place we went almost every week. Sometimes you liked going, sometimes not, depending on what we were buying.

Ace Hardware, dry cleaning, the bank, best buy - other places we would run errands to. I always liked riding in the car with you. You are such an easy passenger. You like looking at the window at the world, and pointing out things you notice, which is a lot. You are so observant! You also liked to rock out to music in the car, our two man band had many jam sessions in there!!

Toys R US - who doesn't like going to this place?

The book stores - we went to the book stores quite a bit, you love to read and be read to. And I love reading to you - I love when you get a subtle joke in a book, how you look up at me and the wry smile you get, like, that was pretty funny.

The outlets - we didn't go down there a lot, but it was always nice to go walk around and let you run around the fountains. I hope all the wishes you made come true!

The Edison Mall - again, we only did this once in a while - but with so many people and so many stores, it was fun watching you watch everyone else. We were here a couple of weeks ago as we let the girls go explore on their own. We got some candy and sat on the bench and waited for them. We waited about 45 minutes, and just talked, and watched people go by. Very peaceful believe it or not.

The Bagel Factory - sometimes we would have errands to run in the morning, so we would stop off for a chocolate milk and a bagel. We would sit and eat, talk about what we were going to do that day, maybe read the newspaper together.

Chick Fil A - pretty much every run to Costco was accompanied by a trip here. You liked playing on the little playground, and I liked watching you. Again, sitting and sharing lunch with my buddy was always a good time.

Smoothie Central - we went here often when they first opened, then I started making my own at home. But the ladies that worked here always got a big smile when they saw you walk in the door.

Rita's - a nice cool treat on hot days, maybe after the beach or the pool. We had one of our first "man to man" talks here too - early on in your school career.

Bennett's - we would ride our bike, you on the back, down here in the mornings. We would get a couple donuts, and ride one by Mommy's work to surprise her. You loved seeing her, and I know she loved seeing you. Then we would ride home, get some milk, and eat our donuts at the counter as a reward for our exercise.

I'm sure there are many others, but those are the one's that stand out. Now, for shows we watched together.

Peep and Chirp - easily my favorite. Every day, right before lunch, this show would come on. We would sing the theme song together. "There's no place I'd rather be" is a line from the song, and that's how I felt everyday. They talked about math and science, and being friends, and it was really a great show.

Pinky Dinky Do - is this why you know so many words?

Yo Gabba Gabba - strange but fun

Hip Hop Harry - they danced a lot on this show and that's why you liked it

Phineas and Ferb - another show about imagination and adventure. It's very funny, and we always laughed a lot watching it together.

Super Why - another show about reading - which you are GREAT at doing!

Sid the Science Kid - they did neat experiments on this show, many of which we would try on our own - like freezing the Disney Princes in ice!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - You sleep with Pluto every night, he's your buddy. On the show when Mickey needed help, he would call for 'Toodles', which was a piece of equipment that would help him out. When you would see he needed help, you would call out "Oh Toodles", just like Mickey. Loved that.

Handy Manny - he liked to build things, and you liked doing that too. Blocks, marbles, you name it.

Blues Clues - you enjoyed helping figure out the clues, your curious nature.

Little Einsteins - they liked to travel, and learn about new places. You absolutely loved seeing the new places and the adventures they would have in each place. They would talk about art a lot too - which you enjoy making. I always thought it was neat, that even when you were two or three, you would recognize a painting that we might have in a book in our house or something.

The Wonder Pets - another adventure show, but this was a lot about helping. It was a pretty funny show too, and I loved hearing you laugh when watching it.

We played lots of games at home, lots of sports, and did lots of work together. One of my favorite things that we stopped doing when you were about 3 and a half was running together. I would push you in the stroller, and we would go 3 miles some days, up to 5 miles other days. Some days it didn't look like we were going to run because of what I was wearing, so you would ask if we were going running. Anytime I put my sneakers on, you would ask "We going running Dad?" You were such a great motivator!! You never liked to wear pants, so you would usually have just a shirt and a diaper own, with a sippy cup of milk, and would kick back and relax. I remember all the smiles on people's faces that were running in the opposite direction. How could they look at you and not smile, you were having so much fun!

We went for bike rides several times a week, we played horseshoes, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, badminton, soccer, boxing and football. We blew bubbles, had picnics, blew up balloons, had water balloon fights, raced each other on foot, or with our race cars.

We cut the grass, we planted flowers, we planted vegetables. It made me so happy about a month ago when you asked if you could help me cut the grass. It's always more fun when my buddy is there to help me.

We played games like Rock Band, tic tac toe, chess, checkers, jenga, gnip gnop, and the Wii. We did puzzles together, tons and tons of puzzles! You love doing puzzles! We read so many books together, I never would have read so many books without you. We built a new train track almost every day in the family room. We built awesome marble towers, and cool things with lego blocks.

You painted, you made drawings, and we loved playing play doh together. When you were almost 4, you wanted to start doing homework, like the girls. So we got a couple workbooks and you would do the work in it. It was crazy, you would sit there and do like 30 pages without stopping! I'd have to get us outside to do something else to take your mind off of it for a while.

We made smoothies together, we made lunch together everyday. I miss not having lunch with you. We'd watch Peep and Chirp while making lunch, sometimes we would do a "movie lunch". Sometimes we went out back and had a picnic on the playground or on the porch.

When you were real little, I would feed you lunch on the sofa or the chair, with your bottle. As you finished the bottle you would give me a smile, a hug and a kiss, then fall off to sleep. As you got a little older, after lunch, you would go over to the couch. You would either say "hold you me", or "cuddle you", and we would lay down together until you fell asleep. Needless to say, I miss those days and moments tremendously.

We've had many great times already and we have so many great times ahead! I'll always be there to "hold you me" or "cuddle you" if you need it :)