Tournament Weekend

When you hear “t-ball tournament” many would probably think “oh how cute” and it is cute, but it is no joke!!! We are still recovering from our long weekend away.  Our team of 8 year old boys played seven games over four days. It came down to the last inning of the championship game, and we lost to our rivals, Ancaster, the hosts of the tournament.  

We drove out to Ancaster on Friday after work for our 8:00 game.  The boys were excited to play under the lights at a big field.  They ended up losing this game on the very last play, it was super exciting and it would have been great to get that win, but it was a round robin, so really it didn’t matter too much. 

Number 5 in your program number 1 in our hearts!

Saturday morning started with free hotel breakfast, and the first game at 10:00.  All of the water jugs lined up in a rainbow of colours.

The boys won their first game and then we moved over to a different field for a skills competition and our second game at 2:00.  Q and his friends cheering on their teammate in the home run derby.  Which for t-ball is when the tee is set up at second base and the kids get 8 balls each to hit over the fence. 

A hot day calls for an ice cream in between games.  

The Ancaster Ice Cream Parlour is located right at the ball field.  It has so many flavours!! I had cappuccino crunch one day, lemon lime sorbet another day, and mint chip finally on the last day.

Watching the team warm up from the hill.  I would have stayed up there for the whole game but I needed to do the scoring.  Each team keeps their own score and to make sure it is tracked properly. 

The team won this game pretty easily as it was a 7 year old team. 

After this game we went over to the local Boston Pizza for a team dinner, and then went back to the hotel.  Swimming and video games for the boys, and some patio drinks for the parents.  Most of the teams stays at the hotel which is so fun for everyone. 

The tournament was double elimination so we had a few games to win on Sunday.  They won their first game at 11:00 and then again at 2:00.  That meant we had to play at 8:00 that night too.  It was against Ancaster, and our team finally beat them!! The kids were so excited.  But as noted above, this was just plays offs so there was still work to do.  Because we won this game, we got a bye right to the championship game the next day.

With a full day out in front of us on the Monday and our game not until 7:30 pm, we needed to figure out what to do.  We slept in for a little bit and ate breakfast.  Then we found a go-kart and mini-golf place nearby and went to do that. 

Q overtaking Dave on the last lap

Our High Park 7s team was also at this tournament so we went over to the field to watch their game and get some lunch at the concession stands (and more ice cream of course!).  We still had some time to kill so a few of the families went to the movies to see Bad Guys 2.  It was a good way to get out of the sun and force the kids to relax and rest.

And then it was time for the championship game! The starting line ups were introduced and we sang O Canada. 

Coaches meeting at home plate.

The kids played so well and a win was within reach! But the last inning got away from them and Ancaster scored too many runs for our team to come back from. They lined up, with a few tears from some players, and got their medal.  Ultimately what a great group of kids and we are so proud of their efforts. We have one more tournament and one more opportunity to get the win, after coming in second all summer. 

We were excited to get home that night to shower, soak those white pants, and get to bed. These are the days!!

Weekend Recap

A little late on my weekend recap but we were enjoying a day off yesterday for Canada Day.  Going back to Friday morning, we sent the boys off for their last day of school.  

Traditional last day photos for the side by side comparison (check my insta for those posts - @smacto).

Then I said "stand up straight!"

There they go for their last walk to school together - this is their last year at the same school.

After school E went to his friend's house for some pizza and video games.  And the rest of us piled everything we own into the car to drive to Hamilton for a t-ball tournament (E would join us the next day with Dave's parents).

Our hotel was in downtown Hamilton, and if you know, you know, it's a rough spot.  The hotel was nice though!  We did find a great spot for supper, we love a brewery - we hit up Merit Brewing.

Cool mural across the street.

The tournament was in Stoney Creek, with the first game at 8:30.  It was a beautiful day!

Last time these pants were pure white, haha!!

Pre-game meeting. 

Fans!

My view for three games that day - 8:30, 1:00 and 3:15. 

