The Hustle Award (week 232)

To wrap-up my summer vacation from St. Lukes, I spent the week at the Dirtbag Baseball Camp at Long Beach State. The camp was for 6-15 year-olds, but they let me in as the only four year-old because I was tall enough and could hang with the older players. We played at the practice fields near the big blue pyramid for six hours a day. The field was huge and the grass was green. I had a great time. Even though I was the youngest player, I won the throwing contest for the 6-8 year-olds and received one of only two awards that they give to the 100 or so campers--the "Hustle Award".

After six hours a day of playing baseball, the only thing that I want to do when I get home is to play more baseball. Even Chris has caught the baseball bug. When we get home, we set-up the bases and the field in the backyard and hit balls. Chris is clearly a southpaw--he eats, writes, throws, and hits with his left hand--and he seems to be taking to hitting and running the bases. The moment I wake-up, I like to work on my baseball stadium drawings, throw the ball at my pitchback, and play catch with daddy. I try to strike out the batters and he plays the catcher and umpire. We cool off in the kiddie pool or ice our muscles by climbing into buckets filled with cold water.

This past week, we also celebrated the life of our friend David Wodynksi. It has been a year since Dave passed away. We did a number of fun things that Dave used to like to do. I remember him most for stopping by--either walking Tom's dog Oscar or house sitting--and he would play catch with me in the backyard or at our old apartment in the Shore. We had a barbecue on Saturday with lots of kids so it was a fun party to celebrate his memory and I got two new blue bracelets to wear.

The summer is otherwise moving along. In August, I have to go back to school after a week camping and three weeks of sports camps. It has been quite a run and my parents aren't sure about how I will handle the transition back to school. It will probably also be hard for Christopher--but less so because he gets to hang-out with mommy most days anyway--going shopping, to the aquarium, over to Emma's house. Summer is always a great time of the year for a kid staying-up later, playing in the water, getting sunburns, and going to concerts; we have to take advantage of it while we can!