In full swing...

We decided to let the boys try baseball and t-ball this year.  This sport is new for us.  Alex played a little bit of baseball when he was younger, but I never did.  I'm not extremely excited about baseball.  There's a lot of dead time; I prefer more action packed sports.  T-ball can be particularly boring, but sometimes pretty entertaining too.  One kid on Jared's team was playing "pitcher".  He was supposed to stay in the pitcher's mound area.  There was even a plate to stand on, and he was planted right on that plate.  The ball was hit towards him and rolled just past him.  He turned around and looked at the ball, while everyone was yelling  "Get the ball!"  He just stood firmly planted on that plate, shaking his head "no", as if he thought he couldn't get off the plate.  He was about to cry when people were yelling at him to pick up the ball.  Pretty funny.  In t-ball, all the kids bat each inning.  With the last batter, all the runners on base run to home plate regardless of the play.  It's so funny to see the pile up at home plate and sometimes the chase as the catcher tries to tag the runners.  They don't stay on the base line.  

T-ball is actually a pretty good sport for Jared.  There are times to be focused, when batting or making a play.  But there's also plenty of down time, just standing around in outfield or goofing off in the dug out.  Perfect for Jared.  In one of the pictures below, you see Jared running with the ball.  He was the 1st baseman.  He got the ball and started to run it to home plate to tag the runner out.  Although he could have outrun the runner, coach made him throw it.  The catcher couldn't catch the ball of course.  I guess they have to learn how to throw and catch, but it was fun to see Jared focused on getting that runner out.  He knew what to do!   

Nathan seems to be a natural at whatever he tries.  I've never seen a kid more focused (and competitive).  He didn't play t-ball, so this is his first experience with baseball (this is coach pitch).  He learns quickly.  He's one of the best players on his team.  He doesn't hit the ball very hard, but he almost always connects and gets on base.  He's fast!  And he's really good at first base.  

It's fun to cheer Nathan and Jared on, but sometimes it's hard to sit through a 1.5 to 1 hr. 45 min game.  If only the season and games weren't so long!  The season goes from mid-February to early June (about 3.5 months - seems really long to me).  Between Nathan and Jared, we have practice or games on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  That's a lot of time at the baseball field.  O & W like running around, for the most part, although the bleachers are a little dangerous to be playing on.  We've had some little mishaps already with those.  They're pretty good "fans" though, considering the time they have to just hang around.  I'm kind-of hoping the boys don't love baseball - maybe this will be our first and last season?  Doubt it, but I can hope.