Between games 1 and 2 we hung out in the shade with our picnic lunch. Coach Ben gave out some baseball cards and Q loved looking through those.

We should be sponsored by Easton!

The team did a great job winning two of three games.  We went to Kelsey's for a team dinner before convening back at the hotel for some pool and iPad time for the kiddos...

And patio drinks for the parents.

We had an 11:15 game on Sunday morning so we got to sleep in a bit, have breakfast in our room, watch Happy Gilmour, and then get to the field.  It was another beautiful sunny day.  We really lucked out with the weather, and it was hot, but not humid.

We played our semi-final on the small field.

Some good looking kids and coaches! And generally just really great people.

We had a break in between games so we set up in the outfield to watch the High Park 7s team play in the finals (which they won!), and enjoy the shade.  

These are the brothers of the tournament, keeping themselves entertained. 

Our team did not win the finals but they kept their heads up and graciously took second place.  

We had a little tailgate before hopping in the car to go home.

The raccoon hat is for player of the game, as we are the honourary "Trash Pandas", a nickname for raccoons given their prevalence in Toronto.

We were disappointed to lose to our rivals, Ancaster (said like Jerry says "Newman"), but the kids played pretty well for their first tournament and only having a few practices.  Coaches learned a few things to work on and how to tweak the lineup, and most importantly everyone had such a good time!  They were dancing along to the walk up songs, cheering their teammates and even fist bumping their opponents.  

Weekend Recap

We had a weekend of Opening Days, and lots of fun was had, despite the weather never really warming up.

I had to run around a bit on Friday afternoon to send a FedEx package for work and the return some shoes.  On my way home, I stopped at Freebird Market. When we were at friends' house a couple of weeks ago, they had this Green Goddess dip and I could not get enough, and I knew I needed to get it for myself when I had the chance.  This store is the cutest and has so many nice things, not least of which is the dip.

Dave and E had a golf lesson that evening so it was just me and Q for some sausages for dinner.  

On Saturday morning we loaded up for High Park. It was the opening day for baseball/t-ball.  It was raining slightly as we got set up but then the rain held off for the rest of the day.

Here come the Yankees!

Q was asked to recite the Players Pledge with a few other kids.

He did a great job!

Then they had a BBQ - fancy fixings with donations from Cheese Boutique and Cobs Bread.

And some popcorn and cotton candy.

Team photos for everyone.

Because it was cloudy and chilly, instead of sticking around to watch the ball games, we went home, dropping Dave off at Men's Opening Golf Day.  Then Q and I took the subway back to High Park for his 2:00 ball hockey game.

His friend was minding the nets for the opponents. Post-game chat.

And if that wasn't enough for the day, we got home, changed our clothes and walked up to the local social club we just joined for their Opening Day wine and cheese.  There were so many people that we knew and it was a wonderful event.  Q ran around with the other kids and I enjoyed the wine :)  Meanwhile E went to a friend's house for some Virtual Realty games and pizza.

Q had his first t-ball game on Sunday morning at 9:00 (so I skipped church).  The cherry blossoms were in full bloom so I could not resist a few photos as we walked into the park.

Q is warming up.

I was on score keeping duty.

The team won by 1 run, so it was very exciting and Q even got a Grand Slam!  We stuck around for a little bit to watch another game and I walked down to see the rest of the cherry blossoms.  As beautiful as they are, I am also intrigued watching all of the people.

We headed home after that.  Dave and Q went outside to help the neighbour take down the fence (the posts were rotting and need to be replaced).  I went to the grocery store and did some tidying and packing for my work trip. 

Then I took E to the golf club for Juniors Opening Day.  Because I am a "Learn to Golf" member now, I took the opportunity to putt around with him and then hit few balls at the range after he teed off.

We watched the F1 race when I got home and enjoyed some hamburgers on the BBQ.  We watched about half of Amazing Race when E got home, but then we saw the score of the Winnipeg Jets game and changed over to that.  Crazy win!

Q was doing some dancing/posing when I came downstairs so I snapped his photo.

Phew, we really packed it in! But these are the days, my friends.